BLBJ 1.2

💬Today? That’s fast!

💬Guess it’s because it’s a game. Things move at lightning speed. Ah, I can’t wait. I wonder how handsome the target characters are.

While the two argued about the party’s quality, Eizen was consumed by another worry.

The invitation to tonight’s party arriving only now…

Well, he could somehow understand that. Being a fallen noble, it had been ages since he’d shown his face at such a party. So naturally, he’d be at the very end of the invitation list.

But that wasn’t the problem.

‘What should I wear?’

Cinderella had a fairy godmother appear and give her a dress. But he wasn’t Cinderella, and forget a fairy godmother –he didn’t even have a regular godmother! 

That meant he’d have to either buy clothes from the Items Shop using donations from viewers or wear his old, worn-out clothes.

💬Don’t you have to change clothes?

💬It’s a game, so you could just equip something, right? But whatever you wear, your face will carry it off, so it should be fine.

💬But you said the game just started. Do we even have items?

Eizen strode forward briskly.

💬Where are you going?

He opened the wardrobe. It was a shabby wardrobe with only a few clothes hanging inside.

‘Since I’m going to scrape together viewers’ money anyway, I’ll do my best.‘

He would succeed no matter what. If only to shed this damned label of fallen aristocrat.

Eizen smiled faintly.

‘I’m a man who can do anything.’

Even if it meant physical contact with another man! 

He firmly resolved to do whatever it took. As long as the donations kept pouring in.

What did he need for that?

Naturally, communication with viewers and sparking their interest. And drawing them into this game.

What’s life all about? 

Let’s stake everything on this broadcast. 

If not this stream, then the only other option is to slowly starve to death.

Eizen shouted boldly and grinned, “I’ll wear the clothes you choose for me!”

💬Whatever.

💬Even so, you’re pushing it too far, relying on your looks.

Even if there were only two viewers.

Regardless of their sharp criticism, Eizen just smiled faintly. What can you do about being poor? He had no intention of hiding it.

‘If I look poor, they’ll sponsor me more!’

If I looked rich, would they really need to pay to play?

When do people pay to play? Obviously, when the game gets frustrating and they’re stuck.

Eizen reminded himself this was a game and smiled faintly.

“I’m a fallen noble, you see.”

💬A fallen noble? Oh, so that’s your backstory?

💬You could survive just by selling your looks, so why did you fall?

Well. 

Eizen smiled faintly, calmly preparing his answer.

This is a game. A game that just started. Naturally, the viewers don’t know Eizen, so a kind explanation is needed.

‘Right, this is a game.’

“My name is Eizen Sarnah. I’m a baron, but a fallen noble. As you can see, I’m very poor. But to meet the target character, I have to go to the founding party. However, I can’t just wear anything, right? So, viewers, please choose for me.”

He spoke step by step, as if hypnotizing himself, muttering it over and over.

💬 Thanks for the kind explanation.

💬You’re sticking to the setting.

[SmoochSmooch has entered]

[Viewers: 3]

💬Hello.

💬Heh, BL game? Still early?

💬Yeah, he just explained the setting. It starts with a fallen noble.

“Hello.”

💬You’re talking too? So are you the top or the bottom?

💬He’s going to meet the top character, so obviously, he’s the bottom.

What’s a top and what’s a bottom?

Aizen firmly suppressed the question rising to his throat. Even if it was his first time starting the game, admitting ignorance about something everyone fundamentally knows would still look strange.

💬Hahaha, you’re right. Off to meet the top character.

💬Good. So what are we doing now?

💬Gotta go to the founding party, so we’re picking out clothes.

💬Clothes? You mean we have to choose from that pile of rags?

“Rags…?” Eizen muttered a bit gloomily. 

Sure, they were old, old, very old. But they weren’t exactly rags.

He quietly opened the shop.

‘Good thing the shop is visible to viewers too.’

Among the items in the shop, a few outfits stood out.

[▼Shop – Items♥]

[Suit]
[Silk Suit]
[Handsome Man’s Suit]
[Extremely Fancy Suit]
[Wedding Suit]

‘Why is there a wedding suit?’

Anyway, the important thing was that clothes existed. The ‘Suit’ was the cheapest, and the ‘Extremely Fancy Suit’ was the most expensive.

[Current Funds: 1,000 won]

Of course, 1,000 won wasn’t even enough to buy a suit.

💬How much is the suit?

💬Even if you just drape a rag over yourself, with that face, they’ll all fall for you.

When Eizen selected the suit, a detailed description appeared.

[Suit]
* A basic suit
* 100,000 won

“100,000 won…?”

💬They’re pushing us to spend real money right from the start.

💬Wow, they’re totally trying to milk us dry.

💬Might be better to just go naked.

Sensing they probably wouldn’t buy it for him, Eizen quickly gave up. Trying to get donations here would likely just drive viewers away.  

He swiftly closed the shop and pulled out the cleanest clothes he could find from his wardrobe.

“As you said, Misogu, I’ll go with my looks.”

‘How am I supposed to change clothes again?’

How could he possibly change clothes during the broadcast? He didn’t know exactly how the feed was transmitted, but seeing how the camera followed his movements seamlessly, even going into the bathroom to change seemed pointless.

After a moment’s hesitation, Eizen just stripped off his clothes. He wasn’t overly confident about his physique, but he did think it was decent enough.

But at that very moment…

💬Ah, what the hell, the screen’s gone black.

💬Wow, that’s sharp timing.

💬Wasn’t this supposed to just work when you press equip item?

💬The graphics alone looked incredibly realistic. Guess it actually takes time to change clothes.

Of course it does. Viewers might think this is just a game, but sadly, for Eizen, it was reality.

He felt relieved that the screen was blocked and quickly changed his clothes.

💬Is this really all ages?

💬No adult scenes?

“Well, I don’t know.”

Eizen didn’t actually plan to film any adult scenes, but he couldn’t bring himself to say that out loud and swallowed hard.

‘Even so, doing that kind of thing with another guy… that’s a bit much.’

A light peck might be possible if he just closed his eyes, but expecting more than that was a bit serious. 

Well, are all games rated 19+? There are all-ages ones, too!

Eizen arbitrarily decided on the rating and smiled faintly.

“So, shall we head to the party now?”

💬Wasn’t it supposed to be in the evening?

[BlueBear has entered]

[Viewers: 4]

People greeted them warmly. The chat, which had been slow when only two were present, picked up a bit with four. 

Should he say it was fortunate?

The people already there kindly began explaining Eizen’s situation, his name, and what needed to be done.

💬Why are you leaving already? What’s so good about going early? – The protagonist is supposed to appear last.

💬Protagonist? He’s the bottom MC.

💬Hahahahahahaha

Eizen laughed along with them. Soo? Gong? What did those even mean? He wanted to look it up, but unfortunately, while streaming was possible, the internet wasn’t.

“Because I’m a fallen noble. I can’t afford a hired carriage.”

💬Wow, you’re really sticking to the setting.

💬Even Cinderella got a carriage from the fairy godmother.

💬So you’re walking?

💬How far is the palace?

“If I walk, I should arrive on time.”

Eizen stepped outside. 

If only this were really a game where you could just pop over to the Imperial Capital with a ‘poof!’ and ‘ta-da!’

But since that was impossible, he had to do something to captivate his viewers.

To escape being a fallen noble, he needed to buy something from the shop – a skill or an ability. And to buy anything, he needed a lot of donations.

To get a lot of donations, he needed a lot of viewers.

‘I can’t let this slip by.’

Eizen pressed his lips tightly together. Just trudging all the way to the Imperial City would be so boring. But if he went alone, babbling away, he’d obviously look like a complete lunatic.

‘No. Is being a lunatic the problem? My viewers and donations depend on it.’

Being treated like a lunatic? He could easily brush that off. Eizen recalled a route to the Imperial City that passed through the market.

People thought this was a game, amazed by the graphics and solid world-building. Of course, for him, it was an unrelenting reality. Still, it meant viewers were surprised and entertained by the un-game-like realism.

Then showing a bit of this world wouldn’t be so bad. He had no strategy guide or anything right now, so he needed to do something to keep the viewers hooked, didn’t he?

“I’ll stop by the market on the way and show you around.”

💬There’s a market too?

💬What, will there be events at the market later? They’ve implemented everything.

💬Who knows? Maybe you’ll meet a strategy guide character at the market.

💬The scenery is incredibly detailed, too.

As Eizen began to walk down the street, everyone chimed in with their comments, clearly fascinated. To him, it was a familiar landscape, but to those seeing it for the first time, it was undoubtedly strange and new. 

‘If we don’t have content later, why not try a travel stream?’

A world you couldn’t see in Korea! Wouldn’t it sell well if he presented it that way?

The only issue is that he couldn’t change the title of the room from [BL Game LIVE Broadcast].

Still, Eizen thought it might actually work, and he tucked that idea away in his mind. 

For now, what people wanted, obviously, was a BL game. And what he had to do was, of course, play the BL game.

He didn’t know how the progress would unfold or how it would end. But with quests popping up and viewers watching, somehow, it would work out… wouldn’t it?

Smiling faintly, Eizen turned the screen to show every corner of the market.

“This is the general store. Just like the name says, they sell a bit of everything.”

💬Once inside, are all the items fully implemented?

💬No way. Probably just graphics.

“I’ll go in and take a look.”

Eizen opened the door without hesitation and stepped inside. Since this was the reality he lived in, everything wasn’t just graphics. Naturally, it moved exactly like reality and could be touched.

💬Wow, this game really went all out.

💬Looks like they really went all out on the faces too, so satisfying.

💬Seriously, did they create the entire world just to make one BL game? Look at the scale, dude.

Feeling a bit proud at the reactions, Eizen looked around every corner of the market.

He wished he could buy some snacks to eat, but sadly, his pockets had been empty for ages. He didn’t even have enough for bread. Snacks? Forget it.

‘Maybe there’ll be something tasty at the Founding Party.’

💬But you’re not buying anything? That looks tasty.

💬I wonder how it tastes!

💬It’s a game, how could you possibly taste it? Hahahaha

💬But doesn’t it look way too delicious?

💬True. Freshly baked bread? Just looking at it makes my mouth water.

It seemed the viewers felt just as disappointed as he did. Eizen smiled wryly.

“I’m a fallen aristocrat, so I have no money.”

💬T_T

💬Even if you’re a fallen aristocrat, you don’t even have enough money to buy a snack?

💬Looks like you really hit rock bottom.

💎[BlueBear donated 5,000 won]
— T_T

“Thank you, BlueBear.”

He started thinking he really should probably make some kind of donation reaction. He should’ve watched other people’s streams more diligently. He regretted it, but it was already too late.

“We’re getting close to the capital now.”

True to the rough estimates, a splendid carriage sped along the wide, well-maintained road. As Eizen stared blankly at the carriage, a comment that wasn’t quite comforting popped up in the chat window.

💬Later, the top will let you ride a carriage like that a hundred times over.

💬Hang in there. If you just meet the right gong, a fallen noble’s fate can be fixed in one shot.

‘Gong.’

As he stared blankly at the chat window, realization struck him.

‘They call them gong because they’re capture targets!’

‘Then what about soo?’

He thought it over carefully, but that much he couldn’t figure out.

By the time Eizen kept walking, a few more viewers had joined. Now, eight people were watching his stream.

‘The donations are only 6,000 won, but hey, it’s something.’

This is like picking up coins off the ground, or panning for gold in the sand. It’s a hundred times better than doing nothing at all. 

That’s basically the idea.

💬Ah, so you’re right before the party is supposed to start?

💬Yep. They said the reward is meeting a target character. I wonder who it’ll be.

💬Seriously, just one character?

“I’m not really sure about that either.”

💬It seems like this is your first time playing this game too, Eizen.

💬The first run is always a head-on dive.

Unfortunately, replays weren’t possible, but Eizen deliberately didn’t mention that fact.

💬But they sell affinity potions in the shop, right?

💬Hahaha, yeah. The shop had affinity potions.

💬What the hell? Haha, seriously telling us to pay real money to fix it?

💬No idea where this game came from, but it seems blinded by money.

“I’m entering the party now,” Eizen whispered lightly, drawing everyone’s attention.

Dazzlingly ornate decorations, light sparkling like broad daylight, people adorned with every kind of beauty.

Standing among them, Eizen looked conspicuously shabby. Apparently, not only Eizen but the viewers felt it too, as all chat stopped momentarily.

💬It’s because we haven’t met the target character yet!

💬Wow, so realistic. Nobody acknowledges him because he’s a fallen noble.

💬Scary, so scary.

“Haha, it’s fine.”

Fine? What’s fine about it? Eizen’s face burned. This was exactly why he hadn’t come to the Founding Party every year. This kind of blatant disregard was too obvious.

💎[Misogu donated 10,000 won] — Seeing the handsome guy hurt makes my heart ache, too.

💬Misogu, what does your nickname mean?

💬Probably something about handsome guys, judging by how you’ve been going on about them since earlier.

💬Yep, it’s ‘Handsome Guys Save the World!’ so Misogu

💬 Hahahahaha. Relying on the handsome guy.

So that’s what it meant. Eizen instantly understood why that person had been obsessing over faces earlier.

[Quest Complete]
★ Attend the Founding Party

[Reward]
★ An encounter with a target character will proceed

💬 Oooh, a capture target!

💬 Are we finally going to see the top’s face?
💬 Has it been decided he’s the bottom?

💬 No idea about that, but he’s a capture target character. Logically, makes sense, right?

💬 Weirdly convincing.

Anyway, how does meeting the target character actually happen?

In those old dating sim games I played, you’d bump into them on the way to school.

‘That’s way too old-school.’

Besides, this isn’t even a school; it’s a founding party venue, and the setting was completely different.

Eizen fiddled with his hair. You’d have to play BL games to know. For a moment, he thought maybe he should have watched a few when his sister was so into them in his past life.

💬But how do you meet the love interest?

💬Yeah, right. They’re not just gonna walk up and say, ‘I’m the love interest, such-and-such, nice to meet you.’

💬That would be funny in its own way, lolololololol

While people murmured among themselves, Eizen happened to glance inside, and his eyes met a man’s. It was only for the briefest instant.

But then, the man started striding straight toward him.

‘Huh? What?’

Eizen frantically scanned his surroundings, but no one else seemed to be looking at the man. The man approached with such forceful momentum that Eizen instinctively took a couple of steps back.

💬It’s the top.

💬This is 100% the top.
-His looks alone are ten million times better than anyone else’s. Wow! How much effort did they put into his modeling?

💬Misogu, you’re loving this too much lololol

💬From 1D to reality, handsome men are precious no matter what dimension they’re in.

Whether Eizen stepped back or not, the man closed the distance sharply and wrapped one arm around his waist without hesitation.

“Huh?”

Startled by the sudden, yet natural, physical contact, Eizen tried to struggle free. But the man tightened his grip, pulling Eizen’s body closer.

‘Wait, wait! Just wait!’

💬Wow, he’s going all out from the start.

💬Seems like he’s going straight for it.

💬Did he fall for him at first sight?

Everyone was laughing hysterically. Amidst all the merriment, only Eizen wasn’t enjoying himself.

Sure, he knew this was a BL game, and he knew he’d get entangled with a guy, but still! Physical contact this sudden?

His head started spinning. Eizen opened his mouth wide, trying to push the man away.

💬Eizen is flustered hahaha

💬If he’s that bold, getting flustered is understandable