Chapter 6 : Divine (6)

Yena was still being ridiculed and mocked, but thanks to her self-sacrifice, we were able to pinpoint the snipers targeting us from afar.
After taking them out easily using a similar tactic as before, I approached the unconscious Yena.

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Just like the first round, chat messages praising me popped up.
It felt good to receive pure admiration and compliments for my actions.
It made me seriously consider streaming after all this was over.

So many people were watching me, weren’t they?
I’d heard that some streams were just viewers endlessly insulting the streamer, but this chat seemed relatively clean.
At least, if you only considered the compliments directed at me and not the crap they gave Yena.

Bitna’s stream, which started all of this, flashed through my mind. Unlike her streams where she acted cute for donations, wouldn’t a stream genuinely showcasing my skills be worthwhile?
Moreover, in this world where men and women’s roles were reversed and men were extremely rare, internet streaming seemed like a blue ocean for me.

Anyway, amused by Yena still twitching on the ground, I hummed a tune as I walked toward her. The capsule truly prioritized realism, making even a sprawled-out Yena a sight to behold.
Her face, flushed red with embarrassment all the way to the tips of her ears, added to the spectacle.
Her natural beauty certainly played a part, too.

Honestly, I worried I’d get flak for pausing to admire her instead of immediately helping, but perhaps because this world couldn’t fathom such a thing, nobody commented, and I could move on quietly.
In the old world, I would have been ripped apart just for looking at a woman lying down.

“You okay?”

“Just bury me here…”

Normally, in this state, players would flinch or crawl behind cover to wait for their team’s rescue. Yena, however, merely curled up like a pill bug, wriggling back and forth.
It was even funnier because it contrasted so sharply with how she used to act toward me.
She always laughed at my dead body in other games before queuing up for the next match.

“Heh… you said you’d carry me?”

[– Haha, she said she’d carry!]
[– FYI, before the stream, Choi Yena boasted about her skills and said she’d make him fall for her.]
[– From now on, if Yena dies, spam the chat.]
[– I’d be too nervous to shoot straight, too, though.]

A large roulette wheel suddenly appeared in the corner of my view amidst the viewers teasing the still-unconscious Yena. It spun with a cheerful jingle.

I was startled by the roulette wheel’s sudden appearance, but realizing it was just a typical mission ladder, I relaxed. I wondered why she kept such a loud ladder running even during a survival game like this.

YenaStoleMyTteokbokki’s 1000 Candy Roulette Result:
[– Random question, who’s the guy?]

[– Don’t donate now.]
[– Can’t you see the donation messages aren’t showing up?]
[– Dude paid 100 bucks and got the 1% chance dance, lol.]
[– Prepare for the visual assault, lol.]

“What’s this?”

Even if I knew, asking was the best course of action.
Since Yena wasn’t even trying to stream, just lying there curled up, I had to step in.

Seriously, you’re supposed to be a big streamer. You’re going to abandon your viewers?
This girl is pretending the chat is invisible because she’s embarrassed.

[– It’s a roulette; whatever lands on the streamer-set odds happens.]
[– Yena’s gotten greedy lately; it’s 100 bucks to spin, with a 40% fail rate.]
[– Just think of it as a donation. If you’re lucky, something fun happens.]

Maybe because it was the first donation since I joined the stream, after I poked Yena a few times, even the seemingly lifeless girl reacted. Still technically unconscious, she pushed her embarrassment aside and started her reaction.

“Oh my~ YenaStoleMyTteokbokki! Thank you for the 100 dollars! I should be giving you a reaction, but as you can see, I’m currently… knocked out…. ”

[– A streamer who gets 100 dollars and just wriggles around?]
[– Time to unfollow?]
[– A washed-up streamer who ignores her own roulette?]

“You guys don’t donate enough for me to handle this! Ugh…. WooSeok, don’t look! Turn away!”

“Already did.”

Curious about Yena’s reaction, I retreated out of sight to watch. She started dancing to the prepared music, wriggling on the ground in the middle of the post-apocalyptic cityscape.

Dust clouds kicked up by her movements in the vast wasteland smacked her face, but Yena just kept smiling and dancing, her expression unchanging.
Watching her, even with her contorted face, I could feel her genuine enjoyment of streaming.

Seeing my Yena and this world’s Yena overlap made me laugh. It was beautiful, the way she was laughing and interacting with these countless faceless people in real time.

You’ve maintained yourself even in this world, huh?
I was a little envious of her world, even as I dipped my toes into it.

“Alright, here’s your 100-dollar thank-you dance!”

In the original world, everyone would have cheered even if a pretty girl did a silly dance. But in this gender-reversed world, viewers just spammed ‘lol’ as they watched Yena.

Even though the dances now were more comedic than sexy, I couldn’t help but laugh along with the viewers.
Honestly, how could I not laugh at my friend doing the pill bug dance like that?

While Yena was wriggling around, I burst out laughing, and she stopped mid-dance.

“You looked!!”

“No, I didn’… didn’t look… uh…”

No matter how hard I tried to regain my composure, my laughter wouldn’t stop. This world’s Yena had the same habits as the one I knew; she puffed out her cheeks and started kicking her feet.

[– Didn’t Yena say she’d show us what a proper lady was before the stream?]
[– Wiggling on the ground is a proper lady, huh, lol?]
[– One more dance!]
[– Choi Yena (24): How to seduce a man, lesson 1. Get your notepads ready.]

“If you’re gonna insult me, at least pay me for it!”

[– Nope~ Not donating even if I die.]
[– We’ll spend our money when WooSeok streams~]
[– No money for Yena~ Your stream dies without us~]
[– Are you mad? If you’re mad…. Hand the stream over to WooSeok!]

Still unconscious and only able to flail around, Yena’s countdown timer ran out.

“Ah.”

With a single syllable, Yena disappeared, a death notification popping up.
I was left alone again in this vast wasteland.

[– That was legendary in so many ways. Yena!!!!]
[– Such a burden.]
[– FYI, we made her dance.]

“I was about to log off….”

Perhaps due to the intense focus, despite my improving senses, my body felt fatigued.
That’s why I only intended to play this one round, but Yena died.
Playing a game before even getting used to this world also took a toll.

[– Yena, I commend you, just this once.]
[– One more round. One more round.]
[– Let’s go for the real last one.]
[– Ready to become a statue waiting for WooSeok’s uncertain return.]

Yena’s ghost hovered beside me, giving me pleading looks and holding up a single finger. She didn’t say anything, perhaps unable to imitate the viewers, but her gaze was serious. She looked ready to cause a scene if I refused.

“Let me just kill one person. This is unfair.”

“Sigh… Fine.”

“Yay!”

I came here to play with Yena, anyway…
I turned my bow and aimed it at my own head.

They said the pain was minimized, but having a weapon pointed at my neck was still unnerving.
My usual games were AOS, so turning a realistic weapon on myself was a first.

“This doesn’t hurt, right?”

“Did you seriously think it wouldn’t work in this game?”

“You started without warning.”

“Oh, right.”

[– He even spammed quick match to prevent her from sniping, lol.]
[– And then went 0 kills, 2 deaths, lol.]

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

“Wanna die?”

I didn’t want to die by suicide.

The thin string quivered. A slight stinging sensation, and then darkness.
Was this what it felt like to have a needle jabbed into your neck?

I spent the remaining 15 seconds before returning to the lobby bantering with Yena. Then, I was back in the familiar lobby. Again, the gazes of those waiting for the next match turned to me, but I ignored them and queued up.

“Okay, can we snipe this time? You better run straight at me and die when you see me.”

[– If Yena dies and WooSeok’s left alone, isn’t duo queue totally possible?]
[– With 50,000 people in this stream, almost everyone’s ready to snipe, lol.]
[– I’d gladly die for WooSeok…]
[– Yena, be considerate and step aside.]

“What are you talking about? I’m Challenger.”

[– 0 kills, 2 deaths.]
[– 0 kills, 2 deaths.]
[– 0 kills, 2 deaths.]

“Oh, now you’re all united. Don’t come crying to me when I find you.”

[– I’m only Bronze, but I could totally crush Yena.]
[– My dad taught me to shoot Yena on sight.]
[– You don’t have a dad.]
[– No, my mom said he’s just in America!]
[– Your dad’s at a sperm bank, dude. My dad’s the same guy as yours.]

The familiar countdown appeared again, and the third game began.

“WooSeok, I love you!!”

298 players dropped from the hatch. Along with Yena and me were three gorillas who seemed to have forgotten their lines, just standing there dumbfounded.
Yena’s yell echoed emptily through the vast space.

“Are you all sniping me?!?!?!”