Chapter 56: “Please handle with care.”

“Um, may I ask your name…?”

Jackie, who had been stunned, asked with a dazed look in his eyes.

The woman, who had been expressionless, momentarily furrowed her brow, causing Jackie to gulp nervously.

However, she casually walked into the room and tossed her long hair back as if nothing had happened.

Her coat fluttered open, revealing her pale neck that had been hidden before.

She took a step forward, and her eyes gently narrowed.

“I’m Molu, sorry I’m late.”

Clang-!

The silence that had lasted for about three seconds was broken by the sound of something dropping.

Ryu-a, who had hurriedly dropped her fork, picked it up and turned her gaze toward the unfamiliar woman as the people in the room regained their composure.

“Molu?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa.”

With Tex mumbling while chewing his steak, the room, which had been quiet, suddenly became much more lively than before the door opened.

The chatter was mostly due to Molu’s appearance.

It made sense. No one had expected the appearance of someone at such an unexpected time.

Looks play a significant role in relationships between people, and though it’s impossible to predict someone’s appearance just by their voice, most people in the room were thinking along those lines.

Still, no one could have expected this.

Actually, PapiJoah had thought that Molu hadn’t come because she was a solo no-cam streamer.

Though she had said she would attend the gathering, PapiJoah assumed she might have been reluctant to reveal her appearance and had therefore stayed away.

So, if Molu did show up, PapiJoah had planned to focus on topics unrelated to her appearance.

That was a useless assumption and consideration.

The woman in front of her had likely lived a life accustomed to people’s goodwill and consideration, without having to worry about such things.

“Molu, over here! Here! Please sit here.”

“Oh, yes.”

“Traffic must be bad since it’s the weekend. You must be hungry on the way here. Tex, order more food.”

Molu, now seated at the center of the table, quickly became the focal point of the gathering.

All the other streamers, except for Ryu-a, had quite a bit of broadcasting experience.

As they conducted their streams, information about them naturally surfaced, but Molu was the only one with no information at all.

At least Ryu-a had the feature of being a college student whose face was known, but Molu had nothing.

She had appeared suddenly in the broadcasting world, and the rumors of her being a foreigner or even an alien weren’t without reason.

A mysterious woman who was exceptionally good at Eo-War.

Anyone even slightly interested in internet broadcasting would naturally be curious about her.

Though it wasn’t Molu’s intention, she had become a mysterious figure in the streaming world, and this situation had been triggered by that.

“Yes, um… right. Yes.”

Molu, bombarded with questions, appeared quite embarrassed.

It seemed like she was uncomfortable with the attention but also felt a pressure to meet it.

In short, she could be described as a peculiar person.

Her aloof appearance made it seem like she could slap someone’s cheek and turn the place into a filming set.

But what was with her behavior, which seemed so out of place?

Her awkwardness, unable to handle the special treatment directed at her, felt as if she were wearing clothes that didn’t quite fit.

That gap piqued even more curiosity.

Molu’s broth… Was this the feeling fans had? The more I knew, the more I wanted to know. No, I was experiencing and learning more about Molu than they ever could, just by seeing and hearing about her.

Feeling a small, petty sense of superiority over people I didn’t even know, PapiJoah continued to observe Molu.

Molu, as a broadcaster, was an intriguing person.

Her calm voice, which didn’t quite match her gaming style, her occasional unexpected actions, and her ability to manage the audience—she excelled at all of it.

Someone jokingly said that Molu was a perfect fit for making broth, and people even agreed with that.

But the Molu who appeared was an even more captivating person.

“Um… may I call you ‘noona’? I was born in 00. Huh? We’re the same age? No way.”

“Ryu-a, are you saying Molu looks older?”

“No! That’s not what I meant… She just has a mature vibe.”

Ryu-a blushed, fidgeting with her fingers.

“Wow, amazing. Molu, you’re really amazing. Can I ask your real name? Ah, Ji-eun? Ji-eun, that’s a nice name. By the way, how old are you…?”

“This pasta and steak are great here. I’ve ordered more, so go ahead and have some bread. Huh? Wine? Aren’t you hungry? Eat something first… This has a bit of a kick, though. Oh, yeah, sounds good.”

Tex began his thorough investigation of Molu with a mischievous expression.

He didn’t pay any attention to Jackie’s mockery calling him a buffalo.

Cheol-woo, although startled by Molu’s sudden demand for wine, wore a satisfied expression on his face.

He seemed pleased to have found a drinking buddy.

Suddenly, PapiJoah had the urge to join in on their conversation.

To be more specific, the desire to speak with Molu.

However, the distance between Molu and PapiJoah’s seat was quite far, making it difficult to strike up a conversation.

How loud would I need to speak to be heard over the noisy people in the room from such a distance?

Even though I wanted to talk, I briefly entertained the silly idea of picking up my chair and moving closer to Molu, but I didn’t have the courage to actually do it.

I wondered if I was such an introverted person, and all I did was sip my wine.

It made me dizzy.

“No way, how are we the same age? Wow, your skin is amazing. I can’t see any pores up close…”

“Should we speak informally now? Huh? You want me to stop using formal speech? Then we’re friends from now on~~. Why do you keep using formal speech? Please, speak informally.”

Ryu-a, drunk after a few glasses of wine, babbled with a red face.

“Be honest. When did you start Eo-War? A month and a half? Are you some kind of crazy prodigy…? When I watched you do Dragon Road, it looked real. Don’t you have a main account? Seriously, tell me.”

Jackie asked with an unexpected sense of familiarity, his questions feeling like an interrogation.

“Hehehe… Heh heh heh…”

Tex, laughing weirdly and looking at me, didn’t seem to find anything funny at all.

“Another drink? You drink well. If you’re tired, you can stop. Don’t force yourself to drink just to match me. Oh, you’re doing it again. You don’t need to turn your head when drinking. I’m not one to care about that kind of etiquette. How old did you say you were? Twenty-three? You don’t seem like a young person these days.”

Cheol-woo, chatting casually and passing the drink to me, tried to make the atmosphere more comfortable.

This part was easier to handle. Maybe I was just getting older myself.

I didn’t know how things had been before I arrived, but now that I was late, the gathering seemed to revolve around me.

If it were the online world, it would be fine, but this excessive attention in real life felt a little much…

I had expected it, but that didn’t make it any easier to handle.

There’s a saying that the truth hurts even more when you already know it.

Still, the wine was delicious. Far better than the soju I usually drank alone in my apartment.

I knew exactly why.

It wasn’t so much that the wine itself was delicious, but because it was a drink enjoyed together with everyone.

It was a moment where I realized once again that, unfortunately, I needed social interaction with others.

“Shall we go live for our broadcast~? A lot of people wanted to see our faces for a bit.”

Had it been about an hour since I arrived?

As the atmosphere slowly cooled down and everyone had eaten enough, Ryu-a raised her arm and spoke.

“I don’t mind.”

“But Ryu-a, are you okay to go live like that?”

“Of course! Of course! I’m a real broadcaster. No pretenses, just an honest streamer…”

Broadcast, broadcast, huh.

Now that I think about it, there was a similar message on Discord.

We could just show our faces for a bit and turn it off, right?

Then, as if on cue, everyone quietly said a word or two, and the room fell silent.

I habitually took a sip of my wine, assessed the situation, and looked up.

Ah, they’re looking at me.

Because I’m a no-cam streamer.

But it wasn’t really a problem.

I had done webcam broadcasts for competitions and even did a hand-cam stream recently.

I could proceed with the broadcast like this.

“Shall we go live for a bit?”

“Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

“It’s not like my face will show anyway.”

After expressing my opinion, PapiJoah nodded and started the stream.

The broadcast, titled simply “Team Dinner,” gathered a large crowd within just 3 minutes, as if word had spread.

“Hello~ This is PapiJoah. Yes, we’re at a team dinner. We’re just going to show the team for a bit and then turn it off. Please don’t spam or flood the chat…”

One by one, the streamers showed their faces and greeted the viewers.

The chat exploded with laughter as they saw Ryu-a, who was blushing and tongue-tied.

Meanwhile, the voice of an electronic girl played, searching for a streamer who hadn’t yet appeared on screen.

<Our child, Molu, who makes snacks, donated 10,000 won!>

Is Molu here?

The chat flooded with Molu’s name, starting with a polite question that didn’t match the nickname.

I made eye contact with PapiJoah and waved at the camera lens.

“Hello, I’m here.”

As the viewers reacted passionately, I was about to say something more, but the broadcast suddenly cut off.

“Uh… It seems it crashed because too many people joined all of a sudden.”

“Wow, the broadcast crashed just from showing our faces for a second.”

“Maybe it’s because we’re on mobile.”

“We’ve greeted everyone anyway.”

Seeing my team members praising Molu’s “firepower” in a joking manner, I gave a nervous smile.

I didn’t need this kind of firepower.