Then Let's Go With That

Then let's go with that.

"No unauthorized programs used..."

"A trait added with the new dungeons and systems..."

"Undiscovered skills and systems still..."

I read through the announcement from top to bottom. It wasn't so much that I felt obliged to spell things out for the viewers watching my stream — I was simply curious myself, so I went over it carefully.

When the notice wrapped up with its Thank you., a strange feeling settled over me.

'Undiscovered, huh.'

Was that their way of saying the game company actually knew the origin of the being called Lily? Or did even they have no idea?

"That's a no from me."

With a spirit of I saw it, didn't I?, I gave a little shrug.

Anyway, the answer was no. Whether they genuinely believed they knew, I couldn't say — but the answer's no, so no it is. Even if I marched straight into Nutri Company headquarters, seized the chairman by the collar, and demanded the truth, the odds of getting the answer I wanted would be slim.

Not that I'd have the strength or the capital to storm the place, mind you.

"Ah, LilyLily, thank you so much for the 300,000! Yes — tomorrow's a content day, so I'm planning to wrap up early."

There'd been a lot of incidents lately, and I had a feeling tomorrow's stream would run long. No need to push myself for no reason.

I glanced at the clock and quickly closed the donation window. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Reading the announcement had put me a bit behind schedule — apparently I'd kept the window open about three minutes past the original five.

"Not happening."

I shook my head and crossed both hands into an X.

I hadn't settled on a minimum or maximum donation amount yet. If I accepted everything as it came in a situation like this, I'd be stuck reading donations for hours on end again. Let's keep it to just these five minutes and think that problem over later.

"Hmm, who's to say? We're much closer than you'd imagine?"

In response to the somewhat cheeky question, I deliberately flashed an enigmatic smile at the camera. My blue eyes glinted like a meadow where night had just fallen.

Reading the chat sometimes reminded me of the children back in the village. Back then, too, one little prank was all it took for everyone to either burst out giggling or take it completely seriously.

"Just kidding."

Streaming, come to think of it, might not be such a bad thing after all.

"Ah!"

"What is it, hyung?"

"Donations are closed."

Inside the residence at the castle where the Black Moon rose. A man clad in black armor, a massive greatsword slung across his back, let out a groan as he watched the stream on a square window.

His name was Vlack — a popular streamer considered a major corporation in his own right on Twitch, and the organizer of the upcoming Twitch Mock Siege War.

Vlack had already asked Lily once about joining the siege war.

"Ah, I had it on in the background."

She was a newcomer who'd only started streaming a day or two ago, but thanks to her exceptional visuals and skill, she'd shot to enormous popularity, casually blowing past forty thousand viewers.

Vlack had noticed this too, and had planned to invite her to the siege war to rake in both entertainment value and attention — and, further down the line, even a guild invitation.

"I doubt she'd ever see the whispers, though."

"Wouldn't there be, what, thousands of them? Even I wouldn't read all that."

He didn't assume he was the only ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one thinking this way. Raphael of the Angel Guild had dropped a ten-million-won donation not long ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠ago, and countless offers must already be flooding in from guilds and the pro scene.

Which meant that donations were the only real line of communication left, apart from Twitch whispers, which were currently impossible to get through. Of course, with the verification badge and his name recognition, he could converse to some degree in chat — but had everyone not seen what happened with Raphael? Unless you put actual money on the table like a ten-million-won donation, meaningful conversation through chat alone would be next to impossible.

The elite member whose main weapon was the bow seemed to hit on a good idea and spoke up.

"Instead of that, you're close with Yena, right? Why not ask her?"

"No point sending anything. You think people haven't already thought of that?"

Ask any of the viewers watching Lily's stream who was closest to her, and nine out of ten would say Yena. Rumors even went around that Yena and Lily had known each other in real life from the very beginning. In truth, Yena had only met Lily by chance through the Newdlebak content, but because Lily took so little interest in everyone else, the misunderstanding kept breeding.

"By now Yena's inbox must be overflowing."

"We'll need ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to balance the siege war teams anyway — just meet up with her ahead of time and bring it up then."

"...Well, I suppose I should at least try talking."

Two weeks, maximum, until the teams were locked in. By then, he absolutely had to pull Lily into the siege war.

The next day arrived, and I met Yena early, before the content was set to begin. She gave me a light rundown of what we'd be doing today, and I nodded and told her I'd caught all three thousand.

"I said no way, no how, but I really didn't think you'd clear all three thousand."

"You're the one who told me to, weren't you?"

"I figured a thousand, tops. Deoen doesn't spawn that many monsters, so grinding out thousands is rough."

Purely in terms of time, you'd need to hunt for over twenty hours without rest to hit that pace. And that's assuming every monster died in a single hit.

Yena apparently thought I was something remarkable, but monster hunting was old hat to me. Not for nothing had I spent a good twenty years after retiring as Saintess doing little but fight my way across the land.

Well, to be precise, it wasn't that I wanted to — it was simply that my mere existence kept generating reasons to fight.

Yena clapped her hands together with a snap!

"Oh right, there's something I've been meaning to ask you."

"What is it?"

"How old are you, Lily? I'm twenty-five."

Age. My age.

I started to say twenty-one, then hesitated. Was claiming to be twenty-one really the right move? My actual age was far beyond that. But then again, if someone asked whether I acted like my real age, the answer was also no.

My body had neither grown nor aged a day past twenty, and thanks to the nature of the eternal-lived angels and demons, my temperament remained at the same level as my body. Among the angel-kind, there were those who'd lived for millennia yet still looked and acted like ten-year-olds — and conversely, there were demons who kept an old man's appearance and personality their entire lives.

As for me — well, not quite all the way to twenty, but I liked to think I'd kept at least the personality of someone in her twenties.

While I was lost in thought for a moment, Yena waved her hands.

"You don't have to answer if you'd rather not. Your voice is suuuper lovely, but I just can't place it. Whether you're my younger sister, my older sister — or maybe the same age as me."

"...How old do I look, then?"

"Hmm..."

Yena stared at me intently for a moment. Why was I getting nervous?

After gazing at me with a seriously contemplative look for a long while, Yena finally spoke.

"Twenty-three? Twenty-four? Somewhere around there, right? Or no — are you a bit younger than that...?"

"Then let's go with that."

"Huh?"

Not bad. That sounded about right. Twenty-one somehow felt a touch too young.