Finally, the last question came in.
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It asks if you were an ordinary human in the parallel world.
【Handsome Licker】─LOL, there’s still someone who believes that. Are you naive or just stupid? *lick lick*.
【Se-hoon Defense Team】─That’s a question I wanted to ask too.
【Big Girl】─Defense Team, didn’t you stop believing?
【Se-hoon Defense Team】─Honestly, I don’t believe the part about blinking and ending up here. But I don’t think Se-hoon is lying.
【Yoho】─Haha, right! The Room Master can’t lie!
【Qkrnfl892】─Yoho, you’re really annoying with your chat. LOL.
【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wow! I wanna smash Yoho’s head!
【Maid】─Wow! Smash!
The question from Drifting was whether I was an “ordinary human.”
Before answering this question, I had to define what “ordinary” meant.
After all, the standard of ordinariness varies from person to person.
“Drifting, what’s your standard for being ordinary?”
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It says it has no specific standard and will follow your definition.
“Hmm…”
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Revived! Answer quickly, you bastard! Why are you overthinking this?
【Min Ji】─I’m revived too… But why was I banned? ㅠ
【Jujijoa】─Why are their bans so short?
【Maehwa Tree】─Exactly. Should’ve been at least 10 minutes.
“Let me think about it first, then I’ll answer.”
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It says you can take your time answering.
I wasn’t going to give a half-hearted answer just because I was tired.
Since Drifting was a viewer who believed in me until the end, I planned to answer as sincerely as possible.
‘An ordinary human, huh…’
I decided to base the standard of ordinariness on this world.
After all, the world I lived in before and this one are quite different.
For example, the roles of men and women are reversed here.
The male population is extremely low.
And aside from those two points, the social atmosphere and systems are so different that it’s hard to call it just a simple parallel world.
Especially since many people who existed in the previous world don’t exist here.
‘Well, that’s probably because the gender ratio is messed up.’
Anyway, I started slowly comparing the two worlds while recalling my memories.
For reference, I excluded elements that are hard for ordinary people to encounter or that aren’t visible on the surface of society.
Things like yokai, exorcists, or people from other worlds.
I might not have noticed, but they could’ve existed in the previous world too.
After finishing the comparison…
‘…Looking at it this way, the world I originally lived in wasn’t that ordinary. Students here don’t get into brawls in broad daylight.’
In my previous world, gangsters would boldly roam the city in broad daylight.
Half of the male students nationwide were obsessed with fighting.
Hot-blooded middle and high school students would get into brawls on the streets.
As long as no one died, the police would never intervene unless things went too far.
That was the world I lived in.
In such a violence-stained world, I was once called the strongest fighter among all high school students in the country.
‘Though more than half of those fights weren’t because I wanted to fight, but because some crazy guys kept attacking me with bricks.’
By the way, after I got beaten by a strange transfer student, no one came to pick fights with me anymore.
After that, I graduated high school normally, made money normally, and went to the military earlier than most.
Well, anyway, since I was once the best fighter among Korean students, I guess you could say I was a bit beyond ordinary.
“I guess I wasn’t that ordinary. Just a little.”
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It asks in what way you weren’t ordinary.
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Of course you weren’t ordinary. With that face, how could you be? LOL.
【Min Ji】─Drifting, don’t sneak in a second question~ ㅎ
“In what way? I was just way better at fighting than others. Even in middle school, I could take on multiple adults by myself.”
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Were you the protagonist of a school violence manga? LOL, I’m dying! LOL.
【Handsome Licker】─Se-hoon, stop it. Stop adding weird settings to a parallel world that doesn’t exist. LOL.
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It asks if you used any superpowers.
“Superpowers? What superpowers? I was just good at fighting.”
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It says you were an ordinary human then.
【Min Ji】─?? Why are you still answering Drifting’s questions? Why?
【Handsome Licker】─What were you expecting from Drifting? LOL, *lick lick*!
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Superpowers, my ass. LOL.
【Se-hoon Defense Team】─So Se-hoon was just an ordinary human.
“No, Drifting. Didn’t you say I should set the standard? Are you crazy? This guy’s insane.”
【Drifting AI】─I will ^^.
【Min Ji】─Don’t smile.
【Jujijoa】─Is Min Ji pissed? LOL.
【Yoho】─Guess they’re in a low-pressure mood because they lost their question opportunity. ㅎ
【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wow! So petty!
【Maid】─Wow! Petty!
“Anyway, that’s the end of the questions. I should wrap up the stream and sleep now.”
And so, I resolved all the viewers’ curiosities.
Every single one of them.
After answering all of them sincerely, I felt oddly satisfied.
【Min Ji】─I wanted to ask a question too…
【Qkrnfl892】─Damn, me too.
【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wow!
Today’s stream ended here.
***
I came up to the 2nd floor with the camera.
The stream wasn’t over yet.
Before ending it, Guburi suddenly said he was curious about my school days, so I decided to show him my graduation album for a bit.
I planned to end the stream after showing just this.
“Ah, here it is.”
I pulled the graduation album from the bookshelf.
It was from the “Pink Dream Boys’ High School” I attended in this world.
By the way, it was a different school from the one in my previous world.
Since the worlds are different, the schools are too.
But the messy long hair I had during my school days was the same.
In the previous world, I cut it when I joined the military, but in this world, I just shaved it off for no reason as soon as I became an adult.
Anyway, I immediately showed the viewers my graduation photo.
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─?? What’s that? Is that Gyesekkihoon?
【Yoho】─Gasp. He put a mop on his head!
【Handsome Licker】─LOL, you can’t even see his eyes because of the hair! *lick lick* But he’s still handsome! *lick lick* *slurp slurp*!!!
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─Stop it, you dirty b*tch.
【Min Ji】─Wow. How is he still handsome even with half his face covered?
【Maehwa Tree】─A handsome man is still handsome even when covered.
【Se-hoon Defense Team】─For real, you can’t even see his eyes, but he’s still handsome. LOL.
【Qkrnfl892】─Kinda gives off that gloomy guy vibe from manga. LOL.
【Drifting AI】─I will speak. It asks if you watch that kind of stuff, Qkrnfl892.
【Qkrnfl892】─Nah, I don’t watch Hitomi.
【Jujijoa】─He’s handsome, but the image is so different. Guys are really influenced by hairstyles.
【Big Girl】─Se-hoon can pull off that hairstyle too. ㄷㄷ
【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wow! His hair carried his face!
【Maid】─*slurp slurp*!
【Balloon Gum Collector】─?
The viewers’ evaluations weren’t bad.
Looking back now, it looks pretty shabby to me, though.
‘Back when I looked in the mirror, it seemed fine, but maybe my standards have changed as I’ve aged.’
Well, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t plan on growing my hair that long again anyway.
“That’s it, right? Can I sleep now?”
【Balloon Gum Collector】─Wow! Are you streaming tomorrow?
【Gyeongsaeng Guburi】─It’s a bit disappointing. Let’s do a sleep stream.
『The stream has ended.』
I ended the stream after showing what I needed to show.
I put the graduation album back on the shelf.
After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I went to the 2nd floor main bedroom and lay down on the bed.
Closing my eyes, I thought about my upcoming schedule.
‘Tomorrow, I’ll do a normal communication stream like today… I should also resolve all the postponed appointments this week or next.’
There were three postponed appointments in total.
With the YouTuber Kwaehwal Namsu and his younger sister Nam Hyun-ji.
With Palkgui and her mother, the police station chief.
And with the mother and daughter from the neighbor’s house, whom I met during a mountain climbing stream.
I had made meal appointments with all of them, but I kept making excuses and didn’t meet them.
I thought they were just empty promises.
But whether it was just me or not, they kept contacting me, asking when I’d be free.
So I planned to resolve them all as soon as possible.
It’d also be a chance to socialize with various people.
‘The neighbor’s house is the closest, so maybe I should schedule that one first?’
I was debating whether to roughly decide the order now or just sleep and figure it out properly tomorrow when…
*BANG!*
[I’m here!]
Teddy Bear noisily opened the bedroom door and came in.
“What? Why are you here?”
[You said to meet separately earlier? So I came!]
“Ah. Did I? Well, it’s fine now, so just go.”
[……]
“What are you doing? I said go to your room.”
[…I want to sleep together.]
“Get lost.”
[…I’m sleeping here!]
Teddy Bear jumped onto the bed beside me.
And then slipped under the blanket.
“…Sigh.”
[It’s warm!]
I decided to just ignore it and sleep.
It’d probably sneak back in even if I kicked it out.
And so, today ended quietly.
***
The next day at noon.
While Gye Se-hoon was doing a communication stream at home…
Not far away in the city, a young man was rummaging through a middle-aged woman’s phone, looking through her photo gallery.
He looked angry, frowning.
“I-I really didn’t take any photos…”
The middle-aged woman tearfully protested her innocence.
She was the woman from Gye Se-hoon’s neighbor’s house.
“I really didn’t take any…”
The man hesitated for a moment.
The middle-aged woman didn’t seem to be acting.
“…We’ll see once I check.”
The man reluctantly started checking the photo gallery again.
The incident went like this.
While walking, the man heard a camera shutter sound behind him and turned around.
There, he saw the middle-aged woman holding her phone, looking flustered.
The phone was pointed directly at him.
Thinking he’d been secretly photographed, the man snatched the woman’s phone.
“What the… You really didn’t take any. The most recent photos are just rocks…”
“I told you… I really didn’t take any. I was just taking photos of a strangely shaped rock on the ground.”
As the woman said, there were no photos of him no matter how much he looked.
“Well, why did you take a photo right behind me and make me misunderstand? And your phone was pointed at me, and you were acting all flustered, so of course I’d be suspicious. Anyway, sorry about that…”
The man apologized as he returned the phone to the woman.
And then…
From a distance, a young woman came running, panting, and shouted in a clear voice.
“Mom! What’s going on!?”
It was the middle-aged woman’s daughter.
***
“I’m so sorry… My daughter has a fiery temper… Yoo-na, you apologize properly too!”
“I’m sorry…”
The middle-aged woman and her daughter apologized to the man again.
The daughter had cursed at the man and grabbed him by the collar without asking questions.
But the middle-aged woman scolded her daughter, saying the man had every reason to misunderstand.
“…Mom, is your arm okay?”
“It’s fine, don’t worry.”
The middle-aged woman’s arm had a bruise.
It was where the man had grabbed her when he took the phone.
‘What? I barely grabbed her, and she got a bruise? She’s really weak for a woman… Not just weak, but her body is as fragile as paper.’
The more he looked at the bruise, the more the man felt sorry.
And then…
The middle-aged woman said she wanted to properly apologize for her daughter’s mistake and invited the man to her house for a meal later.
The man couldn’t refuse the offer.
Normally, he would’ve firmly declined, saying he’d just accept the sentiment, but he had wronged the woman.
He felt too guilty to refuse outright.
‘One meal should be fine. They don’t seem like dangerous or bad people, and both of them are weaker than me, a man.’
In the end, the man accepted the meal invitation.
‘But… They don’t seem like mother and daughter. Their personalities and appearances don’t match at all.’
The man glanced suspiciously at the two.
But only for a moment.
‘Maybe she’s not her biological daughter? It’s not important, so I’ll just ignore it. She’s pretty, so it’s fine.’
He quickly dismissed his suspicions.
***
After exchanging contact information, the mother and daughter left, starting a conversation.
They spoke loudly enough for the man to hear.
“Yoo-na, when we invite that guy over for a meal later, apologize properly. Got it?”
“Yeah…”
“And if you get the chance, try to get along with him. Did you see how he admitted his mistake right away? That’s rare for a man these days. He seems like a good person.”
“Whatever…”
“What do you mean, whatever! Don’t you know how hard it is to find a man like him these days?”
“……”
The daughter hung her head with a pale face.
The middle-aged woman smiled a grotesque and eerie smile, her lips stretched unnaturally wide.