Maze 24 Hours
"Ah, ah, can you hear me?"
-Yeah yeah yeah
-Loud and clear
-Hello hello
-Yep yep yep
-Um
-Food
-We can hear you
-Jun
No exaggeration—the chat was going up about four times faster than usual.
And with YouTube chat on top of that….
"Quite a lot of people today, huh?"
-Yeah yeah yeah
-Didn't you run ads like crazy?
-I was watching another stream but got abandoned to come here
"Abandoned?"
-Yeah…
-Anna ditched us
-Maho left too
"Ahh, I see."
I got the picture.
I opened Twitch in a window that doesn't show on stream and checked the other members.
Sure enough, all their streams were off.
When I was preparing earlier, a few of them had been streaming, but it seems once they heard I was doing a 24-hour stream, they all cleared the way.
They really didn't have to… but still, it was a relief.
That way, if some of their viewers wandered in here, the numbers would naturally shrink later on.
-So what are we doing first??
-I'm excited
-I even canceled my plans today just to watch this
"What do you mean 'what first'? We're going by what was picked last stream. Typical newcomers…."
-???
-Shall we beat up the newbies?
-I'm ready
-Keep your eyes open
[Thank you Jang In-Miro for the 10,000 KRW donation!]
Noobs… need to be disciplined, right? lol
These bastards.
Leave it to the former "newbie crushers"—one little comment and they're ready to split the newcomers in half.
"Come on, I was just joking. Don't start a war over it."
-Don't stop us
-It was about time we established dominance lol
-This is your fault, you started it
-Alright, shall we go to war? lol
"No, no… there are three to four times as many newcomers right now. Can you even handle it?"
Sheer numbers always win.
And just because you've watched longer doesn't mean you get the right to spam chat.
If the newbies and the veterans fight, the veterans will just get demolished.
That would ruin the mood—and I still have 24 hours to go. Can't have it collapsing this early.
-…Want to call it a draw?
-Sorry
-My bad
-Should I stand in the corner with my hands up?
Thankfully, the old viewers waved the white flag quickly.
"Good. The faster you give up, the better."
-Lol, what a life lesson
-Just this once…
-Next time we see them, they're dead
"Alright, save the war for later. For now, let's start the first item on the schedule, shall we?"
I switched the screen from the standby overlay to the game screen that would kick off Miro 24 Hours.
"Okay, nine slots left."
The first pick:
ARAM 5v5 custom match.
Since I locked it to a private lobby, they had to enter the password.
"Now, go kill each other."
-Gogogogogogogogo
-Let's gooo let's gooo let's gooo
-Move aside you bastards..! Move aside you bastards..! Move aside you bastards..!
Obviously, the people spamming chat like that weren't planning to join.
The real participants were hammering the password in like mad right now.
"Alright, how about I drop a hint?"
And so, the stream kicked off smoothly enough.
I hoped the rest of the hours would go just as smoothly.
"Now it's dinner time, right?"
-Yep yep yep
-Here comes the big one lol
-Hand-cam let's gooo lol
Three hours had already passed since the stream began.
Normally, I'd be winding down by now, but this time there were still 21 hours to go.
Daunting, sure, but so far it wasn't as bad as I'd feared.
"Hold on a sec. I'll stop here and restart on my phone."
Since the PC cam had its limits, I headed to the kitchen, set things up as I'd planned, and switched the stream to my phone.
"Can you all see?"
The camera now showed the kitchen—specifically the pot on the stove and the cutting board on the counter.
"Quality looks okay, right?"
-Clear picture
-Show the hands show the hands show the hands show the hands show the hands
-Please… show the hands…
Hmm… looks fine enough.
Honestly, I'd been planning this cooking stream, but I'd worried about it a lot too.
What if I bumped the phone and it caught my face by accident? That'd be the most pathetic face reveal ever.
So I'd prepared a "special measure."
Even my manager nodded at it.
"Alright, let's bring out the ingredients."
Most basics were already at home, but I'd bought extra vegetables for today.
-But what are you making??
-Instant ramen?
-Just fry some rice lol
"Come on, you've got to have a proper dinner."
When I lived alone, it was always delivery food or the cheap restaurant nearby, but now that I'm back at my parents' house, I've been eating real meals.
Mrs. Jang's cooking is just that good.
"Okay, you see this?"
I laid out the vegetables on the cutting board: green onions, onion, zucchini, garlic.
That's when chat exploded.
Ah. My hands were visible.
-Lololol
-We believed in you, Miro! We believed in you, Miro! We believed in you, Miro!
-Thank you… thank you… thank you… thank you…
[ㅇㅇ, thank you for the 1,000 KRW donation!]
You idiots, who said Miro was fat? lol Do those look like pig's feet to you? lololol
-What a relief~
-The Great Miro
I'd expected a reaction, but this was more than I thought.
…Was it really worth that much fuss?
Honestly, if it were my face or full silhouette, maybe. But just hands? The way they were losing it over that gave me mixed feelings.
"You like them that much?"
Since they were already showing, I held my hand up right to the camera, spread my fingers, and waved.
The chat scrolled even faster.
Almost scary.
Maybe it was just because today's viewer count was so high, making chat more chaotic than usual.
"Alright, that's enough. Focus on the cooking."
I started chopping the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.
-Look at that sloppy knife work
-So frustrating
-You're gonna cut your hand like that
"Don't backseat me, the result's what matters."
Sure, I was clumsy and it took a while, but I successfully prepped the vegetables and set them aside.
"Let's leave this here."
I opened the fridge again and pulled out today's key ingredients.
"Soybean paste, chili paste, and ssamjang."
-What's that for?
-Doenjang stew?
-My mouth's watering already
"Correct. Doenjang-jjigae."
Today's dish would be doenjang stew.
It's simple to make, delicious, and the definition of traditional Korean home food.
I poured oil into a pot and stir-fried the soybean paste, chili paste, and ssamjang.
"Soybean paste has protein, so if you stir-fry it in oil like this, the flavor changes completely."
I didn't really know the theory. Something about the Maillard reaction? I only skimmed enough to sound like I knew.
-Kinda sounds like a pro chef…
-Bride material confirmed
-Isn't the flame too strong? It'll burn
"Too strong?"
Now that they mentioned it, it did seem a bit much.
-It's burning at the bottom
-It's burnt lol
-Lower the heat
"It's burnt??"
I checked the pot again and, sure enough, the edges were stuck and charred.
"…This much is fine."
-Wait, why are you pouring water in now?
-Just switch pots
-No, that much is still okay
-Stop freaking out
I added water to the slightly burnt pot.
"Now mix the stir-fried paste with the water, and toss in all those chopped veggies."
-It already looks tasty
-But where's the meat?
-No brisket or anything?
"Patience. First, it needs to boil."
Leaving the stew to simmer, I grabbed a frying pan and poured in oil.
"That stew was only possible because I'm a pro chef—too advanced for you guys. But this next one, you can manage."
Next up: fried eggs.
Deceptively simple, but with clumsy heat control and bad timing, burning them is standard.
-Did you just pour way too much oil?
-Do you think we're idiots?
-I burned mine yesterday lol
-Meh, just order takeout
"It's trickier than you think—oh."
Splat! Crackle!
Suddenly, hot oil started spattering.
"Ah! Hot! Ow!"
-LMFAO
-Can't even fry an egg??
-Lower the heat
"No, it's the oil—"
Crackle! Pop pop pop!
Did I use too much oil?
What, am I seriously failing at frying an egg?
I used to make these all the time when I lived alone!
Must be the frying pan's fault.
Yeah, it's because Mrs. Jang was being frugal and never replaced it!
"Damn pan!"
-Lololol
-Lmao
-This is definitely your fault
-Egg frying really is a challenge huh
"This isn't the time for jokes—ah!"
To make matters worse, the covered pot of stew boiled over.
-You need to lower that heat too
-What a mess lol
-Sorry, you've been eliminated from bride candidacy
-You're gonna get scolded for this
Hissss!Sizzle!
Pop! Crackle!
The boiling stew overflowed onto the burner while the frying pan spat hot oil like crazy.
"First, the heat—turn off the heat—"
I shut my eyes and reached out to turn off the stove.
Pop!
Suddenly, oil splashed on my arm.
"Ouch! Hot!"
The sting made me flail instinctively.
Thwack!
I accidentally knocked the phone propped up near the sink.
Horrified, I saw it falling—straight toward the cutting board and the other ingredients I'd prepped for the stew.
"If this keeps up—!"
Snap!
By some miracle reflex, I caught the phone midair, but couldn't control the camera angle.
Still…
Isn't preparing for unexpected accidents exactly what makes a pro streamer?
Suppressing my panic with a grin, I smoothly continued:
"Rider."
Most likely, the stream just showed my upper body.
But unfortunately for the audience, I was wearing the insect mask I'd prepared in advance.