Gender Swap: The Introvert’s Broadcast

Changing a nickname wasn’t exactly a complicated task.
All it took was a quick dive into the settings and a few clicks.
I’d been too lazy to come up with my own, so I’d just been using Yeram’s old nickname this whole time.
But now seemed like the right time to change it. Better safe than sorry.

“I should change it.”

Saying that to myself, I opened up the settings and started typing.

From: [RammusSpikesFusion]
To: [Dama]

Simple and clean, just like the broadcasting name I’d come up with previously.
However—

[This name is already in use!]

“What?”

A sudden, unexpected message popped up.
Someone had already claimed “Dama”?
I hadn’t anticipated this at all.

“What do I do now?”

I hadn’t considered this possibility, and I was at a loss.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Obviously someone else snatched it already.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: How did you not claim it beforehand? Amateur move.]
[You should’ve reserved it way before. Like, come on.]
[But if you reserved it, wouldn’t it end up being “Dugong” instead?]
[Hwanhee: Honestly, Dugong is better than what you have now, though.]
[KangHoomin: Hard pass on Dugong. That’s terrible.]

For some reason, the chat started talking about “Dugong” out of nowhere, even though I hadn’t mentioned it today.
Maybe that was why my inner contrarian flared up.

“Dama” was taken, but there was one nickname no one else would claim, something unmistakably associated with me.

[Dugong]

I typed it in and pressed save.

“There we go.”

[OmniscientCthulhu: No way.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!]
[OmniscientCthulhu: You know you can’t change it again for three months, right? Three months, dude!]
[Please change it. Please, I’m begging you. Change it.]
[Hwanhee: Sigh...]
[KangHoomin: What a genius move.]
[Yeah, real Einstein over here, lol.]

As expected, the chat exploded.
They couldn’t fathom why I’d choose such a ridiculous nickname.
Why “Dugong” of all things? Why not something cooler?

But their protests didn’t faze me.
And besides, it was too late to go back now.
Once you change your Twitch nickname, you’re stuck with it for three months.
Even if I regretted it later, I’d just have to roll with it.

“Look, you’ll be seeing this nickname for the next three months. Try to warm up to it. Hating it will only make things worse.”

[OmniscientCthulhu: If you genuinely hate it, upvote this.]
[Upvotes incoming.]
[KangHoomin: What does ‘warming up to it’ even mean? Is it like tiger instincts or something?]
[That joke was so bad, it’s embarrassing.]
[Peak unfunny moment, lol.]

“What are they even talking about?”

I couldn’t let this kind of nonsense slide. If left unchecked, it would drag down the quality of the chat.

“Alright, take a break.”

I muted the chat for an hour.
It wasn’t like I had much choice. With a smaller audience, bad jokes and awkward comments lingered longer in the chat than they should.
After dealing with that, I launched a game.

Click.

Just as I was about to start—

[Mangming donated 1,000 KRW!]
-Hello.

“Oh… hi.”

Considering the chaos caused by the Mangming Gallery last time, I wasn’t exactly thrilled to see her pop in.
I knew Mangming was a decent person, but her fanbase… yeah, that was a whole other story.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Why are you reacting so differently this time? Lol.]
[Well, can you blame him?]
[Hwanhee: Hey Mangming, while you’re here, can we talk?]
[Hwanhee: Why don’t you manage your fanbase better?]
[Hwanhee: Seriously, your viewers are out of control.]
[Hwanhee: Do something about it, please.]

Hwanhee, the chat’s unofficial voice of reason, delivered some harsh truths.
It was something I’d always wanted to say myself.

Sure, it might not be easy to control a rowdy fanbase, but at least pretending to set boundaries wouldn’t hurt.

[Mangming: Well, I would manage them...]
[Mangming: But I’ve been IP-banned from Mangming Gallery.]

“What?”

[OmniscientCthulhu: What the hell?]
[You got banned from your own fan gallery?!]
[That’s next-level insanity.]
[What even is this? Is this real life?]

I couldn’t wrap my head around it.
A fan-created gallery dedicated to Mangming had banned her from participating?
It was absurd, like something out of a surreal comedy sketch.

[Mangming: They said I was interfering with their independent community...]
[Mangming: And claimed I had ‘subversive political ideologies.’ So, they banned me.]

The chat lost it:

[OmniscientCthulhu: What is this? The 21st century or some kind of dystopia?]
[Fan-made revolution, lol.]
[Poor Mangming...]

I let out a sigh.@@novelbin@@

“Alright, let’s finally start the game.”

It was long past time to get going, but Mangming’s wild story had delayed everything.
If I didn’t start now, I’d risk running late for work tomorrow.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Finally. I’ve been waiting to see some gameplay.]
[Hwanhee: Thank goodness...]
[Today’s top lane meta, let’s go!]

Even Mangming had gone quiet in the chat.
I felt a bit bad for her. The idea that she faced this kind of treatment from other streamers because of her fanbase was disheartening.

“Maybe I should reach out to her later.”

Not now, though. That would be too much.
I started my game, ready to focus.

“Wow, solo queue has gotten really tough.”

I’d been playing for hours, and I was now on the cusp of a promotion to Gold II.
I wanted to dive in and finish it, but I knew better.

Pushing through while tired would only lead to sloppy plays, missed skill shots, and a vicious cycle of losing streaks.

“I’ll do the promotion games tomorrow. I’m too tired today.”

[OmniscientCthulhu: What? No!]
[Why not now?]
[Hwanhee: Coward...]

The viewers protested, but I wasn’t swayed.

“It’s my stream, my rules.”

What were their opinions worth anyway?
I streamed the way I wanted, and that wasn’t going to change.

After ending the game, I decided to kill some time with my viewers by watching Harin’s stream together.
Nothing wrong with that, right?

Or so I thought.

The moment I clicked into her stream, I heard it:

“-Oh, it’s another guy?”

“What?!”

She’d sniped me out of nowhere.