LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Art Stream (1)
Unfortunately, I’m not much of a talker.
This means I prefer living alone to living with others and don’t really enjoy noisy or chaotic environments.
However, there’s always an exception. Livestreaming, for example, where I’m the one doing all the talking.
Even if I’m not great with words, the chat window is always alive with conversation starters.
“Alright then, please suggest topics you’d like me to draw~.”
Leaning back in my chair, I lazily glanced at the monitor.
[It has to be furry, you morons.]
[Please draw the streets of Amsterdam!]
[Please draw a “crawl” Miss Naruko.]
[桃源乡少女!]
[Guardian from Pokémon, please. It’s urgent.]
The suggestions were all over the place. Also, there were international viewers in my stream?
‘…Isn’t YouTube blocked in China?’
I didn’t know much about it, but I’d heard they had platforms similar to YouTube. If not, well, whatever.
Oh, and by the way, I do have a tablet in my room, but I don’t use it often.
It doesn’t have that tactile feeling I get from paper. The friction of pencil on paper is something a tablet can’t replicate.
Sure, I can draw with it if I have to, but I don’t see the point unless it’s necessary.
I had everything else: a camera, art supplies, and so on. While the functionalities differ, it didn’t really matter to me.
‘If I can paint with cherry blossom petals, what’s the difference?’
I straightened up in my chair and listed the topics suggested so far:
1. Furry
2. Pokémon Guardian
3. Tao Yuan Xiang Maiden (Peach Blossom Spring Maiden)
4. Black Orca
5. Great White Shark
…? A shark?
I scrolled through the chat logs to find out who suggested that. Their username caught my eye:
-HSYS2 [Great White Shark]
‘…What are you doing here? And couldn’t you have picked a better username?’
Ignoring Ha Soyeol’s suggestion entirely, I sorted through the remaining topics.
Finally, I ended up with seven topics total.
“Alright, you’ll have ten minutes to vote. I’m going to grab some water.”
I got up and stepped out of the room.
But… why were they here?
Ha Soyeol, Choi Yeseo, and even Hong Yehwa.
The three of them, with their distinctively colored hair, were gathered in my living room, watching my stream on TV.
“…When did they get here?”
“Right after you went in,” my mom replied, handing me a glass of water. She must have prepped it when she heard me mention getting water on stream.
“Hi-hi!”
“Good morning.”
“You’re really streaming from your house, huh…”
I waved at Choi Yeseo, who greeted me with her usual high energy, and nodded in acknowledgment to Ha Soyeol’s morning greeting.
As for Hong Yehwa’s comment? I ignored it entirely.
Where else would I stream from? Should I haul a computer to the studio or something?
“So, why are you here this early in the morning?”
I asked while sipping my water. My mom answered on their behalf.
“They said they came over because it’s the weekend. I don’t mind—it’s nice having more people around.”
“I see. But Choi Yeseo, shouldn’t you be at work?”
“There’s no practice today, so I came to hang out. Plus, I wanted to see Ha-yoon.”
“…Fine. Ha Soyeol, I get it. But what about you, Hong Yehwa?”
How did you even find out where I live? My question was answered thanks to Choi Yeseo.
“She texted me, asking for your address.”
This girl’s crazy.
“At first, I thought it was a weird request, but when she said it was about art, I decided to come along.”
“You could’ve just texted me, you know…”
When it comes to art, Hong Yehwa is all-in, no matter how impulsive it seems.
Exhaustion washed over me as I massaged the back of my neck.
Shouldn’t they be hanging out with Lee Doyoon instead?
Though I was curious, I didn’t press the issue. It wasn’t worth kicking them out now that they were already here.
Mom seemed to be in a good mood, and Yoon would probably be thrilled to have more people to play with.
“Hey, why’d you leave out the shark?”
Suddenly, Ha Soyeol tugged at my sleeve from where she was seated.
Her watery eyes suggested she was upset that I excluded the shark from the list.
This whole situation made me feel like some villain in a morning drama.
“Well, there’s no demand for sharks.”
I answered her question anyway.
“!!!”
Was it really that shocking? The light in her eyes seemed to vanish.
“Then… What about an orca?”
Now it was Choi Yeseo’s turn, cautiously throwing out another suggestion.
“Same deal with orcas. I doubt there’s much demand for that in streams.”
Her shoulders drooped. Were these two always so in sync with their requests?
“Ah, the ten minutes are up. I’m going back.”
I placed the cup on the table and returned to my room.
“Alright, let’s see how the vote turned ou—”
[Ha-eun, no!!! Please don’t go down that path!!!]
The chat window was in complete chaos.
What on earth had happened in the ten minutes I was gone?
“…What’s going on here?”
I glanced at the poll results and was greeted with a ridiculous sight.
– 1st place: Furry (Fox)
Hmm. No wonder the chat was losing its mind. I would’ve been on my knees crying too.
[What the hell are you people doing?!]
[Why are normally quiet folks suddenly flocking here;;;;]
[Sibal, what’s happening??!!!!]
[Wait, is the person above now a Korean?]
[Fucking! Furry!]
Crossing my arms, I checked the donation log. In the past ten minutes alone, donations had poured in like crazy.
‘Ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand…?’
Who drops a million won on a single stream?
Not just one person, but multiple people, each donating a million won.
In other words, eight different people each sent one million won.
In just ten minutes, I somehow made an incredible 8 million won.
The donation messages were just as ridiculous as the donations themselves:
– Anonymous Donor sent 1,000,000 Milk.
[Ah, damn it, I can’t hold back.]
– FurryLover sent 1,000,000 Milk.
[Please fox, please fox, please fox.]
– AnimalLover sent 1,000,000 Milk.
[Pls cat girl pls cat girl!]
…
‘…Well, I guess deviant interests are par for the course in art streams.’
It would be a lie to say I hadn’t expected this, but I didn’t think the demand would be this overwhelming.
While I hesitated briefly, another notification popped up:
– Anonymous Donor sent 10,000,000 Milk.
[Fox! Fox! Fox! Fox! It’s urgent, hurry!]
A massive donation of 10 million won came through.
“…Wow. Thank you for the 10,000,000 Milk. Um, yes. Really, thank you.”
I had a lot to say, but decided against it. Personal preferences should be respected, after all.
However, the other viewers clearly didn’t feel the same way.
[Ah, you idiots, what are you doing?]
[Why are there so many rich folks in this stream? Is there a reason for this?]
[Omg;;; what even is this shit.]
[Even in Korea, this is a bit much.]
[Lol, the guy above gave himself away as Korean using a translator. Totally caught, bro.]
“Alright, everyone, let’s calm down for a moment,” I said.
– NormalizerOfNormals sent 1,000 Milk.
[Calm down? When there’s a lunatic who just dropped 10 million on furry? Seriously?]
“Um, well. I think we should just respect their preferences.”
– WhatEvenIsThis sent 10,000 Milk.
[Why the hell does it have to be furry? Damn it!]
“Excessive profanity will result in bans…”
I wasn’t exactly thrilled about this either, but what could I do? I had already accepted the advance payment.
Plus, the voting had clearly placed furry in the top spot.
What a chaotic morning.
Meanwhile, the chat was still raging, with viewers berating those who voted for furry. It seemed there weren’t many defenders of the genre.
‘The fact that so many secret furry enthusiasts exist is honestly terrifying.’
I shivered and rubbed my arms before picking up my pen.
“Alright, let’s start with the top-voted topic: furry. However, this topic will be excluded from future votes.”
If not, this might make the 9 o’clock news. I needed to take minimal precautions.
“Never thought I’d be drawing furry again. The last time I did this was about three years ago, right?”
The last furry drawing I uploaded as a recording for fun had gone viral, even reaching the top trending spot on YouTube.
Its impact was way beyond what I had anticipated.
It still ranks among the top five most-viewed videos on my channel, though the top spot goes to the recording of Peach Blossom Spring. That one blew up at just the right time.
“Normally, you’d sketch a rough outline before doing line art, but I’m able to skip straight to the line art, which is convenient.”
I chatted with the viewers as I worked, occasionally playing up my talent.
“A lot of people recommend starting with croquis or copying references, but honestly, that doesn’t help much when you’re a beginner.”
I even gave a bit of a drawing tutorial as I spoke.
“If you’re picking up a pen for the first time, I suggest starting with figure drawing.”
Of course, it varies from person to person, so there’s no absolute rule.
But the most standard and effective method is to begin with figure drawing.
Not everyone follows this, but it generally works well.
“While you can use shapes to construct figures, that approach requires some skill.”
Take this furry drawing, for example. It has a human-like body.
However, since it’s anthropomorphic, the anatomy and proportions differ slightly, especially around the joints and posture, which are influenced by the animal’s traits.
Drawing a fox, in particular, is more challenging due to its fluffy tail, which adds complexity.
“This is where the lasso tool on a tablet comes in handy, but unfortunately, I don’t have that luxury right now.”
Since I was drawing manually, it took much longer.
Features like multiple layers for shading or quick fills would’ve been incredibly convenient in real life.
But then again, those conveniences might take away the tactile satisfaction, so I’d probably end up avoiding them anyway.
“Alright… Whew. Let’s wrap up the furry drawing here. We need to move on to the next topic.”
After finishing the drawing, I stretched briefly and addressed the viewers.
“I’ll draw three more pieces before ending the stream.”
The once-calm chat immediately erupted into chaos again.
– Anonymous Donor sent 10,000 Milk.
[Then please at least upload a vlog… I beg you!]
One donation sparked another wave of heated activity in the chat.