The Heretic Hunter's Job Hunt

I wish people would stop slandering me. What should I even say? This is just my personal opinion, but I think I'm actually a pretty reliable worker when it comes to part-time jobs. Ever since I ran away from home in my past life, there's literally no job I haven't tried. Logistics work, convenience stores, restaurant dishwashing, PC bangs, construction sites, cafés, pubs—you name it. As long as it wasn't illegal, I've done it all. Of course, I've also been stiffed on wages just as many times. Pretending to have a different identity was technically illegal too, but I had no choice if I wanted to survive. So really, if someone would just give me a chance, I'd work incredibly hard…

“I'm sorry, but… I don't think this will work out.”

“W-why not…?”

“Hmm. You mentioned you've been rejected from every other part-time job interview too, right?”

“Yes…”

Today's interview was at a supermarket just ten minutes from home. The owner scratched his head with a sympathetic look and explained why I wouldn't be a good fit.

“First and foremost, it's… your confidence, I suppose? You stutter, and you can't even make eye contact. We may not be a full service industry, but we still need to treat customers kindly. You don't seem capable of that. Some customers get angry just because they didn't get a proper greeting.”

A devastating blow with no room for rebuttal. My chest ached.

“And second, you're a foreigner.”

“…Excuse me?”

I'm a native Korean, though.

“More precisely, the fact that you're a foreigner with no work experience is a bit… We can't afford to hire someone who might disappear at any moment.”

“No, that's…”

How was I supposed to explain this? I really am a native Korean. This is so unfair. Of course, with my silver hair and red eyes, plus the name Selene, I can understand why people assume I'm foreign. But I really am Korean!!! Well, in my past life, anyway. Have you ever seen a foreigner who speaks Korean this fluently? I wanted to argue, but… yeah. If I could have, I would've gotten a job ages ago…

“Anyway, those two reasons are pretty significant disqualifiers for us… I'm afraid it's not possible.”

With those final words, the interview ended. I dragged my heavy feet out of the office and headed home. To think I'd finally made it to an interview, only for it to be another waste of time. I'd half-expected this, but hearing that being a foreigner with no experience was a major disqualifier was still a shock. I'm a native Korean, for crying out loud…

“Haa…”

As I sighed, my breath came out white in the cold winter air. The sky was clear.

“Hmm…”

Yesterday's PVP match ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠against that heretic using the nickname Maratangko? Maribako? seemed to have become quite the topic in the community. Not only on the New Dimension Gallery, but the story had spread to the free bulletin board on the New Dimension homepage as well, and someone had uploaded a video to OnTube. The view count was pathetic, though.

The New Dimension Gallery in particular was still burning up, and it wasn't just because of yesterday's PVP footage. There was a bigger reason.

It turned out that the occasional troll in the gallery was me. Well, technically, what I did wasn't trolling. I was simply giving all New Dimension users the chance to leave the heretics and repent. To have my beautiful goodwill treated as trolling… My heart hurts so much…

But a hurt heart is a hurt heart, and if I can use something, I should use it. While all this attention was focused on me…

“Lene unni.”

“Ah, yes…”

“Mom said to bring some tteokgalbi home for dinner tonight.”

“Oh… Th-thank you.”

“Say thank you to Mom, not me.”

“R-right…”

Maybe I should eat some tteokgalbi first and think about it later. I can't resist tteokgalbi.

Internet streaming means nothing without viewers. In other words, drawing people's attention is the most important part of the job. So if I turned on my stream and promoted myself while my name was trending across all these communities, wouldn't that have a pretty good effect? That was my thought.

And just as I expected, the moment I started streaming, thirteen people came in. Compared to my usual two regular viewers, that was a sixfold increase! This was clearly the beginning of my success story.

— Hey

— Is that really the guy?

— Why didn't you stream yesterday during the PVP?

My first two regular viewers, Reinel and Moriarty, were naturally watching as well. My heart was pounding for some reason.

“Hello…”

— ???

— What the hell???

— Wait, it's a girl???

Chat messages expressing confusion about my voice flooded in instantly. I guess the fact that I'm a girl is way more shocking than I thought.

“I'm a guy… I'm, I'm using a voice changer.”

— Ah shit, it's a gay bastard lol

— What a disgusting guy

— Sigh, damn

…Five people left in an instant. That's too much. Maybe I chose the wrong direction after all? That thought crossed my mind, but I should at least stick with it for a month. Anyway, eight viewers is still four times more than the day before yesterday, so it's not a problem.

“Um… Are there any viewers here who play as self-proclaimed Priests or Paladins, or Inquisitors in New Dimension?”

— I'm a Priest. One person.

Hmm… With viewers being this precious, is it okay to ban them? The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I can't make exceptions.

“Repent and come back. I'll ban you for three minutes.”

Ten minutes felt too long, so let's just do three.

— ???

— This guy's actually insane

— He must've come from the gallery, yet he's answering so honestly lol

— For real, you still don't know who this guy is?

— Your voice ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is too quiet

“I'm still not used to speaking, so please understand…”

Fortunately, no additional viewers left. The heretic I'd banned for three minutes, 'Jeari,' also came back after three minutes, thankfully.

“Jeari-nim. Have you repented?”

— Yeah, I guess lol

“You'll delete your self-proclaimed Priest character, right?”

— Yeah, I'll try

The reaction wasn't to my liking, but since he said he'd repented, I should believe him. I'm a devout Inquisitor, after all.

“Anyway, earlier Reinel-nim asked why I didn't stream during yesterday's PVP… I couldn't because there wasn't time to get permission from the opposing heretic.”

— Can't you just stream anyway?

“You never know what might happen. And… today's content will be analyzing yesterday's PVP.”

— ? Did you get permission for that?

“No?”

— ?

— What lol

— Teacher, please recall what you just said

“That's different from this. I won, didn't I? In these cases, the winner is justice.”

— He really is insane lol

— So you have to be this crazy to keep up the concept for over a year…

After declaring perfect justice, I played the PVP replay I'd saved in advance. What unfolded before my eyes was a vast plain. On the left stood me, and on the right stood yesterday's heretic.

Since PVP replays can be viewed from a third-person perspective, it was much easier to explain the positioning like this.

“First, my class is Traveler, and the opponent is a self-proclaimed Priest… a heretic, right?”

Thus, I began explaining yesterday's setup to them.

— I don't even understand half of what he's saying

— What the hell is this guy talking about

— Marariko, you lost to this kind of guy

I managed to get a pretty successful reaction from them. The speaking-related video I'd watched briefly before bed seemed to have helped.

“Ah, thank you for the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠1000 won donation. This is basic stuff, so if you memorize it, it'll make things a lot easier for you…”

— This is basic?

— He's already got a loyal fan lol

— Get rid of the loyal fan, damn

— Do I have a different definition of "basic"?

— What level is the advanced course then?

And now my first donation. Without a doubt, it was a successful day.