Speedrun

The next day.

"Yes, Manager."

"Go ahead."

If it's about work, there's only one thing it could be.

Knew it.

"You already know I'm not doing that, right?"

"Any variety show would mean showing my face and voice, so no."

Truthfully, having hit number once — barely, admittedly — but having claimed the top spot on release day as a title... letting that go did sting a little.

But still.

"If our group hits number one, what's there to be bummed about?"

First single album's YouTube views were climbing steadily, and the composer would be handing over tracks for the first full album too. We could definitely shave time off compared to before the regression.

Within... two years, I'd say?

"Hmm... that's a compliment, right?"

"Ah, thank you."

"Okay, hanging up now."

Click.

Well then, time to get this stream started.

I typed up the stream title, got everything ready, and hit the button to go live.

Even though it was still the starting screen, I glanced at the chat flooding in and put on Moment as the opening song.

Will they figure it out?

I turned it on fully confident they wouldn't, but a tiny bit of nervousness was unavoidable, okay?

While I was pacing back and forth, wrapped up in tension and excitement, my part of the song began.

This is fun...!

Watching the chat react, the song came to an end before I knew it. I suppressed the smile creeping up at the corners of my mouth, switched off the standby screen, and turned on my avatar.

...It's showing?

I'd tried my best to hide it, but apparently I hadn't erased it completely.

Ah, it's only the quick-witted ones catching on. I counted that as a win and, mindful of my upturned lips, switched on the mic.

"Ah, ah."

"Hello, everyone."

True to my impatient viewers, the chat swung straight to the topic of the stream title.

"That's profanity, so I'm temp-banning you."

The donation had flipped the subject again, and I found myself hesitating.

Hmm... should I tell them?

"The reason I took yesterday off was..."

...But what do I even say?

Calling it a company dinner wouldn't work — I couldn't exactly explain what the dinner was for. And I didn't want to make up some completely unrelated excuse either.

After a brief moment of deliberation, I opened my mouth.

"I went to a gathering."

"There was a man there, yes, but it was a group event."

Granted, men did outnumber everyone else.

...Mostly people over fifty, at that.

Hmm... none of the chats I was hoping for are coming up?

The chat had calmed down, but I waited a moment to fully clear things up.

Ah, there it is.

"Someone's asking why I hesitated before saying it. It's because I was debating whether to mention it at all, given that you all would've had a collective seizure the moment I said 'met a man.'"

There. Clean explanation delivered.

"And that 'gathering' was really just meeting up with friends."

Seyeon counts as a friend if you squint, right?

Ah, if you squint hard enough, does the composer count too?

Thankfully, the viewers seemed satisfied, and the subject moved on naturally.

"Alright, so — hit me with your recommendations for today."

I didn't want to drag things out any longer and risk a slip of the tongue, so I steered us toward the topic with the most interest right now.

Games would be worth considering if I had something to play.

Singing was out of the question.

ASMR was a no-go since I didn't have the equipment in the first place.

And why is mukbang even an option?

"Of everything you've suggested, games are what appeal to me most."

Games it is, then.

But do I actually have anything to play?

There were precious few games my viewers wanted that I hadn't already cleared...

Ah, so that's what day it is?

"You mean Shadow Soul 3, right?"

The Shadow Soul series was a masterpiece franchise that had pioneered the soulslike genre and cultivated legions of devoted fans.

As a gamer myself, I'd happily bashed my head against the first and third entries.

The second one was... well... let's just say I gave up on it.

Anyway, I'd played this one all the way through before the regression too.

It did have multiplayer like Beast Hunter, but since the design philosophy was completely different, if I was going to play it, I'd need to find fun in a different direction...

Wait, hold on a second.

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

"Everyone, take tomorrow morning off."

With this approach, we'd have plenty of buzz, and it'd be fun too, wouldn't it?

Ah, I got too excited and forgot to explain why.

"I'm going to do a speedrun and a Kyeonwang — an all-night clear-the-whole-thing marathon."

If a Korean VTuber became the first to clear it, surely that'd be buzz enough?

And after all, no one alive could beat a regressor at a speedrun.

Everyone!!! Shout it with me!!! Great Roze!!!!

"Ah, thank you for the hundred thousand won."

I'd done it feeling a little guilty about announcing the day off so late yesterday, and about the white lie just now — but seeing them this happy put my mind at ease.

"Until the game unlocks, let's hang out in the café for a bit."

And so, killing time in the fan café, midnight arrived.

"Alright, shall we begin?"

"It's been a while since anyone's set a mission, huh?"

Ever since people caught on to my actual skill level, nobody had dared set one. Were those really new viewers?

"Taking a mission and failing to clear it would be bad manners, don't you think?"

"Ah, right. Hold on a second."

Thinking about it now, I'd completely forgotten.

All the gaming I'd been doing on stream lately had prompted me to make one purchase.

Click! Click!

"Ta-da! I got myself a gamepad!"

A gamepad worth a whole 200,000 won!

Before the regression I'd used 30,000–40,000 won ones and just replaced them with the same model whenever they broke, but this is my job now, so I'd gritted my teeth and splurged!

Ah, right, my viewers wouldn't know.

"I'm a pad player, actually."

Anyway, I connected the pad and got properly into the game.

The sweeping score, the narration, the cutscenes teasing the bosses I'd face later — once they finished, my character finally gained control.

"Mmm~ this pitch-dark atmosphere. It's been a long, long time."

I nudged the pad and moved forward.

"Mmm~ this garbage-feeling controls too. Been a while."

It'd been a while, so I followed the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tutorial at a gentle pace to get reacquainted.

"Longsword and shield should do it, right?"

I picked the game's time-honored starter weapon and donned the iron armor.

I worked through the tutorial, cutting down the fodder mobs along the way, until I came face to face with the tutorial's boss.

A towering giant, human in shape, hoisting an axe bigger than itself, kicked off the ground and came charging straight at me.

I read the timing of the wide horizontal swing it wound up with both hands as it charged, and parried with the shield in my left hand.

The heavy, satisfying ring of a successful parry rang out, and I dove into the stance-broken Darkon's guard, driving my blade into its chest.

"Three more parries and it's dead."

A glance at its health bar showed roughly 30 percent of the damage already dealt.

During the delay while I pulled my blade free, I checked the chat.

Hmm... aren't you all laying it on a bit thick trying to hype me up?