Chapter 920

“It’s Yu Sang-hoon’s first live streaming, so he chose content that would attract viewers, but there are more people than I expected.”

The number would grow even more once the actual stream started.

There were likely people who joined without setting up notifications, and others would come in once the broadcast began or upon hearing rumors.

Managing the stream would become harder with so many viewers. I wonder if it’ll be okay.

Should I be preparing a backup plan even now? The thought weighed heavily on me.

"Turn on the stream, greet them, and then go straight into the raid. Ready?"

"Yeah, but are you sure? We’ve already cleared the story dungeon. It feels like they’re expecting reactions."

"Did you see the comments? Don’t look. There are a lot of weird people."

Yu Sang-hoon frowned as he spoke.

Jang Nam-uk was the worst at games among the four, so he often attracted a lot of attention.

During the editing process, Jang Nam-uk’s failed gameplay was excluded, but no matter how much they edited, it was hard to hide the fact that he was either dead or in a critical state most of the time.

I’d blocked and deleted negative comments targeting party members without hesitation, but I couldn’t monitor everything 24/7, and Jang Nam-uk had read some of those comments a few times.

"So, Yu Sang-hoon must be telling me not to look at the comments at all. There’d be fewer bad comments aimed at Jang Nam-uk, but there’d still be a lot of aggro targeted at Yu Sang-hoon, the tank."

Jang Nam-uk didn’t seem too bothered, though.

"It’s fine. There were a lot more helpful and supportive comments."

"I told you not to look at them."

"I’ll only check them sometimes."

Even as Yu Sang-hoon grumbled, Jang Nam-uk stubbornly refused to change his mind.

Though Yu Sang-hoon was complaining, preparations for the stream moved along smoothly.

Right before the stream started, a device message from Sa Wol-seeum arrived.

[Sa Wol-seeum] Eui-shin-ah, we’re all gathered and waiting for the stream now!

[Sa Wol-seeum] (photo)

The photo showed the inside of a movie theater.

It was just our classmates sitting in the seats, each taking up a lot of space.

And on the screen, Yu Sang-hoon’s channel was visible.

‘Did they rent the theater just to watch this?’

Originally, they were supposed to go watch baseball tomorrow, not today. However, it turned out that my classmates stayed up all night to join the stream instead of watching the game. They even rented a theater for it.

I didn’t expect them to rent a whole theater, though.

It was possible they used class funds for the rental, but considering the seat design, it seemed more likely that Hwang Ji-ho was behind this stunt.

The theater was located in the Hwangmyeong Tower, part of the Hwangmyeong Group's multiplex chain.

Since Hwang Ji-ho had shown a lot of interest in this live stream, it was highly probable that he had used his wealth and influence to secure the theater for the event.

Ding-dong.

[Hwang Ji-ho] Jo Eui-shin, this body rented the theater.

I didn’t even ask, so how did he know to send a device message like this?

I read the message but didn’t reply, and then another message came.

[Hwang Ji-ho] Didn’t Sa Wol-seeum just send you a photo? I thought you’d be wondering, so I kindly let you know.

I debated whether I should ignore that message too, but then I decided to respond.

At any rate, the classmates in the photo looked like they were enjoying themselves, so I decided to thank the "old tiger" for his kindness.

When I sent a message telling them to make sure to feed everyone in the class in case the stream went long, the setup was finally complete.

Our identities were already widely known, but I adjusted the camera angle to avoid showing our faces. I also slightly delayed the stream to automatically apply a mosaic effect to our faces in case anything went wrong.

"It’s the scheduled time."

Yu Sang-hoon took his seat in front of the camera.

Despite the viewership count surpassing 20,000, Yu Sang-hoon didn’t seem nervous at all.

I had known it, but still, this guy had nerves of steel.

Instead, Jang Nam-uk seemed anxious. When I saw his trembling hands, I nearly laughed but stopped myself just in time.

"Hello, I’m the tank. Is the sound okay?"

With Yu Sang-hoon’s voice, the video began, and the chat window popped up.

The chat window was flooded with ‘Hi’ messages directed at ‘Tank,’ shortened to ‘Baha.’

The sheer pressure of the flood of messages made the 20,000 viewers feel real.

[Baha]

[Baha!]

[Sound okay, Baha?]

[Is this your first live?]

[Sound’s fine, Baha]

[Been waiting just for this]

[Baha Baha Baha Baha]

[Look at the speed the chat’s moving;;]

[Baha, is it just me, or is the sound too low?]

[Are those your friends behind you? The room’s huge]

[Is there a bard among them?]

[Who’s the one lying down? LOL]

[No proof, but the guy lying down must be a dark mage]

The guy lying down, presumably Do Shi-hoo, was staring at the chat, clearly entertained.

It seemed like Do Shi-hoo was planning to stream lying down today.

At the moment, the broadcast screen only showed the lower half of Do Shi-hoo, who was lying down.

"Wow, with so many viewers, the count goes up quickly."

"There are so many people, even though we set it so that only subscribers and verified viewers can chat. Are you really going to keep lying down?"

Jang Nam-uk whispered, making sure his voice wouldn’t be picked up by the microphone.

Do Shi-hoo just chuckled, not bothering to get up.

Meanwhile, the broadcast was turning chaotic, even before Yu Sang-hoon had finished his greeting, with various alarm sounds and requests to open the donation feature.

I had thought it’d be fine if I just closed the donation alerts, but I hadn’t considered the subscription notifications.

[Open the donations, open them, open them, open them, open them]

[Look at your attitude toward collecting donations;;]

[This guy failed at Yeonggwang High? All Yeonggwang students leave, I want to be alone]

[Then the tank has to leave too]

[No, let’s just have you leave instead]

[I'll teach you a lesson with a subscription instead of donations]

[Can’t hear the tank’s voice because of the subscription notifications, stop spamming]

[Subscribed but still whining? LOL]

[How can a newbie streamer not open donations???]

[Holding my breath until you open donations]

[A lot of people will suffocate today]

"Hold on. I’ll turn off the subscription notifications and close the donations until I finish my greeting."

Finally, the alarm sounds calmed down.

Yu Sang-hoon quickly finished his brief greeting and introduced the content for today’s stream.

There were comments from viewers saying the greeting was too short, but since there were more people eager to see the content, we let it slide.

While Yu Sang-hoon was putting on the VR equipment, I wrapped up some final setup tasks.

‘There are too many viewers. I should raise the minimum donation amount. If I allow 1,000-won donations, the donation alarms will keep going off until the stream ends.’

As I was preparing the donation settings, the chat window turned into chaos.

People started fighting over trivial things, and there were others trying to stir the mood further.

[Among all the CBT-ranking streamers, you’re the slowest, yet this room has the most viewers]

[It’s the open-broadcast effect. Plus, there are plenty of rankers who don’t stream. How do you know the tank is the slowest? LOL]

[He said ‘among streamers,’ you illiterate]

[Look at you calling others illiterate while talking like a dog]

[Look at the chat LOL, it’s doomed LOL]

[Illiteracy is a disease, leave already]

[You leave]

[How long has the stream been going?]

[Next illiterate person, please]

[Are you not going to manage the chat? Are you not going to manage the chat? Are you not going to manage the chat?]

[Go fight somewhere else]

[Why is everyone so worked up?]

[This atmosphere is ruined, I’m leaving]

[Guess it’s a doomed stream, thumbs up]

[LOL]

[Why are there so many low-level trolls?]

There were so many viewers, but since I was a complete beginner, I still didn’t have proper rules or experience handling this. On top of that, I was the only one managing the chat for now, so it would only get more difficult once the stream really began.

There were several MCNs that had offered contracts to Yu Sang-hoon, but since the formal contract hadn’t been signed yet, I couldn’t ask them for help.

At that moment, Do Shi-hoo, who had been watching the chat for a while, spoke up.

"Hmm, I don’t think we can just leave it like this. Should we call in reinforcements?"

"Reinforcements?"

"I have a friend who manages chat for streams once a week. They’re bored because their stream is on a break, so I’ll ask them to help."

"Who’s that friend?"

If someone with experience managing streams could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

It would be a huge relief if things worked out so easily before I had to make any backup plans.

It turned out that the friend Do Shi-hoo was talking about was someone I also knew.

"Kyoo-yeon."

Isn’t that Namgoong Kyoo-yeon?

Namgoong Kyoo-yeon, a member of the military academy, was Hong Gyu-bin’s younger sibling, a member of the Namgoong Group, and a friend of Moon Saeron. He was also a participant in the irregular luncheon meetings hosted by Jecheon Dae-seong.

‘I’ve been concerned about Namgoong Kyoo-yeon for a while.’

I’d spoken with him before, and although we exchanged device codes, I hadn’t had much chance to learn more about him.

Maybe this would be a good opportunity to get to know him better.

I told Do Shi-hoo that I wanted to ask for help, and he quickly responded.

"Kyoo-yeon was watching the stream too. I’ll give you his ID so you can request manager privileges."

"He was watching the stream?"

"Yeah, most of the kids from the military academy and Yeonggwang High are probably watching. They’re all probably watching together, so the viewership count might be lower than it seems."

It seemed like they were all bored since it was the vacation period.

And the point that the viewership count was lower than expected was true.

At our school alone, more than ten kids were probably watching in the same theater, which would make the viewership count appear smaller than it actually was.

After receiving manager privileges, Namgoong Kyoo-yeon sent me a message before making any moves.

[Namgoong Kyoo-yeon] I’m sending the rules I use in other streams. If you don’t mind, I’ll manage like this.

The list Kyoo-yeon sent contained basic rules like no swearing, no fighting, no trolling, no mentioning other streamers or tasks, no excessive coaching, no spoilers, and no forming cliques.

I made a few adjustments and replied, and Kyoo-yeon got to work, quickly cleaning up the chat by issuing warnings and blocking users.

After Kyoo-yeon did his work, the trolls who had been causing trouble for the new streamer disappeared.

[Namgoong Kyoo-yeon] Streamers usually get a lot of trolls, so don’t worry about it.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Thanks to Kyoo-yeon’s great work, the chat remained calm when Yu Sang-hoon put on his VR gear.

Although there were a few sharp comments, they were quickly overshadowed by messages of excitement for the stream.

Considering the tone, some of the supportive comments probably came from friends at Yeonggwang High or the military academy.

"We’ve set up the chat to show on the VR screen, but there might be a delay in the response. Please bear with us."

After Yu Sang-hoon’s announcement, the PlayerZ login screen appeared.

With the chat flooded with ‘DGDGDGDG,’ we all finished logging in.

Our four characters stood together in the same space.

We were in front of the gate to a boss raid known as the "Newbie Cutter" or "Wall of Wailing," a gate where the screams and tears of countless newbies had left their mark.

It felt as if an eerie aura emanated from beyond the screen.

"Well then, let’s begin the first raid."