Spiral was a game exceptionally active in the esports scene.
Among its many participating nations, Korea stood as a formidable powerhouse, boasting a 70% win rate in the World Championships, and the Wolves, in particular, were a dominant team, having secured the league’s runner-up title just the previous year.
Naturally, the club’s operations thrived in proportion to its success, growing even busier in recent times.
The reason for this heightened activity was the impending release of Spiral 2, a sequel the game’s developer had announced long ago.
Given the developer’s assurance that its core mechanics would remain largely unchanged from Spiral 1, professional Spiral teams were all diligently preparing for Spiral 2’s launch.
However, with no better strategy available to them than continuing to play Spiral 1, the players were, as usual, either analyzing scrim videos or grinding out Arena solo queue matches.
“…… Hey, Jo Hyeon. Take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
The Wolves’ practice room, as always, hummed with similar activity.
There, Jo Hyeon, the Wolves’ mid-laner, known by his nickname ‘Joy,’ leaned forward at the words of the Wolves’ AD Carry.
“What, it’s Trippy’s stream? Which division is this?”
“Master 3, I think?”
“Why a Master game? Is there anything interesting happening?”
“Interesting, perhaps? The person playing this is a man.”
“Huh?”
At that, Jo Hyeon frowned, pulling his gaze from the screen.
“What do you mean, a man? And how did he even reach Master 3? From the screen, he looks like some elemental mage.”
“He’s actually pretty good if you watch him. Honestly, his spatial awareness and skill shots seem decent.”
“Hmph, he’s still a man. Hey, didn’t some male streamer claim to have reached Master before? As a support?”
“Oh, that’s right, he did?”
“Yeah, but he was totally carried by a duo back then. That guy just now, he probably got boosted up too.”
“Is that so? He seemed pretty good for someone who was supposedly boosted.”
Though the conversation would typically have ended there, Jo Hyeon, having recently been under considerable stress from Arena solo queue, added another remark.
“There are no exceptions when it comes to male players. They just can’t play the game, and their only goal is to gain popularity just for being men.”
“…… Hey, if you say that anywhere else, it’ll cause a controversy.”
“So what? It’s true. Let the controversy happen, who cares?”
Even as he spoke, Jo Hyeon seemed to realize his words were excessive, and began to glance around cautiously.
The content of their conversation was certainly not something that would benefit them if exposed externally.
“You’re not streaming, are you?”
“If I were, I’d have said something. Besides, I hardly ever stream personally. Maybe Su-ah Unnie (TL Note: A respectful term used by a younger female towards an older female friend or sister) or… Oh, shit. Wait a minute.”
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“…… Su-ah Unnie’s stream is on?”
“What?”
—This was the full transcript of the remarks broadcast on Lee Su-ah’s stream, the top-laner for the Wolves.
At the time, given the early hour, only about 130 viewers were watching the stream.
Most of them were die-hard Wolves fans who initially tried to brush off the incident, but naturally, not everyone agreed to let it slide.
Consequently, the conversation quickly spread across various online communities, and within just a few hours, news articles began to surface.
[ Professional Gamer’s Disparaging Remarks Towards Male Gamers… What is the Club’s Stance? ]
The content and severity of the remarks far exceeded what could be dismissed as mere private conversation, leading to a deluge of criticism against the Wolves team.
In response, the Wolves organization promised a club-wide apology and internal disciplinary action, but the public reaction remained overwhelmingly cynical.
This was, after all, a public condemnation targeting an ordinary individual who had only debuted on stream a day prior—a ‘male’ who enjoyed widespread goodwill across online communities—causing even a majority of their original fans to turn away.
“In response, the Wolves are currently attempting to establish contact for a personal apology, in addition to their club-level one… so they say.”
‘…… What is this?’
Kim Hyunwoo yawned, reading the community post with sleepy eyes.
‘I woke up early for Spiral 2’s launch, but what kind of ridiculous incident happened?’
“So that’s why I had so many DMs earlier? Unbelievable.”
Kim Hyunwoo scratched the back of his neck.
Honestly, he wasn’t particularly angry, but it was clear from every angle that the other party was at fault.
Frankly, if they wanted to resolve it amicably, and in a way that benefited everyone, the best approach would be to offer generous forgiveness.
Yet, something in his gut twisted.
‘Some people work their hardest and never even get a chance to be professional, yet a current pro, living off public popularity, can be this thoughtless?’
“I don’t know, you do what you want. If they’re desperate, they’ll contact me again.”
With that, he simply blocked DMs from them.
‘As the victim of the incident, I suppose I’m allowed this much pettiness,’ he thought.
‘They shouldn’t have done anything to apologize for in the first place.’
****
After reading about the unexpected controversy, I quickly showered and prepared to launch Spiral 2.
‘Ugh… Why do I feel so incredibly tired?’
My physical condition, however, was far from optimal.
‘Since visiting the center, I’d done nothing but rest at home for the past two days, without any other activities. Had my body stiffened up precisely because of that?’
Indeed, I had scheduled my gym registration for Friday, meaning I had truly killed time doing nothing for an unusually long period, by the standards of my original world.
While it wasn’t entirely bad, it also made me realize that a person needs at least some minimal activity.
After a long, stretching yawn.
I roughly finished my streaming setup and logged into Spiral 2.
Though I longed to enjoy the game for a while before going live, my embarrassment from abruptly ending the previous cam stream made me promise to start streaming with my viewers from the very beginning.
–Oh, the stream’s on, lololol.
–Let’s goooooooooo~~~~~~~.
–Hyun-ssam (TL Note: A respectful and affectionate term combining ‘Hyun’ from Kim Hyunwoo’s name and ‘ssam’ from ‘seonsaengnim,’ meaning teacher), hi!
–Hyun, did you see the controversy that just blew up?
–How dare that trash team, the Wolves, who only ever get second place, talk shit to someone *Chat blocked by manager*
“As promised, I’ve started the stream. Please refrain from mentioning anything about that controversy. I’d appreciate it.”
Seeing the chat flood in as soon as I started the stream, I offered a gentle request.
While I had somewhat anticipated it, I simply didn’t want to waste time discussing such a trivial issue.
–Fr, if he wants to talk about it, he will. Why are people so desperate to make him talk?
–Explanation of the controversy: boring and pedantic, 100% chance of argument. Just shut up: ends quickly, leaves a lasting impression, it’s a fact.
–Just thankful you’re streaming, honestly…
–So what class will you play in Spiral 2?
“Class? A class… I don’t know about that myself.”
A viewer’s question prompted a moment of contemplation.
In truth, there wasn’t any profound reason why I had chosen Elemental Mage as my main character in Spiral 1.
It was simply the most fun.
That was the sum total of my reasoning, and it wasn’t as if I hadn’t played other characters either.
“But I’ll have to go in first and see. I’ll just play whatever seems fun after I look around.”
Meaning, it wouldn’t particularly matter if my main character changed.
With that, I clicked the ‘Start’ button on the game client’s main screen.
And then—
Whoosh!
In an instant, I reflexively closed my eyes against the wind rushing directly at me.
My surprise at the sudden, vivid sensation lasted only a moment before my vision inverted, and I realized I was suspended in mid-air.
‘…… Wow.’
High above, where the sky was entirely blue and clouds drifted lazily.
I was free-falling through it.
Yet, there was no sensation of falling; only the receding view and the feeling of wind rushing past confirmed my descent.
–Whoa, what is this? Do you start falling when you log in? lololol.
–Wouldn’t people with acrophobia not even be able to start the game? lolololol.
–They said you can set the login background, yeah. But seriously, if you don’t have acrophobia, you could totally keep this as your login screen. The vibe is amazing;
–Damn, I just want to launch the game right now;
As the viewers shared my perspective, they were all busy expressing their awe.
With growing anticipation, I navigated the character selection screen, and a familiar yet slightly different voice greeted me.
[ Please select your character. ]
[ No character created. Would you like to create a new character? ]
[ Please decide on a nickname for the character you wish to create. ]
[ Is ‘Hyun-i-oh’ correct? ]
[ Character created! ]
‘…… What? Nobody took the nickname? Thank you?’
Even after reflexively typing in the nickname, I tilted my head in momentary confusion.
It was because I had wondered if someone might have already claimed the nickname in the interim.
This wasn’t some ‘world-class syndrome’ (TL Note: A self-important delusion of being globally famous), but rather a logical deduction, given that over 5,000 viewers were watching my stream just ten minutes after I went live.
–If someone had taken the nickname, that person wouldn’t be able to log in until they quit the game lololol.
–Fr, all the viewers would probably mob them and stomp them until they quit.
–Just trust the Twitch subs~ lololol.
“You guys are certainly reassuring.”
I chuckled in response.
‘Indeed, when they’re on your side, there are no more reliable people on the internet.’
[ Connecting with character ‘Hyun-i-oh’. ]
[ We wish you a pleasant journey, Adventurer. ]
The voice echoed in my ears, and with it, my vision went dark.
Then, a moment later, as my completely blacked-out vision began to restore itself, a new voice spoke.
“Hello there! I am Pie, the fairy who exists to guide you through your tutorial!”
Accompanying the voice was a pinky-sized fairy, clad in a suit.
On its own, there was nothing particularly strange about it.
After all, Spiral 1 also had a tutorial fairy.
‘…… What? Why is it a male fairy?’
–lololol, was *that* the problem?
–No wonder his face looked like he’d eaten something sour lololol.
–But aren’t most fairies usually male characters? Honestly, female fairies are a bit, lol;;
–Isn’t Spiral a completely trash game with no gender sensitivity? Fr;;
For me, that was quite a dissatisfying detail.
‘Shouldn’t a fairy be in the shape of a cute girl?’
However, realizing that in this chaotic world, few would likely agree with me, I decided to let it go.
