Chapter 7: It’s been a month since the broadcast-7

The sudden 500,000 won offer. I started Isaac again, trembling.

First try.

A game where the stage goes from the 13th floor down to the 1st.

Died on the 13th floor.

My skills were like a bug, making anyone watching cringe.

But I laughed it off.

The items were bad, and no one expected me to be good at games anyway.

Second try.

Got a high-level item that doubled damage.

Died on the 11th floor.

For the first try, I had plenty of excuses, like the items being bad, but the second try had no room for excuses.

I got good items, and the route choices were good too.

No one would expect me to be skilled in my broadcast, but this was too much.

The chat started buzzing.

– This?
– Wow, so bad
– Seriously bad LOL
– Ugh….

“Ah, no, my hand wasn’t warmed up yet!”

The chat erupted at my lame excuse, but I couldn’t stop it.

Honestly, even I was wondering, ‘Why am I playing like this?’ while playing!

After the third try, the fourth, and then endlessly until the sixteenth try.

The playtime was exceeding three hours.

It wasn’t a long time at all.

Sixteen tries in just three hours!

It showed how quickly I kept dying.

The result of unintentionally revealing these bug-like skills in front of dozens of people made shame rise to my face.

My face must be bright red right now!

I glared at my innocent hands, but what could I do? They were mine.

In the end, I couldn’t do anything but express my frustration by swinging my feet in the air while sitting on the chair, but the frustration didn’t go away.

“Ugh… It looked easy when other people played…!”

– ?????
– Who finds Isaac easy?
– What did you watch?
– You didn’t know????
– Wow…

The viewers questioned my complaint.

Puzzled, I told them the name of the streamer I watched.

“I watched Red…”

– That person is a pro gamer.
– It looks easy when you watch someone speedrunning as a hobby!
– You can’t do that!
– Ah hahaha

“Oh…”

While we were talking, the seventeenth try began.

I couldn’t stop the curses that were slowly appearing in the chat.

Even I would be frustrated if I watched a stream with no progress for three hours.

I wanted to quit right away.

A game broadcast where I felt self-conscious and the viewers were frustrated.

“Huu…”

Still, humans are adaptable creatures. Was it a consolation that the number of times I got hit had noticeably decreased?

I reached the first item room without much trouble, and the chat suddenly flooded.

Was this really the firepower of 21 people? No, some people left in the middle.

17 people?

The chat went up so fast it was hard to read.

I moved my character towards a particularly shiny item and took it.

The item’s effect was double damage, double range, double attack speed, added homing, added piercing, and HP recovery with a certain probability.

A truly rogue-like, game-breaking item!

The appearance rate was 0.07%!

With this, even I could clear it!

– Let’s goooo!
– Finally!!!!!
– At last!
– Ohhhh!

Even NemoMi was cheering. In this situation, I played confidently.

And failed on the 2nd floor.

“Why?! This can’t be! This can’t be happening! This isn’t right, is it?! Huh!?”

This wasn’t my fault!

I had full HP until the 2nd floor!

I got the best items ever!

I could have cleared it!

But the game suddenly froze, and when it started moving again, my character was on the 13th floor.

Naked…!

“Aaaaagh!!!”

I could have cleared it!

I slammed the keyboard in anger, but only my palms hurt, and the frustration didn’t go away.

Why did it freeze and disconnect at that exact moment?!

“This is a conspiracy!”

– Hahahahahahahahaha
– First time seeing Isaac lag
– LOL hahahahahaha
– Conspiracy means the hair down there…
– You have been banned.

I purged even comments I would normally laugh off.

“Kyaaa!”

My studio apartment had no soundproofing, so the neighbors might complain, but I felt like I’d die of frustration if I had to hold back my screams.

“This is a dream…!”

– LOL But what kind of computer are you using that makes Isaac lag?

“My computer…?”

I gulped down cold water and counted on my fingers.

“A technician came and built it eight years ago!”

…Nine years ago?

I couldn’t remember well.

– Eight years ago????
– Isn’t that an antique?
– How much did you spend back then?

“Uh… My parents bought it for me, so I don’t remember well… Maybe 700,000 won? Or 750,000 won?”

– You’ve been using a computer built for 700,000 eight years ago, and not even the highest specs back then?
– Specs reveal hehe
– It’s not strange that it lags, it’s strange that it didn’t lag hahahahahaha

“Hmm… Specs? Hold on…!”

I showed them my computer specs, and the chat went wild.

– What the heck is this
– Even back then, you could build a computer for 300,000, not 700,000.
– Guwaaaah!

Was it that bad?

The viewers’ reactions were unusual, so I cautiously asked.

“Uh… Is it that bad? Was I scammed…?”

– Yes
– It’s more surprising that this computer still runs
“T-That much?”
– With that, they probably bought a used PC from a closing PC bang, pocketed the rest, and gave you that.

“Huhhh!”

I gasped in surprise, and the viewers seriously told me a few things.

– I have a spare graphics card, want it?
– I was going to sell it on the used market, but using it for charity wouldn’t be bad.
– Address hehe

“Ehh…? Address…?”

My computer, which I’d been using for nine years, was a scam?

Perhaps the shock made me a bit hazy.

I followed the viewers’ words, got up, and brought a piece of mail.

A phone bill overdue notice.

My home address was written below.

“So… Daejeon…!”

Discord rang.

“Oh, hold on!”

– ???
– Liera gets Discord calls too?

“I have friends too, you know?”

‘Internet friends, but still!’

There was no need to say that.

I checked Discord while replying to the chat and found a friend request from an unknown ID.

Who was it? I’d never seen that ID before.

I decided to accept it, and a call came immediately.

What…?

I muttered to myself in confusion, but clicked the accept button and answered the call.

“Uh…? Hello…?”

“Don’t ever! Ever tell them your address!”

The other person shouted urgently as soon as I answered.

But the voice sounded familiar…?

Four seconds to think ‘Who is it?’.

Two seconds to ‘Ah!’.

It took about six seconds total to remember the owner of the voice.

“NemoMi-nim!”

“Yes! It’s me! I asked Dragon oppa for your Discord ID! Anyway, don’t ever mention your address! It’s really dangerous!”

“Uh…?”

My brain froze at the sudden call from NemoMi, but I nodded, then realized it wasn’t a video call and belatedly replied,

“…Yes!”

“We’ll take care of your computer problem!”

“Huh…?”

Did I hear that right?

What was going on?

A scam?

No, that couldn’t be it.

Brain freeze.

Again.

A strong sense of aversion to the unknown kindness came over me, but my words were weak.

“Why…?”

“I’ll explain later! End your stream now! You almost got into big trouble…”

Despite my aversion, I could hear the bewilderment and relief in NemoMi’s voice, so I quietly agreed and obediently ended the stream.

“Male streamers too, but especially female streamers really need to be careful with their personal information. If even one piece of information gets out, all sorts of crazy people will stick to you like crazy!”

Ah, I remembered.

NemoMi had suffered from a perverted stalker in the past and had moved because of it.

Chills ran down my spine, and I shuddered.

If it weren’t for NemoMi, something terrible could have happened…

Wait, why was I about to give out my address in the first place?

I think I lost my mind for a moment.

This wasn’t something to take lightly.

But would there be such a crazy person interested in someone like me?

I scratched my head, lost in strange thoughts, but NemoMi’s next words froze me.

“For now, just tell me your address. I’ll take care of your computer problem!”

“Y-yes…?”

A sudden offer.

Sudden kindness.

Confused and bewildered, I told her my address, and after a few more exchanges, NemoMi ended the call.

“What was that…?”

It was like a typhoon had swept through.

Wait a minute.

“You’re supposed to tell me why…?”

Why were they being so nice to me?

Why?

And that night, the same post appeared on Aram’s, NemoMi’s, and Dragon’s channel pages.

– Buying used computer parts!

– ????
– What’s going on?

An inexplicable, strong kindness was washing over Liera.