Chapter 123

“No way!”

“Is that so…?”

“This is absolutely not okay!”

As soon as Pinku unnie logged in through Anna unnie’s access device in the next room, I told her the title I had in mind, and she freaked out, saying it couldn’t be done.

Living as a man, I thought I had a good grasp of people’s feelings and could read the room quickly, having been a guild master and party leader a few times. But lately, I’ve realized that what I think and what actually happens are quite different.

“Is it because I’ve been influenced a lot by Arang?”

I know that my mental age has been dropping a lot recently. But that’s just how it is.

All I do is sleep, eat, play games, and get massages. There’s no way my intelligence is going to increase. Even if it does, it’s only going to be game-related intelligence, while my real-world intelligence will inevitably decline.

When I think about it, I know almost nothing about this world.

What kind of jobs are there? What do schools look like? Is the military still a thing? Has unification happened?

“Oh… now that I think about it, I really don’t know anything, huh?”

Ah, I do know one thing. There’s a brand called Mom’s Touch?

“Hmm… actually, I guess it’s not that important to know.”

“Arang, should we start…?”

“Huh? Yeah…!”

All my random thoughts disappeared at Pinku unnie’s words.

Back when I was a man, once I started thinking like this, I would fall into a swamp of endless depressive thoughts and waste the whole day.

“But now I don’t do that anymore. This must also be the pure influence of Arang, right?”

The important thing is not to cause any accidents…!

Big accidents like this shouldn’t happen anymore.

“3, 2, 1.”

Ding.

Before starting the broadcast, Pinku unnie had already posted about it on the fan cafe, so as soon as I turned on the stream, the number of viewers skyrocketed like crazy.

-Huh? Why is Arang here?

-Arang…

-Ah… is this a video Arang left before she died?

-Oh, I guess so… Arang… you should live well in heaven.

-Let’s live happily in heaven!

-This is so sad. How could such a young and cute girl have to die…?

-If there’s a god, I really want to punch them.

As expected, people think that the me appearing on the stream isn’t a live broadcast but a pre-recorded video, like a final message before death.

In that short time, I had already become a dead person in their eyes, and the viewers didn’t even consider that I might still be alive.

“Hello, everyone…”

With my greeting, the viewers started using crying emoticons and words expressing sadness.

“You all probably think I’m dead, but… the broadcast you saw… wasn’t me dying, I was just asleep… I’m sorry for making you all misunderstand…”

This time, I spoke slowly, thinking carefully before I spoke, to make sure people wouldn’t misunderstand anymore.

I bowed to the camera.

==

While everyone was saddened by Arang’s apology, they began to doubt their ears.

They thought it was a final message, a video Arang left before her death, but the words coming from Arang’s mouth were about after her death.

Misunderstanding, sorry.

As soon as those two words were heard, everyone started to think, “Is this not a pre-recorded video of Arang before her death, but actually Arang alive and well in this broadcast?”

In this day and age, it’s entirely possible to record something and create a fake video by copying a specific person’s appearance.

But that was impossible.

That can only be done with phones or computers, not with access devices.

The access devices that created the virtual world have overwhelming security and superior self-identification functions, making it impossible to use or store fake videos while using an access device.

In other words, what’s in the video now isn’t a fake recording but Arang alive and speaking directly.

Contrary to Arang’s worries, the viewers were overjoyed at the news of her survival.

After the news of Arang’s survival spread through the Leore community.

The Leore community was even more fired up than when they mistakenly thought Arang had died.

-Arang is alive?

-Arang didn’t die?

-What? Is Arang really alive? Really?

-She didn’t die…?

-Arang is alive! She didn’t die!

-Wow… that’s a relief. Really a relief.

==

What a relief.

Really, what a relief.

The current mood of the viewers wasn’t bad.

It was a situation where accusations like “You deceived us,” “You’re an attention seeker,” “You’re rude,” etc., could have come out.

Pulling in viewers, showing them a seemingly dead version of myself, gathering all the aggro possible in Leore, and then saying, “Actually, I’m not dead!”—yet the public opinion wasn’t bad.

If it were someone else, there would have been a lot more curses. It’s because people know the situation I’m in that they’re reacting this way.

“Next time… I’ll think more carefully… before speaking and acting…”

-Next time? There’s going to be a next time!?

-Huh? So you’re going to do regular broadcasts like this?

-But are you really okay health-wise?

-What about your body? Is your body really okay?

“I don’t plan to do broadcasts anymore… and my health is getting better…”

I told everyone the truth.

“I’m really getting healthier… and to keep getting healthier… I’m continuing to get check-ups… exercise… and treatment…”

-Really? That’s a relief…

-So you have to keep getting treatment…

-What illness do you have?

-You have to keep getting treatment?

I answered the viewers’ questions one by one, thinking this would be my last broadcast.

-What happened to your limbs? Was it because of the illness?

-What the hell is wrong with that guy!?

-Hey, you clueless jerk!

It was time to talk about this. After all, Korean fans already know from the last offline event tournament that I don’t have limbs.

“Arang. You don’t have to answer questions that are hard for you. No one will say anything.”

Seeing me hesitate, Pinku unnie, who had been behind the camera, came over and hugged me, thinking it was hard for me to answer.

“It’s okay. A lot of people already know, right…?”

“Okay…”

“My limbs were all necrotized due to illness, so they were amputated… I’m working hard on rehabilitation training to use prosthetic arms and legs…”

-Ah…

-That’s really too much…

-How could they take the limbs of such a young girl…?

-Is rehabilitation training very hard?

“My nerves are all dead, and according to the doctor unnie, my mind itself is rejecting the idea of having limbs, so it will take time to rehabilitate…”

-Ah…

-Wow, so you can’t even use prosthetic limbs comfortably…? Is that right?

I calmly and carefully explained my situation to the viewers, and when I thought it was all over, Pinku unnie, who had noticed, appeared again to wrap up the broadcast.

“Thank you all for accepting Arang’s apology today. As Arang said yesterday and today, this is the last broadcast.”

“Yes… today will be the last broadcast… not because I don’t have much time left to live… but because I don’t particularly enjoy broadcasting…”

-Whoa, so you’re never going to appear in broadcasts or anything like this again?

-Ah, then it’s no different from being dead!

-Whoa, are you going to close the fan cafe too? It hasn’t been long since it was created…!?

“Ah… I’m just not going to do broadcasts anymore… Pinku unnie’s YouTube… and my fan cafe will continue to operate…”

-Phew…

-I almost couldn’t see Arang again…

-If you finish your rehabilitation training well, do you have any plans for a fan meeting…?

“I don’t have plans for a fan meeting… actually, even if I did a fan meeting, I don’t have limbs, so I’d just show you an ugly side of me… I can’t shake hands… I can’t hug… I can’t walk…”

-Ah, no, that’s not it!

-Punch that jerk!!!

-Wow, what a devil… a devil.

The viewer who brought up the fan meeting panicked and started typing in the chat, and other viewers also panicked, saying it wasn’t about reality.

“Ah… do fan meetings happen in the virtual world these days…?”

Thinking about the virtual room operated by the Mea’d raid party, it seems entirely possible.

Then there’s no risk of dangerous accidents, and it’s a very safe and good method.

“If it’s a virtual world fan meeting… I’ll think about it and let you know later… Lastly, I’m sorry… you all must have been really surprised, right…? Have a delicious dinner and rest well… I’ll end the broadcast here…!”

Pinku unnie also bowed to the camera with me and ended the broadcast.

“Phew…”

“You did well, Arang. Let’s go eat a delicious dinner now.”

“Yeah… I want to eat bossam…”

As soon as I confirmed the broadcast had ended, I slumped into Pinku unnie’s arms.

After doing a broadcast myself, I really feel how amazing streamers are.

Just reading the viewers’ chats makes my head spin.

Plus, worrying about whether people might dislike me or criticize me recklessly really takes a toll.

I’m never doing a broadcast again. I’ll just live quietly playing games…!