It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

“Th-that… uh, GetDevoured?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Are you really GetDevoured? Truly?”

StarPork’s eyes darted, finding it difficult to fully convey the shock she felt merely by widening them. Her gaze constantly flickered towards Lee Yena but quickly avoided direct eye contact, making her seem pitiful.

‘Come to think of it, she said she was a fan… Poor thing.’

Trying to shake off rather impure thoughts, Arc cautiously observed Lee Yena’s face. Lee Yena, who had returned to a stoic expression, simply nodded lightly to the overly enthusiastic StarPork, who was passionately gushing her fan love towards her.

Lee Yena appeared increasingly uncomfortable, though she was merely unsure of how to handle the situation.

‘Is she perhaps awkward with fans…? Or is it because StarPork is also a broadcaster?’

Well, even though she broadcasted with bare-faced cheekiness that made her seem like a seasoned veteran, Lee Yena had only been streaming for a few months.

It wasn’t surprising that she lacked experience in meeting fans. She was someone who hid all personal details, including her face.

‘She did have a body reveal on her first broadcast… If her face had been exposed, it would have been even more chaotic.’

“Ah, you’ve already ordered an iced Americano. There’s a recommended menu here… Let me buy it for you. Try it.”

Maybe she rose from her seat to escape, grabbing a moment’s respite from the barrage of questions and testimonies. Glancing at the coffees placed on the table, Lee Yena stood up and headed towards the counter without waiting for a response.

StarPork, revealed to be a fervent fan, trotted close behind her like a puppy. Not wanting to be a freeloader despite having Lee Yena’s attention, StarPork jumped up and down, fervently pressing her card into the cashier’s hands.

Nonetheless, the male employee at the counter, entranced by a mere “Let me take care of it” grabbed the card Lee Yena offered.

‘Even if she had asked him to use another card, he probably would’ve gone along with it.’

Her beauty was enough to extinguish any hints of jealousy.

As she walked back to the table after placing the order, Lee Yena seemed like a character straight out of a drama. StarPork, still insisting on buying something herself, probably fit the role of an adorable junior colleague.

“Then, please buy the next drink.”

‘… The next drink?’

Do people usually drink that many coffees? Listening to Lee Yena’s soft persuasion, Arc fell into brief contemplation. In most settings, “next time” would be the more typical expression.

It could have been a minor difference easy to overlook, but knowing Lee Yena reasonably well, Arc felt a surge of apprehension.

“Yena?”

“Yes.”

“The recommended menu… it’s still coffee, right?”

“Of course.”

Lee Yena lifted her beer glass with a slightly tired expression, taking a sip to soothe her throat. It was quite a bold action for 2 PM drinking, although it still created quite a picture.

“Ah. Arc-nim and StarPork-nim, what kind of drinks do you like?”

The question implied that they would not dislike alcohol.

“I like somewhat fragrant beer! I can’t drink much, but I really enjoy draft beer at world beer pubs.”

“That’s great. The draft beer here is good too. I’ll recommend one to you shortly.”

With a sense of inevitability, Lee Yena began to lure the others into the realm of drinking, while StarPork nodded eagerly with bright eyes. Feeling a slight headache coming on, Arc opened her mouth to speak.

“Beer, I try to avoid due to weight management these days… but I occasionally drink wine.”

“Wine… Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

For what purpose she would remember remained uncertain. Just as the question was forming in her mind, the attendant’s voice rang out.

“Here are the three Irish coffees you ordered!”

Before the words fully left the server’s mouth, StarPork dashed swiftly to grab the tray and returned, carrying the plates. The drinks were a dark coffee with a generous dollop of whipped cream, making them look sweet.

“I wonder if the owner here lived in Ireland. It’s rare to find this in Korea. They make it very well.”

Having distributed the coffee cups to each person, Lee Yena lightly extended her cup forward.

“Shall we toast?”

Her lips curled slightly in satisfaction. People often say that even the most bizarre actions seem charming if done by someone pretty. The odd suggestion to toast with coffee seemed plausible in her case.

However,

“Yena-nim?”

“Yes?”

“This has alcohol, right?”

The fact that it wasn’t an odd suggestion was the problem.

“Yes. It’s Irish coffee.”

Lee Yena tilted her head slightly as if wondering why such an obvious question was asked, still holding her glass up and waiting for the toast.

* * * *

Indeed, the Irish coffee was as excellent as ever. Its only drawback was its high price… but in Korea, whiskey is expensive, so that’s understandable.

Perhaps I’ve become more lenient with spending. It honestly didn’t seem like that big of a flaw, thanks to the increasing donations being received for the Rogue Revival Movement’s activities.

Some say that a certain amount of hunger spirit is necessary for social movements… but it wouldn’t make sense to disregard the supporters’ encouragement. As long as the results are delivered, everything should be fine.

Taking a sip from her third glass of Irish coffee, Lee Yena glanced at her companions briefly.

Arc, who initially freaked out at the presence of alcohol, was now fiddling with her empty glass as if dissatisfied it was gone.

“I told her we should get another round together.”

Contrary to her rather exuberant appearance, Arc seemed the type who couldn’t express her desires honestly. Next time, I thought, I would secretly order her another drink.

On the other hand, StarPork was holding her newly ordered beer mug with both hands, her face flushed crimson. It was a mug she had been barely making progress with for the past ten minutes, leaving a couple of sips behind.

“Perhaps she has a low tolerance for alcohol.”

In truth, it was hard to say just by looking at her face; after all, Yena had seen many people who, despite flushing red, managed to survive the drinking session until the very end.

“StarPork-nim.”

“Nyeh? Yes?”

“How are you feeling?”

“Ah, g-good… I feel good…”

… Seemed like she might be slightly tipsy.

“Do you think you can handle being a Rogue?”

“Yes, yes! I’ll try my best.”

“And you’re not opting for the Warrior? As promised.”

“… Promised? Ah! Yes, I won’t.”

Nonetheless, it seemed just about right. Not completely wasted… but with just enough of a courage boost. This was exactly the state I wanted them in.

“Shall we, then?”

Tilting my glass, I downed the remaining coffee and stood up from my seat.

.

.

.

A little while later, they found themselves at the VR room.

It would have been somewhat rude to rent just one device for three people, so I had diligently searched for a place. This one, a bit pricier, offered a variety of food and drinks and even had a dedicated sofa for spectators.

The establishment barring minors was a fortunate coincidence, really.

“I can’t believe you actually found a VR room that serves alcohol”, Arc’s slight complaint felt a bit unjust. After all, Yena hadn’t specifically chosen it for that reason.

Anyway, StarPork was the type of gamer who was fun to watch. Her real-time backseat gaming was quite sharp too. It made sense she was a broadcaster.

Above all, she had impressive learning ability. Surprisingly so.

“You see the logger at the 9 o’clock position? Where should we go?”

“Yes! Confirmed the logger at 9 o’clock! Let’s go with the goblin pack.”

“Great. You’re doing well.”

She seemed intrinsically intelligent, but often wasted time hesitating intermittently, likely due to overthinking. Her movements improved significantly just by easing her tension with some alcohol.

Combat… well, I could understand why she was in Bronze.

“Let’s ambush from behind the logger. Activate stealth. Great.”

“Yena, please, your expression…”

“It’s shorthand. Urgent commands during gameplay require it.”

“But it’s the same number of syllables as ‘warrior’…”

Meanwhile, Arc, the special guest instructor, had given up on posture correction and was fixated on making petty remarks.

There were more fundamental issues with StarPork’s movements that needed addressing before discussing posture.

“Oh! Ah, sorry…”

“It’s okay. That was good. Um… let’s try evading back into stealth when you meet the opponent.”

Her previously stable movements and posture would crumble entirely once a fight started. Despite positioning themselves well, she’d trip over their own feet and die… how on earth could this be corrected? This seemed less about physical issues and more about mindset.

It seemed that a fear of fighting, coupled with the visceral realism of VR games, was the issue.

‘KoK’ was quite realistic in its depiction of blood during combat. What seemed bearable on a monitor turned into a horror movie in VR… this wouldn’t be easy to overcome.

Strictly speaking, she was more suited to playing as a healer or a mage.

But…

We couldn’t leave it at that.

= DEFEAT =

As the game ended, I gently called out to the dejected-looking StarPork.

“StarPork-nim.”

“Yes…”

“I think… there are two solutions.”

I wetted my throat and lifted two fingers.

“Either we give you special prescriptions to keep you calm during combat, or you team up to avoid combat.”

In other words-

Drink more, or go to Level 2 Underground.

Of course, “We’ll try both things.”

We had to try both.