Where Do You Think You're Running? Get Over Here!
"I slept so well."
What the? I slept way too well. I feel so refreshed...!
"Ah. What is wrong with me? Do I have no sense of danger at all?"
I slept way too well. Without a single care in the world, the moment my head hit the pillow, I was out cold until 11:00 AM. A full nine hours of deep sleep. What am I, seriously?
"Ugh. How can I be this shameless and carefree?"
But well, this is just who I am. Let's accept it, Choi Minseo. You are one gutsy girl.
"Heheh."
What can I do? My face was leaked by mistake. It happens.
From now on, what I need to watch out for are...
Stalkers and old acquaintances asking to borrow money.
Now that my face is out there, people will try to dig up my real-life identity by any means necessary. Eventually, whether I like it or not, my personal information will be leaked, right?
Is there any way to deal with this?
Nope! Since it's already out there, it must have spread like wildfire by now.
I won't be in actual danger, right?
What if someone ambushes me in the middle of the night on my way to the convenience store to buy energy drinks?
What if they see what food I order, deduce my address, and show up right in front of my door?
What if, what if, what if, what if...?
"This won't do. I need to learn martial arts."
Right. In this world, I'm just a tiny, fragile-looking girl who seems like an easy target. Of course, I possess an absurd physical ability that's 1.5 to 2 times stronger than an average adult male. But still, if the opponent pulls out a knife, there's not much I can do.
Even a pro kickboxer would tell you to run for your life if you encounter someone with a knife.
Exactly. The only way to survive against a knife is to have fast legs. This isn't something martial arts can solve, is it?
"I need to practice running."
Parkour! Parkour! Is that it? Is practicing how to escape my only hope?
"Let's start running today."
That sounds like a plan. It's already been three months since I became Choi Minseo. I really haven't exercised at all during this time.
But what if I go out to exercise and run into a sasaeng fan? Isn't going outside more often actually increasing the chances of encountering some psycho killer fan?
A sudden doubt crossed my mind just as I finished getting dressed. The realization that going outside might actually increase the probability of dangerous situations occurring... Yes, that very doubt!
"As expected... I should do home workouts."
I'll buy a treadmill. And run at home.
But what if the noise between floors causes the guy downstairs to come up, and the moment he sees my face, he realizes I'm Riu and tries to force some illegal romance on me? What if he starts stalking me?!
Yeah, let's not exercise. Let's just stay quietly inside. That's my conclusion.
In the end, when connecting all these hypothetical scenarios, I judged that doing nothing but breathing exercises at home was the safest option.
"Ah. Let's just lie down quietly."
I lay still on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. Man, even when I try to start something, reality just doesn't cooperate. It can't be helped. It's the world's fault.
"Hehe."
Let's just watch ViewTube under the covers. Maybe a guide video for Prtherna? Yeah, that sounds good.
"Wow, they're insanely good."
I watched gameplay videos of Korean Prtherna masters who, although they didn't get the 10-try clear, had at least seen the normal ending. Even though the difficulty drops after failing 10 times, Prtherna is still Prtherna. Even the normal difficulty looked brutal.
These people are seriously amazing.
At the moment, the frontrunner of the Korean 10-try clear challenge was Yeonnok.
"He made it all the way to the 16th boss."
There are 20 bosses in total in Prtherna. Yeonnok was a veteran among veterans, having achieved a 10-try clear up to the 16th boss.
"His movement is on another level."
He was literally flying around. His playstyle was a magic swordsman. He mainly used magic, but he didn't neglect his sword either.
"Oh."
This is great reference material. Thanks to him clearing up to the 16th boss, I can study the patterns in advance. I'll skip the story and just get a general grasp of the bosses' movements.
"Ah, he got stuck at the 17th boss."
And even then, the video showed him abandoning the game after dying eight times to the 17th boss.
He got stuck. Completely hit a brick wall.
He was probably the closest person to achieving the world's first true ending clear in Prtherna. What a shame.
"The guy named VarietyGuideGuy cleared up to the 13th boss with an archer character. Hmm."
The more related videos I searched for, the more I began to wonder if this challenge was actually a good thing. Maybe it was some kind of shackle or curse?
Everyone who entered the true ending route... none of them can finish the game because they're trying to get the true ending.
Yeonnok put the game down at the 17th boss. VarietyGuideGuy also declared a half-forfeiture at the 14th boss.
The key point was that despite this, they couldn't let go of their lingering attachment to the 10-try clear, so they ended up abandoning the game entirely. They quit before dying 10 times.
Because if you die 10 times or more, you can never see the true ending. So, they just throw the game before hitting that 10-death mark. Since they would lose the opportunity forever, they reached a point where they'd rather just throw the game away.
There were quite a few people like this. People who could no longer enjoy the game as a game. People bound by achievements, frozen in place. Their appearance was like...
People who chased a dream only to be trapped by a nightmare.
Why did they themselves feel like the despairing nightmares inside the game?
"It's kind of sad."
Because they didn't look happy.
"What if I were in that situation? What would I do?"
A chance at the true ending, granted to only 32 people in the entire world. If successful, there's no telling how many views the video would get. It's a temptation far too sweet to give up.
"It's tough."
Let's stop these complicated thoughts here. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. Let's not obsess or dwell too much on one thing. In the first place, I'm not even a professional Prtherna streamer. My identity is a VTuber idol.
"Singing and dancing are my main content!"
Gaming is just a side gig!
"Phew. I feel much better now."
Alright. Let's not obsess! Let's just enjoy it in moderation.
"Time to wash up and get ready for the stream!"
8:00 PM. Scheduled stream time.
I started the stream right on the dot. Going live at the scheduled time is actually pretty important. It's a promise of sorts, and an act of building trust.
And if they have the trust that I'll absolutely show up at the scheduled time, the fans can prepare to watch the stream hours in advance, which puts their minds at ease. For example, they can wash up beforehand and wait, get into a comfortable position, or order late-night snacks.
Surprise streams are nice once in a while, but being able to fit perfectly into the busy schedules of modern people is also crucial. Going live on time without being late to communicate with the viewers is a major priority!
"Hello, my lovely Bangsaengis! Today, we're going to have a light Just Chatting session about some ViewTube videos I watched yesterday, and then we'll play some Prtherna. But first, there's something I'd like to tell you."
Before diving straight into Prtherna, I wanted to share a bit of the dilemma I had today with my Bangsaengis.
"Ah, it's nothing super serious. It's just that, you know, I cleared Rowen in 10 tries and got my name on that list of 32 people."
I wanted to let go of the pressure of the 10-try clear. I was worried that if I obsessed too much over it, I'd end up abandoning the game entirely like Yeonnok and VarietyGuideGuy. Or rather, I was afraid of being consumed by the game.
"But I've decided not to dwell too much on the true ending. I want to enjoy the game as a game, you know? I don't want to stake my life on the true ending. So, I'll do my best, but I hope you guys won't get mad at me if I fail the 10-try clear."
Honestly, it is a bit of a waste. Being 32nd in the world, and if things go well, maybe even the world's first. Of course it's great. It's incredibly tempting. But the time, effort, and massive stress I'd have to pour into it... I've already seen too many people get swallowed up and broken by Prtherna. I don't want to end up like them.
"To be honest, I had a really, really hard time beating Rowen too. So, I hope you guys won't obsess too much over the 10-try clear either. Okay?"
Everyone's telling me not to worry. A few toxic Prtherna fans are trying to make a fuss, but the manager is immediately cutting them down. Yeah, that's just how it is. You can't give them everything they ask for.
"Alright. Let's leave the Prtherna talk here for now—"
Ding.
"Huh?"
Clear the 2nd boss of Prtherna in 10 tries (12 hours)
Reward: ₩6,000,000
"Ha. Haha. Hahahaha... W-Wait a second! B-Bangsaengis, hold on. Just a moment! Stop! Stop trying to buy me with money!"
Reward: ₩9,000,000
"Huh? N-Nine million? Ah? Wait a second. No, wait. B-Bangsaengis, are you guys rich?"
Huh? What? What is going on? Why... how... is the mission reward... keeping on rising?
Reward: ₩12,570,000
?????
At this point, my mind goes completely blank. The mission reward is still climbing. What is wrong with these people?
Ah, right. My face was revealed yesterday. (By mistake.)
And I'm insanely pretty. Not only am I gorgeous, but I'm also ranked 32nd in the world, right? No wonder the viewer count kept climbing until it hit 10,000. Yes. That's it. These people want to see it.
They want to see... me, the beautiful girl Riu, taking the number one spot in the world.
How proud would they feel? Not only is their oshi terrifyingly beautiful, but she also sings amazingly well, and her gaming skills are world-class top-tier. This isn't some self-insert character created by an author to show off; it's a complete cheat code.
For a VTuber showing this kind of potential... there's no other way. They have no choice but to throw money at me. They have no choice but to bet their lives on me. They just can't. They can't give up...
The true ending of Prtherna... I can't give up on it...
Ah...
I wiped my face and glanced back at the mission reward.
Reward: ₩15,000,000
Fifteen million won. Isn't that the price of a car?
Ah. Ahhh. Look at their faith. That rock-solid belief that I will clear even the second boss in 10 tries.
Ding!
The CEO is even cheering me on via Discord.
"Yes. Everyone. I'll work hard. I'll definitely clear it within 10 tries. Trust me and follow my lead."
Declaring the 10-try clear with tears in my eyes. There's no turning back now. If I don't want to be swallowed up by these people's madness, I have to devour all the nightmares of Prtherna myself.
Ah. Let's do this, Choi Minseo. You can do it, Riu.
"Let's go!"
Fighting. I mean, who could resist fifteen million won?