Chapter 367
I need to come up with some content.
It was just another day of lounging around on a break when the thought hit me.
The Taker server may have been a bit long, but I was grateful for the lack of content creation opportunities during that time. Just setting up a casino and embarking on a dragon-hunting adventure was content enough!
“Ugh, so annoying.”
Honestly, it was tedious. But I shook myself awake and got up.
The streamer and content are inseparable, like fish-shaped pastry and the red bean paste inside.
A broadcast without content is like a fish-shaped pastry without any filling.
Have you ever bitten into a fish-shaped pastry only to find it empty inside? I have.
I remember buying those pastries during a freezing winter, grinning with joy. I spent 2,000 won to buy three and munched on them as I walked home, breathing warm air onto them.
But the despair of biting into that first one and discovering the inside was hollow—words cannot describe it.
That’s why I need to brainstorm for content.
I could do daily streams without content, but that would only last a day or two. There’s no guarantee that viewers will stick around for a hollow broadcast.
Most importantly, I can’t allow it for myself.
Haunted by the memory of that winter day, I, who’ve tasted bland fish pastries with crispy exteriors, cannot commit the heinous act of streaming without content.
So, I started brainstorming content ideas.
“Cooking is hot these days…”
Cooking streams? Not bad. But I’m not feeling it right now. Let’s jot that down for later.
“Looks like the TiniPing video did well.”
The response wasn’t bad; maybe I should do another TiniPing-related stream? But what to do? Let’s write that down too.
“I wonder what others are doing…”
To catch up on trends, I scrolled through other streams at the top of the platform. Games, games, communication, collaborations… Nothing particularly unusual.
As I pondered over content, quite a bit of time had slipped by.
“Hmm…”
I narrowed down the candidates, but I can’t decide. Normally, I would call Kim Jae-jun or Yusia for advice and discuss it with them, but unfortunately, they’re both unavailable right now.
“Ugh.”
Just as I was deep in thought,
-Taker: Teacher
– Taker: Are you there?
It was a message from Taker. Normally, I would have welcomed such a message, but…
“Humph.”
I still hadn’t let go of the grudge from the Taker server days.
Anyone could say, “You’re still sulking over that? Get over it,” but what can I do? I’m just that petty.
Maybe that’s why I felt a bit spiteful and replied grumpily.
– Kayak: Why?
– Kayak: Sending a private message to a woman at this late hour…
– Kayak: Looks like Taker has some unexpectedly shady sides.
A moment later, messages came rushing in, clearly showing how flustered he was.
– Taker: ???
– Taker: Don’t say weird things!
– Taker: Seriously, what a ridiculous thing to say;;
– Taker: How much more of my hair are you planning to take before you’re satisfied?
“Hehe.”
As if forgetting I was upset, a smile slipped out uncontrollably.
I’m not usually a fan of self-deprecating humor, but for some reason, Taker’s made me strangely laugh.
Perfect timing. Taker is one of the few people I acknowledge. Let’s get some advice from the god of content on what content is good.
Just as I was about to ask my question…
– Taker: Do you have time?
– Taker: Can you talk for a minute?
– Taker: I have something to say.
“Oh?”
Wait, wait. This is a bit dangerous.
“You want to talk at this hour…?”
And what’s with creating such a serious atmosphere? I could sense his seriousness from the fact that he punctuated his last sentence.
Earlier, it was a joke, but now it feels like that joke might just become reality.
Of course, I don’t dislike Taker. Personally, he’s one of the people I feel comfort and fondness toward.
These kinds of jokes were never intended to undermine him; only someone I had some kind of fondness for would I tease like this.
However, that’s strictly from a human perspective, something purely person-to-person.
If it strays beyond that into the realm of man and woman, dating, marriage, it gets pretty complicated.
Man and woman, romance, marriage—all these topics are still unresolved for me. They’re subjects I’ve pushed back along with my identity issues.
I still don’t want to think about it.
Should I date a man or a woman? My body is female, but my mind is male, and it’s giving me a headache just thinking about it.
So, what the Taker is about to say isn’t something I can just take lightly.
Inhales deeply.
With those thoughts, I took a deep breath and started typing a message. This time, it wasn’t in my usual playful tone, but rather in a serious one.
– Kayak: I’m sorry, Taker. I’m not in the mindset for dating right now.
– Kayak: I apologize for not being able to accept Taker’s feelings. But I know you’re a really great guy as a man—.
– Taker: Huh?
Taker rapidly sent another series of messages.
Messages with a hint of annoyance.
– Taker: Stop joking around!
– Taker: What’s this 0 confession 1st round? I didn’t even confess!
– Taker: Since you’re joking, you are okay with a call, right? I need to discuss something regarding content.
– Taker: Is this a phone call? If it’s not a good time, please let me know when it is!
“Ah…”
Was I wrong? I grabbed my suddenly flushed face. A sound I couldn’t even interpret slipped out from my lips.
*
“… You are okay for a call, right?”
Taker, Gunhee asked suspiciously.
There was a reason he said that.
I didn’t know what the person on the other end was doing, but I could feel their flusteredness and confusion through the call.
“Um, oh. Of course!”
A clear voice came through the headphones. Despite it being late at night, it was a genuinely pleasant voice. Taker’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.
‘No way.’
But who is he? Isn’t he the living legend of the internet broadcasting world, Taker?
With over 10 years of broadcasting experience as a Pro, he quickly regained control of his heartbeat.
Thinking about what the owner of that voice had recently done to him, his excited heart became much calmer.
The owner of that voice was Kayak, a truly heinous character who had taken over 100 strands of Taker’s hair.
“Shall I explain the content?”
“Oh, yes! Please go ahead!”
The reason Taker contacted Kayak was simple. As always, it was to propose a new content idea.
Why Kayak specifically, you ask? Because there was no one more effective as a guest than Kayak.
There’s no guest as effective as medicine.
Now, they were so accustomed to each other that contacting one another was easy, the viewers responded positively, and above all, whenever a kayak was featured in the thumbnail, the VTube views always spiked. It had become a sort of cheat key.
That’s why the taker always took the initiative to contact the kayak first.
When working on content with the kayak, this person had no idea what was going through her mind, and if she pulled any surprises, it was entirely the taker’s responsibility to clean up the mess. It consumed a fair bit of mental energy and even caused some hair loss… but despite that, the returns always outweighed the costs.
So today, the taker was reaching out to the kayak to propose content.
“Well then, please look here.”
The taker began sharing their screen with the kayak for a briefing. And there it was…
“Crimes committed by the kayak on the taker’s server…?”
A community the kayak was somewhat familiar with had a popular post come to mind.
Flustered, the taker continued.
“No, no, I’m sorry. I shared the wrong screen. Not this one…”
“I don’t know, but isn’t that a post by you, Taker-nim?”
Skeptically asking, the kayak caught the taker off guard, who quickly denied it.
“No, no, there’s no way. I’m a streamer; I wouldn’t write on a community.”
“Well, I write from time to time. So I thought maybe you did too.”
“Eh?”
“It’s fun to pretend it’s not me and write posts secretly. You know, saying stuff like, ‘Hasn’t the kayak been getting lazy lately? Isn’t she unlikable?’ and getting people’s opinions. If the fan cafe is like herbal medicine, then the community is like a mountain full of both poison and medicinal herbs.”
Only then did the taker recall the kayak’s past.
Come to think of it, the kayak was originally from the community scene. In her early streaming days, it was quite the wild ride.
The pseudo-names of the community members she used to hang out with were writing all sorts of promotional posts and promoting on other broadcasts too…
Thinking about it that way, getting caught spying on the community with the kayak wasn’t so embarrassing after all.
Well, regardless, the topic had strayed for a moment. Talking with the kayak could easily make one lose their pace, taking a significant amount of time to regain the flow.
She was indeed a tough opponent.
The taker focused again and brought up the point they originally wanted to make.
“So, the content title is—.”