Chapter 71
Chapter 71
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 71
Chapter Title: Hunter Chaos
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Early afternoon.
I'd stayed up late streaming yesterday, so I was still shaking off the lingering fatigue as I stepped out of my room.
"Woof! Woof!"
As soon as I entered the living room, Boksil came bounding over and latched onto me.
You're inside the house today instead of out in the yard, huh.
I scooped up Boksil with practiced ease and plopped down on the sofa in a daze.
So peaceful.
I'd pretty much wrapped up everything I needed to do.
Now I just had to pop in occasionally for new song production.
Come to think of it, I hadn't posted any art on my art account in ages.
Maybe it was time to start up again?
The memory of drawing that portrait yesterday had left such a pleasant aftertaste that I suddenly felt a strong urge to draw.
Should I settle in and do some drawing later?
Yeah, sounds good.
First, though, I needed to play with Boksil a bit.
"Come on!"
"Woof! Woof!"
That's when I was really getting into playing with Boksil.
Bzzz—ring—
My phone vibrated in my pocket.
Who could it be at this hour?
It was just a little past lunchtime.
I pulled out my phone and checked—it was Hyejeong.
"...What's up?"
We'd mostly just messaged since I moved out, so phone calls were rare...
Maybe there was news from the university I'd dropped out of? I picked up.
[Hey! You—you. Is ksh definitely yours?]
And then came Hyejeong's frantic voice.
What's going on? And ksh is my art account.
"Suddenly? Yeah, it is. Why?"
[Y-you met Hyunjun?]
Hyunjun?
Who’s Hyunjun... oh.
"Th-the Beasts guy?"
[Beasts!]
"Y-yeah... Why are you mad? And how did you know?"
What's got her so worked up? How does she even know I met Lee Hyun-jun?
[No, the Hunters are going nuts!]
"Wh-what? Hunters? What's that?"
She sounds urgent, but throwing jargon at me out of nowhere isn't helping me understand.
[Our bros' fandom name... No! I'll send you a link—check it out!]
What the hell is going on?
Did Lee Hyun-jun post something weird?
No, it didn't seem like that.
Sure, you shouldn't judge by appearances, but... did he really post something bizarre?
With a twinge of worry, I clicked the link Hyejeong sent.
It led to a summary post on some community forum.
What could possibly warrant a whole summary post?
I'd only met that idol Lee Hyun-jun yesterday.
I started reading.
At the top was the Bluebird post Lee Hyun-jun had made.
It was just him uploading the drawing I'd done, with a caption about visiting a friend's studio where a friend-of-a-friend drew it for him. Nothing remotely controversial.
Seemed perfectly fine.
What could spark controversy here?
I read on, line by line, sometimes furrowing my brow, sometimes nodding in admiration.
Once I'd finished the whole neatly compiled post, I tapped my forehead.
"What crazy bitches."
Had I underestimated the fans of a male idol who sells a million albums?
"Wow, so this is how it escalates."
To sum up the post: just from the artwork, fangirls nationwide launched a full-scale detective operation to figure out who drew it.
I'd never hidden my style, so pinpointing me took less than a few hours.
Fine, up to that point, no big deal.
Everyone already knew my account ksh did the album art for Hyun-su, and Hyun-su and Lee Hyun-jun had posted that song challenge video together yesterday. It all lined up perfectly—no red flags.
But...
"Whoa, and then it blows up like this?"
[You're way too chill about this.]
The problem was my track record.
Or more precisely, the previous owner Kim Suhyun's track record.
She never backed down from online fights and always fired back first with curses.
And Bluebird? In another country, maybe different, but in Korea, it's basically an anonymous otaku community packed with women.
Plus, she'd dumped buckets of clique-ish drama there.
Not the kind of place for a woman like Kim Suhyun, who'd coasted through life on her looks in the real world.
So what happened?
Full-on wars, obviously.
I scrolled through the evidence of Kim Suhyun's flame wars in the summary.
I'd dug into it myself before, but seeing it all compiled like this... damn, there was a lot.
Kim Suhyun, who'd hammered the keyboard defending her parents in League matches, was Xiang Yu and Lü Bu rolled into one here.
Rules? Pfft, who follows rules in a fight.
She wielded every padlip and personal attack to defend her justice.
And now Lee Hyun-jun's fans had screenshotted it all, freaking out about him hanging with someone like that.
They couldn't go after Lee Hyun-jun himself, so they zeroed in on my account.
"But what can they even do?"
So, did I do anything wrong here?
Talk trash online?
What crime is that?
[Is your account gonna be okay?]
Sure, it might get wrecked, but it's not like that'll last forever.
If anything, it's free noise marketing.
More importantly...
"I should apologize first."
[For what?]
"To Lee Hyun-jun. Kinda my fault, in a way."
[Yeah, good idea. How? Leave a post on Bluebird? You don't even have an account there.]
"Just call him."
[Wait... you have his number...?]
"Anyway, I'm hanging up. Thanks for the heads-up."
I ended the call with Hyejeong and immediately dialed Hyun-su.
Like I'd have Lee Hyun-jun's number—gotta ask Hyun-su for it.
After a few rings, Hyun-su picked up.
[Hello?]
"Hey, Hyun-su. You okay?"
Come to think of it, hadn't he posted my drawing too?
This felt viral.
[Oh, that? My fans haven't said much.]
"So you know what happened."
[Didn't at first—Hyunjun hyung told me.]
"Lee Hyun-jun?"
[Yeah. Didn't he call you? You asked me for his number.]
He asked for my number?
"No call. When?"
[Pretty recent.]
"Hm? Well, I should call first anyway."
[You think? I dunno.]
"They call you a horse-leech for a reason. Text me Lee Hyun-jun's number."
[Sure, sending it over.]
But wait—is it cool getting an idol's number like this?
More than that, realizing I'd already given mine out was ridiculous.
I'm a (virtual) idol too, you know.
"...Hyun-su, isn't handing out numbers like that a no-go? Mine too."
[You two don't seem like the type to care. Right?]
Well, can't argue with that.
"Sigh, fine. Thanks."
[Hope it works out.]
I hung up with Hyun-su and dialed the number he'd sent right away.
He wasn't mid-schedule, was he?
If so, he wouldn't pick up—I could try later.
Click—
[Hello?]
But luckily, my worries were for nothing; it connected.
[Hello? This is Lee Hyun-jun.]
"Yeah, it's Kim Suhyun—from yesterday."
[Oh... I'm really sorry.]
Lee Hyun-jun apologized the second he picked up, sounding genuinely ashamed. But he had nothing to apologize for.
If anything, it was between me and his fans.
"No, it's my bad. I didn't think about my past."
[Ah... I saw it. The...]
He'd seen the chat logs? Mortifying—knowing someone who'd met my real face had viewed that made my cheeks burn.
"Pretty rough language, right? Can't hold back online."
Technically, I could, but Kim Suhyun couldn't.
[You're... honest, yeah. Anyway, sorry. My fans are intense.]
"No worries."
I really wasn't worried.
Like I thought earlier, no fault on my end, and the account thing was temporary—just ghost it.
It'd blow over soon enough. A minor hiccup.
"Just gonna game it out or whatever."
[Still, I should make it up to you...]
Somehow the situation flipped.
I'd called to apologize, but now I was getting one?
At least it seemed like Lee Hyun-jun himself wasn't taking heat, so that was good.
"Seriously, it's fine. If it's really bugging you, send holiday gifts."
Suggesting dinner felt too flirty for an idol; this should suffice.
[Ah, haha. Got it, then. Sorry again.]
"It's really okay—no need to feel bad. Take care."
I wrapped up the call.
Seemed handled—I sighed in relief and flopped onto the bed.
So, now what?
Too early to stream.
I prefer late-night streams.
End the broadcast, shower, and slip into that drowsy bliss—pure heaven.
Drawing? Account's probably a dumpster fire right now; no motivation.
Maybe game for old times' sake.
I'd splurged on this high-end PC but only used it for streams—such a waste.
Better than a PC bang; time to put it to good use.
I sat at my desk, booted up, and there was Miro's familiar avatar amid the messy icons.
What to play?
League... nah, I'd actually hit level 30.
Viewers would hound me to honor my rank promise. Pass.
Civilization or roguelikes, then...
Civ's for the stream later, right?
I moused over and clicked the Royale Grounds icon.
Last played before the move?
Nostalgic.
Just a few quick rounds.
They take time each, so broadcast time would roll around fast.
I dove in relaxed...
Ding-ding—
[awxt1004: You free now?]
[awxt1004: Duo?]
Out of nowhere, a message from my long-lost Japanese gaming buddy.
...Should I?