[He's here?]
[He's here.]
[Whoa, it's really Lee Ji-han?]
[???? For real? Host, you finally did it!]
[Oh Heavenly Demon! Have you returned to us!]
The moment Lee Ji-han stepped into the capsule, the chat window, already crowded with waitlisters, exploded into flames.
Current viewers: 600.
For a stream that normally had only about twenty viewers, the number had jumped thirtyfold, so it was only natural that Kim Suho was terrified.
And this happened not even in a day, but in just a few hours.
"Hello, I'm Lee Ji-han. I don't know how you figured out my real name, but…"
The chat scrolled upward at dizzying speed.
Ji-han already felt a throbbing headache coming on.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That was his real name????]
[Hey newbie, your in-game character literally has "Lee Ji-han" floating above its head, lololololol]
[He revealed it himself and still asks how we knew? That's… kind of cute.]
[What use is a man being cute, lololololol]
[That's not the point—we just got acknowledged for the first time!!!]
[Ahhh, the Heavenly Demon has looked upon us! He has seen us!]
The chat was a racket.
In an instant, it filled with strange jokes.
But then one message grabbed everyone's attention.
[So are you collabing with Kim Bbung-dda?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ That fan nickname, lololol these randoms, don't butt in when we're playing around, lololol]
[Can't you read the mood?]
[That "bbung-dda flavored" fan nickname—ugh, it's you lot again, isn't it?]
Ji-han stared at the chat, then, as if deciding this was the moment, opened his mouth.
"I heard there's something called stream-sniping. And I also heard about a bounty. Something about a gift card hanging from my neck?"
If the conversation went any further from here, Zero Ground would surely descend into chaos.
'Ji-han, please. Ahhh, Ji-han! Please don't let anything happen!'
It was the kind of situation where you'd expect the one in the capsule to be nervous, but the only one panicking was Kim Suho outside.
Even if they were friends, Ji-han's thought process was completely different from his own.
A reckless streak that seemed divorced from common sense.
Yet Suho was envious of the chaos born from that ignorance.
For a streamer, the most important thing is hype.
In other words, pulling aggro.
And Ji-han instinctively understood how to pull that aggro.
"So, I'd like to try an event. From now on, if anyone manages to hit me with even a single bullet, I'll surrender myself to them."
[?]
[??????????]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ He's really using it like this?]
[Bbung-dda, you're doomed, he's going to drain you dry, what are you gonna do, lololololol]
[Confidence that he won't even get hit once, lololololol]
[But the scary part is… it really looks like he won't get hit at all.]
"And on the way here, I heard about something called custom games? So I'm planning to make a room right now."
It was a neat way of trimming down the parts that might cause controversy.
Of course, that was only possible thanks to Suho's advice.
—So you're going to turn this into content. Got any ideas?
—I guess I should make use of that stream-sniping thing?
—Don't. There's this custom game mode, let's use that. You said those bbung-dda guys are louder than expected. If you get tangled in some back-and-forth trouble with them, your future actions could get really messy.
Suho's worries, Ji-han's reckless ideas.
The two had just merged.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I'm logging in right now, lololololol]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ CONTENT! Finally CONTENT! The newbie brought content when even the host didn't!]
[I don't usually play Zero Ground, but I guess I'll log in after a long break, lololololol]
[So this is Ji-han's official first stream?]
[First stream and it's viewer participation, lololol Ji-han, you're doomed, you're screwed lololololol]
[Wow, this stream runs backward—first stream is viewer participation? What kind of sentence even is that?]
The chat exploded.
But Ji-han cut himself off from the chaos.
His usually blank gaze sharpened.
He was literally preparing to focus.
"Okay, I'll make the room. First come, first served."
Inside the capsule, he brought up the virtual keyboard and typed in a title.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What's with that eagle typing?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Dad!!!!]
[He looks young but acts like my dad, lololololol]
"Room created."
With Ji-han's words, it began.
It took only two seconds—including loading time—for 99 viewers to flood into his custom game.
Among them were streamers hoping for trickle-down views, old viewers who had quit Zero Ground, current hardcore veterans still playing…
…and even Kim Bbung-dda, the one who had started this mess.
[…Wow, that's insane.]
[What exactly am I watching right now?]
[But doesn't this room host talk to the chat?]
[Our host interacts all the time, but Ji-han doesn't.]
[He doesn't know how. He's AI.]
[Host! Hurry up and add a chat-reading feature! Bring us Ji-han Mark II!]
Five minutes after the game began.
In that short time, the chat split into two camps.
The first were newcomers who joined for various reasons.
They were basically just repeating their awe at Ji-han's monstrous gameplay.
The second were those who had watched Ji-han's stream even once.
It wasn't long enough to build a sense of belonging, but they spoke as if they already understood and represented him.
Together, the two groups kept the chat lively without Ji-han having to say much.
Of course, the root of it all was Ji-han's monstrous play.
Clang!
—Survive, until the very end. (82/100)
Once again, Ji-han smashed a player's skull with nothing but a cast-iron frying pan.
Any veteran could slaughter players with just a frying pan, but the difference was…
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Fwhoosh, swish!
The acrobatic evasions that dazzled the viewers' eyes were something not just anyone could do.
Tumbling as a basic move, twisting his body into rotations, leaping into the air, stepping off ledges and soaring.
Like a martial arts hero from a wuxia novel flying across the void—enough to shock the viewers.
[Ah, Heavenly Demon!]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Who even moves like a wuxia hero?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hey, stop fighting each other and cast a Heaven's Net, lololololol]
[They're thinning their own numbers fighting each other! Don't you need to swarm him all at once to catch him?]
He dodged bullets.
As if living in time slower than everyone else. Slipping past every bullet by a hair's breadth—naturally, the word "monster" came to mind.
And everyone realized that the only way to catch this monster was for all of them to join forces.
But human greed knows no end.
To hoard the gift card, to attract viewers, to have fun…
Their motives all differed, so they remained a disorganized rabble, and everything seemed to flow exactly as Ji-han had predicted.
[If he really planned all this and made it a tag game, respect, lolololol]
[So what if you respect him? Does that change anything?]
[Stop, that man's a Supreme Court Justice.]
[But seriously, what kind of movement is that?]
[Did he train in martial arts?]
[They say Kim Bbung-dda looks like an NFL player?]
[Could it be gymnastics?]
Whatever it was, the viewers only cared about the dopamine rush.
Suho's chat was turning into a madhouse.
[The chat's too chaotic, so I'll tidy it up.]
[Host? Is that you?]
[Yes, it's me. GuardianTV, streamer Guardian. I'll cut out all off-topic chat.]
The first reason Suho stepped in was to protect Ji-han's privacy.
But there was another reason, too.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Host, did you just sign up as his mod?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You're actually enforcing rules now? Host, cut every troll right away.]
[Oh? The chat's getting organized.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Host, you've got a knack for moderating, lololololol. Ji-han can be the streamer, you be the manager, lololololol]
And the chaos began to subside once Suho started managing.
Streaming isn't just about the streamer performing well.
The chat, the game material, the streamer, the viewers—
All the parts have to fit together for the show to work.
'Right now, Ji-han has to be the star. But Zero Ground must also be a star.'
That was Suho's belief, and he acted accordingly. And that belief began to create a seamless, perfect balance.
Tat-tat-tat!
Swish!
"Guns won't work! Rush him barehanded! You only need to land one hit, right?"
"If we hit each other, it's just a loss! Go hand-to-hand! Surround him!"
At that, someone tossed away their gun and shouted.
Taking the lead, the Zero Ground content finally began to look like an actual game of tag.
Fwhoosh!
The first to lunge was a user named "LoveJiuJitsu."
True to his name, he was a two-stripe purple belt, with two years and five months of experience—a devoted practitioner.
"Hm?"
A sharp grab.
But Ji-han simply "saw it and dodged."
For someone who could dodge bullets, avoiding a grab was easier than eating porridge.
Slide!
He slipped back, moving instinctively toward a safe spot.
"Surround him! Don't let him get away!"
But the area was packed with people.
Like hungry fish in a feeding frenzy, clawing greedily toward him.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is this a zombie movie now?]
[For real, it's like watching a zombie film, lololololol]
[Director: Lee Ji-han, Script: Lee Ji-han, Cast: Lee Ji-han and 99 extras.]
[What are you talking about? It's 70 now.]
[?? Isn't it 64?]
[Wow, these idiots are still shooting each other. At this rate, it'll drop below 50 in no time.]
Just as the viewers said, the scene was straight out of a zombie apocalypse.
[Man, it'd be sick if Ji-han played Left 4 Dead or something.]
[Oh, a zombie game? That'd be fire.]
[He'd probably crush co-op games too.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Except he wouldn't get scared. He'd just dodge every ghost with a blank face.]
Suho decided to remember those reactions.
He didn't know if Ji-han would really walk the path of a streamer, but if he did, Suho wanted to help him unconditionally.
Though in truth, Suho's resolve didn't matter right now.
Not even ten minutes into the match, and the game was already rushing into mid-phase.
Fwhoosh!
[Huh?]
Ji-han planted his hands on the shoulders of two players—no, "zombies."
Like climbing a bar, he vaulted up.
The next move was a swallow maneuver.
He stiffened his body straight, then swung, using the recoil to launch himself into the air.
Swish!
Thud!
[…What did I just watch?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Look at the zombies frozen in awe, lololololol]
[The emotions they're feeling must be exactly what we're feeling now.]
In a flash, Ji-han soared up and clung to the ledge of an abandoned building.
He looked down with a refreshing smile.
[…Why does he look handsome like that?]
[Great body, handsome face]
[Please let him have some flaw, please let him have some flaw]
[Even if he's taciturn, he doesn't seem like a bad guy…]
"By the way, I did say tag game, but the actual game is Zero Ground, right?"
In Ji-han's fingers dangled… a pin.
[Huh?]
[His fingers]
[That thing, lolololololololol]
[Wow, take back what I said about him not being a bad guy. He's evil, seriously.]
Its true nature revealed itself exactly three seconds later.
"W-whaaaah!"
"A grenade? Why the hell—"
"When did he even pull that—!!!"
BOOOOOM!
With a thunderous roar, a pillar of fire erupted.
Ji-han watched from the ledge, as if it were the most amusing thing in the world.
Wearing a refreshingly bright smile.
—Survive, until the very end. (13/100)
"Thirteen left."
A side of Ji-han you'd never normally see.
That innocent face twisted into a smile so chilling it was terrifying in its irony.
Suho knew that state.
"Hey, hey! What about the tag event!? He—he looks like he's in hyperfocus mode now…!"
But it wasn't quite the same hyperfocus he'd shown before.
For some reason, this time was different.
"Why… why is this being broadcast?"
Right now, the devilish talent of a genius streamer had just begun to bloom.
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