The Server Burns

Land Story / What's Your Angle? / After the first day of the server. Angel called Akgyeon right after he ended his stream. Given Angel's usual habit of avoiding controversy, even she was surprised by her own actions. But Akgyeon didn't so much as change his expression as he replied with his usual nonchalance.

"What angle? There's no angle. I'm just doing whatever makes the stream fun."

/Even so, you've crossed the line./

"Line? When have we ever had one of those?"

When Akgyeon chuckled and asked, Angel's voice grew a little louder.

/If you keep acting like this, I won't have a choice./

"What choice?"

/I'll have you removed from the server immediately—/

"C'mon, don't say stuff that'll hurt my feelings. If you were gonna do that, you wouldn't have invited me in the first place."

/....../

Angel fell silent. Sensing something from her reaction, Akgyeon asked with certainty, "Who put you up to this?"

/...What do you mean?/

"Don't play dumb. Was it... BK Entertainment? Did their CEO tell you to do it?"

/......!!/

Exactly the reaction he'd been waiting for. A smile spread across Akgyeon's face.

"So you did get your orders. I got curious and did some digging. It was pretty entertaining."

The debut of Korea's top idol as a VTuber. For Akgyeon, who lived off controversy every single day, it was prey he couldn't ignore. Naturally, he'd started digging for weaknesses like always, and as a result, he'd managed to get his hands on quite a few of them online. That was how Akgyeon had survived this long even with his provocative concept.

But then—

"While I was at it, I found something interesting."

While investigating Sung Eunha ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and BK Entertainment, he'd stumbled upon an unexpected windfall. Not just any dirt—this was leverage that could shake a two-million-subscriber VTuber.

"Black Horizon. That's your MCN, right?"

/....../

The silence was confirmation. Akgyeon continued.

"Failed to pay off the debt from the Jamsil concert and went ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bankrupt. Then got acquired and merged into BK Entertainment, reorganized as a division. The division's name was the 'New Media Business Division.'"

/....../

"But wait—what's this? A recent restructuring merged the New Media Division under the Idol Division?"

No coincidence could explain this. Otherwise, it made no sense for the lofty queen of VTubers with two million subscribers to invite a walking pile of filth like him onto her server.

'I figured someone was desperate to burn someone else alive, but now I get the picture...'

Akgyeon didn't particularly enjoy being used like this. It felt unpleasant, like he was being made to dance on someone else's stage.

Just then, Angel tried to deflect.

/I-I don't know what you're talking about. If you're trying to blackmail me with such unreliable information.../

"Nah, I'm not blackmailing you. Besides, this server was never properly made, was it? You just scraped some code off the internet and threw it together in a couple weeks, right?"

/...That is blackmail./

In reality, Bankruptcy Heaven had been hastily assembled in two weeks under pressure from CEO Kim Youngho. As a result, minor bugs kept popping up, but Angel's unique management had been keeping complaints in check. Akgyeon spoke in a playful tone.

"Let's just wash our hands of this and do our own thing. Fellow industry folks helping each other out, you know?"

Angel asked suspiciously, /...What do you want?/

"I don't want anything. Just look the other way no matter what I do on the server."

/That's.../

It was something she couldn't handle. Incidents on a completely different scale from before were bound to erupt. Even if she were alone, this was a massive server with countless streamers. She couldn't just stand by and let others get caught in the crossfire.

While she hesitated, Akgyeon added, "And who knows? I might even stir up some controversy juicy enough to bury someone."

/....../

"I hate being ordered to do it, but causing controversy on my own? That's my specialty."

She had no other choice. Angel reluctantly accepted his proposal.

And the next day, a riot broke out in the Bankruptcy Heaven server.

/So I can join starting today??/

A call from Latte noona. Through the speaker came a noisy background, and I nodded as I replied.

"Yeah. I already talked to Angel yesterday."

/Faster than I expected... With your skills, I figured it'd take at least a few days./

Another jab at my gaming ability, as usual. I answered casually.

"I got lucky. The gambling went better than expected."

/Gambling? An idol? Don't tell me.../

"...It's not like that."

Honestly, this noona. Does she only think of that one person whenever idols and gambling come up in the same sentence...?

'Though it was an incident with that much impact.'

I thought of the person who was probably finishing up their arrest investigation right about now, then asked Latte noona, "Are you logging in right now?"

/Yeah. I started late, so I gotta hustle. What about you?/

"I was thinking of heading in soon too."

No matter how much money I'd made ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from gambling yesterday, I had no intention of dragging my feet.

'I haven't accomplished a single thing I came to this server for, after all.'

I hadn't joined the server to make a ton of money. I'd started it just to hang out with other streamers and live a slow life. Sure, slow life was the genre even light novels got roasted for being the most boring, but... sometimes you needed a break like this. Yesterday's mess with Akgyeon had stressed me out quite a bit, too.

Latte noona continued, /Want to team up while we're at it?/

"Should we?"

/Yeah. I still don't know the server well, so I'd appreciate some guidance./

There was no reason to refuse. It had been a while since we'd collabed because of the tournament, and there was that culture on streamer servers where the inviter played babysitter to the invitee anyway.

"Sounds good to me. I'll log in right now."

And so, after a long time, I started a collab with Latte noona.

Five minutes later, I logged in to find the server on fire.

Hisss... whoosh, whoosh!

Not a metaphor—literally. Lava was scattered all over the village, and structures made of wool and wood were blazing.

Whoosh!

I felt dizzy.

"......"

The chat was scrolling too fast to even read. While I stood there blankly staring at the scene, Latte noona's voice came through—she'd logged in a bit later.

"Whoa... what's this event? Can we go watch?"

"It's not an event. That's our house."

"...Crazy."

They said the house over there was on fire, so I came to watch. Turns out it was our house burning. I teared up the moment I saw it. Not actually, of course.

Then, in a grave tone, I told the viewers, "Today, our server collapsed..."

"The world is collapsing... families are collapsing... society is collapsing... In this devastated society..."

While I bantered with the viewers for a bit, Latte noona, who still hadn't grasped the situation, asked in a dazed voice, "So what the heck happened? It was fine yesterday, wasn't it?"

"I don't know. I only found out after logging in just now."

"...Hey, stop teasing and tell me what happened."

Amid the viewers' roasting, I asked again in a serious tone. In response, a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠donation message popped up with a jingling sound effect.

"Rigged probability?"

Before I could say anything about the donation, a crowd appeared from somewhere and gathered around the fountain. Then they started protesting with pitchforks.

"Boo!! Angel, awaken!"

"Reveal the probabilities!! Users are not pigs!"

"We condemn everything! Compensate for this and that!"

"......"

"......"

Latte noona and I were at a loss for words.