When I first started this game, I didn’t expect it to take this long. I had heard that the basic playtime was about six hours, or seven if it was a longer session. But now, it was okay.

“Phew. This shouldn’t have taken this long.”

At least I had cleared it. Now, it was time to relax.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: You cleared it, huh ㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅㅅ][🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: That was really fucking hard][Honestly, the manager probably had it tougher than the person playing the game ㅋㅋ][The broadcast went way longer than expected ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ][The game was fun though][Twispookjjikmareupne: So, what now? Are you ending the stream?][Ending it, I guess][I’ve been streaming for 16 hours, what else is there to do? ㅋㅋ]

“Hm, I guess I should end it. I’m starting to get tired.”

It was the same kind of tiredness I had felt when starting the game, but today it felt worse. I probably hadn’t slept and had been staring at the screen non-stop.

[ㅇㅇ Ending is the right choice][See you tomorrow, bb][bb][🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: You did well today ㅋㅋ][Upload to YouTube quickly, upload to YouTube quickly, upload to YouTube quickly, upload to YouTube quickly, upload to YouTube quickly][I missed the beginning, please upload the replay soon..]

“I’ll upload the replay as soon as I can, but don’t rush me. Just because I want to upload it quickly doesn’t mean it’s going up faster.”

Replays take a long time to upload. The longer the broadcast, the longer it takes. So, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t upload it immediately.

[ㅇㅋㅇㅋ][Guess there’s nothing we can do][Guess I’ll watch the rest after I wake up ㅋㅋ][🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: bb][You did well ㅋㅋ][bb]

Just as I was about to end the broadcast...

“Hm? Wait a second.”

Something didn’t seem right.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu:?][What’s up][Why, suddenly][What happened?][I don’t think it’s anything important though ㅋㅋ][What’s going on?][Twispookjjikmareupne: Sounds like a fuss… hmm…]

My subscribers had suddenly increased dramatically. It hadn’t taken long for me to hit nearly a million subscribers. Right now, I had 998,129 subscribers. Just a little over a thousand more, and I’d hit a million.

“Oh, I was just checking the subscriber count, and it’s almost at a million. I think I can reach it if I finish this and then end the stream.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Really???][For real??][Wait, I checked and it really is close to a million ㅋㅋ][When did the subscribers rise like this?][I saw it at 980k, but it really shot up while I was live ㅋㅋㅋ][Twispookjjikmareupne: The old favorite streamers are gone now...][Miss the good old days…]

The viewers were commenting, but it wasn’t really the old version of me that they missed. Back then, I wasn’t nearly as good at streaming as I am now.

‘I might have coasted a bit back then.’

Compared to now, I had grown a lot. I had learned how to manage the broadcast.

“Okay, let me display the subscriber count on the screen.”

I said that and fiddled with the settings for a moment, making sure my YouTube subscriber count appeared big and clear on the screen. It updated in real-time every time a new subscriber joined.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Whoa][Subscriber count really grew][Seeing it displayed like this, it really hits differently ㅋㅋ][By the way, have you met the editor yet?][Twispookjjikmareupne: Honestly, I don’t think you’ve ever met the editor, have you?][Honestly, the editor did like half of it ㅋㅋ]

“The editor… I should meet them, but, well, they don’t seem to want to meet me. It’s like they want to keep me as some imaginary figure.”

It felt a bit awkward, but every time I texted with Haehoo, I got that feeling strongly. It seemed like they just wanted to see me from a distance without meeting in person.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Ah, if that’s the case, there’s nothing you can do ㅋㅋ][There are some editors like that][Hilarious ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ][If we actually met, it might break the illusion][Guess there’s no helping it][Twispookjjikmareupne: Imaginary animals, huh…][Twispookjjikmareupne: I was a bit disappointed when I met the streamer, thought they’d be flying around shooting lasers from their eyes ㅋㅋ][Durander ㅋㅋ][Weeeee]

While chatting, I checked my subscriber count again. It was slowly going up in single-digit increments.

Beep.

“The subscribers aren’t increasing as fast as I thought. I want to hit a million today and end the stream…”

Maybe it was greedy, but it didn’t feel unreasonable when I looked at it objectively.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: It’s gonna be tough to hit it today][The viewers here have probably already subscribed][Just end the stream and go next][Honestly, you’ll hit a million if you sleep and wake up][Twispookjjikmareupne: Take a nap and come back]

“No, objectively, it’s not that greedy.”

That was true. There were about a thousand subscribers still missing. The stream had about 11,000 viewers at that moment. Even if everyone here subscribed, I could still hit a million if I had a way to push it further.

“Don’t you all have YouTube alt accounts? Go ahead and subscribe with those. I really want to hit a million.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: No way, do you think everyone has YouTube alt accounts? ㅋㅋ][If that were the case ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ][So funny ㅋㅋ][Well, I have one][Twispookjjikmareupne: I have one too…]

It seemed like everyone watching the stream at this hour had an alt account. So I began urging them to quickly subscribe with those accounts.

“Please subscribe. I’m struggling…”

A little later...

[ Subscriber count: 998,129]to[ Subscriber count: 998,169]to[ Subscriber count: 998,324]to[ Subscriber count: 998,841]

The subscriber count started climbing rapidly. It was insane how fast it was moving.

“This is it. Hm, I like it.”

[Really boldly manipulating the subscriber count ㄷㄷ][At this point, it’s not manipulation, it’s just plain rigging ㅋㅋ][So funny ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ][Let’s hit a million ㅋㅋ][🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: I just made three more alt accounts][No way, lol ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ][Once again, it’s All-powerful Cthulhu leading the charge ㅋㅋ]

With the help of the viewers, I kept waiting.

Beep.

The subscriber count kept heading towards my goal.

“Ah, yes.”

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: This is it, this is it ㅋㅋㅋ][I can finally go to sleep, let’s hit a million ㅋㅋ][There are always people who unsubscribe just before the million mark][For real, there’s always people who unsubscribe right when you hit a million ㅋㅋ][Twispookjjikmareupne: Let’s go, let’s go][It’s really going up fast][Alt accounts <<< these guys are seriously powerful ㄹㅇ]

How much longer would it take?

[ Subscriber count: 1,000,003]

“Ah, done.”

Finally, I had hit one million subscribers. Of course, there were people who deliberately unsubscribed near the million mark, but the rate of new subscriptions was much faster.

[🗡️All-powerful Cthulhu: Congrats congrats congrats][Is this when you get the gold play button?][Looking forward to the unboxing ㅋㅋ][It’s going to be so much fun from here on out, hmm][Twispookjjikmareupne: Finally, I can go to bed, have a good sleep ㅋㅋ]

It seemed that my bond with the viewers had grown really strong over time. They seemed to know exactly when I was tired or not, and they always chatted accordingly. I felt thankful and spoke up.

“Then, I’ll be back next time.”

Saying that, I ended the stream.

[ The stream has ended! ]

As soon as I saw that message, I lay down on my bed and tried to sleep. I was tired, after all.

“Haah…”

And with that, I drifted into sleep.

Two days later, I received many congratulatory messages from people I knew. Even Pine, someone I didn’t keep in close contact with, congratulated me. And now...

“...I’ve received a lot of gifts.”

My house was filled with presents. They were all from people congratulating me for reaching a million subscribers. It felt surreal. I never imagined I’d receive something like this.

‘I should open them on stream.’

Thinking that, I turned on the stream again today, not knowing what the packages contained.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com