Ch. 9

Ch. 9 Broadcast? How do you do that?

NewTuber.

It was one of the top jobs in South Korea in 2031.

There were so many high earners, and anyone, regardless of age or gender, could try to become a NewTuber. There were people who were constantly trying to succeed, hoping to become very wealthy.

For a long time, many had said that it was easy to get started, but hard to become popular.

But still, hundreds, thousands of people became successful NewTubers every year.

And now there was a woman staring at another woman’s video on the screen, diligently jotting down notes on a notepad as if she were studying.

Her long hair was messy, her eyes were tired and her room was a mess. She had not tidied up for days.

All these things showed that she was living like a hermit, but all she did was stare at the screen as if possessed.

Suddenly she murmured in a tired voice.

“This is the answer…”

The popular game.

She had not been able to afford the virtual reality device for Another World, but after watching the video she finally decided to buy it.

It had been less than 10 hours since it was uploaded and it had 2 million views. It was so unfair.

It was not even intentional, it was just a video that someone had recorded and uploaded.

That was all it was.

But her own videos, which she had spent days and nights researching and creating, barely got over a thousand views.

Someone was boasting 2 million views on just one gameplay video.

Even the comments said they would donate and subscribe if the woman in the video streamed.

The video was surrounded by negative controversy about whether it was a hack or not, but the comments were there because the character in the video was so outstanding.

She was nervously biting her nails or her lips.

“If it’s a character, I can do it.”

The name of the woman who watched the video dozens of times.

Kim Ha-yoon.

A NewTuber with 623 subscribers to her personal channel. She had spent all the money she had been saving for months to buy the Another World capsule device.

And now she was replaying the video endlessly, analysing the reason for its success.

It could have been a lucky video that became popular by accident or by YouTube’s algorithm, but usually it was not by accident that it became such a hot topic.

And Ha-yoon had identified a few points in the big picture.

The first point: The overwhelming beauty that drew attention just by existing.

Someone had done it. It was too beautiful to be a character in the game.

It was like bringing a foreign model or actor from reality into the game. She was close to reality.

Ha-yoon decided that she would try to copy every aspect of that character as soon as she started the game.

The second point: Skill.

She didn’t know much about games, but she occasionally watched videos about Another World.

The game was so realistic that the interactions of people hunting or dueling were visually appealing.

She looked at the comments and saw that the opponent was a notorious PK user, and the ability to not allow a single attack was at the heart of the controversy.

“Maybe I can do that too if I work hard…”

Ha-yoon muttered with a blank expression as she watched the video endlessly.

Dodging projectiles at close range with just a tilt of the head was not slow at all, even at the speed shown in the video.

But the character in the video was dodging the lightning bolts as if he knew they were coming.

As she watched, Ha-yoon thought to herself, “This seems impossible…

***

Hack.

A term for a hacking program in the game. Commonly referred to as a hack, and various game texts refer to it as an “unauthorised program” or “third-party program”.

The root of all evil in online gaming.

A system I hated with a passion.

“…?

I read the text on the wiki, and I was sure it meant what I knew it meant.

[I don’t care if she’s a hacker or not, I just want to teach her a lesson ㅋㅋㅋㅋ].

[Why did you write it so obviously?]

[Has she been banned?]

[Another World is so fast at dealing with this, she must have been banned]

But what were these comments?

Am I a hacker?

As I browsed the websites for information about Another World, I ended up visiting several large communities.

Then I happened to click on the most popular post at the top and ironically saw ‘myself’.

No, to be precise, it was me in the video attached to the post.

The author of the post seemed to be the PK user who first attacked me, and the content was about accusing me of being a hacker.

At first I laughed and read the post in disbelief, but then my expression hardened after reading the comments.

They all agreed that I was a hacker.

I wondered if the concept of hacking as I knew it was different in this world, so I searched separately and found that it was the same ‘hack’.

How many times had I quit the games I enjoyed because of hackers before I fell into the world of Dark Ark?

Later, I even stopped looking at the FPS genre because of the hacks.

But.

…what did I do?

When I was forced into the situation of being a hacker, I started to get angry.

Because every comment was outrageous.

The ability to dodge and parry all the attacks.

There were also a lot of comments about my appearance, sexual harassment and criticism of hackers.

Grit.

There was a faint sound of teeth grinding.

There were some comments that made me feel insulted and angry.

How dare they talk back to me in front of me, when I hadn’t seen anyone do that for years in Dark Ark.

I felt a fever rise as I read the comments of the people hiding behind anonymous names in the community, who were like wild colts without reins.

Even if they thought it was a hack, why did they have to sexually harass me?

These comments were clearly about the character in the video, but since the character looked exactly like me, it felt like they were talking directly about me.

I unknowingly signed up to this community site and started rebutting these comments.

I felt awkward typing on the keyboard after years of being in another world, but now I was typing so fast it didn’t matter.

[It’s not a hack? You can do that easily]

[Shit, you trash bastards who are horny for the game character ㅋㅋㅋ You degenerated bastards.]

[What the fuck, why do you think that’s impossible?]

[If you’re aware of the sight on the bastard’s hand with a bow or a ranged weapon, you can see the path, and if you can’t predict that than you’re an idiot]

[If it was a hack I would have been banned, why can’t you think it might not be a hack? Is your head just for decoration?]

I felt the heat on my face, and I didn’t know if my emotions were getting out of control, but I was replying to the comments in a way that even I felt was childish.

I was also replying to various other comments and suddenly turned my head to look at the Another World device in my room.

“Maybe I’m not banned…?”

I took my hands off the keyboard and logged into Another World for a moment.

The sound of Another World running and the familiar feeling wrapped around me.

I felt it, checked to see if anything was wrong, and then let out a sigh of relief.

Everything was normal. There was nothing wrong with my character.

That’s right, the game company hadn’t sanctioned or done anything.

Then I went back to my PC and checked the community, and there were dozens of replies to my comments.

And among them I saw something I didn’t understand.

[You claim it’s easy to match up like in the video, huh? What can you comment on that? I’m also a challenger level arena player, you fool.]

[You’re a cheat-loving jerk who talks dirty all the time.]

[How can you predict the direction by looking at the bow or the muzzle? You’re spouting nonsense with some superficial knowledge.]

[You’re the only one who knows if you got banned in that video or not, but why do you act like you know everything? You are not her. You’re so hilarious, really a thumbnail.]

They all seemed to be trying to provoke my anger with their comments and there was nothing but shitty comments.

And there were even words I didn’t understand.

“What the hell is a hacker-sucking meat soup bastard…?”

Thumbnail.

What does that mean?

I opened another window and searched for the meaning, and was left speechless.

A person who blindly follows a female idol or a female internet broadcaster.

A person who blindly defends a female broadcaster. It seemed to be used as a word to describe such a person, but I just laughed.

I’ve never seen anything like an Internet broadcaster, so why do I have to listen to this?

Besides, It’s myself, why the hell should I follow a woman?

“Ah, damn it.”

I swore without realising it.

Among the thousands of comments, there were hardly any that shared my opinion.

Actually, there were a few, but they were all comments I didn’t want to read.

What does the female character look like, or if she looks like that, I’ll forgive her; they were spouting nonsense like that, and that annoyed me more.

It was pointless to reply to the comments that were full of criticism.

It was a keyboard battle and when I was outnumbered there was no answer.

It felt like I was facing hundreds of people alone, but it was like facing hundreds of ghosts with no substance.

And the comments I made seemed to have the opposite effect. The people who responded to me began to mock me, as if they were excited.

[You say it’s easy to combine? No way, how can you show everything?]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ If you’re so confident, why don’t you turn on the show and prove it?]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at this crazy person spouting nonsense in the comments. Are you an aggro?]

[Those who fall for aggro are stupid, but those who really provoke aggro are the worst].

[I know it’s aggro, but it’s fun to outsmart them ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’ve never seen anyone write comments like that before.]

I was shaking with rage just looking at the comments.

Thud.

“…”

Crash!

I hit the keyboard without realising it as I typed with shaking hands.

Then I finally asked about broadcasting or something.

[Broadcasting? How do you do that?]

[Do I have to tell you everything? Are you a fool without hands?]

Bang!

“Damn it…”

I had nowhere to vent my anger, so I quickly opened another window and started searching for the broadcast.

And as I did, I kept seeing the comments coming in.

The comments were like drugs that got my attention.

I had to look at them, even though I knew they would all be shitty comments.

[Don’t you have hands? Search yourself ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why do you look like a fool? You’re so pathetic ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[You’re probably an iron level and a cripple who can’t get out of the abyss ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Wait for me, you fools. I’ll turn on the broadcast and show to do it very easily.]