Chapter 18
Tssss!
Slices of beef were placed onto the scorching hot grill.
Garlic, mushrooms, green onions, and kimchi were also arranged in the empty spots on the grill.
Bubble bubble.
The meat juices thickened as they simmered away, making a mouthwatering sound.
“I’m starving. Looks delicious.”
Taewoo sat down next to Seojun and said that.
Seojun nodded in agreement.
Seojun was especially hungry after connecting to the virtual reality.
‘Normally, you gain weight during senior year of high school.’
The reason is that mental activities like studying surprisingly don’t burn many calories.
They say that no matter how hard you use your brain, it only burns about 1.5 kcal per minute, while even a light walk burns 4 kcal per minute.
Intense exercise can burn up to 10 kcal, but the perceived exhaustion from endless studying makes students feel hungrier, so they end up eating more than the energy they actually spent.
‘Virtual reality is the opposite.’
Though it’s mental activity, it doesn’t feel as draining as studying, so most people don’t experience the intense hunger like Seojun does.
Seojun suspected his low assimilation rate was the cause.
People with high assimilation rates reportedly don’t feel fatigued even after an entire day in virtual reality.
That meant their brains were more adapted to VR, using energy more efficiently.
If so, Seojun had no choice but to burn a lot more energy.
He even found streaming in the real world like this to be much more comfortable now.
“Hello, everyone.”
Taewoo waved at the broadcast camera set up at the end of the table.
- Taewa
- Looks so frickin’ delicious.
- Mouth watering.
- Me too, gimme meat ‘now’.
They each looked at the chat window on their phones.
The current viewer count was in the mid-20,000 range.
Alpaca had mentioned that during peak times, it momentarily surpassed 30,000.
Meaning the stream was a huge hit.
They had switched the category from Travel to Mukbang.
All that was left was to eat and chat casually before wrapping up.
- So that’s why you’re off today?
- Taewoo, finish that and then turn the stream on. Health comes after streaming.
- Taewa
- Why are you butting in there?
Chat messages from what seemed like Taewoo’s viewers popped up.
He was a mid-tier streamer too, so among the current 20,000 viewers, there were definitely many of his.
Alpaca flipped the meat and said,
“You ask why Taewoo is here? I also found it amazing how fate works—turns out Seojun and Taewoo are close friends. The collaboration offer came through Taewoo too.”
- Oh?
- Taewoo you shek, if you had a friend this awesome you should’ve put him on stream ages ago lol.
- For real lol.
“That’s right. I led this guy onto the path of streaming.”
Taewoo tried to put his hand on Seojun’s shoulder, but Seojun smacked it away.
- Parrying even here lololol
- He got stunned lolol
- That’s so interesting. How did you two meet?
Seojun answered.
“I met him in high school, and we became friends. After graduation, we started living together, so…”
But the reactions were odd.
- Kekek lolololol
- Omfg, that roommate was you, Seojun? lolololololol
- ‘That guy’ lolololol
The viewers who knew Taewoo were busy laughing, and those who didn’t were curious why they were laughing.
And then, the other three’s heads turned toward Taewoo.
- ?? What’s going on
- Why are only you all laughing?
Taewoo looked momentarily flustered.
“No, guys, it’s not that funny. Right? Haha. Hey, viewers from my channel, pick up on the cues a bit.”
[‘NoWayJose’ donated 1,000 Won big tip! - travel clip]
A video donation started playing.
Called a “vidonation” for short, it’s a type of donation that plays a Travel clip or an iTube video that doesn’t have copyright issues.
The clip this viewer sent was one of Taewoo’s.
The video played and Taewoo began speaking.
[Guys, you know I’ve told you about the friend I live with, right? This dude’s usually so calm and mature, but sometimes he does things so weird you wonder if it’s the same person.]
On screen, it looked like Taewoo had just started his stream.
[Yes, yes. That’s the guy who scrubbed his phone with soap the other day. You wanna know what he did yesterday? Pfft, well, I had a long broadcast yesterday, right?]
Alpaca and Lee Su-han now turned to look at Seojun. Asking if that really happened.
[So after ending the stream, the capsule was so hot I thought I needed to keep the cooler running extra, so I asked him to cool it down while I washed up.]
[Then when I came out after washing, I found him crouching next to the capsule, fanning it. With a dead serious face. Pfft. I swear this isn’t a joke, it’s a true story. I mean, he could have just turned on a fan, right? Yeah, I know.]
- Is this for real? lolololol
- Is he a sicko god?
- This just completely cleared the earlier donation bait suspicion lol.
- Just don’t touch anything lololol.
- Breaking) Lee Su-han apparently went to check if his capsule broke lol.
- There are so many legendary stories lol.
Seojun calmly picked up a well-cooked piece of meat while firmly stepping on Taewoo’s foot under the table.
“Tch, hurry up and eat.”
* * *
Seojun got to listen to various stories about the struggles of streamers from Taewoo and Alpaca.
And he also heard the success story of Alpaca and Lee Su-han.
Originally, Lee Su-han had been one of Alpaca’s earliest viewers.
Back then, Alpaca was a small streamer who didn’t have the money for an editor, so he had just created a channel and left it idle.
Even during live broadcasts, he had around 100 viewers. That was Alpaca’s past.
Lee Su-han saw potential in Alpaca and suggested they grow the iTube channel together.
At the time, Lee Su-han was a highly regarded editor at his company.
Because of the nature of capsule games, where viewers’ perspectives are free-flowing and dizzying, editors who could cleanly polish that footage into something great were rare.
With the iTube revenue split 50/50 with Alpaca, Lee Su-han now earns far more than he did working at the company.
But back then, he said it had been a risky choice.
Fortunately, the editor’s involvement helped Alpaca’s iTube grow, and thanks to that, the live viewer count also increased.
“An editor, huh.”
Lee Su-han told Seojun that if he hadn’t found an editor yet, he’d even edit Seojun’s videos for him.
Back home, Seojun grabbed a beer can and went out to the balcony to clear his complicated mind.
Beyond the balcony, he could see the plum tree he had planted.
Seojun swept his hand over the cold balcony floor, imagining the brilliant red flowers that tree would bloom.
It felt just like the day he first met his master.
Not a particularly great memory, but for some reason, it calmed him down.
“Hmm. What to do.”
The subject of Seojun’s current worries was none other than iTube.
The people he met today naturally assumed Seojun would start an iTube channel.
Because if you want to succeed as a streamer, you absolutely must be on iTube.
But.
Seojun’s original plan was to somehow enter the Rios Tournament, win it, get his capsule, and then quit streaming.
That’s why he started in the first place.
The problem is.
Streaming is fun.
Playing games together with people is fun.
Watching his gameplay, reacting in all sorts of ways, teasing each other, and sharing the experience—
It’s fun.
Psht.
Click.
Seojun cracked open the beer can and gulped it down.
Then he stared out blankly and said,
“Was I… lonely?”
Maybe that was it.
To remember a past life—
It’s like having a hometown you long for your entire life, but can never return to.
“What should I do.”
It was a day when his thoughts ran deep.
At times like this, keep it simple.
“I should go to the gym, it’s been a while.”
He needed to move his body.
* * *
Lee Dong-soo was a starting player on a famous pro gaming team.
He woke up early and arrived at a gym frequented by many celebrities.
His team had achieved second place in this year’s world championships—a respectable, perhaps even outstanding result.
But in the world of sports, anything less than first place is meaningless.
The coach, preparing for next year, ordered each player to undergo drastic and specific special training.
For Lee Dong-soo, the special training was to learn how to fight in the real world.
‘Might as well build up stamina too.’
The team’s front office, through inquiries, found a gym that guaranteed privacy to the point where many famous celebrities attended, while also teaching martial artists.
Of course, there wasn’t anything particularly special about it.
The people who worked out there just quietly did their own thing and left. The athletes were a bit noisy, but full of heart, that was all.
“Dong-soo, you’re here? Go hit the treadmill.”
The gym’s owner looked down at Lee Dong-soo.
He was disgustingly tall and bulky, with a rough-looking face.
“Come on, Boss. Again today?”
“Yes. This isn’t virtual reality, so your real-life stamina has to come first.”
Lee Dong-soo felt discontent at those words.
It had only been two weeks since he started coming here, but still.
“No, even so, sticking to only basics and cardio is too much.”
He couldn’t tolerate this treatment any longer.
He was a pro.
A pro from the second-strongest team in the world.
Sure, there’s a difference between virtual reality and reality, but with his level of skill, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say he had mastered the art of handling a body.
In the game, weren’t pros supposed to adapt by fully perceiving every changing physical stat?
“I want to learn real combat. Huh?”
The owner snorted.
Then, as if placating a troublesome kid, he waved his hand and said,
“Fine, fine. You can do some sparring today, roughly. So go run on the treadmill first.”
“Awesome! Then can I pick my sparring partner?”
“Go ahead. You can’t beat any of them anyway.”
Whew, whew.
Excited, Lee Dong-soo started running more passionately than usual.
He was 18 years old.
He had dropped out of school and lived as an outstanding pro player, but at his core, he was a hot-blooded high schooler.
‘Bring it on.’
The opponent he’d face today might be a martial artist, but he was seriously confident he could win.
Lately, he felt his body had gotten significantly better from exercising.
As he ran, he started scanning the people. Who would be best to fight first?
‘As long as there isn’t too much of a weight class difference…’
Just then.
The entrance door opened, and someone who oddly resembled the streamer he saw yesterday walked in.
That annoyingly handsome face.
It wasn’t just a resemblance—it was him.
The streamer whose play his teammate had made a huge fuss about, whom he’d briefly seen in a clip because he was supposedly so amazing.
‘He wasn’t that good.’
Thanks to his teammate and close hyung, he knew way more than he wanted to about this streamer named Seojun.
‘His face is literally just like his avatar. Anyway, wasn’t he a small streamer who only just started three days ago? How’d he get in here?’
Whatever, it didn’t matter.
Seeing him greet the owner, they seemed close.
And he didn’t look particularly muscular either.
‘Perfect.’
He was the ideal first sparring partner.