Chapter 42 : Memento mori (2)

“Do you think I don’t curse because I can’t? Let’s keep it civil, chat. We have viewers.”

Honestly, I’m confident I could win any diss battle.
Still, I’m a streamer who’s been active for less than a week, so I need to hold back.

– “Oppa, are you trying to change the subject? Are you taking a break on Christmas?”
– “My head hurts.”
– “There’s nothing in your head to hurt.”
– “Lol, true.”

[OppaAmazing1 donated 1,000 won!]
– [Why did you block me?]

See? More of these comments popping up.
Gaia is deleting some, but there seems to be a backlog built up during the break. There is no end in sight.

And why is my sister going this far?
You weren’t like this before….

Lately, I feel like every woman around me is becoming like Yena.
In a bad way, of course.

Adding Yulia to this mix would be pure chaos, wouldn’t it?
I’m starting to regret my past choices, but it’s no use crying over spilled milk.
I just have to steer things in a positive direction.

First, I need to calm this angry mob.
And the best card to play is probably this:

“Minogun!”

– [?]
– [Judging by the name, it’s a guy.]
– [Pretty name. Probably handsome. As a doctor of men, I estimate a weight of 170 lbs.]
– [But why all of a sudden?]

The name immediately shifted the conversation. I see how men are perceived in this world.
Well, it wasn’t anything special.
Still, since it’s so effective, I should use this more often.

“On my day off, I was playing games with Gaia and went to hire a bodyguard. You all saw me playing, right?”

One thing’s for sure: I have to hide anything related to dating or romance in front of them.

“And if things went well, as you said, would he still be blocked? Look at him. He’s still on his knees with his stream on.”

Seriously, how long is he planning to stay like that?
He’s starting to fidget and massage his feet. It seems like he’s only becoming more pathetic.

[OppaAmazing2 donated 1,000 won!]
– [Next question! How are you going to do the viewer participation event? Personally, I think donation ranking is the way to go.]

“I’ll do the viewer participation event when I feel like it. Doing it all the time gets boring with all the sniping and stuff.”

– [When you feel like it?]
– [Info: ‘When I feel like it’ means marriage is just around the corner]
– [Info: Looking for WooSeok’s waist size]
– [That’s not info, stop using the info tag]

“I feel like the topic is going off track. Can we start the game? I’m going to take it easy before the bodyguard joins. You can ask questions during the game.”

[What game?]

Before the chat could flood with more questions, I quickly answered as soon as I found the comment I was looking for.
It’s a good thing I did, or the topic would have shifted again.

“Good question!”

I found this game while browsing the store.
The reviews were good, and the playtime isn’t too long, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity.

– [His proud face is hot.]
– [These days, chats like this aren’t banned. It feels a bit loose.]
– [Is he actually enjoying this? Oppa, I’m getting excited.]
– [(This user has been banned by the administrator.)]
– [Oh… That’s an instant ban.]
– [I thought he was getting lenient, but I guess that’s too much.]

“Anyway, the name of this game is ‘Memento Mori’!”

I thought it was pretty famous, but as expected, some people are saying they’ve already played it.
Actually, I think the name perfectly captures the theme of the game.

“Well, to put it simply, the protagonist starts with amnesia.”

– [I want to dye him in my color…]
– [I’m getting chills that I’m the only one who didn’t think that.]
– [This stream started as a healing concept, but now it’s no different from other IRL streams.]
– [Those guys are all coming here anyway lol]

Ignore… ignore…
Where do they come up with such awful things?
I just need to do my job.

“You guys know who the culprit is. It’s shown in the opening cutscene. Originally, the protagonist solves the mystery himself, but since I don’t think we’ll play for that long and I want to chat with you guys, please guide me.”

I’ve seen other streamers play, and the viewers never want to reveal the answer, which makes it fun and stretches out the playtime.
I can casually answer questions while we play, and finish around the time Yulia arrives.

Even if the scope of memory loss in the game is wider than I thought, I don’t think there will be any problems since I have Gaia.
She should be easier to handle now. Is this the confidence of a one-week streamer?!

After a pretty cool log output, the game launched and asked me to agree to the terms and conditions. Directly blocking memories has its procedures, so it’s understandable.
After accepting everything, my view inverted, and I entered the game.

– [Watching your stream while Yena’s stream is on.]
– [Turn off the relay stream!]
– [But… the Demon Lord keeps asking where his Four Heavenly Kings are, right?]
– [Isn’t the reason because he wants to get a pair of panties?]
– [Yeah, with the current market price of a pair of panties, he could get end-game gear.]
– [(This user has been banned by the administrator.)]

– [Manager) Guys, can I get your attention for a second?]

– [Is that you?]
– [It’s really her.]
– [Are you finally quitting streaming? Let WooSeok go.]

– [Manager) No no no, just listen for a second. You know this game makes you lose your memory, right?]

– [More nonsense.]
– [But doesn’t it fit? That’s exactly what appears in his eyes…]
– [This is the WooSeok you chose. Bear with it.]

– [Manager) Mental modification. Brainwashing. Successful.]

– [You… you…]
– [She’s not pretending, she’s ‘actually’ crazy.]
– [If she wasn’t a real-life friend, she’d be in jail.]

Unaware of the conspiracies unfolding in various corners of the internet, I was entering the game.
Those sordid desires and dark schemes were stirring within their own league…

But in the end, it was all for nothing.

< Gender: Male. Confirmed. Memory access prohibited due to violation of the Male Special Protection Act. Proceeding with the game without modification. >

“Huh?”

< Have a pleasant time. >

I got caught by the game’s unexpected filter.
This makes entering the game meaningless, doesn’t it?

As expected, the game launched right after the warning. The view changed, showing a scene I had never seen before. A person who looked exactly like the culprit was standing in a place where a crime was likely to occur, with an expression that screamed ‘criminal’. NPCs surrounded the collapsed me and recited lines typical of villains. I’m going to die here. It’s the ‘everyone’s the culprit’ ending I’d least expected. Knowing the tricks and the culprit from the start takes all the fun out of it. It makes sense why other streamers would be confused. How could they find out without any memories?

It turns out the protagonist didn’t actually die, but luckily survives and vows revenge. The fun of the game comes from suspecting everyone around him since he can’t pinpoint the culprit. But I can’t feel anything.
The viewers didn’t even see the warning message because the cutscene was playing.

My broadcast plan is ruined from the start. I need to stall for at least a few days before my next stream. What should I do?

I wanted to play a physical game when Yulia arrived.
I wanted to try archery again.
The already short playtime has been reduced to almost nothing thanks to the ending spoilers. There’s nothing more boring than a mystery game where you know everything.
It’s so bad that there was even an incident where someone found the person with the ‘culprit’ tag in ‘Public Security Detective Kim Jong-il’ and terrorized them.

I have no choice but to change my approach.
I’ll have to apologize and either do a classic escape room game or play a horror game I don’t want to…

– [Memory wiped? Time to shine!]
– [Unnie, I’m so excited!]
– [WooSeok? Can you see my fingers? If you can, lick them please.]

Something… something… is going wrong.
The reaction I expected was viewers trying to confuse me by arguing amongst themselves about who the culprit was, and me being confused by them, not these lustful reactions. Still, seeing such unity, there must be a root cause. They’ve always crossed the line in the chat, but they’ve never invaded the broadcast itself. What do those expectant frog emojis even mean?

– [Manager) WooSeok, are you okay?]

Panicked, I froze and just stared blankly, when a bold message from the manager popped up in the chat. She probably came to chat as soon as I started the game. It’s nice that she’s worried about the sudden change, seeing as we’re friends. She seems to be reflecting, and even if she went a bit overboard, we’re friends, so I should probably forgive her.

– [Manager) I’ll be honest. I felt the same way…]

About what? What does that ominous string of words mean?

– [Manager) I can’t believe you confessed your feelings for me… It’s like a dream.]

I quickly checked the viewers’ reactions. Even the lights-out on the first night of boot camp couldn’t be this quiet. It’s a sight to behold, everyone acting like they don’t know anything. Still, someone has to stop her when she goes this far. Gaia, where’s Gaia?

[ To think you would choose Yena in reality and me in the virtual world… I’m so touched! ]

She’s been acting strange lately. I’ve been had by these introverts’ game.