Cosplay? (1)
“Aigoo.”
Deep into the dark night. I'd somehow streamed for nearly ten hours straight, leaving my whole body aching and stiff. Still, the broadcast had gone off without a hitch—better than I'd hoped—and the earnings were shockingly good. My body felt wrecked, but I was satisfied.
A month ago, that wild night stream had pulled in some aggro, and I'd had a tiny, tiny bit of hope it'd draw a crowd. But I never imagined this many people would show up. Sure, the first hour or so was brutal—no one coming in, just dead air.
Uwaaaah~ With the stream finally over, I stretched out my stiff body and flopped onto the bed. The urge to just pass out right there was overwhelming. I should shower first... but hmm. I hadn't gone outside anyway, and blow-drying my hair would take forever. Maybe skip it? Back when I was a guy, I'd be greasy by now and a shower would've felt amazing. But these days? No oil, no smell.
“Sniff sniff.”
Lifted my arm and took a whiff—still that fresh, natural scent from my own body. Not shampoo or body wash, just me. It'd only been about a month since the change, but this was one of the best parts. Used to be, twelve hours after washing and my hair and face felt oily. Now? Nothing like that. Bliss.
“Ah. But damn, I'm starving all of a sudden.”
I'd gotten hooked sniffing myself, and now a deep, gnawing hunger hit—one I usually didn't feel.
“Oh no...”
Checked the app just in case. Mana was down below 10%. I'd taken off my glasses at home since I didn't need them, and it had been ages since I'd worn them properly. Forgot all about the time limit. Back at the PC bang job, I checked mana constantly with the glasses on. How long had it been since I quit and went full NEET? Already forgetting like this. If I hadn't felt the hunger and kept them on cluelessly, they might've shattered. Gave me chills. These things cost ten million won.
Mana Remaining: Less than 10%
Hurriedly ditched the glasses and fired up the delivery app.
Uwaaaah. Was it the penalty kicking in from low mana? My mild hunger ramped up fast, like I'd skipped several meals. Sure, I had skipped some, but I'd managed mana fine before. As a NEET, no spending meant no penalties—or so I thought. Never imagined it'd hit this hard. And on top of that, a growing horniness started creeping in. Face heating up even alone.
“Uwaaaaa. First, the fastest place.”
Years of solo living meant I knew all the local delivery gems. Quick-picked what I craved. Pizza today, huh. Food God. Food God wants pizza too, right? Hunger messing with my head, I got approval from the silent Food God, placed the order, and face-planted on the bed.
Weeeeng. Weeeeng.
Clutching my starving gut, trying to drown out the horny thoughts by humming the national anthem in my head—then my phone rang.
“Who calls this late?”
Checked: saved number. Huh? The pizza place?
“Hello?”
“Hello? This is Dis Pizza. You're the customer who ordered pizza, right?”
“Yeah. Payment's done. Something wrong?”
“No issue. Just confirming—you ordered all these items?”
“Ah, yeah. Bring 'em all.”
“Got it. Thank you.”
“Oh! Forgot—no pickles, please.”
“Sure. Noted. Thank you.”
Guess the huge order looked suspicious—like a fake one. Late night, ten pizzas? Yeah, understandable. But damn, hunger made me order without thinking. With cola, it was nearly 300,000 won just for pizzas. I'd forgotten since I hadn't burned much mana lately, eating normal portions. Refilling the tank means tons of food. Food budget gonna be okay? At the job, I scraped by with calorie-dense cheap stuff like hazelnut jam or chocolate. Even that ate up almost my entire daily wage. And lately, even the Food God seemed bored with repeats—mana recovery dropping. Silver lining? Less tears now. Early days, they poured nonstop. Now? Not blinding me. Still more than with other foods, though. Desserts hit hardest—convenience store sweets got big reactions too. Loves sweets, apparently. Homemade desserts might make me bawl. ...Kinda scary. Desserts sparingly. Sorry, Food God. Won't hear it, but felt bad. Clutched my gut again, sprawled on the bed for ages. Same-place orders probably delayed it. Over an hour—no pizza. Next time, spread across shops. Vowed that, hummed anthem piously—then bell and delivery guy's voice.
“Pizza!”
“Yeees!”
Swallowed drool unconsciously, bolted to the door like a dog.
“Whoa!”
“Ah, sorry! G-good work out there.”
Too excited, forgot to say leave it at the door—dashed out. Guy startled.
“N-no problem...”
Door flung open—worried he got hurt, apologized meekly. He was still dazed.
“Thanks. Drive safe...”
Embarrassed, mumbled farewell, shut door quick. Pizzas bundled five each for easy carry. Hauled to room, opened boxes. Bulgogi, pepperoni, quattro cheese, shrimp, super supreme—five kinds, cheese crust for the rim, two each: ten total. For calories, big cola bottles—not zero—five of 'em. Should overfill mana easy.
“Mmm~ smell.”
Nutty cheese, tomato sauce filled the room. Saliva exploded. Swallowed, unpacked fast. First up: quattro cheese. Tomato sauce, four cheeses—sweet, tangy, nutty assault on the nose.
“Heh. Alright... time to... eat...”
Hot steam, cheese stretching hypnotically—about to bite when it hit me. With food costs skyrocketing, maybe start mukbang now? Wild thought amid this insane hunger, but I laughed at myself for it.
“Yeah. Let's do it. Only way to offset delivery fees.”
Plus, like Seung-yoon said, might blow up on YouTube too? Upload clips there—not just live. Action fast. Pre-stream, I was nervous wreck. Now hunting broadcast angles myself? First stream success must've boosted me. Proactive for once.
Angled cam low, cleared chair, positioned pizza table for max view.
“This should show good.”
Preview looked solid. Time to start? Clicked broadcast. Floor-sitting made monitor chat hard—used phone for chat, my stream too. All set. Unlike debut, followers piled in fast—stream filling quick. Way hotter than daytime debut.
Kya. Everyone was waiting! Believed in me!
Viewers pouring in, question marks flying—then it hit: what I'd messed up.
Ah, shit. No glasses.
Brain blanked. Froze solid. But hunger moved my arm anyway.
“Nom nom.”
Whatever. Pizza was delicious. Tastier than usual—Food God thrilled again. Had I never had pizza before?
Drip drip. Tears rolling. What a handful. Food God, what world did you live in? What'd you eat? More dramatic than foreigners trying Korean food in those nationalist vids.
If it could hear, I'd say:
“Ahh, this? It's called pizza. One of Earth's everyday foods.”