The Day the Chat Turned Into a Wanted List
Physiognomy. It refers to judging a person's character, temperament, and future by their outward facial features. 'It's been a while since I last read someone's face.'
In my rookie fortune-teller days, physiognomy was what kept me fed. Those times were genuinely fun. I wandered the world, drifting from place to place.
My brief stroll down memory lane ended as I entered the fan cafe and checked the first uploaded photo.
I immediately analyzed the chubby man's face. Both corners of his mouth turned up and his ears looked soft...
"No major wealth luck or romance luck. He looks passive with weak willpower."
"I'm serious! Just looking at him you can tell he hates working out."
Isn't that true for literally everyone?
"Ugh, then don't believe me."
I moved on to the next post. This time it was a sharp-featured man. I let out a gasp. I hadn't expected one to show up so soon.
"Whoa... that's a straight-up criminal face."
"Of course there is. Just looking at it screams arsonist vibes."
How could they not know? Were everyone's eyes broken? No one else might be able to fool my eyes, though the actual chance of them committing a real crime was extremely low.
How the hell did you know? He's a real arsonist lmao
"......?"
The sudden donation left both the viewers and me stunned. Question marks flooded the chat as everyone searched the image to verify if it was real.
"......"
The search brought up wanted posters floating around the internet. It was real. He really was an arsonist.
"Um, please don't use other people's photos like that."
It seemed one viewer had jokingly uploaded a criminal's face instead of his own. Since it was the first time, I ended it with a warning. There would be no next time.
"No. I didn't know it was actually real either."
I don't even watch the news in the first place. Even from the person who got it right, the whole thing felt incredibly awkward.
"Not exactly. Crime is usually tied to psychological factors too, so it's possible to be wrong."
Take this example. There's a child with a murderer's face, born into a wealthy family with kind parents. The kid grows up with good social relationships and does well in society. Would that person actually commit murder?
The answer was obviously 'no.' That's why, back in the other world, whenever someone with a criminal face came for a reading, I would advise them to live honestly instead of committing crimes. I never reported them.
"Well, we can't stop the content here, so shall we keep going?"
"Come on, what's there to feel uneasy about? You guys worry too much."
I continued the content. It had started normally so I thought it would go smoothly, but at some point strange photos began appearing.
"Sex offender face."
Next photo.
"Murderer face."
Next photo.
"Hacker face."
Next photo.
"Drug addict face."
Next photo.
"Scammer face."
.
.
.
"Violence... no, school violence face."
Why were more and more criminal faces showing up as time went on?
Before I knew it, the content had transformed from 'face reading' into 'guess the crime.'
There was a limit to my patience.
"No, upload your own faces! Stop sending me criminals' faces!"
The viewers had started out impressed, but their mischievous sides kicked in. Not a single one uploaded their own photo; they were all busy posting criminals' faces instead.
"I don't find it fun at all!"
The content I had painstakingly prepared for the viewers was completely ruined. Irritation boiled up inside me.
I checked the next post.
"......"
The moment I saw the photo, annoyance surged through me. I immediately texted my manager, Choi Ha-yul.
The mental shock I gave her back then must have been intense. I couldn't tell what her original personality was like, but ever since then it felt like her personality had done a complete 180.
I took a deep breath and looked at the next post.
"......"
This time a handsome man's face appeared. Any ordinary woman would have felt good, but I was different.
"...Fuck! This one's a drug lord face! Stop uploading these! Do I look like a cop?!"
THUD THUD THUD THUD!!!
I shot up from my chair and stomped the floor, unleashing all the anger I'd been holding back. I was sick of looking at criminals' faces.
With irritation burning in my eyes, I checked the chat.
"......?"
Why were there so many question marks? Had my behavior been that weird?
I suddenly felt embarrassed. Just as I was wondering, a donation that solved my question arrived.
This guy's from Monstu Idol lol
"......!"
At the word 'idol' I immediately went to Namu Wiki and searched for Monstu.
Monstu, official name Monster To. Stage name Roun. A first-tier male idol from one of Korea's top three entertainment companies and an A-class Awakener in the same Haeyeon Guild as Rona. In short, an insanely successful Awakener.
"......"
I had to salvage this situation somehow. Otherwise it looked like a controversy line would be added to my dark wiki page.
"D-do you guys even believe in things like physiognomy these days? MBTI is the trend now!"
"...I'll end the content here."
In the end, the content had to be terminated early.
Please do the Chairman's post as the last one
"The Chairman?"
There was only one Chairman in our chat. The person who had donated four million won on the second day of streaming.
However, the Chairman wasn't a passionate viewer. He was simply the type to casually toss ten thousand won the moment the stream started.
"...Shall we take a look?"
"It's not because of the money, okay."
It was simply because he was someone I was grateful to. It definitely wasn't because gacha pulls had been coming out a lot lately.
I looked at the post the Chairman had uploaded. What could someone who never even typed in chat have written?
"......"
The photo the Chairman uploaded was of a handsome foreign man with blond hair and blue eyes. The viewers were sending praises to the brave—no, the foolish—Chairman.
"Chairman, one-month ban."
The final and most important rule of our chat.
*Mentioning the Prophet results in an immediate permanent ban with no warning.*
It used to be a ban for comparing him to me, but now even mentioning the word itself was grounds for a ban. Since it was the Chairman, I ended it at one month. Next time it would be permanent.
From what I'd heard from the viewers, Earth's Prophet was the real deal who could see the future properly. But because of all the church bastards, the word 'prophet' itself filled me with disgust. Deep down, I even suspected that guy might be a scammer too.
I wasn't in the mood to continue broadcasting.
"That's it for today's stream. I'll be back tomorrow."
I ignored the viewers' complaints and pressed the end-stream button. I didn't want to end it either, but today I needed to sleep early. I had a lunch appointment with Rona tomorrow.
9 a.m. Rona, who had arrived at the guild, headed toward the conference room and let out a sigh at the same time.
'Ugh, I don't want to work.'
A sigh escaped her before she even started. Her peers were probably either in lectures or still sleeping at this hour, yet here she was, the only one showing up for work.
'Maybe I should quit being a hunter and go freelance?'
People would nag her about why she would leave a perfectly good major company to freelance, but workload varied from person to person. As an S-class hunter, Rona had to fight on the front lines the moment 1st-class monsters capable of destroying an entire country appeared.
She had saved enough money anyway. Rona made up her mind not to renew her contract next time.
Creak.
When she opened the door, someone had already arrived before her.
"Senior, good morning!"
A handsome man greeted Rona. She hadn't expected to run into him in the morning. Rona quickly switched on her social-mode smile.
"Want to have a lunch date with me today?"
"Sorry, Roun, but I have a lunch appointment today. Let's do it another time."
"Heh, who is it? A guy?"
'Can you please shut the fuck up? Your breath stinks from that mouth.'
She wanted to say it but held back. She really wanted to swear at him, but she answered with the brightest smile she could manage.
"No, a woman. She's the older sister of a close friend."
Rona always wondered. Why had the guild master recruited someone like this? An idol throwing flirtatious remarks at women made no sense to her. What would he say to his fans if they ever found out?
Creak.
"What are you doing?"
"Right? Must be because they're the same age."
Hunters who looked to be in their mid-thirties appeared. They were the guild master and vice guild master of Haeyeon Guild. Rona temporarily swallowed her rising anger, sat in a chair, and joined the meeting.
The meeting was the same as always. How many monsters they had taken down this year, total compensation, how to keep rival guilds in check, and other various topics.
"Alright, this is the last item. We've received a request for the Aerial Fortress. Who wants to go?"
"......"
No one spoke. It was obvious. The Aerial Fortress was the habitat of insect-type monsters, and there wasn't a single person in the world who liked bugs.
"Noona, wanna go with me?"
Roun was pestering her again. It had happened so many times that she didn't even feel annoyed anymore.
"I'm not going. Why would I go there?"
"Rona, how about you take this one? Your performance numbers are falling behind the rest of the guild."
"Excuse me? Really?"
The vice guild master's words instantly made her suspicious. She had taken a short break because of the university festival, but she never imagined she would be behind that idol who was also doing celebrity activities.
Her pride was wounded.
"...Fine. But I'll go alone."
"Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself? Going with Roun might be..."
"It's fine."
Hunting a 1st-class monster alone was better than going with this guy.
"Guild Master noona, I have a favor to ask. If I successfully complete this request, please grant my wish."
Rona looked at the middle-aged woman sitting diagonally to her right. The middle-aged woman smoking a cigarette was one of only two S-class Awakeners in Haeyeon Guild along with Rona. She would understand. If Rona cleared the Aerial Fortress alone, it would raise Haeyeon Guild's reputation that much.
"......"
The guild master made an OK sign with her fingers.
Done. Rona stood up from her seat.
"Since the meeting is over, I'll head out to eat."
Rona left the conference room with a spring in her step. This was the perfect chance to kick out one annoying bastard.
Suddenly, a good idea popped into Rona's head.
'Should I ask Sister Seong-a to come with me this time?'