Chapter 5: Art Stream ON

I hadn’t planned on joining Glim’s stream again after winning a chicken gift card the first time.

However, it seemed like Glim was determined to beat me, so I kept joining her stream and participating in her one-on-one tournaments.

I even sent her a thank-you email.

[Thank you so much for always sending me chicken gift cards. I feel like I’ve eaten enough chicken for a lifetime thanks to you.]

Still, Glim seemed like a genuinely kind-hearted person.

At this point, most people would have given up, but her pride kept her challenging me again and again.

In a way, it was impressive.

“Ah, seriously, why is this person so good…!”

[This is hilarious, lolololol.]

[Just admit he’s good and have a drink.]

[Glim, at this point, just give up, smh.]

[Haven’t you lost nine chicken gift cards by now…?]

[Stop losing, you crazy woman!]

[She must be rolling in money.]

[At this rate, send him something other than chicken. He’s probably sick of it by now.]

[She definitely has a ton of cash.]

It didn’t seem like I needed to worry about Glim’s finances.

While her YouTube subscriber count wasn’t particularly high, her streams were flooded with donations, and she frequently received sponsorships.

“Hoo… I’ll send it to the usual place again…”

[Is she clenching her teeth right now??]

[If Glim’s hands and feet are trembling right now, big like lol.]

[Chicken farm slaughterer vs. Glim.]

[Chicken coop operations are thriving thanks to Glim, lol.]

[This is generosity at its finest.]

[Look at these people’s sarcasm skills, lololol.]

I decided to save the new chicken gift card for later.

I’d been eating chicken almost every other day recently, and my stomach felt uncomfortably bloated.

If I let the gift cards pile up too much or lost interest in eating chicken, I could just send them to Ryu Arim.

“Yawn…”

After receiving the new gift card, I checked my Blue Bird account.

[0 Following, 50.4K Followers]

My follower count had certainly increased compared to before.

It used to be around 20,000, I think.

Posting the illustrations I’d completed with permission from the clients seemed to be driving the steady rise in followers.

Well, considering the effort I put into my artwork, it would’ve been strange if the follower count didn’t grow.

Thinking that, I left Glim’s stream and started browsing other broadcasts.

“Anything interesting to watch…”

Glim’s stream was entertaining, but she had a tendency to hyperfixate on one thing when she got into it.

That made her streams less suitable to keep on in the background, like a radio.

She’d also occasionally shout.

As I continued browsing Twis.

‘Wait a second.’

A good idea struck me.

I could sort the streamers by viewer count in reverse order.

‘What do they call them again? Ah, hakko?’

Streamers with few viewers were usually referred to as “hakko.”

Searching for these small streamers might actually be fun.

It felt a bit like discovering hidden gems.

With that thought, I started looking for streamers sorted by viewer count in reverse.

“Huh?”

I noticed a streamer name that seemed oddly familiar.

[Ryu]

The name Ryu wasn’t particularly rare, but it reminded me of someone I knew, so I couldn’t just skip past it.

Deciding to check it out, I clicked on the stream—and I immediately knew.

“…It really is Ryu Arim.”

Ryu Arim was really streaming.

She had asked for an illustration for her stream before, so I had been curious about where and what kind of streaming she was doing.

But I hadn’t expected her to be streaming games on Twis.

Does she have that much free time?

She had mentioned being at the library the last time I asked her.

Thinking it was interesting, I checked her viewer count.

[Viewers: 10]

‘That’s more than I expected.’

From what I know, it’s incredibly difficult to grow as a small streamer in this kind of scene, but she already had ten viewers.

It seemed like Ryu Arim was talented in this area too.

‘She did have a lot of talents back in high school.’

With that thought, I turned on the sound—

“Oh, so you’re going to start something like that here? Fine, I won’t hold back either!”

“Pfft.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

Knowing Ryu Arim’s usual tone, hearing her like this was funny.

‘She never gets this fired up in front of me.’

Amused by this unfamiliar side of her, I typed into the chat.

[ILikeYogurt: lol your skill shots are a bit off.]

There was no way Ryu Arim would kick me from the chat. She couldn’t afford to lose viewers right now.

Thinking I’d use this opportunity to tease her, I continued watching the stream.

“Ugh, seriously, this champion feels like such a brick wall. Sigh…”

[ILikeYogurt: By the way, what’s your rank?]

[ILikeYogurt: I’m curious.]

Where could her rank possibly be?

When I asked, Ryu Arim answered without hesitation.

“I’m Platinum.”

[ILikeYogurt: Oh.]

[ILikeYogurt: That’s higher than I expected.]

Her rank was higher than I thought.

Judging by her gameplay, I assumed she barely scraped into Gold.

Amused, I sent another message in the chat.

[ILikeYogurt: Ah…]

[ILikeYogurt: But your skills don’t quite match your rank, haha.]

I teased her gently, staying just within the line of what could be considered playful.

Part of me wanted to see how Ryu Arim would react if she got angry.

“Hmph… I’ll handle it.”

But Ryu Arim didn’t take the bait. Instead, she began ignoring my messages altogether.

“Cheh.”

She was exceptionally good at shutting me out.

This was definitely the same Ryu Arim I knew. Back in school, she would handle attention-seeking troublemakers the exact same way—by completely ignoring them.

It was clear her instincts hadn’t dulled.

Thinking that, I decided to send one last chat.

[ILikeYogurt: By the way, the illustration is really pretty.]

As soon as I sent it—

“Oh, this illustration? Isn’t it pretty? An older guy I know made it for me.”

[You have an older guy?!]

[Why do you have an older guy? Why do you have an older guy? Why do you have an older guy? Why do you have an older guy? Why do you have an older guy?]

[Of course, I’m the only one left out again.]

[All popular people, please just die.]

[Having an older guy as a friend isn’t that uncommon, right?]

[Seriously, popular people need to die.]

[The illustration is really pretty though, lol.]

That aside, the chat was moving unusually fast for the number of viewers she had.

It seemed like her viewers were especially talkative.

“I hope things go well for her.”

There wasn’t much else I could do to help.

As I was going about an otherwise ordinary day.

Ding!

[Art Teacher: Jaehun.]

[Art Teacher: Are you busy these days?]

A message came in from my art teacher.

Having known them since middle school, they were an incredibly important person to me.

[Me: Not really.]

[Me: I have one commission, but…]

[Me: I can take my time with it.]

While I had been completing commissions quickly lately, that wasn’t the norm.

Artwork doesn’t just come together instantly because you feel like drawing it.

[Art Teacher: In that case…]

[Art Teacher: Would you like to take on an album cover project?]

[Art Teacher: Someone I know saw your work on Blue Bird.]

[Art Teacher: And they want to commission you for it.]

“Oh.”

It sounded like a pretty great opportunity.

An album cover, no less.

I’d always had an interest in music, so I replied right away.

[Me: Of course.]

[Me: I’d love to do it.]

[Art Teacher: Great, I’ll tell them you’re taking it on.]

[Art Teacher: I’ll send you their contact info.]

[Art Teacher: Good luck!]

[Me: Got it.]

An album cover, huh.

Since it was my first time receiving such a proposal, I felt a bit nervous.

Still, it wasn’t anything I was overly worried about.

‘With my skills, it’d be harder to fail.’

That said, I was curious about who had commissioned it.

I was also interested in the genre of music.

Figuring I’d find out eventually, I was drawing when.

“Hm…”

The memory of Ryu Arim’s stream popped into my mind.

Even with a small audience, she didn’t seem bored at all.

It actually looked… fun.

“Maybe I’ll give it a try.”

My computer had more than enough specs for streaming.

Even if I decided to stream, my setup could easily handle it.

Thinking I’d just test the waters, I began searching the internet for information about streaming.

If it didn’t work out, I could always stop right away.

“This should do it…”

I figured this basic setup would be enough.

With that thought, I finished configuring the stream settings.

‘…This feels a bit nerve-wracking.’

It’s not like viewers would suddenly flood in the moment I started streaming.
That’d be overwhelming.

With such unnecessary thoughts in my head, I clicked the “Start Stream” button.

Then.

Ding.

[The stream has started!]

The stream began, accompanied by the notification that it was live.

“Oh…”

It felt fascinating.

The idea that whatever I said from now on could be seen by other people.

It was like experiencing a whole new world.

That aside.

‘I need to edit the stream title.’

What should I name it?

As I pondered, a good idea suddenly struck me.

[Art Stream Day 1 (Mostly chatting, so only join if you’re interested)]

This should keep most troublemakers out.

Satisfied with the simple title, I started drawing without overthinking it.