Internet Broadcast Scroll: TS Rim (3)

No matter how deeply she despaired, there was no escaping hell. Having lost everything, 4796 was dragged away helplessly by the security guards. She eventually reached a cramped room. The studio apartment, barely livable for a single person, perfectly illustrated her complete downfall.

One of the staff members who had escorted her pulled out a tablet. After tapping at it for a moment, various features inside the room activated one by one.

“This place is your home from now on.”

“Deh……”

A place worse than a cardboard box. What kind of life was she supposed to live here?

“From now on, you’ll be doing internet broadcasts under Nartica.”

“Internet broadcasts……?”

“That’s right. What kind exactly will be up to your choice.”

It could be hunter streams, gaming streams, or perhaps even female cam streams. None of it would be easy, and surviving in the midst of fierce competition would be impossible without an iron will.

4796 couldn’t understand what possible benefit there would be for her in doing internet broadcasts. No, it wasn’t even a question of understanding—there simply wasn’t any. After all, even if she earned money, Nartica would clearly take it all. It was obvious she would live like livestock, with no future whatsoever.

“……”

“You don’t like it? If you refuse, your parents’ treatment will be discontinued.”

But she couldn’t refuse. Her parents were the reason. Her own life, her parents’ lives—everything was in the hands of these corporate employees. In the end, she had no choice but to accept this miserable reality. She begged them, saying she would start work tomorrow, pleading for them to at least spare her parents.

“Good, that was a quick decision. Then sign here.”

Scratch. Scratch. The pen moved with cruel indifference. Countless loophole clauses, domestically illegal clauses, and brutal clauses were agreed to one after another. 4796, who had only just become an adult, was reduced to a corporate slave in the most hollow way imaginable. Even those reckless people who took out high-interest loans and bought foreign cars the moment they became adults probably had better prospects than this. At least they had the chance to claw their way out if they worked hard enough.

The employee who received the signed contract disappeared. The security guards left her there as well. Carrying the weight of dark reality and emptiness, she entered the room. On the narrow bed lay a single sheet of paper.

From this moment on, the man named An Yun-cheon no longer existed in the world. There was only the woman, Louise. It was time to experience the inconvenient life she had never known as a man.

A world of ruthless exploitation. In short, the entire planet was full of thieves. And China, where so many people decided that if the country was full of thieves then they might as well become thieves too, was something akin to a demonic realm. People barely survived only because a minimum level of order was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠maintained. Of course, that so-called “minimum” meant non-interference from the government.

Someone might ask what non-interference from the government meant in modern society, or how it made sense for public authority to submit to lunatics from the martial world. Unfortunately, on this explosive and chaotic continent, nothing was impossible. With so many people and so much land, slightly strange events could easily spiral into massive incidents.

Moreover, China was a country whose government had completely fallen to the martial artists. No matter how much one shouted about freedom, democracy, or true capitalism, it would only be crushed under the pyramid structure that operated on the logic of power. If people held large-scale protests against this miserable reality? The martial artists’ flying sword techniques would rain down from the sky and slaughter them all. If a small number of intellectuals spoke their conscience? The already tiny group of intellectuals who had fled overseas would simply become even smaller.

After decades of such days repeating, everyone had grown exhausted. In a way it resembled the warlord era, but at least back then there had been a vision of unification. Now everything was already unified, yet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it only displayed the pinnacle of thieving politics, leaving no other options. True peace would only come to the continent once all those lunatics known as martial artists disappeared. It was as unrealistic as Cheon Mari suddenly reforming herself.

Therefore, even the neighborhood kids knew exactly what kind of things these people committed under the banner of “government non-interference.”

“““Waaaaa!”””

It was pure chaos. Louise, who could no longer escape reality with Gwangjeungcho, would watch such scenes through her small window. A representative example was the gang fight between the pot-lid hat wearers of what was either the Nangong family or faction and the Taishan faction guys who liked climbing mountains. True to the continent’s nature, it wasn’t dozens of people but thousands to tens of thousands causing the uproar. Hundreds died, another several hundred joined as reinforcements, and half the city was destroyed. When the strange Huangbo family even jumped into the fray, the only word that came to mind was insanity.

Louise maintained her observer’s gaze on all of it.

“Ugh, tsk. Looks like the Huangbo family won this fight.”

“Huu~ Guess I’m taking all the bets today~”

On the other hand, to the employees who had stayed here for a long time, it was nothing more than entertainment. In fact, Chinese-style gang fights and brawls had a long and deep history as traditional culture, so it wasn’t that strange a perspective.

“I heard the higher-ups supported the Huangbo family because the Taishan faction was winning too much……”

“Tsk, does that mean we have to do business against the Nangong family and Taishan faction this time?”

The problem was that Nartica was involved in it too. The sight of them rushing in after every fight to sell medicine truly showed what madness looked like.

“Ah, the pills! Thank goodness!”

“Give me the ones with the magazine guy on the packaging!”

“Us too!”

The martial artists swarming the medicine sales truck. The way they bought up the localized medicine in droves reminded one of locusts. Naturally, this was devastating for those who came late. The latecomers looked distressed that some products had already sold out.

“What? The ones with the elf guy from the magazine on the packaging are all gone?”

“I waited days to buy just one of those!”

“What did you say? This batch is the last one because of portrait rights issues?! Where in the world does that happen! You damn bunheads!”

It was pitiful, but what could be done? The local branch, equipped with the local mindset, had secretly mass-produced the items because they thought they would sell well. And when the young lady to whom the Nartika employees were loyal found out and ordered production stopped after having her hair pulled out in frustration, what could ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they do? Even if it sold well to women and improved the branch’s financial structure, once she gave the order it had to stop. For the finance team, it was enough to bring tears of blood.

And within ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this reality, Louise was learning the training needed to conduct internet broadcasts. Though it made her nauseous with disgust, she endured it somehow and looked toward tomorrow.

After enduring even the discomfort of menstruation through these hellish days, she finally faced a special occasion.

“It’s an order from above. Gather in the first-floor hall by one o’clock.”

When she headed to the first floor, a beam projector was displaying something on a large screen. The words ‘Meeting with the Young Lady’ were perfectly clear, yet filled with questions.

‘Don’t tell me it’s that bitch from back then? But why?’

Louise thought there was no reason for Cheon Mari, who was attending the academy, to pay any attention to this place. Rather, the very fact that she was paying attention felt like malice.

‘Surely my old friends haven’t been put through anything terrible……?’

It was possible she was doing this to let them know she had harmed her old friends. If so, it was clearly an attempt to deceive her. It might seem like she was overthinking it, but that was the only conclusion she could reach. Everything she had heard while staying here had been shocking.

‘Didn’t they say some employees are engaging in idol worship? And that she’s aware of it and is spreading it herself.’

The wickedness of openly using an in-house cult. Not many people were unaware that she was such a villainess. The problem was that her share in Nartica—which had grown from a mid-sized potion-specialized company into this massive entity—was substantial. Moreover, it had become the fastest-rising company in Korea, so no one could challenge her authority. The results were so great that there were even rumors the chairman himself was afraid of her. There were also rumors that there was no brake on her except for a single close aide.

“As you all know, we’ve prepared this occasion today because the young lady will be sharing warm words with us.”

No, it had gone far beyond that. And tragically, today was the day she would see that person’s face.

The employees and streamers gathered and sat down in the hall. It became one o’clock, and soon after, the screen turned on. The screen took on a faint yellow tint as if a hand was covering it.

‘What? I thought she’d live in some expensive place, but this is it?’

Internet-bought chairs, tables, shelves. There were even stacks of cheap snacks from the store on the shelves. They were on a completely different level of cheapness compared to the snacks she mainly ate while on Gwangjeungcho. There were even traces in the corner of the camera of laundry being hastily shoved aside. It was the typical appearance of someone living sloppily. Any fanatics who saw it would be greatly disappointed.

However, true honesty also dispelled disappointment. The stiff atmosphere loosened slightly at those words.

“““Not at all!”””

Suddenly several people shouted loudly. Louise instantly suspected they were the ones with cult-like tendencies.

Cheon Mari then spoke about what achievements had been made, what direction they were taking, and how they would proceed in the future. Her rather general yet friendly and grateful words left a deep impression on some of the employees. However, even though Cheon Mari had told them not to, some people still uttered things about the young lady’s grace and leadership. Cheon Mari gestured for them to calm down but did not scold them severely. It was like managing her own followers.

Louise felt goosebumps at Cheon Mari’s words and actions. After various other topics, even the simple Q&A session came to an end. Just as the meeting with Cheon Mari was truly heading toward its conclusion:

“Long live Nartika Group! Long live Nartika MCN! Long live Nartika Draconis Marinaritz!”

Some employees suddenly displayed their loyalty to her. Since they even stood up from their seats to shout, the exact number was clear.

‘Wait, why are there so many?’

There were more than expected. When including those who stood up late, it was impossible to guess how deeply they had fallen into the in-house cult. Louise also tilted her head at the word “Marinaritz.” No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand what it meant.

‘Ah, it was her Far North elf name.’

Cheon Mari showed clear aversion to her other name being called. As expected, the giggling voice of another man who seemed to be in the room could be heard.

A reflexive curse could be heard faintly as well. However, the fanatics did not seem flustered by the loss of mystique in reality.

Instead, they focused on the following content and wrapped up the meeting with a collective round of applause. That was it. There was no more.

Bang!

Anyway, there was nothing more. There was a bit of noise after the screen turned off, but there was no significant content. It was an ordinary meeting, if one could call it that. However, Louise felt fear from her own situation to the reality of this place.

‘W-what kind of megacorporation is this? And that man’s voice just now… was that the guy who beat me up back then? Don’t tell me he’s dating the successor?’

Everything was confusing. It felt like many things she had thought until now were being denied. From the facade she had maintained to the fights she had with that person. It seemed to lead to regret that her fatal choices had brought her to this point. But it was already far too late. Reality could no longer be reversed.

Louise was led back to her usual cramped room by the security guards. No matter what she thought, everything remained the same. Even if she did well with her broadcasts, nothing would change. There was only Nartika, long may it live.