It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

The first thought that came to Jinhee’s mind was, ‘I let my guard down.’ The moment she left Yena holding a bottle of alcohol unchecked, wasn’t the current scene an inevitable outcome? From the start, she should have monitored—

‘No, even if I hadn’t let my guard down, I couldn’t have prevented this… How do you stop someone from getting drunk while you are gaming with a headset on…’

The only thankful thing was that it wasn’t too noticeable. When they spoke a bit earlier, her pronunciation had been a bit slurred. The fact that Yena returned to being coherent the moment Jinhee questioned how much she had drunk… should that be considered good recovery?

‘No, it’s just good acting.’

Jinhee looked at Yena, who was swaying rhythmically from side to side, and forcefully held back a deep sigh that was about to escape.

‘She always does that when she’s drunk.’

At the afterparty, when she almost finished a bottle of sake by herself, she did exactly the same. She started swaying from side to side… and Jinhee remembered how the men quickly averted their eyes.

Despite her warnings not to get that drunk. She kept reminding herself to avoid broadcasting accidents, but it wasn’t for her own sake. She was worried about Yena. She had always been, for as long as she could remember.

Thinking back… Yena had always carried controversies but never caused any real incidents. Of course, it was normal for the chat to be flooded with chaos and flames—that was half the unique sport of ‘CravingWarmAmericano’s’ streams.

Keeping such an atmosphere on her broadcast and showing up on Jinhee’s broadcast… She seemed like a person with a steel-like mentality, unfazed by anything—

But for some reason, Jinhee never felt that way. Especially not lately.

“I’ll listen to the choices. Considering how things have turned out, if you suggest a serious second round of drinking, you’d better be ready for me to get really mad.”

“Can I start with option number two?”

Her voice was a bit shaky… she seemed genuinely drunk. Even though she was saying the usual absurd things, something was a bit different. Jinhee couldn’t pinpoint exactly what, but it felt slightly more honest—

-Sigh.

It was a broadcast. In other words, there was no time for such concerns. She had to continue the conversation naturally, filling the audio track smoothly.

She was a broadcaster. Both Jinhee and the Yena in front of her.

“Go ahead.”

“Ark will spin solo rank with Baeme… and I’ll play the background music. It could look nice. Maybe Ark’s favorite G-Tube scenes would come out.”

Getting up and heading over to the coat rack, rummaging through various pockets—could it be that Yena really brought her ocarina again?

“No, how will you play the ocarina with your helmet on?”

“I’ll play it from the next room. It’ll sound distant and give a wistful feel.”

“Disregarded. Tell me the first option.”

“… That one got scrapped. Such a pity.”

Jinhee wasn’t the only one curious about the expression beneath the helmet. Should she suggest ending the broadcast and having her take off the helmet? It seemed pretty heavy and must’ve been uncomfortable.

Though she had been intentionally avoiding this option, it didn’t seem strange to think about ending the broadcast now. After all, they had already been broadcasting for over 2 hours and 30 minutes. The concept of learning a new build as a Battle Mage had been thoroughly achieved.

Although they hadn’t managed to do the duo, which left some disappointment as collaboration content, they had met the cut-off mark.

-User has donated 1,000 won!-

【Shouldn’t we put that drunkard to bed? she looks tired】

『Ah, stop talking nonsense』

『Get lost』

『You can’t even see her face, what nonsense about being tired』

『Seems like she drank a lot』

『Can we ban broadcast-end insinuations?』

『Where do you live?』

The donation seemed to mirror Ark’s thoughts. However, was it different from what the viewers thought? The atmosphere in the once amicable chatroom changed in an instant.

The way it flared up unreasonably fast showed the nature of the audience Yena had built—but it also showed that they were reluctant for the broadcast to end.

‘Still, I think we should end the broadcast- huh?’

Regardless of Jinhee’s thoughts leaning towards wrapping up the broadcast, Yena had already started gearing up with her VR equipment.

“Then, then I’ll show you something… something fascinating. I originally wanted to save this until the very end.”

“… Are you sure about this?”

“Yes, absolutely. You shouldn’t save things for so long that they go to waste. At this rate, KoK will flop again. I can’t bear to see that happen twice.”

“Huh? Again…?”

There was no answer to Jinhee’s puzzled question. Did it mean there was no time to hesitate? Yena, already out of the camera’s angle with her headgear on, looked around her surroundings and entered the pick screen—

About 3 seconds later, she dodged.

“… I’m feeling motion sickness. Feeling queasy. Seems like VR motion sickness. VR is fun for short periods, but it’s not great for full-on gaming.”

“… It’s just because you drank too much…”

“You drink when it’s time to drink. Good people, good situations. Heh. Ah, I need to put the helmet back on—”

“Camera! Camera!”

『What a nuisance』

『Ark, stop blocking her』

“Why are you so bent on stopping people from doing face reveals naturally?”

『Once you do a face reveal, everyone will see how ugly you are, and you’ll lose 90% of your viewers. Shouldn’t you be thanking Ark for that?』

This message has been temporarily deleted due to a restriction.

Why did the donation about putting this drunkard to sleep suddenly replay in her mind?

* * * *

“Don’t you find it a bit disappointing? Motion sickness happens in VR… You can just coach from the back without playing the game. Jinhee is amazing at coaching. She’s quite experienced.”

“If you say so, you were also amazing in duos. Always sniping people.”

“Viewer participation.”

“Yeah, let’s go with that.”

About thirty minutes after we ended the broadcast, ignoring the viewers’ clamor. I lay sprawled on the sofa, sipping on some honey water Ark brewed in the kitchen—ah, this feels good.

I should have ended the broadcast earlier.

But then again, it was a rare collaboration with Ark. Not just for Ark, but for the viewers too… They probably wanted to watch a bit longer. Of course, voicing this out was a bit embarrassing.

“So, tell me. Why did you drink so much today… huh? Did something happen?”

Something happen. Something happening.

Things happen all the time, don’t they? So many things come to mind when faced with such a question. Things I try hard not to think about, pushing them down-

But.

“I mentioned it earlier… I was just happy to drink with good people.”

Today, I really drank because I was happy. Honestly.

As I tried to explain, lifting my heavy eyelids to show a genuine expression—what’s with that look in the eyes?

Change the subject.

“Anyway. How did you find the Battlemage today? You seemed to learn quickly.”

“… It was fun.”

“Phew. I’m glad.”

-Slurrrrp

I took another sip of the honey water—ah, this would taste amazing with a little bit of vodka in it. Swallowing the thought that I didn’t dare to voice, I slowly set down the cup.

“Thanks for the honey water. Well… I’ll be going now. I think I’m feeling tired because the broadcast ended and I relaxed a bit.”

“…… Already?”

“Yes. Honestly, the sofa is so comfortable right now; I feel like I could fall asleep.”

Would I be able to catch a taxi? It would be fine if it were really late, but it’s still a bit ambiguous…peak time. I’m too tired to take the bus, though.

Shall I call for one?

With heavy fingers, I operated the taxi-calling app. As expected, no taxis were available. If I pay extra for a more expensive taxi… No, I can’t waste the Rogue Revival Movement’s funds like that. This isn’t a matter of how much money we have.

I laid back deeper into the sofa and tried calling for a taxi again. The message kept repeating that it was searching for nearby taxis. An awkward silence filled the studio for a while.

Come to think of it, whenever Ark was around, they would always say something to break the silence before it got too long.

…… The talent of an MC…yeah.

“Oh, by the way, Jinhee, are you going to join the protest?”

“Protest? Oh, that fan meeting… Of course, if you invite me, I’ll go. You weren’t thinking of not calling me, were you?”

…… There seems to be an odd mix of words here. Could it be that they’ve figured out the plan to disguise it as a Revan signing event to gather people and start the protest right before the fans disperse? No, it can’t be.

“We would be grateful if you could come. Anyway, I’m trying but honestly, I’m not sure how many people will show up. Having a celebrity like Ark would be really great.”

“Jinhee.”

“Yes?”

“… Never mind.”

I just didn’t know. I was so tired. It felt like all the exhaustion from recent days was hitting me at once. Maybe it was because of the alcohol.

-Buzz

Another notification indicating failure to catch a taxi appeared. As I frowned at my phone, I heard Ark’s somewhat tired voice.

“Why don’t you just sleep here?”

* * * *

“You should sleep in the bed.”

“No, I can sleep on the floor. Once, when I stayed over at a friend’s house, I used three towels. One as a pillow, one as a mat, and one as a blanket. It was surprisingly comfortable.”

“…… I don’t want to become one of Yena’s stories. Just sleep in the bed. There are two blankets, and it’s a king-size bed, so it’ll be fine.”

“My sleep habits are bad; it’s not a good idea.”

“I’m a deep sleeper, so don’t worry-”

“I take off my clothes when I sleep. I guess I find them constricting. No matter how much I layer up before bed, I always wake up like that.”

“… I’ll get you a blanket for the sofa.”

“Thank you.”