Offending
< p >“Get ready to evacuate. We’re landing now!”
< p >“…Finally, the helicopter’s here.”
< p >[Gim Se-mo-nim donated 100,000 won!]
< p >“I love you, really, really, Eugene-sensei… I was on the verge of feeling so gross that I almost cried at home, but this… I was cheering so loud in my living room that my family gave me the weirdest looks. Thank you so much…”
< p >“Wow, aaah!”
< p >“Even if it’s a lie, when I imagined chopping off that axe-thrower with an axe, I was so happy I sobbed out loud.”
< p >“I can’t even find words. You’re so cool, Eugene! What kind of person are you?!”
< p >“From now on, I’ll call you ‘Light Eugene’. Thank you so much, sensei.”
< p >“That’s why everyone watches hero movies, lol.”
< p >“Not just cracked ribs—his whole body was basically pulverized. Sensei…?”
< p >Cheering erupted. Pure, unfiltered cheering filled the air.
< p >Still leaning against the wall, Harmony smiled bashfully, and her countless viewers shared the moment. Beyond them, Eugene pulled the tomahawk from the enemy user’s neck and reclaimed it.
< p >A brief silence followed. The severed head rolled aside and the body scattered like dust. It was truly an end worthy of a villain.
< p >As always, with that slightly indifferent expression, Eugene bound the tomahawk to his back and approached Harmony. Dawn was breaking. The morning sun glistened, caressing the walls of the New York buildings.
< p >The sound of crunching snow accompanied a gentle hand reaching toward her. She was receiving treatment, but her strength was still lacking.
< p >Eugene carefully lifted his hand, but it soon gave out and hung limply downward.
< p >“I’ve got you. Let’s go.”
< p >But Eugene could not allow her hand to fall.
< p >Their clasped hands were cold from the gloves; no warmth passed through them. Yet the power in those palms was overflowing.
< p >With a groan, he braced his legs and rose. The effort was greater than he expected. A short, embarrassed whimper escaped Harmony’s lips.
< p >Contrary to expectation, she did not collapse.
< p >“Be careful.”
< p >“Ah… uh…”
< p >It was the tail wrapped firmly around her waist.
< p >One arm draped over the opposite shoulder, Eugene supported Harmony and moved slowly to match her pace. A trail of dripping snow left faint marks on the ground.
< p >Hovering high above, the helicopter began its slow descent toward the landing pad. A strong, freezing gust struck; the snow that refused to freeze whipped wildly in every direction.
< p >With careful effort, the high jaw lowered. The four-person cockpit doors opened, and the pilot’s intercom voice filled their ears.
< p >—[20 seconds until departure. Please board safely.]
< p >“Aha…”
< p >“I’ll help you in. Sit down.”
< p >Gently holding her waist, he pushed Harmony through the open door. A cute squeak escaped, but Eugene only offered a small smile at the corner of his mouth.
< p >With a short groan, she settled into the seat. The cockpit doors closed behind them. The cold air rushing in began to warm rapidly.
< p >—[10 seconds until departure!]
< p >“…There are so many strange people in this world.”
< p >Even though the seat was hard, the comfort was incomparable to before. Deeply sinking into the chair, Harmony muttered to herself.
< p >Eugene, who had removed his gloves and was massaging his hands, added,
< p >“There have always been such people in the past, and there will be many now. But why does it seem as if there are even more since modern times?”
< p >“I wonder…”
< p >“It’s simple. All the people who used to do that openly are dead now.”
< p >With a small sigh, she gazed out the window at the rising sun.
< p >“In this modern society where physical punishment for offensive words is impossible, the number of people who freely speak has increased. There’s no reason for them to stop acting, since they face no consequences.”
< p >“Ah, so in other words… even if they insult someone, it doesn’t harm them, so they keep doing it?”
< p >“Exactly.”
< p >Eugene gently wiped the blade of the tomahawk secured to his back.
< p >“That’s why, even for the sake of people like that, sometimes extreme methods are necessary.”
< p >—[Sensei, you only know how to shoot guns? Why are you giving a humanities lecture too?]
< p >—[Summary: Insolent people, we’ll smash their heads physically. Watch your manners.]
< p >—[The content sounds old-fashioned, but the action is way too brutal lol]
< p >—[To see someone actually act on what they say like this is hilarious lol] < p >—[We’re so grateful you helped poor Harmony escape!]
< p >“…”
< p >Slightly amused, Harmony let out a small laugh and nodded. It was truly something only Eugene would say.
< p >Words needed power to convince. Many tried to gain that power by bolstering their logic… but becoming the kind of person to speak such words was also one method.
< p >Before Harmony, the person who had spoken was clearly the latter.
< p >The sun was rising beyond the helicopter window.
< p >After a fierce battle, the two returned to the base bathed in brilliant orange light.
< p >It was the third day in Dark Zone for Harmony.
< p >“…Ah, anyway. Today was really tough. I never imagined I’d have to go through something like this, but I’m glad we managed to wrap it up somehow.”
< p >A private space set aside for those using just-chat in the virtual reality.
< p >Inside it, the green cat-eared avatar—whose avatar would smell sweet like mint if licked—lay tiredly on the chair with a fake-exhausted expression.
< p >It had been nine hours since she started the stream, three hours in real time. Normally, spending hours in VR versus the body was fine, but today it was not.
< p >Although she was okay physically, it did not mean she was maintaining her usual mental state.
< p >In short, she was only now starting to feel the aftermath of the storm.
< p >[Meuwemium-nim donated 1,000 won!]
< p >—[Even thinking about it now is terrifying. If not for you, today’s stream might have been completely ruined.]
< p >“Thank you for the donation, Meuwemium-nim… I’m grateful you were worried. The thing is, if it had been just me, it would have been fine, but you’re worried about all the viewers too. That’s not right.”
< p >Even after nearly six years of streaming, experiencing all kinds of mental pain and various events, some things still refused to become familiar.
< p >And even more so, receiving the direct hostility of another person in the virtual reality was something she had never experienced before, along with almost everyone else.
< p >Considering that, Harmony had handled the current situation astonishingly composedly.
< p >“From now on, all co-streamers must be recruited only from the fan cafe. And if I ever have to play a mode with a sniper risk again like today, I’ll kill every single person who comes. Do you get it?”
< p >[Mitewailightlife-nim donated 10,000 won!]
< p >—[Sensei Eugene, are you there? After only three days, our poor Harmony became a murder weapon. Please take responsibility and bury her in the grave!]
< p >—[I can hear applause from somewhere. lol] < p >—[What kind of Dark Zone is this that turned our once-unbreakable Harmony into this? lol] < p >—[It’s a classic black magic arc 8/10] < p >—[Hitting a stranger is basic etiquette, and it’s mentioned in Goryeo blood melon too] < p >—[People who cling when you don’t do co-stream in the first place are the strange ones]
< p >“Thank you for the donation, Mitewailightlife-nim. Oh, what kind of words are those. I’m still far from catching up to Eugene. I’ll work harder.”
< p >The chat was in chaos, of course, but unlike the viewers who accepted it half as a joke, Harmony was speaking from the heart.
< p >Conversely, if she had been as strong as Eugene, would the snipers have targeted her? It was an extreme example, but not entirely wrong.
< p >Even on the modern society built on the foundation of law, the law of power still applied, and a minimum basis was required to wield it.
< p >Separate from the fact that viewers were a crowd of supporters, having a basis to solve whatever situation arose.
< p >But that did not mean she felt like turning the Dark Zone back on.
< p >After quickly typing a summary message, Harmony added,
< p >“Anyway, today… since I’m quite tired, I’ll end the stream here. Please don’t worry about what happened today, and see you again tomorrow in good health. Bye, fans!”
< p >Srrr.
< p >The stream ended. The screen went black, and the familiar ceiling came into view. The living room. She had been lying there for about three hours, so her body felt stiff.
< p >Carefully pushing herself up, countless messages popped up in front of her eyes.
< p >—[300+ messages from Luddite, Kim Stone, and several others for well-wishing. Do you want to check?]
< p >—[58 unanswered calls.]
< p >“Ah, there are so many…”
< p >Everyone was pretending not to care, but in truth, many people were worried.
< p >The content of those messages would be similar to the ones sent when she barely survived the tutorial last time. She could guess that much. The tone had probably become a bit more worrying.
< p >A loud ringing sound rang out. The phone was ringing.
< p >Since the stream had ended, she decided to answer the calls. The call that came at a good time was from her main video editor, Luddite.
< p >“Hello? No, editor-nim. Why did you call so many times?”
< p >—[What, so I shouldn’t call? After something like this happened? It’s not just sniping—it’s language violence. By the way, I’ve been collecting evidence to report it straight to the cyber investigation unit for other people too.]
< p >“…Yes. Since it’s a crime, we have to handle it decisively…”
< p >The user had claimed he was appealing with a weak complaint and appeal and didn’t care, but even if the iron fist of the law struck, could he maintain that stance?
< p >He said he had never broadcast like this himself, so fundamentally he knew nothing.
< p >Once the excitement died down, a more practical conversation began.
< p >—[…So, what will you do from now on? This video is…]
< p >“There will be many people who find it uncomfortable, so I’ll have to think about it. Until then, don’t edit and leave it alone.”
< p >—[Understood. I’ll tell the others the same. Anyway, I’m really glad. If it weren’t for that… Eugene-sensei, it would have been bad.]
< p >“Aha…”
< p >Chuckling awkwardly, she added one more line.
< p >“I didn’t know what sniping was, but I knew from the beginning that betrayal would happen. I didn’t hear the full details, but Eugene told me.”
< p >—[Huh? What do you mean? You knew?]
< p >“Yes. And later I found out that the bag we made for that user had a bomb hidden by Eugene. I pressed the trigger, right? That was it.”
< p >—[Wow, really… no…]
< p >The sigh that lost its words made her feel surprisingly good even though she was not being praised.
< p >Having worked with this editor for so long, she had a rough idea of what the expression on the other side of the screen would be. She expected the topic would shift soon.
< p >—[…] Anyway, I get it. I called for another reason… Ah, right. Almost all the other edited videos are complete. I’ll upload the second and third today and tomorrow.
< p >“Ah, really? Could I check the videos?”
< p >—[I already sent them by engram, so check and let me know if there’s anything weird.]
< p >“Even if I say that, there won’t be anything weird. He’s the one among the people I’ve edited for who I trust most with editing.”
< p >“Anyway, the stream is over. It was perfectly timed for a ridiculously hungry 10 p.m. Because I had eaten dinner lightly earlier, the stomach was rumbling loudly.”
< p >“I was supposed to watch the videos Luddite sent and eat midnight food today… but I told myself I’d get stronger, and now I can’t even think about midnight food.”
< p >After ending the call and pulling off her hoodie, a soft, plump belly peeked out—soft like mochi.
< p >Soft.
< p >“…Ugh, this won’t do.”
< p >…But she would eat midnight food only until today.
< p >Sending the freshly warm video Luddite had just sent to Eugene, Harmony lost today’s fight against herself too.
< p >It was summer.