Chapter 1: The Tempting Taste of Tears

“Wow… they’re seriously terrible.”

Lying down and fully immersed in a game stream, as usual.
That’s me, Cheon Su-hyeon… no, now Cheon Su-yeon.

It’s not like I changed my name or anything.

‘W-What in the world?’

It all started three months ago.
The morning after I was discharged from that wretched military service. That was my reaction when I looked in the mirror.

Shorter height. Smooth, pale skin. Long hair. Larger eyes. Double eyelids that appeared out of nowhere, and a body with curves in all the right places.

I, a robust man, had transformed into a woman overnight.
And a rather attractive one at that.

‘Is this girl crazy? What do you mean, ‘a man is a man’? If you’re going to spout nonsense, just go back to school. Your tuition…’

–The call has ended.

“Ugh… I can’t stand Mom’s nagging.”

It wasn’t just my body that had changed.
My mom, my younger sister, my friends–actually, scratch that, I don’t have friends–anyway, everyone who knew me perceived me as having always been a woman.

[No!!!!! Seriously, everyone, stop sniping me!!!!!!]

“Wow… How can someone be this bad?”

Of course, suddenly becoming a woman didn’t change my life.
My gender changed, not my personality.

Just because I became a pretty woman doesn’t mean I suddenly became an extrovert, right?

I’ve always hated sunlight, so there’s no way I’d go outside.
So, just like before I enlisted, I was diligently melting away my days watching internet broadcasts.

“Ahhh, today’s stream was satisfying.”

Of course, I wasn’t just watching streams.
Life would be too monotonous then.

Besides, watching broadcasts is a pretty passive hobby.
It would be different if I was throwing around donations, but where would a regular unemployed person like me get that kind of money?
I’m already running low on food money.

‘If it weren’t for the military savings… I would have starved to death already.’

Even though the fact that I served in the military disappeared, I don’t know why the military savings were deposited. It just appeared one morning, the day I became a woman, as a lump sum.
Perhaps it was a gift from God for the me who had become a woman.

Anyway, back to the main point, honestly, I could donate a thousand won here and there.

But these days, a thousand won barely gets you noticed, and it gets buried quickly.
Donating to smaller streamers would be different, but small streamers aren’t my thing.

I only watch big-name streamers.
I wouldn’t even glance at them if they don’t have a decent fanbase. I’m a trendy guy–I mean, girl.

But getting attention through donations on big streamer channels?

Is there a hobby that burns through money faster?

So, my desire to generate dopamine and the desire to be noticed combined to create a new hobby.

——————————————————————————————————

[Thumbs up if you enjoyed today’s Leny stream]

(Views 325)=Author : GoatSolNoon=(A generally unflattering picture of Leny)

Me first lol

Likes : 34   Dislikes : 1

• Don’t know who it is but the snipe at the end was nice.

• (A GIF encouraging likes)

• Dude, are you not deleting this post?
  Are there still Leny fans on the LoL subreddit?
  Triggered?

• Thumbs up if you think Leny’s about to get demoted lol
   She’s already Iron, what demotion?
   It just means she’s that bad.

——————————————————————————————————-

<Legends and Legends Subreddit>.

Commonly known as the LoL subreddit.
I reigned there as a famous regular.

What? If I want attention, I should quit online communities and go outside?

Tsk tsk.

They don’t understand.
I have no desire to show my face and get attention. Even less so to be the center of attention in real life.

I can get irresponsible pleasure just from writing, so why bother?

That’s why I’ve rejected countless offers to become a moderator.
The moment even a little responsibility arises, the pleasure is halved… no, it just vanishes.

Anyway, as always, I, the handsome man–no, beautiful girl–was actively participating in the LoL subreddit.

Actually, I don’t really play Legends and Legends.

<Today’s #1 Trending Subreddit: Legends and Legends>

It’s just that it has the most people.
A place where I can get more attention than any other online community.
Where else would a moth fly but to a flame?

Not that I’m creepy like a moth or anything.

———————————————————————————————————————————

[Suddenly want to hit the front page] (Views 159)=Author : GoatSolNoon=(A picture of a dog and cabbage)

Likes : 257   Dislikes : 3

-Weeeee
-Crazy person blatantly using bots
-How did you get 250 likes with 150 views?
-This isn’t botting, I liked it once.

[Why Zero Pepsi is the Best Drink] (Views 223)=Author : GoatSolNoon=

There’s no such thing.
The only GOAT is SolNoon.
All hail.

(A picture of SolNoon, a Korean herbal drink)

Oh SolNoon
Oh me

Likes : 21   Dislikes : 11

-Agreed, is Zero Pepsi even a drink?
-Then what is it, idiot?
-Triggered?
-Average Zero Pepsi fan lol
-Ugh, saying ‘triggered’ now?
-Low-health scrub got triggered, huh?
-It’s SolNoon for sure~

———————————————————————————–———————————————-

As always, I wrote meaningless posts, attracting attention.

But even I, the indiscriminate generator of nonsense, had one fear.

-Deleted Post.

“Wow, the mods are efficient. They cut that down fast.”

The dreaded delete beam of the moderators.
I don’t know about other subreddits, but the admins here, the so-called head mods and regular mods, do a good job.

Maybe it’s because there are so many people?
They cut down any post that crosses the line, even slightly.

-You are banned from posting.
-Reason: Malicious Behavior
-Duration: 30 days

“No way, 30 days?”

And there were many instances like now, where I got suspended.

Honestly, I’ve made plenty of mistakes. I admit that.
But this time wasn’t one of them.

‘All I did was post pictures of streamers’ faces.’

Sure, they were pretty unflattering pictures, but I didn’t post anything false, and I didn’t even photoshop them.

This subreddit’s going downhill.
Anyone would think this was a streamers’ fan club.

Lamenting the corrupted state of affairs, I logged in with a new ID.

A completely natural action.
Any famous regular has mastered not only the sockpuppet technique but also the alt account technique.

To me, ‘GoatSolNoon,’ the account that was just banned, was just one of many.

————————————————————————————————-

[Thumbs up if you want the mod fired lol] (Views 176)
=Author : GOAtSolNoon=

Me first~

Likes : 17 Dislikes : 2

-lol crazy
person made another account already
-(Author) Alt account? What’s that? Is it food?
-(Blue Tag/Mod) Stop with the alt accounts already.
-(Author) Alts? UwU baby account doesn’t know what those are~
– That speech pattern makes me want to punch something
-(Author) Waaah, subreddit user is scary

“Kekekeke…”

————————————————————————————————–

As I was enjoying everyone’s attention, a problem arose.

Growl.

“I’m hungry.”

A sudden, intense hunger.
Whenever I spent time in the online world, I always got hungry.

It couldn’t be helped.
Writing nonsense posts also consumes creativity.
In other words, it’s a mentally taxing activity.

Since the brain consumes the most energy, it’s only natural to get hungry.

“Hmm…”

I opened a food delivery app and browsed.

Honestly, I’m running low on funds, so a simple meal would be more appropriate. But I was also angry about the 30-day ban, so ordering in seemed right.

A fitting reward for my resistance against the evil moderators.

[Your order has been placed.]

And the food I ordered was none other than ‘malatang.’
Actually, when I was a man, I didn’t particularly like foods like malatang, rose tteokbokki, or tanghulu.

I was a person who loved hearty soups.
A glass of soju with it, and it was perfect.

But after becoming a woman, I strangely started liking those foods.

Actually… I fell deeply in love with them.
Now, I can’t live without malatang, rose, and tanghulu…

Soups were slowly fading from my life.
Perhaps they would soon be replaced as my soul food.

[Your order has arrived.]

――Creak!

I settled in front of my computer to eat.

A dining table is a luxury in a cramped studio apartment.
Sitting right in front of the computer, eating while watching online broadcasts, is the way to go.

“Hmm…”

But honestly, looking at this computer makes me angry. Very angry.

A computer with an 88X3D CPU and a 5090 graphics card, completely unsuitable for someone who doesn’t play games.

There was a reason for this extravagance.

‘Sergeant Cheon, aren’t you getting a discharge PC? I know a bit about computers, I’ll build you a killer one.’

That’s what my junior soldier suggested.

I wasn’t completely against the idea, so I was thinking of getting one with decent specs for simple games, but…

‘Nah, Sergeant Cheon. These days, it’s trendy to go high-end and use it for five years.’

‘I-Is that so? How much would that be?’

‘Here’s the quote I put together.’

‘Huh? 4 million won? Even so, 4 million for a computer is a bit…’

‘You’re getting 1.5 million won in savings, isn’t this much okay? I’m planning on spending around 8 million won.’

‘Hmm… now that you mention it…’

In the end, I was swayed by his smooth talk.
The result is the computer in front of me, with its flashy, blinking LEDs.

A clear white elephant.

Honestly, I prefer watching streams lying down, and I also prefer using online communities lying down.
This computer is practically useless except when I’m eating.

I thought about selling it used online, but―

‘Too much effort….’

Plus, I didn’t want to meet anyone in this female body. And anyone buying a computer would definitely be a man. So, that made it even worse.

<Everyone!!! Seriously, don’t snipe me this time!! It’s a promotion match!>

-Defeat!
-Failed to promote to Bronze 5.

<I said, don’t snipe me!!!!!!!>

「lol」
「Silver with those skills? Please.」
「What sniping? That’s just what that rank plays like.」

Ah, pure bliss.

Eating my favorite food while watching a streamer suffer.
Delicious, delicious.

It was perfect… but something felt lacking today.

My true nature as an internet addict.
The desire to inflict that streamer’s pain myself surged within me.

What if I was the one who just sniped her?
What if the streamer screamed my username in agony?

And then, what if I posted about my successful snipe on the subreddit…?

Gulp…

The ultimate attention-grabbing event, how could I not salivate?

And I was already prepared.
A high-end computer that could run any game smoothly. All I had to do was install it.

Gaming… Shall I give it a try?