The Shamanic Streamer
At that exact moment, Jihun's vision warped once more.
The metallic stench of smoke and the ear-splitting screech of brakes slammed into his eardrums. Bus 905 was crossing the crosswalk. A massive, swerving truck slammed directly into its side. Glass shattered, and people were thrown through the air. Right in the center of the chaos lay a bleeding man. It was 29AndUnemployed.
"If I tell you not to go, then don't go!"
The moment the words left his mouth, a throbbing headache struck him. His eyes turned bloodshot, and a warm sensation trickled beneath his nose.
Jihun hurriedly ended the stream. He felt like his body would literally fall apart if he held on any longer.
Click.
The moment the screen went dark, his Shinan snapped shut as if it had all been a lie. The chilling energy wrapping around his body dissipated. At the same time, the cold, detached way of speaking that had naturally rolled off his tongue seemed to fade away. The words he had uttered during the *shamanic reading* felt completely foreign, as if they hadn't belonged to him at all.
But there was no time to feel relieved. The backlash of forcing his Shinan open hit him all at once.
"Ah, ugh...!"
Jihun clenched his teeth against a pain that felt as if his entire body were being torn apart. Just then, his phone on the desk rang loudly. It was Kim Usik. Jihun answered the call through gritted teeth.
"Yeah... what's up?"
"Hey, I was trying to watch your stream, but you're offline. What happened?"
"I turned it on a bit ago... but I'm not feeling well, so I shut it down."
Usik grumbled over the line.
"Dude, I ended my own stream early to raid you and give you a boost! How could you just turn it off like that?"
Normally, Jihun would have apologized, but right now, even breathing was a struggle. His vision was stained a hazy red.
"I... I feel like I'm actually going to die..."
"What? Hey, why does your voice sound like that? Are you sick?"
"...Later. Let's talk later."
Without waiting for a reply, Jihun hung up. The sensation was fading from his fingertips. He barely managed to grab the edge of his bed and drag himself up. But that was his limit. He collapsed, losing consciousness entirely.
At that exact moment, on the internet broadcasting board of a major domestic online community...
This was a place where anything and everything related to streaming was posted. And right then, a new clip was uploaded.
The clip featured a segment from the broadcast of Perpetual Job Seeker, who had just started streaming for the very first time today. Perhaps because the title piqued people's curiosity, the clip shot up to the popular posts section within minutes of being uploaded. And comments immediately began flooding in.
The reaction on the streaming forum was generally cold and skeptical. However, everyone shared one burning question.
Would 29AndUnemployed actually go to his interview tomorrow?
The next day.
Park Jihun opened his eyes, feeling as if he were slowly drifting up from the depths of deep water.
"...Ugh."
He let out a soft groan and pushed himself up. He faintly recalled losing consciousness last night from a pain that felt like his body was being torn apart. Perhaps because of that, he held his breath for a moment and checked his condition.
"...Huh?"
It was strange. He had felt like he was on the verge of death, but now, his body felt incredibly light. His headache was gone, and the burning fever had vanished without a trace.
"What the..."
Park Jihun stared blankly down at the back of his hand. There was a faint, dried bloodstain on his skin from the nosebleed last night. It wasn't a dream. It had definitely happened.
"Did I recover in just one night?"
He muttered to himself as he stood up. He stretched and moved his limbs, but there wasn't a single ache. In fact, he felt better than usual. His shoulders, which were always stiff, felt light, and his eyes, usually heavy with chronic fatigue, were clear.
"How is this possible?"
Park Jihun fell into deep thought. Last night, the moment he started the stream, something like *shinbyeong* had struck him. Then, the moment he read the chat, he began to see bizarre things, reading a stranger's past, present, and even what seemed to be their future. After that, he had collapsed from the backlash of overusing his Shinan. Yet now, he was perfectly fine.
"...Could it be?"
A hypothesis formed in his mind. Jihun quickly threw on some clothes.
"If my Shinan has truly opened, I should be able to see things now too, right?"
He hurried out of the house.
The outside air was quite chilly, but his heart was pounding with anticipation.
Will I see it?
Stepping outside, he stared intently at a middle-aged neighbor passing by in the alley. But nothing happened.
"...Why isn't it working?"
Jihun turned his head and looked at a convenience store part-timer puffing on an e-cigarette outside. It was the same. Nothing appeared.
Jihun furrowed his brows.
I definitely saw it yesterday...
This time, he intentionally walked out to a busy main street. Countless people were crossing the crosswalk. But no matter who he looked at, not a single vision like yesterday's appeared.
"This makes no sense. Yesterday, I definitely..."
He recalled the moment he had looked at 29AndUnemployed last night. Strange scenes had overlapped right behind the chat username. The accident, the blood, the screams, the unfamiliar family. He hadn't misseen it. Yet now, no matter how hard he stared, he saw absolutely nothing.
"No way."
A cold shiver ran down his spine.
"Does this only work during a live stream?"
At that moment, the puzzle pieces clicked into place. The *shinbyeong* that struck the moment he went live. The visions overlapping the viewers. The Shinan snapping shut as soon as the stream ended.
"So... I can only perform a *shamanic reading* if I start a stream?"
It was absurd. A *baksu* who could only divine fortunes while streaming on the internet.
But then, an even more terrifying thought crossed his mind.
What if I don't stream...?
If nothing happened, that would be fine. But what if that agonizing *shinbyeong* flared up again?
Park Jihun swallowed hard. For some reason, he couldn't just brush that possibility aside.
"Let's head back for now."
Giving up on trying to figure it out here, he headed home. He wouldn't find answers out on the street anyway. A live stream. He had to turn it back on.
Returning home, Jihun went straight to his desk. He picked up his phone. Fortunately, the battery was fully charged. He powered it back on. The moment it booted up, it began vibrating continuously.
Bzzz— Bzzz—
"...What's all this?"
Jihun knit his brows. His screen was flooded with missed call notifications. Most of them were from Usik. There were also several text messages.
Jihun immediately hit the call button. It didn't ring for long.
"Hey!" Usik shouted the moment he picked up. "What happened to you?"
"Sorry. I collapsed and fell asleep last night."
"What? How are you feeling? Are you really okay?"
"I'm perfectly fine now."
"Now?"
"Yesterday, I felt like I was literally dying, but I woke up completely fine."
"What kind of crazy talk is that? Did you go to the hospital?"
"No need. I'm fine."
"What on earth happened yesterday?"
Park Jihun hesitated. He wasn't sure how much he should reveal. But he couldn't keep secrets from Usik.
"I saw something strange while streaming yesterday."
"Like what?"
"People's pasts, presents, and futures."
"What?"
"I don't believe it either, but I actually saw them."
A brief silence fell over the line. After a moment, Usik asked in a flustered voice.
"Did you... actually become a baksu?"
"I don't know. I went outside and looked at people, but I couldn't see anything."
"Crazy. So you can only see it when you stream?"
Letting out a short curse, Usik immediately continued.
"Well, there's your answer. Turn on the stream today and check."
"You think so?"
"You have to make sure. And try to set a fixed streaming schedule if you can. That's how you build a steady viewer base."
Park Jihun bit his lip in silence.
"...Alright."
"Yeah. Good luck. I'll drop by your stream later to watch."
Jihun hung up. There were about two hours left until his scheduled stream.
At the same time as yesterday. His throat felt bone-dry. He was worried his body would twist in agony again like last night.
"...Let's just check."
Muttering to himself, he clicked the start broadcast button.
Perpetual Job Seeker has started broadcasting.
It happened in an instant. A chilling sensation swept down his spine. Right after, Jihun's eyes gradually turned cold and focused.
It's here.
The monitor screen, which had looked completely normal just a second ago, transformed. As the chat began to flood in, the faint spiritual energies tied to the viewers began to drift into view.
The chat was flying by at a frantic pace. It was definitely faster than yesterday. The viewer count had also grown noticeably.
But his surprise was short-lived. Along with a chilling sensation brushing past his mind, his lips parted of their own accord.
"Quiet."
His low, heavy voice echoed. "The chat is damn noisy. Only ask what you need to know."
Instantly, the chat surged again.
Jihun parted his lips. "BonelessRamen, is that what you're curious about?"
Jihun fell silent for a moment. In that brief pause, the vision he had seen of 29AndUnemployed yesterday flashed through his mind once more. Shards of glass, the screech of brakes, a man collapsed and bleeding.
He spoke. "Because if he is at that place at that time, he will die."
The chat froze for a fraction of a second, then exploded.
Jihun furrowed his brows and barked, "Quiet. If you don't believe me, get the hell out."
Just then, a loud *Honk-honk!*—an unfamiliar sound effect—echoed through the stream.
Instantly, the chat froze.
Below the flurry of messages, 29AndUnemployed's chat appeared.
The chat went into an absolute frenzy.
Park Jihun stared down at the chat in silence. He swallowed hard without realizing it.
Just what on earth had happened?