18. The Healing Server That's Actually a Debt Trap (1)
"You don't have to feel bad about it at all. I was the one who asked you to keep it a secret from Mom in the first place."
"Still, well... sigh. Never mind. Just lie down."
"What? Why'd you stop mid-sentence?"
"I said forget it. Lie down before I smack you?"
My sister, who'd drawn a line across her forehead in frustration, forcibly pushed me down. I caught a glimpse of her slightly flushed face, but I understood—my sister had gone full tsundere mode. And like I said, this wasn't something she needed to apologize for.
Me trying to work as an illustrator was all for helping the family, even if just a little. It was the only way I wouldn't be a total freeloader. I wasn't exactly the studious type either. I only got into computer science because it had good job prospects...
So, as a useless normie whose only skill was drawing, I chose to become an ille. Sending money home was partly to lift our poor family out of the gutter, but mostly so my sister and little sister could study comfortably without a care in the world. Asking her to keep it secret from Mom was so she wouldn't worry about stuff like that.
Of course, it all got found out this time.
But we're not that poor anymore.
Not to brag or anything, but the income from my ille work had ballooned way more than expected. Maerchen Live paid top dollar. The crumbling roof from our past was gone, replaced by a normal apartment. Heck, two of them, including mine. Though mine was just a two-room place.
So there was no reason for my sister to feel guilty. As long as she kept studying hard and achieved what she wanted, I'd be a happy little sister. Even if we'd grown a bit distant, we were family after all.
"Why aren't you sleeping?"
While I was lost in those thoughts, my sister spoke up.
"What can I do if sleep won't come? And staring down at me like that makes it impossible anyway."
Sure enough, she was sitting in a chair, gazing right at me. Anyone trying to sleep would snap wide awake under that scrutiny.
"...Scoot over."
But then, out of nowhere, she shoved me sideways and crawled into bed. The bed wasn't that big! My mouth fell open in shock at the sudden turn of events, but she ignored me completely and closed her eyes.
Is this what she meant by 'putting me to sleep'?
It was utterly absurd. What if she fell asleep first?
*
"You've been at the front door for ten minutes now—"
"I know, I know. I'll go if I have to go. Sigh."
The next day, my sister—who was finally heading out—dug in her heels at the entrance, refusing to leave. She let out a short sigh, scanned me from head to toe, and clicked her tongue.
"Tsk. Skin and bones. Put on some weight by next time."
"I'm just a little under average..."
"Screw average. Eat at least three meals a day, no excuses."
"That's all you have to say?"
"I'm off."
Right up to the end, it was all nagging about food as she left. My sister was impossible to pin down.
Once she was gone, the quiet house felt strangely fresh. We'd only spent a few days together, but I felt a twinge of loneliness. Still, the thought of my upcoming stream lifted my spirits soon enough.
Yeah, I've got my viewers. Over ten thousand friends!
Okay, maybe I was the only one who thought that... Anyway, I hurriedly set up for the stream and posted the notification.
Smiling at the flood of comments, I stretched and warmed up. Cold was gone, and thanks to my sister's care, my condition was peak.
"It's been a while, everyone."
Uwar the Hero's stream went live.
.
.
.
Three hours into the stream. I'd been spilling the tea on recent events to kill time.
The perfect topic popped up via superchat just as my mouth was itching to talk about it.
"Of course I'll join. And yeah, it's nice being the only 11th gen—makes it easy."
"I'm not a baby, you know."
I was getting more and more baby treatment from viewers, but honestly, it didn't feel bad. I knew they were teasing because they liked me. The real issue was the seniors I'd meet soon.
Bet I'll run into a ton this time.
Getting thrown into a massive server like this before even collabing with seniors? Who could've predicted?
"The server opens at 6, right?"
"Whoa... only 20 minutes left? Guess I should check the server details then."
Viewers probably knew the server details inside out already. But they got hyped when I suggested looking.
Is this why everyone dreams of being an idol?
"Oh yeah, Cream membership hit over 2 million this time. Must be a bunch from overseas Maerchen branches too."
Oh, really? More people cared about my debut than I thought. And yeah, 2 million meant an event was coming, like the chat said. At 1 million, all KR gens did a song medley. Wonder what this one's gonna be.
Wait, no—not the point. I wanted playground server info, but we went off-track.
"Pre-info... pre-info... ah, here it is."
So many portals, it took time to find.
"Shall we go through it one by one?"
My mistake? Twenty minutes was nothing.
*
At 6 PM, I changed the title and logged into Mark. The screen filled with blocky boxes I'd only seen in "life-changing" streams before.
Following viewers' helpful instructions (not just backseat gaming), I finished setup and entered the server. My first time in Hero's Maerchen S4 playground. Epic BGM swelled in the lobby, setting chat ablaze again.
First thought upon entering? Pity the devs. How much prep for this quality?
"Whoa, is this the village hall?"
"Listen to NPCs and head out, right?"
The village hall, masterfully built from wood blocks, held 22 NPCs lined up. Service for pre-info newbies, probably. Clicking the front one—Tsupi—brought up auto-text.
"Pre-info. Didn't read fully earlier, but skip?"
As I tried to leave the hall, chat urged /basicbook, so I typed it in-game. Sure enough, stone set appeared in inventory—plus a book.
"...Statement?"
◈ Amount Due: 5 Gold
The book stated I owed 5 gold. Wasn't this supposed to be a healing server?!