Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Hello
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Thankfully, the broadcast ended without a ladle crashing down on my head.
Today's total donations came to 134,000 won.
Excluding the 200,000 won that was refunded, this was the sum of all the smaller donations that trickled in.
There were fewer viewers than yesterday, but I'd made even more money.
At this rate, my financial struggles would be completely resolved in no time.
"That's good. Really good. But during today's broadcast, I felt a lot of discomfort."
I couldn't just be purely happy about it.
It wasn't an issue with the broadcast itself, but a sense of unease stemming from Ida Yeon's memories.
I had learned about this world through the memories left in this body.
But during today's broadcast, I realized those memories might be quite distorted compared to how other people experienced things.
"Madness, since this body belonged to Ida Yeon's sister, do you have any memories related to Ida Yeon in it?"
I looked up at Madness.
She had been alternating her gaze between the ladle and my head, lost in thought, but my question snapped her out of it. She stared into my eyes and soon shook her head.
"Unfortunately not."
"I see..."
That didn't mean there were no memories of Ida Yeon at all.
Body memories typically center on the owner's own recollections.
Memories of others in them could be heavily distorted, or even completely warped.
Memories aren't permanent; they get manipulated and recreated over time.
Even if I asked about Ida Yeon from someone else's memories, it would be hard to get a clear answer.
So Madness probably had nothing useful to tell me either.
I let out a sigh.
I leaned back in the chair.
Screeech—an unpleasant noise rang out.
In the end, I realized that to truly understand Ida Yeon, I'd have to comb through the body's memories myself again.
"First, I need to sort this out."
The chat had exploded over something I'd said without much thought.
I hadn't been fazed, but the viewers were furious.
If I didn't fix this urgently, it would just repeat today's mess.
I couldn't put it off with a lazy "later."
"Was it a mistake to separate important memories from unimportant ones?"
I hadn't examined every memory, just focused on the important ones.
But even reconsidering it, that hadn't been a mistake.
It had been the right call.
By dividing them and prioritizing the key ones, I'd adapted to this world much faster.
I knew that, which was why I recognized the words I'd just spat out as mere whining.
Yes, just whining.
Regret over the mistake born from today's ignorance had spilled out as a complaint.
I'd bluffed my way through it somehow, but I knew that was just luck.
If they'd kept pressing, demanding to know why I'd gotten it right...
I would've had no choice but to bring up the convenience store.
And that was absolutely not a good story to tell.
Before starting the broadcast, I'd learned all sorts of things and knew exactly what to watch out for.
"I need to avoid profiting off my misfortunes."
No need to hide misfortunes entirely, but flaunting them would lead to trouble.
Misfortune stirs pity, but hadn't I already seen it?
Other people's woes are a feast for villains.
Hadn't I already witnessed that creep, drunk on superiority, nitpicking over me taking a few discarded food items to my sister?
Someone's misfortune gives others a relative sense of superiority, and those reveling in it don't even realize their own wrongs.
I couldn't even predict what those superiority junkies might do.
That was definitely something to guard against.
No need to voice my misfortunes out loud.
I entrusted my body to the chair and closed my eyes.
At least this slip-up happened on day three of broadcasting.
If the channel had grown bigger and more established, I couldn't have muddled through like this.
After a few deep breaths, I spoke to Madness.
"Madness, protect me."
At my words, she came to my side and sat on the floor, watching over me.
"I'm going to check the memories now, so wake me if anything comes up."
"Understood."
I closed my eyes. Darkness came. I delved into the remnants of the body's memories.
But there was one small problem.
...Out of 15 years' worth of memories, how do I find the distorted ones?
Time flowed differently in memories versus reality, which was some consolation, but it didn't make the task any less daunting.
"...I'll use elimination."
Important memories—language, daily life basics, common knowledge—I'd reviewed those dozens of times already. No need to revisit.
Better to check the unimportant ones.
And probably start from the most recent unimportant memories and work backward.
I approached the nearest, unimportant memory.
Darkness shaped the surroundings.
And soon, I stood there as a third-party observer.
This body—no.
Ida Yeon was there, intently focused on the computer.
Her back was hunched, neck craned forward in that classic tech posture.
Despite her beautiful face, her body looked badly overworked, but Ida Yeon ignored it, glued to the monitor.
Her eyes were hollow. I approached. I was walking, but no footsteps sounded.
This was just a playback of the body's stored memories, after all.
I could only watch, no interfering.
"And... today's grind is done!"
Even alone in her semi-basement room, with no one to hear, Ida Yeon shouted cheerfully anyway.
Grind? What was she doing?
I sidled up beside her and peeked at the monitor. A game screen filled it.
In the inventory, it showed 50,000,000G.
In this puzzling situation, Ida Yeon continued.
"Now for 50,000 won... My birthday's soon, so maybe a slice of cake..."
50,000 won?
My mind raced.
In-game money, grind done, 50,000 won.
Putting together the riddle-like words, as someone familiar with game communities, I understood exactly what she meant.
"Ida Yeon was a gold farmer... Note to self..."
It seemed useless info, but better safe than sorry—stored it in my head.
Still,
"...You're better off than me."
Gold farming gets flak, but to me, it was admirable.
It was effort to turn poverty into profit somehow.
I'd been too sunk in communities to even try that, so Ida Yeon's actions just amazed me.
Someone might gripe, "Why gold farm? Get a real job," but I already knew.
No real job would take this frail body, even if she wanted one.
That's why I'd ended up lost in communities instead.
Gold farming might've been the best Ida Yeon could manage.
I reached out in admiration, pretending to pat her head.
"...Being able to stroke without my hand actually moving feels kinda nice."
Shaking off the stray thought, I kept watching her.
"With the rest, maybe electricity bill... and a shirt for Sister...?"
She mumbled to herself, struggling to stretch the 50,000 won across her life.
"Admirable, but no gains from this memory, huh."
Not the distorted common sense or memories I wanted.
This was just "Ida Yeon gold-farmed 50,000 won."
Explains why I'd deemed it unimportant.
Ah, not entirely gainless, though.
"So even that PC can run some games."
It handled this one fine, but League lagged hard—must be a demanding game.
I shrugged and moved to the next memory.
I wanted "reason violence feels familiar" or "trauma tied to 100,000 won," not this.
"It crashes a lot, but I just keep it running."
"I see?"
...?
I'd responded unconsciously, then froze.
Responded?
To whom?
I turned toward the voice.
Ida Yeon was staring at me with hollow, dead eyes.
"Hello?"
"You can see me?"
"Yes! Hehe..."
Ida Yeon grinned sheepishly, scratching her cheek—adorably cute, yet utterly eerie.