Chapter 0: Prologue

“Am I going to be fuked, or am I going to get my dik cut off?”

I am being forced to choose by a strange old man who suddenly appeared.

But my situation was too dire to simply ignore the old man’s words.

[No, there are plenty of ways to prove you’re a woman without showing your face, right?]

With one small slip of the tongue, the broadcast I had worked so hard to build was about to collapse.

“My ID! I’ll show you my ID, so please!”

[IDs can be borrowed from other people.]
[No, no, fake IDs are pretty sophisticated these days, so you can’t trust them.]

Viewers were flooding the chat with requests to prove I was a woman.

If I dragged this out any longer, people would be convinced that I was a netkama, a man pretending to be a woman, but I couldn’t prove that I was a woman.

Because, as those people suspected, I really was a netkama.

[You said you have a camera? Just show below your face, that’s enough.]
[But can you tell if someone’s a man or a woman just by looking at their body? Some of the cross-dressers look almost like women.]
[That would be even better.]

This was a disaster.

At this rate, my broadcast would be completely ruined.

No, that would be a relief compared to the amount of money I’d received in donations while deceiving these people.

They could bury me in a mountain, and I wouldn’t have a word to say about it.

What should I do?

Was there anything I could do?

“Choose.”

In the midst of all this, the crazy old man was forcing me to choose again.

Fortunately, it seemed the old man’s voice couldn’t be heard by the viewers.

If the viewers could hear him, they would have asked who he was.

Then, even if I escaped the netkama suspicion, I would be asked if I had a boyfriend.

Listen to the voice; how could this voice be a boyfriend?

It’s just that my grandfather came to visit for a while.

But I knew better than anyone that these people wouldn’t let go of their suspicions with such excuses.

They would ask if I had a boyfriend first, regardless of my age.

They might even demand proof of my grandfather, saying that many people have deep voices and that voice alone isn’t enough to prove anything.

They might even say something crazy like I was involved in child prostitution.

Fortunately, things hadn’t gone that far, but the current netkama suspicion alone was still a desperate situation.

“Choose.”
“Ah, please stop!!”

Oops.

As the old man kept pressing me to choose, I couldn’t hold it in any longer and shouted.

I quickly covered my mouth with my hand, but the arrow had already left my grasp.

The chill coming from the monitor behind me drenched my body in cold sweat.

I slowly turned around and looked at the monitor, seeing only cold daggers, murderous bamboo spears, and sharp guillotines.

[Why are you getting annoyed all of a sudden?]
[Is it that hard to prove you’re a woman?]
[Isn’t this just some fuking dikhead acting up?]
[You bi*ch, you better not be a man.]
[Deleted message]

“No, that’s not it. “

I wasn’t annoyed at you guys, it’s just that…”

I tried to make excuses, but—

[Who else is there besides us?]

[Do you have a boyfriend with you?]

Of course, it wouldn’t work.

I wouldn’t believe it myself if I were them.

I knew it was no use making excuses now, but I had no other choice.

I wish I had been more eloquent, but the words coming out of my mouth were, even to my own ears, incredibly pathetic.

“No, that’s....really, really sorry.

I didn’t mean to get annoyed, it’s just that I get stressed out when I feel pressured, yeah, that…”

[What pressure are we putting on you?]
[Honestly, Hiro-nim, you created a situation that’s easy to be suspicious of.]
[Knowing how sensitive people are to netkamas after ‘that rabbit’ and ‘that vegetable’ incident?]
[lol, true]

If you’re going to do netkama stuff, do it right!

Why did ‘that rabbit’ and ‘that vegetable’ get caught and put me in this situation?

…I got caught because I didn’t do it right either.

Damn it.

“I’m....really, really sorry…”

While trying to appease the angry viewers, the old man just stood behind me, watching.

As if it was none of his business what happened to me.

As if he had only come to give me a chance, so I should just choose.

As if that was his only concern.

Actually, it didn’t seem like the old man had done anything wrong.

But just the fact that he was there without offering a helping hand made me feel annoyed and resentful.

[Anyway, we get it, so prove you’re a woman.]
[But how do we know if the proof is real?]
[If you turn on the camera, it’ll be hard to fake it, right?]

The viewers seemed to be the same way, with one suspicion constantly leading to another.

[If you don’t want to show your face on camera, at least show us the sanitary pad you’re using.]
[Isn’t that a bit much?]
[Honestly, a man wouldn’t have a sanitary pad, would he?]
[True, true.]

Even the people who usually took my side were turning their backs on me and demanding the truth.

“Choose.”

The voice of coercion came again.

“Are you going to be fuked?”
“Or are you going to get your dik cut off?”

My stomach ached.

Looking at the chat window full of spears pointed at me and the old man making a rhyme with a serious face, I couldn’t help but feel bitter.

It seemed I didn’t have any more time to hesitate.

The water had already risen to my neck and was pouring into my mouth.

[Hiro-nim....are you really a netkama…?]

Even the one person who had tried to believe in me until the end was starting to doubt me.

I had to choose before I was completely submerged and unable to even ask for help.

What should I do?

Is there any way to resolve this situation?

My mind started racing faster than ever before in my life.

What would happen if I revealed that I was actually a man?

Although it was a small broadcast with fewer than 50 viewers, I had received tens of millions of won in donations by acting like their girlfriend.

Even with simple calculations, I had received close to a million won per person, and that was not a small amount of money.

And now I was going to reveal that I was a man?

That would be suicide.

I had no idea what the viewers would do.

Then, what if I ran away from here completely?

What if I quit broadcasting and disappeared?

…That wouldn’t work.

I had sent them many gifts for Valentine’s Day and other occasions, so my approximate address was exposed.

Even if I disappeared, they could find me if they were determined to.

I might even be charged with being defiant, which could lead to even bigger problems.

I turned my head and looked out the window.

The West Sea.

The scene of being trapped in a drum and sinking into the sea flashed through my mind, and a chilling coldness washed over me.

So, what if I chose as the old man said?

To avoid being fu*ked....anyway, what if I made that choice?

Could I even trust the old man’s words in the first place?

Was it even possible to turn into a woman in this instant?

That doesn’t make any scientific sense.

But it’s even more ridiculous to talk about science to an old man who suddenly appeared from a portal in the air like something out of a game.

Look at that, when I look closely, his feet are floating in the air?

What is this?

Is this a bug?

Even as I was agonizing, the water was continuing to rise.

[Ah, he’s a di*khead, I knew it.]
[No, no, honestly, if he were a man, he wouldn’t be able to act so cute to men, right?]
[No, because he’s a man, he knows what men like.]
[? Can you act cute to men?]
[Do I act cute for free? lol I got paid for it ㅋㅋㅋ]
[lol true]
[I would be able to act cute to men for that much money]

The chat room was already convinced that I was a man.

It was clear that it would be useless to try to prove that I was a woman now.

I gritted my teeth.

I don’t think I’ve ever gritted my teeth this hard, even during the most difficult parts of military training.

I turned the microphone volume all the way down to block my voice.

And I turned to look at the floating, unscientific, crazy old man.

“I don’t know who you are…”

I could see the mail piled up behind the old man.

Utility bills.

The rent was bad enough, but the maintenance fees for the officetel were also substantial.

“But since you’re doing it, do it right!

Please make me a beautiful girl!!”

Monthly living expenses.

“I’ll choose!”

Installment payments.

“I…!”

Buying my own house.

“Fu*k…!”