Streamer Taker, real name Jang Gun-hee.
He was exceptionally good at grasping the zeitgeist.
What is zeitgeist, you ask? It’s the trend or tendency of the time—essentially, the flow of the era.
Now, what is the flow of the era? Simply put, it’s like the meta in a game.
Strategies or trends. The heroes or combinations that are known to be the most effective in the current era. You know, that meta when someone says, “These days, it’s all about the ~~ meta.”
Like a gamer excelling in meta analysis, Taker had the ability to quickly gauge the zeitgeist and trends in broadcasting better than anyone else.
By his judgment, the current trend in personal broadcasting was…
[Yesterday’s Kayak Tube Summary lol]
[Owner, why aren’t you broadcasting these days?]
[Summarizing, the teacher is a super mega beauty that looks like Camilla (with a giant baby food dispenser), right?]
It was Kayak.
According to his analysis, which he concluded after wandering through various community sites, Kayak, surprisingly, was exerting an influence in the internet broadcasting world greater than the latest trending memes.
‘It feels like a plague is spreading.’
This expression may sound a bit over the top, but Taker thought it was the most fitting. Just like the plague devoured the medieval times, Kayak’s influence was gradually expanding, starting from her stronghold, the Abyss Gallery.
The funny part was that the very person at the center of this chaos seemed completely unaware and uninterested.
Some people would lose their minds over popularity they couldn’t attain, while others would desperately seek attention, even hiring community sidekicks, yet she had effortlessly snagged it.
‘Maybe not effortlessly.’
Taker corrected his earlier thought. Thinking it over, it wasn’t an easy feat. Kayak’s rise could only be described as bizarre, bordering on the freakish.
Now, what was once a mere nuisance became her strength.
To a first-time encounter, she had a captivating character; to those who had known her before, she had both a familiar yet fresh persona.
Well, those things didn’t matter much to Taker. Whether she appeared as an actress in Taker’s broadcasts before starting her own, or climbed the ranks in Taker’s Abyss Streamer Battle, those were all stories of the past.
What mattered was the now. Right now. Not the past, not the future, but this very moment.
Kayak was riding a steady rise, basking in peak popularity even to this day. Taker suspected that, barring any unforeseen events, this upward trend would continue indefinitely.
The Taker speculated that, barring any major incidents, this upward trend seemed likely to continue indefinitely.
If that were to happen, the Kayak could potentially shatter the four-power structure of the powerful conglomerates known as the Twishi Four, which included the Taker.
When analyzing the ever-increasing viewership, it didn’t seem like a far-off future, providing the Taker with a refreshing jolt of motivation.
“VTube is saying that when this person appears, the view count is great…”
Battles with actors or Abyss streamer competitions were particularly well-received whenever the Kayak was involved.
Many comments asked, “Who is this person?” while groups that looked like Kayak’s fan club frequently showed up to wreak havoc with likes.
That was a long-winded preamble.
To summarize:
The Taker was adept at reading the times, and the current trend was the Kayak.
Thus, he decided to ride the Kayak coin wave.
This meant that, for future content, he planned to prioritize bringing in the Kayak as the first guest.
“A reasonable choice, right?”
Honestly, people often wondered why the Taker was included among the Twishi Four, as he was mostly seen as boring—yet he was still around in the broadcasting scene, and this was the reason.
He valued practicality over emotions. If something felt off, he would flexibly change direction and keep an open mind.
The broadcasting world’s buzz shifts quickly. It heats up rapidly and cools down just as fast. Only those who could keep pace with such rapid changes could survive in the industry.
This mindset has kept him at the top tier of broadcasters.
His information gathering could be potentially risky for a broadcaster. He was often doing community scouting, a behavior that could lead to indecision.
Anyway, the Taker was out once again, exploring communities, and was creating an overall framework for his broadcasts.
Sadly, he faced one significant problem.
“[I’ll hold my breath until the Kayak starts streaming!]”
“What is this person up to these days…?”
The very target he decided to ride the coin with, the Kayak, wasn’t even turning on her stream.
First, you have to start streaming before you can reach out or make contact. You can’t ask someone who’s resting to appear in your content, can you?
The Taker thought this and quietly bided his time.
*
“So, what I was saying was…”
“Do you know Dr. Hong?”
“Today, we’re at a comic cafe in Seo-gu, Incheon—”
Swipe, swipe, swipe.
Each time he raised his finger, a new video with a different topic played.
A new video with a different theme starts playing.
It’s a short video, about a minute long, that’s typical for VTube Shorts.
I lay on my bed blankly staring at it, even though it wasn’t particularly entertaining. I just couldn’t muster the motivation to do anything else.
“Why is the eagle’s beak yellow? According to Dr. Hank from Johns Hopkins University—”
“Oh….”
When it got boring, I’d skip to another video, and if it caught my interest a little, I’d observe it. It felt like my brain was melting. But honestly, there’s nothing better than just lounging around.
Maybe I’m in a burnout phase. I don’t know why, but I just wanted to loaf around endlessly.
I left a notice for the viewers stating that I’d be taking an indefinite break. Was that five days ago? I stopped reading the comments two days ago. It hurt my heart a little to know I couldn’t meet the expectations of those who wanted me.
Why can I just broadcast from my room, yet even that feels impossible? I’ve grown lazy now that I can live comfortably.
Even while trying to pinpoint the cause, nothing particularly stood out. I couldn’t figure out why there was a demon in my heart.
If I had to estimate the timing, it hadn’t been too long. I was fine until I watched the conference broadcast… I suppose it all started when the Snowflake Queen Camilla made her appearance.
At that time, hmm, Camilla had gotten a buff and had become super strong, bragging in front of people. It was a good time.
I couldn’t comprehend why everything had turned so weird. For some reason, I didn’t feel like playing Camilla, which meant I didn’t have the urge to play the Abyss either, leading to this miraculous three-step logic of not broadcasting at all.
“I don’t feel like playing Camilla…?”
The primary reason was an extremely serious issue. Why? This had never happened before. Rain or shine, I never felt any monotony playing Camilla.
Even when Camilla was stuck in Tier 5 or plagued by bugs, I had always been devoted to playing Camilla.
But suddenly, why? Even though a nerf was confirmed, I got an enormous buff and an all-time great beautiful skin. Why…?
I sighed deeply in thought, then decided to try a different approach, not exactly a solution.
I decided to ask the viewers directly. Instead of wrestling with my ideas, sharing my symptoms and asking for input from everyone seemed much better, given that they all cared about my situation.
Everyone thinks of my work as their own, so I should seriously consider it.
So, I turned on the broadcast after a long time.
*
[The world is back on… The world is back on… The world is back on…]
[It’s warm… Is this broadcasting? It’s warm… Is this broadcasting? It’s warm… Is this broadcasting?]
[What have you been doing all this time, what have you been doing all this time, what have you been doing all this time, what have you been doing all this time]
[Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you]
It was a broadcast that had started 5 days and 4 hours after it was last on air.
After the long wait, the viewers were on the verge of losing their minds. Some of them already looked completely out of it.
As the viewers steadily increased, the chatroom became a mess of madness, with no restrictions in place.
Unbeknownst to me, Kayak was, in a way, like the Lich King of Twitch. With her suddenly disappearing for a long 5 days, the ones who suffered were the unfortunate fellow broadcasters.
It especially affected those who had connections with Kayak, like the team members of the Abyss Streamer Battle or people like Nicang and Yu Hye. Yu Hye, who had faced off against her, had noticeably lost color in her face over the past 5 days due to the influx of rowdy viewers.
Anyway, the viewers were overjoyed and cheered at the return of their favorite broadcaster.
In an internet broadcasting industry full of issues, there were countless people like Kayak who suddenly left without a word after posting an announcement.
Such cases shouldn’t happen anymore. Especially not for irreplaceable talents like Kayak.
That said, most of the gathered viewers decided to ease up a bit on Kayak, sort of like giving her a gentle pat after a long absence.
Whatever she said, or whatever had happened, they agreed to listen generously.
Still, anything like boyfriend rumors that couldn’t be easily brushed aside wasn’t welcomed.
Of course, with a delay of 5 days, there were some raising doubts about Kayak’s purity. But that was merely suspicion and not clear evidence or anything official, so most viewers didn’t care.
That just shows how precious Kayak was to them. Even if she abruptly took a break, stopped broadcasting, or suddenly announced her marriage, they’d still be willing to overlook it.
“Hey, guys.”
However, the words that came out of Kayak’s mouth, after a long silence, were completely unexpected for the viewers who had prepared themselves for anything.
“I can’t feel my heart race even when I see Camilla anymore, what should I do?”
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