“Is this really happening…?”
A woman muttered to herself with a deep sigh.
Her streaming nickname was Cutie Camilla, or simply Riri. Her real name was Jian.
She was currently walking to a restaurant. An Italian one, if she remembered correctly. That’s what Kayak had said.
Dishes like pasta suited her taste just fine. In fact, Jian would cook Western food at home a couple of times a month or visit a restaurant.
So what was the problem? Going to an Italian restaurant or meeting Kayak wasn’t the issue. The problem was…
‘A blind date.’
The fact that Jian was going on a blind date was the real issue. It was just a content piece disguised as a blind date, but still…
She couldn’t turn down Kayak, her benefactor and mentor, who pleaded with her, saying she was the only one who could do it, claiming there were no other participants available.
‘The viewers are definitely going to go crazy.’
Recently, Jian’s stream had been on a sharp rise. Just a while ago, she had even been designated as a Twitch partner streamer. It was clear to anyone that she was on the path to success, and her viewers were more enthusiastic than ever.
The problem, however, was that toxic viewers had also increased.
A chronic issue for female streamers. The number of people, affectionately known as “simpy soup,” who’d casually rise up had crept up.
It would have been better if they were outright saying, “Oh, Cutie Camilla, it’s uncomfortable seeing you hanging out with other male streamers lately!”
But the truly serious and sleazy folks were the ones who lurked in the shadows, stirring up drama and sending her malicious emails.
‘They’ll say it’s okay while secretly talking trash about me being single or whatever…’
It was an unfair situation for Jian. She wasn’t even a female streamer! She was mostly an Abyss specialist, spending most of her streaming time playing Abyss. Why were they making a fuss about her instead of the many others in the same industry who actually courted these toxic vibes?
Sure, she had appeared in many embarrassing situations during her streams, often looking like a mess, downing energy drinks like they were going out of style, and sporting dark circles under her eyes from all-nighters during ranked games.
It truly was an environment where “simp” culture shouldn’t even thrive. Jian thought to herself that if she were a guy, there’s no way anyone would develop a crush on her looking like that.
If I had been a man, I don’t think I’d feel any romantic interest seeing such a sight.
Yet, watching the soup viewers bubbling with similar romantic feelings, Jian could only feel dumbfounded.
‘…Am I that pretty?’
Such thoughts occasionally boosted her self-esteem and made her feel a bit smug. Especially nowadays, when the viewers were all acting like sweet boyfriends.
Well, even Jian, who prided herself on having an objective view, had to admit she was quite pretty. In fact, during her college days, she was often called the top of her class or one of the three beauties.
Compared to a stunning beauty like Kayak, who didn’t even look human, Jian was also a significant beauty herself. That’s probably why Kayak desperately asked her to come.
For Jian, it was awkward to flat-out refuse. After all, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Jjangmila’s broadcast started thanks to Kayak. The reason the soup was bubbling? The reason sweet boyfriends were swarming her broadcast? It was all because of Kayak who elevated the show’s status.
There were other reasons Jian agreed to Kayak’s request. She was slowly feeling a sense of rebellion against the sweet listeners pretending to be her virtual boyfriends.
She thought this might be a good opportunity to engage in a bit of ant tickling through the so-called “non-virgin behavior” they talked about. The sweet soups were mostly unicorns, so just her appearance on this dating content would have them coughing up blood and leaving for other broadcasts.
Of course, the viewer count would drop a bit,
‘Well, who cares.’
While she felt a subtle satisfaction watching her own broadcast up top, the discomfort outweighed it.
All she wanted was to return to the original broadcast that only the abyss demons gathered around.
The show back then was filled with pure gameplay, where she received criticism, sometimes faced harsh dislike, and got donations of 1,000 won sprinkled with curses, shouting “What’s this woman doing?”
With such thoughts in mind, she moved forward and finally reached her destination, facing the person Kayak had told her about for the blind date.
Thus began the avatar blind date, each with their own purpose.
*
-Oh…
A voice filled with admiration emerged from the dating candidate, Kayak, Kim Sang-yeob.
A voice streams out.
The face shown through the restaurant’s installed webcam was remarkably clueless.
[What, are you seriously showing that much admiration? Hahaha!]
[Who’s the other person? Show us too!]
[Even if they’re pretty, you should be subtly liking them;;]
[Ah, Kayak!!!]
[Kayak’s an average ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[But for Kayak, they’re actually looking pretty decent.]
[I thought someone with a pockmarked face, weighing 120kg, and unkempt hair would show up.]
[Someone like that probably got cut by the Broadcast Host; a matchmaking can’t even happen.]
[With that level, what percentage of Kayak’s ranking is that?]
[About the top 5%, right?]
[Come on, no way, less than 3%.]
[There are currently 20,000 people here, and there are probably less than 200 living realistically.]
[First off, just having a job is unbeatable.]
[Why aren’t you jobless while watching streams? Ah, haha!]
And not long after, Riri and Jian walked in, sat down, and made themselves comfortable.
“Ah, hello….”
“Hello.”
That moment was shared live with me and the viewers.
As Jian and I exchanged greetings while facing each other, a silence filled the air. Sang-yeob made an awkward face and sought help.
“Uh, what should we do, Kayak….”
[Already ran out of things to talk about?]
[Ah, Sang-yeob!!!]
[They look decent, seem to be doing well socially, and I felt weird about it, but suddenly I feel a sense of camaraderie, haha!]
[I trust you, you’re definitely Kayak.]
[Master’s instructions!]
[Riri looks unexpectedly pretty now that I see her like this.]
In the end, it was purely my responsibility to lead the lamb to safer pastures.
As a relationship Pro, I had to save Kayak.
“Okay, Sang-yeob? First, calm down. Lift your head and make eye contact with the woman. Smile warmly.”
What’s the method to win someone’s affection? It’s simple. Human connection.
Many people overthink the connection between humans and think it requires so much skill.
Eye contact and a smile. The most reliable way to show, “I’m not a harmful person, I like you”—that’s the message. They call it flirting these days. This is flirting, and this is expressing interest.
“Uh, Teacher, suddenly? I’m not ready emotionally….”
“Hey, quickly. Make eye contact with the woman in front of you and smile.”
“Making eye contact with the woman and smiling.”
“In my view, our Kayak and Sang-yeob don’t have any major flaws and they look quite likable. Basically, they have a decent impression.”
“This is a significant advantage in the dating market. If someone has a fierce or sinister look, they’re starting off with a negative impression right from the get-go.”
“If your default expression looks angry, it’s hard to even strike up a conversation. In contrast, Sang-yeob has an utterly calm face. And with that likable smile added? That’s game over. The snowball starts rolling.”
“-Huff…!”
“I don’t know why he’s putting so much effort into smiling, but our Sang-yeob is staring ahead with an incomprehensible intensity.”
“It’s the kind of awkward smile that makes everyone cringe.”
“At that moment, I slapped my forehead. Just smile naturally, I mean, naturally.”
“-…? Do you have something to say?”
“Of course, there was no way there would be a good reaction from Riri. She looked surprised and asked when she saw Sang-yeob.”
“-Oh, no. Yes.”
“I hadn’t explained the concept of today’s broadcast to Riri. I thought it would be more fun that way.”
“If Jian had watched my broadcast or looked up information in advance, she would have realized that I was controlling Sang-yeob, but it seems like she hadn’t done either lately since she’s been busy.”
“Well, broadcasts have been going quite well these days. That was good for me.”
“[Teacher seems to be scared instead?]”
“[Riri flustered lol]”
“[I knew this would happen, run away now, Sang-yeob]”
“[Kayaks are just toys that are fun to play with…]”
“[I bet the teacher would have a truckload of confessions if they just smiled…]”
““Just wait, as a dating expert, I’ll show you.””
“I realized that our representative Kayak, the perennial single Sang-yeob, might not be able to carry out my orders as I intended. As a dating rookie, I should understand.”
“So, what order should I give? Looking down at the screen showing Sang-yeob and Jian, I continued to think.”
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