Chapter 5
I contacted the friend who had helped me buy a computer, but they didn't answer.
I was just about to leave, but then I figured I should at least know what I was doing, so I poked around online.
“Uh... It's way more expensive than I expected.”
I needed a higher-spec laptop, as if to mock me for thinking, ‘A decent office laptop should be enough,’ since I could manage a rough broadcast with my phone.
It said I could use somewhat lower specs if I wasn't planning to play games on it. Even so, it was still expensive.
“Should I just use my phone?”
With that thought, I went to the streaming site and replayed yesterday's broadcast, only to find….
“Umm….”
This is awful.
The picture quality was fairly clean, thanks to my iPhone, but the problem was the microphone.
“Holy crap. Are my viewers saints? If it were me, I'd have left immediately.”
Thinking, ‘I should do a better job next time,’ I searched for informational posts.
“Where am I? Who am I?”
It was definitely Korean, but I couldn't read it.
Huh? I'm Korean. Ttyu-tta-ttya.
I tried to understand it somehow, but….
“Isn't there a three-line summary or something? It'd be nice if it just said, ‘Buy this one.’”
Give up. Let's just go out.
Come to think of it, why else would experts exist? Isn't this exactly what they're for?
Going to a store and asking in person should be more accurate than searching online. And I wanted to handle the equipment myself, too.
The same went for ingredients. The best thing was to inspect them with my own eyes.
For a moment, it felt as though my grandpa, who used to click his tongue and grumble that kids these days did everything on the ‘kom-pyu-ta,’ was welcoming me as a fellow member of his generation.
Go away. I'm still twenty.
***
I came here because there was a store nearby with a decent rating.
At first, I was going to go to the famous electronics-market district, but most of the stores had disappeared because the area was being redeveloped.
When I arrived in front of the store and looked inside, I saw several customers. It probably wasn't a dud.
It's hot, so let's get inside quickly.
“Hello.”
When I opened the door and entered, cool air washed over my clammy body. One of the employees was helping another customer.
I looked around the store while letting my sweat cool off, and there was quite a lot of equipment: finished products, various parts, peripherals, and more.
‘Oh, I won't need to go anywhere else.’
It was hot enough already, so this was a blessing in disguise.
It was my first time coming to a place like this, and as I slowly browsed the equipment, an employee spoke to me.
“Hello. What brings you in?”
“I need a microphone and a laptop for broadcasting.”
The employee stared at me after I spoke. I wondered what was wrong, but they immediately apologized.
“Ah, I'm sorry. I thought you might be a celebrity. I apologize again if I made you uncomfortable.”
Along with the apology, they gave me a polite bow.
Plenty of people just openly stared, so I thought apologizing alone might put them in the top one percent.
“No, it's fine.”
When I asked if they could recommend something, the employee nodded and explained several types of microphones and laptops.
Huh? Employee-kun? Korean, please.
Nod nod. Yes, yes.
I am a nodding doll.
Seeing me like that, the employee recommended one laptop and one microphone.
“These two should probably be enough for you. They're fairly good for their price, and they're also popular models.”
“Sounds good. How much are they?”
“Ah, the price is roughly this much.”
The figure they wrote on a piece of paper was a sizable amount if you thought of it as sizable, and a small amount if you thought of it as small. As I stared at it for a moment, the employee hurriedly added:
“If you're worried, try searching for the models on a shopping site. We're a little more expensive since we aren't a wholesaler, but in exchange, we provide after-sales service and… Ah, you said you were going to broadcast, right? I'll install the microphone software and everything for you.”
After listening to their explanation spill out in a torrent, I searched the model names on my phone. Considering the shipping date and other factors, the price was reasonable.
“Yes. I'll take them, then. Please ring me up.”
“Yes, yes. Thank you. Would you like to pay in installments?”
“No. Please charge it all at once.”
Heh. This much is an easy flex.
“Now I'll install the programs… Do you know how to use them?”
I shook my head, and when they told me to sit and wait a moment, I sat in a chair. The employee brought over another chair and sat beside me.
“It's just that many customers get anxious if I tell them to wait and then install everything by myself.”
For a moment, I wondered what they meant, but their next words immediately cleared up the question.
“Since they're electronic devices, I could install illegal programs or something, you know? So whenever possible, I do this so customers can watch for themselves.”
What a kind employee. I'll come back here the next time I need something.
“Sell lots~”
“Yes. Please come again.”
After finishing my shopping in a good mood, I was about to head to the supermarket to buy something for dinner when I remembered the tomatoes.
“That's right. I need to eat the tomatoes.”
I remembered the tomatoes I'd bought in bulk because they were cheap.
The tomatoes I'd pushed to the back of my mind, perhaps because they didn't seem very suitable for broadcasting.
It's hot out, so I should have something cold.
I turned around and went straight back to the shop.
***
After finishing my preparations, I turned on the broadcast and waited briefly. The viewers quickly filled up to nearly twenty people.
-Open the door open the door open the door open the door open the door
-Pya
-Ultimate Jian
“Hello. You guys are the same as ever, even right after arriving.”
I take back what I said about doing a better job. You bastards.
-??
-That streamer, that viewer
“I don't think we're close enough for you to call us ‘that streamer and that viewer.’”
-What
-So what's for dinner today?
-Jeyuk again?
-Holy shit, this is a cafeteria
“No. It's hot today, and I had a lot of tomatoes left over from the ones I bought last time, so we're having Pasta alla crudaiola.”
-Alla what?
-La hoo ah
That's far enough. I hurriedly shut one viewer's mouth, then took out the tomatoes.
-Why tomatoes?
“It's just cold tomato pasta.”
-???
-Looks fucking disgusting
-Raw tomatoes taste bad. Extremely dislike.
-Agreed
As expected, they didn't like it much.
Poor tomatoes. Don't listen to those nasty things.
“Tomatoes are so delicious. That's just because you haven't eaten them from somewhere good.”
-A tomato is a tomato
-Sprinkled with sugar, sure
-Ketchup too
-For real lol
Good grief. These people are hating on it again.
“No. Tomatoes taste bad because they're picked before they're fully ripe. If they're picked before ripening, the sugar hasn't developed enough, so they have almost no sweetness and only taste sour.”
-Then it is true that they taste bad.
“But if you look around, you'll also find tomatoes sold as fully ripened tomatoes, you know? They're harvested after being properly ripened, so if you try them, you'll feel they're on a whole different level.”
-Oh, it's you again? The ‘different level’ disease.
-Yeah, but it still gets cut at ketchup level.
These people really don't believe me. Well, I suppose it can't be helped.
Tomatoes, like cucumbers, are one of those foods people either love or hate, and in Korea there aren't many ways to prepare them, either.
“Let's cook, shall we?”
First, I put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta.
I diced a quarter of an onion, then left it in cold water for a while to remove its raw, sharp smell.
I minced two cloves of garlic and put them in a bowl.
-???
-Crossing the line
-Two?
“This is enough. If you use too much, all you'll taste is garlic.”
-That's the good part
These garlic-loving lunatics.
It seems the blood of our five-thousand-year-old bear ancestor still hasn't been forgotten.
I cut the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces, picked only the basil leaves, sliced them thinly, and tossed them in.
Then I took out the chives.
-?? What's that?
-Isn't that green onion?
-It's a little different.
“This is chive, a type of herb, but if you don't have any, you can just use scallions. Unless you're particularly sensitive, you won't notice much difference.”
-I'm sensitive, so I'll use chives. You guys eat scallions. (Somewhat paraphrased.)
The viewer tried to make something up right away. I more or less ignored them and continued chopping.
I finely chopped the chives as well and added them, then put in all the drained onion.
“Usually, you'd season this with salt and pepper, but this time, I'll do it Korean-style.”
I sprinkled in only pepper, drizzled in lemon juice and olive oil, and took out the brewed soy sauce.
-???? Soy sauce?
-Ugh, fucking dog food
-Hero, Hogeol, come eat~
“Dog food? Guys, have you never had Oriental dressing? You know, that dark, salty stuff? It's soy-sauce-based.”
I poured in the soy sauce and mixed everything well. When I tasted it, the seasoning was just right.
“It shouldn't be bland or salty. That's a matter of personal taste, so taste it as you go and adjust it.”
-Won't it get bland when you add the noodles?
“You boil pasta with salt in the water, right? So it won't get bland. Of course, if you like things salty, you can season it more.”
I put the bowl in the refrigerator to chill while the pasta finished cooking, then chatted while watching the chat window.
“Once the noodles are cooked, we just mix them in and we're done. Simple, right?”
-Dyu…
-Ttyu-tta-tta
-Season? Sweet?
-The only thing that's really simple is cup noodles.
“No. This is simple enough that you should try making it. I'm telling you, it's really good!”
These people. They have absolutely no desire to cook. Cooking is really fun, so what's with them?
-What's the original version like? Not the Korean one.
“Good question. You just leave out the soy sauce and add salt, that's all. You can substitute something else for the lemon juice, too. You usually have a bottle of apple vinegar at home, right? Use that.”
After taking a sip of water, I continued speaking.
“And if the tomatoes aren't sweet, you can add a little honey. If it's something you can eat raw, anything will work.”
When the timer rang, I stood up and drained the noodles.
“For reference, don't rinse them with water. Once they're hot but cool enough to pick up by hand, mix them immediately with what we made earlier.”
-Cold? Pasta
-Isn't it tastier when it's chilled?
“That's why I put the sauce we made earlier in the refrigerator. When hot noodles meet cold sauce, the noodles cool down while soaking up all the sauce, you see? That's how the flavor gets into the noodles and makes them tastier.”
When I touched the noodles, they were at a pleasantly warm temperature.
I took out the sauce I'd prepared, added the noodles, drizzled in a little olive oil, and mixed it all together.
-Another drizzle?
-You olive-oil freak
“No, no. When you're making a dish that gets another drizzle of olive oil, you account for that amount from the start, so it isn't greasy at all.”
Once I'd plated it attractively, I grated mozzarella cheese over it to finish.
“Done! How is it? Pretty easy, right? Why don't you give it a try, too?”
-Why would I?
-Nenyio
-Yeah, you do it
-You do it.
What extremely uncooperative customers.
I barely managed to keep the foul-mouthed old woman inside me from coming out.
Running a business is really hard. The adults weren't wrong about a single thing. Sigh. Let's just eat.