"What the heck? But I can't hear the voice of the girl next door at all."
"Can you turn the camera a bit? I want to see if she's behind you."
"Come on, let's not be too hard on a regular person."
"No, but it's annoying how she keeps talking to herself."
"Is she playing two roles to mess with us?"
"Why would the streamer need to do that? There's no reason."
"For real lol. It's not like she's trying to get attention. If you listen to their conversation, she's just casually chatting with someone she knows... Arctic... iceberg... polar bear... ARGH!"
"Now that I think about it, is she trying to make us jealous...? That's as annoying as having a top lane troll..."
While I was greeting the girl next door, the viewers were throwing quite the tantrum. They couldn't hear her voice, so they questioned if she was really there. They wanted me to turn the camera to show them.
But I'm not completely naive. I knew they just wanted to see what the girl next door looked like.
"Come on, I can't do that. She said she's shy."
"No, I'm not asking to see her face, just to confirm if there's actually someone there..."
"Is this going to end up as 'regular person's body.jpg' on the League of Champions community tomorrow? Lol"
"We're all watching Noel's stream respectfully, we wouldn't do that."
"Even if you don't upload it, someone else might lol"
"Maybe not when the camera accidentally turns in the convenience store, but there are definitely people waiting to take screenshots."
"That's true..."
"Yep."
Fortunately, they seemed to accept this and stopped pressing for more information about the girl next door. She had already left my room to go to work anyway. If I had been persuaded by their logic, I would have been flustered trying to introduce someone who wasn't even there.
"I don't doubt you all, but she's just a regular person. I mean, I don't exactly show my face on stream either, but... unlike streamers like me, she's even embarrassed about her voice being heard. That's why she didn't greet you. Oh, maybe you didn't know because you couldn't hear her..."
"We had that conversation earlier lol"
"I could kind of figure out what you were talking about anyway..."
"Anyway, that aside. I was almost hurt. Why is everyone only talking about her? This is my stream, you know."
The hurt feelings I'd been suppressing suddenly came out. After blurting that out, I nervously checked the chat to see their reaction.
This time I was the one throwing a tantrum. Had I gotten drunk already? Even with high-proof alcohol, it was hard to believe just two sips could affect me like this.
"Lol is the streamer jealous?"
"Oh, Noel got upset because we're not paying attention to her... I need to reflect!"
"So to get Noel's jealousy... I see! We just need to talk about something other than Noel! Wow, look how sexy that chicken bone is lol"
"Dude, you're calling a bone that Noel stripped of meat and covered in saliva sexy?"
"What"
"Woo trash woooo"
Thankfully, the viewers didn't seem to take my outburst too badly. The comments about the chicken bones were just them joking around.
That helped me relax, and I found myself grinning.
"Come on, that was just a joke. That's fine. It's just that I didn't like it when you were talking about someone trying to get attention elsewhere, and about the person who hit me before..."
"I'm sorry, we'll only talk about you on your stream from now on."
"That is proper etiquette though. When a streamer is broadcasting, we should stick to the broadcast content and not bring up other topics..."
"So let's just talk about chicken and vodka now lol. It's nice to see Noel eating every bit of meat down to the cartilage."
"Did you just say 'nice'!! Are you thinking of Noel as your mate?"
"No, you're twisting my words!"
"But looking at your username, I don't think you'd go after humans, so I'll forgive you."
"You jerk lol"
"Hahaha, okay. Let's talk about alcohol and chicken. Speaking of chicken, this combination is pretty good. The chicken doesn't taste that great after being reheated twice, and it's a bit greasy, but the vodka washes that away nicely."
"Isn't it strong?? I can't drink that stuff straight."
"Now that I think about it, it must be strong alcohol, but you're sipping it so casually?"
"Oh, I wouldn't have been able to drink it straight either—it's bitter and strong. But this time, the greasiness of the chicken covers up the harshness of the vodka. Hmm, I wonder if making some kind of oily alcohol would make it go down smoothly in a complementary way..."
"Noel's trying to poison the liquor industry."
"It's so nice to see you laughing more after drinking..."
"We can't make you drink every time though..."
I was enjoying the conversation when I noticed comments suggesting my mood change was due to the alcohol. Wondering if that was true, I touched my lips thoughtfully while fidgeting with my water cup.
My cheek muscles felt strange from smiling so much after a long time. My fingertips could feel my lips curled upward.
As the viewers suggested, was I laughing more freely because the alcohol had lowered my tension and wariness? Well, I knew that side effect already. Alcohol makes you feel good, right? The hangover might make my head hurt later, but that's for sober-me to deal with.
What matters is that I feel good right now. The warmth spreading from my throat throughout my body feels nice. I'm a bit dizzy, swaying slightly from side to side. The alcohol on my breath isn't great, but I can cover that up with another chicken leg.
"Hmm, should I drink alcohol for every stream from now on? It really improves my mood."
There's no reason to only feel this way once. If I'm in a good mood and the viewers say they like it too, wouldn't it be fine to stream like this from now on?
I'd probably pass out if I drank more, but I could just stop here. It's not like I'm drinking vodka because it tastes good—I bought it to get tipsy.
It only took three sips of vodka to reach this feeling. My stomach isn't full, so there's no limit there. The only downside is the price, but if I think of it as a performance enhancer, it seems reasonable.
"It's nice to see you relaxed and in a good mood, but drinking every day isn't good for your health."
"Yeah, just drink occasionally when you want to feel good."
"Maybe have a drink when you hit Grandmaster?"
"Isn't that too difficult an order? Lol"
"Looking at your recent form, it seems possible? Ever since you played tank once, your gameplay has gotten more intelligent."
"For real, it's like getting stomped as a tank made you have some kind of epiphany."
But the viewers weren't thrilled about me doing drinking streams. Even though they said they liked seeing me this way, they were more concerned about my health.
That made my heart flutter. These people who have no real connection to me were genuinely worried about my health.
Excessive consideration can be burdensome. As the saying goes, kindness is pork, but beef comes with ulterior motives. That's why these light concerns feel precious. They didn't have to care, but they did.
I should repay such thoughtfulness. As their streamer, I should provide more entertaining content.
"Don't worry about my health. I know alcohol is bad for the liver. But I'll die before my liver gets too damaged anyway, so it should be fine to drink a bit, right?"
"??? Suddenly going dark, what's this about?"
"Streamer, are you terminally ill?? That can't be..."
"Didn't you say before that you'd die when you ran out of money? Is there something going on?"
"Was that about spending all your money before dying or something?"
"Forget everything else, go to the hospital first."
"Get a health checkup and bring back a medical certificate."
"No alcohol until you get a health checkup, for real."
"Uh..."
I was trying to tell them not to worry. I meant that I wouldn't drink enough to damage my body before I died anyway. But seeing the viewers' alarmed reactions, I clearly misjudged.
Right, alcohol impairs judgment. That's why I'm saying things without thinking them through.
[Donation message from Taedino]
Mission: Get a health checkup
If you show us the results (with personal information hidden), we'll approve of your drinking.
"Oh, thank you for the donation. So if I get a health checkup, I can drink?"
There was a loophole there. The message only said I needed to get a checkup, not that the results had to be good.
"You think that's what we mean?"
"You need to be healthy to drink."
"Please don't be sick."
"Seriously, if something's wrong and you still want to drink..."
"There's nothing I can do... I'll just have to post Queen's sexy pics..."
"You crazy woman."
Unfortunately, the viewers weren't fools. But they couldn't physically stop me from drinking right now. It's not like hands could reach out from the chat to stop me.
"I see you reaching for the vodka."
"...I should finish what I poured, at least."
"Who drinks vodka by pouring a full cup? Just wipe the bottle mouth, put it in the fridge, and drink some cola instead..."
"Are you calling Russians uncivilized?"
"Why does everyone love to twist my words!!!"
But I was stopped. Unfortunately, I'm not bold enough to ignore the words of viewers who care about me. Even with alcohol-impaired judgment, I couldn't bring myself to just down the vodka.
Oh well, I guess I'll just finish the chicken instead.