-Friede777 Panel Board-
[Room master, come here ASAP, dammit!]
“What’s the point of making a panel board to share announcements if you just abandon it now? Why aren’t you posting updates or even showing up for the stream? Explain yourself!!!”
[ZekeGarterBelt: Just watch the entire stream on repeat like me, you scrub ♥]
[KimKkaetullaKku: LMAO, that’s the bare minimum, trash~]
[Theminator: Excuse me… is that backtalk?!]
[MidirWhoEatsSister: I’m holding my breath until sis comes back to streaming. Huff!]
[IlgwangSmallSword: They’re already dead, folks.]
[Maybe she’s grinding it out with her boyfriend right now.]
“She seems pretty young, doesn’t she? If a woman at her peak just vanishes without a word, what else could it mean?”
[ToothpickGeneral: Take note, newbie—this is a clear ‘romantic encounter’ angle.]
[Theminator: Shut your mouth, jerk! Our sis isn’t that kind of person.]
[Washbasin: Nope, you’re wrong. Your sister Friede’s been busy getting thoroughly wrecked by now.]
[IlgwangSmallSword: Geez, your wording is filthy. Later, I’ll report this to the master and get you banned.]
***
[Why are Friede’s streams so short, anyway?]
“Forget skipping streams. She clocks out at three hours like she’s a civil servant. Shouldn’t she be working harder while she’s on a roll?”
[TinySavingsBankruptcy: Because our sis is loaded, duh.]
[ZekeGarterBelt: Have you seen Friede’s character customization? This isn’t something a broke streamer could pull off, lmao.]
[FriedeLifeAcademy: It’s widely accepted she’s a rich hobby streamer.]
[SweetGentleGuy: ‘Widely accepted’? More like a nerdy simp headcanon, lmao.]
[Theminator: (info) By the way, check her outfit—there’s no guard on her thighs. Super hot, am I right?]
[KimKkaetullaKku: Leggings under armor? Absolutely irresistible.]
[IlgwangSmallSword: If you look closely, her breastplate has a slit leading right to the cleavage. Seems intentional, lmao. Armor-breast integration FTW.]
[BbaeBbaeKing: Y’all are hopeless degenerates, lol.]
***
[Miss Friede, we’re all freezing out here!]
“Please, let us in. Show us your shining hero self. We’d even settle for seeing you smashing monsters with a broken stick. Oh no… I’m losing feeling in my body!”
[SweetGentleGuy: And that’s how someone died.]
[MidirWhoEatsSister: At this rate, all the thirsty guys here will become corpses too.]
[ZekeGarterBelt: Sis should change her job title from Light Hero to Necromancer Hero.]
[yaSergei: Bummer. What a waste!]
***
[By the way, Friede didn’t even play Soul War yesterday, huh?]
“She’s got guts for skipping streams and not practicing. This time’s prize pool is way bigger than before, and they say every top-tier streamer and elite player is joining. It’s like Armageddon. One week… isn’t that a short time to prepare for the tournament? What if she loses?”
[IlgwangSmallSword: No clue.]
[yaSergei: What else? She’ll crash and burn, lol.]
[ZekeGarterBelt: But if she loses and we get a teary ‘loser self-consolation’ stream, that’d be worth it. I’m first in line for that.]
[TinySavingsBankruptcy: Tears of defeat sound delicious.]
[ToothpickGeneral: The proper line is, ‘Just kill me already.’ Anyway, that’s my vote.]
[SweetGentleGuy: I curse these degenerates in my head, but I find myself liking their comments more and more.]
***
[Hello, this is Friede.]
“Starting the stream now.”
The stream began with a straightforward greeting, but the chat spiraled into chaos, as usual.
After days of being busy with the so-called Hero Office arrangements, I had to take an unexpected break. Now the reactions were out of control.
[Why are you only showing up now, sis? ã… ã… ]
[Phew, hopping on quickly^^]
[Why didn’t you come yesterday? Do you want me to die?]
[Stream.]
[Fine… Just this once, sensei.]
[Yes.]
[Posting an announcement three minutes before starting… This makes me question why you even bothered with the panel board.]
[If you skip another stream without notice, I’ll track you down and give you a piece of my mind -,.-]
[Stream.]
[Like you know where she lives, lmao.]
***
Now that I was back, the chat was more unhinged than ever.
It felt like a swarm of goldfish cramming through a narrow crack, as the viewer count surged by the hundreds in just three minutes.
‘Do these people even have lives outside of my stream?’ I thought, bemused.
“Yesterday, I was too busy with personal matters to even think about announcements. There’s just been so much going on… Believe it or not.”
[Look at her tone—what a piece of work.]
[Is she saying she doesn’t care if we believe her?]
[Sis is just a baby, a baby. You have to forgive her.]
[No, we’re the babies. Comfort us, ma’am.]
[ZekeGarterBelt donated 50,000 won: Filter out the thirsty dudes, sis. How’s the tournament prep going?]
“Ah, Zeke, thank you for the 50,000 won donation. The tournament, huh? That’s a tough one. Everyone’s been buzzing about the chaos in the community lately.”
[So, are you saying you’re giving up on the tournament?]
[Hey! How dare you say that to sis, you heretic!]
“Giving up is absolutely not an option. I think it’s time I started preparing now.”
Right, it’s a tournament. There’s no way I could recklessly jump in without any preparation.
Although I hadn’t openly declared it to the viewers, it was natural to assume that anyone entering a tournament would aim for victory.
For me, targeting not just the win but the symbolic ‘Lotus,’ failure wasn’t something I could afford to consider.
So, the answer was simple.
“Starting today, I’ll go all-in until I hit Challenger tier. Donations and missions are temporarily off.”
[Wow, big news incoming!]
[Breaking: Friede declares hardcore gaming mode!]
[It’s kind of exciting to see it outright, sensei.]
[Sis, there’s no one in Grandmaster who can touch you anyway.]
[The rank system’s a bit annoying since no matter how many wins you have, you still need to hit the minimum number of matches.]
[Lol, honestly, she’s probably already playing in Challenger by now.]
The reactions were mostly positive.
A few grumbled about donations and missions being disabled, but it wasn’t a big issue—easily buried under the sheer volume of the chat’s enthusiastic responses.
I adjusted the settings on my panel to disable donations and missions. Then…
Before me was a list of the custom skins I owned.
I hesitated for a moment before confidently selecting the first one.
A holy ensemble of a golden cape and silver armor—the strongest skin that represented Friede: The Light Hero.
“It’s been a while since I used the Light Hero skin. I’ll stick with it until the end.”
Returning to my original form, Hero of Light, Friede, I couldn’t help but smile as the chat erupted in wild cheers.
***
STK Gaming Club’s marketing and PR teams were exceptionally busy, even during the off-season.
The reason? Preparing for the Soul Warfare Amateur League—better known as the Chaos Tournament—in collaboration with streaming channels.
“Even after narrowing it down, it’s still this many participants? Guess the triple prize money was worth it… Geez.”
The marketing team leader reviewed the list of 300 participants with a mix of satisfaction and exasperation.
‘Back in the day, esports clubs were seen as perpetual money pits, burdens draining their parent companies dry.’
But with the advent of virtual reality and the expansion of streaming platforms, some clubs had started to turn a profit, including STK.
Having produced three legendary pro gamers and rapidly capitalized on the potential of VR gaming, STK was now one of the rare clubs operating in the black, making events like this tournament feasible.
In the past, organizing their own tournament would have been unthinkable.
The team leader couldn’t help but recall his senior colleagues’ struggles to achieve profitability in the early days.
“A list of famous streamers and top-tier players likely to join the tournament has been compiled separately here.”
“Let me see.”
As the team leader reviewed the list, a satisfied smile spread across his face.
In online VR tournaments, while the number of participants was crucial, the quality of the final matches was even more important.
With a fast-paced tournament format, the spotlight naturally fell on the final 16.
Securing notable gamers or streamers to maintain audience interest was critical.
To that end, they had increased the prize pool and reached out to top-tier players—whether streamers or regular gamers—without hesitation.
As a result, they’d secured around 40 prominent participants.
The effort was clearly paying off.
“We’ve gathered pretty much everyone we could.”
“To go further, we’d need to bring in pro team players.”
“True enough.”
As the team leader scanned the list, his eyes caught on a name.
“Friede?”
“Yes, she’s currently in Grandmaster, but I saw on her stream earlier that she’s aiming for Challenger.”
Friede—a rising star in Soul Warfare and a streamer who was quickly making waves.
A highly skilled female player who had entered the top tier, she was particularly famous for using unconventional weapons or playstyles to outsmart opponents with sheer skill.
One of the staff shrugged, adding with a grin, “Even Lotus seems fired up watching Friede’s stream. She’s been playing hardcore lately.”
“Well, she probably sees her as a rival. Up until now, Lotus was considered the strongest female player. For us, as long as the league succeeds, that’s all that matters.”
The tournament had another purpose: scouting new talent. But that was more for the scouting and strategy analysis teams to handle.
From a marketing perspective, though, Friede was undeniably an asset worth noting.
‘Her popularity is this high even without a face reveal.’
The clues about Friede’s appearance were few—just glimpses of her lips under her helmet, her smooth, elegant jawline, and the hint of a beautiful profile from behind.
Even with such limited information, the community had been buzzing with speculation and excitement.
If her eventual face reveal lived up to the community’s lofty expectations…
‘A new star joins Lotus as a talented and beautiful female gamer…’
‘Her value would skyrocket.’
‘Maybe they should preemptively recruit her as an exclusive streamer for the club?’
What began as a casual thought quickly grew into a serious consideration.
“Ah, what a headache.”
For a change of pace, the team leader opened his smartphone and logged into the Twitch channel hosting Friede’s stream.
Since he was already logged in, the chat option was enabled.
Even though donations and missions were off, it didn’t matter for casual participation.
Watching Friede’s flashy gameplay, he typed a message with a smile.
[STKBestWarrior: Sis, heuuuung!]