Distorted World: Studio Apartment (10)

I shoved the mattress aside and climbed down into the studio apartment below.

When I looked up, the holographic Cham Yeoul was staring down at me through the hole in the ceiling.

"……"

She's staring pretty blatantly, huh. At least she knows a pretty face when she sees one. Your gazing is getting a little uncomfortable, so cut it out, would you.

"She's not following me down here. Is she under some kind of restriction, like those ropes?"

Cham Yeoul just kept staring from above. She showed no sign of climbing down after me.

"Yeah? So it can actually think. Was that a Distortion Entity too, then?"

"So it is a Distortion Entity now, then."

I pulled my gaze away from the ceiling and looked around the studio. There was nothing particularly special about it.

"More importantly, where to next?"

"Thanks. Anything I need to watch out for on the other side?"

I headed over to where the refrigerator stood, calling for Error again as I walked.

"Right, Error."

"Distortion Entities can go out into the real world, right?"

Well, I'd figured as much. If we couldn't leave, Error never would have guided me in the first place — it would have just told me we were stuck. I'd only asked to confirm.

I swung the refrigerator door wide open. Just as Error had said, another studio apartment waited on the other side.

I was about to drop into a crawl to go through when I glanced at my phone and found another message from Error waiting.

"What's up?"

"…Yeah. Finding out I'm a Distortion Entity doesn't change the fact that I want to get out of here. I don't want to spend the rest of my life in this world. However you slice it, I still have memories of living in the real one."

They weren't On Yeoul's memories, but… they were memories of living in the real world, all the same.

Besides, going out into reality shouldn't be a problem. My way of thinking is no different from any ordinary human's. And it's not like I'm a Distortion Entity that's harmful to people, right? If anything, I'm a being that brings good fortune. Just looking at my overwhelmingly exquisite, heavenly appearance would be enough to make people happy.

Of course, I fully intended to live without anyone finding out I was a Distortion Entity.

It didn't seem interested in holding me back. Still willing to respect what I wanted, apparently.

What a good kid.

"Ah. And I forgot to ask earlier — I don't have any abilities where I just start shooting ice or fire or anything, right?"

I was asking about the supernatural power a Distortion Entity possessed: a Distortion Phenomenon. If anyone could figure that out, it would be Error, with that analysis of theirs. This was something I needed to know if I could. Suddenly triggering a Distortion Phenomenon in the real world without ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meaning to would be a real headache.

"Wait… that's my Distortion Phenomenon?"

That was a genuine surprise. I'd never imagined the reason I could even get online was my own Distortion Phenomenon.

Knowing that made the fact ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that I was a Distortion Entity feel a lot more real.

After I finished talking with Error, I crawled through the refrigerator on my stomach.

This studio apartment, too, was a relatively unremarkable space.

"Hold on a second."

"Restore the stream first. The viewers must be worried."

It was fine to stream now. The scenes the viewers weren't supposed to see had already passed.

Why bother? That was the kind of question that seemed to carry between the lines.

"Yeah. I'm going to keep going. Having the stream on makes it feel like I'm not alone — like I've got a lot of people with me. It's reassuring, in a weird way. Not that being alone actually scares me or anything."

I planned to keep streaming until I escaped. Beyond the reason I'd just given, it made me happy to show my face to a bunch of strangers and get complimented for it, and reading all the viewers' chats was fun, too.

"Thanks for looking out for me."

I thanked Error for having the presence of mind to cut the viewers off before they could find out I was a Distortion Entity.

A moment later, the stream came back.

Chat exploded. I liked the racket. Not that I could actually hear any of it, but still.

"It's been a while, everyone."

I gave the camera a little wave. It just felt like it'd been a while, subjectively speaking.

"This time it wasn't Error's doing. The stream just suddenly went dead on me."

I lied to the viewers on purpose. I didn't want my friend Error catching heat for this.

"Error actually helped get the stream transmitting properly again. So don't go cursing them out, everyone."

The chat was burning even hotter than before. I checked the viewer count. It had shot up dramatically since I'd last looked.

"The viewer count went way up while the stream was down, huh?"

So it was thanks to Ppang-ayeon. I'd thought they'd only promoted the stream once at the start, but apparently they'd been hard at it this whole time.

That chat was Ppang-ayeon too. I was just thinking that if I kept streaming even after I escaped this place, I should at least make them a moderator, when a donation suddenly came in.

Ten thousand Churu? One Churu was a hundred won. So they'd just donated a million won?

…Guess they're rich.

"Thank you for the donation. But what kind of help are you able to offer?"

"Hm."

I checked the stream settings. The donation message text-to-speech was definitely turned off. And yet, right now, that viewer's donation messages were being read aloud.

I checked the Churu I'd received, too. The Churu Ppoojik-Ppoojik had donated hadn't actually come through.

I checked the viewer list as well. At the very top was Error (ERROR). Directly below was Ppoojik-Ppoojik (Smart), the one who'd just donated.

That was impossible. Error was a Distortion Entity capable of interfering with the stream, so that much made sense — but below Error should have been LovesThiccBabes, the very first person to enter the stream.

On top of that, Ppoojik-Ppoojik had referred to the Distorted World as "here."

"Hey, you."

I'd more or less figured it out.

"You're not human, are you?"

My phone went quiet. Only the other viewers' chats were still rolling in. Ppoojik-Ppoojik's donations had stopped arriving.

It hadn't run away. It was still right there on the viewer list.

Just as I was wondering if it'd panicked at having its identity exposed—

The donations started coming in again.

The donation voice kept ringing out, one after another, until—

Static flickered across the screen for a moment, then died out.

And in an instant, Ppoojik-Ppoojik vanished from the viewer list.