Chapter 3: The Trash Game Genius Who Descended Like a Dancer (2)

“Ahem. Delha, Delha~ Mic’s working fine, right?”

A slender finger tapped the streaming mic.

Streamer: Raidel.

Broadcasting on the platform Soopjijik.

She mainly streamed gaming content.

「Raidel hi~」

「Delha delha!」

「Been waiting~」

「Ah, she’s finally live」

「hihihihi」

The moment the stream started, the viewer count began to rise rapidly.

Raidel’s average viewer count was in the 2,000s.

A streamer well on her way to being considered mid-tier.

This was her third year streaming; first year doing it full-time.

With that much experience, she had a solid fanbase who waited even before streams began.

Confirming the steadily growing view count, Raidel checked the chat.

「So what game are we playing today?」

「O-game-mu?」

「O-fan-mu?」 (TL note: Short for “오늘 팬게임 무엇?”, meaning “What’s the fan game today?”)

“Today’s game? I do have something prepared, but I’ve gotta cook myself a little first too.”

With that, Raidel flashed a grin and winked at the camera.

「Aaaaack」

「Aaaaack」

「I’m gonna lose my mindI’m gonna lose my mindI’m gonna lose my mindI’m gonna lose my mindI’m gonna lose my mind」

「Are we doing a thirst trap stream today? ㄷㄷㄷ」

“Come on, I’m a girlcam—why are you guys reacting like this?!”

With large, expressive eyes and neatly kept black hair,

She had that mischievous-girl-next-door charm, like she’d giggle if you poked her.

Objectively speaking, Raidel was gorgeous.

But contrary to that innocent appearance, she leaned into a laid-back, free-spirited stream style—so her viewers had evolved into full-on trolls.

Honestly, that’s exactly the vibe Raidel wanted.

Unlike typical girlcam streamers, she was serious about gaming, and she actually preferred this cheeky, roast-each-other energy.

‘Yeah, this is what my stream should be like.’

A playful beauty bantering with her viewers.

That quirky dynamic helped her rise from total obscurity to a 2,000 average-viewer streamer by word of mouth alone.

Of course, her stunning looks didn’t just vanish, so comments like ‘so cuuute’ and ‘nuna heueung~’ still popped up occasionally, but Raidel brushed them off with practiced ease.

“…Anyway. Alright, everyone’s here now, right?”

After chatting casually with her fans while browsing her fan café, Raidel checked her viewer count.

It had climbed to 1,700.

That was enough. Raidel tapped her fingers lightly.

“So, today’s game is… one that pretty much every streamer is trying out lately, yeah?”

She launched the game she’d prepared.

Once it finished loading, three bald men appeared on screen.

The twist? All three were wearing roller skates.

And all three were chained together.

「Chain Roller?」

“Yup. We’re doing a Chain Roller full run. All the streamers are on it these days, right? Looked fun.”

「LOL she’s finally doing it!」

「Even Raidel’s on the bandwagon lol」

「It’s true, every streamer’s playing it lately」

「Let’s goooo~」

Chain Roller.

The infamous rage game trending among streamers.

And that was what Raidel had picked for today.

As with most trends, no one really knew why it blew up.

But streamers everywhere were jumping on it and challenging themselves to complete it.

As a game-focused streamer, Raidel knew better than to miss out on these waves.

「But that game’s hard as f*ck… You sure you can handle it, Delbung?」

“I dunno either… But hey, you gotta try it to know, right? Besides, I am kinda known for being, y’know, a g-gamerss…”

「???」

「????」

「Gam?erss?」

Before she could even finish, the chat exploded with sarcastic hooks.

“Hey! Why do you guys always twist everything! I’m pretty good, okay?! What other girlcam hit Master tier in Raid & Master besides me?!”

「Master (six months ago)」

「Not like you’re the only one…」

「Isn’t that kinda old now?」

「Still, props for R&M tho」

The chat’s roast began to cool off after that.

The stream always had a teasing tone, but Raidel’s actual game skills weren’t bad.

In fact, she was pretty damn good.

Though she’d been in a bit of a slump lately, she once hit top-tier rank in the popular game Raid & Master.

She held her own in both trash games and mainstream titles alike.

「So like, what even is this game? My eyes hurt from all the bald heads」

「Please lower the brightness lolol」

It was still a fresh trend, so quite a few viewers hadn’t heard of Chain Roller.

“I don’t really know either. I’m doing this for the first time—with you guys.”

Games like this weren’t fun if you practiced beforehand.

Reading guides or playing ahead of time killed the tension and the stream vibe.

Especially with these ‘cauldron-style’ games, the main appeal was watching the streamer get cyber-tortured.

So pre-runs were a no-no.

“There’s a tutorial? Huh. Guess I’ll check it out first.”

Most cauldron-style games didn’t even have tutorials.

They usually just dropped you into the chaos with zero instructions.

But Chain Roller, surprisingly, had a friendly tutorial.

[‘Chain Roller’ is a cooperative game for up to 3 players. You can play solo, but 3-player mode is recommended.]

A calm narrator voice began explaining.

[As you can see, the three characters are linked by chains. And also…]

[They’re wearing roller skates. Once you pick up speed, you’ll find they’re very hard to control.]

[Your goal is to dodge and overcome various obstacles, and reach that~~~ far-off finish line. Simple, right?]

“Ohh, so that’s how it moves?”

When Raidel tapped the keyboard, one of the bald men started moving.

She pressed the jump key, and the character hopped over a duck-shaped obstacle.

A victory jingle played, and a message popped up saying the tutorial was complete.

“That’s it? Huh… not as bad as I expected.”

Raidel looked a bit deflated.

She hadn’t played ahead or watched footage, but she had heard the rumors.

People saying it was soul-crushingly hard.

There were streamers still stuck on their third day of trying to clear it,

And others complaining their arms went numb from overuse injuries.

But this? This had a tutorial and seemed easy, like a kids’ game.

“Well, at this rate… I could clear it in an hour, maybe?”

「The confidence is insane lolol」

「Oh, sweet dumb Delbung…」

「Can’t wait to see her rage-shoot her desk later, upvote if you agree」

「+1」

「LMAO」

The chat was full of people clowning on her.

Everyone from top streamers to tiny ones had bled for this game.

Most viewers knew just how evil Chain Roller’s difficulty was.

That mellow tutorial? It was bait—designed to lull you before throwing you into the hell that was the real game.

「But is it actually that hard tho?」

A few viewers still weren’t convinced.

Raidel checked the leaderboard from another streamer.

“Hmm. Top 3-player clear time is 4 hours and 32 minutes.

Solo record is… 2 hours and 37.”

Chain Roller had two modes.

Single player—literally just you.

And 3-player co-op.

The 3-player mode was widely considered harder, and its clear times were longer.

After all, being chained together like sardines made things harder than going solo.

“Alright then, shall we do the 3-player mode? Let’s make it a viewer-participation game.”

She glanced at her friends list.

None of her streamer friends were online.

And honestly, she didn’t have that many close contacts anyway—she’d climbed up from nothing.

Given that, viewer participation seemed like the better option.

「GOGOGOGOGO」

「3-player mode falls apart if even one person sucks lol」

「And the troll might be the host lol」

“No way. I’ll carry, obviously. And if someone’s really holding us back, I’ll do some cleanup.”

With that, Raidel created a game room.

“Room name is ‘Game Genius Raidel.’ Hmm, can’t set a password? Oh well, should be fine.”

She had planned to limit entry to viewers only, but Chain Roller didn’t support password-protected rooms.

‘Eh, if we get a troll, I’ll just remake the room.’

Ignoring the viewer complaints about the room name, she created the lobby.

Only two spots available.

And since it was a popular streamer’s viewer game, the room filled up instantly with waiting fans.

“Alright, let’s get going! Time to set a new streamer record!”

Raidel clenched her fist and hit Start, her unwarranted confidence blazing.

---

“Whose idea was it to say this was easy…?”

「Yours」

「Who said she’d clear it in one hour~」

「These guys are all trolls」

「That course is way harder than it looks」

「It’s hard because the controls are garbage」

Her confidence about setting a new streamer record? Long gone.

The current play time: 4 hours.

And Raidel’s position? Still the same as when she started.

「How many times have you reset now」

「Delbung, you fell again?」

「One player’s dragging the team down」

「All three of them are dragging each other down lol」

“Ahem. Alright, maybe it’s time to try with a new group.”

Wiping her sweaty brow, Raidel spoke.

The players weren’t malicious trolls, but… their skills weren’t great either.

In 3-player mode, being chained meant that if one person slipped, everyone went down.

There were countless cases of all three getting reset because of one tiny mistake.

‘No, it’s not just the viewers. This game is just insanely hard.’

Raidel sighed internally.

She couldn’t blame it all on the viewers’ skills…

The game itself was designed to grind you into the dirt.

With all the brutal RNG patterns, one wrong move could send you tumbling.

Even Raidel, who wasn’t bad at games, had made several mistakes and fallen herself.

Still, at this rate, there was no progress.

She needed teammates with at least a little more skill.

“Thank you to everyone who joined. I’ll remake the room with the same name.”

They’d reset back to the starting point anyway—might as well start fresh.

“Okay, if you’re someone who’s ‘pretty good!’ or thinks they’re ‘confident with this trash game!’ then please hop in.”

The new room filled up just as fast.

Chugging an energy drink to reboost morale, Raidel checked out her new teammates.

“Alright, let’s go. We’re clearing it this time. Delbung #3. And… Silverhair Silverhair.”

---

TL Notes:

• 델하 (Delha): A greeting derived from “Raidel Hi.” Fans use it as a catchphrase.
• 하꼬 (Hako): Internet slang meaning a very small-time or obscure streamer.
• 켠왕 (Kyunwang): Slang for “play until you clear the game on stream.”
• 태초 마을 (Taecho Town): Meme for the starting point you fall back to in rage games.
• 겜잘스: Slang mashup of “game” and “잘함” (being good at), used jokingly.