The workout with Se-na didn’t produce good results.
In the end, my lack of exercise became a problem, and I couldn’t properly work out either physically or situationally.
Still, I diligently learned the correct exercise postures, and though it was shameless of me, I readily accepted the dumbbells Se-na gave me as a gift. Though they were light 3kg dumbbells, as I kept using them, even these made me sweat.
My arms hurt too.
While I didn’t know about other body parts, the muscle pain in my shoulders and arms gave me a sense of satisfaction.
Was there anything else that happened?
A man and a woman sweating and panting in a one-room apartment, and really nothing happened?
Surprisingly, really nothing did.
As soon as we started exercising, any awkward or fresh feelings disappeared without a trace, and it just became like a PT session with a slightly different location.
Later on, I was the only one getting embarrassed and reacting to Se-na’s movements, while Se-na remained completely unfazed even while touching my body to correct my posture. It kind of hurt my pride.
Honestly, I even started wondering if I lacked charm.
Well, I definitely do lack it, but it hurt my pride that I lacked it even by reversed world standards.
I stood in front of the mirror holding the dumbbells I’d brought home.
“This does look a bit cooler though.”
Compared to the indoor bicycle, dumbbells definitely felt more like working out.
A more workout-like workout feeling? Not that I’m looking down on indoor bikes.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but my body in the mirror seemed to have gained just a tiiiiny bit more muscle. Though how much could change after just one day of exercise, but with these things, momentum is important.
I decided to post a pointless bragging post while I was at it.
***
[Guys I think I’m getting arm muscles]
Gym rats better watch out
[Comments]
– Shut up and start your stream~
ㄴ Don’t care what kind of exercise you do, right?
ㄴ But sometimes arm muscles get me excited
ㄴ Do gorilla pictures get you maximum excited?
ㄴ F*ck off with that max stuff
– Fact) Arm muscles are body parts that exist even without exercise.
ㄴ Real weirdo) Nitpicks everything without letting anything slide
ㄴ Super real weirdo) Points out stuff like this
ㄴ Ultra mega real weirdo) That’s you lol
– Gym rats better watch ouuut~ Please at least work out hard for a month before telling them to watch out
ㄴ lololol ah lol just telling them to watch out lololol
***
Viewers weren’t very interested in my exercise.
Why do they even watch my stream. They should just make an open chat room and keep talking there.
I felt a bit hurt, but thinking that’s just how these people are made it easier to accept.
Tired from exercising, and feeling drowsy after taking a shower on top of that, I was almost half-asleep but still turned on the stream. The fact that I’m streaming even when this sleepy probably means it’s become almost a habit by now.
I thought about suddenly taking a break like some other streamers do, but I couldn’t stop during this recent growth period in my broadcasts.
I wondered why my broadcast suddenly entered another growth period.
Turns out my editor had edited just the surprised reactions from my horror game playthrough and uploaded them as YouTube Shorts, which got picked up by the algorithm and recorded an incredible number of views.
Those people eventually flowed into my YouTube channel, and as YouTube grew…
In a chain reaction, my broadcast viewership increased too.
As a result, when I turned on the stream now, about 2,000 people gathered even before I could say hello.
More people would probably come once I greet everyone and start the stream, right?
“There are quite a lot of you today, everyone.”
[Kids these days… First time here but not even introducing yourself~?]
[Auntie, kids these days have attitude, you know?]
[I like this bold girl. From today on, you’re the main hostess.]
[Will you pay me?]
[Nah, you actually have to pay to subscribe if you want to do hosting lol]
[F*ck lololol]
“Ah I’m tired… so sleepy…”
[If you’re sleepy just go sleep. But do a 24-hour stream tomorrow]
[If you’re sleepy, how about that horror game from last time?]
[That’ll definitely wake you up]
[Which f*cker just posted a ghost picture on the board f*ck you]
I stopped my hand that was about to check the board.
And suddenly I remembered what I was going to say today.
I almost forgot to deliver the message because I was tired.
Today’s exercise was real exercise. My arms wouldn’t go above 90 degrees. Even with 3kg dumbbells, constantly lifting them felt like lifting metal… wait, they are metal right? Anyway, I delivered the announcement I wanted to make.
“Everyone, my channel needs 40k more for 100k, so please make something to celebrate”
[???]
[It’s kind of absurd when you say it so boldly. If you hit 100k, shouldn’t you be doing something to thank us, why do we have to do something?]
[Shouldn’t there at least be something you’re giving in return?]
[This guy’s getting more and more bold, feisty one, I wonder if you can maintain that attitude in bed?]
“Hey, of course there are things I’m giving”
I posted the prize list I had prepared in advance.
Though by prepared, I just roughly wrote it in notepad earlier.
***
1st Prize: Rice Cooker (Worth 400k won, used about twice)
2nd Prize: Air Fryer (Bought but unused, 200k won)
3rd Prize: 50k won Cultural Gift Certificate (Selecting 10 winners)[1]
***
The chat’s reaction to the notepad wasn’t good.
[Holy f*ck lololololol]
[This is ridiculous f*ck lolololol Are you running a flea market giving away used stuff lolol]
[3rd prize is the best let’s celebrate appropriately with moderate effort]
[But if we cook rice with that rice cooker, wouldn’t that mean we’re sharing a meal with Daeju? uwu]
[Get your head straight]
Well, I had expected this reaction when I wrote it in notepad.
The real prizes were different. Though I hadn’t written them down.
“Actually that was a joke, 1st prize will be 300k won and 2nd prize will be 200k won gift certificates”
[Oh]
[But are you still throwing in those other things? I really don’t need them;;]
[lolol This guy seems reluctant to throw away stuff with stickers still on them]
[Hey but Daeju’s spending quite a bit, is your wallet a bit thick?]
[Must be richer than us scratching our chests under our shirts while watching streams]
[*scratch scratch*]
Actually, I didn’t expect to spend this much money either, but my mind changed after seeing the talent showcase content last time.
No, I didn’t know there were so many skilled people in my room. While I’m at it, I wanted to receive something from fans like other streamers too. When I went to Yeonhee’s place before, there were drawings from fans, letters, and some dolls, and honestly I wasn’t that envious then but as time passed I became envious.
And along with that, I wanted to give thank you gifts to viewers, and the rice cooker and air fryer were absolutely not being given away as disposals.
They’re expensive products, okay?
[But other streamers all naturally do something when they hit 100k, but Daeju’s so anxious that we won’t do anything, he’s begging while putting up prize money in advance ㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
[I was going to participate even without prizes]
[Seems like Daeju’s secretly quite the worrier]
“So… what should we do now?”
After saying everything I wanted to say, sleepiness came back.
Why am I so sleepy after exercising? Closing my eyes was too easy, and opening them felt like lifting dumbbells.
The chat was saying whatever they wanted to see, and as I read the rapidly scrolling chat, my eyes closed.
[Why so quiet?]
[Huh? Is this guy sleeping?]
[Isn’t sleeping banned during streams?]
[Someone wake him up]
After that, I think I heard various sounds.
There was probably a reveille sound, a foul-mouthed grandmother’s colorful cursing, and loud songs too, but they all sounded faint like they were coming from far away.
[What the f*ck is this. Does this guy have that Purin[2] at home? Why’s he suddenly sleeping]
[I have a way to wake him up, wanna try?]
[What is it]
[First gogogogo][3]
[Ok ok waiting]
<*Huff, huff* How does My Lady feel about my sturdy club?! Was feeding me white rice worth it?>
<Mmm~ Feeding you white rice was worth it~>
“What the f*ck what is this!”
Strange sounds that shouldn’t be heard reached my ears as I wandered in dreamland and I woke up immediately.
Fortunately it wasn’t video, but at least sounds that shouldn’t be played during broadcast were coming out.
It was like some old adult film and it really sent chills down my spine in surprise.
[This crazy bi*ch lolololol When we said wake him up before getting banned for sleep streaming, you wake him with sounds that’ll get him banned!]
[The 2011 remake of ‘Why Did the Lady Feed Dolsoe White Rice’][4]
[???? How do you know that?]
[It’s a masterpiece]
[???]
After calming my surprised heart, I started understanding the situation.
About 40 minutes had passed somehow, and I seemed to have dozed off. To wake me up, they mobilized many donations for 40 minutes but when I still wouldn’t wake up, they seemed to have used an ultimate measure.
“I mean still, the Lady and Dolsoe was a bit much.”
[For real should’ve played recent Japanese adult videos]
[Japanese male actors these days have nice bodies]
[I’m a patriot so I only watch foreign stuff]
[Idiot if you’re a patriot you should watch Japanese ones then f*ck them hard in your imagination lolol]
“Ah… stop talking about adult videos now that I’m awake or should I ban?”
For some reason they had so much to say, and even after trying to calm them down, incomprehensible combinations of English and numbers kept coming up, and they formed their own circles of shared understanding.
I noted it down just in case.
It was roughly an analysis of women’s tastes in this world.
Honestly, it would be weird not to be curious about what kind of things women in this world watch.
After roughly gathering information, I gave 10-minute chat bans to everyone who posted numbers.
“Uuuugh”
I stretched while twisting my body.
I still felt sleep-deprived, but thanks to getting even a little sleep, I could continue streaming.
[Did you see what’s posted on the board?]
[There are already some who made things]
“No way, how long has it been since I mentioned it… The quality must be terrible right?”
Even though I slept and woke up, at most only about 1 hour and 30 minutes could have passed, and there’s only so much quality possible in such a short time.
Still, sometimes suspiciously talented people appear on the board, so with half expectation and half worry, I opened the board.
“Ah geez”
As expected
There was a round character drawn in Paint.
I guess they wanted to express me somehow.
A hoodie, dark circles, messy hair, and somehow a blank expression that seemed vaguely similar.
“Everyone, don’t rush to prepare, take your time. We’re still far from 100k”
[Says the one who announced it so urgently lololol]
[Epic double standards lol]
[What’s nae-ro-nam-bul?][5]
[Introverted Romeo’s Bulging South Pole.]
[Stop talking nonsense]
“…And I’m really really sorry but I’m going to sleep! I’ll stream tomorrow morning!”
[Huh? Where’s he going]
[Hey you f*cker!!]
* * *
(End of chapter)
T/N:
- “Cultural Gift Certificate” (문화상품권) is a type of gift certificate in Korea that can be used at bookstores, movie theaters, and other cultural venues.
- “Purin” refers to the Pokémon Jigglypuff, known for making others fall asleep with its song.
- Korean chat/internet culture often uses ㄱㄱ (“gogo”) as shorthand for “go go” or “let’s go”
- The “Lady and Dolsoe” reference is playing on old Korean period adult films where “Dolsoe” is a common name for male servants, and “feeding white rice” has those types of ¬_¬ connotations.
- “nae-ro-nam-bul” (내로남불) meaning “if I do it, it’s romance; if others do it, it’s an affair”.
