Chapter 192

Correction news. The act of correcting a false article.

According to the ethical guidelines of the Korean Journalist Association, journalists must honestly admit to misreporting and promptly correct it.

But how easy is that, really?

The media tends to avoid acknowledging the facts of corrections. The moment they make a mistake, they lose their credibility as a news outlet.

Thus, corrections are always made quietly in the shadows so as not to be discovered.

Who would throw stones at them for being sneaky? They could report even more discreetly.

But QBS was different.

Wednesday night at 11:50 PM.

Editing staff reporters who are working overtime in rotation for a possible top article change.

Their feet are now on fire.

“Director…!”

“Jang Reporter…!”

“Director!”

“Jang Reporter! Issue a correction immediately, and follow up with an exclusive report!”

“Yes!”

The life of a news article is not in its accuracy or its appeal, but in its speed.

Most gaps in information can be filled with follow-up reports, so the urgent priority was to get a ‘exclusive’ title out first.

And QBS could execute this task faster than anyone else.

[Correction Notice]

[[Who is the 14-Year-Old Genius Streamer ‘Noname’ Who Solved a 300-Year-Old Problem?] Related]

[This broadcasting station reported on May 24, 2051, on the QBS News Talk Talk program, that the Twish streamer Noname proved a difficult problem after dropping out of the Academy at 14 years of age. However, contrary to the reports, it has come to our attention that Noname has never dropped out of the Academy, and it has been revealed that the individual is actually 7 years old.]

The midnight news special program began with shocking correction news.

A smile blossomed on the editor’s face.

“Done!”

Writing an article took a while, but correcting it was relatively simple.

From now on, every time people search for the name Noname, it would naturally appear at the top due to search algorithms.

Because a correction is also, after all, ‘news.’

Just like buying stocks without knowing the plotting of conspirators, only to have them hit the ceiling price of 30% the next day, for QBS, having dealt with Noname’s article was truly a stroke of luck.

But there was no time to rest. Now that the urgent fire was put out, it was time to gather real ‘information.’

“Right, they said they attended Seviron Academy…!”

Someone shouted, the school that Noname attends.

“But we have no hotline with them.”

The editor shook his head.

Seviron Academy is an American foundation. Moreover, even in the 21st century, they operate with extraterritorial rights.

Especially regarding the protection of their students’ privacy, they regarded it as a matter to be fiercely guarded to the extent that it would put the National Intelligence Service to shame, making it difficult to obtain quality information from anyone other than large media companies.

Ultimately, if you’re lacking in brains, your body must suffer; if you lack connections, you must go out and use your feet.

“Let Jang Reporter go and find out.”

* * *

[‘QBS Official’ has sponsored 100,000 won!]

-Hello, Noname. This is Jang Seongmoon from the QBS editing team. We cannot possibly fathom the terrible times you’ve endured. Our QBS will take the lead in uncovering the truth of this incident…

The sponsorship message was suddenly cut off.

-Gasp!

-Gasp…

-Didn’t you see this notice?

-Goodbye.

-F*cking journalists, shut up!

“Didn’t I say I wouldn’t engage in any public activities? Please leave quietly.”

[QBS Official has been kicked out.]

“Ah…! Wasn’t I supposed to ban them?”

Kariri quickly turned to look at me with a worried expression.

Her face was reminiscent of Adella, who caused an accident.

“No, it’s the fault of those who didn’t read the notice properly.”

“Why are so many people suddenly coming in? Is it because it’s midnight? I’ll say it again, any questions about Name’s personal information will lead to bans. Just don’t say anything! If you don’t know, please just type ‘lol’!”

Sia firmly warned the viewers.

-lol

-lol

-lol

-Let’s just freeze the chat altogether.

-It’s not an ice age…!

The competition ended so late, and although it was a collaboration, I didn’t intend to drag it out for too long.

Yet, people were piling in with six-digit numbers, fearing that I might pull back from streaming for a while.

“When did I say I wouldn’t stream? I said I would remain quiet until I got a response.”

-Do you trust the Korean government?

-If you don’t fulfill the request, will we never see Noname again?

-ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-I don’t want thatㅠㅠㅠ Please don’t goㅠㅠㅠ

-Life without Noname is hell…

“Talking less these days, huh? Anyway, next. Is there nothing else? If there isn’t, should I look for it myself?”

With the arrival of Jang Reporter, the confessional stream was briefly interrupted.

This is why momentum is important.

Reluctantly, I decided to raise the stakes.

“If you say anything at all, you’ll have to pay ten times the sponsorship amount to be forgiven.”

-Emergency! Emergency! Emergency!

-Just one person, please!

-Feel free to do a surprise inspection!

Yet, nothing came out. Everyone seemed skeptical.

“Kariri, can you look up the nickname ‘Nonggaewolryeongga6974’ for me?”

You can generally tell just from the nickname.

-No, it’s obvious from the nickname that it’s maliciousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-That’s a whitelist; I don’t even need to see it for 100,000 won.

-If it’s ten times that, it’ll be 1,000,000ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-But that’s better than getting suedㅋㅋㅋ

[Nonggaewolryeongga has sponsored 10,000 won!]

“Wait, Noname! I was really wrong; please give me another chance…! I’ll top up more, so please wait!”

-That’s seriously suspiciousㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!

-So we finally get some spicy chat?

-Honestly, I can’t resist the suing endingㅋㅋㅋㅋ

The ‘Confession’ stream, which lasted about an hour, was quite successful so far.

What is confession?

In the past, the Holy Kingdom had a system for its believers to confess their sins to a priest in advance to lessen their sins.

Of course, this has long since become the privilege of the nobility, but I still thought the idea was quite good.

Therefore, I decided to forgive those who thought they had sinned against me based on the severity of their offenses and the amounts of their sponsorships.

As time passed, my judgments and the collective intelligence of the viewers began to circulate information regarding the prices of confessing.

-If I said ‘farming,’ how much do I have to pay?

└ They said 2,000 won would get you forgiven!

-2,000 won? Phew~~~ That’s a relief; doesn’t ask for too much!

└ Just so you know, it’s 2,000 won per instance.

└ ??????????????????

└ Why? Isn’t that bearable?

└ Seriously, I’ll donate to the orphanage; at a time like this, just throw me a dono.

“Those who think they’re safe, better crawl out quickly. Didn’t you hear that Name sued the trolls last time?”

“Yeah! Unlike Kariri, Name isn’t just a threat! They’re 7 years old! There are special levels for child protection laws!”

I announced in advance that today’s sponsorships would all be donated to a local child welfare center.

By forgiving directly, not only would I feel less guilty, but I could also do a good deed, a two-for-one content deal.

A streamer caring for the mental health of viewers like me must be a rare sight in the world.

After all, who wouldn’t feel uncomfortable if they have something to be guilty about when we meet again later due to my age? This was a sort of consideration to relieve that.

That being said, I originally started this with a light heart…

[‘BLgbT Sandwich’ sponsored 296,000 won!]

“Father, I have previously spoken ill of you. I’ve been counting, and I think it’s right… I hope you use it for a good cause…”

Kariri and Yusia quickly began verification.

“This crazy guy…! Is the only word you know ‘farm’?”

“Totally cosmic horror…! How can you say ‘farming’ 148 times in a month?”

-What? 148 times?

-148 timesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Wow, not ten times, but 148 timesㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋI really lost it hearing this.

-Wow, is this guy really insane?ㅋㅋㅋ

“…”

“Hey, Name? Are you okay?”

“Ah…! I almost fainted for a moment, but I’m okay…”

“Waaaah! You can’t faint here, Name! If you do, our collaboration will break apart!”

But I really thought I’d be fine.

I believed myself to be incredibly magnanimous.

However, as the sponsorship amount piled up to 1,000,000 won and then 2,000,000 won, my mind began to deteriorate.

[Nonggaewolryeongga has sponsored 10,000 won!]

“Father, I committed the offense of asking what color your underwear was. Please forgive me… I will turn over a new leaf and live righteously.”

“What…?”

Was there a chat like that?

From this sponsorship onward, similar 10,000-won sponsorship messages began to flood in one after another.

Opfanmu?

“What is Opfanmu?”

“Hahaha… What could Opfanmu be, hahaha… Kariri, you don’t know either, right?”

-I really hope you all get sued!

-No, how could we have knownㅠㅠㅠㅠ

-This is all Kariri’s fault!

-Really, Kariri has spread Twish’s underground culture too much.

-Underground should just stay in the underground.

“Why is it my fault again! Anyway, Name doesn’t need to know! Our Name just has to grow up seeing only the bright side of the world, okay! And Opfanmu from now on is not 10,000 but 20,000 won!”

-Ah, I was about to sponsor, but this is not right!

-Kacknightㅠㅠㅠㅠ

“Kariri, you are a member of the Chordata phylum, Mammalia class, Carnivora order, Mustelidae family, genus Mellivora.”

└ It’s only applicable to Kariri, isn’t it, haha.

-Chat has indeed been filthy for a while now.

-Most of the chat comes from the month of WalOA.

└ The blonde avatar was indeed broken.

[Funding goal: ₩16,398,000 / ₩1,000,000 (1639.8%)]

I recall putting in immense effort for a week just to earn 500,000 won…

And in just one hour, an outrageous amount of money had gathered.

Of course, not all were confession donations; I occasionally received long messages of warm comfort and encouragement.

[‘Chani’s Dad’ sponsored 50,000 won!]

“Hello, Noname, this might be my first sponsor and my first chat. I am a viewer who lost my two children and their mother during the Bafwadai Bridge disaster. I started watching your streams last year. For no particular reason, I confess that when I first saw your avatar, it reminded me of my children, who looked like angels. Honestly, I still find it hard to believe you are 7 years old, haha… I can’t imagine how much hardship you’ve gone through since you were young. I hope whatever you do in the future goes well… and there are viewers who silently support you from behind, so please stay strong.”

On a normal day, viewers would be upset about long messages, but today, everyone kept quiet until TTS finished reading.

The unprecedented atmosphere of moving between heaven and hell continued until now.

Returning to the present.

“So, what on earth are you hiding, Nonggaewolryeongga?”

The latest comments scrolled down the feed.

Even as Sia kept scrolling up, the normal chat continued.

[Nonggaewolryeongga: In this room, be careful with chats both day and nightㅋㅋㅋ]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Wow, is it real that you’re 14? Amazing;;]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: This is the ultimate carryㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Noname! Noname! Noname!]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Your swordsmanship is incredible!]

“That’s pretty normal, isn’t it?”

-What’s going on?

-Why are they acting so relaxed?

-Scroll up more, that can’t be all, right?

-How could they say something like that with such a ridiculous nickname?

-Wait, what’s that above?ㅋㅋㅋ

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Wolf Rider meta, let’s go!]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Hehe, Belka…]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: Hehe, Belka…]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: The wolf is really big and beautiful…]

[Nonggaewolryeongga: The wolf realizes that its feelings towards its master aren’t ordinary feelings…]

[Nonggaewolryeongga has been kicked out.]

“Ah, I kicked him out without realizing…!”

“What, Sia? How could you just kick him out?”

“Oh, it’s fine! Let’s include him in the lawsuit too while we’re at it!”

“Wait, to what extent would we go to sue someone…? I didn’t think he was that kind of person. Let me see too.”

“No!”

Sia stood in front of me, stretching her arms wide to block the chat window.

“I can forgive everything else, but I can never forgive those who harm children.”

With the strong expression of the jury member, one more name was added to the whitelist (lawsuit list).

* * *

Today seemed like a momentous occasion.

Yet, my room was eerily quiet.

Professor Cheon covered me with a warm blanket while saying kind words, and I sank into deep thought, wrapped tightly in the blanket.

Will the world change?

And have I changed?

The former was a question about my actions until now, while the latter was a question about my own existence, which continues forward.

The consciousnesses of individuals who should have died long ago intertwined and became one.

Like before, I no longer felt any sense of alienation.

Just the feeling that I could confidently call myself ‘me’ somehow brought me peace.

Whether the reason for this change lies solely with me or with the relationships I’ve built in this life remained to be contemplated.

None of it mattered any longer; I was far too sleepy and about to drift into sleep when suddenly I remembered something and pulled my phone into the blanket.

[Yuna, it’s me, Name.]

[I’m planning to take the bus to school tomorrow.]

[Would you like to walk to school together tomorrow?]