Chapter 123
Chapter 123
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Potential Threat
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After Lee Jia left.
An awkward silence settled over the conference room.
No, maybe only Kim Junghwan felt that way.
Kim Junghwan glanced nervously at Yoo Euisul and Scheduled Hwan.
Scheduled Hwan was lost in deep thought, his expression grave.
Yoo Euisul was glaring at him.
The air felt frigid.
In this suffocating atmosphere, Kim Junghwan thought to himself.
'Ah, I wanna go home.'
It was already 10 p.m.
Pulling overtime on a precious weekend like this was practically routine at the Awakener Association, but today felt especially exhausting.
As he pondered how to escape this awkward meeting room, a plausible idea popped into Kim Junghwan's head.
Kim Junghwan was Lee Jia's handler.
All matters related to her fell under his purview.
That included monitoring her streams, too.
What was there to hide?
Kim Junghwan was one of those people for whom watching VTuber streams was a hobby and the joy of his life.
And watching Lee Jia's streams wasn't just work—it was pure entertainment he enjoyed as a devout fan.
After getting home from work, he desperately wanted to crack open a beer, dig into that 'Crescendo Chicken' she'd recently advertised, and watch her stream.
This wasn't slacking off.
He was going to monitor Lee Jia's stream.
Steel ing himself, Kim Junghwan spoke up to Scheduled Hwan.
"Um, Chairman. I need to head out first for some other duties..."
"What duties? Monitoring?"
"...Yes."
"You can do that later. Let's wrap up this meeting first. I need your input too."
Shit.
Kim Junghwan cursed inwardly.
The one who broke the awkward silence in the conference room was Yoo Euisul.
"Old man."
"Hm."
"What were you about to say to her?"
Tap.
Tap tap.
Tap tap tap.
Scheduled Hwan drummed his fingers furiously on the table.
Then he cut straight to the point.
"Fervent Devotees are a potential threat to humanity. At least based on everything we've seen so far, that's the only conclusion we can draw. Anyone want to object or offer a counterargument?"
Scheduled Hwan's words were reasonable.
According to the information Lee Jia had provided, the creator of the Anomalous Phenomena threatening humanity was none other than a Fervent Devotee.
And in the Yeosu incident this time, members of the 'Fervent Devotee' race had appeared in person and launched mental attacks.
His statement wasn't made lightly.
He was the top leader of the Awakener Association.
If words implying he would treat Fervent Devotees as enemies came from his mouth...
Yoo Euisul had no choice but to push back.
Yoo Euisul flatly denied Scheduled Hwan's claim.
"This is my take, old man."
Clang!
Yoo Euisul suddenly slammed her item, 'Iron Sword No. 3', onto the table.
It was rude behavior that spat in the face of decorum.
Of course, Yoo Euisul had always been rude.
But dismissing it as 'that's just Yoo Euisul being Yoo Euisul' didn't cut it—this was purely emotional.
Yoo Euisul continued.
"What the hell is this? This is an item made by a Fervent Devotee too. You think guys threatening humanity are making items that help humanity? Come on, old man, don't bullshit me. Don't jump to conclusions. We don't have a single solid fact yet."
"No, today's events make it even more certain. Fervent Devotees are a potential threat to humanity. Sure, there might be exceptions, but fundamentally, they're not a race we can easily trust."
Throb.
A blue vein bulged on Yoo Euisul's forehead.
Anyone could see she was pissed.
Yoo Euisul pressed on.
"Then what about Lee Jia? Is she a potential threat to humanity too?"
"..."
Scheduled Hwan hesitated for a moment.
Then he nodded and continued.
"In some cases... we might have to view her that way..."
Bam!
A sound so loud it could burst eardrums echoed through the conference room.
Yoo Euisul had slammed her hand down on the table.
She'd hit it so hard that the high-end wooden table was dented.
Scheduled Hwan didn't flinch at Yoo Euisul's outburst.
But Kim Junghwan, caught in the crossfire like a shrimp between whales, was sweating bullets.
Yoo Euisul said nothing.
No, she didn't need to.
Scheduled Hwan knew better than anyone how invaluable Lee Jia was to the Awakener Association.
Undeterred by Yoo Euisul's sharp attitude, Scheduled Hwan kept going.
"We can trust Awakener Lee Jia. But we can't trust Lee Jia the Fervent Devotee. That's my conclusion."
"..."
"Yoo Euisul. You already know what I'm getting at. It's not that I don't trust Lee Jia. What I can't trust is..."
"...Reflecting Myriad Stars."
"Right. I simply can't trust those so-called 'Great Beings'."
Lee Jia had, most graciously.
Shared every single detail about the incident in intricate precision.
Fervent Devotees carried out the will of the Great Beings.
They lacked free will.
Their existence was specialized solely for executing the Great Beings' commands—puppets, through and through.
Everything Lee Jia said was true.
Kim Junghwan, who could discern truth from lies in words, had vouched for her personally. It couldn't be more reliable.
"Up until now, their existence was so nebulous we just watched and waited. But this incident has made things clearer. They definitely exist, and they have... some clear intent. You know as well as I do that it's not benevolent, Yoo Euisul. If we don't prepare now..."
"No, I still think we need to watch and wait."
"..."
He hadn't expected her to counter again.
Scheduled Hwan and Yoo Euisul had been fellow Awakeners facing each other for over ten years now.
Scheduled Hwan knew her personality better than anyone.
Yoo Euisul might be rude as hell, but she never acted on stubborn whims.
On the contrary, if she realized she was wrong, she'd admit it outright and work to fix it.
But.
Was it her affection for Lee Jia?
Yoo Euisul started blindly defending her.
"Old man, just to be clear, I'm not shielding her unconditionally here."
"Jeez, when did you start reading my mind? You're a ghost. Fine, let's hear your reasons. Go ahead."
"First, we have too little data. Second, Reflecting Myriad Stars is a bit different."
"...I agree on the first, but what's your basis for the second?"
"I don't know how to put it into words, but anyway, it's different. Kim Junghwan probably gets the gist too."
"M-Me?"
"Yeah, you. You watch a ton of Lee Jia's streams. Spill what you feel about this 'Reflecting Myriad Stars' entity."
"Uh..."
Kim Junghwan racked his brain quickly.
But what came to mind was.
'Myriad Stars eyes, I'm dead.'
'Big Myriad Stars'
'This too must be the grace of Reflecting Myriad Stars'
And so on.
Nothing but useless memes.
In the end, what came out of Kim Junghwan's mouth was.
"Sh-She seems like a good person?"
"..."
It left Scheduled Hwan dumbfounded.
The meeting dragged on after that.
It concluded with a decision to 'watch and wait for now'.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ In front of the front door sat a Crescendo Chicken that had gone completely cold.
Right.
I'd ordered chicken before heading out to resolve the Anomalous Phenomenon.
Looks like the delivery guy left it there.
A day-old chicken? I could still eat that no problem.
But this was two days old.
"..."
Guess I have to toss it.
Throwing out chicken was a first in my life.
It hurt so much it felt like committing some massive sin.
Once home, I headed straight to the bathroom.
I had to start streaming by 11 p.m. at the latest to avoid a one-on-one with Reflecting Myriad Stars, so time was of the essence.
But sitting in this grimy state at my desk to stream? No way.
I stripped off my clothes in a heap.
Whoosh.
The moment I did, sand that had been trapped in my clothes rained down onto the bathroom floor.
Looking at myself in the mirror.
Sand here too.
Sand there too.
> My whole body was caked in sand everywhere.
Soon, I started bathing.
No matter how hard I scrubbed, sand kept popping up from somewhere.
"Ugh..."
I was amazed I'd managed to take down that Fervent Devotee while enduring this gross feeling.
After about 20 minutes of scrubbing, I felt refreshed, like I'd been reborn.
Ah.
Bliss.
If I could just crack a beer, tear into some Crescendo Chicken, and crash into bed right now, I'd be in heaven...
Damn it.
Feeling like a dog being dragged to the slaughterhouse, I headed down to my basement studio.
And without a second's hesitation, I fired up the stream.
Time was running out.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer ? — Viewer What is this? — Viewer Surprise stream?? — Viewer What's going on at this hour — Viewer Why'd you start so late, Tenryeon?!?!?!?!?! — Viewer Take responsibility for my weekend. Take responsibility for my weekend. Take responsibility for my weekend. Take responsibility for my weekend. — Viewer The Earth is spinning again... The Earth is spinning again... The Earth is spinning again... — Viewer Hello hello hello hello hello Even though I showed up just before 11 p.m., my devotees welcomed me warmly.
Hmm.
Now that I'm actually streaming and seeing my devotees, the stress melts away and my mood lifts.
Like it or not.
Streaming has become part of my daily life.