Chapter 7

This Is What Friends Are For

A gallery where people talk about internet streaming.

Normally, it would be a place where male streamers, especially tiny ones, wouldn’t even get mentioned.

Their main base, MeTube subscribers: 84.

OnAiri: 34.

Live Cast: 9.

There was far too much else to talk about for anyone to bother with a male nobody streamer one month into broadcasting.

If anything, any mention of one would get shut down immediately.

[ Anyone see XXX today?]

He ran into a female streamer while queueing and immediately started stream-sniping lol

└ No advertising nobodies

That was about the level of response you’d get there.

But what if a lot of people had already gathered there?

And not because it was a good topic, but because they were gathering to throw stones?

Then it might be worth visiting once.

That was around the time people started flooding into Jeong River’s stream.

[ Is that seriously why all those people gathered in Jeong River’s stream? ]

Because he made fun of our game for being a shit game?

hahahahahahaha

This is seriously ridiculous lol

└ For real lol No matter how bored you are during the day hahahaha

└ I did go there first though lol

They gathered because they were bored during the day.

But once they started throwing stones, the justification turned out to be far too weak.

If it had been a mid-sized streamer or something, there would have been a different kind of entertainment.

Watching a streamer ruin their career with a verbal slip was one of the greatest pleasures of watching internet streams.

It might have been different if the other side’s reactions were at least entertaining.

If he had jumped around in rage, complained about how unfair it was, or fought with the viewers.

Then they could have found another kind of entertainment.

= I’ll say it again. I was the one who misspoke. I have no intention of blaming my friend. I’ll keep apologizing.

Jeong River held out better than expected.

He calmly suppressed his emotions and spoke.

Even though you could tell he was irritated despite controlling his expression, anyway.

[ You said he was about to blow up, fuck ]

I went over after seeing the live updates, but he just keeps saying the same thing.

└ This is why tiny streamers are no good

└ Boring

└ He needs to blow up here so people can keep milking it all day lol

The people who had swarmed over lost their excitement.

Tiny streamers were people they could turn on at any moment anyway.

The instant they decided a stream was doomed, they were people capable of pulling the lawsuit card!

The entertainment was far too low compared to the risk.

Even so, some people went over late and tried to provoke him.

= I’ll explain the situation again. Yesterday, while I was giving someone advice...

Jeong River thought simply.

‘Are people who didn’t hear it before just continuing to come in? If I keep explaining and apologizing, they’ll understand eventually.’

Without knowing the other side’s purpose, he focused only on the fact that he had misspoken.

I did something wrong, so I should at least wait until the other side calms down.

That was about the extent of his thinking.

Then he became exhausted from explanations that never ended no matter how many times he repeated them.

= I think I’ve been cursed at enough. Anyway, I’m sorry to everyone who likes Neo Chronicle.

The moment those words came out, people became expectant.

If he brushed it off and ended the stream, he would become something they could toy with.

But what he said next was different from what they expected.

= I’ll try Neo Chronicle.

The onlookers and professional stone-throwers who had gathered completely lost interest.

Then there was no reason to keep filling seats in a stream that wasn’t even their home base.

Viewers drained away in an instant.

[ This is seriously fucking boring ]

GG, have fun suffering

└ His reactions taste like shit

└ You too?

It was effectively a declaration of defeat.

The people who had come seeking dopamine left.

Mentions of him rapidly decreased even in the gallery.

[ I’m still watching Jeong River ]

= I fucking hate the way he looks

└ Idiot lol

└ He gives off the vibe of that guy in high school nobody messes with because everyone knows he’s guaranteed a job

└└ What a comparison lol

└ No advertising boring nobodies

And so, the flames died down in the largest community.

Time passed, and two hours after he began marathoning Neo Chronicle’s story.

Jeong River’s name started appearing elsewhere, with a different tone.

The largest Neo Chronicle community, ‘Neo Chronicle Storage.’

Commonly called ‘Neo Storage,’ began getting posts.

[ STREAM) Is J.R. this guy famous? ]

Why does someone I’ve never seen before have this many viewers?

Is he some influencer, like a model who plays other games?

└ Nope, just a normal guy who got discharged from the military a month ago

└└? Then why are so many people watching

└└└ Stop asking spoon-fed questions and fucking search

[ STREAM) J.R. isn’t a returning player or someone from open beta, right? ]

He’s going through every old bit of foreshadowing that passed ages ago

More importantly, does it make sense to find all that on a first playthrough?

└ It’s possible if you look carefully

└└ How carefully do you have to look

└└└ He’s been on Chapter 1 for four hours

└└└└ hahahaha what a lunatic

[ STREAM) Irene really should have been saved ]

Watching J.R.’s stream, and he’s talking about Irene too

Says he wants to take her along hahahaha

└ Take her around and on the ship, ahh

└└ Keep it less vulgar

└└└ It’d be hard to make it any more vulgar...

And so Jeong River’s story marathon stream started getting mentioned.

Mentions became promotion.

Viewers leaving and viewers entering crossed paths.

Thanks to that, at some point Jeong River was able to clean up the chat.

Time kept passing.

One hour, two hours, five hours, twenty-four hours.

[ STREAM) What the hell is J.R. doing ]

Why has he been pushing the story for over a day

It takes fifteen hours at most

Why is he still on Chapter 4

└ He’s savoring Chapter 1 for like five fucking hours

└└??: I’ll try it

└└└??: I’m going to try it fucking properly

[ Isn’t Jeong River seriously doing prep beforehand?]

It’s been ages since the Ashe family story, and he’s sensing something wrong here

Seeing the inherited phoenix and connecting it to the Ashe family is impressive

└ I genuinely admired that

└ Mark this as internet streaming

└└ Fixed it

└ What’s really crazy is there’s an Ashe family crest when entering the ruins, and he sees it and gets fucking anxious lol

└└ He noticed that? Seriously feels like prep

└└└ But because he picks up every bit of foreshadowing, he also goes down the wrong path a ton

[ This bastard has lost it ]

( Nooo!! I saved her!! Why is she setting up house with that bastard!!)

*Video of Jeong River shouting

Anyone would think he actually got NTR’d hahahaha

He remembers everything else but forgot she had a fiancé hahahahaha

└ I laughed my ass off watching it lol

└ This bastard kept saying Vicky was his number one hahahaha

└└ He said he likes harems

└ And immediately enters the house you live in

Word spread that he was a streamer who properly watched the story.

A newbie progressing while discovering one after another of the countless pieces of foreshadowing that many people had barely found.

The peak of Neo Chronicle’s story.

By the time he reached the ending portion of Chapter 8, people properly flooded in.

[ Breaking News) Ashe Family Collateral Branch Live ]

( Video of Jeong River sobbing )

hahahahahahahahahaha

First time I’ve ever seen a man bawl this hard on stream lol

└ hahahahaha

└ I was wondering what “Ashe family collateral branch” meant hahahaha

└ Did his real girlfriend die or something hahahaha

[ Jeong River lamenting on Hill of Longing ]

( Jeong River grumbling with a haggard face beside Victoria’s grave )

What makes it so relatable is they could’ve saved her if they wanted to

They threw out a fuckton of foreshadowing about saving her, then killed her anyway

Fuuuuuuck you, Nexes bastards

I also sat there blankly for ages when I first cleared it, so I relate hard

└ Agreed, why the fuck would you use a MacGuffin like this

└ But he must genuinely be the type to over-immerse himself. How do you get that invested in a character you’ve known for one day

└└ Maybe he got even more immersed because he watched it all in one day

└ Hmm, that expression is kind of delicious

└└?? You typed that wrong

└└└ I typed it right

The post received many recommendations, reached the popular posts, and drew people’s attention.

Many people showed all kinds of reactions.

Because they had seen an intense outpouring of emotion that couldn’t be acted.

While those things were happening.

Jeong River spent a long time talking with his viewers.

Those conversations didn’t stay confined to the stream.

They spread to various communities interested in the story.

Then the stream ended.

His name, completely unknown until very recently, started appearing here and there.

[ What do you think of Jeong River’s camera setup? ]

( Scene of him grinning as he ends the stream )

It kind of looks like there’s no correction at all, but also kind of like there is

I’m curious what he looks like on a phone camera

└ Obviously he hasn’t set up anything

└ I’m curious what he’d look like with a proper setup

Some places discussed his appearance, while others looked forward to his next stream.

[ Did he say what he’s doing next stream? ]

I want him to go through Victoria’s whole storyline once

└ If you just ask him next time, it feels like he’ll rattle everything off

└ Looked like he had barely managed to get over the emotions lol

└└ That too is the burden of a streamer

He received an amount of attention difficult to imagine for a tiny male streamer.

There was one person relieved to see the ending turn out well.

Jeong River, Jeong Se-ha’s actual friend.

The person who cursed every day about what a trash game Neo Chronicle was, yet tried to recruit him whenever vacation came around.

“At least that’s a relief...”

Lee Ha-na let out a sigh of relief.

A sigh containing both gratitude and guilt.

At the bottom of those emotions was also a little unfairness.

‘It’s not like I knew he’d repeat exactly what I said on a broadcast.’

Something blurted out in private, and between friends at that, on a live broadcast?

There probably weren’t many people who could avoid causing even one controversy that way.

Lee Ha-na frowned, then gave a small laugh.

“This bastard is loyal, at least.”

She remembered that Jeong Se-ha had stubbornly refused to say anything about her.

‘If it were me, I think I would’ve said it. That’s impressive.’

She was grateful for that.

It was hard to even imagine what would have happened if her identity had become known.

[ How strong do you think J.R.’s friend is? ]

The guy he said curses beside him every day.

Judging from the repertoire, he feels exactly like one of those 150k plus-or-minus players.

└ Yeah, that logic was exactly cash-farmer logic

└ Complains when gold prices drop and recruits people when they rise. Exactly 150k plus-or-minus.

It had been hours since the stream ended.

Even now, people like that were ready to hang someone.

If he had revealed her identity at the start, all sorts of things probably would have been said.

Just imagining it was scary.

“I’ll buy him food to thank him and tell him to keep his mouth shut...”

She chewed on her thumb while thinking, then made a decision.

“I should probably give him some advice on what to be careful about when streaming.”

Other than that, there didn’t seem to be much she could add.

There were frustrating parts befitting a streaming beginner, but the stream itself had been extremely entertaining.

‘Is it just because someone I know is streaming? No. If it wasn’t fun, how would a thousand people watch?’

Once her thoughts reached that point, she remembered one more piece of advice she had to give him.

“Do not start playing Neo Chronicle seriously... I definitely need to tell him that.”

Because playing an RPG seriously only led to getting sick of it and regretting it over and over.

“This is what a friend does. Yeah, this is what friends are for.”

Lee Ha-na nodded solemnly.