The shaking of the camera was no exaggeration. The girl on screen was literally shaking her webcam in frustration.

[LMAO]
["Mangming's at it again, lol"]
["This is why we love Mangming, haha"]
["She's a total GOAT troll"]
["Classic Mangming lol"]
["I don't get why 'GOAT' for cute animals is used as an insult though"]
["Cat, lol"]
["White Tiger, lol"]

Most of the streamers I’d watched on YouTube didn’t act like this; they just sat quietly, played games, and talked. Seeing this level of energy was a bit of a shock.

"Alright, I'm going to play seriously now, so everyone, stay sharp."

[“We’re not worried, lol”]
[“No need to worry”]
[“Why should we brace ourselves, haha”]
["Isn't Mangnekton just a points vending machine?"]
["But she's a diamond player, though. Why’s chat so harsh?"]

As I kept watching, I learned something new. Mangming was a Diamond-tier player. I didn’t know exactly how high that was, but from what I’d gathered on forums, it was pretty high. Curious, I decided to post in the gallery.

[Author: LondonSecrets]
[Title: Is Diamond rank in Leore good?]
[Content: I really have no idea, but is it high?]

It was genuine curiosity. Sure, Diamond rank would be high for regular players, but I’d heard that most streamers were usually high-ranked, so I wanted to clarify.

Soon after, comments started pouring in:

L: “Diamond is decent.”
L: “Are you watching Mangming’s stream?”
L: “Diamond has levels; Diamond 4 isn’t that impressive.”
ㄴ: “Diamond 3 is where the real skill starts.”
ㄴ: “This guy’s obviously Diamond 3 stuck, haha.”
ㄴ: “Diamond 3 is ‘real skill’? LOL”
ㄴ: “Makes me want to hit something.”

From the comments, I got a sense of Diamond's reputation. It was good, but it didn’t mean “god-tier.”

‘Well, it doesn’t really matter.’

A streamer just needs to be entertaining, right? Rank isn’t that important. Watching others in chat, I felt a sudden urge to join in. Everyone else was typing away, and here I was, sitting silently.

But to join the chat, I needed to log in. Which meant creating an ID.

“Ugh, too much work…”

I hated anything tedious. I almost missed the deadline for my college entrance exam registration because I’d put it off until the last day. Creating an account was a big ask for me.

‘I’ll just borrow an ID.’

I remembered Yeram used to watch streams on my computer, so I figured I could just borrow hers.

[Me: Hey hey]
[Me: Can I borrow your Twyst ID?]
[Me: I need it for something]
[Me: Hurry up plz]

Yeram usually replied quickly, so contacting her was convenient. True to form, she responded soon after.

[Yeram: Huh?]
[Yeram: You watch Twyst?]
[Yeram: You never watch streams, though.]
[Yeram: Got curious all of a sudden?]

Too many questions. Since when did my little sister get to question my interests?

[Me: Just hand over the ID, please]

I kept it short and to the point. A moment later, she sent her credentials:

[Yeram: fkadl1010]
[Yeram: fkadl0101]

She sent the ID and password without fuss, probably because it wasn’t an important account. It’s not like anyone really values an internet streaming account.

[Me: Thanks!]

I expressed brief gratitude and logged into Twyst.

Click click click

The quiet room made my keyboard sounds seem louder than usual.

“The ID…”

Compared to my Leore username, her Twyst ID was pretty tame.

[FusionWithRammusSpikes]

This should do fine, I thought, and started typing in chat.

[FusionWithRammusSpikes: Why would you play like that?]
[FusionWithRammusSpikes: What’s your plan here? LOL]
[FusionWithRammusSpikes: You’re really bad at this.]

It was my first time chatting in a stream, so I couldn’t help but feel a little excited. I mean, with so many messages flying by, it’s not like anyone would actually notice mine, right?

Then suddenly—

"Hey, Rammus Spike Fusion. You wanna die? If you keep throwing shade, I’m putting you in a Mordekaiser ult next time."

“What?”

I’d been caught right away. I hadn’t expected her to notice, so after that, I typed more carefully.

[FusionWithRammusSpikes: Ah, sorry ㅠㅠ]
[FusionWithRammusSpikes: The skill shot missed by a thousandth of a hair, lol]
[FusionWithRammusSpikes: Wow… so close! Missed by 300 HP.]

I tried to stay positive, avoiding anything that might irk Mangming. That way, I could keep chatting without risking a ban. As I was enjoying the stream, I heard the door open.

"Yaaawn… so tired."

"Oh, you’re back."

I gave her a casual wave and kept watching. Initially, I was watching for fun, but now it felt like there were things I could learn. I hadn’t started ranked games yet, so I didn’t know my own skill level, but Mangming was certainly better than me.

Noticing my screen, Yeram walked over as if she’d seen something incredible.

“What’s up with you watching a stream?”

“I don’t know… I was bored, and people said this streamer was popular.”

Staring intently at the screen, Yeram squinted.

“Wait, Mangming? She’s pretty infamous.”

“She doesn’t seem that bad. The way she talks is funny.”

“Well, yeah… but, hmm…”

It looked like Yeram had something on her mind but decided not to say it.

“Never mind. As long as you’re entertained, that’s what matters.”

“Oh, and thanks for lending me your ID.”

“No problem. But why don’t you just make your own? It’d be easier.”

“It’s a hassle, and they don’t pay you to make an ID.”

“You could make money if you streamed.”

“Who would watch me stream?”

“Good point.”

After a bit of banter with Yeram, I went back to watching. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been watching when a thought came to mind. Maybe because Yeram mentioned it—

‘Streaming.’

I wondered if I should give it a shot. No particular reason, just that it might be fun to stream while chatting with people in Ifrit Gallery.

‘It’d be easier to talk to everyone that way.’

It might not be a bad idea to look into how to start streaming once this stream was over. If I did it just for fun, it could be interesting.

Three days later.

I’d spent some time researching what I’d need to start streaming. Since I wasn’t planning to get serious, I wasn’t investing in professional equipment—just figuring out the basic setup.

“Alright, so this goes here…”

I watched some tutorial videos on YouTube. It would have been helpful to know someone with streaming experience, but I was on my own.

It might seem sudden, but I’d thought about it quite a bit. Just doing gallery stuff was fun, but chatting live could be even better.

‘If no one shows up, I’ll just turn it off.’

I wasn’t aiming to become a big streamer. A handful of viewers would be enough to stir things up in the Ifrit Gallery.

With that thought, I continued adjusting my settings. I wasn’t ready to start just yet.

‘At least I should hit level 30.’

From what I knew, you had to reach level 30 to play ranked games. I was currently at level 28, so I couldn’t start ranked yet.

Since I thought it’d be more fun to stream ranked games, I went to the Ifrit Gallery and posted.

[Author: LondonSecrets]
[Title: Breaking news!!!]
[Content: Starting my own Twyst stream tomorrow! Everyone come watch!]

A bit of clickbait might get people curious. If not, oh well.

Soon after posting—

Ding!
Ding!

Comments started pouring in.