chapter_0010

10 – There’s No Way a Bad Guy Can Be This Cute (1)

10 – There’s No Way a Bad Guy Can Be This Cute (1)

There were an enormous number of chat messages saying I was cute.

It’s something I’ve acknowledged myself.

But hearing it from others’ mouths, in front of over 7,000 people, made me a bit embarrassed.

It’s true that I’m cute.

Is it okay for me to hear this?

… Well, I do admit it every time I look in the mirror.

These days, looks are an asset too.

However, right now I’m just an operations team member here to help with the broadcast.

So I got straight to the point.

“You keep looking for me instead of Rain on Rain’s broadcast, so I was honestly thinking of saying something.”

— Gasp

— Yikes

— Oh no…

“If you just wanted to donate to Rain and used me as an excuse, I’ll accept that. Is there an Acceptance Committee here?”

The viewers cautiously tested the waters, then starting with a few people’s lead, the chat soon filled with the same opinion.

— Agreed

— I agree

— Accepted

— Totally accepted

— Agree agree

“Okay, so you’ve accepted it? You don’t need me as an excuse anymore, right? I’ll be going then?”

I didn’t hesitate at all to leave the call.

At the same time, I signaled Rain to wrap things up.

— Ah

— Ahhhhhhh

— Why are you really doing this lol

— Honestly this person seems to be enjoying it

— Ah my soft rice cake employee-chan

— Momo, free D-Rain!

— Are you really leaving like this?

— She’s really going

Complaints poured in from the chat, but Rain nonchalantly pressed the mission complete button.

It was already agreed upon.

Today I’d just show my face, and properly appear on the broadcast next time.

And so the tower of donations that viewers had worked hard to build up (though most of it was from the chairman) went straight into Rain’s mouth.

Rain’s voice was more excited than it had been in a long time, as if the 4 million won tasted that good.

[Wow, really. The moisture the puddles made is truly delicious. Going out of their way to make excuses to give it. Goddess will work harder to do crazy things. Thank you! Thank you!]

The puddles who had been momentarily focused on me finally realized the mission was completed and burst out in frustration.

— You really

— You’re completing this? Can you handle it?

— Thieeeeeef

— Someone stole my donation ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

— Hey hey… we still have refunds left, right?

— Don’t be ridiculous… don’t be ridiculous… don’t be ridiculous… don’t be ridiculous… don’t be ridiculous…

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 won ::

:: It’ll be hard to digest, so spit it back out? ::

[No no. Eating and spitting is a bad habit. Big Ma who I collabed with before said so.]

Rain immediately activated the echo and started grooving to the background music for the special 1 million won donation reaction.

The viewers’ reactions were mixed.

— You’re lying, right?

— (Crying emoji)(Glow stick emoji)(Crying emoji)(Glow stick emoji)

— (Lying down emoji) I’m not doing this

— Rock bottom

— Arghhhh ㅠㅠㅠ (Glow stick emoji)

— I don’t need a goddess like you anymore!!!

— Is Rain here? The puddle is leaving?

— (Bloody tears emoji)(Bloody tears emoji)(Bloody tears emoji)

— Me

— Yeah~ Just change your favorite and that’s it~

— Rock bottom

— Me

As more and more lying down emojis and rock bottom spam filled the chat, Rain finally lowered the background music and got to the point.

[You know what? I’m going to broadcast with D-Rain next week, puddles.]

— ??

— ?

— Really??

— Don’t lie

— You should say these things earlier

[That’s how puddles reveal their true feelings. Like just now.]

Honestly, it would have been fine to announce earlier that I was scheduled to appear on next week’s broadcast.

But Rain seemed to have anticipated this from the start and prepared to tease the viewers.

Pressing mission complete and making a fuss about how delicious it was were all for this reason.

To pour oil on the fire of viewers who rose up as soon as I left.

The streamer who got beaten up by malicious viewers after coming from America has become malicious herself in less than a year…

[So how about we do a chat autopsy before the one million won reaction? It’s killer. Scary. Frightening. You’re all anxious and trembling, afraid you won’t see Rain’s awesome reaction, right?]

Soon after, confessions from those who feared chat autopsy and reaction bans poured down like rain from the sky.

:: Anonymous donor donated 11,111 won ::

:: The Rain ::

:: Anonymous donor donated 11,111 won ::

:: If there’s only one goddess in this world, it’s you Rain ::

:: Anonymous donor donated 11,111 won ::

:: The Korean hip-hop one top GOAT Rain ::

:: Anonymous donor donated 11,111 won ::

:: I believed in you dammit I believed in you dammit I believed in you dammit ::

Watching this made my spine tingle.

I too had suffered the humiliation(?) of having my malicious chats to the boss autopsied in the past.

But conversely, a malicious viewer who’s prepared to get hit back by the streamer is a true tier 1.

After all, a truly fun broadcast is like wrestling, where you grapple, hit, and strike each other.

If there was a Malicious Academy and I was an invited professor there, wouldn’t I say something like this to the students:

A first-class malicious viewer must be helpful to the streamer’s broadcast.

You must not hesitate to throw yourself in with the intention of creating hilarious YouTube clips.

In other words, all the people who were startled and donated 11,111 won are excellent first-class viewers.

Though those who used swear words or made inappropriate jokes should probably be imprisoned.

Maybe because I had promised to collab with Rain, the broadcasts of the other first generation members that started that evening went without any major issues.

The atmosphere wasn’t much different from usual, with everyone laughing about yesterday’s “Find Rain” event during the pre-stream chat before Part 1.

D-Rain, that is, my story, was being mentioned frequently…

If they’re really curious, they can just watch Rain’s VOD or official channel, or look for cutouts. Any tactless people who go to other first gen members’ rooms to ask about me all get warnings from the managers.

Still, I kept watching just in case, and there were clearly a lot of people trying to get information from Komari and Maru’s streams.

I guess it’s largely because those two have each made mistakes leaking plans once in the past.

It seems many people are hoping they might accidentally give details about me again like before.

But both Komari and Maru are handling it well, as if trying to show they’ve grown.

[Leaves. You can’t do that. It makes things hard for the employee.]

[Are you talking about another woman besides me?! Haa… Maru is so depressed!! I’m going to turn black!!]

Dora is curled up tightly like her nickname “Stone” and not reacting much.

Rain is just sharing some past stories since she has a collab scheduled.

[Employee? What do you need to know that for? Hehe.]

[A good person. Really. Today too, Mi insisted stubbornly. She whined almost like when I first came to Korea. Saying stuff like “foreigner needs help…”]

There wasn’t much commotion even on the Boss’s stream, which I thought might attract the most aggro.

Well, the Boss is very experienced in handling viewers so it’s quiet.

[Curious? Then should we set a mission for our room too? Hmm. How about if we reach our employee’s annual salary, I’ll call them?]

— Here we go again…

— Someone do something about this money-grubber

— It definitely wasn’t this bad when she was a newbie

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiU3kyN2dVY1Z0enlQRXBiMVo3akVZZg

— As the boss, you need to secure a lot of funds~ lol

Anyway, I can see everyone trying to protect me.

Suddenly I feel like I’ve become the company’s youngest.

No, like I’ve debuted as the youngest sibling along with the first generation members.

There was a tendency to try to protect me as an important employee before, but.

Honestly, it wasn’t to this extent.

Is it because my appearance became cute that everyone’s maternal instincts and protective instincts are going wild?

But honestly, I understand the desire to protect.

I can’t even count how many times I touch my cheeks while getting ready for work every day.

Plus, today I was even offered a seat on the subway.

I always stand for 30 minutes on my commute, but suddenly some tall man said “sit here” and moved aside.

Seeing as he asked if I was a YouTuber doing vlogs, it probably wasn’t purely innocent intentions.

Still, I was grateful to be offered a seat and just thanked him.

Compared to before when I’d get scolded by elderly people to stand up, it felt like I was living in a different world.

Of course, what I enjoy most right now is cheerfully exchanging messages with the boss.

[Boss: I’m meeting Rain for dinner tomorrow]

[Boss: You know?]

[Me: I know]

[Boss: Have you thought about what content to do for the collab?]

[Me: Not yet]

I can’t help but smile as the boss, who always forcefully praised me as an “employee who does well without being told,” now treats me like a “friend.”

[Boss: Then should we do Battle Call?]

[Boss: It’s been a while since I collabed with Rain too]

[Boss: We can rotate between you, me, and Rain like this]

[Me: Boring]

[Boss: ??]

[Boss: Why not? You like doing Battle Call]

[Me: If the load increases I have to play seriously so I can’t tease you, Boss]

[Boss: Hey you]

[Boss: Can’t you play a bit more casually?]

[Me: I can play around a little when it’s just you, Boss, but it’s not easy with Rain]

[Me: This is really true]

[Boss: Rain does die in ridiculous ways sometimes…]

[Boss: But Battle Call still seems the most suitable to me?]

Having known the boss for a long time, I think I understand her intentions.

It’s obvious that I’ll have some difficulty interacting with viewers, so it’s like she’s saying “We’ll (lie down and) fill the sound, you just play the game and respond to what we say.”

That’s how it seemed.

[Me: Let’s do Battle Call]

[Me: If I talk a lot I might make a mistake]

[Me: I think it’s better if I talk less like you said, Boss]

[Boss: Okay okay]

[Boss: Let’s discuss the collab details when we have dinner with Rain tomorrow]

[Me: Yep]

After typing the chat, I unconsciously fiddled with the keyboard.

… Did I just use “ng” as the final consonant?

Not “p”?

Don’t tell me I’ve become cute-ified.

I always wore formal clothes to maintain my dignity as an office worker, and tried to always be polite in front of the boss to uphold company rules, so it felt really strange.

Is my mind becoming adorable to match my cute body?

[Boss: Hahahaha]

[Boss: Okay see you tomorrow]

[Boss: I’m going to stream now]

[Boss: Set the malicious missions in moderation]

[Me: Lolol]

The important thing is that the boss’s reaction was different from usual.

Normally she just writes a single “h” as if sneering, but just now she wrote four.

Does the boss perhaps prefer “yep” over “yes”?

[Boss: Don’t just laugh, answer me]

[Me: I don’t want to]

[Boss: Answer]

[Me: I don’t want to]

[Boss: Hey]

[Me: Yep]

[Boss: You answer quickly now]

Testing it out just in case, the boss doesn’t seem to show any signs of getting angry.

Even though I’m being a bit more annoying than usual.

“Hmm.”

Suddenly, my inner malicious instincts stirred.

Is it that you get a pass for being malicious if you’re cute?

I’ll have to do a social experiment after work to find out.

After 2 AM, the number of crazy people increases in any game.

However, there are also office workers who use their vacation days to enjoy games they normally can’t play all night long.

In other words, after 2 AM becomes a battlefield for these criminals.

It becomes a lawless zone that one shouldn’t carelessly enter.

[Hello 1st try, Hello 2nd try, Hello 3rd try, Hello 4th try, Hello 5th try…..]

Office worker Mr. Kim realized that “FinalEducationChickenSchoolMoMo,” who appeared as a random teammate, was a crazy bitch, no, crazy woman of the late night battlefield.

Still, listening to her, her voice was extremely cute and her diction was good, so he wondered if she might be a broadcaster.

[I’ll keep going until you respond to my greeting, Hello 25th try, Hello 26th try…..]

But it seemed like she would just keep saying hello until the end of the game if he didn’t answer.

He had no choice but to dig out the microphone he had stashed away in a drawer and turn on his voice.

“Hello.”

The hellos cut off at the 42nd try.

After a moment, she said:

[Wow. I can’t believe you responded. As thanks, I’ll carry this round.]

Mr. Kim, who didn’t know much about the community or malicious tactics like Signal Flare, snorted and thought:

‘…With two Double Barrels?’

Author’s Note:

I’m not pretending to be cute~ I was just born cute

Yay!