Is This a Festival? It’s a Funeral.
Ye Jung-hwan opened his mouth to the microphone.
"Then, we will conclude the meeting on establishing countermeasures for the Fervent Follower here. I will relay the feasibility of the meeting's conclusions after a thorough review, and if you have any additional opinions, please feel free to contact me or Investigator Kim Junghwan here at any time..."
It is a bit strange that the conclusion of the meeting drifted toward 'if you pray to the Shining Stars, things will normalize'...
But strange is strange, and facts are facts.
If there hadn't been a single person who received salvation by praying to the Shining Stars, I wouldn't have suggested such an opinion to the Awakened in the first place.
However.
There is a very good case study named Park Dong-hyun.
Park Dong-hyun wasn't even hit by an anomaly's mental attack.
He wasn't hit by a Fervent Follower's mental attack, either.
He had been obsessed with that cult, having been hit by the mental attack of an entity that was 'a Great One in the past'.
The mental attack of the Nameless Bug was so powerful that it thoroughly toyed with the security system the Awakened Association had built up over 10 years.
No one could resist the Nameless Bug's mental attack.
...Except for exactly three people.
Me, a Fervent Follower of the Shining Stars.
Yoo Iseul, who is immune to all mental attacks from the start.
And finally, Park Dong-hyun, who clicked a prayer to the Shining Stars as a joke.
As a result of praying to the Shining Stars, Park Dong-hyun was able to escape the Nameless Bug's mental attack.
That bug guy, no matter how much its status fell after getting absolutely crushed by the Shining Stars...
It should still be a more powerful entity than a Fervent Follower, right?
The fact that he could escape the mental attack of such an entity means...
In theory, you can escape a Fervent Follower's mental attack just by clicking a prayer to the Shining Stars once.
I don't know how fortunate it is that the Shining Stars likes humans.
If the Awakened pray to the Shining Stars, taking a chance just once...
They would be able to seal the Fervent Follower sufficiently without me or Yoo Iseul.
If I, a Fervent Follower, had said, "Please pray to the Shining Stars," I would have been misunderstood as doing religious proselytizing in this sacred meeting hall.
But since it came from Yoo Iseul—the strongest among the Awakened, whose personality is broken but whose skills are acknowledged by everyone—saying, "Just try praying to the Shining Stars," it was adopted as a 'means of dealing with the Fervent Follower's mental attack.'
The fact that I previously told Ye Jung-hwan to try praying once might have had an influence, too.
I'm not sure, but... I had a feeling that Ye Jung-hwan was testing me with this meeting as an opportunity.
He could have spread it himself, but he induced a situation where I had no choice but to say it myself.
Of course, it came out of Yoo Iseul's mouth, not mine, but anyway.
Fortunately, it seems I passed the test.
The meeting ended, and Ye Jung-hwan began his closing remarks.
"The table... hah. Leave it as it is. I'll have the staff clean it up. And Awakened, there is another announcement..."
Although he sighed again while looking at the broken table.
...I have nothing to say.
I don't even know why I received the Price of Blasphemy at that timing.
'The Shining Stars isn't normal either.'
Why on earth is that thought blasphemy?
It's an obvious fact to anyone who sees it...
...Oh.
Ah.
"Jiaaaaaaaah!"
Realizing my mistake, I screamed and squeezed my eyes shut.
Like an idiot, I thought it again!
The Price of Blasphemy will follow.
My life is ruined.
I'm going to be properly hated by Ye Jung-hwan!
"...?"
However.
No matter how long I waited, the Price of Blasphemy did not come down.
At my scream, the other Awakened were clapping, saying, "She's really screaming 'Jiaaaaah', isn't she?", and Ye Jung-hwan was sweating as he spoke to me.
"Jia-nim. Please restrain yourself. It's troublesome if you blow away an entire floor of the building like last time."
"Ah, that... yes, yeees..."
Why didn't I receive it?
The Shining Stars is abnormal.
I had the exact same thought as before, so why didn't I receive it this time?
Perhaps, was the thought I had before the problem?
What was I thinking before that?
...I don't remember.
Judging by the fact that I don't remember, it doesn't seem that important.
Anyway, since I didn't receive the Price of Blasphemy, all's well that ends well.
Ye Jung-hwan, who finally relayed the announcements to the Awakened, sighed as he looked at the Awakened who were sending him eyes full of expectation, and for the first time since the meeting started, he spoke in casual language.
Everyone, eat moderately and go.
That was.
"It's a festival!"
"Bring the booze, booze!"
"Let's just drink here!"
It was a kind of signal announcing the start of the festival.
Since it was the first time 200 Awakened had gathered in one place, it was a natural result that a drinking party broke out.
Hundreds of various delivery foods and green soju bottles were spread out on the tables.
...I thought wealthy Awakened would drink expensive whiskey, but that's not it either.
I wanted to go home and stream, but I decided to follow Yoo Iseul's advice to 'stay and make your face known'.
Because it wasn't bad advice.
Of course, I intend to follow Yoo Iseul's tail for the rest of my life, but...
You never know what will happen to a person... no, a Fervent Follower.
It's not bad to get to know other Awakened on this occasion.
And, should I say it feels like having a drinking party with celebrities on TV?
No matter how uninterested I am in the Awakened, I know the names and faces of the Awakened to some extent.
That's how much the Awakened are exposed to the public.
Yoo Iseul, whom no one recognizes even if she stands in the middle of a busy street where thousands of people flock, is a special case.
...I'm a special case in a different sense, too.
Anyway, as delicious food and alcohol went in, I felt better.
As for streaming, I had already streamed for two hours after the re-broadcast early this morning, so there was no need to worry about the duties of the True Librarian.
Since the anomaly was resolved this morning, there's no need to worry about an anomaly appearing at this timing.
Thinking I should enjoy the company dinner properly since it turned out like this, I tried to talk to as many Awakened as possible, but...
Even without me trying, everyone came to find me on their own.
Among the Awakened, I was an object of interest.
The fact that I'm close to Yoo Iseul.
The fact that I'm a Fervent Follower.
The fact that I'm a Vtuber.
I would have received enough attention if I had just one of the three, but since I was an Awakened who corresponded to all three cases, the questions showed no signs of stopping.
Even the level of the questions was quite troublesome.
I'll say it again.
The Awakened are abnormal people who are beyond common sense.
"Jia-nim, do you like women?"
"Th-that's impossible!"
Look at the level of the question.
It's awkward to just say no, and it's awkward to say yes.
I used to like women, of course.
But now, well... I don't seem to like men or women very much.
The only thing I like is the Shining Stars.
Really.
"But why are you sticking to that evil spirit? Ah, or is it possible that Iseul-noona likes Jia-nim?"
"That psycho likes someone? I can't imagine it. She's a person who has human hatred."
"That's why she likes Jia-nim. Jia-nim isn't a human, right?"
"Oh, that makes sense too."
...Like this, there were people who asked about my sexual orientation openly.
"Lee Jia, you shouldn't go to the light! From now on, for the rest of your life, our believers in the shadows... ugh."
"This bastard is already drunk. I will apologize on his behalf, Jia-nim."
"Ahaha... i-it's okay."
"If it's okay, just one photo with me."
"...Yes."
There were people who showed their believer colors.
"Th-thank you for unbanning me, Jia-nim!"
"...Yes?"
Someone appeared who thanked me for unbanning them.
This person.
He's that Awakened whose fingernails were all pulled out by the Messenger.
Was his name Ahn Sang-jun?
I asked him openly.
"Sang-jun-nim, what's your nickname?"
"Ugh... th-that's a secret!"
I was curious about what kind of 'Shining-porn' he had been spewing, but he wouldn't tell me.
Someone appeared who urged me to stream.
"Jia-nim, are you streaming today too?"
"Well, I think I'll be drinking a lot and going back, so I probably can't..."
"If there's any bastard who forces alcohol on Jia-nim from now on, you'll die by my hand!"
...It was truly a total mess.
Still, since it was obvious that everyone watched my stream often, to be honest.
I felt good.
It seems I've become a professional streamer now.
I didn't know it would feel this good that people like my stream.
The drinking party was fun, but it wasn't just filled with pleasant things.
Stomp, stomp.
Someone approached me.
Epithet, Sea Goddess.
Awakened, Seo Jiyoon.
What should I say?
Should I start by apologizing...?
Seo Jiyoon is an Awakened who has experienced having her memory erased because of a Fervent Follower.
Looking at her earlier, she seemed to have a strong personality, unlike her appearance.
What should I do if she shows hatred toward me openly?
While I was having all sorts of delusions in my head.
Seo Jiyoon, who had approached me at some point, smiled with an unknown meaning and said to me.
"Jia-nim, there's one thing I've been curious about for a long time."
"Ye-yes...! Yo-you can ask anything comfortably."
"By any chance."
Eventually, Seo Jiyoon.
After pouring the remaining alcohol into her mouth, she asked me.
"What cup size is it?"
"...Yes?"
She stared openly at my chest and continued.
"Breasts, breasts. I'm asking what cup size it is. I've been watching Jia-nim's stream since the beginning, but you haven't opened up what cup size it is yet."
"Uh, that, so..."
"There is one popular post on the Vtuber gallery where 'breast experts' measured Jia-nim's size by eye, but that's unofficial in the end. I want to hear it officially."
I was stunned by Seo Jiyoon's unexpected question.
...Didn't you come to curse at me?
Seo Jiyoon was even a malicious believer who had watched my stream since the beginning and even lurked on the Vtuber gallery.
I didn't particularly want to tell her.
But since I felt a bit sorry for her, I just told her.
No.
It was the moment I was about to tell her.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The atmosphere of the meeting hall, which was noisy with the drinking party, suddenly became a library.
Did Yoo Iseul appear or something?
Swish, swish.
Turning my head to look around, I could confirm that instead of Yoo Iseul appearing, everyone was focusing on me.
"...I won't tell you."
"Ah, why!"
"You're losing your touch, booooo!"
"Worst streamer!"
"Take off the partner badge!"
Ugh.
I don't know if I should say this.
Aren't these crazy perverts, seriously.