[TS] Obsessed Gamer: The Ultimate Return – Chapter 106

Ugh…!

Ughhhhh─!!!

Silent screams echoed endlessly inside my heart.

Well, if it was like a straightforward rejection saying, “I can’t go because of the new team,” I would have understood.

If that was the case, I would have tried to persuade them somehow, appealing to my vision for the team.

But…

“Exercise? Luck??”

This guy, this is clearly a challenge directed at me.

“I can’t back down like this.”

It’s not just a matter of pride.

A supporter of that level is hard to come by anywhere.

Especially if they aren’t tied up in any contracts… No, not a commodity but a player; it’s even harder.

“I need to snatch them up while they’re still a rookie with no experience.”

Perhaps the outline of team management was starting to take shape. The minimum salary for players was already a given.

Sure, you could curse me as a ruthless boss, but hey, what can I do? The resources I have right now are limited.

“I’ll repay this with a Red Cup victory later.”

Even though a contract wasn’t set yet, and forming the team wasn’t certain, I decided to sip on kimchi soup for now.

Meanwhile…

The fact that I was rejected seemed to amuse the audience quite a bit; they kept teasing me.

– The confused expression, lol.

– Still mad? Hahahaha.

– Seriously, if you just opened it up for public recruitment, they’d line up…

– But Sett did well, so it’s understandable to fall for them, right?

“… I didn’t fall for them.”

I mean, maybe that expression could be true, but the nuance is a bit different.

– The shy room owner, oh my…

– If you create a team now, is that a relationship angle?

– No way, sob.

“No, that’s not it…”

My face was still burning.

Especially because of those viewers, it was even worse.

“When did the audience grow so much?”

[Current Audience: 1077 people]

– Ah-ha (basically means Outlaw, lol)

– Hi hi.

– Wow, is this real? Are you really a grandmaster?

– No.1 streaming (what?!)

– Really?

Sure, I could swear that just moments ago, there weren’t even 200 viewers; now, they’ve more than quintupled.

The even scarier part was, given the nature of non-stop streaming, this audience was likely to keep growing without dropping off.

“I knew this would happen but…”

You know, the feeling when you’re just jotting down plans in your head from the comfort of your chair compared to when it actually becomes reality is vastly different.

Right now, that was the case.

“User ‘Jjuhsim’s Slave’ gifted 1300 balloons.”

“Mission mode, yay!”

“User ‘JjuhsimOut’ gifted 100 balloons.”

“Joining the fan club!”

“User ‘SettCutieRainbow’ gifted 200 balloons.”

“Have you played a game with Rainbow?”

“Uh, thank you for the mission balloons… and for joining the fan club… Playing a game with Rainbow? I guess I might have, but I don’t really remember.”

With this ID, I’ve met Rainbow at least once, so there’s no point in lying.

That said, it felt a bit awkward to act like I knew them, so I figured it was best to say that…

– Whoa…

– SettCutie’s skill is kind of unimpressive.

– Is this the ‘100% win rate’ thing again?

It seemed like there was some strange misunderstanding, but I didn’t see much benefit in making excuses, so I kept my mouth shut.

As I engaged in this not-so-communication, naturally, a sense of self-doubt began to creep in.

“… This isn’t good.”

I could sit idly by while the audience teased me and collect balloons, but that would only stretch my non-stop streaming period endlessly.

“…… Let’s just play solo queue.”

What kind of broadcast is this anyway?

A communication broadcast? Nope.

It’s a gaming broadcast.

Sure, I’m the new face, and I’ve drawn some attention for a moment, but if I keep standing still, the viewers will leave once something more entertaining comes along.

– I could watch your face for hours without getting tired.

– For real, lol.

– You don’t need to do anything; just keep the cam on, please.

– Huh…

… Well, maybe not for everyone.

But still, that’s not what’s important.

[Searching for a game…]

I quickly queued up.

– Aren’t we communicating anymore?

– Jumping right into a game, huh? Whoa!

“Communication is… this is communication too.”

What do you think I’m doing right now?

– That’s fair.

– For real, lol.

Honestly speaking, being tossed around by the viewers is draining.

“… Did I underestimate this non-stop streaming thing?”

I had only been streaming for a little over seven hours.

Considering that when Legend of League streamers declared non-stop streaming, the average allowed sleep time was around 8 to 10 hours…

“This is hell.”

I felt it sinking in.

There’s nothing easy in this world, and even internet streamers who seemed to make easy money from their labor are struggling hard.

As I gradually came to understand the hardships of life,

[Game found!]

[Accept / Decline]

The game had started again.

*

I kept my eye on the champion.

I clicked the mouse.

I pressed the keyboard.

Wow, I won.

[Victory]

My vision was hazy.

What am I doing right now?

Ah, I shouldn’t go top right now… it’s a hassle to ping for a retreat.

[Victory]

…

[Victory]

What was my game count today again?

… I’m not sure.

What’s certain is that while I may not have made major mistakes, little slips were starting to creep in.

[Victory]

Of course, I still won.

But it was becoming clear that I was reaching my limit.

– Did you just see that? Looked like you dodged while blindfolded!

– Lol, some people keep their eyes wide open and still miss!

– I’m really dying! I’m really dying! I’m really dying! I’m really dying! I’m really dying! I’m really dying! I’m really dying!

– Why aren’t you losing?

– Seems like you’re dropping focus, and yet you still manage to win, huh?

As I continued to play the game mechanically, it had already been about twelve hours since I started streaming.

It was a number of games I could never have imagined in my previous life.

Sure, I was somewhat accustomed to playing this way now, but juggling streaming and gaming was exhausting.

– Are you sleeping, room owner?

– What is going on, haha?

It seemed even the viewers were getting tired of this mad solo queue march, shaking their heads.

“… I can’t do this anymore.”

If I kept playing like this, I was bound to lose.

Of course, it’s not that I was afraid of losing.

It’s just that the thought of losing without doing my best in the game didn’t sit well with me.

“Let’s stop.”

That’s enough for today’s stream.

In fact, it was too much for a first day.

“Today’s stream ends here.”

With that, the chat exploded.

– Finally.

– But isn’t this non-stop?

– So, is now the sleep stream?

– Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!

“User ‘JjuhsimOut’ gifted 10 balloons.”

“Wait, you’re not taking a sleep stream?”

“User ‘[Out] Elf’s Slave’ gifted 500 balloons.”

“Thanks for your hard work today, but come on, do a sleep stream.”

Sleep stream…

When I first thought about non-stop streaming, I didn’t think about it at all.

After all, non-stop streaming meant not ending the broadcast until a specific goal was achieved and maintaining a 24-hour broadcast.

Of course, I didn’t need to think deeply about it; I dismissed it outright.

How could I know what kind of nonsense I might do while I’m sleeping?

“I won’t be doing a sleep stream. I’ll be back tomorrow morning. What time? Oh, I don’t know. I’ll just come back when I wake up.”

– ?????

– Me.

– Lock.

– Me.

– Lock.

– Me.

– Lock.

“User ‘wdfoqwtkwq’ gifted 10 balloons.”

“Where are you going?”

“User ‘Heeuung’ gifted 10 balloons.”

“If my sister goes, I’m dead!”

“User ‘Outlaw is God’ gifted 10 balloons.”

“Non-stop streaming, right? Non-stop streaming?!”

Wow, what firepower…

“Now that I think about it… how many viewers do I have right now?”

[Current Audience: 9,754 people]

… Huh?

“Crazy.”

Did I lose track because I was so focused on the game?

I hadn’t even noticed the audience had risen to this level.

“Almost 10,000, huh?”

Did someone pinpoint my coordinates when they ended their stream?

Or did rumors spread somehow?

“… well.”

The Red TV platform operates on a strict winner-takes-all system, so once a certain viewer count is reached, it becomes easy to attract more viewers.

1,000 viewers is probably the cut-off point.

And as more viewers piled in, the snowball effect would accelerate; that I’d now reached almost 10,000 wasn’t entirely surprising.

“I guess that’s why the connection didn’t drop earlier…”

Is that it?

In that moment, I was tempted to do the sleep stream that the viewers wanted so badly, but then I regained my senses and shook my head.

“No matter how you look at it, that’s not happening.”

If I tossed my clothes off because I felt hot while sleeping… that would be the end of my broadcasting career and my life.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

– ???

– Me.

– Lock.

– Me.

– Lock.

– Me.

As the viewers ranted on, I turned off the cam and mic, switching to the ad video provided by Red TV.

Thanks to that, the chat went absolutely haywire, but I didn’t have the energy to care anymore.

“First, I’ll sleep and then tomorrow I’ll talk to Timid Person again.”

If you’ve got a Master-tier rank level or higher, you need to have devoted half your life to Legends of League.

Let alone, given the skills shown by Timid Person 190, that’s saying something.

So, around the same time tomorrow, Timid Person 190 would likely log in, and I planned to have a deeper conversation with them then.

“So, let’s wash up and sleep.”

It was such a tiring day.

*

Whew─


Whew────

On the way home from the gym, Kim Ji-hoon felt puzzled by the incessant ringing of his smartphone and rummaged through his pockets.

“Did I have anyone to contact?”

He barely contacted his friends, so at first, he thought it was just a spam call.

Just as he was about to dismiss it and resume his walk, the smartphone rang again.

Whew────

[Park Chan-yong]

Checking his smartphone, Kim Ji-hoon felt puzzled.

“What’s up with him all of a sudden?”

Park Chan-yong was Kim Ji-hoon’s high school classmate.

They used to play games together and were pretty close, but as Chan-yong went to a university in another city, their contact had dwindled.

“Uh, what’s going on?”

[“Hey, didn’t you get a pro offer?”]

“Well, I get those all the time, but why?”

[“No, not that!”]

“What’s up then?”

[“It’s about Outlaw!”]

Outlaw?

Feeling perplexed for a moment, Kim Ji-hoon recalled where he had heard that nickname before.

“Oh.”

That guy, the one with the 100% win rate, right?

Still, something felt off.

“How do you know about that? Do you know someone?”

[“You seriously don’t know anything?”]

“What do you mean by that?”

Kim Ji-hoon was starting to feel frustrated.

Since earlier, he had no clue what Park Chan-yong was talking about.

[“Turn on Red TV. Outlaw is live right now.”]

“Oh, a BJ? Then why should I care?”

[“Just check it out.”]

Irritated by his friend’s words, Kim Ji-hoon reluctantly closed the call app and opened the Red TV app.