Oh Dae-sik, 28 years old. A male with a height of 176 cm and weight of 67 kg. Viewers expect him to be one of the many public service streamers on Switch, but surprisingly, he is a military veteran from the White Horse Unit.
He served for a year during his college days before enlisting and took a break from college after his discharge, streaming since he was 24.
He has invested about five years in broadcasting. He switched to Switch two years ago. Before that, he mainly broadcasted from Yellow City after traveling across the continent.
It’s not easy to broadcast while managing the somewhat mischievous and rough viewers of Yellow City. If he empathizes with the viewers and makes just one wrong comment, it could lead to controversy, but if he holds back too much, he won’t be able to satisfy their needs.
However, Oh Dae-sik has managed to maintain a good balance and has successfully been broadcasting for several years, and there have been various terms used to refer to him.
The Guardian of Yellow City, the Last Beacon of Yellow City, the Underground Warden, etc. Just like any seasoned broadcaster, new memes and nicknames emerged every time he went live.
One of those nicknames is “Beauty Reader.” Compared to the previous nicknames, it was somewhat different in nature.
The catalyst was trivial. Dae-sik unexpectedly appeared on the late-night stream of a female streamer during the G-Star event.
It was a short conversation, not really an appearance. It was a situation where an attractive low-quality female streamer cheerfully exclaimed she was a fan upon seeing Dae-sik, a well-known figure.
What was unusual was Dae-sik’s reaction.
He couldn’t even meet the female streamer’s eyes and responded to her questions with short answers. His slightly reddened ears were an added bonus.
– Did you also come for the event, Dae-sik?
– Ah, yeah. Well… yes.
– Are you feeling unwell?
– No, no, I’m fine. Good luck, I’ll be going!
The female streamer stammered and quickly retreated.
That short clip spread throughout Switch, earning Dae-sik the nickname “Beauty Reader.”
The masculine Oh Dae-sik, who used to dominate the viewers, had seemingly transformed into a cherry boy.
Though Dae-sik referred to it as a black history, people’s reactions weren’t negative. Some even found it cute. For a while, “Switch Nerd Man” circulated, and he even ranked high in the male streamer world cup.
What was revealed through this episode?
Viewers noted that the human Oh Dae-sik was more popular than expected. Whenever he took a break, people joked about him getting a girlfriend or going to a club.
However, now that joke has turned into reality.
[Clarify clarify clarify clarify clarify clarify clarify]
[Mollu is not allowed, please Dae-sik]
[It’s about Dae-sik… It’s about Dae-sik… It’s about Dae-sik…]
[Alpha Male Oh Dae-sik has done it again]
[I’m going to kill him kill him kill him kill him kill him]
[Is it really okay for Oh Dae-sik to be like this?]
[What is the relationship between the two?]
[Mollu and Dae-sik, this is trending]
[Where did the Beauty Reader Oh Dae-sik go?]
[The Beauty Bomber has long become an alpha male Oh Dae-sik, don’t look for him]
“No…”
Dae-sik, who had been momentarily stunned, was the first to regain his composure. The broadcast title was already luring viewers in, claiming he would collaborate with Mollu. Mollu had also hosted her stream to Dae-sik’s channel, resulting in over 10,000 people flocking in real-time.
People’s reactions were understandable. Mollu’s appearance alone provided enough plausibility for such a situation.
He had been careful to avoid this. He had tried to ignore any mention of Mollu in the chat.
He never thought a single mistake could turn into this.
To be precise, Dae-sik hadn’t made a mistake. Mollu had suddenly shown up and dropped a bombshell. It might have been a mistake to invite Mollu in the first place.
Had this person lost her mind? To suddenly say something like that.
Dae-sik didn’t feel embarrassed or confused by such comments. He had long moved past the days when he would shy away from a simple compliment, and he thought there was no reason for Mollu to say something like that to him.
He only wanted to quickly manage the situation.
“We’re not in that type of relationship. It seems like Mollu said something a bit wrong, didn’t you, Mollu?”
“Yes.”
“Could you clarify… What are you eating?”
Crunch.
A strange sound came through Mollu’s microphone, as she answered in a carefree tone. It was the sound of something hard being crushed in her mouth.
“It’s the peanuts we had at the company dinner last time… It’s tastier than I thought. They’re meant to be snacks, but they’re good for a boring time. Should I order one for you, Dae-sik?”
“No, I’m fine. More importantly, what did you mean earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
Did she really not know after seeing the chaos in the chat? Or was she pretending not to know on purpose?
Frustrated but unable to get angry, Dae-sik’s opinion of Mollu dropped a level.
Mollu, munching on peanuts like a squirrel, seemed to realize the chat was going haywire and slowly continued her speech.
“Ah, what am I even saying? Everyone, don’t make such a fuss.”
[Fuss? Fuss? Fuss? Fuss?]
[You just told a guy you were thinking about him; how can we not fuss?]
[Ah, don’t make a fuss, guys]
[So what do you mean?]
[Do you want to see the chaos unfold?]
“Seriously, I was just thinking about it, and then I got a call. So I said that without any particular meaning!”
[You need to make sense of your words, lol]
[Clarify the aftermath]
[I’m disappointed]
[Your excuse lacks sincerity, it sounds more genuine]
[For real, lol]
“Why would I lie about that? I just said it as it was. You don’t believe me? If you don’t want to believe it, then don’t. What can I say if you don’t believe me?”
After saying that, Mollu called Dae-sik as if she had wrapped everything up.
“I’m going to play Eo War now, Dae-sik. Let’s hit a duo match.”
“Ah, okay.”
The chat wasn’t entirely settled yet, but at least it was better than before, and Mollu, continuing to munch on peanuts, seemed to pay no mind to it at all.
*
It’s not elementary school; just because a man and a woman are talking doesn’t mean there’s anything going on between them.
If this keeps up, only the parties involved will end up feeling uncomfortable. Even now, it’s like that.
My plan to build rapport with Dae-sik was on the verge of failing. Dae-sik hadn’t opened his mouth at all, perhaps due to the awkwardness from earlier.
However, aside from that, the game was going smoothly.
“Assassin is coming from the back, be careful.”
“I’ll watch. Please keep an eye on the front line.”
As I smoothly moved the mouse according to Dae-sik’s orders, the quick changes in the screen were based on a highly set sensitivity.
I spotted the assassin circling around the back of the walls, aiming for our troops.
I held the scope for a moment, waiting. The figure of a masked man appeared, rushing clumsily toward our side.
Bang-!
The sniper rifle fired, penetrating the man’s head, instantaneously ending his life with a headshot. I had worried about my skills being rusty after a long time, but it seemed like I hadn’t lost my touch.
“Assassin cut. I’ll join you all forward.”
“…It’s definitely comfortable.”
Dae-sik’s following words made me feel a bit proud.
As someone with a certain level of gaming pride, praise for being good at games was something I could listen to endlessly.
I thought Dae-sik might also want a friend who’s good at games.
“Teacher, are you planning to stream?”
“Stream? Why?”
“People have been saying they want to see your perspective.”
After a brief moment of contemplation, I replied.
“I’m not going to stream.”
That had been my original intent. Today was one of the few days off in the week, and I had come to play games with Dae-sik, not to stream. I also wanted to understand the issue that his tier had dropped.
If I started streaming, I wouldn’t be able to avoid distractions. I was just hoping to play games comfortably with a friend today.
“Then could you at least unassign hosting? People are coming in continuously through Mollu’s stream, you know? There are over 20,000 people right now…”
Upon Dae-sik’s request to unassign the host, I removed the hosting set in the broadcast. But would this even be meaningful? It felt like everyone who was coming had already arrived. The fact that I was playing games with Dae-sik on his broadcast must have already spread throughout major communities.
– Dae-sik’s broadcast is live www.switch.5dasick/ something along those lines.
Still… Dae-sik would be more skilled at handling troublesome viewers than I was, so it would work out somehow.
I should focus on playing games with Dae-sik, as I had originally planned.
“We won.”
Dae-sik’s voice, saying that, trembled slightly as if he were moved by the joy of a long-awaited victory.
“This was so easy…”
I reviewed the last match in my mind. Dae-sik’s play had no major issues. It was an average play suited for that tier. The problem lay, perhaps, in the fact that his current tier was Diamond.
It was lower than when he had titled himself as aiming for Grandmaster.
To put it bluntly, it was fair to say he had lost his form.
“Should we play one more match?”
Dae-sik proposed another round, seemingly still savoring the sweetness of victory.
The comments in the chat like asking if Mollu’s bus was good or if it was ugly seemed to go unnoticed.
Winning after a losing streak is truly sweet; I knew that feeling well. However, I was planning to decline Dae-sik’s suggestion.
After all, even if he managed to climb the tier this way, once I left and Dae-sik played alone, that tier would drop again. The last match had only been a practice game to gauge Dae-sik’s condition.
I intended to teach the precious friend candidate, Dae-sik, how to fish instead of just handing him a fish.
If that was the case, there was only one way.
“Let’s end the duo here.”
“Ah, right. Mollu must be busy too; thank you-.”
“Let’s go to the training ground.”
It’s a simple method.
It’s just like before. If it doesn’t work, just keep trying.
