Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Ch. 92 .｡.:✧ The Barbell-Lifting Cinderella - 2 ✧:.｡.
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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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You know that feeling?
That gut feeling that something is wrong, even if you don’t know the details.
Like when you come home and your parents are sitting in the living room, and they say, “Come sit down for a minute.”
Or when you finally work up the courage to confess to your crush, and her expression tells you it’s already over.
I had been dozing after a comforting bowl of kalguksu on a chilly evening.
I wasn’t sure if I had heard the phone ring.
My sleep had been light, so I woke up easily.
I looked around the dimly lit hotel room, trying to distinguish between dream and reality.
Then I saw my phone, lying face down on the nightstand, and that unsettling feeling crept in.
When I picked it up, my fears were confirmed.
Missed Calls: 47
Caller: Choi Ga-ram
—
Unread KakaoTalk Messages: 128
Sender: Ga-ram
Her stream was offline. I called her immediately.
I assumed it was a money problem.
But the situation was far more serious than I had anticipated.
[The number you have dialed is not in service. Please try again later.]
I tried three or four times, but it went straight to voicemail.
A cold sweat trickled down my back.
I called someone else.
“Ho-chul.”
[Hyung-nim! How’s your vacation? Did you eat?]
“Ho-chul, sorry to bother you while you’re off, but I need a favor.”
[Uh… sure. What is it?]
“Can you go to Ga-ram’s gym?”
[Ga-ram Fitness? Why…? Okay, I’ll go check it out.]
I hung up, packed my bags, and checked out of the hotel.
The late-night highway was deserted. I floored the accelerator.
Fueled by anxiety and a growing sense of dread, the car sped through the darkness.
At this rate, I would be there in two hours. I could handle whatever problem had arisen.
But a part of me hoped it was just a misunderstanding, a minor incident that had blown out of proportion.
– Ring, ring, ring
The phone rang.
“Ho-chul?”
His voice was heavy.
He seemed to be struggling to find the right words.
“Tell me what happened.”
[Hyung-nim, I think you need to come to the hospital.]
“The hospital? Is Ga-ram sick?”
[Sick… I don’t know… she’s definitely not okay.]
“What’s going on? Just tell me. Is it dizziness or something?”
‘Idiot, if it was just dizziness, she wouldn’t have called me 47 times.’
I mentally berated myself.
[It’s… complicated. It looks like self-harm… The gym was a complete mess when I got there.]
[Dumbbells scattered everywhere, broken glass, smashed cameras… and Ga-ram… she was struggling to breathe.]
“What happened?”
Did she have some underlying health condition I didn’t know about?
[I don’t know. She’s in the emergency room now. The doctors said she’s not in critical condition.]
“Okay, just wait for me there. And thanks for going. Sorry to call you so late.”
[It’s okay. But hyung-nim, are you sure you need to come all the way here? I can stay with her.]
“No, I need to be there. I’m driving, so I’ll explain everything later.”
[Okay, I’ll text you the address.]
What could have triggered such a drastic reaction?
Money?
Her financial situation had been improving, so that didn’t seem likely.
Family?
She had a difficult family history, but that wasn’t a new development.
“That leaves only one possibility.”
The stream.
I had repeatedly told her to ignore trolls and hateful comments…
Had she encountered a particularly malicious viewer?
I opened OceaniaTV and watched the replay of her last stream.
I skipped to about twenty minutes before the end.
“…”
She was going through her usual routine.
Working out, cleaning the gym.
But the chat was different.
Her regular viewers were arguing with a new influx of… well, could they even be called viewers?
And the chat was flooded with suspicious links.
It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened.
>> Explain yourself.
>> Is it true you’re trying to sabotage Hana?
>> You’re just a newbie, greedy for donations.
>> Solitary Trainer’s sex cam link.
>> That SupremeLandlord guy is an idiot for trusting you. Poor Hana…
Hana. You did this.
I had assumed she would just send Ga-ram those old messages I had sent her.
But she had gone much further than that.
I slammed my foot on the accelerator.
The engine roared, and I was pushed back into my seat.
That bitch. I’ll make her pay.
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I met Ho-chul outside the hospital, filled out some paperwork, and rushed to the emergency room.
A nurse led me to Ga-ram’s room.
She was asleep, her breathing shallow but even.
It was better than seeing her in a state of panic.
“She’s stable now. The doctor will check on her when she wakes up.”
The nurse spoke in a monotone and moved on to another patient.
I sat down on the small chair next to the bed.
It creaked under my weight.
“…”
Here’s what I had pieced together during the drive.
Hana had somehow implied that Ga-ram had been talking badly about her to me.
It was all circumstantial, of course.
Hana was too cunning to make any direct accusations.
She had merely planted the seed of doubt.
A small seed, but enough to ignite the imaginations of the internet gossip mill.
During her stream, Hana had briefly flashed her friends list, revealing my username.
Internet sleuths had taken screenshots, identified my account, and accessed my viewing history.
I hadn’t bothered to make my viewing history private, so it was all there for the world to see.
The notorious “SupremeLandlord,” known for showering female streamers with donations, was now exclusively watching one channel.
And that channel was Solitary Trainer.
It wasn’t conclusive proof, but in the court of public opinion, it was enough.
Hana’s fans, eager for drama, had descended on Ga-ram’s stream, unleashing a torrent of hate and abuse.
Thankfully, the “Solitary Trainer’s sex cam link” they had spammed was just a rickroll.
If it had been a deepfake of Ga-ram, the consequences could have been far more devastating.
Honestly, this whole incident was relatively mild compared to the horrors of the internet.
But for Ga-ram, who was new to all this, it must have been overwhelming.
I took Ga-ram’s hand in mine.
It was cold.
I gently stroked her fingers, filled with regret.
This was my fault. I had to fix it.
“Mmm…”
She stirred, perhaps sensing my touch.
“Hmm?”
She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.
“Sorry I didn’t answer your calls, Ga-ram… Oof!”
Before I could finish, she bolted upright and threw her arms around me.
“Why… why did you take so long?! Why?!”
She clung to me, sobbing, her tears soaking my shirt.
She hit and pinched my back, like a wounded animal lashing out in pain.
Finally, she pulled back slightly, her eyes meeting mine.
“I’m sorry,” I said, stroking her hair.
She seemed to calm down a little and her grip loosened.
“Since you’re awake now, I’ll go get the doctor.”
I stood up to leave.
Tug
A sharp pain shot through my arm, and I was pulled back.
“Don’t go. Don’t leave me again,” she whispered, her eyes dark and pleading.
It was like seeing her again by the Han River, lost and vulnerable.
“Don’t go. I can’t breathe when you’re not here. Please… stay with me.”
She tugged on my arm again, and I stumbled towards her.
She stared at me intently, her gaze unwavering.
Finally, she spoke, each word measured and deliberate.
“In-ho… no… Daddy.”
You know that feeling?
That gut feeling that something is wrong?
Yeah, I had that feeling.
This was bad.
Very bad.
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[T/N: Wtf]
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