Beating Up Ghosts Pays Well!

If you beat up a ghost, money comes out! After a fierce struggle with the mansion's ghost, I found a shotgun and blasted away, and before I knew it, the game was over? What the. Am I... a horror game prodigy?

The mansion, which had been shrouded in darkness, brightened up as virtual firecrackers exploded. We had safely conquered Chapter 1.

"Yeah! We succeeded! We won!"

"Riu! Look at that! The clear screen popped up! Kyaaa! We did it!"

Seowoo and Jihae-eonni were ecstatic. They pointed at the clear notification floating in front of the mansion and called out to me. Impressive. Our victory!

"Hehe. We won!"

I chimed in with the two, whose tension had skyrocketed from clearing the horror game, and slumped down at the mansion's entrance. I was a bit exhausted. It had been a truly grueling battle.

How many times did I get hit while trading blows with that ghost? What was up with that ghost's AI? Seriously, did they program it with the AI of a high-level fighting game NPC? Once the anger stacks hit 3 or higher, the ghost started pulling off advanced combos. I almost got beaten to death!

Fortunately, I had turned down my pain sensitivity to below 30%, so I didn't feel actual pain. Still, when I was lifted up on the second floor and chucked out the window, I genuinely thought I was going to die. But we pulled it off. I'm seriously amazing.

"Riu! Hey, Riu! Are you okay? You look totally spaced out."

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm fine. Totally fine. Whew! Chapter 1 is done! We're awesome!"

"Yeah, yeah. But Riu, your hair..."

At Nina and Miho's reaction, I pulled out a mirror to check my face. It was a total disaster. My hair had been grabbed and yanked while fighting the ghost, leaving it looking like a wild lion's mane. Seeing my beautiful ocean-blue hair completely disheveled and torn up made my heart ache a little.

Ah, right. This isn't reality.

For a split second, I had confused reality with the virtual world. Since the five senses were implemented almost perfectly, I kept forgetting from time to time. Because of these issues, there was a system in place that prevented minors from staying in the virtual world past a certain amount of time. I think the play limit was four hours. Just like the shutdown law that used to block late-night gaming, I knew that minors weren't allowed to use the 'Gear'—the device that sends our consciousness into the virtual world—for long periods. If a minor wore it for more than four hours, it would automatically power off.

The reasoning was that minors, whose sense of self is still developing, might struggle to distinguish between reality and the virtual world if exposed to it for too long. Even for adults, a warning message would pop up if they stayed logged in for more than twelve hours.

"I can just brush my hair later. It's fine."

"Mmm. You worked so hard! Thank you, Riu! It's all thanks to you!"

"Exactly. We cleared it so easily because of Riu! Our Riu is the best!"

When I gave them a slight smile, Miho threw her arms around me, and Nina bounced around me, showering me with endless praise. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠These cute little things. Seeing Miho and Nina smiling made all that hard work feel worth it.

"Alright, everyone! How was it? Did you have fun? It ended faster than expected, but we successfully cleared Chapter 1!"

The chat was absolutely on fire. I couldn't check it properly while fighting the ghost, but looking at it now, everyone was showering me with praise.

Wait, is this actually praise?

Looking closely, why are my Bangsaengis treating me like some battle-crazed woman? A battle maniac, a god of war, and some are even calling me an exorcist. None of them are looking at me like a cute VTuber idol. It feels more like they're praising a legendary hero.

Did I go a bit too wild?

At a time when I should be appealing to my feminine side, I ended up having a 1v1 deathmatch with a ghost, so I guess this reaction is inevitable. Maybe I should go for a more pure, innocent concept in the next stream.

Ding!

"Huh?"

"Whoa! ByulbitRiu-nim! Thank you so much for the 100,000 won donation!"

While I was wondering if I should show a more elegant, feminine side, our channel's Chairman gave me 100,000 won. Come to think of it, I hadn't been able to react to a single donation while fighting the ghost.

"Whoa! What's with all these donations, my Bangsaengis! I'm so sorry! It was so chaotic that I couldn't react to them all. Thank you so much to everyone who donated today! Thank you, my Bangsaengis!"

Incredible! Beating up ghosts actually brings in cash! But wait, am I the only one getting donations?

"Hanabita-nim! Thank you for the donation!"

"Ah, Rosemarie-nim, thank you for the donation."

Ah, never mind. Miho and Nina were also busy reacting to their donations. Is this what they call harvest season? Perhaps because we cleared a virtual reality horror game, the viewers' donations were pouring in without a single pause. Uh-oh, they're piling up. The queue is getting backed up!

The rush of donations was relentless.

"Thank you! You guys are the best!"

Man, rolling around with that mansion ghost for twenty minutes was totally worth it. How much is all this? Just adding up the one-dollar punches, it's already over 200,000 won. But if I kept reacting to every ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠single one, we wouldn't be able to proceed with the collab.

"Alright, everyone, hold on a second! I'm going to temporarily pause donations so we can move on with the collab!"

"Me too!"

Right on cue, Jihae-eonni paused her donations as well. Seowoo, who was next to her, did the same. Perfect timing!

"Today was Starlight's very first collab! Did everyone enjoy it?"

A flood of positive chat messages rushed up. The response was absolutely explosive!

"But it'd be too sad to end our time together so quickly, right?"

Of course, the chat agreed. And when we hinted that we had prepared something else, everyone went wild!

"So, how about the three of us do a quick karaoke session?"

"The stage: right in front of the cursed mansion!"

"Behold, the performance of the ghost-hunting idols!"

This karaoke session had been planned from the start. Since Ghostphobia wasn't a very long game if we only played Chapter 1, we had brought it along assuming it would take about an hour to finish. Naturally, a second part of the stream had been prepared.

We can't just stream for an hour and turn it off.

Apparently, in other countries, many streamers turn off their broadcasts after just one or two hours, but Korea is different. You have to stream for at least three hours to hear that you actually did a proper broadcast. In fact, even three hours is often considered a short stream. Five hours is the golden standard for a successful stream. Our domestic viewers highly prefer long broadcasts. Some leave them on while working, while others use them as background noise like a radio while playing games. In any case, ending the stream after just one hour of a horror game would be bad manners to the viewers.

"Then, here we go!"

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

A virtual space where audio syncs automatically. Avatars that can dance without any physical constraints. The ultimate world for a VTuber idol to run wild. Tomorrow is my day off, so I'm going to burn it all up tonight!

It had already been three and a half hours since we started the karaoke and dance party with Nina and Miho! I had no idea how many millions of won had exploded in donations by now.

"Whoa! ByulbitRiu-nim! Another 100,000 won! Thank you so much! Thank you!"

Just how much did the Chairman donate today? Seriously, what does this guy do for a living? His stride is on a completely different level compared to the typical obsessed fans who pour in their hard-earned manual labor money.

This person alone sent me 2 million won today.

The donation history was mind-boggling. Combined with the 1 million won donation from yesterday, it felt like I had already received a month's salary from just this one person. I'll definitely have to leave a heart on his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠comment if he posts on the community board later. I need to express my gratitude somehow. A quiet, dedicated Chairman like him must be kept happy at all costs.

"Alright, now that our last song is finished, we'll be wrapping up today's stream."

"And since we have to visit the agency tomorrow, all three of us will be taking the day off!"

"See you on Friday! No cheating on us while we're gone! Keep Miho, Riu, and Nina on your minds!"

"Well then, goodnight! Thanks for your hard work today, my Bangsaengis!"

"Goodnight to my Gantaengis too! Miho will be back on Friday!"

"Bye-bye, my Umin-kuns!"

The stream turned off. By the way, Miho's fan nickname is Gantaengi, and Nina's is Umini. None of them are ordinary.

"Good job today. Riu, you were seriously amazing."

"Hehe."

"Riu, are you hurt anywhere?"

"Even if I got hurt, it's just a game."

"Ah, right. True."

Seowoo scratched the back of her head. This was the side effect of virtual reality. There were moments when you momentarily got confused about whether you were in reality or virtual space. It meant you were that deeply immersed.

"Sigh. Today was so scary, I feel like I'm going to have nightmares."

"Really? That bad?"

"Yeah. Jihae-eonni, don't you think you'll have nightmares too?"

"It was a bit scary earlier, but I'm fine now."

"Wow. Nerves of steel."

"No, the one with the real nerves of steel is right here."

Jihae-eonni pointed at me.

"Huh? Me?"

"Yeah, you. I mean, Minseo. What are you? I've never seen anyone like you."

"Huh? Why?"

"Aren't you scared? A giant ghost was rushing at you, and you just fought it head-on. It was insane."

"Hehe. Was it really that much?"

"It was. Minseo, you're crazy. It's not just a matter of courage, you're just straight-up crazy."

"Hehehe."

This was a bit embarrassing. Haha. I was actually a bit scared at first too. But the ghost was totally punchable.

"Hey, Minseo. Can I go to your house today?"

"Huh?"

"I don't think I can sleep alone tonight."

Seowoo clung to me with a tearful face. Well, she hangs out at my place often anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

"Me too! I want to go too!"

"Jihae-eonni too?"

"Yeah. Let's order tteokbokki."

"Wait, eating at this hour..."

"It's fine. We sweated a lot today. We basically did a VR workout~"

"I guess so."

We did sweat a lot.

"Then see you in an hour! I'll wash up and head right over!"

"Sounds good."

"Let's watch a movie together too."

"Got it, Eonni."

Seowoo and Jihae-eonni said they'd be at my place in an hour. Since all three of us lived close to each other, a taxi ride would get them here in no time.

"Phew."

I took off the Gear I was wearing. My hair and back were soaked in sweat. Perhaps because I had moved my body so violently in the virtual world, I had sweated a lot more than usual.

It's really fascinating.

The fact that what happens in the virtual world can affect the physical body in reality, even if only slightly, was both fascinating and surprising. If you sing too much in virtual reality, it's not uncommon for your throat in reality to get hoarse. Of course, I was perfectly fine even after singing 77 songs for 7 hours.

"Should I wash up and get ready?"

Since I have to head to the agency by 5 PM tomorrow, I can afford to sleep a bit late tonight. A pajama party with Seowoo and Jihae-eonni!

Hehehe.

A pajama party with girls. It's going to be so fragrant and wonderful. This is something I could never have even dreamed of when I was a guy. I'm definitely going to cuddle Seowoo to sleep tonight. I absolutely cannot pass up on legal skinship!