Chapter 15: Will We Become a Duo?

I was genuinely curious.

I knew that in this reversed-gender world, women went to the military, but I wondered—did they shave their heads like men?

The thought of women shaving their heads felt… well, a bit strange.

It didn’t seem to fit, and as I greeted the newcomers, I glanced over to confirm.

‘Both have short bobs.’

So they didn’t shave their heads after all.

I had assumed they would, but it seemed I was wrong.

Relieved, I greeted them warmly.

“You’re here?”

“Yeah.”

“Hello!”

For context, the two of them were twins.

That’s why they were heading to the military together.

The older sister was Lee Hana.

The younger sister was Lee Haeun.

They greeted everyone before joining us and settling into their seats.

“Ugh… it’s freezing outside.”

“There’s been so much snow lately. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up slipping and cracking your head open.”

And so, we started chatting as a group.

What have you been up to lately? Anything bothering you?

The usual small talk while playing board games.

“By the way, I’m so jealous of you, unnie. You don’t have to go to the military… I wish I didn’t have to go, either.”

“Even if you want an exemption, it’s not something you can just get.”

“That’s true.”

Seo Yunha, for reasons she hadn’t shared, wasn’t going to the military.

Not even public service or basic training—she had a complete exemption.

I made a mental note to ask her about it later when the opportunity arose.

For now, we immersed ourselves in the board game.

“Ah, if you take that piece of land, what am I supposed to do?”

“You’ll have to figure that out yourself, sunbae.”

“…Fair enough, but that’s such a sneaky move.”

“Excuse me, it’s called skill. Skill.”

We played board games for what felt like quite a while.

“Hey, should we go eat? Everyone seems hungry.”

Feeling the pangs of hunger, we wrapped up the board game session and headed to a nearby restaurant.

It was the same place we always went to when we met up.

The restaurant had private rooms, making it easier to talk comfortably.

Once we settled into the room, the conversation naturally turned to recent events.

“By the way, I got a commission to draw an album cover recently. Do any of you know this person?”

I showed them the gallery photo of Rage’s face, but no one seemed to recognize it.

Feeling a bit disappointed, I was about to put my phone away when—

“Oh! Is the singer’s name Rage, by any chance?”

“Yeah. Do you know them, nuna?”

“Of course, of course. That person blew up recently after releasing an album.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah. I listen to a lot of music, and their new album sold out completely.”

“Wow…”

When I’d looked them up before, they didn’t seem very well-known, so I’d hoped they would succeed.

It looked like they had.

It was fascinating.

The idea that the entire album had sold out was beyond impressive.

“I was wondering who made the pretty album cover. Turns out it was you, Jaehun.”

“I didn’t put that much thought into it when I drew it.”

“Come on, it looks like you worked really hard on it.”

“…Does it show that much?”

“Yeah, a lot.”

We continued chatting as time flew by.

“Ugh…”

What I thought would be a simple gathering stretched on and on, especially since two of the group were heading to the military soon.

In the end, we went for four rounds, drinking far more than I had planned.

Everyone but me was a strong drinker, so it was tough to keep up with their pace.

“Hoo…”

I wobbled my way home and finally made it inside.

Originally, I’d planned to go straight to bed, but something about seeing my computer made me want to draw.

Maybe it was because we’d talked so much about art during the meetup.

Normally, I’d let these feelings pass and just sleep, but tonight the urge to draw was particularly strong.

Naturally, I ended up in front of my computer.

Without much thought, I began sketching.

‘I’ll draw a swordswoman character.’

There was a female character from an anime I liked who used a sword. She was, without question, one of the coolest characters I’d ever seen.

She had so many fan arts dedicated to her that it wasn’t even surprising.

Scritch, scratch.

After finishing the sketch on a whim, I uploaded it to Parangsae and then collapsed onto my bed, falling asleep immediately.

The next day.

As usual, I started my stream.

Before, I would have been lying on the floor scrolling through my phone at this time.

But ever since I started streaming, it had become a habit to go live instead.

I figured it was a positive change.

“Mic check, can everyone hear me?”

[+HurryAndLeave: Yep, we can hear you.]

[I hear you loud and clear.]

[Whoa, why are there so many viewers today?]

[Your status has definitely leveled up.]

[Pepe: Where’s my small and cozy Yotteu… gone forever…]

The viewer count was at 81.

Considering it had only been about four minutes since the stream started, it was an incredible number.

“Where are all these viewers coming from? I haven’t promoted the stream anywhere, but the numbers keep going up.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Probably because of Glim’s stream. Most of us came from there.]

[People joined after seeing you take down Glim with McCree.]

[A lot of folks must have come from the ‘Glim Death Highlights’ compilation, lol.]

[Pepe: Glim probably brought in some viewers by uploading a video.]

“Oh, Glim uploaded a video?”

I hadn’t known about that. Curious, I checked Glim’s video channel, and sure enough, there was a video about me.

It didn’t mention my name directly, but the title, “Taking Down Yotteu” (or something to that effect), made it obvious it was about me.

The video had 100,000 views.

“Why does it have so many views…?”

I was slightly taken aback.

Glim’s channel didn’t have a huge subscriber base, so I had expected it to hit maybe 30,000 views at most.

But 100,000?

[+HurryAndLeave: Well, it’s entertaining, that’s why.]

[It got shared on a bunch of forums, too.]

[Your aim in that match was crazy, though.]

[True.]

[Pepe: So, what kind of stream are you doing today?]

“Same as usual, I think. Probably an art stream.”

The commission I’d gotten today was one I could work on during the stream, so I figured that’s what I’d do.

As soon as I said that, the chat shifted slightly.

[Ah.]

[Can’t we get just one game today…?]

[I came to watch you play. Just one match, please.]

[+HurryAndLeave: If you want games, go to another stream, lol.]

[+HurryAndLeave: This stream is about art, after all.]

[Pepe: Yeah, if you’re here for games, you might want to check out other channels…]

I had planned to do an art stream, but judging by the chat, it seemed like many viewers wanted to see me play a game.

Hmm.

Normally, I wouldn’t give in just because people asked, but—

“How about just one game?”

Seeing how earnestly people were requesting it, I figured one match wouldn’t hurt.

A surprising number of viewers seemed to be very eager.

[+HurryAndLeave: Can’t believe he’s actually doing it, wow.]

[This is it, lol.]

[Glim’s stream is officially over, lolol.]

[User has been temporarily banned!]

[Pepe: Oh, compromising for once?]

“I’m not some stubborn tyrant. It’s about balance. I stream to have fun too, you know.”

It was fun to stream just for myself, sure, but it was far more enjoyable to strike a balance and cater to what viewers found entertaining as well.

[+HurryAndLeave: This is the way, lol.]

[But your art streams are fun too.]

[Chatting during the stream is always great.]

[If only you’d turn on your cam, then it’d be perfect…]

[Pepe: No, no cams allowed!]

Taking the viewers’ opinions into account, I opened up an FPS game.

The artwork could always be finished later with a bit more focus and effort.

“Alright, how about we try one ranked match?”

[+HurryAndLeave: Let’s go!]

[Ranked sounds exciting, lol.]

[Didn’t you queue for a ranked match last time and immediately run into Glim?]

[It’d be hilarious if you ran into Glim again, lol.]

Come to think of it, I did run into Glim last time.

I’d given her such a thorough lesson that she couldn’t even put up much resistance.

Feeling a bit nostalgic, I was about to queue for a ranked game when.

Ding!

I got an in-game message.

The sender was none other than.

“…Why is Glim reaching out to me?”

I couldn’t think of a reason she’d need to contact me.

Curious, I opened the message immediately.

The content read:

[Glim1111: If you’re planning to queue for ranked,]

[Glim1111: How about duoing?]

[Glim1111: I’ve been playing a lot lately too.]

“Huh.”

It was an unexpected proposal, leaving me a bit surprised.

To think she’d suddenly suggest duoing.

I had assumed my connection with Glim ended after our one-on-one match.

[+HurryAndLeave: No way, lololol.]

[Glim, Glim, oh Glim…]

[This is truly pathetic.]

[She gets destroyed in a one-on-one and now wants to duo? LOL.]

[Pepe: Losing the one-on-one doesn’t mean she can’t try to climb her rank, though.]

[Rank is important, lol.]

[But if they lose after teaming up, it’s going to be hilarious.]

Though I was a bit taken aback by Glim’s duo request, I didn’t see any reason to refuse.

If anything, playing with her might make things more entertaining.

So I sent her a reply.

[Me: Invite me if you want to team up.]

After all, there was no way we’d lose.