Chapter 62

[Someone has donated 1,000 won.]

─”I haven’t heard about the friend you supposedly went to the movies with. Did you possibly watch it alone?”

A dangerous question.

If I say I went alone, the part-time worker will likely figure out that I’m the suspiciously pretty otaku from the community thread.

“Ah? No, I went with a friend. Just… they’re not into this kind of stuff, so I didn’t bring it up. Yeah.”

[It’s a lie… but what a satisfying taste of lying!]

[No proof? I won’t believe it. Haha!]

[Too many question marks! Lie better!]

[Even imaginary friends count as friends?]

[Is it an online friend?]

[NoksuSarangGaeVictory donated 1,000 won.]

─”You said you were friends with Wild Victory, but why are you suddenly pretending to have no friends?”

“They’re… people I can’t even meet in real life! And they won’t join my multiplayer games! Gah!”

[Friend criteria = someone who joins multiplayer games?]

[Mmh… that’s a tough standard.]

[Seems reasonable why you have no friends.]

[Haha, weren’t they just online acquaintances???]

[Oh, I thought they were close friends from how you spoke about them.]

[Unicorn’s joyous dance party begins! Haha!]

[It’s obvious—you’re a solo player Sol. Haha!]

[Our friendless Sol spends their days in the corner playing games. Haha!]

[Wait… isn’t that me?]

[A grand fight for friendship!]

[Talking nonsense there, aren’t we?]

Why does the conversation keep shifting to unicorns and Sols?

Isn’t this ridiculous?

[FriendlessChin donated 1,000 won.]

─”FriendlessChin.”

“Hey, you little brat! Show some effort when leaving a comment!”

[You’re upset because you have no friends, aren’t you, Chin?]

[Haha! Haha! Haha!]

[We’re friends, aren’t we!]

[Sol! Sol! Sol!]

[PsychologyOfTheCorners donated 1,000 won.]

─”Honesty time: Are you an introvert according to MBTI? Yes or No.”

“No comment.”

[That’s obviously an introvert.]

[A clearly Yes response disguised as No!]

[Haha! Haha! Haha!]

[Though I’m a T, I don’t really believe in MBTI stuff.]

[You, my friend, are an I for sure.]

[Sitting at home playing games is better than going out, right?]

[Anonymous donated 1,000 won.]

─”Introverts tend to shy away and struggle making friends, but they feel lonely when truly left alone—it’s exhausting.”

[A sudden display of hurt feelings]

[Stop the AoE bombing]

[Sorry, we’ll be good! Sorry, we’ll be good!]

[Have you secretly eaten lunch in the bathroom at lunchtime? You are so I, haha!]

[Is this a collective space where all introverts resonate?]

[This is precisely such a place.]

[ForcedSoloDinner donated 1,000 won.]

─”Is it true that you turned on the stream to prepare a midnight meal but ended up drinking alone? Surely, you’re not actually drunk right now, are you?”

“Of course not! This isn’t a concept stream, damn it!”

[Another stack accumulated for cursing!]

[The Great Sol is demonstrating through personal sacrifice how dangerous drinking can be. Sob! Sob! Sob! Sob!]

[Hmm, does this feel like sending a text to an ex after drinking? Hehe!]

[Huh? Then are we your ex-boyfriends?]

[Are you this ex? Sounds like someone has issues.]

[You don’t even have friends, so what ex-boyfriends, huh? Haha!]

[CoverletKick donated 1,000 won.]

─”Here’s a small donation to help you buy a new quilt since I heard the last one got torn.”

What’s this all about? Why would my quilt be torn?

Did I get rowdy while drinking?

I’m still wondering when I realized the donor’s nickname.

Oh right, it was a joke about tearing quilts during late-night streams.

“Please avoid making jokes that are hard to understand.”

[Sol doesn’t seem to get the humor.]

[Coverlet… coverlet… kick… kick…!]

[Making a positive impact on the domestic quilt market is inspiring!]

[7979 donated 1,000 won.]

─”Aren’t we friends? I named you in the class friend assignment at the start of the new term.”

“It’s still February, man. What new term?”

[Haha! That’s a bold move, naming Sol as your friend.]

[Is this question still relevant in today’s world? Hehe.]

[Didn’t that stop being a thing? Hehe]

[I didn’t even fill that out, and my teacher called me for a discussion. Damn.]

[It’s not that I didn’t want to fill it out—I couldn’t. Haha!]

[Why don’t you just trade names with classmates beside you?]

[How do you even start a conversation with new classmates? Are you an E?!]

[Wow, even part-time workers at convenience stores are hard to talk to for real hikikomoris! Haha!]

[I nominated you, Yu Kang-Hyeok, but why didn’t you mention me back? It’s truly hurtful.]

[What sensitivity! Are you a middle school girl?? Haha!]

Everybody shares similar experiences… except…

Ugh.

Why did I start drinking and streaming at night?

[PreSolFan donated 1,000 won.]

─”With such impressive feminine charm, why haven’t you mentioned it before?”

Even though I ignored you the first time, here you are rephrasing the same question in a slightly kinder way.

It’s hard to get upset since I’m guilty of scamming too—using a G cup cosplay suit.

A small prick of guilt there…

Instead of speaking, I magnify the text in the center of the screen.

[The person who live streams late-night drinking sessions is not actually me.]

[Such a person does not exist.]

[Haha! Haha! Haha! Haha!]

[Please cover over that dark history!]

[It’s clear how embarrassed you are, take the hint!]

[Still, you were pretty impressive there.]

[Night Market Sudden Death Syndrome!]

[It doesn’t make sense! How can someone with 13cm hands have an adult stature?]

[It’s not an adult body type, it’s a Western physique.]

[Get out of Korea and out of Asia!]

[Can’t you see the mood is killing it? Write nonsense like that on a notepad instead, please.]

Ummm…

It’s not that I’m speechless because of the chest talk—it’s that the chest is fake, which is why I’m speechless.

And my conscience… it pangs.

[Venus donated 1,000 won.]

─”PreSol, you’ve become stronger… now you’re on my level or even above it.”

I shake the two lines of text in the middle of the screen left and right.

There’s no such thing as late-night drinking sessions!

There isn’t such a person!

…Though this isn’t convincing at all.

[Anonymous donated 1,000 won.]

─”LighthouseIt, check out one of the popular articles, will you, Master?”

Content that couldn’t be sent as a donation message?

What is it?

Even as I’m a little wary, I open the bulletin board.

Since I’m not streaming content right now.

Should I look at the article with the highest recommendations and comments?

An unmistakable title unrelated to any others.

[Author: ActivePreSolViewer] [Title: How about ‘PreSolGuardian’ as a fan name?]

[There are two meanings for ‘Guardian’:

One is a protector as in ‘gatekeeper,’ ‘warehouse guardian,’ ‘grave guardian,’ ‘lighthouse keeper,’ etc.

The other is a friend as in ‘ten-year friend’ or ‘hundred-year friend.’

‘PreSolGuardian’ sounds like a library guardian protecting the legend and also like a friend to PreSol. What do you think?]

─[Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?]

─[The sound doesn’t appeal much.]

─[But the image is clear, like RPG wizards. Cool.]

└[Feels like a secret society. Dang, it’s pretty cool.]

─[Touching! These kind-hearted community supporters wanting to be PreSol’s friend. Sob.]

└[I cried just at the sight.]

─[PreSol! You’re not alone! We, the community, are with you!]

└[Haha! Haha! Haha!]

└[Is this going viral?]

“Fan name… fan name…”

The topic of naming the fandom came up last broadcast as well.

It felt awkward and I skipped over it lightly.

PreSolGuardians…

A friend to the legend…

It’s making my feelings strange.

My face is genuinely heating up.

Maybe I’m not cut out for this streaming lifestyle yet.

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