Side Story A – Streamer Scroll: TS Rim (1)
There once was a boy. Born to wealthy parents, he lived a life that could only be described as ordinary. He attended a normal kindergarten, received a standard home education, and enrolled in an ordinary elementary school. Given his family’s fortune, the continuity of such mediocrity felt almost deliberate.
It also meant the boy was walking through spaces far beneath his station. Before long he had claimed a rather elevated position among his peers. His parents watched with open pride. Though he was still immature, he mirrored them so perfectly that they could not help but adore him. Even when they scolded him for misbehavior, the punishment always had a clear limit. And so the boy grew up bathed in their boundless love.
Then, one day, he began making real friends.
Not the classmates he saw every day, but those who shared his particular mindset. Fortunately, the school had more than a few such kids. He fell in with them, and soon enough they introduced him to something new.
“What the hell is that?”
“My big sister swiped it from some big shot she knows!”
“A big shot? Who?”
“No idea, but sis said the person was seriously important.”
It was Madness Herb.
The cursed plant originating from Shareltea had begun circulating among a small circle of friends. To a boy who had chased after ordinariness his entire life, it was nothing short of a new universe. Until then he had been tormented by the weight of the world; one dose of the herb let him shrug it all off.
Of course, there were close calls. One friend got caught by his parents and nearly brought everything crashing down. Yet the country’s pathetic justice system still clung to outdated notions of “reform,” so the incident blew over quickly. Hollow schooling continued to devour the boy’s future while he remained oblivious.
Unaware of the rot spreading beneath his feet, he started attending cram schools. Since he could no longer eat comfortably at school, it was the next logical step. The move was cunning beyond his years. His parents should have intervened, but his status as an only son rendered even their authority useless. In the end, the cram school simply gave him more friends and far more trouble.
Drugs. Friendship. School.
An Yuncheon, a member of the Yellow Sea Guild, was a man who had lived exactly that life. Because his story had begun with friends, he placed friends above everything else. So when someone bullied one of his own, he stepped forward with crude, aggressive loyalty. In that heated moment he became the vanguard, showing the kind of raw, unhesitating brotherhood that only a true man could offer.
Thud. Thud. Crunch.
“Ack—! Ugh, agh, aaaagh—!”
That noble friendship met its tragic end with a single kick to the groin. In simpler terms, it went spectacularly to shit.
He had assumed there would be an obvious gap in strength since the other party lacked proper training. Reality proved otherwise. Instead, the blow taught him a pleasure only men could truly understand—the joy of becoming a woman.
Naturally, he was rushed to the hospital. He watched himself endure agonizing treatment alongside his friends. He witnessed the bonds formed through Madness Herb shatter. He saw his family’s fortune collapse under the cruel hand of a massive conglomerate. He learned that the hunters who once sent his family gifts had died suddenly. And finally, in a desperate bid to save their failing house, the entire family set out together on an expedition to Shareltea. The lives of countless employees and the fate of their bloodline rested on that journey.
They had tried. They truly had. Yet while trudging through distant snow-covered peaks, a deafening boom cut his consciousness short.
An Yuncheon’s memories ended there. That cold, fleeting snowy night was the final destination that announced the existence of “him.” The last stop. The conclusion. His fate had reached a hollow, meaningless end.
Officially, that was the case.
Unofficially, he was still alive.
Rattle. Thud!
The sensation of hitting a rock and bouncing wildly. The impact drew groans from many throats. An Yuncheon slowly opened his eyes within a faint haze of sensation. Black. Gray. White. Gradually everything brightened until a sky brimming with stars spread above him—a sight he had not seen before losing consciousness.
With a disoriented mind he lowered his head slightly. The blurry vision sharpened, revealing women. The only oddity was that every one of them—including himself—sat inside a cart. An anachronistic wooden cart, moving in eerie silence.
When he glanced sideways, he spotted a mini-tractor pulling the vehicle. It was forging a path through dirt roads and forest undergrowth. Just as curiosity began to surface, he felt a gaze fixed on him from the front.
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake.”
The English words tumbled from the mouth of a ragged-looking woman. The sheer randomness of it made his eyes widen.
Me? Finally awake?
Hearing those words and retracing his memories brought a sharp sense of spatial dissonance. He should have been in the middle of a snowy mountain, not some unknown forest. Yet here he was, bound hand and foot inside a cart heading who-knows-where. Something was very, very wrong.
“Looks like you’re in deep debt. Not that it’s unusual—everyone here is.”
As he scanned his surroundings, the woman in front continued. Her tone was strangely meaningful.
“Debt?”
He shouldn’t have any. His family had been well-off; until the very last moment he had never taken out a single loan.
“Denying it won’t help. Every person here owes a massive sum to Nartica Bank.”
“W-what are you—”
“Hey, back there! Debtor 3412! Debtor 4796! Both of you shut your mouths!”
“Open your lips even a little and that’s what you get,” she sneered.
Yet while she spoke with mockery, the others maintained an atmosphere of total despair. They looked like pigs being led to slaughter. Number 4796 trembled violently.
“Th-there must be some mistake. I’m not supposed to be here. I have parents, a house, assets— This is clearly an error—”
“Whoa, whoa, calm down, friend. As one woman to another, let me give you some advice: digging up your past isn’t a smart move around here.”
“Woman?”
“That’s right. Woman. Not man—woman. This is advice from one woman to another.”
4796 froze at the denial of his gender. He was obviously male. Calling him a woman was absurd. His friend had undergone an involuntary male-to-female transition, but he had not suffered that level of injury. He had remained male. Just look at what was between his legs—
“Huh?”
It was gone. Neither rod nor stones remained. When he lowered his head completely, he noticed his chest had swelled. Not dramatically, but enough to unmistakably belong to a woman.
“What… what the hell is this…? Wait, even my height…”
Only then did 4796 realize his entire body had been remade. From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, nothing of the original remained. He touched his face, his torso, his lower body. In the grip of extreme confusion, his hand rose to the back of his neck.
“?!”
Something was embedded there. A small square. Metal and plastic. A terminal with grooves. It had definitely not been there before. Panic surged; he tried to rip the thing out.
“I wouldn’t touch that if I were you. It’s a Nartica Cybernetics implant. Yank it by force and—”
NEURAL OVERLOAD
“Kyaaak! Kyaaaaaaaak!!!”
“—and electricity shoots through you. Like that.”
Tears streamed from the pain. His breathing turned ragged. 4796 could not even voice a complaint. He simply sat with his head hanging low.
After an unknowable stretch of time, the cart stopped. Unidentified people untied their bound ankles and gestured for them to follow. Escape seemed possible, yet eyes watched from behind, making any attempt too risky. Still, in extreme situations there is always someone willing to act.
4796, who had appeared utterly defeated, suddenly flashed with determination and bolted into the forest.
“Fuck, fuck…! You crazy bastards!”
Human trafficking, organ harvesting, slavery—whatever it was, staying meant doom. That single thought drove her legs. She ran, and kept running. She pushed through bushes, crushed fallen leaves, leapt over stones. Her physical ability had clearly deteriorated; her breath grew short far too quickly. Yet stopping would make everything meaningless, so she kept moving.
At last, light appeared. Thinking she had found people, 4796 waved frantically.
“Somebody help meeeee! Help meeeeeee!!!”
It was a magnificent escape. Unfortunately, the ending failed to match its grandeur.
Beyond the light lay water. A vast oceanic expanse that was almost awe-inspiring. Across that water stood a city glowing with neon. She needed to cross, yet crossing was impossible. Not because she could not swim. The reason was far more immediate and intuitive.
Therefore, 4796 collapsed completely. Total surrender. The cause sat directly in front of her: a metal sign.
State of China, Jinan
It was neither Shareltea nor Korea. It was China.
With a vacant stare, 4796 was dragged away by the pursuers who had caught up.
* * *
One interesting fact: the city she had just seen—Jinan City—was exactly 4796’s destination.
The group boarded a boat at a shabby pier. They crossed calm waters and arrived at the city, where a sight that illustrated the difference between heaven and earth awaited them.
“Whoa—”
Yet there was no time to admire the view. Following the silent guidance of their escorts, they were led to a building nestled among structures packed together like living organisms.
The sign that suddenly appeared felt distinctly ominous. Stepping inside, however, replaced that unease with an even heavier sense of miserable reality.
“This quarter’s performance is below target again. You know what happens after four consecutive failures, right?”
“I-I’m sorry…! Just this once, please…!”
“You’re already a ruined hunter streamer whose words and actions are finished. What difference will more time make? You’re done.”
“I’m a man! Not a woman!!! I can’t do this anymore! Just kill me!!”
“Then you’ll have to pay with your body. Demand for TS content has been rising lately anyway, so this works out perfectly. Boys, restrain her.”
“TS content?! Wait, anything but that— Aaaargh!! No!!!”
“Sigh… The numbers still won’t add up like this…”
“I’m sorry… I’m truly sorry…”
“Who told you to smash the VTuber equipment in a fit of rage? Consider your salary frozen until next month.”
Countless streamers. Countless staff. Two groups surviving inside a nightmarish environment.
“Ah…”
For some reason, the scene felt like a perfect preview of her own future.