Chapter 44: The Rival Fan

While I was passionately focused on PvP, a change occurred within the guild.

HeyYam had brought in a new guild member.

[Guild][Jorangi] Hiyo~

[Guild][Ah-ang] hi

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Hello!

[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] Hi

[Guild][Male3] Jorangi-nim, hi ㅋ

[Guild][Youngmyeong] Hiyo

[Guild][HeyYam] This is the person who used to make our guild’s promotional materials, yam ㅋㅋ

After the flood of greetings, HeyYam introduced the new guild member.

‘Our guild’s promotional material….’

It had a clean and beautiful design, as if it had been made by a professional company.

I remembered looking it up before joining the Slaughter guild and being amazed, thinking that a ranker’s guild was different even in its design.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] The promotional materials were made so well!

[Guild][Jorangi] Thank you ㅋㅋ

[Guild][Youngmyeong] You have golden hands.

[Guild][HeyYam] They said they became a fan after watching Ban-ye’s videos, yam ㅇㅅㅇ

[Guild][HeyYam] They wanted to join the same guild as Ban-ye, so I scouted them, yam.

I paused, just as I was about to pour out more words of welcome.

…A fan of Ban-ye?

[Guild][Male3] ㅋㅋ Our puppy better be on his toes ㅋ

[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] Got yourself a rival?

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Why would I be on my toes;

As if on cue, the guild members seized the opportunity to tease me.

I pretended it didn’t bother me… but honestly, I felt a slight sense of crisis.

[Guild][Jorangi] Who is this Puppy-nim?

[Guild][Male3] Puppy is Ah-ang’s nicknameㅋㅋ

[Guild][HugMeRaiseMe] Ban-yeStorage = Ah-ang’s owner = Ban-ye’s akgae.

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Who’s an akgaeㅡㅡ

[Guild][Male3] He’s a puppy because his tail wags like a motor whenever he sees Ban-ye ㅋ

[Guild][Jorangi] Ah~

[Guild][Jorangi] As a fellow fan, I look forward to getting along with you ><

[Guild][Ban-yeStorage] Yes, I look forward to it too ㅋㅋ

[Guild][Youngmyeong] Your characters are overlapping ㅋㅋㅋ

Jorangi-nim greeted me as if they were genuinely happy to meet me.

I also spoke with a smile, but my feelings were actually quite complicated.

Just as Youngmyeong said, I used to be the only Ban-ye fan in the guild, but now another one had been added!

Besides, there was something else that was decisive.

[Guild][Jorangi] Ban-ye-nim ㅎㅎ

[Guild][Ah-ang] Yes.

[Guild][Jorangi] I made a highlight video with your clips, would you like to see it?

[Guild][HeyYam] Post it on the guild Discord, yam ㅇㅅㅇㅋㅋ

Before Ban-ye could even say he’d watch it, HeyYam spoke kindly.

It seemed he was being considerate since Jorangi was a new guild member.

[Guild][Jorangi] Hehe, okay.

[Guild][Jorangi] It’s a little embarrassingㅠ ㅋㅋ

[Guild][HeyYam] You’re being too modest, yam ㅇㅅㅇ

‘What on earth is it?’

What was posted on Discord was a YouTube link.

When I clicked the link, a flashy thumbnail appeared on the screen.

I played the video… and my jaw dropped without me even realizing it.

“Wow, this is no joke….”

The video Jorangi-nim posted was an edit of Ban-ye’s existing videos.

It specifically focused on editing scenes where Ban-ye showed off his skills, like demonstrating precise controls or defeating bosses with flashy abilities.

It was a video that could only be described as cool, with skills that did not seem to belong to an amateur.

“Wow, it’s really well made….
Right?”

I exclaimed in admiration before I knew it, then turned to look at Ban-ye in the seat next to me.

“Yes, it’s well made.”

A lukewarm answer came back, but Ban-ye also watched the entire video without turning it off midway.

I watched with a troubled heart as Ban-ye’s face was colored by the light from the screen, then returned to the game.

The guild chat was abuzz, as if the other members had also checked the video.

[Guild][Male3] This is epic ㅋ

[Guild][Male3] Do you do this for a living?

[Guild][Jorangi] It’s a hobby, but I learned it a bit seriously ㅋㅋ

[Guild][Jorangi] Is it okay?

[Guild][ImSoCute] It’s really cool!

[Guild][ImSoCute] Ban-ye-nim looks amazing in it!

[Guild][Jorangi] He’s cool to begin with, I just enhanced it a bit with editing ㅋㅋ

Anyone could see it was well made, but Jorangi-nim answered humbly.

Of course, it was true that Ban-ye was cool, but….
that video looked much more flashy and cool thanks to Jorangi-nim.

[Guild][Jorangi] Did you watch it too, Ban-ye-nim?

[Guild][Ah-ang] Yes.

[Guild][Ah-ang] It’s not bad.

Compared to the guild members’ fuss, it was a simple greeting, but Jorangi-nim was ecstatic.

[Guild][Jorangi] Wow ㅋㅋㅋ Thank you.

[Guild][Jorangi] I want to be your editor, Ban-ye-nim!

At the same time, Jorangi-nim immediately promoted themself.

I glanced at Ban-ye without even realizing it.

He still had that face that made it impossible to know what he was thinking.

[Guild][Jorangi] I have a lot of experience editing videos for YouTube.

[Guild][Jorangi] I’ve handled a lot of gaming videos too.

[Guild][HeyYam] The quality is about to go up, yam? ㅋㅋ

[Guild][Ah-ang] I’ll think about it.

[Guild][Jorangi] Yep!

[Guild][Jorangi] Just leave it to me, I’m confident!

Jorangi-nim was extremely motivated.

Ban-ye didn’t give a definitive answer on the spot, but… the fact that he didn’t refuse was read as a positive signal.

Thanks to that, I became extremely anxious.

Jorangi was a fan just like me, but their editing skills were dazzling.

In contrast, even though I wanted to be Ban-ye’s manager, my editing skills… were nothing more than average.

‘Of course, Ban-ye is living at my house right now, but….’

It had been a while since Ban-ye and I started living together, but we hadn’t grown that much closer.

To Ban-ye, I wasn’t a friend, just a housemate….

Our relationship was nothing special if you took away the contact point of our home.

In the game, we had the relationship of owner and pilot, but Ban-ye was also slowly starting to do well as a streamer.

I couldn’t shake the thought that Jorangi-nim would be more helpful to Ban-ye than I was.

‘This can’t go on!’

Even if I couldn’t date Ban-ye, I didn’t want to be pushed down his priority list.

Feeling a sense of crisis, I turned off the game and went on a shopping spree with my smartphone.

Buying one thing after another, I felt I might have overdone it a bit… but I was glad it was a world where you could buy anything online.

The next day.

A mountain of delivery boxes was piled up at home.

“What did you buy so much of?”

“Wanna see?”

I said proudly and started to open the boxes one by one.

T-shirts, jeans, sneakers….

They were gifts I could buy because I had roughly figured out Ban-ye’s size while living with him.

Ban-ye held up a large pair of sneakers.

“Are you going to wear these?”

Ban-ye glanced at my feet.

If you put Ban-ye’s sneakers and my sneakers side-by-side, there’s quite a size difference.

I shook my head while removing the tag from a T-shirt.

“No.”

“This is a gift.”

At my words, Ban-ye frowned.

“A gift?”

“For whom?”

“For you, of course, Ban-ye….”

“…For me?”

“Yeah.”

“All of this?”

“Yeah.”

Ban-ye sighed and snatched the scissors from my hand.

I had only removed the tag from the t-shirt.

Ban-ye put the scissors away and glared at the mountain of delivery boxes.

“Why?”

“Just…?”

“Because you gave me the creator merch before….”

I brought out the excuse I had prepared in advance.

However, Ban-ye shook his head firmly.

“No, thanks.”

“Why?”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, return them.”

“You can wear the one you removed the tag from.”

…He’s telling me to wear this?

It’s at least two sizes too big.

But Ban-ye had no intention of accepting them.

“Is the design not good?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s not my style.”

I tried to buy designs similar to what Ban-ye usually wears….

“Then, what do you like?”

“I don’t need anything.”

“Then, is there anything you want to receive?”

“Not really.”

He used to accept things just fine before….

Was that because they were items?

But now that we were sharing an account, gifting items was also awkward.

“I’ll return them for now….”

I sullenly put the gifts I had taken out back into their boxes.

Ban-ye clicked his tongue and helped me repack the deliveries.

I finished organizing all of Ban-ye’s gifts and tore open the one remaining package.

“Why are you opening that one?”

“Ah, this one is mine….”

It was the biggest thing that had arrived today, delivered by freight.

Because of its size, it was difficult to open.

Ban-ye, who had been watching quietly, asked.

“Why did you buy this?”

“It’s something ImSoCute recommended before….”

What I received was a bicycle.

It would be difficult to go riding with ImSoCute, but I thought it would be better to move around a bit rather than being cooped up inside all day, so I bought it.

Ban-ye stared intently at the bicycle.

Thinking this was it, I said to Ban-ye.

“Why?”

“Should I buy you a bicycle?!”

“I don’t need one.”

But Ban-ye replied bluntly, as if something was displeasing him.