Chapter 08…
“Insert the card, and start it up….”
Lee Ji-han stared at the capsule in front of him, repeating out loud the order of steps that Suho had told him several times, before beginning to operate it.
“…The noise is louder than I thought.”
The capsule was larger than expected. He thought his room wasn’t that small, but with both the capsule and his bed inside, there was hardly any space left.
If his parents or younger sibling saw it, they’d probably faint. Luckily, he hadn’t been caught, and with that relief, a faint smile crept across his face.
“Next, the broadcast settings. Suho said I can just use the ones he set up for me.”
His chest trembled.
By chance, he had started playing games and stumbled into streaming.
Taking his first step into a new world.
It was excitement, not fear.
Without erasing the faint smile on his lips, Lee Ji-han climbed into the capsule.
[Did you connect properly? Can you hear my voice?]
“Yeah, I can hear you, Suho.”
[Good, the team code is linked up too. Once you’re in the game, I’ll mute team comms. ZomBress has a pretty solid in-game voice chat.]
Suho’s voice echoed inside the capsule.
Feeling a subtle sense of relief, Ji-han glanced around the interior.
“…This is nicer than I expected?”
[The cushioning could be better, but hey, at least it has cooling. Be thankful—it’s not bad for the price.]
“Well, I bought it cheap, so it can’t be helped. Still, I finished setting everything up. Feels less tiring.”
[Good. How’s the temperature inside?]
“Cool enough. Just right, I think.”
[You might want to lower it a little more considering heat buildup. Once that’s done, start the stream, and at the same time I’ll host and send a raid your way.]
“…Are you sure about this?”
[Huh? About what?]
“Streaming. This was what you wanted to do, right? Those are your viewers, after all.”
[I told you, didn’t I? I’ll be your manager. We’ll collab sometimes too. So don’t think I’ll be upset about it.]
“…Got it.”
[And remember what I told you—try to stick to it as much as you can. You won’t be perfect at first, but what matters most is back-and-forth with the viewers. If you end up hyper-focused, that can’t be helped, but otherwise, consciously glance down to the bottom-left of your screen—the chatbox. Got it?]
“Got it.”
[Okay then, I’ll mute myself for a bit and standby. Let’s do this.]
“Yeah. Let’s do this.”
Lee Ji-han’s first stream.
His chest, trembling little by little, now pounded loud enough to be obvious.
He took a deep breath.
In situations like this, he knew he could slip too easily into hyper-focus, so he made a conscious effort to control it.
“I’m starting it up.”
Broadcast title: EASY Games with Lee Ji-han.
The stream began.
“Hello, this is Lee Ji-han.”
[Why did the host boot us out…!]
[?????]
[Ji-ha?]
[Ji-han, you started streaming?]
[Thanks for hosting, streamer! Sending us over to Ji-han’s stream!]
[I thought you retired, but you didn’t! Kneeling down was just to get momentum, wasn’t it!]
[Lee Ji-han! Lee Ji-han! Lee Ji-han!]
[Mom, when I grow up, I wanna be Ji-han!]
[Oh Heavenly Demon, have you finally come to conquer the world of streaming! We’ve been waiting! Let’s sweep away the pretenders!]
[Ji-han!! I heard from Guardian that you bought a capsule! So you don’t get nosebleeds anymore?]
The chat window exploded in an instant.
Ji-han’s eyes darted quickly.
Consciously, as much as possible, keep looking at the chat.
That was one of the promises he’d made to Suho before starting.
“Thank you for the warm welcome. This is actually my first proper stream, so I know I’ll be lacking a lot. But I’ll do my best.”
[No, Ji-han! Just turning on your stream is enough! We’ll have fun on our own!]
[Don’t humble yourself, Heavenly Demon!]
[At last, Ji-han looked at the chat! He noticed us!]
[Ji-han’s grown! He can finally see us!]
“Haha, well. Once I focus, I tend to miss what’s around me. Anyway, I’ll reintroduce myself properly.”
Placing a hand on his pounding chest, Ji-han took a deep breath.
“I’m streamer Lee Ji-han.”
[Streamer!]
[Finally becoming a broadcaster!]
[You’ve chosen to be a clown, then entertain us!]
“I’m not that good at making people laugh. And to the one who asked about nosebleeds earlier—today’s the test. I set up the capsule properly to match me.”
[A new capsule and custom settings? Nice.]
[What did you play while setting it up?]
“Hmm, a parkour game? I tried it out. More fun than I expected.”
[That’s what you should’ve streamed! Missed your chance!]
[Ugh! That’s what we wanted to see!]
[Ji-han! From now on, no matter what game you play, stream it!]
“Ah, well, I’m planning to upload that one to YouTube soon….”
[You’re doing YouTube too?]
[So you’re on YouTube now?]
[Why didn’t you give us the channel link?]
[Got an editor yet?]
[Editor? He just started streaming today…]
[Next you’ll be asking if he joined an MCN.]
Ddan-dara-dan-dan Ddan!
[‘KimPpongdda’ has donated ₩100,000.]
–So, Ji-ha, you’ll sing Zegue for us, right?
[Oh, Ppong-mentor!]
[The purifier of filthy chats has arrived!]
[Don’t drag our newbie into your Zegue stuff.]
[Ppongdda’s hobby: drop ₩100,000 on small streams and force Zegue requests.]
“Thank you, KimPpongdda, for the ₩100,000 donation.”
His true goal was to be a gaming streamer.
That meant: someone who played games.
Chatting wasn’t bad, but with Suho waiting, it felt better to jump into the game quickly.
And this generous donation was the perfect cue.
“Sorry, Ppongdda-nim, but today’s game is Project ZomBress. From what I heard from Suho, quite a few viewers wanted me to play this one.”
[??? But Zegue?]
[Why no Zegue?]
[Wasn’t this the Zegue channel?]
[Mods, clear out Ppongdda’s fans. This isn’t their waiting room.]
[He said he’s doing general gaming. Respect that.]
[Stop forcing Zegue, it’s pathetic.]
The chat flared up.
But this too was a situation Suho had prepared him for.
—At times like this, you’ll have to put out the fire yourself. Say you’ll do Zegue later, or that you’re going the route of a variety gamer.
“Alright, calm down everyone. I’ll do Zegue later. After a long talk with Suho, I felt it was right to play a game viewers specifically asked for first.”
[I brought ZomBress here! I’m the pioneer! The Moon Ikjeom of this stream!]
[You still remember us?]
[Zegue fans, chill. He said he’ll do it later. For now, let’s watch ZomBress.]
[ZomBress is fun too. Zegue fans, try it—you’ll love it.]
[Okay, he’ll stream ZomBress then wrap up. Let’s raid the anthill.]
[‘KimPpongdda’ has donated ₩10,000.]
–A shame, but oh well. I’ll still enjoy the stream.
[He’s not doing Zegue, Ppongdda. Just stream yourself.]
[Ppongdda fans, take that to your own community page. Focus here.]
[Right, this is Ji-han’s stream.]
[‘KimPpongdda’ has donated ₩10,000.]
–Yeah, fair enough. Everyone just focus on Ji-han’s gameplay. I’ll step back now.
As word spread that Zegue wouldn’t be happening, the Zegue crowd started leaving. About 100 of the 500 viewers dropped out.
But soon after, numbers climbed again—550, 600, 700….
And Ji-han hadn’t even started the game yet.
[Is this the “Heavenly Demon” channel?]
[I saw video donations from this guy spreading everywhere. Hmm, he is good-looking.]
[Lol he’s even more handsome than in clips.]
[Wow, what a sight for sore eyes.]
[So you guys were hogging this? Let us enjoy the view too.]
Clips of Ji-han’s physical gameplay had already spread among streamers.
Viewers who remembered his name started flooding in.
“Alright, then. ZomBress. Honestly, I don’t know what kind of game it is. But let’s give it a shot.”
And at that moment, he started the game.
It wasn’t Suho’s instruction—just Ji-han’s instinct to capture newcomers before they left.
[Good timing!]
[Chatting streams are boring anyway.]
[Game! Game now!]
[ZomBress? That’s a tough one!]
[Lol can’t wait. Start it already!]
Reading the rapidly scrolling chat, Ji-han pressed Start Game.
Thud!
Loading was quick, and in an instant his surroundings shifted.
“Ah….”
A damp smell.
The stench of mold—of something rotting away.
Collapsing steel frames. A sickening atmosphere.
Overloaded senses poured in all at once.
“Finally! Thought you’d never show!”
Just as he was about to be sucked into hyper-focus, a familiar voice rang out.
Smack!
At the same time, his shoulder stung.
“Ah, Suho.”
“What took you so long! Anyway—gah-ha! gah-ha! You won’t be hearing this anymore, gah-ha! Once Guardian TV’s Guardian, now the manager of EASY Games—Kim Suho is here!”
[Lol so this is where the host went!]
[LMAO we wondered what he was up to after the raid!]
[So you two are collabing?]
“Not really a collab. I’m just helping a little before going back to my main job as manager.”
[Lol if you’re a manager, lower your hype levels first.]
[LMAO the mood flipped instantly.]
[Look at his energy. This guy streams too?]
[Nope, our host averages 20 viewers. Been at it 3 years. No talent.]
[He sucks at games too, so yeah.]
“Aw, come on. Anyway, everyone! The game Ji-han’s playing today is…!”
Poke poke.
Suho nudged Ji-han’s side.
Ji-han glared at him, cleared his throat, and said:
“Yes, it’s Project ZomBress. I didn’t get much of an explanation, but it feels pretty eerie.”
Ji-han’s face stiffened slightly.
[Why does he still look good even when he’s scared?]
[Wait, does Ji-han hate scary stuff?]
[Ji-han, are you afraid of zombies?]
“…Zombies?”
“That’s right! As you can see, Ji-han here is terrified of anything unscientific. Ghosts, zombies—you name it. He can’t even watch horror movies.”
[LMAO look at his face!]
[Emergency! Emergency!]
[Don’t let him run away!]
Ji-han shot Suho a betrayed glare.
But Suho just grinned.
“…You really are a bad friend.”
“That’s how we roll. Anyway, Ji-han—Project ZomBress is a survival game in a city overrun with zombies.”
Ignoring Ji-han’s resentful tone, Suho explained.
“You do whatever it takes to survive. In this local mode, we just need to last 48 in-game hours. Build shelters and so on.”
[Will he get invited to a big streamer server?]
[That’d be huge. ZomBress servers have exploded in popularity lately.]
“Servers?”
“Oh, in online mode you can make your own server. Each has different themes and goals. But I’ll explain that later.”
[Ji-han, let’s get you invited to a big server!]
[You can make it big! Go major!]
[Collab with the majors!]
[But for that…]
[You’ll need to play well, right?]
[Of course.]
“What matters is playing the game well. So—”
With a grin, Suho gave Ji-han a shove forward.
“Let’s begin.”
Into overwhelming darkness.
“U-uwahhh!? Suho! Are you insane!?”
[LMAO he can scream in high notes too!]
[That scream is gold!]
[Didn’t know a guy’s scream could sound this good.]
[Guess I’m into screams now.]
[LMAO let’s gooo!]
[Crazy! Crazy fun! Yeah, we’re crazy for streams!]
“Exactly! Brothers, I am crazy—for streaming! This will be glorious content!”
“Arghhh! Suho! Seriously! You’re dead later!”
And with Ji-han’s shrill scream—
Lee Ji-han’s official first stream.
Project ZomBress had begun.
