Chapter 50
Chapter 50
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 50
Chapter Title: Echoes of the Past
-----------------------------------------------------------------
About five years ago.
Back when I was still in high school.
At the time, I was being ostracized at school just because I came from an orphanage.
The teachers turned a blind eye and stood by while the kids mocked me and left me isolated all alone.
Maybe it was because I was a problem child with terrible grades and behavior.
Or maybe it was because I was an orphan with no guardian to speak up for me. Who knows.
I'd grown up malnourished without proper home upbringing, but one thing I knew for sure.
If someone hits you, you have to hit them back.
That impulsive seventeen-year-old boy learned the thrill of revenge dopamine before any moral notions of mercy or forgiveness.
Stuff like sneaking maggots the size of rice grains or spoiled milk into their bags.
Or poking holes in their gym clothes or uniforms.
Or swiping the belongings of the gang that bullied me the most—those wannabe delinquents—and slipping them into each other's bags.
It was hilarious holding back laughter when they'd grab each other's collars, accusing one another of being thieves.
Childish pranks from an immature age, so of course I got caught quick.
Pastor Kim beat me half to death over it.
Luckily, since it all stemmed from the school bullying I'd endured, the school hushed it up quietly to avoid a scandal.
They never messed with me after that, so we all got our happy ending.
So why am I droning on about the past now?
Because watching those delinquents brawl reminded me of something one of them spat at me back then.
[Crazy psychopath bastard.]
Psychopath: a term for antisocial personality disorder, lacking empathy for others' emotions.
I wondered if I really was one back then, but now I can flatly deny it.
I've never met anyone as driven by raw emotion as me.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ [Stream terminated due to operational policy.] Like right now.
A bunch of coincidences led them to misunderstand my past.
And just because I hated their pity, I launched a tactical nuke barrage.
My head started calculating the fallout for my stream and the cleanup ahead—
But as always, my body moved first.
And the aftermath was the usual.
"Ah, why'd I do that..."
Regret over an emotional choice.
"Should've gone lighter... Nah, that wasn't even that intense..."
Was there a better option? Was this the best way?
Pondering it all, I'd always wrap up with—
"Eh, whatever. Already did it."
Reckless optimism, every time.
[This channel has been restricted from streaming services for 3 days under Platform Policy Article 13 (Community Guidelines Violation). Channel Name: Seongna Reason for Restriction: Inappropriate images and videos played during stream. Actions Taken: Streaming and chat functions restricted.] Now it was time for damage control.
Luckily, tweaking the KAS intensity kept the ban short.
Unlike DDong, Furry, or Gay—HAL meant permaban on sight, instant reports even on wholesale.
Huge risk. I figured at least a month, no permaban.
Three days was downright merciful.
Hey, I'd been streaming nonstop lately.
Someone might say I took yesterday off, but I streamed again at dawn, so that doesn't count.
Anyway, banned already—might as well treat these three days like vacation and relax.
But,
'So... what now...'
Vacation, sure, but I had nothing to do.
Thinking about it, I streamed hard not out of diligence.
Just had nothing else going on.
"This isn't vacation, it's exile..."
Freshly reminded of how scary bans are, I vowed to dial back KAS next time.
"Oh, heading out early today?"
"Yeah... got something come up."
"Take care!"
I flung open the door of the PC bang that now treated me like a regular and headed home earlier than usual.
"Hup—cha."
Shoes kicked off the moment I got in, body straight to the bed.
Proper routine after going out is shower first, obviously.
But I'm too grand to be boxed in by norms like that.
Savoring the illicit thrill of bucking convention, I pulled out my phone and logged into the community.
Hadn't done any gallery lurking while streaming.
[Title: Patch leak dropped, deleted in 30 seconds.jpg]
Might as well dump all those hoarded hate pics I'd been saving...
"Hm?"
Phone notification: DM from Suha.
[Suha Yam: Unnie, got time for a meal sometime? ] - 5 hours ago
[NEW] [Suha Yam: Ignoring me hurts ㅠㅠ ] - 4 hours ago
[NEW] [Suha Yam: You weren't seriously trying to nuke your stream, right?! Stop!! ] - 1 hour ago
[NEW] [Suha Yam: You crazy bitch!!! ] - 50 min ago
Three of them, even.
Oh right, I'd promised to reply to her DM and totally spaced.
Too busy putting out fires from the community exploding over my past.
Still, she's a fellow streamer, teammate for tournaments.
Five hours of read-and-ghost felt wrong, so I hurried a reply.
[Saintess Nice: Fancy place ok?]
[Suha Yam: … ]
[Saintess Nice: Kidding.]
Half-serious, though.
She must've been pretty hurt by my ghosting—those three dots screamed emotions.
Anger, annoyance, disbelief. That sort.
[Suha Yam: What're you gonna do about the stream? How many days banned?]
[Saintess Nice: 3]
[Suha Yam: Only 3? That's insanely lucky...]
She snapped back to normal quick, of course.
[Suha Yam: What if you'd gotten perma'd?? ]
[Suha Yam: One ban alone is a huge hit to your channel! ]
Her usual mix: sweet yet curt, cool yet kind.
[Saintess Nice: Haha..]
[Suha Yam: Anyway, can you talk now? ]
[Saintess Nice: Uh... yeah, sure..]
She seemed way angrier about today's stunt than I'd imagined.
Can't blame her.
A perma would screw over Suha and Eder hyung, who'd planned tournaments with me.
Could trash months of their prep content.
I thought it'd only hit my channel—my bad for overlooking them.
Bzzz.
[Suha Yam: Pick up]
Phone vibrated before the message even landed.
Just a call with a fellow streamer, some advice-scolding from a peer. Why so tense?
"Hello..?"
[“Unnie!”]
Might be my imagination,
but hearing Suha's voice instantly brought Pastor Kim to mind.
You know...
[Min-uk-ahhh!]
The Pastor Kim on the verge of beating me senseless after I screwed up.
Yeah, I was definitely in the wrong this time.
Whatever she says, take it meekly and reflect.
That was my mindset.
When—
[“You okay..?”]
"Huh?"
What could possibly be okay?
"...What do you mean?"
[“I mean... that stuff about your past... People talking crap out of nowhere, you hate it, right?”]
"...?"
[“You don't even wanna remember, but they blab about it and fake pity... That pissed you off, yeah..?”]
"Uh, well.. Um.."
No clue what she's on about, but
her tone felt more comforting than scolding.
FYI, I'm the impulsive, thoughtless type to a reckless degree.
But
"Yeah.. you're right.."
not dumb enough to ignore an easy out staring me in the face.
[“Sigh, knew it.”]
"Just got heated in the moment.. Yeah.."
[“Still, you can't do that... Hold back next time.”]
"Yeah.."
Whatever, exactly.
If this calms her down, it's a win.
[“So, what're you doing during the ban?”]
"Dunno, just chill..?"
[“Hey, I'm off streaming tomorrow too?”]
"Yeah."
[“Wanna... wanna hang out... with me..”]
What.
Phone broken or something?
"Suha, can't hear you well?"
[“I-I mean.. with me..”]
Not broken, then.
She's just not finishing sentences.
Petty revenge for today? Practicing 'how to annoy people'?
I really can't stand that.
[“I-I mean..”]
Chanting sutras in my head, waiting for her to finish—
[“Wanna go out together tomorrow?!”]
*Click.*
Call ended the second she blurted it.
"..?"
Not me who hung up.
Suha did, right after speaking.
I stared silently at the contact name 'Suha' on my screen.
And,
[Wls]
quietly changed it.
'Anyway...'
Gazing at the full-length mirror—the most useless furniture in this place since becoming Lee Min-ji—a woman's figure caught my eye.
A killer figure that filled out perfectly, a face that demanded attention.
But her outfit screamed 'basement-dwelling NEET'.
White cotton tee stretched at the neck from her chest, chu-ri-ning shorts.
Honestly, her face saved it from total hobo vibes. Otherwise, trash.
Still, meeting a colleague-friend. Can't go out like this, right?
But,
"...I got nothing to wear."
What now.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 💬 Saintess Nice Gallery 📰 Thread: Summary of this crazy bitch's stream today Just like we talked about in the gallery, viewers stopped with the insults + sexual harassment and started petting her in chat... Suddenly she goes "don't pity me" and terror-bombs furry pics and scat for 2 hours straight, then boom—banned. Isn't this bitch actually insane? — ㅇㅇ What the hell even... — ㅇㅇ Good thing I skipped today's stream lololol — ㅇㅇ She suddenly went live midday, thought wtf is she doing... — ㅇㅇ Bet she got banned hard — ㅇㅇ (OP) Nah, 3-day ban — ㅇㅇ This bitch is actually insane; 📰 Thread: If gallery owner streams in 3 days just Spam harassment and insults like always? After today's eye-rape, wanna load 500k and unload 500 insults — ㅇㅇ Hell yeah — ㅇㅇ She probably wants that more anyway — ㅇㅇ She half-assed some sweet-talk bullshit and got banned — ㅇㅇ This is the way fr 💬 Fashion Gallery 📰 Thread: Fashion noob outfit recs pls Private meetup with work colleague, what to wear? Suggest hanbok, suit, tracksuit + slippers and I'll tactical-nuke this gallery for an hour FYI I'm a girl — ㅇㅇ (121.21) Threats from a crazy bitch lol — ㅇㅇ Why does a girl have tactical nukes..? — ㅇㅇ Depends on how close you are ig — ㅇㅇ How tf we know girl clothes ffs