Is Saintess TV Broadcasting Here? (3)

Tch! I'm way prettier than that girl!

An Yumin — a face that could have been a beauty, if only she didn't wear that eternally serious expression. Lately, though, she had become an endlessly irritating party member who clashed with Yeeun on every single opinion.

Of course, I can never show irritation during a Saintess TV live stream!

The world knew her as the cutest — no, the most beautiful and endlessly kindhearted saintess. Even toward that rude Lee Junwoo, she never let a single flicker of annoyance show on stream. Behind the scenes was another story entirely.

Anyway — the joint broadcast between Mungseok-kyu and Aegis had finally come together, and that An Yumin girl had gone full tryhard on it.

Whether it was An Yumin or Song Sia, Yeeun already knew the gap in streaming talent between herself — a genius streamer — and those two was the difference between heaven and earth.

They may have zero streaming sense, but at least they used to say pretty things on camera.

Before Lee Junwoo left, they had at least managed decent on-stream reactions. These days, though, An Yumin had gone completely tunnel-visioned on hero work and refused to cooperate with the broadcast at all. Eventually she caused that whole incident.

For a while afterward, Aegis's public sentiment across the streaming scene had been absolutely terrible. At least Yeeun's fanbase — the Saintess-chungs, no, the Saintess Fam — had thrown up a bloody shield and kept them from freefalling into the abyss. Even so, watching the community and chat spiral into toxicity had given her insomnia she never used to have.

Especially the drop in viewer count. It dragged up PTSD from her small-streamer days. The memory of those three-digit-viewer nights — when even a broadcasting genius like her had briefly failed to adapt — made her chest ache so badly she could barely breathe.

So, to burn off the stress, she had spent a while gorging on late-night snacks.

Ah, I could really go for something sweet and spicy. Hot dogs coated in sugar, sliced into tteokbokki…♡ Or maybe malatang… and if I add chicken with a mountain of sweet seasoning on top, even better. Once tonight's stream is over…

Still, it was a relief that Lee Junwoo had left Aegis. That bastard had micromanaged every single thing she ate. At first he claimed it was for her health. That had never been the real reason.

Under the excuse of a "healthy diet," he would pad the receipts to absurd prices and quietly embezzle the difference into his own pocket. And the ultra-sweet cakes the Saintess Fam made by hand — no, the handmade snacks filled with pure devotion — he swiped every last one of those too. Then he swapped them out for cheap, tasteless "health snacks."

And that was only the tip of the iceberg. As her manager, Lee Junwoo had stuck his nose into every single aspect of her stream. Back when she was a small streamer, it had been somewhat helpful. Now it was different.

I'm a major streamer! I can't keep fretting over every tiny detail like some small-time nobody!

With her current loyal base of around a thousand viewers, she could push it to three thousand — no, five thousand and beyond. She could become a true super-major streamer. But that Lee Junwoo kept gaslighting her, insisting her current numbers were enough — that they were already too high, even.

And then the bastard got caught meeting female fans from the Saintess Fam behind her back. She had always found the way his eyes raked over her body vaguely disgusting. Turns out he really was a total womanizing pervert.

What a shameless man!

Just thinking about him made her face twist. And in that exact moment, a single line in chat punched straight through her.

That chat about face fat.

Even Ha Yeeun — who maintained ironclad expression control during every stream — nearly let her face crumple.

Writing deranged garbage like that? I should ban them on the spot!

She was seething. Weight was Ha Yeeun's complex. Awakening and her divine authority had burned some of it off, but all through elementary and middle school she had been mocked as the fat girl. There was no word she hated more.

And lately, the way she looked on stream felt off. She looked heavier than usual. Ever since Lee Junwoo left and there was no one to stop her, she had been eating more than normal — but awakeners didn't gain weight from ordinary overeating.

Right. There's no way I gained weight! Not from eating just that much…

On top of that, her face tone on camera somehow looked worse than before. But that was just the adjustment period after swapping to better lighting and cam settings once Junwoo was gone.

Exactly. That Lee Junwoo's lighting didn't even have decent correction filters! Once I adapt to the new setup, it'll look so much better — no question!

She forced herself to think about something else, anything to keep from dwelling on him. Ever since her former manager left, both the chat and the stream itself had felt… less smooth somehow. And sometimes a thought would surface unbidden:

What if that Lee Junwoo — womanizing pervert or not — had actually been an outstanding manager for the stream, and an outstanding operator for the party?

Absolutely not!

Going from a three-digit small streamer to a corporate-level channel was entirely thanks to her own genius looks and streaming talent. It had nothing to do with Lee Junwoo's absence.

But sometimes, as a nun — as a true saintess — her intuition could be terrifying. That same intuition whispered that exiling Lee Junwoo might have been a mistake, and the anxiety would rise. Ha Yeeun crushed it down.

If the party was short a grunt worker, they could just hire a new one.

That's right! People are lining up to be Saintess TV's manager!! There's nothing to worry about!

And then the donation alert chimed, and her face bloomed into a radiant smile.

"Oh myyy!!! A hundred-thousand-won donation!! Thank you so much!! LovelyAegis-nim, Saintess Kyun~♡"

That nasal, sugar-coated reaction. At the same time, heart-shaped holy power lit up in her pupils.

"And such a generous mission on top of it!! I love it!! Saintess Kyun~ Heart Kyun~♡"

She deliberately swayed her whole upper body, overacting for the camera. Song Sia's already pale face went a shade paler. Even the normally emotionless Song Sia looked nauseated by the performance.

But as competing mission donations started pouring in after that first one, Ha Yeeun couldn't have cared less about her two members' reactions.

The missions already total well over several million won! If we clear them, my weekly donation ranking is going to skyrocket!!

Ha Yeeun was buzzing with excitement. Watching her, An Yumin spoke in a cold voice.

"We're starting hero operations now. Set the drone cam to auto and focus. This villain has caused a lot of trouble. We're taking him down for sure."

Ha Yeeun answered with a smug little smile.

"He's just a D+ small fry~! We hunted plenty of these back in high school academy days — no problem at all!"

The missions had her so hyped that holy power was boiling through her. Of course, ever since Lee Junwoo left and the party had no operator for a while, their coordination had been a mess. But that was just a temporary adjustment period. And Theia Academy had already recommended a capable operator, so things would only get better from here. She wouldn't spare a single thought for that pervert.

With me giving it my all, the whole story changes!

Their streaming sense might be rock bottom, but as hunters, those two were the real deal.

At last, contact came from the Hunter Association. The villain had been spotted under Association surveillance. It was time to move.

"Aegis~ deploying~!! Love it, Kyun! Sub Kyun-kyun~♡!!"

She shouted at full streamer energy. Both of them were locked in and focused. Tonight's hero activity would be a complete walkover.

Ha Yeeun was absolutely certain of it.

All things considered, working night shifts at Uncle Yongcheol's construction site was a sweet gig. I was pulling night duty there today.

Night duty is even sweeter.

You barely do anything — just make the rounds at set intervals. This place was a massive industrial complex in Guri, Gyeonggi Province. Petty villains who stole building materials, or underworld syndicate members who slipped in to sabotage rival companies, showed up from time to time.

So it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠could get a little dangerous — but hunters contracted to the industrial complex by the Association ran their own separate patrols. Night-duty workers just had to call them in an emergency. And sometimes, when villain activity was confirmed, the hunters who worked for the public — the ones called heroes — would deploy.

Heroes like Aegis.

Nothing seriously dangerous has ever gone down around here.

Besides, through the original game I knew every major incident and accident across this dumpster-fire city — no, across Seoul. The Song Sia-related content. On the Hunter Association side, this was basically the place you farmed minor villains for achievements. An easy hunting ground, in other words.

Sitting in the duty room, one of the staff members spoke up.

"Junwoo, take a break! You worked so hard all day and now you're trying to work through the night too…"

"I'm fine. It's nothing, really."

I could catch naps in the duty room between rounds. Compared to juggling academics and Aegis operator work back in my third year of high school academy, this barely registered as effort. And with my increased stamina stats, hauling all those building materials during the day hadn't left my body particularly sore.

Have other awakeners been living this easy the whole time?

Of course, what I did on this part-time job wasn't dungeon raiding or villain hunting. Just like a combat sports athlete burns through extreme stamina in those short rounds, a hunter's real work — even with high strength numbers — leaves you completely drained. The same way I'd nearly blacked out right after the re-exam. Using authorities and continuously burning mana was that exhausting. So everyday condition mattered.

Which was why I was looking forward, in my own way, to Aegis's villain hunt that was about to start.

"Alright, I'm heading out on patrol — get some rest!"

"Yes, sir! Take care!"

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The staff member left on his rounds. Villains appeared periodically in high-crime zones. Guri wasn't far from Seoul. If it was Aegis — a hero party with close ties to the Association through their hero work — there was a high chance they'd come through this area for an operation.

Almost certainly.

The quest notification that had popped up in this industrial complex.

The target was explicitly listed as Song Sia.

That's why I checked Aegis's broadcast schedule in advance.

They'd said there might be hero activity this week. I'd spent several nights on duty waiting. As the quest description said, clearing it would bring rewards.

Originally, this Hunter Association side quest only unlocked after enrollment — because in the original, An Yumin and Song Sia's paths crossed first.

Song Sia recognizes An Yumin's value and forms a hero party with her.

As the young lady of a massive guild, Song Sia was deeply interested in recruiting talent. That was the content that spawned from it. Of course, the original party's activities were nowhere near as flashy as the current Aegis.

Either way, I had used that original content as the foundation to invent Aegis's whole activity concept. So ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a villain quest that should still be Level 1 at a much later point in the timeline had already been pushed up to Level 2 by Aegis's villain-clearing operations.

Which makes this even better.

I had no intention of handing this quest over to Aegis. The gap between my stats and those three was overwhelming. Right now, every single reward was critical to me. This quest mattered for leveling my authorities and skills too.

I can raise the Villain Hunt achievement level too.

During Aegis operations, everything counted as party play, so I never received individual hunt achievement credit. I'd lost out on achievement-reward gems and user levels because of it.

User Level was exactly what it sounded like — the system-side level, not the character level. Once that hit 15, I could unlock Extended Status instead of just the basic stats.

That's far better for skill growth.

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

Strength alone, for example, could be broken down into four extended stats — Endurance, Durability, Muscle Power, and Balance — and invested into separately.

Just the extended stats alone change how efficiently you raise skills.

With the stat bonuses I earned, I could dump everything into the skills I wanted to develop. Even skills rated as broken-tier.

Once that happens, my growth curve gets a lot steeper.

It was a kind of cheating ability only I could use — being both a user and a character at the same time. Sorry, Aegis, but this villain was mine. Those three had already hunted plenty of villains. The story wouldn't get tangled just yet.

And right then — Aegis's hero-activity livestream went live.

Time to get ready.

I checked the stream title.

To time my entrance perfectly, I settled in to carefully watch the three of them on their hero-activity stream.