Gender Swap: The Introvert’s Broadcast

[OmniscientCthulhu: Oh no.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: This might be a problem...]
[A woman who hates men? Dang.]
[But honestly, lately if you throw a dart, it feels like it always hits a man doing something stupid.]
[What are you even saying, dude? Lol.]
[One fragile male spotted in the chat, haha.]
[It’s because men are just inferior genes anyway.]
-[You have been forcibly removed!]

“Seriously? Why would you say something like that in my stream?”

Sure, the Red community I frequent might have some toxic corners, but I didn’t subscribe to those ideas.
Even the folks over at the Ifrit Gallery never stooped to saying stuff like that.
So as soon as that kind of talk popped up in my chat, kicking them out was the only smart move.

‘I don’t want any unnecessary drama.’

The last thing I needed was for people who never cared about my stream to show up just because there was a controversy, eager to pile on.
If my regular viewers had criticisms, I could deal with that. But random drama seekers? No thanks.

“Anyway, what was Harin talking about just now?”

That initial “Oh, it’s another guy?” comment didn’t seem aimed at me.
So what was the issue?
Curious, I turned my attention back to her stream.

“-It’s so frustrating when utility supports just sit in the back. Sure, some utility supports are supposed to play defensively, but being even further back than the ADC? What is that about?”

Listening to her vent, I realized what had happened.
Apparently, a support player in her match had annoyed her with their passive playstyle.

‘That kind of situation isn’t rare.’

I hadn’t personally experienced it, though.
Maybe because my nickname didn’t scream “guy”? It probably even seemed more feminine.
I knew men often faced double the criticism just for being male in this world.

“But seriously, why do guys play support? Top lane is way more fun.”

It was a question I’d always wondered about.
Both the women in my old world and the men in this one seemed inexplicably drawn to playing support.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Maybe...]
[OmniscientCthulhu: ...because it’s fun?]
[Nope, it’s just to climb ranks, lol.]
[Hwanhee: Honestly, so many people are obsessed with climbing ranks.]
[I even heard about someone agreeing to go on a date because the guy promised to boost her rank.]
[Dating for rank? Are you serious? Lol.]
[Talk about manufacturing misogyny.]@@novelbin@@

Was rank that important?
It was all based on skill anyway.
Annoyed, I voiced my thoughts.

“Your rank reflects your skill, so why bother obsessing over it…”

Just as I said that—

[Breaking news: Dugong sighted! Dugong sighted! Dugong sighted!]
[What?! Dugong is here?! What?! Dugong is here?! What?! Dugong is here?!]
[Uh-oh, the chat’s gone wild.]
[Harin, you’re done for now. The broadcasting god, Dugong, is here. Bow down, haha.]
[Who let these idiots in?]

“What... Wait, what is this? Are they serious?”

I was completely bewildered.
Where had these people come from?
This kind of chaos was something I’d expected from Mangming’s fans, not my own viewers.

[OmniscientCthulhu: Hmm...]
[OmniscientCthulhu: Looks like some of those people showed up.]
[Hwanhee: Oh no… you got targeted.]
[Hwanhee: It was inevitable.]
[Yeah, there’s no avoiding it.]
[KangHoomin: Definitely someone from their gallery.]
[Man, those folks live exhausting lives, lol.]

Checking the chat, I quickly pieced together what had happened.
Apparently, someone in the Mangming Gallery had been watching my stream, realized I was watching Harin’s stream, and decided to “raid” her chat.

The realization made me feel utterly drained.

“This blackout in front of me feels like my future...”

[OmniscientCthulhu: Oh no...]
[OmniscientCthulhu: It’s not that bad, though.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: They usually don’t last long.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: Like, four days?]
[Four days is an eternity!]
[Just stream solo for four days. You don’t interact with others anyway.]
[Hwanhee: Still, they’re not bad at heart.]
[If “not bad at heart” means deserving a slap, then sure.]

Thankfully, it seemed like I wasn’t permanently stuck with these people.
Still, I needed to address the current mess.
Harin’s chat was flooded with messages about me, and it was creating chaos.

“-What’s up with these people? Mods, can you kick them all out, please?”

Harin quickly resumed her game after saying this, but—

[What, are you disrespecting Dugong now? Are you disrespecting Dugong now? Are you disrespecting Dugong now?]
[This person is hopeless. You’ll suffer for this now.]
[What’s even happening in this chat? Lol.]
[This is almost impressive in its own way.]

The chat didn’t calm down.
With Twitch’s system, creating multiple accounts to continue spamming was easy unless stricter measures were in place.

“-Ugh, this is annoying. I’m setting follower-only mode to one month. Sorry to the new viewers.”

Harin quickly activated a follower restriction, which immediately stopped the spamming.
Impressive.
I probably would’ve done the same, but not with that level of efficiency.

“She’s really a pro.”

Admiring her quick thinking, I loaded up some Twitch credits.
Even if those spammers weren’t my fans, letting this slide would damage my reputation.

“I don’t know much about streaming, but this seems like something worth addressing.”

[OmniscientCthulhu: True, you should say something.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: It’s only polite to clear the air.]
[Yeah, but does it really matter? Harin didn’t say much.]
[Hwanhee: You’ve already loaded the credits, so go for it.]
[KangHoomin: If you’re just doing this to impress her, that’s fair, lol.]

[Dugong has donated 10,000 KRW!]
-This is Dugong, the streamer. I apologize for the so-called ‘fans’ spamming your chat earlier.

I didn’t care much about growing my channel, but I couldn’t sit by after causing trouble for someone else.
Moments after the donation—

“-Wait. Dugong? That name sounds familiar...”

Harin twirled a strand of her golden hair, deep in thought, before exclaiming:

“-Oh! You’re the one Mangming mentioned!”

I froze.

“Why is Mangming being brought up here?”

[OmniscientCthulhu: Wow, what a plot twist, lol.]
[OmniscientCthulhu: Mangming’s special mention? Impressive.]
[That’s rare. She doesn’t acknowledge just anyone.]
[Hwanhee: Mangming’s approval is worth more than gold, apparently.]

It was all too much.
Mangming and Harin? What kind of connection did they even have?

“-What’s with the surprised faces? I’ve talked to Mangming a lot.”

[You never mentioned that on stream, though.]
[How were we supposed to know?]
[I watch all your streams and never heard about this.]

Apparently, even her regulars had no idea about this.
And if they didn’t know, there was no way Yeram could’ve known either.

“Hmm...”

My plan to distance myself from Mangming’s gallery by connecting with Harin seemed to have backfired.
But after a moment of reflection, I let out a sigh.

“Whatever. Life’s like that sometimes.”

Sometimes, you just had to roll with it.