After the shoot ended, I fainted as soon as I got home.
I literally fainted and woke up late the next day.
Given my already low energy, it seems I overworked myself yesterday in various ways.
Still, amidst all that, I must have changed into the new clothes I received, as something resembling a discarded skin was lying next to my bed.
The clothes I was currently wearing were a stretched-out cotton tee and shorts.
It was a familiar outfit.
On the desk were the clothes I had tried on yesterday.
All the outfits I wore as a model were gifts from Eun-ha, who didn’t charge me a dime.
I felt a bit like I had received a sponsorship.
No matter how much I refused, she kept piling the clothes into my arms, making it impossible to decline.
After all, the clothes were probably happy to find a good owner instead of rotting away in a storage room.
How could clothes be happy? Eun-ha must be quite sensitive.
I received the clothes for free and got paid for my modeling shoot too.
Am I too indebted to Eun-ha?
Just as I thought about her, I received a text from her.
Eun-ha: Here are the edited photos from yesterday’s shoot! Since the model was perfect, I had nothing to fix, so it was done quickly. They’ll be up on the YouTube channel around tomorrow, and the shopping mall will be up by next week!
The lively tone of her message seemed to reflect her personality.
She already organized the photos taken last night; did she even sleep?
I opened the file Eun-ha sent.
I could see the beautiful Ji-eun.
Wearing a variety of outfits, posing in different ways, and making expressions that suited each.
She was just ridiculously pretty.
Seeing the actions I took yesterday captured in photos felt different.
So this is how my movements and expressions were portrayed.
Yet, there was something weird about it—
I didn’t feel like myself?
As I flipped through the photos, reminiscing about yesterday’s memories, that feeling lingered.
Isn’t this what they call a self-portrait?
Mental disorders are not unusual for modern people.
What should I do now?
It was 2 PM.
A time that was neither early nor late.
Maybe because I overate yesterday, I wasn’t hungry at all.
What could someone like me, living a life of leisure, possibly do?
I guess I’ll play some games.
Streaming… I didn’t feel like turning it on.
I had just woken up, and my throat was dry.
I also had a desire to raise my rank and surprise the viewers in the next stream.
Perhaps this kind of performance and deep thought is what makes a great streamer.
Therefore, what I was about to do was ranked gameplay.
Focusing on raising my score.
Bahomet: Hello, Teacher ^^
The Great Castella: Mollu is here ㄷㄷ Let’s go!
Mollru: Hello.
I had even grown accustomed to my teammates recognizing me when matched.
The life of a celebrity…
Streaming has a surprisingly significant influence on those around me.
I took on the role of a sniper after a long time.
To be honest, I wouldn’t have cared who I was up against, but the thrill that comes with being a sniper never gets old, no matter how many rounds I played.
Flying around the battlefield and shooting enemies made winning an easy task.
Soon, the tide turned in our favor as the game was nearing its end.
The Great Castella: Dae-sik is on the opposing team, haha, I didn’t know.
Gukbapguninwon Tool: Dae-sik is streaming.
Dae-sik?
Seeing that name, I hit the tab key to check the opposing player’s nickname.
Weapon Master (Wizard) 1/6/2
A boastful nickname like Weapon Master.
That’s not something just anyone would have.
Rare nicknames are usually held by old players who have been playing since the beginning of the season.
Dae-sik was one of them, and I knew him.
I hadn’t properly followed his stream, but I had been a long-time fan.
What a coincidence, indeed.
I felt a bit of excitement to greet him, but the game ended too quickly.
Thinking back, it would have been strange to acknowledge him.
He wouldn’t know me.
It was rather fortunate if the viewers watching the stream didn’t call me a mosquito.
I moved past the encounter with Dae-sik and queued up for another match.
What a coincidence it was.
Dae-sik appeared on the opposing team again.
The Great Castella: Dae-sik is here for round two ㄷㄷ Looks like he’ll get wrecked again.
In the daytime on a weekday, being a Master tier is pretty high.
Since there aren’t many people playing right now, it seemed I kept running into the same players.
It felt like there was another same person on my team.
I felt a little bad for Dae-sik, but I won once more.
His struggling was a bit hard to watch.
Surely, we won’t match up again, right?
As his fan, I felt a little sorry for him.
But I quickly changed my mind.
Dae-sik must be accustomed to such situations as a gamer.
It would actually be worse to delay the matchmaking just to show him consideration.
Abusing the matchmaking system could lead to a ban.
So, when we faced Dae-sik for the third time, I played to win without holding back.
Dae-sik’s skill seemed to be worse than in the first and second matches.
Was his mental state shaken?
I was concerned about his mental health.
With an overwhelming victory, the game ended, and I logged into Switch to join Dae-sik’s stream.
“….”
Dae-sik was just staring blankly at the screen with a dazed expression.
Ah, Dae-sik broke.
*
“No, you guys were hit by a truck. It wasn’t my fault. Mollu, what am I supposed to do when this person is so good?”
Dae-sik quickly regained his composure, acting like a professional streamer.
He proceeded to banter with the viewers in a cheeky tone.
I was quietly watching his stream.
“Ah, I hope I don’t meet him this time. If I do, I’m seriously done for today. Huh? Am I scared? Yeah, I am. You guys think you won’t be scared meeting that guy?”
Dae-sik skillfully quelled the viewers’ criticism.
He adeptly dodged negativity.
As the game started, Dae-sik’s eyes quickly scanned the nicknames of the enemies.
It seemed like he was looking for someone, as his pupils flicked back and forth.
After blinking repeatedly, he let out a sigh of relief.
“Ah, he isn’t here this time. Thank goodness. He’s not someone at this level anyway. What? You’re disappointed that Dae-sik’s ‘educational mentor’ isn’t here? You’re banned.”
Not finding ‘Mollu’ in the loading screen made Dae-sik light up again.
Of course, I wouldn’t be there.
I was watching his stream without playing a game at that moment.
I decided to watch Dae-sik’s stream rigorously as a thorough viewer.
Since I had the chance, I wanted to see his live stream, which I had never properly watched.
I was also curious about his playstyle, which was referred to as the All-Whoop player.
“See, I told you I’d carry when there are only locals! I’m a Grand Master breed. I shouldn’t even be here as a Master.”
At the start of the game, Dae-sik picked an Assassin to demonstrate the essence of a dagger, and he seized control by taking out enemy dealers in a row.
His flashy play restored the viewers’ morale.
[Dae-sik showing off?]
[Here comes the shining Dae-sik]
[89! 89! 89! 89! 89! 89! 89!]
[The nightmare of Season 1, Oh Dae-sik, the nightmare of Season 1, Oh Dae-sik, the nightmare of Season 1, Oh Dae-sik]
[Why China was shocked, Japan fainted, and America wept upon seeing Oh Dae-sik]
[Looking at these guys flustered, you’d think Dae-sik used hacks or something.]
[He’s not bad, haha;]
But my thoughts were the opposite.
“That’s not good…”
It was fine until he took out the enemy dealers.
But Dae-sik was too excited and pushed too deep into enemy territory.
With all skills, including his ultimate, on cooldown, it was a foregone conclusion that Dae-sik, with low HP, would die.
This was a bad play.
If he truly aimed for Grand Master, there were areas he needed to work on.
I left a respectful message in the chat to alert him.
[Dae-sik, when that happens, you should take one and pull back. The frontline is collapsing, so you need to take one and push the lane together.]
But the chat moved too fast, and my message got buried.
“Argh!”
Just as I expected, Dae-sik died, and his team lost the objective.
“What are they doing? I took out two of them! I can’t let this go on. I need to stand frontline.”
Saying that, Dae-sik changed the character he was currently using.
A character change ticket can only be used once per game.
Since it resets the ultimate gauge and can potentially ruin the team composition, it requires careful use.
But he was using it so casually.
However, it wasn’t surprising that he used the character change ticket that way.
What was truly surprising was the character he selected.
“Dual swords?”
The character name was ‘Dancer.’
A woman wielding a sharp two-handed sword, longer than a dagger but shorter than a long sword, appeared on the screen.
With high DPS and agile movements, it was a character in demand, but it wasn’t the right pick in this situation…
The viewers seemed to think the same way, as voices of concern emerged.
[Is this right?]
[Dae-sik, calm down.]
[The Sword King Oh Dae-sik finally pulls out the dual swords…]
[This really doesn’t seem right.]
[Why is he using dual swords?]
Dual swords are weapons that require a certain level of skill.
Due to the fragile nature of the Dancer, if the control slips even once, it’s game over.
Hence, it’s a pick that doesn’t usually come out unless the situation is right.
“No, no, it’s okay. Just watch.”
Dae-sik confidently dashed to the frontline as if there was nothing wrong.
I was anxious.
Sure enough, after slashing a few times, it seemed he was dealing damage, but he got caught by an enemy CC and perished heroically.
The game naturally ended in defeat.
Dae-sik, Dae-sik, Dae-sik…
The chat was heading straight for the abyss.
It was only natural that there were many issues with Dae-sik’s play displayed this time.
I wanted to encourage him one more time, so I left another chat.
This time, with a bit of a stronger tone than before.
Plain chats tend to get buried.
[Dae-sik, don’t you have a brain? Why did you pick Dancer? You should have picked a military character or a wizard instead.]
I didn’t need to point out the control issues.
Those physical aspects don’t improve just by telling someone.
Again, Dae-sik seemed not to see my chat.
He scrolled through the chat with a quick glance and scratched his head before queuing up for another game.
“Ah, you guys were good at the start. It was just a mistake in the middle. It’s doable as long as there aren’t any pros like Mollu on the opposing team.”
That seemed to be right; the opinions resonated.
Though it was embarrassing to hear such flattering words, the majority of the viewers were in agreement.
“This time, I’ll go with the swordsman.”
Why did he insist on picking only difficult characters?
There were reactions in the chat about that, but contrary to their expectations, Dae-sik showed decent play and won.
As Dae-sik’s tension rose from the win, the chat also sparked with excitement.
However, from what I saw, Dae-sik’s play was full of gaps.
This, I should point out to him.
If bad play becomes a habit, it’s more toxic than anything.
Whether Dae-sik saw my comment or not, he immediately queued for the next game.
This round was with the outlaw using a pistol.
He was lucky, as Dae-sik won again.
His nose was held high as an added bonus.
But once again, to me, his play was unsatisfactory.
I carefully crafted another chat.
The next game, and the one after that.
Dae-sik continued to win one after another.
It seemed like he was aiming to recover all the points he lost in a seven-game losing streak today, pushing forward at a fast pace.
In the meantime, there were definitely areas that could improve, so I kept sending chats.
While Dae-sik was playing, I kept typing as one of his viewers.
Suddenly, Dae-sik stopped matchmaking and moved his mouse.
“This malicious guy, you’re so caught. Constantly giving unsolicited advice. It’s annoying.”
It seemed there was a malicious viewer typing in the chat.
Other viewers stirred in excitement for the first time in a while, eager for some discipline.
I was quite curious.
How do major streamers deal with malicious viewers?
“‘Dae-sik, do you have shaky hands? My dog can handle the mouse better than you.’ You’ve been typing that nonsense for a while, haven’t you? Did you think I wouldn’t see it?”
Dae-sik read aloud the malicious viewer’s chats as if performing an autopsy, dissecting each line.
It’s a common method called an autopsy.
But somehow, that chat felt familiar.
I had seen it somewhere before…
Soon, when Dae-sik dragged his mouse, the chat history poured out like a flood.
[Dodging shots like a ghost.]
[Using a long sword like a dagger ㄷㄷ.]
[Is it a wizard (physically)? Why does he keep doing melee attacks at the frontline?]
[The pistol grip is weird; it seems like the outlaw has only four fingers.]
[Did this person threaten you to set off a bomb necklace if they used a skill? Why aren’t they using skills?]
Endless chats popped up every time Dae-sik scrolled down.
I knew who was behind those chats.
That was me.
“You, I can’t let this slide. How good are you to be giving unsolicited advice? Let’s see your skills. If you win in a one-on-one, I won’t ban you. But if you lose, I’ll contact the headquarters and have you IP banned.”
[The Weapon Master Oh Dae-sik’s sword dance ㄷㄷ That can’t be blocked.]
[Dae-sik has caught the real one.]
[This is a proper edgy stream today, woah woah.]
Given that he even mentioned an IP ban, he seemed quite furious.
This isn’t good.
Instead of waking Dae-sik up, the situation was only making him angrier.
Dae-sik, pouting, scrolled down to the end of the malicious chatter.
Finally, the name of the viewer appeared.
‘Mollru’
Dae-sik stared blankly at the name that boldly emerged.
“Uh…?”
