The Saint Catches a Cold

For someone like Minji, morning was nothing like the dreary slog of an overworked salaryman. Minji was the type who slept until she felt like waking up. She never lacked for sleep. The kind of girl who sprawled out and slept until her body was more than satisfied, she usually opened her eyes feeling refreshed rather than stiff. It made one wonder how she had ever survived the military, but then again, that place was infamous for changing people.

"Ugh..."

Still, this morning was not kind to Minji. Hostile would be a better word. Her body felt like lead and a sharp pain squeezed her head like someone was wringing it out. When she first opened her eyes, she assumed she had overslept again and Suha had come to drag her out. She half-expected the usual headlock accompanied by a scolding of "I told you to sleep early!" It was a promise made by eight people, after all, so Minji figured she deserved whatever punishment came her way.

"Nnngh..."

Even so, this felt excessive.

"Eek!"

Minji shot upright like a fish pulled from water. Only then did she realize the pain had nothing to do with Suha. She glanced around. No one was there. God, her head hurt. Why did it hurt so much?

"Cough... Ugh, I'm dying."

Even Minji could figure out where the headache came from.

"Ah, crap. I've got a cold."

How on earth had a girl who spent twenty-four hours a day holed up at home caught a cold? Of course, contrary to popular belief, colds could strike from simple immune system weakness. No matter how healthy Lee Minji's body was, living with a wrecked sleep schedule and barely seeing sunlight was bound to lower her resistance eventually.

"Achoo!"

Twenty-two years old, the greatest support genius Ias had ever produced (in her own opinion), Saint Naise Lee Minji, had caught a cold.

After dragging her heavy body up and checking the clock, she blinked. 10:30. There was still an hour and a half until the scheduled meeting time. Minji herself was the one flustered by this. Since getting discharged, she couldn't remember ever waking up before noon. When she was healthy she could never get up, yet when sick she woke early. What kind of joke was that? Well, she had woken up because she felt awful.

"Ughhh... cough!"

With pressure pounding in her head, Minji pulled the blanket over herself ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and kept sneezing. At least the medicine was starting to ease the symptoms a little. If Suha hadn't been horrified by the empty medicine cabinet and nagged her to stock cold medicine, Minji would probably still be groaning in bed.

"I should thank Suha... Damn, my nose is killing me."

She wiped at the endless stream of snot, threw on an extra coat from the closet, and sat down at her computer. Heater cranked up, warm water ready. Preparation complete! What was complete? Obviously, stream prep.

Considering her condition, she probably should have rested, but she still had to participate in the Bolekia raid. She couldn't stop the raid attempts just because of herself, and there was no reason not to stream while trying. After going live, she blew her nose once more and took a sip of warm water. Feeling the warmth spread through her throat, Minji checked the viewer count.

Nine hundred forty-five viewers. Way more than expected. Barely ten minutes after hitting start and she was already nearing a thousand. It had only been two days of the first-clear race, but the ripple effect was impossible to ignore. Viewer counts for Ias content had exploded across the platform, and the real-time rankings were completely dominated by Ias streams. Thanks to that, Minji, who had been streaming for less than half a year, had even reached number one on the platform once.

Still, why were people so upset over one day without a mic?

She barely talked during raids anyway. Couldn't they just let it slide for one day? Of course, Minji didn't realize that her voice was an irreplaceable part of her stream. Setting aside her actions, just hearing her voice made her sound like an unparalleled beauty. The gap between that gorgeous voice and body and her ridiculous behavior was the number one reason her stream had grown so fast.

"Aigoo... Thank you so much for the ten thousand won."

"Donations are important, you know. Ten thousand won is touching."

"Yeah... my nose is like this. Completely blocked. Sniff."

11:50. Time had flown by while she got up, washed, took medicine, and started streaming. The moment she told her raid members she had a cold, her phone started ringing nonstop.

She didn't even need to check who it was. Probably...

Suha.

"Hellooo."

"Hey, you caught a cold?! Are you okay?! Did you take medicine? I left some cold medicine on your desk—"

"I'm live right now."

"Ah—"

"Ahem, anyway, are you feeling a bit better? Will you be okay for today's raid? Shouldn't you rest for a day?"

"I'm fine, I took medicine and I'm already better. Sniff."

"Your nose sounds really blocked... Still, shouldn't you go to the hospital? No, wait. I'll drive over to your place right now—"

"I'm fine, I'm fine! Don't come!"

What was with her? It wasn't like Minji had a terminal illness. Why was she overreacting so much?

Thanks to the tiny shred of conscience left in her, Minji couldn't bring herself to blame Suha even though her voice sounded weird and she didn't feel like talking much.

"Sorry, I overreacted, didn't I...? Still, go to the hospital tomorrow for sure. And don't eat cup ramen again—order some porridge or something."

"Yeah, later."

"Okay."

Beep.

Haah. Whether it was the rain-induced panic attack last time or now, whenever she got sick she ended up creating new dark history. Was it just her imagination?

While sighing deeply and sipping water again, her phone rang once more. Minji felt her nerves fray. Who was it this time—

She checked the name and blinked.

Baek Ryong-gak.

This was unexpected.

"Hellooo."

"Hey, you okay? You said you had a cold? Your voice sounds terrible, your nose is super blocked."

"That's why I told you to sleep early at night. When your lifestyle gets messed up, your immunity drops, and also—"

"That's enough! I've heard that lecture plenty already. Stop!"

"Ah, just so you know, I'm not in any kind of relationship with this friend. Don't misunderstand."

"...What, you were streaming? Ah, sorry. Viewers of Seongna's stream, I show my face too. I'm not in that kind of relationship with Seongna."

"That's right, that's right."

Being told he showed his face felt oddly satisfying, but well, they really were just friends.

"Anyway, I'm hanging up. But seriously, how did you even catch a cold? You literally never leave your room."

"Yeah..."

She couldn't be certain how she caught it, but there was one likely moment.

"Probably when I went to the convenience store?"

"Convenience store?"

"Yeah."

That was the only time she'd gone outside recently.

"No way, that couldn't have taken more than a few minutes. Did you go in your underwear or something?"

"Wait, how did you know?"

The guy was seriously weird. Did he have a camera in her room?

"?"

"Ah, I didn't go in just my underwear, obviously. I wore a padded jacket on top—"

"You crazy girl, ah, seriously...! Ugh!"

Beep.

"What, why did he hang up while talking? Hey everyone, did I say something wrong?"

Why was she an exhibitionist? She had clothes on! At home she preferred walking around in just panties and a t-shirt, sure, but outside it was cold so she definitely wore a padded jacket. A long one, even. So there shouldn't have been a problem, right? It was just a quick trip to the convenience store. Wasn't that fine?

Of course, Minji didn't voice her grievances out loud. With her nose blocked, her voice would probably sound weird again.

Now, time to actually resume the stream...

Beep beep beep beep.

"Ah, seriously."

What now? Who was it this time? At this point she wasn't just on edge—she was getting annoyed. She knew they were worried, but from the receiving end it was exhausting.

Still, her irritation vanished the moment she saw the name.

"Huh?"

Yeoru.

After confirming the caller, curiosity replaced her irritation. What? Why was she calling? Even though Minji had started thinking Yeoru might not be such a bad person, from her perspective Yeoru was still a somewhat awkward acquaintance. They had gotten a little closer yesterday while giving advice, but they weren't close enough for personal calls like this...

"Hellooo."

Well, she might as well answer. She'd find out why soon enough. Maybe it was a wrong number, or maybe just simple concern about her health.

"Hello, Seongna-nim! Are you feeling okay?!"

"Yeah, but how did you know...?"

"Ahaha... I heard from the kids in my stream. You used your voice a lot helping us yesterday, so I felt bad thinking it might be because of that."

So she had been worried enough to call because of that? Minji felt a little embarrassed for having doubted her.

"Ah... I'm fine. I took medicine and I'm feeling better."

With Yeoru acting this way, Minji felt even more awkward for suspecting her earlier. After all, it was Senbing who had kicked her out, and she still didn't know if Yeoru had been involved.

"Really? That's a relief. Actually, since you said you weren't feeling well, I..."

Beep beep beep.

"...Huh?"

"The first one is a tea bag. It's ginger tea, good for colds. The second is a blanket. Since you said you often stream in your underwear, I thought it would feel nice and soft draped over your knees. And the last one is a portable heat pack..."

"Uh, that..."

...She was saying it might be her fault Minji caught the cold, so she felt responsible. Minji understood that part, but this seemed a bit much, didn't it?