It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

Today’s alarm was the ear-piercing sound of cicadas.

The sensation of being yanked from a cozy sleep to reality was far from pleasant. The room was filled with the overwhelming volume of the loud cicada noise, greeting me as I woke up.

At this volume… It must have been stuck to the window.

Nature’s alarm has no snooze button, nor an off time. I had to turn it off myself. Squinting my barely functioning eyes, I slowly pulled myself up.

Who was the first person to describe the cicada sound as ‘maem-maem’? What were they thinking? Whatever it’s called, it didn’t seem right to depict it with such a weak-sounding onomatopoeia.

Staggering towards the window, I drew back the blackout curtains, and the noise seemed to amplify by about 30%. So much for the soundproofing effect those curtains promised… They did help after all, somewhat.

It seems powerless against overwhelming force.

I opened the window and banged on the screen with my hand. After hitting the screen for the fifth time, the three cicadas, who had seemed to be shouting “Give up already” finally flew away.

Goodbye. Don’t come back tomorrow.

Maybe because I forced myself awake, I felt a heavy fatigue weighing on my body. Straining to move my heavy body back to bed, I opted instead to slump into the chair in front of the computer, letting myself sink into it.

The heat seeping in through the open window felt scalding. The distant cicada noise was now bearable.

Come to think of it, doesn’t that noise translate to ‘I want to have sex’? A creature that clings to someone’s window and screams for sex, waking people up from their sleep.

…That would be interesting. The cicadas had a reason for their actions, after all.

If there’s a next life, I thought, I must give it a try. It’s something I must endure as a human, but one might get away with it as a cicada.

A next life… Who knows if there will be one?

I stared blankly at my reflection on the turned-off monitor. Even with my hair in disarray from sleep and a tired expression, a strange decadent beauty seemed to seep through.

A next life…

I rubbed my eyes and got up.

Time to wash up.

I felt like taking a cold—very cold shower.

…

A city dominated by heat and cicadas was a harsh environment for an outsider to live in.

Having been out of the cozy protection of my 3-pyong fortress for only about 30 seconds, sweat was already trickling down in just three steps. And I hadn’t even stepped out of the shade yet.

Despite the overwhelming urge to return home, today was an exception. I was out of rice. The only thing with calories left was alcohol.

So, I had to go grocery shopping. At the very least, I needed to get some rice, eggs, soy sauce, and ketchup. I should grab a little more alcohol as well.

Maybe I should postpone it a bit. 1 PM is just… too hot. Seriously, it feels like I’m going to lose my mind. I might die…

After staring at the asphalt, which seemed to shimmer from the heat, I steeled myself and began to reluctantly drag my heavy feet, very slowly.

I had already painfully realized a few months ago the side effects of being cooped up in a room and dealing with everything via delivery.

Having too much time to think needlessly is not good.

I’d rather… keep moving.

…I’m really going to die.

“57,000 won, please. Insert your card in the front slot.”

“Yes.”

“Transaction completed.”

“Yes, thank you.”

After wrapping up my first conversation in two weeks with just “yes” and “thank you,” I managed to secure my daily essentials and a potion of happiness.

I gave a slight bow to the man behind the counter and quickly walked away before he could say anything more. His gaze, which scanned my face and chest throughout the transaction, felt deeply unsettling.

Maybe I’m just making excuses. It could be that it’s all my misunderstanding. Perhaps… he’s just a nice man who wanted some light small talk.

But it’s precisely that small talk that frightens me the most.

Engaging in a conversation that starts with “You have such good manners!” was… too overwhelming, too noisy.

Looking back, the level of human interaction I could handle as Lee Yena had always been this minimal.

A relationship where we don’t ask anything about each other, only exchanging goods and money as fellow members of society.

While it’s comfortable… that’s not the only reason.

As a 21-year-old woman, it’s incredibly difficult to predict how my words and actions will be received and interpreted.

Feeling that outside the small circle I sit and squat in is a field full of landmines, I end up curling into myself.

I understand. I can’t stay like this forever.

Still—

—a buzzing sound interrupted my thoughts.

It was Arc.

『Yena-nim!』

『Would it be alright to start our collab at 6:30 today?』

『They’ll form teams right at 7, so I thought we could start a bit early, get to know each other and warm up with some light talk!』

I stared blankly at the chat window where “Kim Jinhee” was written. It felt oddly fitting for Arc to use her real name as her chat ID, yet it also seemed awkward. Maybe it’s time to save her contact as ‘Arc.’

I never imagined we’d get to the point of exchanging personal messages consistently.

In retrospect, this was the first relationship I developed as Lee Yena. It’s distant to call it a friendship. It’s not quite an acquaintance either… or is it?

Calling her a colleague or someone in the same industry feels too cold.

Referring to her as a fan… feels somewhat closer but still not quite right.

Still, ‘fan’ seems fitting enough. When I observe those who claim to be my fans, it appears that the word encapsulates a broad range of desires.

A fan.

Let’s communicate.

* * * *

《Hi Arc-nim.》

“Hey, Yena-nim! What’s up?”

《About today’s collab…》

“Yes!”

The backdrop behind Arc’s cheerful response was her own confidence, knowing that no matter what Lee Yena said, she wouldn’t be caught off guard.

“Suggest watching the broadcast while rolling the queue, asking to cosplay a rogue, or even inviting Revan…”

She felt ready to decline and persuade appropriately, no matter the content of the conversation. This confidence stemmed from having thoroughly studied Lee Yena’s behavioral patterns.

Upon checking the sudden call, she answered without needing a moment to brace herself.

Before long, Arc had specialized in dealing with Lee Yena. While obtaining a driver’s license was overly ambitious, she felt confident she had accumulated enough experience and qualifications to earn a technician license.

《Is it online or offline?》

“Yes…?”

It was a question she had never imagined.

“Last time, you mentioned holding it on Discourse… but you didn’t specify this time.”

With a subtle sound of cicadas in the background, Lee Yena continued speaking calmly.

Her words made sense. The hastily thrown collaboration proposal was devoid of all details.

Who could have guessed that a broadcaster who had not revealed her face would consider an offline collaboration as an option?

“Oh… it’s online! Besides, Yena-nim, you haven’t shown your face yet.”

“Hmm… okay. Then, 6:30 sounds good.”

A voice that sounded oddly disappointed.

“By the way, out of curiosity.”

《Yes?》

“Were you thinking about an offline collab?”

Even though she felt it was a somewhat silly question, she couldn’t help but ask.

Revealing one’s face was akin to a cheat code for broadcasters. If someone became a major broadcaster while keeping their face hidden, it wouldn’t be unusual for tens of thousands of viewers to flock to a so-called ‘face reveal’ broadcast.

Was she considering doing it through a collab—not even on her own broadcast but on Arc’s broadcast?

“… No way she didn’t think it through… I mean, she simply couldn’t have.”

《Yes. I wanted to see you. Don’t you live in Seoul?”

“Yes? Oh, yes, I do live in Seoul, but…”

《I can travel within Seoul. Or did you think I was some kind of hikikomori who never leaves the house, just because I watch all your broadcasts? Disappointing.”

The conversation still had an oddly off-kilter tone.

“No! No, that’s not what I meant—”

“Heh.”

《Just kidding.》

She wondered which parts were jokes. The offline collab? Saying she wanted to see her? The word disappointment?

There wasn’t much need to ponder over it for too long.

《Oh. Saying I wanted to see you wasn’t a joke. I decided to start as a fan… initially.》

“So… you didn’t originally mean it like this?”

《Then I’ll see you at 6:30.》

Leaving with a small laugh, Lee Yena did not answer her question and hung up.

In a way, her behavior was following the same patterns as before—

‘Missed me? Truly a fan… no, an obsessed fan…no… But wouldn’t an offline collaboration be amazing?’

In some ways, he was still an unpredictable person.

Nevertheless, Arc started to look forward to the competition a bit more.

.

.

.

And, a moment later.

《ByolPork-nim?》

《Yes? Yes, GetDevoured-nim!》

《Please halt for a moment. Could I ask why you just turned left?》

《Ah… to hunt a skeleton pack…》

《Oh, you got confused. Could you please take a glance at the Discourse chat?》

In the chat where six team members had gathered, a picture was uploaded.

It was an enlarged image of one of KoK’s neutral mobs, the Skeleton Warrior.

《This is a skeleton. These guys are what we refer to as a skeleton pack when there are five of them.》

『Wipe them out completely』

『LOLOLOL LOLOLOL LOLOLOL LOL』

『Poor Pork…』

『He deserves a bit of a beating』

『Ten minutes into claiming to be a fan, he’s already being scorned LOLOLOL LOL』

『That’s not the direction for the skeleton pack, Pork…』

《So, to meet these guys, which direction should you go?》

《Um, um, that… it’s map 2, so, go back and turn left?》

『Taste the spice of Bronze』

『Pork, when did you start KoK and you still can’t tell the mapsㅠㅠㅠㅠ』

『Info: It’s not map 2, and even if it was, it’s not in that direction』

『Why did you even claim to be a fan, Porkㅠㅠ』

《Well… map 2…》

-Tsss.

《Shall we have a drink and think it over?》

《What? A drink, a drink?》

《Yes. A little alcohol might help. Don’t you have emergency alcohol or something?》

《Is that necessary?》

《Well… it seems you have a lack of safety awareness. You never know when you’ll need it.》

After the team was formed, they paired mentors and mentees to check their basics for about 10 minutes.

“Ah, GetDevoured-nim! Let’s convene a mentor meeting quickly! Can you come to the Discourse room where Revan and I are?”

It was the time it took for Arc to call an urgent meeting.