Chapter 4: I guess I’m more talented at aggro than I thought

Streamer Karhyang.

With 300,000 subscribers, she was popular for her striking looks and, unfittingly, her outstanding physical abilities.

Whenever she turned on her broadcast, she averaged about 2,000 viewers.

Now, enjoying the golden age of broadcasting since the advent of virtual reality games, it was ambiguous to call her a large-scale streamer, but she was still considered one of the top mid-tier creators.

The content she had been focusing on most recently was none other than the training simulation.

---

[Ramen Bokkeum-nim has donated 1000 won.]

[Don’t tell me it’s the training simulation again today?]

“Ramen Bokkeum-nim, thank you for the 1000 won donation! Yes~ I have to run again today~!”

-Just how far does this training simulation hell go…

-Please kill me!!

-This damn white room, it even appears in my dreams now…

-Let me out let me out let me out let me out let me out let me out let me out

Karhyang smiled and quickly scanned the chat.

“You know, I only run it at the beginning and then move on to other content. Please wait just a little longer~.”

-If it weren’t for that, we’d all be wiped out.

-Wake me up in an hour…

-Let me out let me out let me out let me out let me out

“Spamming… is a ban!”

-Goodbye.

-One down.

-Let me out let me out let me out let me out (This message has been blocked.)

“It’s a 10-minute ban, so please calm down and come back.”

-Angel streamer.

-But she really has been doing only the training simulation too much.

-FR lol.

(TL Note: FR is “For Real”, ㄹㅇㅋㅋ is “Real Life ㅋㅋ” which means the same.)

The spam was blocked, but the sentiment remained.

The atmosphere wasn’t terrible.

However, the feeling of ‘I want to see other content’ was still being conveyed from beyond the chat window.

Karhyang, who was quietly scanning the chat, gently stroked her chin and assessed the situation.

Her instincts as a broadcaster were telling her.

‘If I leave it like this, all the viewers will leave.’

Eventually, she had no choice but to take drastic measures.

“Hmm… I have been doing it a lot lately, haven’t I? Then today, how about we do it lightly for just 30 minutes?”

-Good.

-Really, please…

-Thankyouthankyouthankyou.

-I’m just grateful.

-Alright!!

“Then I’ll warm up first.”

Seeing the chat window’s reaction soften, Karhyang let out a sigh of relief and rolled her shoulders.

This should restore public sentiment to some extent.

She lightly shook her wrists and scanned the leaderboard hanging on the wall.

Kang Daehan still held the immovable 1st place.

And as she turned her gaze downwards, she saw her own name at 457th place.

457th Cheonhyehyangijoah

(TL Note: Cheonhyehyangijoah translates to “I Like Cheonhyehyang,” a type of tangerine.)

It was an ambiguous rank, neither high nor low.

457th out of millions.

In fact, it was a figure close to the top 0.01%.

Of course, since the rankings reset every quarter, it was ambiguous to consider it an exact rank.

In any case, everyone knew that her physical abilities were by no means ordinary.

So why was she, with such a rank, working so hard on the training simulation more than anyone else right now?

There was one reason.

‘This second quarter is ending soon. I want to get into the top 400 if possible before then.’

457th place was the highest rank she had ever achieved.

The feeling that she could make it into the top 400 with just a little more effort was the reason she was squeezing in time during her broadcast to run the training simulation.

“Then I’ll quickly run it for 30 minutes.”

-Let’s go.

-Let’s break into the top 400 this time!!!

-Fighting!

Karhyang pressed the start button next to her and ducked as a ball flew towards her.

“Let’s go!!”

---

“Heehee.”

Karhyang, no, Lee Semin, was rolling around on her bed, giggling foolishly, feeling incredibly happy.

“399th place…”

The time she had set for today was only 30 minutes.

At best, it was only enough time to run the training simulation about twice.

So she hadn’t expected her rank to go up at all.

But from the start, she felt her body was lighter than usual and her reactions were following well, and in the end, she achieved an unexpected ‘personal best rank.’

399th place.

It was the best record she had ever set.

Thanks to that, she also succeeded in her mission to get into the top 400 and received many donations, but as someone confident in her own physical abilities, what pleased her most was achieving her personal best rank.

‘Now that it’s the end of the quarter, the top rankers will start to ease off, so maybe this rank will stay as it is?’

And even if someone new starts…

‘Getting into the top 400 isn’t easy either.’

Her rank wouldn’t go down.

“Oohehe.”

Burying her head in her pillow and rolling around, she closed her eyes with a satisfied, foolish laugh.

‘Tomorrow, I should switch to a different game right away.’

The viewers were gradually getting tired of the repetitive training simulation.

Today was the perfect timing to wrap it up.

Lee Semin, planning tomorrow’s broadcast, slowly drifted off to sleep.

---

“Paah~”

Karhyang, who started her broadcast on time today as well, stretched refreshingly.

Perhaps thanks to a good night’s sleep, her condition was top-notch.

-Kar-hi (Karhyang-hello)

-Hi hi

-You came on time.

-You’ll stop with the training sim, right?

-Her voice tension is crazy today.

“I hit 399th place yesterday~ So today, right away! We’re going to a new game that just came out!”

-What, is the reign of terror finally over?

-Finally!!!

-Just Light-rahyang. (Pun on Karhyang and “light”)

-Damn it Karhyang, I like you!!

-What are you going to play?

-Thump thump thump thump. (Sound of anticipation)

The viewers were delighted by her words that she would jump straight into a game today.

Watching their reactions, Karhyang deliberately paused.

Now was the time to build up anticipation as much as possible.

“Well? What could it be?”

-Tell us quickly!!

-Proprietor, if you don’t tell us soon, there will be bloodshed!!

-Actually, as long as it’s not the training sim, I’m fine with anything.

Good. This much is enough.

She smiled brightly and raised one finger.

“There’s a famous new game out these days, right? Wild Hunter. Today, I’m going to try playing that-“

---

[Ramen Bokkeum-nim has donated 1000 won.]

[Have you checked the training simulation rankings?]

At that moment, a suddenly sent donation message cut her off.

“Ramen Bokkeum-nim, thank you for the 1000 won donation. Training simulation rankings? I haven’t checked those.”

Why was he suddenly talking about the rankings?

When she checked the name of the viewer who sent the donation, it was a familiar name.

Ramen Bokkeum.

Just yesterday, he was the viewer complaining about her doing the training simulation again.

But when that viewer suddenly talked about the rankings, she felt puzzled.

The viewer’s incomprehensible reaction.

Karhyang tilted her head at that.

-Ah, is it that?

-?

-That looked like a hack.

-Where would there be a hack in a capsule? Did you inject steroids into your brain or something?

-If not, it doesn’t make sense.

-Why, what is it?

-Don’t just keep it to yourselves, tell us!!!

-Everyone’s slow on the news.

At that moment, the chat window stirred as if it knew something.

“Huh…? What’s this, why is the atmosphere like this?”

Karhyang got confused and scratched the back of her neck.

Even the manager, who would usually ban comments unrelated to the broadcast sharply, was now just watching the chat scroll by.

This meant there was something important that she didn’t know.

“Why is everyone talking without me? This makes me sad. Don’t just keep it to yourselves, tell me what it is too.”

-You probably wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it yourself lol.

-FR lol.

[Ramen Bokkeum-nim has donated 1000 won.]
[If you haven’t checked, go in and check now.]

-Check it out.

-I’m curious about the reaction.

-Hahahaha, true.

She couldn’t ignore these reactions.

Usually, if something like this happened, she would ignore it and start a different game as planned, but something was different about the situation now.

If she continued the broadcast while ignoring this, the chat window would keep being filled with this topic.

Then, even the viewers who were trying to focus on the actual game would have their flow interrupted.

That would make the entire broadcast chaotic.

“Hmm…”

Karhyang placed a finger on her lips and pondered for a moment.

-No, I’m telling you to look quickly, hahahahaha.

-You really have to see that, Karah ㅠㅠ.

Eventually, she nodded at the flood of requests from viewers in the chat window.

“Since everyone seems to want me to check, shall we check it right now?”

-Go go.

-Thump thump thump thump.

-Gotta get ready to make a clip hahaha.

Moving her finger to click on the training simulation written on the interface, the familiar white room greeted Karhyang as usual.

“Then, shall we check the leaderboard that everyone is most curious about?”

The leaderboard was easy to check.

The developers had embedded it prominently on one wall, always intending to foster a sense of competition.

‘What am I supposed to check?’

If the viewers were saying this much, there must be something, but she had no idea what.

Her rank would be 399th anyway.

Karhyang, still puzzled, turned her head to check the leaderboard.

She then understood why the viewers had made such a fuss.

Her rank had dropped to 400th.

And the culprit who had brought down her hard-earned rank in less than a day was visible at the very top of the leaderboard.

Rank / Reflexes / Agility / Accuracy / Evasion / Concentration / Total Score

1st Haerang 100 /100 /100 /100 /100 /500

And with an unbelievable score at that.

Eventually, Karhyang, completely broken, could only let her jaw drop and utter a foolish sound.

“Eueh…?”

-Awesome, got the clip! Hahaha.

That scene being clipped and tormenting Karhyang for a while was a fact she couldn’t yet know.

It was no coincidence that the chat window caught Karhyang’s dazed eyes at that moment.

-Wow, Haerang started streaming.

-Where?

-Search on Pajijik, it’ll come up.

(TL Note: Pajijik (파지직) is likely a fictional streaming platform name, derived from the onomatopoeia for crackling/sizzling.)

-Is it that Haerang?

-Dunno.

“Haerang started streaming? Where is it?”

She felt like she would go crazy if she didn’t check right now.

And this broadcast wasn’t the only one on fire.

---

—– Training Simulation Gallery ——

(TL Note: “Gallery” is often used for online forums/boards in Korea.)

Title) That b*stard Haerang started streaming.

Streaming on Pajijik.
(Link)
Everyone check this link.

– Haerang, you’re dead.

– What’s with streaming right after hitting 1st place? Hahaha.

– His streaming sense is insane.

– FR lol.

– Hacker sht.

– ㄴ There are no hacks in virtual reality, you idot.

– ㄴ Maybe they got some basic implants.

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Kim Yeonwoo, who had expected few viewers for her first broadcast.

It’s good if viewers come, and it doesn’t matter if they don’t.

Because it was obvious that viewers would gather eventually over time.

So today, she had just intended to warm up lightly, just to get a feel for it.

5 people.

49 people.

700 people.

The number of viewers continued to rise.

And finally, just 5 minutes after starting the broadcast.

2,458 people.

Seeing that unbelievable number, Kim Yeonwoo couldn’t help but tilt her head.

“…Was I unexpectedly talented at attracting aggro?”

(TL Note: “Aggro” refers to drawing attention or aggression, often used in gaming.)

In the absurd situation, only an empty laugh escaped her.