Chapter 97

Until the player pressed the game start button for the Sea Butterfly, everything was just like usual without any notable peculiarities.

Even when the rare element of a “difficulty selection screen” appeared in the healing game.

– Ding!

[Please select the game difficulty.]

◈ Story Mode

[You will be invincible.]

[A mode for light gamers who want to enjoy only the story of the game.]

◈ Easy

[Damage taken by the player is halved.]

[If no damage is taken for a certain period, health is fully restored.]

[A mode for casual gamers who want to feel the achievement of clearing stages.]

◈ Normal

[If no damage is taken for a certain period, health is restored up to half.]

[A mode for passionate gamers who want to play more proactively.]

◈ Hero

[Damage taken by the player is doubled.]

[Health does not regenerate.]

[Attacks from hostile entities become more fierce.]

[A mode for brave gamers confident in their control.]

– Click.

“I’m brave, so Hero!”

Without much contemplation, I chose the hardest difficulty.

Of course, I was somewhat confident in my gaming skills.

It felt like choosing relatively easier difficulties would make me seem scared.

– Wow, you really went for it

– You screamed while playing Shirooni, but they say you’re brave anyway~

– You’re that Hero, right? Right?

– Going for Hero right from the start… hmm…

– You’ll regret it, lol

– I can see the future where you’ll feel the wall halfway and restart in Story Mode

“What could possibly make me feel a wall in a healing game?”

So, after hearing the concerns of a few viewers and letting it go in one ear and out the other.

When I finally started the tutorial for the Sea Butterfly, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

However, unlike FPS battle royale games without much of a story like Battle Island.

In games with a story, like Shirooni, which I played long ago, or Sea Butterfly, which I’m playing now.

“It’s Dad’s mission to rescue Berry Brigade!”

“Wow, this one is super cute.”

I needed to read the in-game lines in Diah’s voice while proceeding with the game.

This was one of the undeniable joys of a virtual YouTuber broadcast.

When the charm of a virtual YouTuber, their voice, is incorporated into the in-game lines, the broadcast becomes more enjoyable.

Viewers become more immersed in the broadcast when it’s dubbed rather than when played without dubbing.

Therefore.

“A brave soldier like Dad will surely achieve it! Okay, I’m off!”

“I’m sure a brave soldier like Dad can do it! Okay, I’m off!”

I mimicked all the lines that signified the official start of the tutorial.

Considering the line belonged to the player’s daughter who looked about five or six years old, Diah’s youthful voice felt even more fitting.

From then on, I progressed through the tutorial step by step while referencing the hint messages that started popping up.

The control method of “wire,” which is Sea Butterfly’s biggest feature, quickly became second nature to me, making it easier in various ways.

Perhaps that’s why.

– It’s strange, Mael took an hour on the tutorial

– Maybe it was worth choosing Hero right from the start?

– Did you perhaps try this in advance, Diah?

– Should we be suspicious about this too?

“This, this is seriously my first time. I really swear.”

– Hmm, lol

– For now, we’ll believe you, dream

– The fact that Sea Butterfly is a healing game gives off rookie vibes, yes

– Diah, remember the cherry blossom tree behind your daughter earlier…

Diah had to take a moment to clarify viewers’ questions about his not-so-beginner-like control skills.

Thanks to the fact that Diah’s broadcast title still included the four characters of “healing game,” the viewers let it slide for now.

So, controlling the wire attached to the player’s waist with the keyboard and mouse, I quickly navigated through various obstacles.

Finally, I harvested the “Berry Brigade,” which the player’s daughter had spoken about, from the strawberry tree and placed it into the basket.

By the time I returned to the player’s daughter and handed her the harvested berries.

Even as I dubbed Diah’s voice for the daughter, who was smiling brightly and sharing the berries with the player.

“Yum! Tart and sweet Berry Brigade. So delicious~.”

I was fully immersed in the calm and peaceful atmosphere characteristic of healing games.

“I see why everyone plays healing games for this feeling,” I thought.

However.

At that moment when the player briefly stepped outside the house to play hide and seek with his daughter.

“Daughter. Are you all hidden?”

“Yeah! But Dad, there’s something strange inside the closet.”

– No, don’t touch that

– Oh dear

– It’s gone now, yes

The serene background music that had been playing since the start of the game suddenly cut off.

“Something strange?”

“Yeah. It says ‘Butterflies can’t cross the sea…’ on it. What is this?”

– Oh no

– Sea Butterfly, oh no

– Oh my god

– Something big is coming, something big is coming

– Why doesn’t she realize yet? lol

For some reason, the line highlighted in bold appeared on the game screen.

Almost simultaneously, the house where the player’s daughter was located.

[Bang!!]

– Boom!

– Art is explosion!!

– ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– The daughter is dead ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

With a tremendous burst of flames, it exploded.

The sight of the player getting blown away and fainting into the distance from such a huge explosion.

“Uh… huh?”

Diah’s avatar froze in disbelief at the unexpected spectacle that I had never imagined.

The mouse cursor at the center of the broadcast screen also came to a halt.

Yet Sea Butterfly continued on without stopping and eventually.

A title stained red appeared right in the center of the broadcast screen.

Not long after that, what Ha Eun faced beyond the wide monitor was.

– Whoosh─! Boom!!

– Rustle!

– Thud! Boom!

“Sa, save me!”

“No, if you’ve killed… you’re the one being killed.”

The sight of the player, who had turned into a vengeful spirit, single-handedly wiping out an entire mafia group.

The kind father who had been playfully entertaining his young daughter was nowhere to be found.

“H-Healing game, right? What kind of healing game is this!!”

– Healing game nah nah Killing game yeah

– Diah has been duped again

– From the tutorial, the daughter died, and dad turned into a serial killer, but it’s still a healing game, lol

– The voice vibe is one I really didn’t expect

– It’s been a while since I saw a pure lager newbie

In this way, the viewers congratulated themselves on successfully tricking Diah.

And the player continued to slaughter the mafia group without blinking an eye.

With every bit of Diah getting smacked upside down on the screen, I seriously contemplated whether I should stop the game here.

Despite that, I ultimately had to control the keyboard and mouse and activate the player’s wire again.

‘…If I quit the game now, it would be a downfall.’

Exiting the game because of a misunderstanding about the genre would be the so-called “game over” behavior.

If by any chance Diah stopped playing Sea Butterfly, the chat would be flooded with “me” and “fail.”

Thus, I ended up going through the entire “battle tutorial,” which didn’t quite fit the healing game at all.

The wire that was just a simple means of movement not long ago had ultimately turned into a powerful weapon that annihilated enemies.

– Whoosh─!

– Thud!

– Bang! Boom!

“…Your skill hasn’t diminished at all, General. I finally know who wiped out those dead bears.”

The boss’s meaningful lines were cleanly suppressed by Diah’s top-notch wire control skills.

For the entertainment of the broadcast, this too had to be dubbed in Diah’s voice, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t bring myself to speak.

In other words, internal injuries.

Or perhaps, even greater immersion.

If Ha Eun showed an emotional level of 3 in everyday life, during a virtual YouTuber broadcast, it was 12 times that, or an emotional level of 4.

The degree of emotion felt during a virtual YouTuber broadcast was incomparably higher than usual.

As long as I always showcased a bright and cheerful side, it didn’t matter how emotional I got.

However, in games with a sudden change in genre and atmosphere, like horror games such as Shirooni or games like Sea Butterfly.

“Dad! Look, the flowers are blooming!”

“Ah, why does it keep coming up when I just died… even if it’s just in memory….”

– ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– The daughter is dead! She won’t come back!

– Don’t cry already!

– Diah is sad ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

– Ah, I’m really looking forward to the ending, lol

– Viewers who didn’t watch today’s broadcast will surely regret it.

I was swept away by the feelings and emotions conveyed by the game, succumbing to deeper immersion.

There were many moments when I couldn’t control Diah’s feelings.

So, after watching the spectacle of a father who lost his daughter taking steps towards revenge.

“Reveal your identity, kid. Anyone related to Sea Butterfly is to be executed immediately.”

“I-I’m not a kid! Despite how I look, I’m an 18-year-old proper lady─”

– Click.

“Hy, hey! I was wrong! Please save me! I won’t talk back again!!”

At that moment, when I met the mysterious girl who gave off an odd feeling for some reason.

I unconsciously guessed that at least one incident related to a girl the same age as Ha Eun would occur.

Because she was the first friendly NPC I encountered after the player’s daughter.

The atmosphere in the chatroom, which had somehow become even noisier, played its part as well.

But, at the very end, I had no idea that I would become immersed not in the player, but in the girl.

Nor did I have any expectations of how the effects of “emotionally becoming serious in the performance” from [Falling Together] would act.

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