Chapter 3: Reunion with Glim

I wasn’t sure if I was hearing this right.

It was such a sudden and unexpected statement that it felt hard to believe.

‘Out of nowhere?’

If someone else had said something like that, I might have just shrugged it off.

But the person who said it was Ryu Arim—a person so serious about studying that she’d been at the library just moments ago.

And now she’s talking about streaming?

“…What kind of stream?”

I figured I’d at least hear her out.

There was a chance she had a reasonable and wholesome plan behind this idea.

When I asked.

“Oh, well… I’m pretty good at games. So, I was thinking of trying something in that direction.”

“…Games?”

“I’ve been playing games in my free time after studying, and it turns out I have a bit of talent for it. People say I’m decent at talking while I play, too.”

“Hm.”

Since I didn’t know much about streaming, I felt hesitant to offer any strong advice.

I didn’t want my words to have an unintended, significant impact on Ryu Arim’s life choices.

‘She’d probably do well no matter what she tries, though.’

With that thought, I finally spoke.

“If it’s something like that, I’ll draw it for you. No need to send me any money. Just think of it as payment for dinner.”

“This feels way too cheap to settle with just a meal…”

“It’s a friend discount. Take it when it’s offered.”

“Ah, okay!”

When I agreed to help, Ryu Arim seemed satisfied.

“Well, what I was thinking about was…”

As we ate jjimdak, we started discussing the type of illustration she wanted for her stream.

That’s when.

“Huh? Jaehun, what are you doing here?”

I heard a familiar voice from beside us.

It was Yoo Ayoung.

She was the class representative, and one of the people that this version of me in the reversed-gender world didn’t particularly like.

In life, there are times when you feel that you just don’t get along with someone.

For me, that person was Yoo Ayoung.

‘I’ve made it pretty clear I’m not fond of her, so why does she keep talking to me?’

Since she was the class representative, outright ignoring her wasn’t an option.

I couldn’t help but sigh as I turned to face her.

“The other day, when I asked you to grab a meal with me, you didn’t respond. I’m a little hurt.”

“Sorry about that.”

“Then let’s eat together next time. I’ve got plenty of time.”

“I don’t.”

“Aw, come on, I’ll treat you!”

“It’s fine, really.”

To be honest, she had a somewhat intimidating appearance—her features were sharp, and she even had piercings in her ears.

As I brushed her off, Yoo Ayoung naturally shifted her attention to Ryu Arim, who was eating with me.

“So, our junior here sees me and doesn’t even say hi?”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!”

“Hey, I’m just kidding. No need to take it so seriously. Relax, okay?”

After saying that, Yoo Ayoung glanced between me and Ryu Arim before speaking again.

“Well then, let’s grab a meal together sometime. I’m always available, so just let me know.”

“I’ll call if I have time.”

“See you next time, Jaehun…!”

With that, Yoo Ayoung left the table.

“…Sunbae, are you okay?”

“Me? Yeah, I’m fine. It’s not like this is the first time.”

“People like her don’t seem to disappear, even since high school.”

“Guess I just have to accept it as my fate.”

With that, we resumed eating our jjimdak while chatting casually.

Two days passed after that.

During that time, I accepted another commission.

Even though my wrist could’ve been sore from all the drawing, it was perfectly fine, so I didn’t see a reason to refuse another one.

The more money, the better, after all.

Swish, swish.

As I sat in my room, drawing on my tablet, a thought suddenly came to mind.

“…Come to think of it, her stream must’ve started by now.”

I remembered that Ryu Arim had mentioned starting her stream.

When we were eating jjimdak, I had asked how she planned to begin.

She told me she knew a streamer who was hosting a tournament, and her plan was to win the tournament, gain some attention, and then officially launch her stream.

That tournament was just yesterday.

To be honest, I was a bit skeptical.

I didn’t know much about internet streaming, but I had heard plenty about how it was an oversaturated market—a “red ocean,” as people often called it.

Still, I hoped things went well for her.

With that thought, I focused on completing the illustration Ryu Arim had requested.

It wasn’t particularly difficult, so I finished it quickly.

Swish, swish.

I polished off the illustration and sent the file to Ryu Arim.

[Me: (File)]

[Me: Here you go.]

[Me: By the way, what’s the name of your stream? I’m curious.]

Since I had drawn her illustration, I found myself curious about her stream’s name.

If she told me, I thought I might drop by and check it out.

While I was thinking about that.

[Ryu Arim: Oh!]

[Ryu Arim: Thank you!]

[Ryu Arim: About the stream name… I’ll let you know later.]

[Ryu Arim: It’s a little embarrassing right now, haha…]

‘That’s understandable.’

Having someone you’re close to watch your stream could be pretty embarrassing.

So, I decided not to go out of my way to look for it.

She’d tell me when she was ready.

A week passed after that.

Not much had happened during that time.

I just kept receiving commissions through Blue Bird as usual.

“…Done.”

After completing the commission, I immediately sent it to the client.

[Me: (File)]

[Me: Here it is.]

A moment later, I received a reply.

[Toxic: Wow.]

[Toxic: Thank you so much!]

[Toxic: You’re seriously amazing at drawing ^^]

[Me: Thank you.]

I replied briefly and put away the tablet in front of the computer.

Lately, I’d been drawing all day long, so it was about time for a break.

“Yawn…”

I wanted to play some games, but since I needed to protect my wrist, that wasn’t an option.

Games could wait.

With that thought, I decided to check out the streaming platform Ryu Arim had mentioned before.

[Twis]

It was called Twis.

The platform had a purple theme.

“The UI’s pretty clean.”

I’d heard that this platform had the highest number of streamers.

And I could see why—just from glancing around, the user interface felt neat and polished.

Thinking that, I started browsing the list of people currently streaming.

“…I have no idea who any of these people are.”

Although I was heavily into subculture entertainment, my interests leaned more toward anime and games.

I’d never been involved in the world of online streaming, which made this a bit of a novelty for me.

It felt fresh, like discovering a whole new side of the world.

By the way.

‘Why are there so many VTubers?’

Most of the top-streamed broadcasts were VTubers.

It was basically a stream where the host used a virtual avatar, often animated.

“…Is it mainstream now?”

Maybe VTubers had become a major trend without me realizing it.

Since I didn’t know much about online streaming, it wasn’t impossible.

Thinking that, I scrolled through the streamer list sorted by viewer count.

That’s when.

“Huh?”

I spotted a familiar name.

It was.

[Glim]

The name Glim appeared.

Seeing it here was a pleasant surprise.

She was the first person to commission me after I came to this reversed-gender world.

Feeling a strange mix of nostalgia and curiosity, I clicked on her stream.

[Viewer count: 4,291]

‘That’s a lot of viewers.’

I didn’t think she was that big of a streamer since her YouTube subscriber count wasn’t very high.

I was a little surprised as I turned on the stream.

“No, you should’ve supported me over there!!”

[Lololol]

[EEEE]

[Dalim]

[Glim, you suck so bad lol]

[“She’s trash at this lololol”]

[“Blaming others for your failure, legendary move lol”]

[User has been temporarily removed from the chat!]

[“Glim, are you messing with us right now?”]

[“Get rid of that horned cartoon character and turn on your webcam. Let’s talk face-to-face.”]

“What do you mean? You should accept that this adorable illustration represents me! Stop asking me to turn on my webcam.”

[“Who’s the idiot that drew that horned trash? Seriously, this is infuriating lol.”]

[“The way she immediately starts using the concept after getting the illustration is legendary.”]

[“But it’s really well-drawn.”]

[“What’s annoying is that Glim won’t say who she got the illustration from.”]

[“We’ll probably find out if we dig through Blue Bird.”]

[“That’s too much effort.”]

[“Dalim”]

[“Glim, seriously, aren’t you going to get rid of that cartoon avatar??”]

[“What’s even cute about you? Smh.”]

[“Though… I kind of want to pinch Glim’s cheeks lol.”]

[User has been temporarily removed from the chat!]

With the rather aggressive chat scrolling by, I could see Glim playing a game.

On the right side of the stream screen was the illustration I had drawn, smirking mischievously.

Now I understood why she asked for a smiling character.

‘So this is how she planned to use it.’

I was briefly caught off guard by the unexpected purpose of the illustration.

“Does anyone here play FPS better than me? This is seriously infuriating. I’m telling you to join already!”

Before I knew it, I had become a viewer of Glim’s stream.

I hadn’t planned to stay this long, but there was something oddly captivating about her.

As I continued watching her stream—

“I’ll sell one of the rooms in the back. If you beat me, I’ll send you a chicken gift card. Anyone confident, join in within ten minutes!”

Glim made a rather enticing offer.