Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Lying on the Same Bed
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-So stuffy...
As everyone in the world except for one person had predicted, Min-ji's regret arrived far sooner than she'd imagined.
The moment she stepped into the gym, a hot gust of air that went beyond mere warmth slammed into her face, and the inside of her helmet was already thick with heat, on the verge of beading with sweat.
She'd only walked a short distance down the entranceway, and it was already this bad. There was no way she could endure the entire showcase like this.
"I told you it'd be hot..."
-Ugh.
Of course, no one would believe it, but it wasn't like Min-ji had gone in completely thoughtless.
She'd figured a gym this size would have decent airflow, and she'd calculated that she could tough it out for the few hours of the showcase.
Of course, Jangchung Gymnasium was a fully enclosed indoor space with a sealed ceiling, and with the heating cranked up for a winter event, her calculations had been wrong from the start.
Unfortunately, she was the stubborn type who, once she'd made up her mind internally, never backed down.
Even if people around her tried to dissuade her, she'd push ahead anyway, only to regret it later with an "Oh, this isn't miso paste—it's shit?"
-Should I take it off now?
The one silver lining was that, for all her stubbornness, she was quick to admit when she was wrong.
Most people with that kind of personality would double down on their mistakes to save face or pride, but at least Min-ji wasn't that bad.
Unfortunately, in a situation like this, even that one strength was hard to put to use.
"You didn't notice the stares from everyone when we came in, did you?"
-Yeah.
"They were all glued to you, muttering 'Who's that?' 'A streamer? Who?' and now you want to take off your helmet and walk in?"
Min-ji knew, even with her empty head, that the helmet was drawing way too much attention.
She'd decided to ignore it since it thoroughly hid her face, even if it pulled some stares—nothing else mattered.
But she hadn't expected the stuffiness to be this intense, so now that she wanted to ditch the helmet, its downsides were suddenly glaring again.
-Ugh.
If she took it off now, anyone who'd seen her outside would put two and two together: "Huh? Isn't that the helmet girl from earlier?"
And the longer she waited to remove it, the more people would recognize her.
-Aaah, what do I do...
She'd been hoisted by her own petard.
She wasn't sure if she could tough it out to the end like this,
and if she gave up halfway after stubbornly enduring, even more people would see her face.
A mask might cover some of it, but Min-ji didn't want to risk Pastor Kim seeing her face at all.
"What do you mean? Either take it off now... or grit it out till the end. Those are your options. What'll it be?"
-No choice...
One of Min-ji's few strengths was that she didn't agonize over decisions for long.
Of course, that was also a flaw in that she didn't think deeply, but in cases like this, it worked in her favor.
Even now, more and more people were spotting the helmeted Min-ji.
-Let's just go for it. Might as well tough it out once.
"...Fine."
Honestly, taking it off now would look pretty lame too... A real man draws his sword, he has to swing it, right?
Min-ji clenched her fist in pointless resolve, and Suha let out a sigh as she handed over an item.
This is...?
-Whoa, a handheld fan?!
"Use this at least. I brought it in case it got hot, and good thing I packed yours too."
Min-ji took the fan with eyes full of gratitude and immediately pressed it to her neck, blowing cool air into her helmet.
-Hnnngh... Ahhh...
"Y-you crazy bitch!"
A vulgar moan escaped from the sudden relief, and Min-ji unwittingly monopolized the surrounding stares, but she had no time to care about that now.
-So cool...
Sticky sweat droplets clung everywhere to her overheated skin, so even lukewarm air blasting directly at her elicited this reaction—it was only natural.
"...Good grief, that's why I said just wear a mask..."
Suha had initially freaked out at the stares aimed their way but ended up chuckling, thinking, "How cool must it feel to react like that?"
And then, suddenly—whoosh.
...Whoosh?
Huh?
"H-hey, hey hey! What the hell's with the sudden grossness? A-are you... insane?!"
As Min-ji abruptly hugged her tight, Suha froze solid in an instant.
She hadn't faced Min-ji up close often, but every time, Min-ji had avoided physical contact like the plague.
B-but how is she hugging me so... tight.
It felt like her whole body might shatter, which was... well, you know. Kinda like that, right?
Of course, her strength was so pathetic it wouldn't even bruise anyone, but that made it a little cute.
I wonder what face she's making under that mask... Yeah, curious...
As Suha's masked cheeks flushed pink,
-Thanks, Suha! You really saved my life!
Min-ji suddenly pulled away and bowed deeply, allowing Suha to barely regain her senses.
"Ah, y-yeah. Sure..."
It was just a hug—even between same-sex friends—yet why did it feel so... lacking?
Suha shook off the thought of Min-ji, who had basically melted into her arms just moments ago.
Why am I like this?
Maybe because she was her first real friend ever, but even that brief hug felt regrettably short.
Still, this wasn't the end.
There were plenty of days left to spend with Min-ji, and they'd go through all sorts of things together from here on.
And someday, definitely—
'Lying... on the same bed... I want to sleep like that together.'
If others heard, they'd gasp "Oh my oh my" or yell "Polar bear bias!" but surprisingly, Suha's inner wish was—for now—just that of ordinary friends.
One of Suha's "100 things I want to do with a friend" was a pajama party: slipping into pajamas and sleeping side by side in one bed.
As a streamer, deep relationships were hard, so it had been a solitary dream, but meeting Min-ji was slowly, ever so slowly, making those dreams real.
-Huh? What're you doing back there? Not coming?
"Ah, wait! Coming right now!"
Of course, it was unfortunate for Suha, but Min-ji accepting something like that was unlikely.
Min-ji still saw herself as a "guy," so lying side by side in bed with a girl like Suha wasn't easy.
Still, dreaming was free, so Suha just kept up her happy imaginings.
And soon after—
Another person walked down the path Suha and Min-ji had taken.
Deep black hood pulled low, mask and hat layered on top, looking for all the world like a fugitive criminal.
"So hot..."
Judging by her small stature and slender build, she seemed like a woman or maybe a teenager.
Of course, saying that to her face would mean one of them was bracing for a nosebleed.
Body size was the boy's biggest complex, after all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ About an hour before the showcase was set to begin, in the staff room where the key personnel gathered to oversee the event that would make or break the game's fate.
With overall director Jeon Kang-seop and all the department heads present—
The room was shrouded in a heavy silence broken only by breathing.
"..."
It wasn't mere silence.
Occasional deep sighs of "Haa..." leaked out here and there,
making the atmosphere in the staff room utterly abysmal.
As everyone in the room wallowed in endless gloom—
Clunk!
"What did you say?!"
The door burst open, shattering the silence, as one person stormed in.
"Ah, Director..."
It was Ias's overall director and the users' eternal punching bag, Jeon Kang-seop.
"Th-that... Planning Director, I must've misheard, right? It's a joke? For real? Please, if you don't want me to lose my mind, tell me I misheard. Please."
For a bigwig overseeing an entire game, his speech was shockingly casual, but no one called him on it.
It wasn't like office life was so lax that you could openly vibe "What's up with this asshole?" in front of the boss, and more than that—
"...Everything I said is true."
This situation was enough to shatter even a saintly adult's mentality.
The situation? Their showcase caster... had gotten into a car accident.
"...How's the caster? Is he okay?"
"He's been rushed to the hospital for now, and they've finished all treatment."
The caster they'd just rehearsed with up to today had gone down to the parking lot for his tablet and gotten hit by a car.
What kind of rotten luck was this?
"Um... Director, what do we do now..?"
For the showcase introducing the massive upcoming patch, the caster's role was indispensable.
Sure, sometimes directors hosted showcases solo without a caster, but that was extremely rare.
A layperson might hear this and think, "Is a caster really that crucial?"
But casters bridged devs and users, elevating delivery quality—no small thing.
Even directors were human; they could get excited or tongue-tied, failing to convey prepared content fully.
And this showcase was one Ias absolutely had to nail.
With a full year's bet on the line, it had to end as a flawless festival.
"...No choice. I'll have to do it solo."
Risky, sure, but not impossible.
The previous director, Mr. Gold Hair, had charmed users with his silver tongue and led Ias to its peak.
So as his successor, he could do it too. As he steeled himself—
"Uh... you sure you'll be okay?"
The planning director eyed him, basically saying "You suck at talking" politely.
She averted her gaze when Jeon Kang-seop met her eyes.
As he scanned the staff one by one, they suddenly buried themselves in papers or fake chats, pretending to be busy like it was rehearsed.
Since when were you all so diligent?
One guy's even holding his papers upside down. Nice.
Well, truth was...
Jeon Kang-seop knew he wasn't eloquent, so he had nothing to say.
"No other way now, right? Can't snag another caster at this point.."
"Um, about that.."
Then, the dev team lead—who usually had zero presence—timidly spoke up.
"I have one idea..."
Since even he was volunteering an opinion, all eyes turned to him.
"If it's hard for Director to host solo... maybe... do it with... some streamers...?"
The moment the dev team lead finished, the room fell silent again.
From the staff's faces, most looked resigned: "Of course..."
"D-dev Team Lead... even so, streamers are..."
It made sense. Streamers were Ias users and the company's customers.
Asking customers to co-host an event and share responsibility? Unlikely to accept, and delivery might suffer more.
—That was the rational take...
"That... actually sounds good?"
Suddenly, a spark lit in Jeon Kang-seop's mind.
"Director?"
"Decided! Come on, Planning Director, let's go!"
"...Where to?"
"There's a room with all the streamers before the showcase starts, right? Let's head there!"
"Eh? For real? No way.."
"Come on, let's go!"
The planning director watched Jeon Kang-seop pat her back and exit, muttering inwardly.
This guy's at it again.
Occasionally, Jeon Kang-seop would fixate wildly on a sudden inspiration.
And those inspirations always panned out great.
So he blindly trusted his "genius" sparks, and apparently this was one.
Gambling the game's entire lifespan on a whim seemed insane, but...
"Here it is."
He wouldn't listen anyway, and it wasn't her responsibility, so the planning director just played along.
"This the place?"
Soon, they arrived at the room with the invited streamers.
Just as Jeon Kang-seop raised his hand to knock—
Clunk!
The door flew open from inside first.
-Hoooot! So hoooot!
And with that shout...
"Uh, um..."
Delivery guy?
But could delivery folks even come inside here?
Min-ji had abruptly been demoted from streamer to "Delivery Guy A."