It's a Gender-Reversed World, But I Don't Go Out Anyway - Chapter 33

Chapter 33: The End of the Collab Stream

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“Ow…”

The visual presentation made me quite hesitant to put it in my mouth. Being generous, it looked like kimchi porridge, but being harsh… no, let’s not think about that. Just the brief thought made my stomach churn. Let’s not think negative thoughts and just eat with a positive mindset. While I’m not too familiar with kimchi porridge, at least the name doesn’t sound like something that would taste bad.

Though I didn’t want to put it in my mouth, I also hated having everyone’s attention focused on me like this. Not only that, but I couldn’t bear the viewers’ complaints about having to wait while they couldn’t even see me eating.

[Did he eat it?]

[Did he eat it and die?]

[Can’t tell what’s happening since we can’t see anything]

[This is frustrating, just show your face]

I scooped up a large spoonful and put it in my mouth.

The taste of kimchi spreading in my mouth… and more kimchi. There wasn’t any other flavor. How should I put it—it wasn’t cooked kimchi, just kimchi as is. Whether due to lack of time causing rushed cooking, or if it was even properly cooked at all, it tasted like lukewarm kimchi with rice grains missing.

“Oh… I ate it.”

“How is it?”

“Looking at his expression, it can’t be good?”

“He’s not making a disgusted face though.”

[What kind of expression is he making?]

[I want to see too]

[lol seriously how do you mess up kimchi + rice]

My head was too blank from nervousness to use fancy expressions, and I felt like I might stutter, so I kept it short.

“It tastes bad.”

[LOLOLOLOLOL]

[Maybe this guy’s not just shy]

[He really says what needs to be said]

“No way! That can’t be!”

“What do you mean ‘no way’? Even the visuals make me want to throw up.”

Yeonhee denied my words, while her opponent agreed with me. Most of the other streamers also tasted it and frowned deeply while gulping down water.

Since I liked fresh kimchi, it wasn’t that bad for me, but the other people hurled harsh insults at Yeonhee, apparently hating the vibrating kimchi flavor in their mouths.

“What grudge do you have against kimchi, you pro-Japanese traitor?”

“Were you trying to kill other streamers and steal their viewers, you ambitious witch?”

“That Yeonhee…”

“But seriously, it tastes bad.”

[Daeju lol]

[Daeju’s the worst]

[Others > joking around on purpose, Daeju > dead serious]

[Titles earned from one failed cooking attempt = pro-Japanese traitor, ambitious witch lolol]

[Even Dae Jang Geum[1] couldn’t earn two titles from one dish lmao]

Yeonhee, seemingly already sensing defeat, slumped on the sofa looking completely deflated.

In contrast, her cooking battle opponent placed an omurice in front of me with a triumphant expression. I looked at the others wondering why me first again, but everyone’s expression suggested this was natural.

“Here, before it gets cold”

It probably had cooled down a bit since the eating took so long.

I’ll have to take that into account while eating. Visually, it just looked like a normal, appetizing omurice. Seriously, unlike the previous dish, if someone asked what this food looked like, wouldn’t 100 out of 100 people say omurice?

The previous one?

That would be called different things depending on the person. I thought of it as kimchi porridge, but the person who made it called it kimchi risotto, and one of the streamers asked if they had just added rice to kimchi soup.

In terms of visuals, this was already an overwhelming victory.

[Oh… this actually makes my mouth water]

[Didn’t she say it was burnt? Looks fine though]

[Daeju’s spoon is approaching.]

[Those hands look kind of sexy hehe]

[????? Please…]

Thanks to the normal-looking visuals, I scooped up a big spoonful of omurice. Then the other streamers and viewers’ reactions became rather unusual.

[The cross section holy sh*t lolololololol]

[Did Daeju just take a bite of chocolate cake? lolol]

[At this point you could probably use this as fuel for an old steam engine lol]

[Lol Sneakily used black rice by lol]

As I lifted the spoon, the burnt part that had been hidden by the egg omelette became visible. There was much more black rice showing than I had expected.

It was definitely pure white rice when she started, but even with ketchup cooking, the color was too black. While I was trying to think positively that maybe she had added soy sauce while I wasn’t looking, the burnt smell that had been blocked by the egg omelette started spreading throughout the living room.

The smell was so bad that…

Ding.

With that sound, the air purifier that stood next to the air conditioner in the corner of the living room automatically started purifying the air.

“No way hehe it actually turned on”

“Hey, this means I won honestly! At least I threw away the burnt parts and made it again!”

“No, it’s not burnt, it’s that thing… Mabiyar?”

“It’s not Mabiyar, it’s Maillard[2], you brain-dead b*tch”

[Can’t cook and stupid too? She really is…]

[Wait, how is Yeonhee winning this?]

[Daeju hurry up and try it lol I’m curious]

[If you die, I call dibs on your air conditioner]

I seriously regretted taking such a big spoonful.

I just closed my eyes tight, opened my mouth, and dumped in the rice.

“Ah, it’s bitter”

That came out as soon as I put it in my mouth.

If you’ve ever eaten burnt food, you’ll understand what I mean. This isn’t food. This isn’t fit for human consumption.

Others followed my lead in tasting it, then quietly pulled out a sheet of tissue paper and spat out the contents of their mouths.

“This is genuinely malicious”

“Covering this with egg? Really…”

“At least Yeonhee threw away the burnt parts and made it again when feeding us.”

“Wow it’s really bitter…”

Amid the harsh criticism, Yeonhee’s at least somewhat edible food won.

“Well, I’ll end the stream a bit early and come back in the evening”

[Yeah do that]

[Free our Daeju]

[Are Daeju’s fans watching the stream while chatting? They keep typing]

[Hehe thx]

[That’s not a compliment]

Despite being a short stream of just over an hour, everyone seemed to accept it since there was a promise to return in the evening.

Should I also end streams like that and then say something came up in the evening?

Would that be crossing the line?

“Now then, let me, the Twis cooking king, give my thoughts first. It was really fun…”

Starting with Yeonhee, everyone shared their thoughts on today’s stream as they gradually wrapped things up.

“Twis’s representative Yellowy ?”

“…Oh, you mean me?”

[Who else would it be, Yellowy]

[But I’m disappointed in Yellowy as a Sigor Zabzong… can’t even eat burnt food?]

[Give burnt food to a dog? Feel bad for the humans ㅠㅠㅠ]

[Well some people give burnt food to humans so…]

It seems one of my nicknames had settled among people. There wasn’t much to say about my thoughts—it wasn’t particularly pleasant, but for politeness’ sake, I said it was fun.

And most importantly, I needed to apologize to the other streamers, which was my purpose for coming here.

“I’m truly sorry to all the streamers here who were harmed by my toxic fans.”

I worried it might create a heavy atmosphere, but all the streamers laughed and said it was nothing to worry about.

“No, it’s fine~”

“Right, we’d be annoyed if it was just chat, but they all promoted through donations and sent videos”

“Daeju is really nice but his fans…”

“But aren’t most of those fans originally Yeonhee’s? Shouldn’t Yeonhee be the one apologizing to Daeju? Everyone?”

“Me?”

[It’s you again?]

[The root of all evil…]

Everyone kindly redirected the arrows and naturally shifted the atmosphere that was about to become heavy due to my apology.

The rest wrapped up as Yeonhee ended her stream. I thought they would stream much longer, but apparently they ended early on purpose since everyone was a streamer and had busy schedules. Everyone’s busy, huh? Am I unusually free?

From what I heard, their agencies bring in various advertisements, and unlike me, YouTube is their main source of income, so they’re racking their brains trying to come up with YouTube content ideas every day.

As for me, our editor takes care of that…

Regardless of the identity of the stream viewers, YouTube was going smoothly.

Honestly, it seems like it’s getting more and more unhinged, but YouTube subscribers like it more that way.

Before parting, I exchanged phone numbers with the other streamers, but I doubt these numbers will ever be used.

***

[Collab stream ended.]

I banned all the people who caused trouble in today’s collab.

…That’s what I wanted to do, but they were actually quite angelic compared to usual, and it’s annoying to write down IDs one by one

So I only banned the truly toxic ones

[Comments]

­ The collab was just over an hour, how about starting your stream

ㄴ fr

­ Never seen this antisocial kid speak before someone tells them to in that one hour.

ㄴ I got attached because I relate

ㄴ Want to raise Daeju.

ㄴ lol fr sometimes want to give him some serious corporal punishment

­ But Daeju, aren’t you going to fix that sh*tty hoodie one-trick?

ㄴ What’s wrong with hoodies they’re super comfortable

ㄴ Well hoodies aren’t bad, but want to see him dress up sometimes

***

Unlike when I left, my footsteps were light as I returned home.

I’m going to stay home for about 2 weeks, no, a month now. Outside is dangerous, home is safe.

Today I realized once again just how much of a homebody I am.

Since I was already out, I stopped by the convenience store to buy Sol’s Dew and McCol to cleanse my palate.

I also bought ramen that was on sale, planning to hole up at home for a while. This was the moment I achieved one of the things I most wanted to do when I was young and imagined making lots of money—stocking up on various types of ramen at home.

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(End of chapter)

T/N:

1. Dae Jang Geum is a reference to a famous Korean historical drama about a royal court cook.

2. The Maillard reaction (마이야르) is a chemical reaction between amino acids and sugars that gives browned food its distinctive flavor

3. Sigor Zabzong (시고르자브종) is a mixed breed dog from the countryside.