Chapter 157: Shia’s Secret Training

In the game called , there’s a notorious feature that has persisted since the PC open beta days.

It’s the infamous players known as .

These are the ones who intentionally help the enemy and lead their own team to defeat.

Initially, it started with that meaning, but as time passed, the term began to be widely used to refer to ‘those who contribute to defeat.’

So, why am I explaining this term “troll”?

“Hey, do you want to win the game? Then crawl over to me and beg. Otherwise, I won’t play.”

This punk, or rather this bastard named Dushik, was doing exactly what a troll does.

And not just an ordinary troll.

It was a ‘mega troll’ level, with a prefix that emphasizes the severity.

– So damn disgusting

– Is he trying to imitate our evil?ㅋㅋ It feels like he’s just copying the trolls from our neighborhood PC cafe?

– Isn’t this broadcasted on cable?

– Instead of a program for discovering new talent, it’s more like a show that makes you want to punch someone?

– Ahㅋㅋ I had a guy like that on my team

– Because of guys like him, I got so disgusted I turned off team voiceㅇㅇ

Naturally, the viewers were going wild.

Dushik’s actions were not ‘charming villainy’ but simply ‘the typical bad manners of a South Korean brat.’

Everyone has experienced it at least once.

Losing a game because of a troll who acts like a brat or gives off that vibe.

I too have encountered numerous ill-mannered users while playing .

Of course, I am closer to being an ill-mannered user rather than a well-mannered one myself.

However, there was a crucial difference between Dushik and me.

Although I acted quite wild and rude during the game, I had never once engaged in actions intended to cause defeat.

I was a ‘villain’ but not a ‘troll.’

At least, I had never played to lose the game.

And such random, indiscriminate trolling behavior was not helpful for the broadcast at all.

If anything, it was just repulsive.

I quietly observed for a while before speaking to Dushik.

Since Dushik’s capsule and mine were shared, it was possible to talk to him directly.

“Dushik, are you having fun?”

To this, Dushik replied as if it were obvious.

“Look at our jungler. He’s begging me because it’s his promotion match. Isn’t this the best?”

This guy… was crazier than I thought.

I had a rough idea at school, but if such a guy grew into a MeTuber?

Not that I had the right to say it, but he would surely become a trashy MeTuber.

His content wasn’t planned; it was just provocative.

Well, there might be some viewers who prefer this kind of content, but at least from my standpoint, it wasn’t.

Even the notoriously tough Evil Gang members were unanimously criticizing him, which said it all.

There’s a big difference between bad deeds with a reason and bad deeds without one.

[Hey, our top laner. Please play the game.]

[This is my promotion match… I’m begging you. Please?]

The division was between Silver 4 and Bronze 1.

It was a frequent area for what was called ‘promotion matches.’

The team members were desperately trying to persuade Dushik through voice chat, but this shameless guy took it a step further.

“I’m doing this because it’s a promotion match. Haha, I told you before. Come to the top lane and greet me properly? Then I’ll play the game seriously.” �

Dushik’s current score was 0 kills, 4 deaths, and 0 assists.

All four deaths were practically intentional feeds to the enemy.

I had heard about how hellish this rank could be, but witnessing it firsthand was truly disgusting.

The game was overtaken by the enemy team due to Dushik’s one-sided trolling, and towards the end, the players who had been cursing him harshly fell silent.

It was clear they had been sanctioned by the system.

– This game is really garbageㅋㅋ

– Trolls don’t get banned, but people who curse at trolls do

-ㅋㅋㅋ Who told you to curse? Use proper and nice words!

-ㅇㅇㅇㅇLet’s see if you won’t curse when you get trolled during your promotion match

– But Dushik is not only unfunny but also total trash?

– I just bombarded Dushik’s channel with hate commentsㅋㅋ

The chat window was in complete chaos.

Not knowing this, Dushik looked at me and smiled as soon as the game ended.

“Bro, wasn’t it fun? I made it more provocative on purpose because it’s a broadcast.”

“Do you always do this?”

“Not usually this much. My main account is Silver 1. I use this account just for ruining promotion matches as content.”

“Ah! Hey, the viewers are really fired up?”

At my words, Dushik scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

“They’ll probably subscribe to my MeTube channel. They all said it was fun, right? I’ve been studying hard while watching your broadcasts….”

How should I deal with this brat to get a reputation for teaching well?n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

I thought for a moment, then quietly said to Dushik.

“Dushik.”

There’s a certain satisfaction in delivering a reality check to brats who don’t know fear.

I initially planned to go easy on him because he was an elementary student, but seeing his mindset, it seemed a moderate level wouldn’t do.

I had already talked to his mother once more.

It was time to give a loving hammer of discipline to a misguided kid.

“First, let me ask you something simple. Do you think you’re good at LoS?”

“I’m the best in my class. Silver 1….”

“I know an elementary student who’s Diamond 3. Why aren’t you as good? He also streams, and he has more viewers than you.”

At that, Dushik’s face turned bright red.

“My stream isn’t about skill….”

This kid already knows the taste of psychological victory.

“If your stream isn’t about skill, then what is it? Just trolling? Explain the fun of your stream in your own words.”

Disrespecting parents. Well, that could be considered a matter of early adolescence.

But watching his actions and broadcast, this wasn’t just a matter of adolescence.

I didn’t expect to encounter such a madman from the first episode of .

Maybe PD Son accepted this kid knowing what he was like.

Proper education is more thrilling when the subject is more messed up.

“What do you think are the strengths of your broadcast? Or the strengths of your broadcasting style? Name three.”

I slowly cornered Dushik.

At my sudden question, Dushik stammered as he replied.

“It’

“Then if I bother you here, it’s fun? Right? This situation is also fun?”

“Th-that’s different.”

“How is it different? Listening to your earlier conversations, it sounds like you bully your classmates too. Fine, next, what else?”

“I’m good at the game…?”

“When I was your age, I was a Master in the PC version of . My brother Jin-hyuk, who rarely played because he was in the hospital, was still much better than you.”

Dushik was struck dumb by my words.

Watching Dushik’s expression, the viewers started commenting one by one.

– Is this some kind of shock therapy?

– ㄴㄴㄴㄴBut it needs to be done properly

– For real, maybe this will make the elementary students watching wake up?

– If it were me, I’d have punched him right after the gameㅋㅋ

– It feels weird seeing our evil guy giving a lecture?

– I want to be pressured by our evil guy too. Wouldn’t that feel amazing?

……I always feel this, but there are so many hopeless perverts.

I sighed while looking at the chat window, then asked the final question.

“The last one?”

Then Dushik answered with much less confidence.

“…swearing.”

“Swearing? That’s a strength?

It seems my influence on kids is indeed not good.

I didn’t expect a time for self-reflection to come like this.

Dushik slowly nodded at my words.

Well, sure.

Swearing could be considered a strength. Sometimes, a good curse could become someone’s trademark.

However, swearing alone cannot stand out.

The reason customers flock to a restaurant run by a cursing granny isn’t just because of her swearing, but also because the food is good.

If the food was terrible and the granny swore?

No one in the world would want to endure insults while eating bad food.

The food must be good for the granny’s swearing to sound flavorful and amusing.

The same goes for broadcasting.

If a broadcaster with no other strengths just curses, who would watch such a broadcast?

And if the one spewing those curses is a young elementary school kid, the outcome is obvious even without seeing it.

I turned off the microphone for a moment and slowly brought my mouth to Dushik’s ear.

Then, I spoke in the most snide voice possible.

“Do you really think you’re good at swearing?”

Immediately, Dushik’s expression froze.

“Then how about you swear at me once? Let me hear it. Or, should we exchange curses to be fair? How about it, sound good?”

“…What?”

“It’s fair. You get one shot, I get one shot. Why are you so scared? Or should I go first? What do you think?”

2.

According to PD Son, this program wasn’t just about bashing someone.

While the fun element came from criticizing what was wrong, the ultimate goal of the program was to genuinely discover future MeTubers.

So, what he asked of me wasn’t to throw around whips recklessly.

It was to occasionally throw in some carrots.

That was the role PD Son expected from me.

Not just as the internet broadcaster ‘Shia’, but also as ‘Kim Chan-sik’ in reality.

It was a role he emphasized to me several times when we were initially planning the program.

Fun and emotion.

PD Son aimed to capture both simultaneously.

Honestly, giving carrots to someone wasn’t something I was used to.

While would consist of unique guests, ultimately, I was the one holding it all together.

Of course, it involved quite a lot of seasoning in the process.

After the game broadcast in the capsule room ended, Dushik, who had been so confident earlier, now had his shoulders slumped.

After all, he was just an elementary school student.

Honestly, I had intentionally pushed him harshly into a corner, but there were some parts worth complimenting.

“Dushik.”

At the La Festa cafe where we filmed the first opening, I gently called out his name while he sat in front of me.

Dushik hung his head low like a sinner and answered in a crawling voice.

“Yes…”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to be like me?”

“Yes…”

“When you see me, do you think I swear without reason, bully others, and appear like that?”

Dushik didn’t answer.

Silence generally meant agreement.

Internally, he might be thinking, ‘Didn’t you succeed that way too?’

No, I was almost certain.

Considering the mindset I had observed in him earlier, it was enough to think so.

If things go well, it’s because of me; if things go wrong, it’s because of you.

And since he initially said he respected me and learned broadcasting by watching me, he would already be thinking this situation was unfair.

I looked into Dushik’s eyes and spoke.

“Do you feel wronged right now?”

“…No.”

“You can speak honestly. You were just imitating me, weren’t you?”

No matter how cunning a child is, when cornered, they can’t help but feel anxious.

Even adults struggle to control their emotions under extreme stress.

What about a child then?

Unknowingly, Dushik nodded at my words, and I lightly smiled at him.

“Do you know what the biggest difference between you and me is?”

“No.”

“First of all, you suck at games, and I’m really good at them.”

I said that and took a sip of my coffee. Then, I gave Dushik a light smile.

“No offense to other games, but… Silver? Honestly, I could reach that with one foot and one hand tied. Your mom told me you play games in the capsule almost every day, right? But you’re still stuck in Silver… Honestly, I don’t think you’re cut out for being a game streamer. No, I don’t think streaming or MeTubing suits you at all.”

A ruthless reality check.

As the saying goes, you can tell a promising tree from its seedlings, but this kid didn’t seem to have any special traits.

The only unique thing was that he was quite obnoxious for an elementary school student.

Viewers started to agree with me one by one.

– That’s true

– It’s even more annoying because it’s trueㅋㅋ

– Are you dissing Silver right now? Korea’s Silver has a long history and tradition…

– Honestly, Bronze or Silver, they’re not really people

– Maybe it’s because I got beaten up by a kid who looked like Dushik every day in elementary school? I really want to punch Dushik hardㅎㅎ

The negative public opinion remained strong.

It was almost a relief that Dushik couldn’t see it.

I glanced at the chat window, then looked back at Dushik.

The confident and playful Dushik I first met was gone, replaced by a deflated elementary school student.

It was the sight I wanted to see from the beginning.

Now that he was silent, he was somewhat bearable.

Good, up until now, I had just been pushing him roughly.

Since I had quickly exposed Dushik’s true self, the only thing left was to use this situation to create good broadcast content and improve my image.

Everything had gone according to plan so far, and now the only thing left was to finish it well.

With an evil smile, I spoke to Dushik.

“Dushik, you know, I actually saw some potential in you.”

“P-potential?”

“Yes, potential. But before that, there are many things you need to do. Want to hear them?”

After pushing and stressing him out, a casual show of kindness.

It’s much more powerful and persuasive than just being nice from the start.

I wasn’t sure how to deal with children, but at least in training like this, I was very confident.

You have to handle troublemakers this way.

And this Dushik wasn’t much different from those troublemakers.

Dushik reacted to my words surprisingly quickly and soon nodded with a bright smile.

“Yes!”

“Do you think you can follow my words well?”

“I’ll really listen well!”

Hehe.

Gotcha, you sucker!

Satisfied, I patted Dushik on the head.

I had caught the fish; now, it was time to cook it deliciously.