Chapter 100

The Okinawa trip was successfully wrapped up.

One of the fun points was that we all played <Eternal World> together when we had nothing else to do.

Thanks to that, the VR Broadcasting Gallery enjoyed the joke, “Why did they go on a trip just to play Eternal World? LOL,” for a while.

As expected, caterpillars eat pine needles, and gamers live by playing games.

What’s with the beach vibe? Doesn’t fit at all.

Just play games.

I turned on Pape’s broadcast.

Pape was in the middle of playing <Mirage of Silver>, created by Kim In-ho.

[Yuseong. You seem so lively lately, is your love life going well?]

As the mysterious blonde-haired, blue-eyed senior character in the game spoke to the protagonist, donations poured in.

<ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won>

-If I see who this is based on, I’ll give a thumbs up LOLOLOL

<ㅇㅇ donated 10,000 won>

-There’s a dating sim where the looks are Thierry but the personality is Han Yoorim?!

“……”

Pape didn’t react much to the donations.

It was clear that he couldn’t relate to the idea that a character with such a weird way of speaking resembled him.

“Han Yoorim doesn’t really look like me.”

As expected. My guess was right.

“Han Yoorim wouldn’t just stop there. She’d say, ‘Yuseong. You seem so lively lately, is your love life going well? Be careful. Statistically, guys like Yuseong are more likely to fall for romance scams.’ The details are lacking, huh?”

Nope.

So, “doesn’t really look like me” meant that?

This guy, Pape. Claiming that a scammer heroine resembles me.

This is why spoonies (casual gamers) are no good. Their ability to read games is just too weak.

I sneakily opened the community. What were the viewers who watched Kim In-ho’s game saying?

<Yo, the daily lovecom part is pretty well made?>

Fr, you can really feel that a hardcore otaku made this

┗The directing is nice

<So, what's the deal with Thierim?>

Is she a regressor?

┗Kinda feels like an infinite regressor vibe?

┗┗Kinda cliché. Creator, you’re not cut out for serious parts. Just stick to youth lovecoms.

The senior character’s nickname had already become “Thierim.”

It meant that while she looked like Thierry, her personality was Han Yoorim.

I couldn’t agree. Why is she Thierry? Anyone can see she’s designed after me.

And her personality isn’t me, but some weird scammer.

The world’s sense of judgment has gone haywire. At this point, I have no choice but to fix it myself.

“……”

“Good?”

I spoke to Kim In-ho, who was monitoring Pape’s broadcast next to me.

Kim In-ho nodded.

After working so hard on the game and getting no reactions, he finally got a chance to show it to the world. It was only natural that he was over the moon.

Kim In-ho muttered, “The reactions to the true heroine part are a bit mixed.”

Reviews from the early players who started the game with Pape were pouring in.

While the overall reception was positive, the true heroine part received consistently ambiguous reactions. But what could you do? It was genuinely ambiguous.

“There are several reasons why the true heroine part feels ambiguous, but the main issue is the poor pacing. The game builds up a steady atmosphere of youth, lovecom, healing, and daily life across various routes, and then suddenly drops the truth of the world. The transition wasn’t handled naturally.”

“…But a dating sim needs a true ending, right?”

“You’ll get better with time. Fighting!”

Encouraged by my words, Kim In-ho smiled faintly and continued lurking on the community.

Swoosh.

Secured the fixed nickname, LonelyFlounder.

In-ho, you like flounder, huh?

I’ll treat you to a full course, from sashimi to spicy stew, so keep working hard on the game.

“Break time’s over. Let’s get back to work.”

“Okay.”

I left the staff room with Kim In-ho and headed to the ticket booth.

This is a cinema 5 seconds before the world is taken over by OTT platforms and destroyed. We’ve devised a survival strategy accordingly.

The most notable example is how it’s become indistinguishable whether this is a cinema or a restaurant. The cinema where I work part-time isn’t much different.

From restaurants to premium services.

Nowadays, lying down to watch movies is the norm, so modern cinemas are on a completely different track from the old ones.

“Steak order for Premium Room P23.”

“Steak in a cinema? The world has really improved.”

I took the food and headed to the premium room.

The cinema’s survival strategy, part two: minimize labor costs.

In other words, the current cinema operates on a structure where one part-timer handles multiple tasks.

Selling tickets, preparing food, and serving—all in one.

Arriving at seat 2-3 in the premium room (each seat is soundproofed, so you can chat freely), I said while holding the plate:

“Here’s your ribeye steak.”

“Sweetie, the steak.”

“Okay.”

The couple, who had been fooling around, sat up in their recliners and pulled out the foldable table.

As I placed the steak on it, they started eating happily, looking more relaxed than a leisurely stroll.

“Sorry, but could we order some whiskey?”

“Of course.”

“Sweetie, what do you want to drink?”

“What do they have?”

The couple looked through the menu, chose their whiskey, and even took my recommendation to order ice cream.

Did you know? Vanilla ice cream with pepper sprinkled on top is the best drink accompaniment. After I recommended it to the manager, it became this cinema’s signature menu.

I prepared the post-drink vanilla ice cream (melting it slightly and adjusting the pepper amount requires finesse) and brought it to the couple along with the whiskey.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“How do you make this?”

“The recipe is super simple.”

I kindly explained the vanilla ice cream recipe to the customers.

Watching the couple excited to make peppered vanilla ice cream at home, a thought suddenly struck me.

Isn’t the most delicious food in the world the one someone else makes for you?

Isn’t the happiest life the one where you just sit back and someone…

A life of delivering food.

Seems about right.

“Good work.”

After finishing my part-time job, I headed back home.

*Click.* As I turned on the light, a massive mansion greeted me.

Even though I care about in-game housing content, I have no interest in real-life interior design. The mansion, with only basic furnishings, felt somewhat desolate.

I went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, took out the ingredients, prepped them, and put them in a pot.

Tonight’s dinner is stew.

Even though it’s the middle of summer, for some reason, I craved warm food. It felt like I was experiencing the kind of weather you’d expect in late October or winter.

“……”

The bubbling sound of the boiling pot echoed through the silent mansion.

Listening to it, I nodded.

I can’t take it anymore.

I can’t live like this.

*

Han Yoorim’s broadcasts underwent a very peculiar evolution.

Just how peculiar it was became clear when you looked at the timeline of her broadcasts.

<The Very Early Days. The Playground of the VR Broadcasting Gallery>

This was when the influx of viewers, starting with Rozon’s sniping, began to settle in.

Back then, she didn’t even use a mic, so only viewers who came purely to see her skills filled the chat.

Well, it was a small-scale audience of less than 100, so it wasn’t a big deal.

<The Early Days. When Han Yoorim Turned on Her Mic and Started Interacting with Bunny Run>

From this point on, Han Yoorim’s broadcasts saw significant growth.

People who fell for Han Yoorim’s exceptional skills and pleasant voice started appearing one after another. From this period, more people tuned into her broadcasts not just for her skills but for other reasons.

By the way, even at this point, Han Yoorim’s broadcasts were still in the VR Broadcasting Gallery’s playground.

<The Early Days. The First Wave of Influx>

It was revealed that she had known Pape, a major figure, and Rumen, a top-tier pro gamer, for a long time. This was when she showcased her skills in front of nearly 40,000 people.

A video edited by Pape, who had over a million subscribers on MTube, was uploaded, leading to a dramatic growth in Han Yoorim’s broadcasts.

From this point on, Han Yoorim left the VR Broadcasting Gallery.

She had risen to the ranks of the major leagues.

Additionally, the game’s sales soared, and Han Yoorim during this period felt like a volcano about to erupt.

<The Chaos Period. VTuber Debut>

Up until now, the distribution of Han Yoorim’s viewers looked something like this:

VR Broadcasting Gallery, Eternal World hardcore fans, Pape’s viewers, Ga Joon-sik’s viewers (for some reason, even before they officially interacted, Ga Joon-sik’s viewers sought out Han Yoorim), etc. It was a chaotic mix, and Han Yoorim took it a step further.

She summoned VTuber viewers too.

From this point on, Han Yoorim’s room was pure chaos.

It was a mystery how such a diverse group of people with different tastes gathered in one place, all to watch one person: Han Yoorim.

People who liked Han Yoorim’s skills.

People who liked Han Yoorim’s voice.

People who liked Han Yoorim’s face.

People who liked Han Yoorim’s wit.

People who liked Han Yoorim’s games.

People who used Han Yoorim as a waiting room.

People who just liked Han Yoorim.

And Han Yoorim didn’t even manage the chat.

With all these different people gathered and chatting?

Gwanghwamun Square was less chaotic than that.

<The Growth Period. Rising Star>

A time when she absorbed influxes haphazardly, without resolving the chaos.

Broadcast-wise, there were collaborations with Bunny Run, Arina, Ga Joon-sik, Akane, and winning the <Eternal Olympics>, among many other contents.

Developer-wise, she created <Resurrected Students Also Need Love>, <Eternal World: Tower of Transcendence (tentative title: Novel Live’s Tower Climbing)>, <Cosmic Osuary>, <Cosmic Origin>, and continued to produce results. Thanks to this, Han Yoorim was no longer treated as just an ordinary internet broadcaster.

A walking one-person enterprise.

Or a super popular celebrity.

A person so successful that it was hard to understand why she was doing internet broadcasting.

And that continues to this day.

Influenced by Han Yoorim’s absolute charisma, countless people admire her and idolize her.

“Long time no see, everyone.”

Following Han Yoorim, agreeing with whatever she says, and positively affirming whatever she does—a cult-like quasi-religious group was born.

“Today, I’m going to play <Eternal World: Tower of Transcendence>. It took a while to release due to copyright negotiations. Since Akane liked it so much—”

“Master, here’s the plum highball and pepper vanilla ice cream you ordered.”

“Ah, thank you. Just put it there. Where was I? Right, since Akane liked it so much, I’m sure you all—”

Born, it was.

……

……?

The man, unable to grasp the situation, paused for a moment, then opened his mouth in shock.

He opened the VR Broadcasting Gallery and started typing.

<Holy shit, Han Yoorim has a boyfriend>

In reality, there was no cult-like religious group that positively affirmed all of Han Yoorim’s actions under her absolute charisma.

The countless people who followed Han Yoorim watched her not for her charisma but for something else.

Han Yoorim’s national-level scale of subscribers.

Three seconds before setting the world on fire.