Chapter 10: Second month of broadcasting-1

A year ago, when my parents passed away, I was going to a mental hospital for treatment. It was raining especially hard that day. The raindrops hitting the umbrella vibrated in my hand.

It was heavy.

Damp and cold.

I wanted to go home and rest.

As I was walking, I heard a cat crying.

With lifeless eyes, I looked towards the sound and saw a soggy cardboard box in the rain.

There was a torn A4 paper on the box, probably asking someone to take the cat.

Swoosh-

The rain intensified.

It was a sad sight.

But what could I do?

I tried to ignore it, but the cat’s faint cry reached my ears.

Its voice was weak.

I sighed, crouched down, and opened the box.

Inside, there were torn, wet newspapers and a few pieces of cat food scattered around. The cat was shivering and crying pitifully.

As if asking for help.

The cat looked up at me.

I stared at the cat for a while, then held my umbrella over it.

“Are you cold?”

The cat couldn’t answer, but I asked anyway.

‘Should I take it?’

It looked pitiful. It would surely die if left like this.

But.

I shook my head.

I could barely take care of myself.

“Sorry.”

It would find a better owner than me.

Thinking that, I left my umbrella to keep it from getting wet and headed home.

I thought that would be the end of my connection with the small cat.

I was wrong.

Every time I went to the hospital twice a week, the cat was always crying in the box.

Why wasn’t anyone taking it?

It was cute.

I bought a sausage from the convenience store and gave it to the cat. It came up to me and rubbed its head against me.

“No.”

I can’t raise you.

I gently pushed it away, afraid of hurting it, but it came back and rubbed against me again.

I picked up the cat and put it back in the box.

“I really can’t.”

Tsk-!

I gently tapped the cat’s nose with my finger.

It must have thought I was playing, because it playfully tapped my hand with its tiny paws.

It was cute.

That’s why it bothered me more.

“You’ll find a better owner than me.”

I scribbled on the dry cardboard box with a pen.

-Please raise it.

And I drew a cat next to it.

I realized I had bad handwriting, but as long as it was readable, it should be fine, right?

Now all that was left was for someone to take this cat.

It was so cute, it would surely find a better owner than me.

But a month passed, and the cat was still there, in that box, waiting for me, running up to me and rolling over to show its belly whenever it saw me.

As if I was the only one. It even groomed me with its sandpaper-like tongue. When I petted it, it purred.

Anyone would think it was my cat.

I whispered to the cat.

“Do you want to live with me?”

Really? You won’t regret it?

I can’t treat you if you’re sick.

I don’t have much money, so I can’t buy you a lot of treats.

I can’t buy you many toys.

My house is small, so it’ll be cramped.

So find a better owner.

The cat meowed as if it understood.

“Okay.”

Neither of us probably knew what ‘meow’ or ‘okay’ meant.

I got up, and the cat went back into the box.

The umbrella was still there.

And the next day, the cat was gone.

Even though it wasn’t a hospital day, I came out to give it food, but it was nowhere to be seen.

I clutched the can of tuna in my hand.

It was for the best.

It must have found a good owner. I could just forget about it now.

But an unknown anxiety sprouted in my heart.

What if someone harmed it?

What if it ate something strange?

What if it got hit by a car?

Fear and dread washed over me, and I banged my head against the wall.

Stop.

I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

It must have found a better person than me.

Tap, tap.

As I turned to go home, someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned around and looked.

“Were you the one taking care of the cat here…?”

A young girl was looking up at me.

She was so short she didn’t even reach my shoulder.

‘Adorable’ would be the right word.

Was she from a rich family?

Her clothes looked expensive.

Incomparable to my shabby clothes.

Perhaps because I just stared at her, the girl’s expression gradually changed. I answered her question.

“Ah… Yes.”

“Thank you, really. It was in good condition for a stray cat. I knew someone was taking care of it…”

This girl took it.

I bowed my head.

‘…Please take good care of it.’

The cat would be happier than if I took it.

It could eat the snacks I gave it once in a while to its heart’s content, and it would have many toys.

It could get treatment if it was sick.

Since she looked rich, she wouldn’t abandon it if her life suddenly became difficult.

It was a good thing.

It was a much better thing than me taking it.

I left with the can of tuna in my hand.

And when I got home, I started to put away the cat-related items.

Cat-related books.

The toys and treats I bought with great effort.

Why did they look so shabby when I bought only the best?

I didn’t need cat food, a food bowl, or litter anymore.

“At least I didn’t buy a cat tower, that’s a relief…?”

I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

I hoped the cat would live happily.

It was an incident.

A big incident, but also a small one.

A person who was portrayed as an animal lover with nearly 600,000 subscribers was actually an animal abuser.

The cruelty was so horrific that it was even reported on public television news.

It was a big incident, but the target was limited to ‘animal streamers’.

For gaming streams, chatting streams, etc., it was a small incident since we suffered no damage.

I was streaming today as well.

With a computer that could run almost any game without difficulty, wasn’t I invincible?

My microphone was worth 380,000 won!

The same microphone Garam used in the beginning!

Actually, I was more interested in the symbolism than the price.

Stretch.

I stretched and ended the game.

“What should we do now that the game is over?”

39 viewers. I wouldn’t have dreamed of that number before, but now it was the average.

– Chat hehe
– The game was so boring
– LOL
“Um… But wasn’t I good this time?”

Isaac had become a regular segment.

Now I could go down to the 6th floor on average!

Wasn’t that a huge improvement?

– STFU
“Oh…”

My soaring self-esteem was instantly shot down by the chat telling me to shut the f*ck up.

I wondered if my skills were that bad, but I didn’t dare to argue with the viewers.

Chatting…

It was fun, of course.

There were so many people reacting to my words, how could it not be fun?

However, I wanted to be a gaming streamer, but somehow the chatting time had become longer than the gaming time.

Anyway, what should I talk about since the viewers wanted to chat?

Hmm.

“We’re almost at 1,000 subscribers, so should we do a Q&A?”

– Oh
– Now?

“Yes, right now!”

Questions poured in even before I finished saying ‘now’.

I was about to read and answer them one by one, but the first question was already in bad shape.

– Have you done it before?
– That should be reported
– Asking a 17-year-old high school girl that?
– Even to someone who has revealed her face?
– Block

The viewers were on my side, but shouldn’t I let that one slide?

It was nothing compared to what NemoMi got on her streams.

I lifted my pants slightly and whispered.

“White…”

– You’re answering that?
– This?
– LTE

“L-let’s move on to the next question!”

– Do you not go to school?
“I dropped out! Next!”

– Family relations
“Mom, Dad, me!”

– Why past tense?

I kept my mouth shut and moved on to the next question.

– Address

“I’ll skip that one!”

I had been educated by NemoMi and others these past few weeks.

Things I should never reveal on stream.

Boyfriends, badmouthing, address, phone number, etc.

Now that I was educated, there was nothing I could answer even if they asked for my personal information!

Then.

[NemoMi donated 10,000 won!]

– Good job!

The nickname of the person who asked for my address was changed, and a donation came in!

My brain froze for three seconds.

What would have happened if I had said my address?

I couldn’t hide my trembling voice.

But I had to react since I received 10,000 won.

That’s what a pro does!

“Y-yes, NemoMi-nim, hello…! Woof!”

Barking had somehow become my donation reaction.

Was it just me, or did I feel self-conscious every time I did it?

– Whimpering would suit you better than woof
– Your voice is trembling
– Hahahahahaha
– Do you dislike NemoMi-nim?

“I don’t dislike her! I really, really like her!”

I was a little scared, but I was sincere.

[NemoMi donated 10,000 won!]

– I like you too!

“Oh… Ah… Yes… Woof!”

I wiped my face, which must have been red with shame.

The Q&A ended abruptly with NemoMi’s appearance.

I felt both regret and relief as I clicked on my channel page.

Viewers left various posts on the board. I had time left in the stream, so I thought I’d look around and end the stream.

– Already ending?
– Ah, boring
– Don’t end don’t end don’t end don’t end don’t end don’t end don’t end

“Oh.”

Just by entering my channel page, the viewers knew what I was about to do.

I awkwardly smiled and pointed at the time.

“I streamed from 11 AM to 9 PM today!”

All I had eaten was crushed Jin Ramen Mild Flavor like a snack.

My stomach was growling.

Grrr-

I was happy with the computer the streamers bought me, Garam’s microphone, and the increased viewers, so I streamed for a long time, but my body couldn’t take it anymore.

My body felt heavy.

– The person next door is doing a 48-hour no-sleep stream, geez
“That person has a penalty!”

Dragon was currently undergoing a penalty.

He had about 12 hours left?

I hoped he would survive.

I tried it before, and I didn’t die even after 72 hours without sleep.

Good luck!

I put my hands together and mumbled a prayer, then skipped several posts.

Most of the posts were not normal.

After the collab with Dragon, there were quite a few comments.

Many asked why a small, no-name streamer like me was involved.

Posts and comments asking if I was his girlfriend were common, and I could often see insulting comments asking if I slept with him.

I skipped those posts and found a normal title.

[Cute cat pic].

And the content of the post was a picture of a gray stray cat called Mackerel.

“Cute…!”

– Ah fck
–
– Fck fck fck f*ck
– Why post this?
– Block hehe

The chat exploded as if having a seizure at the cute cat picture.

Similar to when I did the Q&A earlier.

No, the firepower was stronger.

“Wh-what is this?”

Wasn’t it just a cat picture?

– It’s the cat that fcking fcker abused

Ah.

Now I knew who it was.

A YouTuber who seemed to like taking care of stray cats.

It was that YouTuber’s first cat.

He starved the cat on purpose to make it act cute for the camera, right?

A person who pretended to be good.

The reason he was caught was absurd. During a livestream, he got drunk and kicked the cat that was licking his feet.

“Poor thing…”

– Yeah, what did the cat do wrong
– I heard he abandoned the cats because he thought they were useless after his channel blew up
– That’s just a rumor, fck
– No, it’s true
– Then it’s not a rumor
– It’s probably true?
– What a bstard

He was a really bad person.

But why did the cat look familiar?

I had never raised a cat.

Suddenly, a cat came to mind.

– Why did you stop talking?
– Did you end the stream?
– Did you leave?
– Liera-nim?
– Did you leave?

“…I didn’t leave!”

No way.

The person who took that cat and that bad person had completely different faces.

But why?

I felt a little uneasy.

I had to find out.