[The Queen Returns from the Abyss]

After Kang Hanna left my place, I took a moment to organize my thoughts. While there were no posts currently circulating on the internet that exposed my real face, a vast number of people had become aware of my existence. It felt like I would have to be even more cautious with my outdoor activities from now on, and wearing a mask and hat seemed risky, too. Then there was the other problem: I had gone on hiatus without any notice.

I hadn't turned on my stream at all yesterday without saying a word. It was already 10:00 PM, which was quite late considering my usual streaming schedule. Still, I figured it would be best to post an announcement quickly. 'My little Puppies must be worried...' Kang Hanna had left a message on ChatTalk asking why I hadn't streamed yesterday. I hadn't read it yet, but... I was so busy and scattered that I had too many things to worry about.

The viewers were already commenting the moment I posted the notice... "Sheesh... should I just do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a quiz stream with these kids?" I felt that the intelligence level of my chat was quite concerning.

"Hey, System."

"Well, nothing to say?"

"This girl almost got raped because of you, don't you have any compensation for damages?"

"Then who brought me here?"

"No, who was the one fooled by that?"

"Then it's your fault. Right? Smart System?"

"Can't you loosen the restrictions a bit? Let me reveal that I'm a man as long as it doesn't interfere with the netkama broadcast."

"I mean, if I only tell a few people I trust that I'm a man, it won't hinder the netkama broadcast. Like my manager or editor, for example."

The System was hesitating. Why was it so deep in thought... [I can hear you.] Oh, I meant for you to hear me, you jerk. [You won't do it?] System, you're the best! The greatest! [Ahem. Okay, I understand. I'll allow you to tell exactly 5 people. If ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠more than that number find out that you are a man doing a netkama broadcast, you will die.]

"Okay! Thank you! You're the best System!"

"Ah. That's fine..." Honestly, I had no reason to go around telling everyone I was a man, and I didn't intend to, so it didn't matter if it was 4 or 5 people. Satisfied with achieving my goal, I lay on my bed, looked at my phone, and fell asleep.

"Ring-a-ding, ring-a-ding." My phone rang. A number starting with 010. Since I'd been getting a lot of calls regarding the trial lately, I answered without thinking. "Yes. Hello." I answered in a groggy, sleep-deprived voice. "...Baek Miru-nim?" "...Yes. That's me. Who is this?" "This is Hanna... are you really Baek Miru... no, Hakuryu?"

Ah. I'm screwed. I hurriedly ended the call. 'Come to think of it, I gave her my phone number.' I hadn't realized that adding her on ChatTalk would lead to this. "ChatTalk! ChatTalk!" The notification sounds followed one after another. Anyone could tell it was from Hanna. "Ha... what do I do?" I considered making up another excuse, but I couldn't think of a good one. "This is properly ruined."

Two out of the five slots were filled in an instant. Honestly, I had intended to tell my managers, but I hadn't expected to be found out this quickly. "Ha... I'll just be honest." Thinking that if she just knew I was a man, there wouldn't be much she could do, I called her back. "Miru? You were a man?" Nayang-nuna asked in an extremely excited voice as soon as she picked up. "...Yeah, that's right."

I explained why I was doing a netkama broadcast and glossed over the incident from the other day as a traffic accident. "Really? A man getting into a traffic accident isn't something that gets buried that easily, you know?" "There was a serious incident recently. That's probably why." "Ah. You ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know about that too... that was a huge deal." It was strange yet awkward that I could get away with it thanks to the incident I was involved in.

"So that's why you don't want to do outdoor activities? Because you don't want to be found out as a man?" "Exactly. Physically, men and women are quite different, after all." "Right. You should be careful just in case... wait, no. Do you have a girlfriend or a wife?" Nayang-nuna asked as if it were obvious. "Huh? No, I don't?" "What?! You don't have a woman living with you? You really need to be careful." "Ah... I do have someone living with me." "What is that supposed to mean?" "Uh... yeah, what does it mean?" I realized it was a strange relationship, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now that I said it out loud to someone else, it felt even stranger.

"Anyway, since you have someone you can trust, don't worry too much." "Okay. I get it, but are you not streaming today either?" "Huh?" "It's 2:00 PM right now?" "Ah. Damn." As soon as I saw the time, I ran to the front door and opened it. In front of the door was a container of fried rice and a note with writing on it. [You didn't seem to be awake yet, so I ate first and left. I made some fried rice just in case, so eat it if you want!]

"I'm such a pathetic guy." I'd forgotten the promise on the very first day and broken it because I was sleeping. I brought the fried rice to my desk and picked up my phone again. "Why? Is something wrong? Why did you run out so fast?" "...It's nothing. Let's just stream." "But, I have a question. Can I ask?" "What is it?" I listened to Nayang while turning on my computer. "Are you really a man-hater?" "Huh?" "I'm asking if you're a man who hates men." "Ah." Come to think of it, Puppy had said in the chat that she hated people who were man-haters. "Uh... sorry. No matter how I think about it, I don't like men on a personal level." "No, no, that's not it. It's fine. It's actually better if a man is like that..." "What?" I couldn't hear her properly because her voice kept getting quieter. "Hurry up and turn on the stream! The viewers are waiting." "Yeah. Got it."

The call ended, and I finished preparing to stream and pressed the start broadcast button. Today's stream title was 'Returned from Hell'.

About 5 minutes after I turned on the stream and the viewers gathered, I turned on the mic. "Hello. This is Hakuryu, who has returned from hell."

"I was hit by the side mirror of a passing carriage."

"Now, let's put the sad past behind us! Let's move forward!" I brought out my virtual avatar and explained the game I was going to play today. "The game I'm going to play today is! *Civilization*!"

Civilization was a world-famous historical game series, a representative turn-based strategy simulation. It had clearly reached *Civilization 7*, but... we hadn't seen it yet. How could the civilization of a historical game change according to the era? Starting as Korea, then becoming China in the middle, and ending as Japan at the end... such an unforgivable thing must not happen. So, I turned on *Civilization 6*.

"*Civilization 5* is the classic, but I've played 6 more, so please understand." 6 also had cute graphics that tended to break immersion, but you get used to it as you play. "So, I'll take recommendations for the civilization I'll play now." I brought up the roulette screen again. "For your reference, all DLCs are installed, so you can say anything."

Various leaders and civilizations appeared as recommendations. I added them to the roulette board as I saw them. "Alright, that's enough. I think I've added everything at this point." Seondeok and Sejong were the basics, and there were leaders I had never played before. "King Man? Who is this person?" This leader was someone I was seeing for the first time in my life while playing *Civilization*. 'How is a person's name King Man? And he's Chinese, too.'

"Ahem. All the Queen knows are the great figures of this Republic of Korea, so keep that in mind." I didn't know much, but it was clear he was someone great. "Then, I'm spinning the roulette right now!"

"Ah." Of all things, King Man, who we were just talking about, came up. "Then, I'll go with King Man, set the other civilizations to random, and start right away!" I chose Prince difficulty, which was good for enjoying the stream moderately.

"Hmm..." It was a very ambiguous unique ability. In *Civilization*, amenities mean the satisfaction of the city's citizens. When satisfaction is high, it increases production and population growth, and in the opposite case, it decreases production and population growth, and barbarians can additionally spawn in the city. And the Torchbearers. They can be created from the Classical Era, and they have the advantage of being able to form a corps from the beginning, but...

"It would be a big deal if they die while defending with Torchbearers." If loyalty reaches 0, the city revolts and becomes a neutral Free City, so I had to be very careful when using them.

"If you're going to do that, isn't there no reason to play King Man?"

"No, no, that's not it, I'm just saying the performance is a bit like that." I read King Man's unique ability in detail again and started the game.