Chapter 38: “People die when they are shot.”

I had gained a week of time.

Today was the first day of that week, and since I wouldn’t be practicing anymore, I had plenty of free time.

Thus, my vacation, which I had planned to spend lazily lounging in bed, began with me comforting my sulking younger sister.

“You don’t understand how I feel, do you? I’ve been watching your broadcasts and paying attention, but you don’t care.”

“I know.”

“Even today. You might not have seen it, but there were so many harsh comments in the chat while you were playing. What’s the manager doing? Why aren’t they managing the chat?”

“There are too many people. It’s hard to manage that many messages alone.”

“We need to hire more managers. Or give me the authority.”

“You should focus on your studies. You’re a student.”

In truth, I wanted to tell her she was overreacting, but I knew that saying that would only make the situation worse.

Seeing me act so submissive, Jiyeon complained and suggested something.

“There’s a festival at the nearby university. Want to go see it with me?”

She probably just wanted to hang out with me.

She had been texting me to come out for a while now.

Most of the time, I had rejected her because of my night schedule or because I was too lazy.

But now, it seemed like a good time. Going to a festival wasn’t hard at all.

As an older sister, wasn’t it my duty to take care of my younger sister when she asked to hang out?

“No, you should go alone. I’ll be tired from focusing today. Let’s go next time.”

“There’s another one?”

“Well, maybe. There seem to be a lot of festivals these days.”

Seeing that she was looking at me nervously, I grabbed Jiyeon’s shoulder and got up.

She smiled as I threw on my cardigan.

I thought it looked better when I smiled than when I frowned, so I left the house.

“The festival is heating up, and we’ve come to light the stage tonight! Special guest, Leon!”

“Have a drink! The first drink is free!”

“We have pancakes and makgeolli. Pancakes and makgeolli~”

It was a noisy and vibrant place.

Just being here made me feel youthful.

I felt young, though my mind seemed old.

It was a strange mix of feelings.

“Heh.”

Jiyeon was holding a chicken skewer in her hand, staring at a male singer on the stage.

She was completely mesmerized.

Objectively, the guy was handsome.

He sang well, not bad at all.

I had never seen him before, but judging by the reactions around me, he seemed quite famous.

When he came up on stage with the host’s introduction, the noise from the crowd was deafening.

However, unlike other women, I didn’t feel anything even though the guy was handsome.

Hmm, he looked like a gigolo, how annoying. That was my thought when I was younger, but now I just thought, “He’s handsome,” with no strong feelings.

There had been some change in my perception, but that was about it.

Did I even like men?

At this point, I felt like it was impossible.

If I were to continue living this way, it would be a question I would eventually need to consider.

“Unnie, what are you doing?”

Lost in thought, Jiyeon approached me.

The chicken skewer was gone from her hand, and the male singer had already gone off the stage.

The performance was heading toward its finale.

With a concerned look, Jiyeon asked me, “Are you okay? Should we go somewhere else? There are too many people.”

Thinking that my anxiety might have shown, Jiyeon hurriedly tried to pull me away.

I reassured her that I was fine and looked around.

I figured we should move to a different spot, as it was too noisy, and we had already seen enough of the performance.

I wondered if there was something else interesting.

Soju, beer, makgeolli, cocktails… the usual pub fare, as well as fortune-telling, face reading, and free hugs.

There were so many different things.

Jiyeon didn’t seem particularly interested in any of them and didn’t bring anything up.

I had been worried that she might show interest in drinking, but luckily, she didn’t even glance at that direction.

She only accepted a few flyers handed out by students.

As we passed by the pubs, food stalls, and cafes, we stumbled upon a new area.

What’s this… a game zone?

Inside, with dim lighting, there were various booths set up for games.

Darts, bowling, shooting…

Shooting?

I felt my interest piqued and started walking towards it.

“Is this a real gun?”

“Yes? Well, it’s not a real gun, it’s just a BB gun for kids.”

“Unnie… there’s no way it’s a real gun.”

The college student who had been yawning looked a bit surprised by my question.

Jiyeon, who had followed me, whispered as if embarrassed.

“They even make toy guns that look so real these days.”

Well, I suppose they couldn’t set up a real shooting range for a school festival.

It made sense if you thought about it.

“Would you like to try shooting? If you hit the target, you can win a prize.”

There were targets lined up in a row.

The prizes got better the further back the targets were, and the one at the very back looked faint.

“It looks fun, Unnie. You should try it.”

“Should I?”

I picked up the relatively heavy black toy gun and aimed it at my shoulder.

I thought I might get a teddy bear for Jiyeon.

It was time to show off my skills as an expert marksman.

“Wow, there are so many people. This really feels like a festival. What? Leon came? Ah, too bad. He must’ve left already after the performance.”

The crowd was leaving the venue.

Some students were cleaning up.

A man, holding his phone fixed to a selfie stick, asked toward the camera.

“Where should we go? Are there any Gawon University students here?”

[Pub?]

[Let’s go to the pub.]

[Maids Café.]

[Are there pretty girls?]

[Gawon University is pretty big.]

[It’s quite a good university in Seoul.]

“We’re going to make a round through the pubs first. They have pancake and makgeolli booths. It’s a safe choice, something like a soup booth. I’ve done it a few times.”

As the man rambled on, the crowd began to notice him.

Some of them seemed to recognize him and started whispering to each other.

“Isn’t that Kim Eunho?”

“Yeah, I think it’s him. He came to Gawon University too.”

It was Kim Eunho, a popular broadcaster.

He was known for outdoor broadcasts and was famous for visiting hot spots.

He must’ve come to the Gawon University festival today too, people were saying.

As he continued talking, someone approached him.

A woman, claiming to be a fan, walked up to him.

Kim Eunho’s face brightened as he greeted her.

After taking a photo together, they parted ways on good terms, and he spoke to the camera with confidence.

“Did you see that? I’ve got a lot of female fans, you know?”

[How much did you pay her? Be honest.]

[Why does he like him? He’s good-looking, though.]

[Wow, Kim Eunho’s still alive. Lol.]

“A fan just told me that if you go behind the pub, they’ve set up a big indoor game zone with bowling!”

The reactions weren’t bad.

“Wow, the scale is amazing.”

“The school must have a lot of money.”

After doing outdoor broadcasts to find hot spots, I’ve visited numerous places, but often found them to be less impressive than expected.

But this one could definitely make for a good video.

Thankfully, today I found something to upload to YouTube, so I started going around the bars one by one.

“Wow, they’re selling cocktails. Do they have a bartender? Oh? You just want me to taste it? Thank you.”

[The world’s getting better.]

[Oh, Inho, you’re really an old man now…]

[16th generation? You’re a fossil, lol.]

[But cocktails are pretty impressive, looks like they’re not fake.]

[There’s a lot of that these days.]

After a drink, a piece of meat, and some small talk with the students I met along the way, I arrived at the game area.

“Wow, they really did a good job here. Bowling, billiards, darts… and shooting? Why are there so many people over there? Is there something special?”

I had a feeling this would make for good footage.

As I walked, I could see groups of people spread out in different areas, with the shooting range particularly crowded.

I squeezed through the crowd and made my way to where the camera was set up, and there was a woman there.

Click.

I heard a small sound.

The sound of a BB pellet shooting out from the gun at the shooting range.

At the same time, the target in front of her fell, and cheers erupted from the crowd.

“How many consecutive shots has she made? She’s really good.”

“Even with a BB gun, she’s got skills.”

“I think this is the last round.”

Looking closely, the closer targets were all knocked over in order.

I didn’t know how many shots she had left, but from her posture, I could tell she hadn’t missed a single shot yet.

Her skill wasn’t the only reason the crowd had gathered.

“Her back… damn.”

Someone muttered under their breath.

As the crowd looked over at her, the person who had spoken awkwardly cleared their throat and looked away.

It was a loud enough comment for everyone to hear.

I agreed with the person’s comment.

There were two women who seemed like they were either friends or sisters.

One of them was holding a stuffed animal prize, and from what I could see, she was much more beautiful than most of the female streamers.

The other one, the mystery shooting master, had her back to us.

She didn’t say anything or lose her posture. She just silently aimed and shot.

But her back was incredibly striking.

Just looking at her was enough to draw the attention of men.

I gulped.

I forgot that I was still broadcasting as I swallowed.

Then, a notification from my phone made me snap back to reality.

<[Don’t-Want-to-Watch Anime Fans] donated 1000 won!>

“Show us too, why are we only seeing you?”

“One moment. The angle…”

I tried my best to avoid showing the crowd and only subtly filmed the shooting range and the person aiming their gun.

I focused on the remaining targets.

Viewers, having caught onto the situation, eagerly watched the stream, and once again, a small click was heard.

And, as expected, the last target fell.

“Alright, you’re done. Please wait a moment. I’ll bring your prize.”

The part-time worker who had been eating popcorn left, and only then did the woman lower the gun and turn her head.

With her long hair swaying, she turned around.

I stood there, mouth open.

“Hi, I’m Kim Inho, a broadcaster. Would you have a moment?”

I thought this could definitely make for good YouTube content.