243. An Unexpected Stream Break
243. An Unexpected Stream Break
***
August 26. Thursday.
Just past 3 p.m.
The midsummer sunlight was blazing through the interior of the officetel.
The temperature control system kept the inside of the officetel at a comfortable level, but it couldn't erase the intensity of the sunlight pouring in through the window.
Rustle, rustle.
A woman lay tossing and turning, her face scrunched up against the harsh sunlight. Her silver hair was badly disheveled from all the shifting and covered her face, but even that couldn't hide her beauty.
"Ugh..."
Serin let out a small groan and eventually had no choice but to open her eyes, the intense sunlight stabbing at her face.
Even after waking from a deep sleep, her mind felt hazy.
The inside of her mouth felt like drought-parched earth, cracked and dry, with a faint ache.
Serin frowned at the unpleasantness and raised a hand.
'...What's wrong with me?'
Even as she lifted her hand, it felt as though my body wasn't my own.
Even as she swept the white hair out of her eyes, her head felt like it was floating.
She'd felt something was off with her body from the moment she woke.
Her whole body was heavy as waterlogged cotton, her head was spinning, and her mouth was parched like drought-stricken earth with a serious thirst.
Slide.
Serin slowly pushed the blanket aside and tried to sit up against the thirst, but her body swayed without warning.
"...Ah."
Serin mumbled blankly and sank back down onto the bed.
Every part of her—arms, legs, everything—ached and felt stiff. No matter how she looked at it, her body was not in normal condition.
She blinked, trying to pull herself together, then decided to just rest for a moment.
"..."
She stared blankly into space without a word, then shook her head.
It was clearly not normal, but she couldn't get used to this body condition at all.
The sensation of being sick was unfamiliar because, aside from pain, she'd hardly ever felt it before.
In Black Ark, she had experienced pain and all sorts of agony, but she'd never felt this awful heaviness and lethargy, this draining weakness.
"Am I sick?"
Serin muttered in a cracked voice, not knowing what to do with this unfamiliar sensation.
The first thing that came to mind was that the busy schedule of the past few days had taken a toll on her body, and the fatigue had piled up.
'Seems like body aches or something...'
As she tidied her hair amid the unfamiliar sensations, all she could think was that it was probably something like body aches.
But then, thinking that made her feel oddly strange.
Even after years of fighting monsters and living under constant threat, I'd grown strong, my body suffused with energy, so I'd never once suffered from anything like these aches or a chronic illness.
So this lethargic body felt alien, and at the same time, it made her feel once again that this was reality.
"..."
After resting for a moment, Serin got up again.
Clack.
Gulp, gulp.
She headed straight to the living room and drank a couple of glasses of cold water. The thirst was quenched, but her head still felt foggy, like she hadn't fully woken up.
She leaned against the kitchen table, clutching her white hair and tapping lightly at her dazed head, trying to wake herself up.
Then it suddenly occurred to her to check the time.
The sunlight was blazing through the living room, so it clearly wasn't morning.
She went straight back to her room and picked up her smartphone.
Hundreds of BaTalk notifications at the top caught her eye, but the current time caught her attention more.
"It's already... past 3?"
Serin muttered with a stunned expression, unable to comprehend the situation.
The current time was 3:14 p.m.
There was less than an hour left until she needed to start her stream.
But the time she'd checked before falling asleep yesterday was around 10 p.m.
She'd gone to sleep early enough, which meant she'd slept for fifteen hours straight—but what was even more ridiculous was that her body was in this state even after sleeping that long.
Part of her felt urgent, thinking she should quickly shower and get ready to stream.
But she moved her limbs around a bit, tried speaking a few times, and shook her head.
It felt like I shouldn't push myself any further in this state, and above all, my throat—which I'd need for talking during streams—was in serious condition.
Besides, if she tried to play Another World right now, she'd probably be forcibly logged out with a warning message within minutes. That much was obvious.
"Let's just... rest today."
In a cracked voice, she decided to take the day off from streaming.
Once she made that decision, she felt a bit more at ease—but also uncomfortable in another way.
She'd certainly thought about taking a hiatus, but tomorrow was her scrim against Charlemagne, and the weekend was her regular break, so she'd felt like she should stream at least through today to keep things on schedule.
"...Hah."
She let out a small sigh and shook off the lingering attachment, given how wrecked her body felt.
Pushing herself any further here would probably cause real trouble, so resting was the right call.
Slide.
She leaned back onto the bed and wondered how exactly she should rest.
She'd slept for a ridiculous fifteen hours straight, so she couldn't sleep anymore, and her whole body was so stiff that even the slightest movement made her feel like she was creaking.
Serin blinked with blurry eyes and let out a hollow laugh.
"What's wrong with my body."
Her vision was even going blurry—was she feeling dizzy too?
Just in case, she brought a hand to her forehead, and absurdly, it was both too cold and burning hot at the same time.
Her hand was freezing, but her forehead was blazing hot.
A sigh escaped naturally at that contradictory sensation.
"...Hoo."
Serin sighed softly and shook her head, but still figured she should at least write the hiatus notice first.
She wasn't going to be able to stream, after all. She should explain things to her viewers first.
Then, wondering how to word it so viewers would be more understanding, she just contacted Sua.
She had no talent for writing, so rather than posting a clumsy notice, she figured she should consult a professional to avoid any problems.
Tap.
When she opened her BaTalk chat with Sua, she could see that Sua had apparently seen the real-time search stuff from yesterday too—there were several congratulatory messages and other things—but none of that registered right now.
It felt selfish, but when you're sick, almost nothing matters more than yourself.
She moved her heavy hand and typed a message.
Me.
[Sua, I'm trying to write a hiatus notice. Can you help me?]
Yoon Sua.
[A hiatus notice? Rin, you're taking today off?]
Sua replied with lightning speed, in under a minute.
Me.
[Yeah]
Yoon Sua.
[Usually... if you just write the hiatus notice with the right reason, viewers do understand. If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me why you're taking the day off?]
Me.
[I'm just a bit sick, I think I need to rest]
Yoon Sua.
[Sick? Are you okay right now? Wait, specifically, where does it hurt?]
At the suddenly alarmed tone of the BaTalk messages, Serin belatedly realized her mistake.
"Shouldn't have sent that message."
Seeing Sua's openly worried texts, she realized she'd been thoughtless.
She'd made Sua worry for nothing.
But it was too late to cut off the conversation now, so she just told the truth as it was.
Me.
[Body aches and a cold? I think it's something like that. I've been pushing myself too hard lately]
Honestly, I didn't think I'd pushed myself that hard, but my body couldn't handle it as well as I'd expected.
Compared with the mental fatigue I felt, my physical limits seemed much lower.
It hit her anew that her body was garbage, and a laugh escaped for no reason.
"It's not like I'm bragging about being sick... I really sent that message like an idiot."
She wondered if she should have sent Sua a message like this, but it was already sent—spilled milk.
Yoon Sua.
[You're not seriously sick or anything, are you? I've heard it's really dangerous to be alone when you're sick. Should I at least buy you some medicine?]
Reading Sua's message, she felt grateful, but also had a lot of thoughts.
In the world she'd lived in before—where you never got sick like this, and even if you did, there were means to heal instantly—she'd always been alone. This environment was completely different.
In this world, where you could get sick from various things and had to suffer through it even with medicine, she felt somehow fortunate not to be alone.
If it had been Seoyun, I wouldn't have mentioned being sick from the start. But because there was someone who felt like a friend or a little sister, maybe I'd ended up confiding in her without even realizing it.
Me.
[No, you don't need to worry that much. I only contacted you about the hiatus notice. I think a good day of rest will fix me up]
She picked out an appropriate reply and sent it. This time, the response came after a bit more time had passed.
BaTalk!
Yoon Sua.
[Hiatus notice example image.jpg]
[I'm not saying this is a template, but I sent you an image as an example of a hiatus notice. You can use it as a rough reference and post it to your tweetie channel feed]
The image showed what appeared to be a hiatus notice Sua had actually written herself. The reason for the hiatus was stated plainly, with no extraneous words.
But that actually made it more trustworthy and looked good.
Me.
[Thanks, I'll use it as a reference for my hiatus notice]
After sending that reply, Serin immediately went to her tweetie channel and started writing the hiatus notice.
The main reason for the hiatus: she was sick and didn't think she could stream.
She wrote the reason plainly, centered on just that, and the moment she uploaded the hiatus notice—
—@#$%.
Right then, a call came in from Sua.
'Why is she calling all of a sudden?'
Wondering what the call was about, Serin answered and slowly parted her lips.
"...Hello?"
—Hah... seriously, Serin.
When she answered, for some reason Sua's voice came through with a deep sigh and clear exasperation.
"Sua, you called me, so why are you sighing like that?"
She spoke with a hint of reproach, a little baffled.
—I just... hearing your voice... I can't help but sigh. Just hearing your voice, it's obvious you're in bad shape. So what was all that in your texts about being fine?
Sua's voice sounded even more upset now.