Karma Stack Exploded! (2)
The cold water blasted against my face in Aram's studio apartment bathroom, cascading down my body with a loud shhhhhhhhh. At the same time, the lust-clouded fog in my brain began to clear, reason slowly returning.
"..."
Let's think this through. The rumor that my intelligence stat is 1 is total bullshit. I'm actually pretty smart when I put my mind to it.
The Queen was probably too busy preparing for the gaming festival to have noticed. Otherwise she definitely would've said something right then. And right now, with me sitting at 100,000 subscribers, that promise I made with Aram has almost certainly spread all over the communities.
No. She still doesn't know...
While still in the shower, I wiped my hands on a towel, grabbed my phone, and opened the community forums. The concept posts were absolutely flooded with my username.
Even an idiot could figure it out from this.
A call was definitely coming today.
"Haa..."
Killing two birds with one stone, I scrolled past the concept posts to check the reactions to the bunny girl outfit I'd worn at the gaming festival.
Let's stop looking at this.
What the hell was I supposed to do about The Queen? Should I submit a reflection essay in advance?
"..."
There was only one method that worked in times like this. The prayer meta.
Please don't let The Queen find out.
This is exactly why people say my intelligence is 1.
"Haaaa..."
I let out a deep sigh and finished my shower. I stepped out of the bathroom wearing nothing but my underwear.
"Drink this. It's chocolate milk!"
Aram handed me a carton of chocolate milk.
"Thanks."
Still, when would I ever get to sleep with such a cute girl again?
No regrets...
After wetting my throat with the chocolate milk, I felt a little more at ease.
"I'll dry your hair for you, so please sit here."
I sat with my legs crossed like an old man and drank the milk, letting out a satisfied grunt.
"Mmm, that feels good..."
The whirring sound of the hair dryer filled the room. After my hair was dry, I flopped back onto the bed and savored the cozy feeling.
"Mmm~"
Lying down was the best thing in the world.
"Tteongi-nim, what are you planning to do for breakfast?"
"Good question... what should we eat?"
Right then, a notification popped up on my phone. The settlement I'd applied for earlier had been processed.
"Whoa! Holy shit!!"
A little over 10 million won had been deposited into my account.
"What's wrong?"
"Ten million won just hit my account!"
"R-really?! Why?"
"Platform settlement!"
I'd only streamed four hours a day at most, and even then it felt like I was just coasting. And I made ten million won in a month?
Does that even make sense?!
"Oh my god..."
"Aram, buy whatever you want! I'll get you everything!"
"Then I'll order pizza! There's one place nearby that's open right now."
"Order everything!"
"Thank you~"
I really made the right choice becoming an internet broadcaster. Other streamers suffered from all the toxic chat messages, but I'd been immune to that crap from the start.
Maybe streaming really is my calling?
All my fatigue and anxiety vanished in an instant. Ten million won worth of financial therapy. The effect was incredible!
"Aram, my heart's pounding like crazy."
"I was the same when I got my first editor paycheck. All the memories are flooding back."
"I'll pay you a fat salary, so look forward to it!"
"I will."
Now that I had money, I picked up my phone and searched for things I could buy.
...
I thought about splurging for once, but I had no idea how to even do that, and it wasn't really my style, so I gave up.
Let's just save it for now. Should I give some to my parents? That doesn't sound bad.
A little while later... the pizza arrived and I coolly paid with my card.
Who am I? A man with ten million won in his bank account.
I opened the pizza box, pulled out a slice, and bit into the cheese that stretched like taffy.
"How is it?"
"It's good."
"Also, Tteongi-nim, I've been thinking about something."
"Yeah?"
"During the gaming festival, there were a lot of people who didn't know you."
"There were."
There were more people who didn't recognize me than I'd expected.
"But everyone who uses the communities probably knows you."
"So I was thinking, how about we target the new incoming audience?"
"Sounds good~ Got any good ideas?"
"There's a poll I did before. I'll read it for you."
"Really? You even did that? Thanks."
Aram picked up her phone and began reading the results.
"Now, announcing the results of the 1st Tteongi New Content Idea Recommendation Poll, starting from 4th place."
I wondered what took 4th. Mukbang? Cooking stream?
"Breast milk feeding broadcast."
"..."
These fucking lunatics.
"You need to get pregnant to produce breast milk..."
"A comment says, 'You don't need actual breast milk to do a breast milk feeding broadcast. You don't need a real crucian carp to make crucian carp bread, do you?'"
"Crazy bastards."
They even tried to make it sound logical.
"And besides that..."
"Those are the comments that were left."
Not a single normal person among them.
"Ban all of them."
"Third place is AV actress. The comments were..."
"And so on. They showed generally positive reactions."
"You call that positive?!"
Why the hell did you even run this survey!
"Second place is doing adult broadcasts on another platform. The comments were..."
"I'm scared to find out what took first."
"First place is 'exercise broadcast.' And it's also what I want you to do the most."
"What?!"
Why was first place suddenly so normal?
"..."
She wanted me to exercise with a body that got shoulder knots and back pain from just a little walking? The taste of the pizza suddenly dropped sharply.
"The comments were..."
Maybe that last one was actually pretty accurate.
"Still, exercise is a bit... I actually have a chronic condition..."
"Don't lie!"
"Ugh."
"I don't know about anything else, but you absolutely have to do this! It's for your health too, Tteongi-nim."
Even Aram was coming at me this strongly.
"Alright... I'll think about it for now."
"Understood."
After we finished the pizza, it was roughly 11:30 AM.
"I should get going, Aram."
"You're leaving already?"
"Yeah. You have editing to do anyway. I'm taking the day off from streaming."
"Pretty luggage..."
"Hey. You're not supposed to say that."
I checked to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything and stood up.
"Before you go, take this with you."
Aram handed me a shopping bag containing the bunny girl outfit.
"Thanks. I was actually thinking about wearing it one more time."
"I'll be looking forward to it."
"And Aram, about what happened today..."
"Of course I'll keep it a secret, so don't worry. But you have to do the exercise broadcast, okay?"
"Fine..."
Even if she kept it secret, it had already spread as far as it could, so it probably wouldn't matter.
The Queen would probably call soon.
"See you next time."
"Tteongi-pussy~"
"I told you not to say that."
I left the studio apartment and headed toward the bus stop.
"...?"
Right then, an expensive-looking car caught my eye. This area was packed with one-room apartments, so there shouldn't be anyone around here who could afford a car like that.
Could it be The Queen? But she always rides in a limousine.
It must be some rich acquaintance visiting a friend.
Now that I have ten million won, should I buy an expensive car like that?
Nah, forget it. I only have a license on paper and can't even drive. What would I do with a car?
While I was staring intently at the car, a familiar woman stepped out from the driver's seat. I wanted to doubt my own eyes, so I squeezed them shut and opened them again.
"!!!"
There stood The Queen, wearing a coat. The image was crystal clear.
"Hello?"
"..."
Like a racing dog next to a cheetah, I instinctively tensed up. For now, I decided to play it cool and let things flow naturally.
"Ah, hello, Your Majesty. What brings you all the way out here..."
"I heard my slave was wagging her tail at another woman while I was busy. I came to give her some proper training."
It was far more terrifying that she was smiling brightly while saying this than if she had been furiously angry.
I'm fucked. I'm so fucked!
"Th-this is a big problem."
"Isn't it~"
"Well then, I'll just be..."
The Queen grabbed my wrist.
"My slave made some strange promises while I was occupied."
"P-please give me just a little time to explain."
"Go ahead."
"We're not even dating, so, so..."
"Ah~ So that's how you're going to play it?"
"I'm sorry."
Yeah. Even before we did it, I had a feeling I shouldn't.
"You didn't just touch her breasts, did you? There's no way a perverted slut like you would be satisfied with just that."
How did she know my heart so well?
"...."
I avoided her gaze, desperately searching for an excuse before finally giving up.
"S-still, I only received. I didn't touch Aram or anything like that."
"I must have been crazy. I even dropped Aram off at her house without realizing. How stupid of me."
"..."
The Queen grabbed the back of my neck with her other hand and kissed me roughly.
"Mmph..."
Compared to the clumsy way Aram and I had tangled our tongues, this was on another level. She licked and sucked at all my weak points with terrifying persistence.
Slurp. Sluuuurp...!Chup...
In the middle of the empty one-room district with no one around, the only sounds were of our tongues intertwining and saliva being exchanged.
"Mmmmmm..."
When The Queen pulled her lips away, a thin string of my saliva stretched between us before snapping. After just one kiss, my mind had gone completely blank. I stared at her with dazed, unfocused eyes.
"Follow me. I'll torment you so thoroughly you won't even think about any other women."
"Yes..."
Gulp.
When she said torment, she definitely meant sexually. I swallowed hard, my heart filled with equal parts excitement and worry.
Inside The Queen's Mansion.
The moment we arrived, she grabbed my hand tightly and dragged me into an empty room.
"..."
On the large bed lay a white cat-ear headband, nipple covers, and a white micro bikini that barely covered the lower parts.
"Y-Your Majesty, by any chance..."
"That's right. This is what you're going to wear."