10,000 Viewers

For some, it’s a dream number.
For others, it may be a number they occasionally hit.
I obviously fell into the former category.
That’s why, in my mind, I set such a promise:
When I hit 10,000 viewers, I would reveal my face.
And now, here I am, reaching 10,000 viewers.

“...How is it that 10,000 viewers came so easily?”

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Huh?]
[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: What the hell, it’s actually 10,000 viewers]
[듀스피 만돌파 ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ]
[This is it, lol]
[How can the growth rate be this fast?]
[But hey, now that we have 10,000 viewers, aren’t you doing some kind of event?]
[It sounds like it’d be fun]
[하린: Wow, it took me three years to hit 10,000 viewers just once]
[하린: I’m feeling so deprived, damn]
[강후민입니다: It’s because he was born with the privilege of being a guy..]
[In the streaming world, guys who are good at games are gods]

Harin, who was in the chat, seemed really envious.
Well, I couldn’t believe it either, so I wondered how amazing it must seem to others who’ve been streaming for a long time.
As I was thinking about that, something happened.

[파인님이 100,000원을 후원하였습니다!]

Congratulations on hitting 10,000 viewers~
Pa-in made a sudden big donation.
Honestly, it caught me off guard.
I didn’t expect such a large donation.
We weren’t even that close.

“Oh. Thank you.”

Even though I was surprised, I made sure to thank him properly, since money had come in.
How many people can donate just because they like someone’s stream?
Even if the amount is small, it’s still right to be thankful.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Wow]
[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Big donation, whoa]
[Pa-in is really filthy rich, lol]
[He must be pretty loaded]
[He’s the first in Twis, it doesn’t make sense for him not to have money, lol]
[Even if he’s rich, giving money to others is a different case]
[강후민입니다: Pa-in is an idiot.. only knows how to donate, the idiot..]
[He probably just wanted to curse but put in a donation to hide it, right?]
[ㅋㅋ for real]

Since last time, Pa-in had given me quite a bit of financial support.
Of course, last time I won the tournament on my own and received the prize money, but still.
I thought about that as I glanced at the chat again.

‘The speed at which the chat is moving is slow compared to the number of viewers.’

When I watch other streams with 10,000 viewers, the chat goes up so fast there’s no time to read it.
Of course, that’s not all a positive thing.
One downside is that the chat goes so fast you can’t manage trolls properly.
Even major companies with at least two managers running their streams face that issue, so how bad would it be for my stream?
That’s why I hadn’t loosened the conditions for chatting.

“I’m sure there are people who just joined and want to chat, but don’t expect me to lift the restriction anytime soon. Wait for a month.”

It couldn’t be helped.
There was no one I could trust to handle the chat.

‘Hwanhee and Hoo-min are around, but...’

One was someone I knew in real life, so it felt a bit awkward to entrust this kind of thing to him.
Maybe later, when the channel grows even more, I’d consider asking him, but not now.
As for ‘강후민입니다’... I instinctively knew it was impossible to leave it to him.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: The new viewers should wait, yeah]
[Isn’t this a bit too harsh for the new viewers?]
[The chat is barely manageable as it is, if I lift the restriction it’s gonna be a disaster, lol]
[When the time comes, they should just join in and flood the chat, lol]
N-temporary ban!
[Immediate ban for the troll, lol]
[강후민입니다: If you really can’t find anyone else, give me the manager role]

“You? There’s no way I’m giving it to you, so don’t even think about it.”

I made sure to firmly warn him, then opened my mouth again.
Now was the time to say something important.

“Alright, alright, focus. I’ve got something to say.”

It was really important.
Something so important that viewers would regret not hearing it.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: What is it then?]
[What’s going on, is there something important?]
[I bet it’s not really that big of a deal, lol]
[강후민입니다: Are you quitting streaming?]
[하린: Are you donating all your donations to society or something?]
[Like you’d ever donate, lol]

I gathered the viewers’ attention and slowly began to speak.

“It’s about this: I made a promise that if I hit 10,000 viewers, I’d reveal my face.”

At this point, those with a bit of intuition must have already figured out what I was about to say.

[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: Brazilian waxing? That might be a bit hard...]
[🗡️전지좆능한크툴루: I mean, if you say you’ll do it, I can’t really stop you]
[Shaving your head, huh? That wasn’t an easy choice... I’ll support you]
[강후민입니다: Are you quitting streaming, seriously?]
[환희: What are you really going to do?]
[하린: By now, everyone probably knows what’s coming, lol]
[하린: I kind of have a guess about it]

Since Harin had been streaming for a long time, he probably knew exactly what I was going to say.
I was relieved he hadn’t blurted it out as I began to slowly speak, wanting to surprise the viewers.

“I promised that when I hit 10,000 viewers, I’d reveal my face.”

At this point, I thought this would be quite a bombshell announcement.
I calmed the chat and continued the stream.

Exactly one week later, it was the day I met ‘강후민입니다’ and revealed my face.

“I’m nervous.”

The thought of revealing to strangers that I was ‘Dama’ from the streams made my head a little hot.
What if someone recognizes me if I pass by?
I thought about that, glancing over at Hwanhee, who was next to me.

“Am I the only one nervous?”
“Seems like it, yeah.”
“How are you not nervous?”
“I have no reason to be nervous.”
“We’re on my stream, you should be empathizing with me.”
“I guess.”

As we continued our pointless conversation, we headed to Gwanghwamun.
It wasn’t like we were going to set up some crazy stunt in Gwanghwamun.
There was a streamer who was close to Harin living near Gwanghwamun, so we planned to stream from there.

‘That way, the viewers won’t rebel too much.’

I had seriously said I was going to make Hoo-min do a weird stunt, but... who could actually do that?
If I did, I’d end up quitting streaming first.

“By the way, I’m curious about Hoo-min’s face. He doesn’t really type nicely in chat, so I’ve been curious about what he looks like.”

I thought the same.
‘What does ‘강후민입니다’ actually look like?’
I didn’t have a very good impression in my head.

‘I just hope he’s not too annoying.’

When you bring someone from the internet into real life, you can’t help but worry about how they’ll speak.
I hoped he’d speak well, as I made my way to the place Harin had told me about.
I took the elevator to the 4th floor.

“Hey, you’re here?”

Harin greeted me.
It seemed like he had been waiting at the elevator.
And then...

“What is this place? It’s pretty cool.”

It was honestly amazing.
From the outside, it looked like just another office, but inside, it was filled with equipment for internet broadcasting.

“Ah, this is my company. They handle all the odd jobs for me, like taxes and stuff.”
“Oh.”

Taxes, huh.
I’d been making some money lately, so I’d been thinking about how to handle my taxes.
I thought this company was worth considering as I walked inside.

“They’ve set up a computer station for me.”
“Nice.”

I had mentioned how nice it would be to have enough computer stations, and it seemed like they really had prepared them.
I thought it was kind of thoughtful, as we set up the broadcast.
Then...

Ding-!

The sound of the elevator stopping echoed, and the door opened.
Inside, there was a very short, gloomy-looking woman.
Her awkward posture was an added bonus.
As soon as I saw her, I could tell.

“…Hoo-min?”

It wasn’t easy to radiate such ‘nerdiness’ from so far away.
I asked in amazement, and...

“…Yep.”

Hoo-min answered politely.
Since I was meeting him in real life, I couldn’t keep calling him Hoo-min, so I had to know his real name.
I asked as politely as I could, not wanting to make him wary.

“Let’s do introductions first.”
“Ah, sure...”
“...Why are you so scared?”
“…I’m not scared.”
“If you’re not scared, at least introduce yourself.”
“…Sure.”

Hoo-min kept adjusting his glasses while glancing at me.
In that moment, I could tell.
Today’s stream was going to be quite a tough one.