An Overwhelming Sum

Meanwhile, around the time Jeong-ah was busy cutting down enemies inside Asteria, Professor Cheon Se-rin was in her study, wrestling with paperwork.

"So much to write..."

The paperwork in question was a Recommendation Letter to get Jeong-ah into the academy. Although she had been a professor for nearly five years, this was her first time writing a recommendation letter, and she was struggling in more ways than one.

"Name of recommended student? Park Jeong-ah. Age? Fourteen. Fourteen..."

Reviewing the details she had filled out so far, Se-rin paused her pen at the age section. Fourteen. The number suddenly brought back memories.

Come to think of it, I was fourteen back then, too.

Coincidentally, fourteen was the exact age Se-rin had first awakened and started slaughtering monsters after losing her parents. Just like Jeong-ah now.

She had spent the next ten years working as a hunter, slaying monsters in the Rifts. Then, five years ago, as the world finally entered an era of peace, she naturally transitioned into becoming an academy professor.

Rifts didn't open nearly as often anymore, but people still feared the unexpected. This led nations worldwide to pour resources into training reserve Awakened. Thanks to that, a human butcher whose sole expertise lay in the most efficient ways to slaughter monsters was able to become a distinguished educator.

Of course, she had more than enough money to rot in luxury. She could have easily retired right then and lived a life of leisure. But Se-rin knew herself too well. Leisure was for those who actually knew how to enjoy it. Someone who had spent her entire youth hunting monsters without a single proper break would only end up twiddling her thumbs in boredom if she suddenly became an idle layabout. She needed a job to maintain some semblance of a normal human life, which was how she ended up as an academy professor.

And just like that, I'm already twenty-nine.

To Se-rin, it felt like her twenties had slipped away without her having done anything of note. She had thrown herself onto the front lines at fourteen out of a simple sense of duty to kill monsters, and before she knew it, she was here. In hindsight, her teenage years had been entirely erased.

And somehow, I ended up with a daughter.

Se-rin let out a soft chuckle as she pictured Jeong-ah calling her "Mom." A mother at twenty-nine. It was something she had never, in her wildest dreams, imagined.

I never even dreamed of marriage.

She had assumed she would live alone forever. At most, maybe she'd get a pet. She had expected to just grow old and wither away without accomplishing anything personal, but at the very tail end of her twenties, this sudden shift had occurred.

Though their relationship had started because the old fogies at the academy pressured her over the recommendation letter, Se-rin had already grown quite fond of Jeong-ah. The girl required far less looking after than she had feared, and she wasn't shy at all. She didn't have a bad bone in her body, nor did she seem to find Se-rin uncomfortable to be around. In fact, having Jeong-ah chatter away on her own kept the house from feeling lonely, which was a blessing for the socially awkward Se-rin.

Is this why people raise kids?

In reality, they were closer to sisters with a significant age gap than mother and daughter, but that didn't really matter. Shaking off her brief reverie, Se-rin returned to filling out Jeong-ah's recommendation letter.

"Reason for recommending this student? Describe their specialties in detail..."

Specialties. Jeong-ah's specialty was undoubtedly her absurd combat instincts. The girl Se-rin had faced that day had subdued her opponent with a level of mastery that suggested she had done it countless times before.

Her movements were on par with active-duty hunters.

What on earth had Jeong-ah gone through? At what age had she awakened, and what kind of life had she led to acquire such combat techniques? Se-rin was dying of curiosity, but she couldn't bring herself to ask. The girl was likely hiding deep scars of her own.

To have that kind of skill at fourteen...

Even comparing Jeong-ah to her own fourteen-year-old self, the girl was vastly superior in every single aspect. She must have lived an incredibly harsh life. Just looking at the fact that she had been living as an orphan made it clear she had suffered no less than Se-rin had.

"I'll have to treat her well," Se-rin murmured softly, nodding to herself.

Two hours had already passed since she sat down at her desk, yet the recommendation letter remained unfinished.

"Geummisa! Geummisa! Geummisa! Geummisa!"

"U-um, that's a bit overwhelming, so please stop."

"No way! I'm going to keep doing it! Is Geummisa a god? Is Geummisa a god?!"

The chat was overflowing with praise. Thanks to Han-ah setting up the interface for me, I could now read her stream's chat in real-time. My Placement Matches record was currently 4-0. I had just defeated a duo of stream snipers who were presumably Diamond tier. Since there was still some time before the next queue popped, I decided to ask the viewers something I had been curious about.

"What tier do you guys think my skill level is at?"

Opinions were quite divided even within the chat. I had trusted the power of collective intelligence, but I didn't get a definitive answer like, "Your skill is definitely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at this tier!" Maybe it was because I was an anomaly that was hard to evaluate. Still, watching the chat was quite entertaining. It was fascinating to see so many different opinions spark and clash over a single topic I had thrown out.

Just then, Han-ah approached me, rubbing her hands together eagerly.

"So... shall we queue up for another round?"

"How dare a low-tier scrub open their mouth."

"W-what? Was that... directed at me?"

"Ah, sorry. I was just reading the chat. People say the funniest things."

I explained to a visibly shocked Han-ah that it was all a misunderstanding. Just as I was about to start the matchmaking queue again—

Beep, beep, beep, beep—

"Ah."

Along with the ringing sound, a window popped up in front of my eyes. It was the built-in alarm of the capsule, notifying me that my set time was up. Had it really been that long? Just like last time, playing Asteria made me completely lose track of time. It was a shame, but today's session had to end here. I approached Han-ah, who was excitedly continuing her commentary, to let her know.

"Hanya-nim."

"Will she be able to win this match as well? Let's open a prediction with channel points—yes?"

"Um, I don't think I can play anymore today."

"Eeeh?"

Han-ah's eyes widened in surprise. The chat also erupted with confused reactions.

"C-can't we just do one more game? Just to hit five wins."

"I'd love to, but..."

To be honest, I wanted to keep playing Asteria too. My stamina was still completely fine, and the game itself was incredibly fun. Every session offered something new, so I wasn't bored at all. However, before entering the capsule, I had promised Se-rin that I would only play until 10 PM at the latest. We had to go to the academy together tomorrow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to apply for my transfer, among other things. I briefly summarized the situation.

"I promised my mom I'd only play until ten."

"Y-your mom?"

"Yes. So I don't think I can play anymore today. Let's play together again next time."

Seeing my firm stance, Han-ah nodded, realizing there was no changing my mind. She then muted her stream microphone, saying she had something to tell me, and stepped closer.

"The account details you sent me last time, that's your primary account, right?"

The words that followed were exactly what I had been eagerly waiting to hear.

"I'll send over the donation revenue from the last stream and today's stream, plus the revenue from the video we uploaded to YouTube. Once you log off, I'm going to end the stream too, so it shouldn't take very long."

"Thank you."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Don't mention it, I'm the one who should be thanking you. I benefited so much thanks to you, Jeong-ah. Anyway, log off and check your account in a bit. We got way more donations than I expected. You can look forward to it."

After saying goodbye, I logged out. Although I had felt perfectly energetic inside the game, my physical body must have been tired, as a wave of slight drowsiness washed over me. I lay there for a moment inside the capsule, which was as comfortable as any bed, when—bzzzt—about five minutes later, the phone on the side ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠table vibrated. Han-ah had probably sent the money. Anticipating this, I sat up and checked my phone. How much would it be? 50,000 won? 100,000 won? Maybe even up to 150,000 won? Han-ah did tell me to look forward to it, after all.

"?"

However, the appearance fee shown on my banking app shattered all my expectations.

"...Is this a bug?"

It was far too much money to have earned from just two stream appearances.