Chapter 12

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Translator: penny

Chapter: 12

Chapter Title: Vulture is Cute (3)

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Cha Se-ra liked cute things.

More precisely, she enjoyed observing and watching the small, cute creatures that existed in nature.

Her Archive nickname, chosen right after awakening, had that vibe from the start, so figuring out her tastes wouldn't be hard at all.

Knock knock.

Knock.

"What? I half-expected it, but you really came?"

Truth be told, when she first threw out the provocation, she hadn't thought the other side would take the bait. But now that they had, she figured they'd chat a bit, have a drink or two, and she'd ask all the game questions she'd been curious about.

'High School Dropout Middle Schooler' was one of the more secretive users in the channel—no one had uncovered his real identity yet.

Naturally, that bred curiosity.

'Come to think of it, that guy had an old photo of Yi-rin, right?'

A photo of Yi-rin from way back—much younger, taking part in volunteer work.

That had been the trigger for High School Dropout Middle Schooler to dive headfirst into the channel, and folks were still dying to know where he'd gotten it.

'Yeah, you've walked right into it.'

As the channel's resident veteran, she was dead set on dragging every last one of his secrets into the light today!

With that resolve, Cha Se-ra flung the door open—only to stare at empty air before her eyes were stolen by a silvery thread waving lazily below.

"......?"

The other party was way smaller than she'd imagined, with an utterly unique look to boot.

And to top it all off... Cha Se-ra knew exactly who this girl standing before her was.

Her brain short-circuited in an instant. The girl, who'd been waiting patiently, tilted her head and worked those adorable little lips.

"Not coming in?"

"Huh?"

"It's me. High School Dropout Middle Schooler."

"Uh, th-that... yes?"

wldks_08.

The fashion influencer who'd rocketed onto Clam like a comet not long ago, taking countless people around the world captive.

Seeing the girl who was basically Cha Se-ra's current obsession, she ended up gaping, totally at a loss.

#

"Um, hey... could you sign this for me...?"

"......"

I'd really never expected this, but the reason Cha Se-ra got into Action & Fighter? Me.

Her vibe was straight out of a fanatic finally meeting their idol.

Hunched over, holding out that coated paper—it was a far cry from the channel persona I knew.

Scribble.

Scribble.

Scraaatch.

"Here."

"Gasp...! Thank you!"

I'd been on edge, figuring a battle-hardened ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠B-rank Hunter would be tough to deal with. But this? She'd hand over her gall bladder if I asked.

Feeling oddly deflated, I met her eyes with a lukewarm look. Even that seemed to charm her—she was practically melting over how cute it was.

Thirty minutes later.

"Water."

"Y-yes...!"

A quick nod from my spot on the fancy sofa, and Cha Se-ra bolts to the kitchen, fetching the herbal tea I'd called delicious.

"Cookies."

"Right away...!"

True to her B-rank Hunter creds, her movements were whisper-quiet perfection.

Having fully morphed into butler mode, she served me tea and cookies while I kicked back like it was my own living room, bingeing that anime I'd scouted ahead of time.

"Anything else you need...?"

"Don't just stand there—sit and eat with me."

A tad burdened by her over-the-top service, I patted the sofa cushion beside me. Cha Se-ra plops down beaming—then suddenly scoops me up and plunks me on her lap.

No, is this woman nuts?

Thwack!

"Ow."

"Crazy much? You think I'm some alley cat?"

"Gasp! Sorry... force of habit."

A cat came dashing from across the room and hopped right onto Cha Se-ra's lap—yep, that was its throne.

Rubbing my forehead, still smarting from the headbutt, I went back to the anime and lobbed a question at her grinning face.

"So, no need for game lessons anymore?"

"Uh... don't think so now, right?"

I'd geared up big-time and come all this way, and she pulls this?

Having sussed out her personality, I pouted my displeasure. Cha Se-ra jolts, backpedals fast, and hustles over to boot up the computer.

"And drop the formal talk. You roast Elder Root Beer half to death with casual jabs in the channel."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah, finally."

She was nothing like the 'Vulture is Cute' I'd known—the disconnect had me off-kilter since she walked in.

Switching to casual speech, Cha Se-ra hummed cheerfully as she fired up the game. Tailoring for her zero talent, I slapped on my special build and gave her the quick rundown.

"Alright, copy me. Q-W-E-R, click."

"Q-W-E-R, click."

"CDR gear setup, skills all dumped into AoE. Just mash 'em in order on cooldown."

Her BS had gotten under my skin, sure—but she wanted in on my favorite game, so I owed her a proper intro.

Blown away by the setup I'd prepped just for her, Cha Se-ra beamed with joy. And just like that, our meetup wrapped on a high note for both sides.

'...Faith +3, acquired.'

Joking aside, my budding friendship with Cha Se-ra actually meant something to me.

Sure, I was coasting for now—but one day my secret would blow wide open, and I'd have to rebuild from scratch.

When that hit, her network as Forest Guild vice-master and B-rank Hunter might prove handy.

"Drive safe! No chasing weirdos, and don't drop by strangers' places like today..."

"......"

Still, maybe I hadn't come here purely for the connections.

Meeting a channel buddy IRL? Way more fun than expected. And they saw me—not the baggage clinging to my name.

Somehow, that lightened the load on my heart.

#

Channel users seemed to think it was all nonsense, but I never said a word that wasn't true.

Chanju had liked my photo and followed me ages ago—what else could that mean but her stamp of approval on my cuteness?

That said, Cha Se-ra's over-the-top antics were getting embarrassing, so I shot her a private message warning.

Channel active population: 47. My devotees: 3.

Humble start, but this journey's end will be glorious.

'Hmm...'

That aside, it was about time to film the concept shots and video I'd planned for activating Clam's subscription panel.

Thing is, doing it all solo seemed kinda tough.

'...Should I call her?'

Cha Se-ra loved filming cute birds and critters on her days off, so her gear and skills should be solid.

Just... was roping in a high-value B-rank Hunter for that really the move? Kinda iffy.

But hey, my conscience isn't that pitch-black.

As you can see, her reaction was enthusiastic—so a little reward should keep her plenty happy.

After mulling it over, come morning, I pinged Cha Se-ra. And with that, our shoot kicked off.