Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Defect (1)
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[Login has been denied]
[Login has been denied]
[Login has been denied]
[Login has been denied]
...
[There is a serious concern regarding the login requester's body]
Seo-hwa grimaced at the message appearing in the capsule.
"...What the hell."
No matter how many times she tried to log in, it just wouldn't connect.
This was a first for her.
And yet, this wasn't the time to leisurely search up fixes for some glitch.
'The broadcast... what happened to the broadcast?'
She had no memory of turning off her Abyss stream.
Seo-hwa hurriedly pulled out her phone and logged into Abyss.
The broadcast was still going.
'...Huh?'
Seeing the Knight casually chatting with viewers on the stream screen left Seo-hwa utterly baffled.
"After Following the Path of Death, a flood of mass-produced Death Knight animations poured out, but none of them really hit the mark. Then, like a comet, The Great Death Knight appeared. Let me say this clearly: out of 107 Death Knight animations, the only one as good as or better than Following the Path of Death is The Great Death Knight."
This is spot on.
??? You really watched all 107?
"You ask if I watched all 107? Yeah, I did. To give a perfect review, I watched even the most boring ones at least twice. And I guarantee you, The Great Death Knight was the best."
Unbelievable lololol
What even is Great Death, weeaboo??
Take off your helmet, dude. I'm curious.
"Take off the helmet? Impossible. The protagonist of The Great Death Knight never showed his face once, so how could I, his successor, remove mine?"
Concept is total legend lolol
Thorough af fr
Watching the stream screen, Seo-hwa muttered in disbelief.
"...Why is he enjoying it like it's his own broadcast?"
She had no idea how he'd hijacked the stream, but he was turning it into his personal show with chat and animation talk.
Still, thanks to the Knight, the viewers didn't seem to think it was some serious accident. Small mercies.
Seo-hwa typed into her own stream chat.
Crashed but can't log back in.
Rough
??? Crashed again?
What the hell is Rowan doing???? 10 million won capsule acting like this lololol
Bro, Cheisi showed up in chat.
The last one seemed directed not at her, but at the Knight.
"What? Cheisi appeared in chat?"
The Knight leaned in close to the chat window, spotted it, and declared loudly.
"No worries! I'm manning the stream, so hurry back! I'll be waiting right here!"
Unfortunately, she couldn't continue the stream right now. Not when she couldn't even log in.
Think I have to end stream here today. Can't connect.
Seo-hwa typed again.
End stream?
It's over?
Nooo ㅜㅜ
Sorry. See you tomorrow.
After announcing the end, viewer numbers dropped fast. Still, around 7,000 hung around.
Can't you not end it?
This is peak fun ㅜㅜ
As Seo-hwa moved to shut it down, a chat caught her eye.
Viewers seemed to be enjoying the bizarre banter with the Knight and were bummed about it ending.
Stay 30 more mins before ending pls
Even a donation begging her not to end it.
'...If that's what they want.'
Seo-hwa decided to delay the end a bit, as her viewers wished.
Ok, ending in 30 mins. That enough?
It was still her stream, so she didn't give them too much time.
"That's plenty! Even the Moby Dick plot summary from The Great Death Knight is about 30 minutes! Now, hear the noble epic of Runein!"
Will listen nobly
Taking seats
They seemed to be having a blast.
Until the stream ended, Seo-hwa searched online for terms like "capsule crash," "Ariant World error," and the like.
Nothing much came up.
The stream wrapped up a bit earlier than 30 minutes.
Seo-hwa grabbed clothes to hide her ears and tail and stepped outside.
The late afternoon sun—it was the first she'd seen since starting streams.
Trees shivered in the cool wind, shedding leaves. It felt strangely off.
A single crimson maple leaf fluttered past her eyes.
It was autumn.
Walking the autumn streets, the thought hit Seo-hwa.
'Not as good as Azelchen...'
Azelchen's rippling sea and meteor shower vistas. Runein Village's fresh green woods and docks.
The eerie thrill of ghostly wails amid the foggy depths of the Mist Mine.
She knew comparing reality to a game made no sense, yet here she was, scrutinizing the autumn streets and pitting them against in-game scenes one by one.
Seo-hwa sat on a bus stop bench.
Her destination: the hospital. That "body concern" message from the capsule had prompted it.
Feeling the autumn breeze, she sank into thought.
'Made it as a streamer, huh.'
Main game: Ariant World. Solid viewer base.
It hadn't been long since she started, but by anyone's measure, she was a proper streamer now.
'Could settle for this.'
Yet she wished for more viewers.
Ideally, the world's top streamer.
Not to crush others or rake in cash.
Just... to share the game with more people.
'Not like I can just wish it into existence...!'
A simple wish. Would be nice if it happened.
For now, stream hard and pray the capsule warning was nothing serious.
Lost in thought, the bus pulled up near the hospital.
'Ugh...'
Her body lurched forward, ears nearly slipping from her hood.
Seo-hwa clamped the hood down tight and hurried off the bus.
The doctor, wearing a troubled look, finally spoke up.
"In simple terms... it's virtual reality game incompatibility."
"...VR game incompatibility?"
"You were diagnosed with a rare disease here once, remember, Miss Yoo? This is related."
Seo-hwa listened, half-dazed.
"VR games are probably designed to mimic sensations based on average human brains. But your reflexes and dynamic vision are closer to a cat's than a human's. When those don't match normal human senses, problems arise."
"...Problems?"
"Yes. Brain overload. You'd feel dizziness, monochromatic vision, tinnitus, that sort of thing. Your brain can't process the simulated sensory data properly."
She was too stunned to speak.
She'd thought her second chance at life was a blessing. Cat traits? Just roll with it.
Never imagined a flaw like this.
"What's keeping you going right now is probably this."
The doctor pulled out a long tube.
It was churu. Cats' eternal soul food.
Seeing it, Seo-hwa instinctively salivated.
"...Churu's keeping me going?"
"No, not like that. Want one?"
The doctor opened a pack and handed it over.
As Seo-hwa licked it up, the doctor continued.
"What lets you endure VR is your brain's cat instincts. Like going crazy for churu."
"My brain...?"
"Needs more research, but a normal human brain would sense a massive gap between VR and real sensations—couldn't last a moment. Keep that in mind."
He clicked his tongue. Totally unexpected.
Her tail wagging at excitement, love for fish, drooling over churu—these instincts were actually her bulwark in VR.
Seo-hwa asked carefully.
"...So, any solutions?"
"Obviously, quit VR."
She fell silent. Impossible. No question. Can't be done.
"No other way...?"
"...Nothing more from me. Try contacting Rowan. If it's capsule-related, they'll know best."
Made sense. Seeing the body warning, hospital was logical, but Rowan first might've been smarter.
Still, she'd gained info—not useless.
"And lastly."
Seo-hwa tilted her head at the doctor's hesitation.
"Just in case, get checked at a vet too."
"......Pardon?"
Ears playing tricks.
A vet? Seriously?
Even if, a vet?
Leaving the office, a diagnosis sheet ready for the vet was politely provided.
'I-I'm human...'
Her hand trembled holding it. Felt like abandoning human dignity—maybe toss it?
'...B-But what if. Could have answers.'
Steeling herself, Seo-hwa staggered next door to the animal hospital.