Gender Swap: The Introvert’s Broadcast

“...Huh?”

They were all familiar faces.
I had pushed the possibility out of my mind, thinking there was no way.
I was a bit surprised and asked:

“...So, what brings all of you here?”

Of course, some of them were people I invited.
But there were also those I hadn’t invited.
For example—

“Is it a problem that we’re here?”
“Oh, no, it’s not that... I was just surprised.”

There was Rize, for instance.
Isn’t Rize in the middle of a season right now?
I was thinking that when—

“Well, we’re all close to Da-ma, so it’s fine, right?”
“Yeah.”

I recognized Pine’s face.
It was fine they came, but I was curious how they had arrived.

‘I didn’t send out the address...’

They hadn’t been tracking me down, so how did they get here?
While I was lost in thought—

“Oh, I brought everyone with me. They seemed to want to come, so I just brought them.”

Harin said nonchalantly, glancing at me.
Of course, the corners of her mouth were twitching, unable to hide her smile.

“...So, you’ve been streaming this whole time?”
“Yep.”
“Ah, thank you, everyone.”

It must’ve been difficult to stream so actively on someone else’s account, but they were putting in the effort, and I really appreciated it.
Now, moving on.

“Wait a second.”

I had to check the broadcast status, so I squeezed past everyone and went to the computer to check the current broadcast.

[ Viewers: 76,201 ]

“Hmm?”

I froze for a moment.
Sure, there are top-tier streamers with massive followings, but I didn’t expect this many viewers.
It was a weekday evening, so...

‘Everyone must be getting off work right now.’

I checked the chat, still a bit startled.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: The surprise is hilarious, lol]
[And he’s doing the close-up cam, look at how handsome he is, damn]
[He’s really handsome, for real]
[Da-ma oppa, I love you]
[Wow, a lot of new viewers, for real]
[Hwan-hee: Why does it feel so weird when they call Da-ma oppa, lol]
[Da-ma’s basically a girl now, lol]

The viewers seemed excited that I was back.
Although their words were a bit harsh.

“So, what kind of stream were you all doing?”

I was curious, so I checked the stream.
And there it was, the World Cup screen.

“Ah, World Cup.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: The World Cup is so much fun]
[Just started, want to join?]
[We’ve only done one round, so let’s go]
[Let’s have Da-ma join too]
[Hwan-hee: This is going to be hilarious, lol]

It seemed like they were talking about an ideal type World Cup.
Most streamers on Twisp do those, so adding "Live" to the title for a World Cup made sense.

‘It’s fun, I guess.’

I sometimes watched other people’s ideal type World Cups, especially when the theme was music. Those were the most fun.

“Can I join in too? I think it’ll be fun.”
“Of course, sit down.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Oh, haha]
[This is it, lol]
[Du-gong’s music knowledge is on display, haha]
[Honestly, a bit lacking in music knowledge though]
[Doesn’t listen to music often, so can’t have good music knowledge, haha]
[Hwan-hee: It’s going to be so much fun, no doubt about it..]

I sat down among the others.
I had just woken up, a bit out of it, but I figured it’d be better to stay seated since I had been away from the stream for a while.

“Okay, let’s start with the first song.”

Looking at the title of the World Cup, it seemed like it was a J-pop Live World Cup.
Most streamers do these, so I guess they added "Live" to the mix.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Oh, the first song is this one, wow]
[This is a true classic]
[This is gonna be tough]
[It’s hard to pick if you don’t understand the emotion of the song]
[But with the subtitles, it should be okay]

The chat was already going wild.
It seemed like the first song was a famous one.

-Watashi no~

“Hmm... so this is the song.”
Honestly, it wasn’t really my taste.
I don’t listen to much music, so I could only judge based on what I knew.

“From what I hear... seems like the pitch is off? That’s what I felt.”

[?]
[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: ??]
[??????]
[Hey]
[Take that back, take it back, take it back, take it back, haha]
[That’s not it, damn]
[Totally wrong, no no no no]
[Da-ma, are you trying to die?]
[Just because you're handsome doesn't mean you can talk nonsense]

“Hey, what are you talking about?”

Mangming was sitting next to me, eyes wide open in disbelief.
The others seemed the same.

“...Was I wrong? It’s off-pitch, though.”
“No, wow...”

Since no one was arguing, it seemed like my point was valid.
If it wasn’t, they would’ve protested.

“Well, let’s listen to the right side too.”

Harin looked shocked and played the song on the right side.

-Leo~~

I thought this one was much better.
I liked the lyrics too.

“This one’s on pitch, so it sounds good. This one’s much better.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Damn, please!!!!!!]
[This is really annoying, haha]
[That person’s a god of music, saying the pitch is off is just... nah]
[Da-ma, aren’t you scared of the J-pop terror squad attacking you...?]
[Fact: Da-ma’s already a big deal, no need to worry about competition...]
[This is hilarious, haha]
[Hwan-hee: Honestly, the right song’s better than the previous one, for sure.]

“...This is really ridiculous.”
Mangming seemed to have given up trying to convince me, shaking his head and sighing.
But still—

“Let’s vote to pick one. The right side will probably win anyway.”

I said, and Ibaek, who had been laughing next to me, started asking everyone for their opinions.

“Da-ma, you going with the right side?”
“Yep.”

I started gathering everyone’s votes, and soon after—

“Hmm... So it’s 3 to 3.”

An unexpected 3 to 3 result.

“...How did this end up being 3 to 3? I don’t get it.”
I muttered, completely bewildered.
How could it be 3 to 3, based on the way these songs were judged?

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Da-ma, you’re so funny, haha]
[Please, no more pitch jokes, no no no no]
[Seriously mad now, haha]
[Unbelievable, for real..]
[Hwan-hee: Even considering the off-pitch, the right side is still better, honestly.]

Now, it was Ibaek’s turn to choose.
He looked around at us, flashed a grin, and then—

“I’ll go with the right side. I have a cat, so I can relate a bit.”

He chose the right side.

“No... this doesn’t make sense...”
Ignoring Mangming muttering in the corner, I continued with the World Cup.

“Alright, the winning song is this one!”

“Ah, ugh…”

I personally disagreed.
The singer who couldn’t stay on pitch won.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Why why, damn, haha]
[Again with the rebellious streak]
[This is hilarious, haha]
[The constant hate is so funny, haha]
[Isn’t this love, though?]
[Hwan-hee: If they couldn’t stay on pitch, how could they win? Must be a really good singer...]

After the World Cup ended, we took a short break.

“Let’s tidy up and go downstairs to set up the drinking table.”

Since the World Cup had taken some time, it was getting late, and it was time to start setting up for drinks.
Originally, it was just supposed to be three people drinking... but now more people had shown up.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: This is really filling today]
[This big collab is something we probably won’t see again, haha]
[Hwan-hee: For real, this is so much fun]
[Can’t wait to see what kind of trouble Da-ma gets into tonight]
[ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won!]
–Da-ma, be careful with your head, don’t let it crack again, okay?

“What... You think I’ll fall again?”

I wasn’t worried.
The last time I fell, it was because I had let my guard down.
Now, I wasn’t letting my guard down, so I didn’t think I’d fall again.

With that said, I briefly ended the stream, connected to the high-quality camera, and started the stream again.

“Okay, can everyone see now?”

[Yes]
[It’s clear]
[Look at the picture quality]
[How much was this camera?]
[Must’ve cost a lot to rent for the day]

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Every time I see this quality, I’m impressed, haha]

After confirming everything was working, I went downstairs.
It was time to properly get the broadcast going.