The Heavenly Demon Forces a Penalty Broadcast (1)
Enri-nyang, huh.
Enry, who had already brainstormed a mountain of penalties in her head, stayed surprisingly calm even in the middle of her panic. After all, this wasn't the worst outcome among her many predictions.
"Ara, you're too soft! Even if I don't look it, I've been a streamer for ages! I'm the kind of person who's spouted lines like 'Magical Lyrical☆' hundreds of times!"
Of course doing the Enri-nyang thing would be embarrassing. The first time she performed the Moe Moe Kyun her face would probably turn beet red, and when the video donations started flooding in later she'd definitely scream. But it was fine. Did Ara think the mountain of dark history she'd piled up over the years was only one or two incidents? She wasn't going to collapse just because one more layer got added on top.
"Ara. If you really wanted to torment me, you'd have been better off making me play horror games or some twisted king's game. Fear, pain, and rage would hit harder than shame! I'm already half-immune to embarrassment, you know! Though being only half-immune doesn't mean it doesn't work at all! Even if I lay down an iron plate, I can't stop myself from kicking the blankets later! But still, it's not the worst!"
“Just so there’s no misunderstanding, I’m not talking about a maid café game.”
“...Huh?”
It was supposed to be Enri-nyang, yet she was saying it wasn’t that game? What did that even mean?
“I mean I want you to become Enri-nyang in real life.”
This was something far outside Enry’s expectations. She had naturally assumed Ara would wrap things up by making her play some kind of game. But Ara was different. She had pulled out a fresh idea that not even Enry—who had worked in this industry for a long time—had ever considered.
“I was scrolling through the bulletin board after yesterday’s stream and this one stood out the most.”
Damn collective intelligence! Why do they only spit out useless nonsense when I ask for advice on my own stream, but suddenly get creative at times like this?!
“It’s good, right?”
Enry couldn’t bring herself to answer Ara’s question. It was true she had thick skin. She had done all sorts of things as a VR streamer, after all. But reality was different. Having run wild with an avatar that was supposedly identical to her real self, Enry actually had zero resistance when it came to using her actual body. Normal content like mukbang or talk shows would be fine, but cosplay or penalty games were completely off-limits. Especially when it was a scene deliberately created to manufacture even more dark history.
“What I had in mind is this. You turn into Enri-nyang, cook food for me, and even show some cute aegyo. Doesn’t that sound fun?”
Even doing it alone would make her face explode from blushing, but Ara wanted her to do it right in front of an acquaintance? Ara. Are you actually a demon? Just where are you trying to push me into? This is social suicide!
“But to do that broadcast, you’ll have to stand in front of the camera too, Ara.”
“It’s fine as long as I cover my face, right? I’ll wear a mask.”
When Enry asked cautiously, Ara answered without the slightest hesitation. So you want to drink in the sight of me being embarrassed that badly?! Was the grudge you buried in your heart yesterday really that huge?! Thanks to this the MyTube clips are going to come out disgustingly well. The editor’s definitely going to be thrilled. I won’t be, though!
“Also… um… the cosplay outfit and stuff will probably take a while to arrive, right?”
“I asked Nabi-rin and she said ordering it gets it here in two days. I’ll pay for it.”
Nabi-rin! You showed up on Ara’s stream yesterday with a donation and even answered her personal questions?! Why?! Looking at how things are rolling, it’s obvious what Ara is aiming for! Did you do it on purpose?! Are you just sitting in the back eating popcorn!? I’d probably do the same, so I can’t really complain, buuuut…
“Enry. Can’t you do it?”
“No, it’s just… well…”
“I figured you’d say that, so I prepared another option. You know the game Death Tag, right?”
“Yes.”
She did know about it. A game where one player becomes a murderer from various horror creations and hunts down the other users. The better the players got, the more the murderer ended up being bullied, so it was a strange title where everyone preferred playing as survivors instead. Since Enry hated anything horror-related she had never played it herself, but she had at least heard the name.
“Including your viewers, four people will play as survivors and I’ll be the murderer. If you manage to escape, it’s over. How about it? Sounds good, right?”
It was clearly a fair condition—if only the person suggesting it hadn’t been Ara.
Ara was someone who displayed more depravity than any veteran when it came to physical activity. Even if a bunch of tag-game veterans gathered together, could they really accomplish anything against her? She was the kind of monster who would smash the game’s system itself to pieces. Therefore, the proposal Ara just made shouldn’t be taken at face value. It had to be understood like this:
Would you rather suffer social death doing Enri-nyang in reality, or be tormented inside an endless hell while running from the murderer known as Ara?
“I’ll do whatever Enry wants.”
Either path ended with her falling off a cliff, but the height of those cliffs was different. One side was so deep the bottom couldn’t be seen, while the other at least let you see where the ground was.
This wasn’t a choice. It was coercion.
“Um… Ara. Are there any other options…”
“You can’t do either of them?”
“It’s not that, I was just wondering if maybe there was something else…”
“I’m very disappointed. I’ve suffered countless humiliations because of you, Enry. There are dozens of videos that came out of that day alone.”
After having pushed Ara into that game and then watched Hwaryeong-nyang desperately try to act cute, Enry clamped her mouth shut. She had plenty of things she could say. That the flaming chat had been suppressed thanks to that, for one. That Ara had been the one to reveal her own dark history first and take the initiative. That the donations that day had been so enormous that even though dark history was created, her bank account had become very happy. But Enry didn’t utter any of it. Her intuition was screaming that anything she said right now would only make the situation worse.
Staring at Ara’s face—which showed no change in expression and only wore a faint smile—Enry opened and closed her mouth several times before finally lowering her head and speaking in a tiny, crawling voice.
“I’ll do the Enri-nyang.”
“Really? You don’t have to force yourself.”
“No. I’ve genuinely started wanting to do Enri-nyang. Please let me do it.”
“If you’re going to say it like that, I suppose I have no choice. Later, after you buy the outfit, tell me the price. I’ll send you the money.”
“…Yes.”
She had no idea where the shop that sold those maid outfits was, but she prayed with all her heart that some kind of accident would happen. The factory could catch fire, the owner could run off with the money—anything at all—so please, just make it impossible to obtain the maid outfit.
Enry’s prayer was incredibly earnest, but the world rarely worked that way, did it? The things you wish for never come true, while the things you don’t wish for happen perfectly. This time was no exception. After reluctantly buying the maid uniform, cat ears, and tail, the clothes arrived at her house via same-day delivery the very next day.
Staring at the clothes spread out across her living room, Enry agonized for a long time before deciding that if the disaster was coming anyway, it was better to just experience it and move on.
After my previous maid broadcast, one thing that truly surprised me was how many people actually enjoyed watching me act shameless. My MyTube channel is currently divided into three main categories. Martial arts videos get the most views, followed by daily life, then pool streams. The daily life numbers weren’t bad, but the martial arts views were so overwhelmingly dominant that the others felt somewhat overshadowed. Yet when I uploaded the video of myself as a maid acting silly, it pulled in views almost on par with the martial arts channel. Damn it.
Thanks to that, whenever I started a recent broadcast the viewers would tack “nyang nyang” onto everything I did and make a huge fuss. I figured they would eventually get tired of it, but I had no idea when that day would come. Once the broadcast with Enry ends, she’ll probably get a taste of this feeling too. I’m actually a little excited. Maybe I’ll drop by her stream later and join in on the fun.
When I arrived in front of Enry’s house and rang the bell, her completely deflated voice came through. She really didn’t want to do this. But what could she do about it? The broadcast notice had already gone out. Everyone was looking forward to it—there was no way she could run away now.
“You’re early.”
The Enry who greeted me was strangely dressed in normal clothes. What? Why wasn’t she wearing the maid outfit?
“I was looking forward to it. So where’s the maid outfit?”
“Please don’t rush me so muuuuch…”
The sight of Enry’s bright red face made me laugh on the spot. So even this girl who looked like an absolute clown on stream knew what shame felt like.
As I stood there laughing, Enry brought out the maid uniform from inside the room. Oh. The quality was better than I expected. If she could endure the embarrassment, it would be perfectly fine to wear outside.
“And these are the cat ears and tail.”
The ears were the headband type, and the tail fastened around the waist with a band. It wouldn’t look as natural as it did in the game, but this was still pretty good.
“The broadcast will take place in the living room and kitchen. If you sit in the living room, Ara, I’ll cook and bring the food out like a proper maid.”
“Got it.”
“Did you bring a mask, Ara?”
“Yes, of course.”
I had no problem showing my face. If necessary I could just use reverse disguise technique to change my appearance. But since Enry said it would be better to hide my face, I decided to follow her advice.
“It’s a fox?”
“I liked the one I used in Hwaryong Muin last time.”
I had searched for the closest match possible and placed an order. Seeing it in real life, it looked even better and I was quite satisfied.
“While I’m wearing this, I can just lift it a little when it’s time to eat, right?”
“Are you really going to stay in those clothes?”
“Is there a problem?”
I had simply worn my usual outfit. Was there something wrong with a hoodie and jeans? I thought it was perfectly casual.
“No. Um. Sigh… Fine. Let’s go with that.”
“Never mind my clothes—why don’t you go change quickly, Enry? I can’t wait to see Enri-nyang.”
Come on. Show me your face flushed with shame. Just that alone feels like it would wash away all the humiliation I’ve suffered until now.
When I half-forcibly pressed the maid outfit into Enry’s hands, she fidgeted for a moment before telling me to wait and slipped back into her room.