Chapter 83 of Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1

29. Fan Service (3)

"Omen! I believe you!"

"......"

Under Juhyeok's strange toast.

Clank.

Juhyeok, Jia, and Sanghyun's glasses clinked together.

"Ah."

"Ugh."

"Kyaa."

Each of them let out different exclamations and frowned.

Then they slurped the stew in their bowls.

"This is pretty good."

Juhyeok said, tearing a piece of octopus. He had been skeptical when he heard that octopus was added to the kimchi stew, but it had a surprisingly refreshing taste.

"Right?"

Sanghyun agreed, taking a bite of the hot tofu.

Only Jia remained silent.

She was just slurping the stew without saying a word.

"Jia seems to prefer something like a soup dish."

Jia looked up at Juhyeok, swallowed what was in her mouth, and replied.

"......It's delicious. Isn't it?"

"Ah, it is!"

"Hey, pour more drinks."

It was still an awkward drinking session. Sanghyun knew that alcohol was the medicine in such situations.

"Okay!"

Juhyeok enthusiastically opened the soju bottle.

Clank.

Their glasses were filled again.

Gulp.

All three of them drank it in one gulp without hesitation. They would probably be hungover tomorrow, but all three had jobs that allowed them to take a day off.

"Pour more!"

Sanghyun held out his glass again.

At this point, it felt more like a bar than a stew restaurant.

But they didn't want to move.

They wanted to stay here. Now that the people who recognized them were gone, they didn't want to go outside and be recognized again.

Being famous was fun, but they didn't like it when people joined their drinking sessions.

"Sure, sure."

Juhyeok poured more drinks.

They all drank it in one go again.

This was the medicine for awkwardness.

* * *

Too much of a good thing can be deadly.

The awkwardness disappeared completely.

"Hey! Almond......!"

Flick.

Jia's finger wobbled in front of Sanghyun's eyes. Was it him wobbling, or was it Jia?

"You...... are really popular, huh?"

Juhyeok tried to intervene.

"Is that Jia?"

"Damn."

Thud.

Jia pushed Juhyeok away. Or rather, she tried to push him away but ended up falling into his arms.

She was too small and too drunk.

"I'll edit it! But who will make the video!? Hey!?"

"You will."

Sanghyun was also drunk, it seemed. They had already dropped the formalities.

"Right! What?"

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Exactly! Jo...... just...... Ah! I don't know! Damn."

Thud.

Jia fell to the side again.

This time, it was on the opposite side of Juhyeok, towards the corridor where people were walking.

Juhyeok almost grabbed her by the collar to pull her up.

"Whoa. Jia, why are you acting like a kid?"

"Juhyeok, you must be happy getting older, right?"

Pfft.

Sanghyun burst out laughing.

"Juhyeok."

Seeing Juhyeok's expression now, he couldn't help but feel elated.

"......What, what?"

"Right. Juhyeok, don't say anything about age."

"You too? You're thirty too! Damn it!"

"Because I'm actually 28."

"......What?"

Kim Juhyeok's expression was now indescribable.

'What is this kid saying?' was written all over his face.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm exempt from military service. I was a young head of the household. Didn't you think that was strange? No two years in the military, no college."

"Damn. I thought you just slacked off for two years!"

How could this be?

Yu Sanghyun was still 28.

"Then, why did you lie about being in your thirties?! On the stream too!"

"Well, everyone around me knows I'm 28, and there's not much difference between 28 and 30."

Kim Juhyeok wanted to grab Jia by the collar with one hand and Sanghyun by the hair with the other.

"This kid is three years younger than me?!"

"I'm almost 29, you know."

"I'm almost 32, you damn kid! What kind of logic is this?!"

"Who went abroad for studies?"

Hahaha!

Sanghyun laughed as if he was having the time of his life.

'This crazy devil of a kid.'

Juhyeok wished he could choose the blue pill and forget everything. He wanted to believe this was all an illusion, and that Sanghyun was actually 30, a year younger than him, just as he had always known.

"Hey, what's the big deal? You knew he was younger, right?"

"Is a one-year difference the same?!"

"It's all the same. What's the point of a study abroad?"

"No, I went abroad, you didn──"

Thud!

Suddenly, Jia opened her eyes wide and stood up.

In the process, Juhyeok's chin hit her head.

"Oof!"

The momentum of her standing up was so strong that even the big Juhyeok staggered.

Sanghyun burst out laughing again.

Meanwhile, Jia's gaze was fixed on her phone, as if she didn't care about anything else.

"I...... I......!"

She muttered, looking at her phone notification in disbelief.

"I? What about you?"

"Electro......"

"?"

Juhyeok and Sanghyun looked at each other, puzzled.

"Electro turned on the stream."

* * *

If it were the old Sanghyun, he would have thought, 'So what if a streamer turns on a stream?' and been indifferent.

'He said he hasn't streamed for three years, right?'

Electro's hiatus was three years.

Since then, he had only occasionally done some commercial shoots.

He was practically no longer a streamer.

He didn't even play games anymore.

'No way.'

The nickname 'Papa' flashed through Sanghyun's mind.

He quickly opened his phone to check Triv.

As soon as he entered, Electro's streaming screen was on the main page.

'How many viewers?'

It wasn't showing yet.

It must have just started. Sanghyun quickly clicked to enter.

"......Huh?"

What was this?

Didn't the notification just go off? Was it an error? A Wi-Fi issue?

"Uh...... It's off."

Jia said the same thing.

That meant it was really off.

"The stream was on for a moment, then it's off."

"......"

Ha.

Sanghyun let out a sigh. He had been subtly nervous without realizing it.

Just because Electro had turned on the stream.

'Does he consider me a rival?'

Yes, maybe he does.

Considering Electro's impressive track record, it might be presumptuous to say so......

But he was definitely a rival. They had competed a few times in the past.

Of course, he couldn't compare to Electro's pro-gamer days. But even in the streamer days, Almond had a chance in other games.

"......What. It must have been an error."

Juhyeok put down his phone and leaned back on the sofa.

Even as a manager, he had been quite nervous.

Electro's return could also be a disadvantage for Almond, as their characters might overlap.

At least, that's how Juhyeok saw it.

"Phew."

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Hmm......"

Thud.

Jia had fallen asleep, face down on the table. She had been out of it, but the start of Electro's stream had given her a moment of superhuman strength.

'Maybe she was an Electro fan?'

Considering Jia's personality, it wouldn't be strange if she was an Electro fan.

It would be more natural to think she had switched to Almond, a similar streamer, after Electro's long hiatus.

"Let's go."

Sanghyun stood up first.

At the counter, he handed over the bill.

"Ah, no need to pay."

"......What?"

The owner said he wouldn't take money.

"Why, why not?"

"Well, you were asked to be our franchise model, right? Hahaha!"

The owner gave a look that said, 'I know things too, you know~'

Know what, exactly?

"I haven't accepted it yet."

"!?"

It was a brand he hadn't decided to work with yet.

"Ah...... Is that so? Hahaha! The CEO is quite...... enthusiastic."

"Here."

Sanghyun handed over his card.

But the owner shook his head.

"Then it's for the best. Our successor store! Remember that! Hahaha!"

He insisted on not taking the payment.

"Please consider the ad again! I'll put in a good word with the CEO!!!"

He bowed deeply and saw them off, which was a bit awkward but not unpleasant.

"Hey, I always wondered why old people like flattery so much."

"......Why?"

"Don't you get it? I got it right away after experiencing it! Hahaha!"

Juhyeok seemed to be in a very good mood, regardless of his feelings.

He also carried the wobbling Jia.

Sanghyun shook his head.

"Hey, I'll carry Jia."

"Huh? You're drunk too."

"No, I'm not."

"Fine. I'm taller."

"I'm stronger."

That was true, given his athletic background. Juhyeok tilted his head and handed Jia to Sanghyun.

"Don't regret it later?"

"Make sure to put the cap on my hood properly."

"Got it."

Sanghyun put on the hood of his coat and wrapped himself up. He didn't want to be recognized again.

"Hey, what's with you? You never agreed to carry female staff before."

Sanghyun hesitated for a moment before answering.

Why was he carrying Jia? He thought about it.

"Fan service."

That was his answer.

"Huh?"

"What's with the 'huh'? She's almost my first fan."

"......Oh, right."

"I have to do this much."

Almond fan, Jia.

That was how he first met her.

Yes, she was a passionate Almond fan before she became an editor.

"Hey! Almond......! You...... are really popular? I'll edit it! But who will make the video!? Hey!?"

Hearing the hallucination mixed with Jia's breath, a smile spread across Sanghyun's face.

Maybe she thought he was only nice to other fans and not to her, a real fan.

"Let's go."

Sanghyun smiled and led the way confidently.

But at the hellish stairs, he eventually handed Jia back to Juhyeok.

* * *

2 AM.

Jia woke up with a throbbing headache.

"......Ugh."

It was a familiar hangover.

Instinctively, she crawled to her fridge. Creak. She took out one of the hangover remedies that filled a section.

She emptied a whole bottle.

"Phew."

The placebo effect finally made her eyes open a bit.

"Hey! Almond......!"

Huh?

Jia's eyes wavered.

Whose drunk woman's voice was that?

It sounded like her, but with a lot of coquettishness.

"You...... are really popular?"

Her face turned bright red.

It was as if she had just downed a shot of pure tequila instead of a hangover remedy.

"I'll edit it! But who will make the video!? Hey!?"

She wanted to die.

She opened the fridge again.

There was no pesticide.

She should have bought some in advance.

"Ha."

A deep sigh from her lower abdomen.

Why did she drink in the first place?

'Because it's good! Because it's delicious!'

The immediate answer from another self. No hesitation at all.

"Really......"

She shook her head and sat in front of her computer. She had a lot of work to do.

"Juhyeok, I love you! Write it down!"

The sudden memory made her less willing to work.

It wouldn't matter if the video was uploaded a day late. That damn nut.

'Let's just watch a movie.'

She thought and launched Let, Flex!

There's something called 'Pandora's Box.'

What a cliché title for a movie.

"Fan service."

Almond's voice.

For a moment, she thought it came from the computer, but the warm sensation of leaning against his back returned.

"My first fan."

'What......'

Jia froze, staring blankly at the screen.

In the automatically played preview, the cursed box opened.

One by one, bad things sprang out.

The most shining thing slowly crawled out.

Ding.

Jia closed the window.

Instead, she launched the editing program.

She checked the time.

'About 7 hours should do it.'

Would it be around 9 AM?

By then, Almond would wake up and check it.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

Her condition was the worst, but for some reason, her hands moved lightly.