It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

Chapter 44 – Why Mix Toothpaste with a Perfectly Fine Ice Cream

CravingWarmAmericano.

It might not be an appropriate ID for a broadcaster that needs to stick in the viewers’ minds.

However, since it was the ID chosen by Lee Yena, I couldn’t bring myself to change it. Some deep-seated discomfort prevents me from changing anything recklessly.

Even the KoK account… I kept the ‘CravingWarmAmericano’ ID preserved and created a new one instead.

People may criticize… but there was no choice. I couldn’t play the game on an account that has records of playing a priest.

At least I didn’t delete it… well, that’s a bit off-topic.

Anyway, I try to respect the original ID, from main accounts to multiple secondary accounts. The initial ID, ‘WantToEatYou’ went through ‘InappropriateID401278’ and ended up as ‘GetDevoured’—

I can proudly say that I did my best to maintain Lee Yena’s ID identity.

Capturing the ID history on various sites since four years ago, I even sent a lengthy explanation to Faraday Games, arguing that ‘WantToEatYou’ was merely an abbreviation of ‘CravingWarmAmericano.’

The fact that I received a macro reply summarizing to ‘Absolutely not, go away’, is a painful memory I decided to bury.

There are things in life that personal willpower can’t change.

Probably.

Anyway, I no longer feel melancholic or confused about my identity, nor do I separate Lee Yena and myself as other—yet, when I feel like erasing traces Lee Yena left in the past, I can’t help but flinch unknowingly.

With a faint sigh, I brushed my hand over my stomach that somehow felt cold.

7 PM.

The time when office workers finish work, and students hang out noisily.

Usually, I would wake up refreshed and start my day, but now, even slightly raising myself from the bed is incredibly tough and painful.

A sense of fatigue that feels like being glued to the bed, and a chain of emotional and melancholic thoughts that almost bring tears.

Even if I try to shake it off, I end up entangled in thoughts and feelings that keep looping, and I slowly realize whether I want to or not.

That time is approaching again. With this kind of sensation… probably within two to three days.

I really hate it.

For a long while, I just lay there, wanting to become one with the cozy blanket. Finally, after making a firm decision and dragging myself out of bed, it was already 8 PM.

The nearby porridge shop closes at 9 PM, so if I wanted to get something to go, I had to get up and go now.

Shower… I needed to take a shower.

During this time, showering feels… really, just too unpleasant. When I shower at the slightly cool temperature I normally like, each droplet feels like needles lightly pricking my skin, swirling down like sandpaper.

Hormones are truly mysterious.

And, unpleasant.

Holding the showerhead, I hesitated for a moment, then squeezed my eyes shut and turned on the cold water.

Real men take cold showers. Even by past standards, turning on such cold water was an act of stubbornness and defiance.

Ah, refreshing. Let’s think it’s refreshing.

…It felt like I was about to scream.

***

Early March, still a bit chilly. Dressed in my almost uniform-like tracksuit and hoodie, I stepped out of the house.

Recently, I bought a rather thick and roomy oversized hoodie online. It’s proven to be an effective item for concealing my otherwise prominent physical attributes.

It feels like it reduces men’s stares by about 70% when I walk around. I wonder if this is what using stealth feels like.

I would like to wear a mask and sunglasses, but… having experienced drawing even more attention that way, I gave up on the idea.

It’s not like my face will wear out from being looked at a bit. With another faint sigh, I headed to the porridge shop I had called in advance.

It’s a shop run by a gruff old man, which is why I like it. He doesn’t try small talk asking if I’m sick, doesn’t give me compliments I don’t know how to react to, like “you’re so pretty”, and doesn’t ask if I’m an idol.

Sure enough, today too, there was no greeting even as I entered the shop. He just looked up from the counter, saw me, and then went back to his phone.

I approached him and said, “Hello. I ordered beef and vegetable porridge and pumpkin porridge over the phone earlier. In smaller portions.”

Only then did he hand over a neatly packed shopping bag containing the porridge and said, “25,000 won.”

…It’s really expensive, but it’s good. Anyway, I like this shop.

I especially like that there’s a B*skin R*bbins right next to it. You might wonder why that’s relevant, but location selection is half the battle for a shop, isn’t it?

For me, porridge shops and ice cream shops are a set.

“Would you like to place an order?”

Standing in front of the counter in the ice cream shop, pondering for a while, an overly friendly staff member approached me.

…It seems I stood there too long.

“Yes. A pint of dark chocolate and…”

Mint chocolate… No, I don’t need it.

“Cookies and cream. Half and half, please.”

Why mix toothpaste with perfectly fine ice cream?

This month, I’m not eating it.

But, in just two days, I might regret this decision… probably.

sigh

…Decision made.

Today, on my way home, I’ll buy a red-flavored soda.

Like a squirrel gathering supplies, I came back home with my hands full of emergency kits. It was already 9 PM.

Sitting at my desk, I pondered while tilting a big bottle of soju back and forth.

Hmm…

Should I drink tonight?

It seems like drinking right before my period makes the cramps worse. Or maybe it’s just the hangover making it harder. As long as it doesn’t start tomorrow, I really want a drink.

The tilted soju bottle stood back upright like a weighted toy. It seems like it could be used as a fortune-telling tool.

Will it be in two days, or three days?

If it falls to the left, it’s two days, to the right, three days. If it flips over, then it’s tomorrow… something like that could work, right?

Even though I know my body will decide on its own, despite any amount of pondering. I can’t stop the pointless thoughts.

Hmm…

Should I turn on the broadcast while I think about it?

『CravingWarmAmericano has started streaming!』

『Rogue Revival Movement – Today is self-study』

Well.

If it’s tough, I can just let them self-study.

***

Revan, or Lee Shihoon, frowned as he looked at the notification on his phone.

Self-study? Rogue Revival Movement?

After a few seconds, he realized which broadcaster’s broadcast notification it was—but he couldn’t remember why he had followed this broadcaster in the first place.

… They were someone who was quite good at playing a rogue, albeit rare.

‘I thought I shouldn’t get involved…’

It seemed like he had pressed the follow button without much thought—and back then, he had been way past his usual bedtime, clicking mindlessly in a daze.

And though he didn’t want to admit it, that day’s broadcast had been a bit entertaining. It was the kind of broadcast that unwittingly made him chat through an alternate account.

Chats that, if done from his own account, would have swiftly gotten him temporarily banned.

‘…Watching a broadcast with an alternate account isn’t really getting involved.’

After briefly considering it, Revan closed the Tw*tch window. He had too much to do to be idly watching streams. He needed to think about new content… and also play some games that could produce good clips for G-tube.

He remembered the editor’s complaints about the lack of editing material due to his recent abundance of build testing streams and thought about new content for his broadcast.

Ding.

A Discourse message notification appeared at the bottom right of the screen.

『Dodat: Shihoon-ah』

『Dodat: Are you busy?』

It was Dodat, Choi Woohyun.

A friend he had grown close to during the time they played together in the same guild before KoK was launched.

After they both got hooked on KoK, there was a period where their tiers were too different for them to play together often, but they began playing together frequently once Woohyun reached Master rank.

『Revan: I’m free』

『Revan: What’s up?』

『Dodat: Ah, nothing much』

『Dodat: Want to do a duo content broadcast sometime this week?』

『Dodat: Tomorrow works too』

A duo, huh.

Both of them had a style of showcasing their gameplay impressively rather than chatting excessively. From Revan’s perspective, dodat was quite a matching duo partner.

As long as he didn’t play a rogue.

『Revan: You’ll be playing a knight, right?』

『Dodat: … Depends on the situation』

『Revan: If you end up playing a rogue just because of donations』

『Revan: My viewers might start requesting me to play a mage』

『Dodat: LOL LOL Let’s go with the knight then… Anyway, gogo?』

『Revan: Sure, sounds good. I’ll be testing builds until tomorrow, so how about the day after?』

『Dodat: Deal』

『Dodat: Day after tomorrow at 8 PM?』

『Revan: Sounds perfect』

The duo streams with Dodat were quite popular among Revan’s G-tube subscribers.

It was a rare content where Revan, who usually only explained his gameplay or responded to donations while playing, would show a more relaxed and joking demeanor, enjoying the game.

Recording around 4 to 5 hours of duo content should provide enough editing material to quell the editor’s complaints. The editor would be pleased.

『Revan: I’ll be testing builds until tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, I’ll be doing a duo broadcast with Dodat hyung』

With that message sent to the editor, Revan felt much more at ease. Unexpectedly, solving the content dilemma left him with some spare time.

As he spun the mouse around hesitantly, Revan thought, ‘Watching how the counter plays might help me refine the build.’

Convincing himself, he logged out from even his alternate account and typed ‘CravingWarmAmericano’ into the Tw*tch search bar—

“What is this?”

He was met with around 90 search results for broadcasts.

TL’s Corner:

따뜻한아메리카노먹고싶다 – Craving Warm Americano was shortened to

따(Da)아(Ah) 먹고싶다(Mokgushipda) Which was considered an inappropriate word

따아먹고싶다 – WantToEatYou -shortened again with 따(Da) and 아(Ah) swapping places

we get GetDevoured -> GetDevoured

I just noticed, but our MC is a bit alchoholic.