Hwabon Station's Alpha Male Jjang-hem (4)

One more time!!

"Kyaaaaah!!"

"We haven't even gone in yet."

"Oh. Is that so?"

A girl with good reactions was always a win, right? Turns out not just anyone could pull that off.

Hard. This was hard.

"Yeah. Do it once we're inside."

"Got it. Maem, baby."

"Pfft. What even is 'Maem, baby.' What is that."

"You told me to call you Maem, baby. That's why I asked, didn't I?"

"No. Dude. Hehhuhahaahahahah!"

Maem-nim burst into full-blown laughter, and I had no idea why. I couldn't find a single scrap of evidence for it.

In moments like this, you glance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at chat.

"Hmm…"

I still had no idea what was weird about it. What part of me was the problem? Had I walked into a village of one-eyed people as the only person with two eyes again?

I wanted to understand, but I just couldn't.

Was there something I didn't know? Was there something I still couldn't grasp because I hadn't grown enough yet?

In the old days, I would have been scared. I would have been terrified. My hands and feet would have been shaking so hard I couldn't do anything. But now was different.

I was getting excited. The thought of gobbling up this experience made me go hihihit.

I'd have to ask GPT about it later.

"No, this is actually funny. I haven't laughed this hard in forever. Euhihihi. Euhihi. For real."

"Hmm… I see."

"Euhahaha. You really sounded like a little kid."

"Hmm…"

Was it that funny? Would it edit well for YouTube? When the other person laughed, the YouTube view counts tended to come out pretty high.

Should I look forward to this? And YouTube comments were truly merciless.

YouTube viewers had no filter. They didn't think—they just spit things out raw. YouTube was where people even worse than me gathered.

I kind of wanted to get a cold, honest judgment for once.

"Alright. Euhihi. Shall we go?"

"Yeah."

We walked into the amusement park together. They had really built it well.

The feeling was… that same rush I'd gotten when I went to an amusement park with Maru. Something about it just got you hyped.

First of all, you absolutely had to start with the carousel. Last time I'd gone with Maru, we'd ridden the carousel first too.

It had been so much fun. When I rode, Maru took pictures for me. Euhihi. I still had those photos, just so you know.

"Is there a carousel?"

"Uh… there should be?"

"Let's go. Hurry, let's go!!"

What would a carousel feel like in VR? I wanted to feel it right away. There it was.

And the quality was… good!! It looked a lot like the carousels I'd seen in real life.

Should I try it once? I tried it… and it moved. But… real life was better.

That part was a little disappointing.

The rest was the same. It just… wasn't that fun.

I tried my hardest to go whoaaa!! but all it did was make me want to go to a real amusement park.

After that, we played for about three hours.

It was time to say goodbye.

"So? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Fun, right?"

"Yeah… it's fun."

"What's wrong?"

"Uh… it's fun."

"Why are you sulking?"

"Huh? I'm not sulking."

"You are, though? Tell me."

Maem, baby kept pressing. But I wasn't sulking.

I was just a little disappointed, that was all.

"Um… is that so? It's just disappointing because it's VR."

"Euhh?"

"If this were real life it would've been way more exciting. Being VR is too disappointing. Looking at it only through a monitor is kinda meh."

"Huum… yeah, I've got nothing I can say to that."

"This won't do. I've got to go to an amusement park for real sometime."

"Euhm… yeah? Have fun, then."

Maem, baby said it so casually. Honestly, I hadn't been expecting much from Maem, baby to begin with.

There was such a thing as intimacy levels in this world, and I was someone who knew how to read them. So. Probably.

Maru… 10!! Pyeong-nim… 10!! Motteok… 10!! Raming… 9? 9.5?

Maem, baby was still only level 3? Level 4? at best.

Did I know their phone number? Had we met in person? Had we ever called each other? Had we ever gone out somewhere together? Had they ever really helped me out? And so on. Extremely strict standards applied.

I was a cold person too. I didn't do things out of pure affection!!

Because I was the grown Seona now… I didn't whine at people with low intimacy levels.

In the old days, I probably would have whined my head off.

My true core was growth. What would I have done without that.

I answered coolly.

"Got it."

"Hihihihi. So what were you sulking about?"

"No. I'm not sulking even a little."

"Really? Impressive."

"Thanks."

I said it very coolly.

I didn't ride the highs and lows over stuff like this anymore.

So what if I didn't know their face. We were still friends!!

"Still, we're friends."

"Huh? Yeah. We're friends."

"Great. Done."

That was all it took. Perfect. We were officially friends now.

In general, anything official was the best and most trustworthy. One of my personal doctrines was this: I never bought used goods.

The reason was getting scammed… I tried to save 50,000 won and lost a million.

After that, I preferred buying new from the official site even if it cost more.

Honestly, there weren't any electronics I truly needed anyway.

I just couldn't hold back… and wanted to buy them.

"Alright then, good work today. Let's do this again!!"

"Yeah. Maem, baby. Take care."

"Euhihi. Ahh, for real. Got it."

"Yeah… bye-bye."

"Bye-bye."

If I had to give today's collab an overall review: it was really fun. But… the more rides I rode, the more I wanted to ride the real-life versions.

Truly disappointing. As expected, VR could not replace reality.

That was my final verdict.

"It was fun!!"

"Me? When did I? I genuinely had a great time!!"

"The cafe? What about it?"

I had no idea what these people were thinking.

What had I done? Why did all these negative comments keep piling up? To check, I didn't end the stream—I went into the cafe and watched the video… and… shock.

I was shocked too.

In my memory, the amusement park had been… fun!! Good good. But not enough to make a whole scene over.

But the Seona in the video was…

It was that bad? I couldn't see myself, so I hadn't known.

No, I got that worked up…? That wasn't AI, right? That was the real footage, right?

I clicked the next video.

Dude, what are you doing? Seona-nim, what are you doing? I actually ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠talked in that suddenly depressed voice…?

Wow, if I hadn't watched this I would have been in big trouble.

I was starting to understand the viewers' chat. I did that? Even I was startled.

"Wow… this is a bit much, huh?"

"Uh… yep…!! As expected, only my chatters can be trusted. I'll do something as an apology."

I had to apologize for this.

I hadn't known it was this bad. This was basically the same as doing something wrong.

It had the same vibe as some scumbag who cheerfully used an electronic device and then went, hmm… and returned it later.

Something as an apology… what would be good? A song? A drawing?

"Chat. Should I sing a song? Or draw a picture?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I'd already streamed a ton today. Filling over seven hours with a collab alone should have earned me some praise!! And this was how they treated me?

"The other option is ending the stream."

I said it honestly.

At that, chat flooded with mean stuff like just do what you want and ugh.

Fine, they said do what I want… hmm.

Using my hands would be better than using my voice.

"Alright then, I'll draw a picture diary."

I connected the drawing tablet I'd brought from home, and drew three pieces: Seona happily riding the carousel, Seona laughing with her arms stretched out at the very top of the roller coaster, and Seona looking sad because it was time to go home.

The viewers looked at the sad Seona drawing and hammered out chat like, you pulled a power move and now you're sad about what?, but I ignored all of it.

Instead I finished the three drawings cleanly and ended the stream.

I'd thought I could finish them in an hour, but it took over two.

After ending the stream, I washed up and collapsed straight into bed.

Sleep came soft and easy, and then—out like a light? But for the first time in a while, I also dreamed.

Aaagh!! It was way too hard!!

"Um, I have to ride this ten times… no, a hundred times. If you get tired, you're out!! Euhihi, that's funny."