Prank!? Prank!! Part 2
Three months had passed since Sia returned to Earth.
During that time, she streamed at the most random, unpredictable hours.
However, "random and unpredictable" didn't mean she was diligent and consistent like other streamers.
"Hello?"
"I'm about to head out. Which of these two outfits do you think looks better?"
"Really? Then I'll go with the left one."
"But... I don't want to do what you guys tell me..."
"Bye then."
It was common for her to turn on the stream like a quick vlog, only to shut it down in ten minutes... no, sometimes not even five.
Sia's channel had no regular streaming schedule, nor did she ever make promises to her viewers.
She never announced when she would go live. Yet, whenever she did a proper stream, the Hunter Community boards would instantly be flooded with posts about her crazy antics and the monster dishes she cooked.
Despite being a small-time streamer, the fact that a new S-grade returnee was practically guaranteed to be born meant that the netrunners and simps of the Hunter Community were paying close attention to this rising star.
However, she hadn't done a proper dungeon cooking stream for a while since her official debut, where she fried and ate a Centipede Dragon.
She did stream once from the Curtala Mountain Range's third peak, raiding a Wyvern egg farm (?) to steal a few eggs. But other than that, she mostly just showed random snippets of her daily life, teasing her audience with brief five-to-ten-minute streams before abruptly cutting them off.
Naturally, her viewers were growing increasingly anxious.
If she didn't stream at all, they wouldn't even have expectations.
But she would occasionally stream for ten minutes while buying seasoning ingredients at the market, hyping up the viewers for whatever bizarre dish she was planning, only to end the broadcast the moment she finished shopping.
Some of the frustrated viewers decided it was time to "punish" the streamer with money.
After all, what was the ultimate goal of most streamers?
Money, sponsorships, and donations.
The power of money was so great that even the most toxic, hard-headed troll could make a prickly, defensive streamer melt like ice in spring, coaxing them into a sweet, submissive voice with a single red-colored donation.
A few wealthy, bored simps planned to show this wicked, crazy saint the bitter taste of capitalism, hoping to extend her streaming hours and gain some control over her.
Normally, any small-time streamer would desperately cling to even the smallest donation.
But to their utter shock...
This crazy saint hadn't even set up donations on her channel, leaving the wealthy simps completely unable to "punish" her with their wallets.
They never imagined that a hunter-streamer, officially certified by the Hunter Association and capable of slaying a Centipede Dragon in an instant, would block donations. Left stranded in the dark depths of the offline screen, the simps' screams echoed vainly in the empty chat room.
A few days later, the streamer finally went live for a broadcast that would last longer than ten minutes.
Sia was sitting in a vast plain where reeds taller than a person swayed in the wind.
It looked like a dungeon, but since Sia hadn't mentioned where she was, the viewers couldn't identify the location.
The most likely candidate was the Suwol Plains, but since it wasn't the only dungeon with plains and reed beds, they couldn't jump to conclusions.
"Did you miss me?"
"Hehe, I missed you guys too."
For a brief moment, the chat froze as if time had stopped.
While Sia's popularity was driven by her status as an S-grade returnee, her looks easily outshone most celebrities, and she possessed incredibly alluring "holy power bags."
When she delivered that line with a bright, innocent smile, the simple-minded simps melted instantly. They seemed to have already forgiven the toxic streamer who had teased them with five-minute broadcasts every day.
Sia, however, continued to look at the chat with a warm smile, genuinely finding the simps' reactions adorable.
In truth, Sia was in a wonderful mood.
To the viewers, her turning the stream on and off for just five minutes a day must have felt like torture. But Sia's original plan was always to host her next official broadcast today, a week after hunting the Centipede Dragon.
She had only gone live during the hiatus because she felt too lonely, and eating alone sometimes made her feel spaced out.
Even if it was just for five minutes, she wanted to feel like she was with them.
“Was I always this prone to loneliness...?”
Perhaps she wouldn't have minded if she had been alone from the start, but Sia had forged deep bonds with many people.
In the previous world, there were Menelapie, Theresa, and countless high-ranking imperial officials.
Since her return, there were Yeon Seo and Yeonhwa.
But they couldn't be together all the time.
Yeon Seo was still busy despite retiring as an S-grade hunter, and Yeonhwa was constantly training to prepare for her own advancement to S-grade.
It felt too shameless to call them just because she was lonely.
Regardless, today was her second official broadcast.
Sia smiled brightly and looked at the drone camera.
With the holographic chat window scrolling rapidly beside the drone, she finally felt like she wasn't alone.
"By the way, what should we eat today?"
"Huh? No, I won't."
"Donations?"
"Was I supposed to set that up separately?"
Sia tilted her head as if she genuinely didn't know, driving the viewers to sheer frustration.
They couldn't tell if this crazy saint was just playing a character or not.
"Don't look down on me. I've sent donations while watching other hunter streams before."
"...I just forgot, okay?"
Shrinking back under the viewers' complaints, Sia sheepishly began navigating the broadcast settings on the hologram projected by the drone camera.
Could she even do it? She had struggled immensely just setting up the stream the first time. Lately, the hologram's touch sensitivity felt way too high, often registering accidental inputs.
She really needed to fix this.
It should only respond to finger touches. How could it apply settings just because her chest accidentally brushed against the hologram?
The unintended broadcast from the Curtala Mountain Range must have been caused by this exact issue.
"Uh... is it really okay to donate this much?"
The moment donations were enabled, countless viewers somehow noticed instantly and began sending donations with various messages.
"The Curtala Mountain Range stream... haha, that was an accident. I wasn't used to operating the drone camera, so I think I pressed the wrong button. I'm pretty sure the hologram got pressed by my chest, which started the broadcast."
"Uh... no way... just one soda isn't going to satisfy me..."
"Um, it might be a bit sudden to say this, but... thank you."
"The donations are great, but I'm talking to all of you who came to watch me."
Sia pulled her knees to her chest by the campfire, resting her chin on them as she looked into the drone camera.
Her gaze felt as if she were looking directly into the eyes of each viewer.
"It's nothing grand like an official announcement... I'm really grateful to those who donated, but first, I want to thank everyone who came to watch a silly stream by someone like me. A friend warned me that there are a lot of toxic netrunners on Switch, but whether you're a toxic netrunner, unemployed, or one of the simps who spends most of their life on Switch, I'm truly grateful that you came here to see me."
To the viewers, it might have felt like a devastating area-of-effect verbal bombardment, but Sia was entirely sincere.
Growl...
“Hmm, I am getting hungry.”
She still had plenty of Evil Nature left.
Her current hunger was just a normal empty stomach.
It wasn't severe enough to trigger a hunger fit, but hunger itself always pushed Sia toward a new crisis.
"Oh, right, this is the Suwol Plains. I heard this place is really popular among both low-grade and high-grade hunters. Is there a reason why?"
"Griden mineral...?"
It sounded familiar. In the previous world, the armor Menelapie wore was called Gridencart armor.
It was incredibly sturdy, capable of withstanding multiple strikes from the Demon King's greatsword.
"So the minerals don't matter. Is there anything good to eat here?"
"Uh... I naturally assumed it was food?"
How mean, calling her a crazy saint. Though... to be honest, Theresa used to nag her constantly to stop acting so crazy, so she couldn't really deny it.
Yes, craziness is a part of who I am.
I will not deny myself.
I am the Deceased Saint.
One who does not speak falsehoods.
For craziness is indeed a part of me.
KRAAAAAAAAH!
"Hmm? What was that sound?"
Sia turned around at the sudden sound echoing across the plains.
She recognized this sound.
It was a dragon's roar.
Sia had encountered various dragon species in the previous world.
Some shared intellectual exchanges with humans, while others were savage and vulgar beasts. The roar she just heard perfectly matched her definition of a "vulgar, beastly dragon."
"Huh?"
And then, Sia saw it.
A massive Dragon Tooth Soldier, shaking the earth and radiating an ominous aura.
Ordinary Dragon Tooth Soldiers weren't strong.
Two of Menelapie's imperial knights would be more than enough to handle one. In fact, Menelapie had once decapitated ten Dragon Tooth Soldiers with a single swing of her sword.
However, she had heard that some Dragon Tooth Soldiers could evolve and become much stronger...
"*Drool...*"
Ah, this is bad.
It looks delicious.
Its tough-looking dragon scales, bright red scales, and spikes protruded like armor. Where its face should have been was a massive dragon head, looking majestic as if it were about to breathe fire at any moment.
“...If I peel off the scales and spikes first, it'll be packed with tender meat inside, right? The hot, tough meat of a Dragon Tooth Soldier... *drool*...”
The viewers' chat no longer registered in Sia's mind.
She was so hungry...
What grade is that thing?
No, the grade doesn't matter.
I have no intention of only eating S-grade monsters.
One shouldn't be a picky eater. Even if that delicious-looking, massive Dragon Tooth Soldier were only D-grade, I would eat every single bite without leaving a scrap.
"It looks... so... DELICIOUS!!!"
Clack! Clack, clack, clack, clack!
Even though I hadn't cast a miracle, the tentacles sprouting from my waist, synchronized with my emotions, began gnashing their teeth.
Thankfully, that mouth-watering Dragon Tooth Soldier was charging straight toward me.
Ah, just as a child yearns for their mother's embrace...
You, too, were searching for someone to cook you up beautifully!
Intoxicated with joy, Sia threw herself toward the Dragon Tooth Soldier charging at her.
Kicking off the ground with leg strength powerful enough to shatter the earth, her speed was so immense it felt as if she had momentarily broken the sound barrier.
BOOM!
"Aaaargh?!"
A strange scream echoed from somewhere, but she paid it no mind.
Failing to adjust her trajectory, Sia grazed past the Dragon Tooth Soldier, leaving a small crater in the ground where she landed.
Pant, pant, pant... You're not fighting back?
Why are you just standing there?
Well, it's better for me if you don't.
Yeah, don't.
If you don't resist, I can put you down cleanly and painlessly.
"*Sniff, sniff...*"
Ah, it smells so good...
A monster that smells like a human...?
Ah, it smells like human flesh...
Human flesh contains very little Evil Nature.
While it did have some, Sia would need to consume at least ten humans to ingest enough Evil Nature to suppress her hunger fits.
As a source of Evil Nature, it was horribly inefficient, and Sia herself found the idea of eating human flesh absolutely repulsive.
After all, she still possessed human morality.
However, objectively speaking, human flesh possessed a flavor that could drive Sia into pure ecstasy.
It was delicious even when chewed raw.
Roasting it with holy fire, wrapping it in tentacles to chew, peeling the skin to tear at the flesh, or slicing it alive like sashimi—it was all delicious. Human flesh was a highly dangerous, addictive drug to the Deceased Saint.
Of course, Sia had never eaten human flesh in the past, nor did she ever intend to now.
Because she possessed ethics, humanity, and reason, she would never attack a human.
But... a monster that smells like human flesh...?
She couldn't resist that.
No, there was no way she could resist. How could she?
It meant she didn't have to struggle to maintain her reason and ethics.
It meant she didn't have to lick her lips while looking at a human, right?
She was allowed to eat that, wasn't she?
"Kyahahahahahahaha!!! Come here!!!"
I'll eat it before anyone else does.
Ah, it looks so good.
So delicious.
Should I fry it? Or roast it?
Ah, don't run away. Don't run away.
I'll make it painless.
Why are you running?
Aren't you strong? You looked strong!
Don't run! It's okay! The pain is only temporary. By being eaten by me, we can be together forever!
Ah, let's eat. Let's eat. Let's eat.
Today is a feast. I'm going to eat a monster that smells like human flesh with my viewers!
The viewers will love it too, right?
Ah, it's a feast! A feast!