Internet Broadcasts in Nonhuman Pandemonium Are Dangerous

I knew a fair amount about internet broadcasts.

There was a streamer running the show, viewers watching it, and a chat window where the two sides talked. Sometimes a viewer sent a donation to a broadcaster they liked. On Earth, it was an utterly ordinary piece of culture.

And yet—

Thump!

"……."

Thump!

"……."

Thump!

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

I stared at the enormous heart pulsing right in front of my face.

"Who the hell sends a heart as a stream donation?!"

The thing was the size of a grown man's torso. Red vessels webbed its surface like spider silk, and every beat sent the air around it rippling like water. Worse, little mouths studded that surface, and the mouths were whispering.

A little scary. No—honestly, terrifying.

The design, though, was spectacular. A colossal heart bristling with mouths, floating in empty air and beating... as a creature fanatic, I couldn't help but admire it. Having the thing hover in the middle of my bedroom was an entirely separate problem.

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

And standing before me now was a beautiful woman with a clock for a head.

Orvelia—mistress of this mansion, and the benefactor who had saved me—stood in the doorway, gazing at the heart. Hundreds of pupils surfaced across her clock face and narrowed all at once.

"Would you care to explain?"

"Ah, well, you see..."

I scratched my head, and a scrape of metal rang from my CRT skull.

"I turned on a broadcast."

"...A broadcast?"

"Yes. Something like an internet stream..."

"Internet?"

"Ah. In this world I hear they call it the public information network."

Tick.

Orvelia's hands moved.

"The public information network..."

Slowly, she turned her head toward mine.

"Surely you do not mean you transmitted it yourself?"

"I do."

"..."

"Why?"

The pupils on her clock face drifted in different directions. Then, very carefully, she asked.

"Are you, by any chance, still on the air?"

"Ah."

I checked the screen.

"...Huh?"

More than before. And the chat was still a madhouse.

I stared at the chat and let out a sigh.

"Haa..."

That was when Orvelia came closer.

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

"Yes?"

"Pardon me for a moment."

She laid a hand on my CRT screen. The instant her cold fingertips brushed the glass, something astonishing happened.

Tick!

The chat floating on the screen froze, and the time inside it stopped dead.

"...Huh?"

I blinked.

"Whoa. You can do that too?"

"Yes. I cannot hold it for long, however."

Orvelia answered with perfect calm.

"Your broadcast seems a little different from an ordinary information network."

"It does?"

"Yes."

She studied my screen with close attention.

"This is not footage sent in from outside. You yourself—the being called Baek Hoon—are connected to the network."

"...?"

I had no idea what that meant, but I nodded anyway.

"Aha."

"Did you understand?"

"No."

"...Hoo hoo."

Orvelia laughed, soft and small.

"How honest you are."

When she took her hand away, the chat began to move again.

I read the chat and tilted my head.

"You must be pretty famous, Miss Orvelia."

"...A little."

That was her answer. The chat, however, seemed to disagree.

"Yes. I'm in her care."

I answered as if it were nothing, and the chat erupted with messages.

Reading the comments, I grew puzzled.

"Miss Orvelia."

"Yes?"

"The people here seem scared of you."

She smiled, gentle as ever.

"They might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠well be."

"Why?"

"Because I am a being who handles time."

"Is that a reason to be afraid?"

"Hoo hoo. Do you not think so, Mr. Baek Hoon?"

I shook my head.

"No. I told you before. I think it's cool."

Tick!

In that instant the clock hands spun a full circle.

"..."

Orvelia drew slowly toward me.

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

"Yes?"

"Those words..."

Her voice trembled, just a little.

"Could you say them in front of the others as well?"

"Of course."

I smiled.

"Because you're genuinely amazing, Miss Orvelia."

Dong!

A bell tolled through the entire mansion, and the chat exploded.

I tilted my head.

...Why is everyone acting like this?

All I'd done was compliment her.

In Nonhuman Pandemonium, there is an old unspoken law.

It is not a matter of etiquette. In this world, praise is closer to a declaration—that one acknowledges the other's existence, and accepts their authority. To tell the clockmaker who governs time that her power is beautiful carries a special meaning. It can be heard as I accept your time, and I will share in your eternity.

And Orvelia had just taken Baek Hoon's words exactly that way.

"...Hoo hoo."

When she laughed, the hundreds of pupils on her clock face turned toward Baek Hoon as one.

"Truly..."

Her voice dropped.

"How can you be this lovely?"

"Huh?"

"It is nothing."

Orvelia took Baek Hoon's hand.

"More importantly, Mr. Baek Hoon."

"Yes?"

"May I dispose of that heart for you?"

She indicated the crimson heart floating in the center of the room.

"Ah, yes. Please."

Baek Hoon let out a sigh of relief.

"Honestly, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with it."

"Hoo hoo. Do not worry."

Orvelia stepped up to the heart, and the mouths across its surface gaped open all at once.

She looked at the heart and spoke quietly.

"Return to your master."

The heartbeat quickened at once.

Thump, thump, thump!

Orvelia's clock hands ran backward.

Tick.

Space around the heart warped, and the heart began to shrink—or more precisely, to return to the state it had occupied before it ever appeared here.

"Whoa..."

Baek Hoon marveled.

"That really is time manipulation."

But in that instant a vast eye opened on the heart's surface, and a low voice rolled through the room.

"..."

Orvelia went still.

It was Queen Noctia. A fragment of her consciousness, sealed inside the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heart, had awakened.

Orvelia answered quietly.

"This is my mansion."

"And?"

"I cannot allow a dangerous object to be sent to my guest."

"A dangerous object, you say?"

The heart's pupil narrowed.

"It would do that child no harm at all."

"And how can you be certain of that?"

"Because I made it so."

Their gazes struck each other in the empty air, and for an instant the room grew heavy. Every clock on the walls began to shudder, and the shadows on the ceiling writhed as if they were alive.

Baek Hoon looked from one of them to the other.

...Huh?

Wait. Are they fighting? The thought hit, and he rushed to cut in.

"Excuse me!"

Both gazes snapped toward Baek Hoon at once.

"Yes, Mr. Baek Hoon?"

"Hm?"

I pointed at the heart.

"I really am grateful for the gift."

"Hoo hoo. Do you like it?"

"The design is incredibly cool."

The heart's pupil flew wide.

"...You think so?"

"Yes. I especially like the part with all the mouths."

"...Hoo hoo."

The queen's laughter rang through the room.

"You do have an eye, after all."

"But I don't have anywhere to keep it."

"Keep it?"

"Yes. It's too big to leave sitting in a bedroom, don't you think?"

The queen said:

"Then I'll make it small for you."

The heart contracted in a blink, the enormous organ shrinking until it was no bigger than a palm.

"Oh!"

Baek Hoon marveled.

"This'll do!"

"Hoo hoo. Does it please you?"

"Yes. Thank you!"

The heart's pupil curved like a crescent moon.

"Then next time, I'll send you something even better."

"Ah, you really don't have to go to any trouble..."

"Trouble?"

The queen laughed.

"I'm doing it because I want to."

The heart's eye closed, and the heavy pressure in the room vanished with it.

Baek Hoon picked up the shrunken heart.

"Whoa..."

On his palm, it beat in a steady rhythm. Warm. A little disgusting. And somehow cute.

"This is basically a pet heart."

"..."

I looked at the message and sighed.

Obsession Level again?

What on earth was this number supposed to mean?

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

Orvelia called to me.

"Yes?"

"Shall I keep that heart for you, for a little while?"

"Ah, it's all right."

I held the heart up.

"At this size, I think I can carry it around."

Tick.

Her clock hands stopped.

"...You intend to carry it with you?"

"Yes."

"Always?"

"Well, if I had a bag or something, I'd put it in there."

Orvelia smiled, slowly.

"Hoo hoo. I see."

She looked at the heart in my hand. Somehow that gaze felt a little cold.

"In that case..."

She unfastened a small pocket watch from her wrist. A beautiful thing, hung on a golden chain.

"Would you accept this as well?"

"Huh?"

I blinked.

"You're giving it to me?"

"Yes."

Orvelia set the pocket watch on my palm.

"It is something I made myself."

"Wow, it's pretty."

"Hoo hoo. Do you like it?"

"A lot!"

I looked the pocket watch over carefully. A tiny pupil was engraved on its face, and where a second hand should have been, a silver thread was moving.

"Is this some kind of magic item?"

"Yes. In a dangerous moment, it can stop time for a little while."

"...For real?"

"Of course."

My mouth fell open.

"Wow. Isn't this incredibly precious?"

"To me, it is not so precious a thing."

She smiled, soft as silk.

"If I may give it to you, Mr. Baek Hoon, then I am glad."

"Thank you so much!"

I closed my hand around the pocket watch as if it might vanish.

"..."

I read the description.

She could sense my location and my condition?

Ah. Like an emergency contact?

Then it was actually a good thing. In a world this dangerous, being able to reach someone I could trust was an enormous advantage.

I hung the pocket watch around my neck.

"I'll put it to good use!"

Orvelia's clock hands moved quickly.

"...Yes."

She looked at the watch resting against my chest.

"Please..."

Her voice lowered.

"Keep it on your person. Always."

The broadcast resumed. I sat on the bed and looked at the chat.

"Whoa. Even more of them."

Wait. Was it all right to call them people? They were nonhumans, so maybe I ought to say beings.

I worried over it for a moment, then shook my head. Whatever. What did it matter?

"Anyway, everyone!"

I waved at the screen.

"That's all for today's broadcast!"

The chat exploded on the spot.

I laughed.

"I'll probably do it again tomorrow."

A storm of cheers flooded the chat.

I waved.

"Then have a good night, all of you!"

"Whew..."

I flopped back onto the bed. It had been more fun than I'd expected. Talking with nonhumans was nice, and getting to know so many different beings was nice too. There had been a slightly dangerous moment, sure—

"But I'd call this a success."

I smiled, satisfied.

That was when Orvelia asked, quietly.

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

"Yes?"

"Do you intend to broadcast again tomorrow?"

"Yes. Probably."

"...I see."

She spoke with care.

"Then... may I stay beside you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

I answered without a second thought.

"I think it'd be even more fun if we streamed together."

Tick.

Her clock hands stopped.

"...Together?"

"Yes. You'd be on the broadcast too, Miss Orvelia."

"..."

For a while she said nothing. Then, slowly, she laughed.

"Hoo hoo hoo."

There was a joy in it she could not hide.

I tilted my head.

"Huh?"

"It is nothing."

She came closer and carefully drew the blanket over me.

"Sleep now."

"Ah. Okay."

"Sweet dreams."

"You too, Miss ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Orvelia."

She paused in the doorway, then looked back at me.

"Mr. Baek Hoon."

"Yes?"

"Tomorrow as well..."

Her clock hands moved, gentle.

I smiled.

"Obviously."

In that moment, every pupil on Orvelia's clock face closed at once.

"...Thank you."

She quietly shut the door.

That night, a single piece of news raced across the Nonhuman Pandemonium Public Information Network.

And in a chat room on the High-tier anonymous board, a new argument was already underway.

And so the misunderstanding around Baek Hoon only grew.

At that same hour, Queen Noctia was laughing in her palace.

"Hoo hoo hoo."

She gazed at an image floating in the air. Within it, Baek Hoon slept. And on his CRT screen hovered a small, smiling face.

"What a cute child."

The queen brushed a finger over the head of the Baek Hoon in the image.

"And yet..."

Her voice dropped.

"To think the clockmaker would try to claim him first."

She considered it a moment, then slowly smiled.

"Then I shall have to move as well."

Beneath the throne, a shadow took shape.

"Command me, my queen."

"Prepare."

"Prepare what, if I may ask?"

The queen looked at Baek Hoon in the image.

"A visiting gift."

A red star glittered in the void of her.

"Tomorrow, I am going to meet him myself."

The shadow trembled.

"...My queen. Surely you do not mean to descend in person?"

"I do."

She answered as if it were nothing at all.

"A queen's descent would strike the entire surrounding region with grave—"

"Then I only have to hold my power back a little."

The queen laughed.

"Just enough that the child won't be startled."

She rose from the throne, and murmured in a voice bright with delight.

"I'm looking forward to it."

In that moment, the whole of the Black City began to tremble. Thousands of spires bowed their heads as one, and the shadows drifting through the sky screamed. The queen paid them no mind. Her attention was fixed on a single being.

"Baek Hoon."

She spoke his name.

Meanwhile Baek Hoon, who knew none of this, mumbled in his sleep.

"...Ah."

A small smiling face rose on his CRT screen.

"Nonhumans... are the best..."

And he sank back into a deep sleep.

That night, the person in question did not so much as dream that one of the most dangerous beings in Nonhuman Pandemonium had begun to move—for the sake of meeting Baek Hoon.