Chapter 40: Lusha

After the little incident with Lusha last time, I still felt a bit uneasy.

Even if they had disrupted the stream, they probably had good intentions when asking to play together.

[The stream has started!]

As soon as the broadcast went live, viewers began pouring in.

[+HurryAndLeave: Haha.]

[H]

[Can you play that new game that just came out? It looks really fun.]

[Didn’t he say he’s not playing finished games yet? Why ask for a new one? lol.]

[Pepe: Heyyy~]

Come to think of it, my viewer count had grown significantly.

I had made similar comments before, but lately, I could really feel the increase.

[Viewers: 132]

I hadn’t even spoken yet, but 132 people were already here.

My follower count had also shot up.

‘…If I get too busy to stream later, that’s gonna suck.’

Streaming was just a hobby.

My real work was elsewhere.

But lately, my other commitments had been piling up, cutting into my free time.
I didn’t like that.

“Ahem, hello everyone.”

[H]

[+HurryAndLeave: By the way, when are you gonna start playing finished games?]

[+HurryAndLeave: That’s what I’m most curious about.]

[Every time I see other streamers playing variety games, I keep wondering when LikeYogurt will start.]

[Didn’t he mention his own criteria before? I forgot what it was, though lol.]

[Yeah, he definitely said something about it before.]

Lately, viewers seemed really eager to see me play variety games.

No one had even mentioned it before.

‘Guess all the times I talked about variety games on stream actually made an impact.’

To prepare for the possibility of playing variety games in the future, I had been casually bringing them up for about four minutes every stream.

I didn’t expect it to work this well.

“Variety games? I think I’d need to hit at least 1,000 average viewers first. Still a long way to go… but at that level, chat would be active enough to make it fun.”

No more, no less—just 1,000 average viewers.

Honestly, that wasn’t an easy goal.

Most streamers struggled to even hit 100 average viewers after months of streaming.

But that was the minimum I had set for myself.

With variety games, there were moments where it was hard to keep talking.

At times like that, having an active chat—even if they were just messing around—would help keep the stream entertaining.

“Anyway, that’s not the important part right now. I have something planned for today.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Oh?]

[What’s the plan?]

[If this turns out to be something unimportant, expect immediate retaliation.]

[Pepe: If he says it’s important, then it must be, lol.]

[Face reveal?]

[A face reveal would be kinda interesting, though…]

Some viewers started bringing up a face reveal, but I ignored it.

I had no intention of showing my face.

“I mentioned before that Lusha told me to reach out if I ever wanted to play Reore.
So, I’m thinking of contacting them today.”

[+HurryAndLeave: Oh, Lusha lol.]

[Lusha’s finally achieving their dream, huh?]

[Their wish has finally been granted lolol.]

[I actually felt bad last time when they kept asking and got rejected every time.]

[Pepe: Reore is finally happening, huh? lmao.]

[Victory for the Reore cult! Time to roll call! LOL.]

[Reore is a fun game, after all.]

The moment I mentioned playing Reore, chat exploded with messages.

I had never seen chat move this fast during my streams before.

“Wait, why is everyone so excited?”

Was Reore really that fun?

Sure, it was enjoyable every now and then.

But playing too often was just pure stress, which was why I avoided it.

[+HurryAndLeave: Cuz it’s hella fun lol.]

[+HurryAndLeave: Though, personally, I don’t even like it that much.]

[Watching you suffer in Reore is hilarious.]

[Please continue suffering for us, thank you.]

[Pepe: Lusha and LikeYogurt duo, LET’S GOOO~~~]

[Can we get a bot lane duo? Just once?]

[I wanna see a bot lane duo, though.]

From the looks of it, a lot of people wanted me to duo with Lusha in the bot lane.

But.

“Yeah… I’m not doing that.”

No way.

I could play bot lane, but I knew myself.

I’d get frustrated.

Maybe in other games, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

But Reore? That game always pushed my patience to its limits.

It was like dragging out the worst parts of my soul.

[+HurryAndLeave: Boooo, garbage streamer.]

[You’re making it way too obvious that you don’t wanna lane with Lusha lmao.]

[Tbh, Lusha bot lane is a disaster waiting to happen.]

[Actual catastrophe.]

[Pepe: What do you mean catastrophe? They’re decent.]

[“Decent” (said about a player who went 0/8 in their last solo queue match)]

“Anyway, let me reach out and ask them.”

With that, I hopped into Lusha’s stream and sent a donation.

[LikeYogurtEnjoyer has donated ₩1,000!]

I’m free right now. Want to duo in Reore?

There was a chance they’d refuse, but that was fine.

If they weren’t up for it, I could just solo queue for a few matches.

Ah, I’ll log in right now. I didn’t have anything planned anyway.

“Guess my timing was pretty good.”

[+HurryAndLeave: If the timing was off, this would’ve been so awkward lol.]

[Just smooth things over properly this time.]

[Pepe: The fact that Reore is the reason they got awkward in the first place is hilarious lmao.]

As I waited, a notification popped up.

Sent you a friend request on Reore. IGN is “Lululu.” Please accept.

Lusha’s voice came through at the same time.

I quickly accepted.

“Alright, got it.”

[+HurryAndLeave: I’m actually looking forward to this lol.]

[Try not to fight this time, guys.]

[Don’t rage like last time lmao.]

[Okay, but to be fair, last time was actually rage-worthy.]

[Yeah, that match was frustrating as hell.]

[Pepe: LET’S GOOO.]

A few moments later.

Lusha joined the lobby.

And as soon as they did.

Ahem, can you hear me?

Their signature husky voice filled my ears.

“Yep, I can hear you.”

Oh, wow. Your voice is really nice.

“Oh—uh, Lusha, you have a nice voice too.”

[?]

[What the hell are they doing…?]

[+HurryAndLeave: Ah, yes. Mutual praise hour, I see.]

[This is hilarious lmao.]

[Stop complimenting each other’s voices and queue up already.]

[QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE QUEUE.]

“Alright, let’s queue up. You’re going top lane, right?”

Ah… yeah. Top lane. This time, I’ll show you what I’ve got.

“I’m genuinely looking forward to it.”

And I meant it.

I was really curious to see how they’d play.

After last time’s absolute disaster, surely they’d be taking this seriously.

With that thought, I started the queue.

Ding—!

The match popped almost instantly.

“Oh, that was fast.”

Yeah, it was fast.

[Viewer: Whoa, that queue popped quick.]

[+HurryAndLeave: Am I the only one who thinks this is all snipers?]

[This definitely looks like a snipe lobby lol.]

[The sniper energy is strong in this one.]

[Pepe: Fact: LikeYogurt and Lusha duo will win no matter what.]

The champion select phase flew by without much thought.

Bzzzt.

The game loaded up smoothly.

And then.

[Ally][BQQ]: Oh?

[Ally][BQQ]: Lusha-nim! Hi~

“Huh?”

Someone who knew Lusha had appeared.

It was a bit surprising.

They hadn’t said anything during champion select, but the moment the match started, they spoke up.

Ah… Just ignore them.

There are tons of people like that.

If you react, they’ll just keep pushing for attention. Best to let it go.

“Got it.”

I did get stream snipers sometimes, but not that often.

Compared to other streamers, I barely had to deal with them.

‘Is it because I don’t stream for long?’

Most snipers wouldn’t even get the chance to snipe me since my streams were short—just three hours at most.

In a way, it was a win.

With that thought, I focused on the game.

“Lusha, I think it’d be best if you played a bit safe early on. This matchup isn’t really in your favor.”

I was being completely serious.

Lusha was skilled, but matchups still mattered.

Ah, yeah. I know.

“Got it. Just checking.”

A moment later.

[You have been slain!]

Oh, I actually died there.

Close one.

Lusha sounded completely unbothered.

[+HurryAndLeave: LOL]

[Lusha’s already starting again?]

[This is hilarious lmao.]

[Lusha always dies early, then somehow carries later. Don’t worry.]

[Carries? (Last time, they inted.)]

[Pepe: This is so funny.]

…

I was starting to feel a little worried.