The next day, Luke decided to turn on his broadcast once again.
The reason was none other than to inform his first viewer and sponsor, muscleman123, about his retirement.
Well, actually, calling it a retirement might be a stretch.
He was saying he would quit the day after starting the broadcast.
In some ways, it would be closer to giving up than retiring.
In fact, quick abandonment was certainly not an important virtue for a mage.
Could someone who easily gives up truly read and analyze phenomena that seem impossible to recreate and eventually manipulate them under their will?
Therefore, Luke tended to be somewhat stubborn.
However, wasting time on something he wasn’t sure about was just inefficient.
Efforts without certainty or promise are likely to go unrewarded.
He would not succeed in broadcasting in the future.
This was evident from the results of just one day.
Only one person.
As a shard of a goddess, someone who was guaranteed fateful luck from the world had recorded such a disastrous figure.
This suggested that no matter how confident he was, it was a field where success was impossible.
How could he gain confidence in such a situation?
Thus, it would be wiser to give up quickly.
As for the broadcasting equipment, he would refund it as Dayton said once this broadcast ended.
If they said it would be difficult to refund since it had already been used, he was also considering selling it second-hand.
With that, Luke decided to do his second and final broadcast after lunch when everyone would be free.
He had no idea what muscleman123’s job was, but since most jobs have a lunch break, it was to increase the chances that he could watch the broadcast even a little.
Did Luke’s intent hit the mark?
muscleman123 appeared in the chat as if he had been waiting for Luke to turn on the broadcast.
– Ding!
[muscleman123 has entered.]
[Hello~~!]
“Hey, how are you? You’re really early today.”
[I set up notifications!]
“Haha, why would you go that far?”
Luke felt a strange sensation and awkwardly laughed.
Setting up notifications meant he had been waiting for his broadcast to such an extent.
While that was incredibly grateful, on the other hand, it made him feel a bit sorry.
Because what he had to tell him now was not an enjoyable broadcast he was expecting, but a farewell message.
“Alright, looking at the chat, it seems my voice is coming through well. Then… let’s start talking.”
Luke took a moment to clear his throat.
“Ah, ahem. Um, ah.”
He had words prepared in advance, but for some reason, his voice wouldn’t come out well.
He had to say thank you for sticking around for just one day and that he would not be broadcasting anymore.
However, he couldn’t get the words out.
But he had to say it; prolonging it would only make it harder.
“So….”
At that moment, as Luke was hesitating, trying to gather his thoughts, something interrupted him.
– Ding!, Ding!, Ding!
[solsolsol has entered.]
[kiley1217 has entered.]
[aaaaaaaa2332 has entered.]
[zzSWORDMASTERzz has entered.]
[… has entered.]
[…]
It was as if the dam that had been holding back the water burst, and people began pouring into the broadcast at once.
The continuous entry alerts and the tsunami-like flood of chat seemed so vibrant that even the letters without voices felt like a buzz in his ears.
Thus, Luke didn’t even have the chance to read each nickname and greet everyone.
– Ding!, Ding!
It was so loud that he thought the notification sound was annoying.
As time passed, it gradually quieted down, but people were still gathering one by one.
Ultimately, the final count of viewers reached an astounding 124.
This was an enormous number, equivalent to half the total members of the Forest Keepers’ unit to which Yerna belonged.
Luke’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden surge of viewers.
‘W-What is happening right now?’
He was flabbergasted.
Just a moment ago, there had been no one watching except for one person, and now suddenly hundreds had gathered.
In that moment, the notification sound of a sponsorship drowned out the chaos.
[muscleman123 donated 1000 Gil!]
[I brought some friends because the broadcast is fun ^^]
Reading that sponsorship message, Luke could only be shocked.
“What? Is that really true?”
My goodness, that was incredibly surprising.
To have 124 friends who could recommend such a broadcast!
He must have a really sociable personality.
Or was he already famous in the network?
For a brief moment of contemplation,
[Oh! It worked. The screen is up.]
[What is this? Is it really live now?]
[This is amazing. So this is what broadcasting is.]
[…]
Luke had no time to pay attention to trivial issues like the sociability of the mysterious viewers in the chat room, which was still bustling.
Before he could properly read a single message, the chat flew by quickly, making him feel even more bewildered.
[muscleman123 donated 1000 Gil!]
[Please introduce yourselves to everyone!]
“Ah, right. Of course.”
Stepping out of his confused state, Luke cleared his throat again and began to speak gradually.
“Ah, hello everyone. As you can read from my nickname, my name is Luke Irushi, and I’m 10 years old. You can call me Luke comfortably. This broadcast is mainly about… sharing various things I want to share with all of you….”
As he was about to say that, Luke felt a sudden moisture at the corner of his eyes.
What was this? Was he too excited that he had gathered some fatigue?
– Drip.
“Ah…?”
Just then, he felt a tingling sensation trickle down his cheek; it was then he realized he was crying.
Had emotions heightened due to the sudden increase in people?
He never thought he would cry in this situation, but it seemed the influence of his divine power was manifesting again.
The chat began to move quickly once more.
[Luke, don’t cry!]
[Why are you crying all of a sudden?ㅠㅠㅠ]
[I want to wipe your tears.]
[If Luke cries, I’ll cry tooㅠㅠ!]
[What’s so sad?]
All of the reactions were quite excessive, but he felt grateful yet found them somewhat amusing.
Wiping his eyes, Luke responded to the chat.
“Ah, no, it’s not tears of sadness, heh, it’s just… a bit overwhelming.”
Then, the chat was flooded with crying emojis and don’t cry messages, almost to the point of saturation.
Comparing it to the speed of the chats from broadcasts he had viewed for reference before starting, there didn’t seem to be any difference at all.
“Thank you all, really.”
It was just a little thing, but it made him tear up and caused worry among so many people.
It was incredibly embarrassing.
So, Luke had to spend quite a bit of time calming his overflowing emotions.
—–
A little while later, Luke held up a plate of pancakes to the screen and said.
“Alright! Here’s the pancake I made earlier. Doesn’t it look really delicious? With honey and butter on top, the sweet smell is really nice.”
When he went downstairs for a moment, Dayton had just brought a few pancakes he had baked in heaps for snacks for the kids (mostly Pyris’s).
Had he relaxed a bit?
He felt hungry after just shedding a few tears.
He was sure he had lunch, yet it was as if he hadn’t had enough to eat.
Maybe he just didn’t have enough for the meal…
As Luke carefully placed the plate of pancakes on his desk and looked at the monitor, a chat caught his eye.
[Looks like Luke likes sweet things?]
“Yeah, I do. But it’s not that I particularly like sweet things over others.”
Originally, he preferred savory snacks or refreshing things like mint over sweets.
That said, there was absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying pancakes occasionally when feeling hungry.
As Luke cut a piece with his fork and brought it to his mouth, the chat began to shake slightly.
[I want to eat too.]
[Me too!]
[It’s really making me want to try it.]
“Ha ha, everyone has turned into babies. I really want to share, but unfortunately, with current technology, I can’t send food through the computer. Just enjoy the feeling of eating together with me.”
As Luke jokingly said, someone posted a sponsorship message.
[solsolsol donated 10000 Gil!]
[I’ll lick the monitor if you feed it to the screen.]
“……That’s a bit dirty, isn’t it? You should clean monitors properly, right?”
Though he said that, Luke accepted his proposal willingly.
It was funny, and all he needed to do was lift it in front of the screen for a moment and put it in his mouth afterward.
Well, anyway, as long as the person who sent the sponsorship seemed satisfied, it was fine.
Luke, while munching on the pancakes, asked the viewers a question.
“Um, so. You all came to this broadcast because of muscleman123’s invitation, right?”
[Yes!]
[That’s right!]
[Yep!]
[Correct!]
[Not sure who that person is, but I definitely got invited.]
It seemed that indeed.
Looking at it, there were people in the chat who looked familiar with what broadcasting was, while many appeared completely unfamiliar with it.
This meant that even people who usually don’t watch broadcasts came here because of muscleman123’s invitation.
He truly received significant help.
With so many people, there were many more things he could do.
Unlike when only one person was watching, where he felt shy and hesitant, he could now introduce various content like preparing special food or showing off cool magical tools.
Thinking that way, he felt his spirits lifting once again.
This was all thanks to muscleman123, the viewer.
If it weren’t for him, all of this would have been impossible.
While following muscleman123’s chat in the chat room, Luke suddenly noticed something unusual: a strange-colored badge next to his nickname.
Was it a thing that appeared for anyone who entered his room? But it wasn’t.
Now that he thought about it, he had seen some people with badges in other broadcasts, though the shapes and forms were different.
At that time, he merely thought it was a personal decoration item, so he passed by it without any curiosity.
However, in the current chat room, muscleman123 was the only one with that badge, making it stand out considerably.
When something catches your attention, isn’t it natural to become curious about its exact meaning?
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Luke asked him.
“By the way, muscleman123, I just noticed, you seem a little different from the other accounts. What’s that yellow badge at the front of your nickname?”
However, perhaps noticing the yellow badge icon next to his nickname, muscleman123 responded with a nonchalant answer.
[muscleman123 – Well, isn’t it something like a VIP proof for people who have donated a lot?]
Because he was the one who donated the highest amount in this room, his guess was somewhat credible, but Luke shook his head, indicating that this hypothesis was unlikely.
“Hmm, it seems like you had it from the moment you entered the broadcast, though…”
If the badge was meant to indicate the top donor, wouldn’t it normally be expected that nothing would be displayed when entering the broadcast for the first time?
But since he didn’t know what the badge was, it felt highly suspicious.
Luke muttered to himself while stroking his chin.
“Hmm. I can’t tell. What is it really?”
Thus, the truth behind the badge next to muscleman123 remained a mystery.
But Luke was a mage who had to resolve any curiosities he had.
Luke quickly placed his hand on the computer and opened a search bar.
– Badge icon in front of broadcast nickname.
“This is it.”
Luke slowly read through the explanation that appeared on the screen, tearing his gaze away from the chat room.
– Golden badge – Indicates an appointed manager to the room!
– Unlimited authority to delete chats at will!
– Authority to permanently ban malicious users!
Could it really be a manager?
It seemed to come with quite substantial authority, yet there remained questions as to how muscleman123 acquired it.
‘I never appointed him as my manager….’
How strange.
There’s no way I could have appointed him as a manager without knowing.
Could it have been some sort of server error?
As he pondered over this question while reading the sentences, another noteworthy phrase caught his eye.
– If it’s a fundamentally private diamond broadcast, additional authority to create an invitation code together with the room leader is granted!
Luke’s eyes stopped at that word.
‘Diamond broadcast.’
That was definitely the name of the option he had manually selected when creating his room.
However, that meant…
So it was an option to set the broadcast as private?
“What?!”
Then, how come there had been no viewers at all before…
“I was broadcasting privately?!”
Luke’s head began to spin in confusion.
The reason he had selected diamond when creating the room was simple.
He simply clicked it because he liked the name of the mineral, that was all.
Yet it turned out to be the option that blocked viewers from entering…!
Having learned the truth, Luke started feeling an immense wave of embarrassment wash over him.
At this point, it was akin to having locked the door and lamented that no guests were arriving!
Even if one had fateful luck accompanying them, if they blocked that luck with their own hands, it would be useless!
Luke covered his face with his hands and groaned.
Right now, the chat room didn’t even register in his eyes.
He still felt a bit sore around the eyes from earlier tears, and if that were the case, wouldn’t all the emotions he had previously felt become meaningless…?
‘Why on earth does diamond mean private?!’
It made him look foolish for being happy over that impressive diamond icon appearing before the broadcast title!
While he was lamenting his own foolishness, a thought suddenly flashed through Luke’s mind.
Luke lifted his head abruptly to look at the chat room and opened his mouth.
“Wait a minute, muscleman123, how did you get into my broadcast?”
There was no response.
No way, could it be?
It was a highly likely possibility, but it was still just a hunch.
However, to confirm things, Luke immediately activated Arinseia on another computer to sneak a peek at muscleman123’s account information.
What he discovered was a shocking truth…
“Dayton?”
[muscleman123 – Ah]
muscleman123, or rather, Dayton, could no longer continue the chat after posting that one line.
The reason Dayton had become a manager was that he had simply sent an invitation code directly to Luke’s account, citing he didn’t want to search for broadcasts one by one.
This had been the cause of his appointment as a manager.
Then, it was quite obvious.
With Dayton’s 124 friends…
Luke rose from his seat with a beaming expression and turned to the door, announcing.
“Sorry, everyone, Forest Keepers. I have something to take care of for a moment. This broadcast will end here. Have a great day, everyone!”
Since everyone watching was a Forest Keeper, there was no need to hide the magic, right?
Luke gestured to the computer and ended the broadcast.
– The broadcast has ended.
[What the hell? Was that what it was?]
[I knew something like this would happen.]
[LOL, why did you tell us to pretend we’d never met before?]
[Dayton, rest in peace.]
[Oh, you got caught, LOL.]
[Well, there’s no way Luke wouldn’t be popular, right?]
[Nooo, don’t go! Show us more!]
Even though the broadcast had stopped, the heat in the chat room persisted for a while.
