Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Hiatus Announcement
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"Please don't act like you know me if we run into each other outside. I have severe social anxiety."
💬 Live Chat <Got it> <Yes, your highness!> <With that face, a hikikomori gaming genius, gold spoon, social anxiety? How many traits do you even have?> <Ahh, the makings of a 'protagonist'> [Mageulkpoever donated 10,000 won.] ─"Ah lol, no wonder you like Venus so much. Turns out it's 'cause she looks like you and you feel that kinship lol." Stab.
A spear tip plunging deep into her conscience.
But she'd already done too much damage, and there was no way she could just go, "Ta-da! It was all cosplay!" and call it a day.
"Ha, ha, ha."
She laughed it off like a toy that makes noise when you press a button, then continued the stream.
She filled out a casual four hours and ended it.
The double broadcast time event was only until she hit number one.
Viewers had peaked at 70,000 during the mask cam reveal, briefly climbing to 80,000 after the incident, but as she kept streaming with the jellyfish model, it dropped back to 50,000.
That was 20,000 more than usual—how many would come back for the next one?
As she thought about that and washed up, her body felt warmer than normal.
Was she still worked up from that incident earlier?
There were double barriers of disguise plus the internet anyway—no way anything would change for her.
It better not...
The next morning, she realized it was a cold with a fever.
No wonder her body felt all hot and stuffy.
Ah.
Oww.
It hurts.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 📰 Forum Post [Author: Anonymous] [No way a girl this pretty has zero SNS traces?] [She had to have been famous. How is there nothing at all??
> This doesn't make sense]
Internet folks who always do exactly what they're told not to, borrowing Bill Gates' time.
They took that single photo and started scouring every corner of the web.
But they couldn't find any photos of Seol-a, who'd been overseas for three years, on the Korean sites they were frantically digging through.
Even if they stumbled on one by chance, the disguise would've kept them from recognizing her.
And then the next stream time rolled around.
Some viewers were harboring hopes.
Maybe now that her face was out there, she'd turn on the cam and stream with it.
There were plenty of streamers who'd stuck to no-cam even after their faces got plastered online, so it wasn't huge expectations.
Still, that national treasure-level beauty was too good to hide away.
Not showing it off continuously would be a massive loss for all humanity!
📰 Forum Post [Author: Jeon Jeonseol] [Hiatus Announcement] [Out sick with a cold and fever] The human body is deeply tied to the mind.
Don't you hear stories all the time about people with terminal diagnoses living longer than expected just to keep a promise?
This wasn't that extreme, but Jeon Jeonseol had pushed her body to the limit with that grueling stream schedule to hit number one.
Once the tension let up, the bill came due all at once.
Some might think sitting at a computer for eight hours a day isn't enough to lay someone out.
But in mind sports like Go or chess, or PC games, it's tough for women to surpass men at the top partly because of stamina in long matches.
And Seol-a, with zero exercise and a hikikomori lifestyle that wasn't even proper daily living, had even less stamina than the average woman.
She hadn't realized she was overdoing it.
"Cough! Cough!"
Being sick alone made her feel so aggrieved that tears welled up.
Or was she just crying from the pain?
Seol-a squeezed out what little energy she had through her pounding head to message her manager and post the hiatus notice.
Manager Jung Min-hee: -Did you go to the hospital? Jeonseol-a: -No Manager Jung Min-hee: -Too hard to go alone? Manager Jung Min-hee: -Want me to take you? The kindness was appreciated, but accepting would mean confessing the lies first.
Like, it wasn't even dyed blonde, the height was from lifts, and the chest was cosplay padding.
In Seol-a's mind, people were divided into categories.
Those she could show her true self to, and those she couldn't.
Those she could show even disguised, and those she couldn't.
Excluding family, only Victory and Wild got the true self.
Her editor and manager only got the disguise.
More than it seemed on the surface, Seol-a treasured Woo-seung and Jun deeply.
The outrageous lies she'd told Woo-seung were because,
if she confessed and he rejected her coldly, they'd drift apart,
because she didn't want to lose him.
Don't confess.
Just stay by my side forever.
Even if the world called it "fish tank management," some evil act.
Even if the lies drove a wedge between her, Woo-seung, and Jun.
Even if it was a contradictory act of stabbing the person she loved with a knife.
If all that was stuff she shouldn't do,
did that mean Seol-a had to be alone forever?
It suddenly felt so unfair.
If she'd just stayed a guy among guys, she wouldn't have needed any of that...
It was all because she'd become a woman.
Because she'd become too beautiful.
Jeonseol-a: -I'm fine Jeonseol-a: -My little sis is coming Another lie.
She hadn't contacted Seol-yun yet.
But she didn't want to be seen as some stubborn idiot refusing the hospital because she was sick.
Or tip off that she was hiding secrets from her manager.
Thud, thud.
Footsteps echoing in the hallway.
Who could it be?
Dad?
Seol-yun should still be at school.
Knock, knock.
"Who...?"
Her hoarse voice didn't carry far, just a quiet echo around her lips.
"It's me. Coming in."
Thankfully, the other person heard her fine.
It was Seol-yun.
She came straight over and pressed a hand to Seol-a's forehead.
"You should've called me first. Taking care of viewers before yourself? Total streamer move."
She'd seen the hiatus post and come?
This fast?
As if she stared at that board all day.
No, probably just good timing spotting it.
"Here, sis. Arms out."
Like tending to a daughter, she dressed her bit by bit, then scooped her up princess-style and headed to the parking lot with Seol-a in her arms.
How light was Seol-a, and how strong was Seol-yun?
Seol-yun settled her gently in the passenger seat and buckled her up.
Taking care of every little thing, just like a mom on TV.
Seol-a cried quietly.
Seol-yun, in the driver's seat, asked,
"Does it hurt bad? Should we hit the ER?"
Seol-a shook her head.
It's not hurting that makes me cry.
It's happiness.
Happiness mixed with sadness.
You must've always gotten this from Mom when you were sick.
It looks so practiced, like you learned it from watching someone.
Modern medicine still hasn't conquered the common cold.
No perfect cure—just some symptom-relief prescriptions, and back home.
"I'll grab some porridge ingredients."
Don't go.
She didn't say it, but clung to her sleeve.
"Fine, delivery then."
Seol-yun pulled a chair bedside and sat, holding Seol-a's hand.
"Colds are contagious though..."
After telling her not to go herself.
Now worrying she was too close—Seol-a was impossible to pin down.
"I'm tough. I'll be fine."
"Thanks."
The next day, and the day after.
Seol-yun pretty much nursed her nonstop.
Meanwhile, the [Out sick with a cold and fever] notice stayed unupdated.
Viewers spiraled into all sorts of delusions.
📰 Forum Post [Author: Anonymous] [Who the hell wished on that monkey's paw???] ─[Legend granted empty air time and now she's retiring ffs] └[Only day 3 of hiatus and you're freaking out lol] ↳ Reply [3 days become 7, 7 becomes a year] ↳ Reply [Ugh! My head!] ↳ Reply [Who'd she get dumped by lol scary] ─[(The wish came true con)] ─[But damn she was gorgeous] ↳ Reply [Agreed] ↳ Reply [She just needs to come back now lol] ↳ Reply [Ah....] 📰 Forum Post [Author: Anonymous] [She keeps saying don't, but doxxing scum are why she's not coming back, right?] ─[(Heavy cursing)
> (Very heavy cursing)
> (Padlip and sex drip mix that'd get insta-banned)] ─[This guy's seriously pissed] ─[So many idiots who aren't streamers acting like they know how to live someone else's life] ↳ Reply [Jukseon types amirite] ↳ Reply [facts) stream bugs aren't just in Korea, they're worldwide] ↳ Reply [Don't you know mukbangs and streams are part of Hallyu culture?] ↳ Reply [For real?] ─[Pls all you red pill hunting assholes just die already] 📰 Forum Post [Author: Anonymous] [Recruiting for Vtuber red pill archive blog terror] [If no one else does it I'll go solo
> (Link)]
─[This guy's high-level red pill promo right?] ↳ Reply [Legend noona's blue pill so it's fine] ↳ Reply [Why do almost all Vtubers look normal?? Then why Vtuber?] ↳ Reply [It's not just ugly people doing Vtuber—wanting to hide your identity is totally normal] ↳ Reply [Oh... didn't know] The ongoing hiatus turned some folks violent, and they started terrorizing the red pill archive sites.
Just block 'em, close comments, right?
If it were that easy, why would people kill themselves over hate comments?
In the end, constant raids broke the admins' spirits, and three red pill sites went down.
All butterfly effects from Jeon Jeonseol's hiatus.