Chapter 16
I took the piping-hot larva skewer off the fire and stared blankly at the juices dripping down.
Oil slowly ran down its golden-brown surface.
What do you call this again?
Resting?
That thing with steak where you sear the outside and lock the juices in.
Anyway.
It's not that I felt cheated about eating it all by myself or anything, but we'd both been through a lot together, so it felt a little wrong for me to be the only one eating something this good for you.
I'm not that shameless, after all.
I quietly turned my gaze to the side.
No one was trying to eat her or anything, but Yerin was already plastered to the cave wall. Her face wasn't just pale anymore. It was practically white.
Holding the juice-dripping larva skewer, I walked toward her as slowly as possible.
Step.
Step.
Step.
The closer I got to Yerin,
the more violently her eyes shook, like there'd been an earthquake.
"W-why are you coming this way?!"
"Yerin."
"Don't come any closer."
"Yerin."
"Seriously, don't come!"
I spoke to her in a grave tone.
"In a sense, we're basically one party now."
"How does that follow?!"
"What does party mean?"
"...People in the same boat?"
"Exactly. And they say that shared pain is halved."
"No, it'd be doubled, not halved!"
Not a bad point.
Still, if we're a party, we have to share everything fairly.
Our party believes in equality, after all.
"Then let's keep it fair."
"...Fair how."
"Let's decide who eats first with rock-paper-scissors."
"Are you insane?!"
Yerin snapped at me, clearly hating the very idea of eating a larva.
Looks like it would be hard to talk her into it this way.
Is there some better method?
I thought for a moment, then quietly opened my mouth.
"Yerin."
"...What."
"If you eat this, it could become a huge talking point."
Yerin's eyes wavered a little at my words.
Most streamers are attention junkies.
They like getting attention from other people.
They want to show off their charm.
The kind who get a thrill when everyone's eyes are on them.
Streamers get a rush when their view counts explode, when chat flies by, or when their clips spread through every community.
I'd heard that quite a few online broadcasters actually have strong narcissistic tendencies.
Of course, Yerin probably wasn't an exception.
I mean, isn't the whole reason she acts all cute and goes, "Oppaaas~," because she wants attention and affection?
And right now,
the bait I'd just thrown out was a pretty strong one.
"If you eat this, you might even get a solo shot on Mr. Rich's stream."
"..."
"If you pull off a larva mukbang, the clips will spread everywhere too. How many subscribers did Mr. Rich have again...?"
The corners of Yerin's mouth twitched ever so slightly.
She bit.
I deliberately paused for a beat before continuing.
"A tiny nobody like me probably couldn't pull it off. But you're a 300K YouTuber, Yerin. Your influence is on a different level."
Yerin brushed back her hair for no reason and cleared her throat.
"H-ha, haha."
Her tone had already changed.
"Well, that's true."
I didn't know what kind of fantasy she was imagining, but she was grinning in a way that was strangely irritating.
She was obviously picturing a future where her subscribers exploded and her views skyrocketed.
Honestly, there aren't that many things people won't do in this world.
Especially when money's on the line.
If you grabbed random people off the street and said, "Eat a larva and I'll give you 100,000 won," plenty of them would probably line up for it.
And streamers are even worse.
There's a reason people say they'd sell their souls for views.
Yerin stared hard at the larva skewer, then asked in a trembling voice,
"...But it'd really become a huge topic, right? We're probably the only people here who'd eat something like this...."
"Huge."
"Think it'd hit the real-time search rankings?"
"It could even take first place."
Yerin's eyes shook violently. Her reason and her instincts were obviously crashing into each other head-on.
She was already halfway there.
For the final push, I leaned in and whispered near Yerin's ear.
"You know how much influence Mr. Rich has. He's the number one YouTuber in Korea by subscribers."
"..."
"If you eat it here, who do you think ends up on Mr. Rich's thumbnail? Ah, never mind. I'll just eat it myself. Now that I think about it, I'd be too jealous."
"W-wait!"
Yerin bit down hard on her lip.
And at last.
"...Just one bite, okay?"
She'd taken the bait perfectly.
The corners of my mouth lifted, and I immediately held out my hand to her.
"Then let's keep it fair."
"...Fair how."
"Rock-paper-scissors to decide who eats first."
"You're still on that?!"
Yerin raised her hand with a tearful expression.
"Really just one bite?"
"Yes."
Inside the cave,
between the crackling of the fire,
the solemn voices of two people rang out.
"Scissors."
"Rock."
"Paper!"
@
[The Biggest Crisis of Yerin's Streaming Career]
Author: Nongnongnongnongnong
(GIF of Yerin throwing scissors with a tearful face and losing)
LMAOOOO holy shit
This dopamine hit is insane
ㄴHer face is absolutely wrecked lol
ㄴThe forum fave's gaslighting was insane. I was getting tempted too just listening to it
ㄴNobody can resist the thumbnail lol
ㄴDid you see the corners of Rils's mouth go up?
ㄴI thought I was looking at a demon
ㄴYerin's eyes are tearing up right now lol
ㄴThe greatest trial of a 300K girl streamer's life
ㄴFuck, this is so insanely funny lol
ㄴBut in the end, this is just her own greed lol. What streamer could resist that there?
ㄴNo but isn't Rils a streaming genius? She's a nobody, but she's insanely good at making content happen
ㄴFor real, her ability to create situations is crazy
ㄴBut is Yerin actually going to eat it?
ㄴShe has to
ㄴThat larva is way too huge, holy shit lol
ㄴBaby getting all impatient because she wants to eat it from the side is killing me
ㄴBaby: If you don't hurry up and eat it, I will
ㄴRils: I said you'll get fat
ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴMr. Rich is definitely grinning his ass off while watching Rils's party right now
Mr. Rich watched the screen and marveled inwardly.
He'd done countless kinds of content and met every type of guest imaginable.
Idols.
Athletes.
Actors.
Streamers.
Quite a few of them had even been called broadcasting geniuses.
But that little kid named Rils
felt fundamentally different from the rest.
She never tried too hard to make viewers laugh.
She didn't overdo her reactions either.
She just behaved naturally, and perfect stream moments happened on their own.
Every little thing Rils did sucked in everything around her like a hurricane.
Even her chemistry with Yerin beside her was perfect.
The blunt weirdo Rils and the childish girl streamer Yerin.
When one of them did something strange, the other reacted to it from the side.
That contrast between two people who shouldn't fit this well together was absurdly entertaining.
'Are people just born for broadcasting?'
Mr. Rich casually checked the live viewer count.
220,000.
It was still climbing.
The speed of the chat was completely insane too.
At this point, Rils's party was essentially the center axis of the entire broadcast.
Unable to hold back a smile, Mr. Rich muttered,
"She's really incredible."
The survival expert sitting next to him quietly nodded.
"Honestly, even I'm a little surprised. I didn't think she'd eat larvae...."
Mr. Rich turned bright-eyed and asked the expert,
"You don't just get survival knowledge like that from studying a little, right?"
"Right. Theory and reality are different."
Mr. Rich propped his chin on his hand and stared at the screen.
Rils was expressionlessly pressing the larva skewer toward Yerin, while Yerin had her eyes squeezed shut like she was on the verge of tears.
'Can she really eat that disgusting larva?'
In the end, Mr. Rich couldn't hold it in and asked the expert,
"Professor."
"Yes?"
"Have you ever eaten larvae yourself, Professor?"
The survival expert's expression stiffened a little.
"...Hmm."
His words trailed off.
A brief silence followed, and then he quietly opened his mouth.
"I don't really eat larvae."
......
Laughter immediately erupted in the studio.
Even the cameramen and Mr. Rich's friends were clutching their stomachs as they laughed.
"Pfft!"
"Professor, you don't eat them either?"
Mr. Rich finally burst out laughing.
"Then why on earth are they eating something even the expert doesn't really eat?"
The survival expert cleared his throat and tried to explain himself.
"...Of course, if the situation were extreme enough, I could eat them. Larvae are a good source of protein. It's just that extreme situations don't come up very often, so I don't eat them."
"But you said you don't really eat them."
"...Yes."
The chat was already going berserk.
-She's eating something even the expert doesn't eat lol
-This is so damn funny
-The expert got outclassed by Rils lol
-Seriously the funniest stream I've ever seen in my life lol
Mr. Rich barely got his laughter under control and looked back at the screen.
And he became certain.
'Rils.'
That he would absolutely bring that streamer onto the Mr. Rich channel staff.
@
"Hurry up and eat. You lost."
"Sniff... sob...."
Yerin's shoulders trembled.
She's not actually crying, is she?
Even if she was, it wouldn't change anything anyway.
This isn't some bygone age where a woman's tears count as a weapon.
At least not on me.
Strict meritocracy.
And results above all else.
If you lose at rock-paper-scissors, you take responsibility for it yourself.
I spoke again in a serious voice.
"Even if you cry, it doesn't get voided."
"Y-you're a d-demon...."
"Yup."
Yerin wiped at the corners of her eyes and grabbed the larva skewer with a trembling hand. Oil was still dripping from the tip of it.
Looks like it rested nicely.
Crackle.
I could hear the logs popping over the charcoal.
From the atmosphere alone, it felt like we'd come on a picnic and were grilling premium barbecue.
The problem was that the barbecue menu was larvae.
Yerin glared at the larva with a face like she was about to die.
"...Are you sure this is really edible?"
"It's protein. My brother ate it all the time."
"Please stop bringing up your brother."
I crossed my arms and nodded.
"It's good for you, so don't worry."
"Ughhh...."
Yerin looked like a prisoner waiting for a death sentence. Then she suddenly glared at me like she'd been wronged.
"But why am I the one who suddenly has to eat this?!"
"You lost at rock-paper-scissors."
"Can't we do it over?"
"There are no rematches in the world of competition."
"Aaaaaaahhh!!"
In the end, Yerin squeezed her eyes shut and brought the larva to her mouth.
And then.
Crunch.
"...?!"
With the crack of the larva skin, the juices inside spread through her mouth.
Yerin's whole body shuddered.
"Uuuugh...."
Anyone watching would think she'd just swallowed poison.
With tears brimming in her eyes, Yerin moved her mouth as if chewing... except she wasn't really chewing it.
She just forced it down.
Gulp.
Her throat bobbed hard.
A few seconds later, Yerin spoke in a pale, lifeless voice.
"Th-that counts, right?"
"Oh."
Then she gagged a few times.
Seeing Yerin like that, I felt reassured.
If that was all the reaction it got, then it was pretty mild.
Was it actually decent?
I picked up one of the larvae I'd already cooked. Then I carefully took a bite.
Crunch.
The crisp outer layer burst, and the inside spread softly across my mouth.
"...Oh."
Creamy!
This tasted kind of like rich, oily butter.
There was a bit of nutty savoriness too....
Anyway, it was good!
As expected, my brother hadn't lied to me.
I believed in you, bro.