Chapter 28: The Struggles of Commissions

The reason I repeatedly hit her with the frying pan was simple.

It just seemed like more fun that way.

The viewers would probably enjoy it, too.

[+HurryAndLeave: Nihao~~~ LOL.]

[This is hilarious, lololol.]

[Beating a Chinese player with a frying pan meant for making egg fried rice… Truly unforgettable.]

[Wow.]

[Pepe: You can’t resist egg fried rice, lol.]

How long had I been smacking her with the frying pan?

[Survivors: 2]

There were now only two people left in the match, including myself.

That meant just one other opponent remained.

[+HurryAndLeave: Now I’m nervous for you, lol.]

[Where do you think they’re hiding?]

[Can you win this?]

[Not making noise while killing people was definitely an advantage.]

[Pepe: Your position is good, so you should be fine.]

The tension was palpable.

As I held my breath, I noticed something.

Rustle—.

The grass nearby moved slightly.

It could have been the wind.

But something about the way it moved felt… odd.

Almost like someone was in there.

Then again, it might just have been the wind.

Maybe it passed through the bushes and shook them as it went.

But my instincts were screaming at me.

There was an enemy hiding in that bush—someone devious and sly.

Click—.

I quickly reloaded my gun and aimed directly at the bush.

[+HurryAndLeave: Why are you suddenly aiming at that spot?]

[Doesn’t seem like anyone’s there.]

[You should probably check somewhere else, lol.]

[Pepe: Where even is the last player hiding? Damn.]

Ignoring the chat, I pulled the trigger.

Bang!!

Red liquid sprayed out from the bushes.

With certainty, I fired again.

Bang! Bang!

And shortly after.

[ WINNER! ]

“Phew.”

I had secured first place with ease.

[+HurryAndLeave: ?????]

[Wait, they were actually there?]

[How did you even know they were hiding there, lol?]

[Wow, that was insane.]

[Pepe: Winner! Let’s go!]

I was slightly surprised myself.

Winning first place on the first try? That was unexpected.

“This game’s pretty fun. I think I could play a few more rounds.”

Initially, I’d planned to play just one match and then move on to a different game, but this one was much better than I expected.

I could even consider playing it regularly on stream.

[Let’s jump into the next round!]

[This looks like it’s going to be good.]

[+HurryAndLeave: Alright, next match, let’s go!]

[Pepe has donated 1,000 won!]

“If you win this next round, I’ll send a big donation!”

“Oh… you really don’t have to do that.”

I meant it.

It wasn’t like I was struggling for money.

Sure, extra income would always be welcome, but I didn’t need it.

Streaming was just a hobby, while drawing was my actual job.

I had no intention of demanding money for something that was just for fun.

And that probably wouldn’t change, unless viewers started stuffing money into my hands out of the blue.

The next day.

Instead of streaming, I headed to a café near the university.

The reason was simple.

“Hey, how’s your stream going these days?”

“Oh, it’s been going pretty well lately.”

I had come to meet Ryu Arim.

Originally, I was just going to call her to check in, but since she happened to be near the university, we decided to meet in person.

“By the way, your stream’s been doing amazingly, hasn’t it? I dropped by your stream yesterday, and you had so many viewers.”

“…Honestly, I have no idea why so many people are watching.”

It was a plain truth.

I genuinely didn’t understand why there were so many viewers.

Sure, it probably had something to do with Glim, but it wasn’t the kind of stream that should’ve attracted such a huge audience.

“Come on, it’s because you’re entertaining, so everyone loves watching you.”

“Well, as long as the viewers are having fun, that’s all that matters.”

I said this while taking a sip of my coffee.

I never used to be a big fan of coffee, but these days, I found myself drinking it more often.

Maybe it was because of all the work I’d been doing.

The aroma of coffee had even started to grow on me.

Anyway, there was a reason for this meeting.

“Arim, about the stream—what do you think about the way we address each other? Are you planning to stick with that?”

It was important to clearly define how we referred to each other.

While it wasn’t a big deal if people realized we knew each other outside of streaming, Ryu Arim might be sensitive about such things.

“Yeah, I think we should keep it like that. On stream, I’ll call you ‘oppa,’ and when we meet like this, I’ll stick to calling you ‘sunbae.’”

It felt strange to hear her call me oppa.

Ever since we’d known each other in high school, she had always called me sunbae, so suddenly being called oppa felt… awkward.

“Alright, let’s go with that. Let’s not make things awkward on stream. Not that I know if we’ll stream together again.”

There wasn’t a high likelihood of us collaborating on streams frequently, anyway.

As we chatted, my thoughts drifted to what had happened yesterday.

The fact that I had gone to a singer’s studio to work still felt surreal.

‘Even thinking about it now, it’s incredible.’

I still couldn’t quite figure out what Rage was thinking when they asked me to work on their audio track.

Maybe I didn’t fully understand their intentions.

Even if they thought my skills were good, it still seemed risky to release an official track made by an amateur without any professional oversight.

“Anyway, I have plans, so I’ll head out first!”

“Oh, see you next time.”

With that, Ryu Arim left the café, and I stayed behind, sipping the rest of my coffee while browsing an audio platform.

I was curious if Rage’s song had made it onto the charts.

Of course, whether it charted or not didn’t matter much to me, but… it would feel nice if it did.
After all, it was a song I had contributed to.

With that thought, I scrolled through the charts.

“Hmm… not there.”

Unfortunately, Rage’s newly released single wasn’t on the charts yet.

It probably hadn’t been long since the release—just a few hours.

The song was good, so I figured it might chart later on.

With that thought, I finished my coffee and headed back home.

Once I got home, I decided to check the comments on my Parangsae account for the first time in a while.

It wasn’t because I suddenly wanted feedback on my art—there weren’t many people qualified to critique me, anyway.

The real reason was that my follower count had grown recently, and I wanted to block any troublemakers stirring up drama on my page.

[Username: Kaname’s Mouth]

[Content: (Artwork attached)]

L: Damn, this is amazing.

L: That’s what I’m talking about.

L: Please, can you draw a tiger beastman? Is there any way you could?

ᄂ: Get real, you idiot. Come on, seriously.

ᄂ: Don’t even bring up something so vulgar…

ᄂ: Instead of spamming comments, just ask them directly, lol.

ᄂ: I did ask directly, and they still ignored me, so here I am, crying.

ᄂ: Ahhh, please, furry artist, I’m begging you.

I sighed. Some things never change.

“…Why do people keep asking me to draw things like that?”

Honestly, I wanted to draw scantily clad women sometimes, but I refrained.

If I posted something like that, I was sure I’d lose a chunk of my followers.

And considering that drawing was basically my livelihood, I couldn’t afford to take that risk.

Anyway.

I should probably address this in a comment.

There were plenty of people who sent me DMs requesting similar things, so it seemed like a good idea to make a clear statement in the comments.

ᄂ Furry Enthusiast: Please, Risaem, I’m begging you.

Lljh22: I don’t draw that kind of thing. Please stop asking.

Leaving a comment like this would probably put an end to most of the requests.
I should’ve done this earlier.

Thinking about how late I was to address this, I moved on to check comments on another piece of art.

L: This artwork is truly amazing. But it’s a shame you didn’t show the breasts.

ᄂ: This guy’s definitely Korean, lolol.

ᄂ: What foreigner would use the word “breasts” for that?

ᄂ: Doesn’t even try to hide it, smh, lol.

L: Please show me your penis.

ᄂ: …What?

ᄂ: Dude, are you serious?

ᄂ: Does he think we won’t understand just because it’s in Japanese?

ᄂ: I translated it. It says, “Show me your dick,” lol.

ᄂ: This is some next-level idiocy, lol.

Why did my artwork always attract comments like these?

I couldn’t understand it.

It wasn’t like I was drawing anything provocative.

My art was just… cool and stylish.

And yet, these comments popped up anyway.

“Phew.”

I let out a sigh and left another comment.

Lljh22: Please refrain from posting inappropriate comments. D:

People who left comments like that rarely commissioned me anyway, so there was no harm in being firm.

Thinking that, I continued checking other comments.

Ding—.

A notification.

I had received a DM.

[PaysWell: Would you be open to a commission?]

[PaysWell: I’d like to request a cool male character.]

“Hm.”

A “cool male character,” huh?

That made me a little suspicious.

People who make requests like this often have ulterior motives.

So I decided to issue a warning upfront.

[Me: No weird stuff, please.]

[Me: Just letting you know in advance.]

[Me: I’m not going to draw anything strange.]

[PaysWell: Ah, of course.]

[PaysWell: Here’s a reference photo. I’d appreciate it if you could base your drawing on this.]

[PaysWell: (Photo attached)]

When I opened the attached photo—

“…Ha.”

It was something that no human character should ever have.

Something swaying inappropriately.