Chapter 47: See if I ever exercise again

“Haah… Haah…”

Tap, tap.

I left the house early in the morning and jogged around a nearby park.

Even though the sun hadn’t risen yet, the weather wasn’t too cold.

A cool breeze blew, making it feel refreshing rather than chilly.

“Ugh… This is exhausting.”

I plopped down onto a bench in the park, looking up at the sky with a tired expression.

The reason why someone like me, who hates moving, was out jogging in the morning?

It was because of the upcoming health check-up. A mandatory one for all employees of Märchen.

And yes, that included VTubers as well.

Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to make me start jogging.

After all, in terms of physique, my body was already at an ideal state—no excess fat, no areas that needed toning.

So I had nothing to worry about.

Then why was I out here running?

I recalled something that happened recently.

It was the weekend. The same weekend when we did the Warrior’s Märchen trial run.

An unexpected guest visited my home.

“Gyeoul, don’t you think you should exercise a little?”

My mom looked at me with a concerned expression as she suggested it.

Yeah. I had no idea why she suddenly decided to show up at my place.

I mean, it’s not strange for a parent to visit their child’s home. Sure.

But since this was the first time, I was a bit caught off guard.

Sitting on my bed, watching me work, Mom suddenly asked if I had considered exercising.

I immediately shook my head.

“If I exercise, I’ll die.”

“No one dies from exercising.”

“…I will.”

Feeling the weight of her gaze drilling into the back of my head, I tried to focus on my work.

“If you spend all day working and streaming, your body’s going to fall apart. You should take care of yourself—for the sake of your viewers too.”

“……”

Hearing that, I had no choice but to back down.

Both my work and my streams were things I wanted to do. If I wanted to continue doing them for a long time, taking care of my health was necessary.

But…

‘I really don’t want to exercise…’

Moving my body is the worst. I was always the last to finish in school races. I did my best to stay as still as possible during sports festivals.

I had been incompetent in almost everything, and that included physical activities.

I even wished PE classes could just be replaced with literature lessons. Not that I particularly missed my school days.

‘Wait… maybe my new body has some hidden talent for sports?’

Wishful thinking.

Yeah, no. That was nonsense.

Lying almost completely sprawled out on the bench, I let out a deep sigh.

As expected, exercise and I just don’t get along. But I can’t just not do it either.

And more than anything—it’s boring. Since running was the only exercise I knew, I thought maybe listening to music while jogging would help.

Instead, I ended up walking just so I could focus on the music.

Truly a situation worthy of a sigh.

‘Wouldn’t exercising be more fun if it were like a game?’

The moment that thought crossed my mind, my eyes lit up.

Right. Why didn’t I think of this sooner? I could just exercise while streaming.

These days, there are games designed to incorporate exercise.

The most famous example? Ring Fit—the game that countless streamers have used as both content and a workout.

Granted, most of them only played through the stages and then never touched it again.

But still, wouldn’t this be the perfect solution?

‘I can even use it to fill up my streaming hours.’

Lately, I’ve been running low on content. Maybe I should play LoL again sometime.

With that thought in mind, I headed home.

For the record, my morning jogging session lasted all of ten minutes.

[#Not doing this just because of the health checkup]

Five minutes after Yuwol’s stream started.

Once things had warmed up a bit, I turned on my mic.

“Hello.”

• Hi hi
• Yo
• Yuwol hi
• ??? What’s today’s stream about?
• Wait… are you going to exercise?

“Well… yeah, technically, I guess.”

Leaning back against my chair, I spoke with a tired voice.

Coming back home was nice. But now that I was actually facing the reality of a high-intensity workout… I really didn’t want to do this. Exercise sucks!

“The health check-up is coming up soon, and I figured I might as well go all out. As you all know, I already don’t have enough hours in a day to do everything…”

Balancing work and streaming isn’t easy. That’s why I should start managing my health now.

“Anyway, I’m going to chat for a bit first, and then I’ll try Ring Fit. Honestly, I have no idea how long I’ll last, but I’ll do my best.”

• Oooooh
• This is it, this is it, this is it!!!
• I never thought I’d live to see the day Yuwol exercised…
• Clip channels are gonna be all over this lmao
• This is historic
• Our streamer is finally moving!!!
• How long do you plan on working out?

“Ugh… I don’t know. I guess I’ll stop when my stamina runs out?”

To be honest, I’ve never properly exercised before.

So how long I can last, or how much I can endure, is a complete mystery.

But one thing I do know for sure—I won’t last an hour, maybe not even thirty minutes. No one knows my body better than I do.

“I’ll start Ring Fit in an hour.”

I can’t believe I’m voluntarily walking into this death trap. Life is full of surprises.

. . .

I really shouldn’t have done this.

“I… I didn’t know…”

Ring Fit’s Adventure Mode. I was already dying at the very start of the story.

• LOLLLLLLLLLL
• OMG SHE’S ALREADY COLLAPSED
• At least last FIVE minutes, Yuwol!!!
• Is this… is this really how a human’s stamina works?
• I thought you’d at least make it to the next stage, warrior…
• SHE’S DONE AFTER 540 METERS LOL

“You guys should try this yourselves. This is insane…”

I know. I know my stamina is garbage.

But what do you expect? I’ve been cooped up inside for months, spending over half the day sitting in a chair.

This isn’t my fault. Do you think I want to be this bad at exercise?

“Running itself isn’t the issue. But squeezing the Ring-Con is way too hard…”

I have to control the Ring-Con while running. That’s the only way to defeat enemies.

But the real problem?

I physically can’t keep up with it.

I’m already dying just from running, and now I have to use my arms too? No. I refuse. I’m not doing this.

…But I still have to keep the stream going.

Once my breathing calmed, I picked up the Ring-Con again.

“Well, since it’s just the first stage, it’s not too difficult yet.”

• LOOOOOOOOOOOOL ???
• ??? Are you serious right now???
• Bro. Squats haven’t even shown up yet.
• Ring Fit must look like a joke to her.
• Oh, she has NO idea…
• Watching a baby try to exercise is adorable.
• This is just the prologue, ma’am.

The viewers were trying to scare me, but I wouldn’t let them get to me. I had to last at least an hour for this stream. Out of sheer spite, if nothing else.

Before I knew it, other KR members started joining the stream.

. . .

“Haaah! Haaah! Hiiiyaaaah!”

• Uh…
• Ahem…
• ㅓㅜ…
• Tsupi: I think I need to take my headset off.
• Lumi: Wow… our little junior, uh, sure is working out intensely!
• Warrior, your sounds are a little… explicit.
• I… I feel things…
• Is exercise supposed to look this good?

“Aagh… Hehh… Hhh… Finally…!”

Stage 2—cleared!

I collapsed onto the floor, my entire body soaked in sweat. I felt disgusting, but I didn’t have the strength to move.

‘I think I might actually die…’

It had taken me an hour and a half to clear just two stages.

During that time, I had experienced a variety of different exercises.

Squats. Knee-to-chest lifts. Overhead presses. All kinds of weirdly named workouts I’d never even heard of before.

“Haaah… Haaah…”

I still hadn’t caught my breath. But the stream had to go on, so I forced myself to sit up.

“I… I think I’m gonna die.”

• Still, you did make it through. Good job.
• You worked hard!
• How is a warrior this weak…
• Great effort!
• Baby warrior wasn’t ready for this journey.
• Tsupi: Go take a shower~ I’ll hop on Discord and cover the stream until you get back.

“Please… take over…”

My arms and legs were shaking. Just standing up made my entire body scream in pain.

‘Yup. No doubt about it. I’m gonna be sore as hell tomorrow.’

Other people made this look so easy. Why am I like this…

I felt like crying out of frustration, but I was too exhausted to even shed tears.

I called Tsupi on Discord and handed the stream over to her before turning off my mic.

And in the short time I was gone to take a shower…

• Lumi: Selling Yuwol’s workout noises. 500 won per second.
• Is she insane?! LOOOOOOL
• Tsupi: ^^
• Lumi: …Huh?
• Tsupi: Send them to me.
• ???????? SENPAI??
• Your Highness…?
• LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
• Wait. LOOOOOOOL
• Lumi: Right away, ma’am!!!
• Lee Eunhye: …Senpai…?
• Bro, what the hell is going on in here?!

An illicit trade had begun in my chat.