Chapter 85
Chapter 85
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 85
Chapter Title: Not a Self-Deprecating Broadcast
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I gathered the squad members who were about to log out and headed back to the barracks together.
If you don't log out in a safe zone, your character remains in a sleep state.
Still, probably for the sake of user health, it doesn't force a logout.
These days, with advanced technology, it doesn't damage the brain anymore, but it's a relief that people don't suffer severe headaches like they used to.
But now I couldn't log into Frontline Archive for the next 12 hours.
Not that I felt like making Jeju Island or anything, so it seemed better to have dinner and go to bed.
Fortunately, Ttalgwi and Ghost decided to stay with the Morozova sisters.
With that, I had no worries, so I wrapped up the broadcast with my closing remarks.
"Da bai, da bai."
Soon after, I fully logged out and opened my eyes in reality.
Out of habit, I checked my lower body, feeling a slight dampness along with an awkward warmth.
Luckily, no accidents, but I'd sweated a bit.
I'd turned off the air conditioning in the coffin, so the inside felt a little hot.
To breathe in some cool air, I flung open the pitch-black lid.
Shin Ara must have noticed and aired out the room, because the air inside was refreshingly cool and pleasant.
"Ara unnie, I'm back."
"Yeah, I was watching your stream. Things seem good with Irina now?"
"Yes, Irina even petted me like she used to. I'm glad I mustered up the courage like you advised, Ara unnie."
"Hmm... I see...."
But something felt a bit off about Shin Ara's reaction.
Even after I logged out, she was just staring blankly at her laptop.
She can't lie, though, so all her emotions show on her face.
Her eyes kept avoiding me, and her lips were fumbling awkwardly. She seemed jealous watching me and Irina.
But true to her mature nature, she didn't whine like Ttalgwi or Yelena would.
She was probably holding back so I wouldn't feel awkward, but from my perspective, that kind of jealousy felt even scarier.
So I ran over to her on impulse and rubbed my head against her.
I considered bringing up the spicy recipe she recommended, but decided to go with the cutesy act that worked on Irina.
"Hmm... Won't this get Victoria excited again?"
"Wh-what do you mean...."
"Oh! Does it not work since I'm not Irina?"
"Ugh... I don't get excited by stuff like this. That was definitely a bug."
"Hehe, just kidding. Sorry for teasing you."
Fortunately, Shin Ara returned to her usual self.
From the atmosphere, even showing jealousy earlier seemed like a joke.
Even though I'd fallen for the prank, it didn't feel bad.
With a light laugh, I peered into her laptop and asked.
"But what were you doing?"
"I was inquiring with Universe. Katzenjäger sent a donation earlier, right? Since he showed his tail, I thought I'd try to catch him."
"Hmm... Probably won't work, though."
"Still gotta try."
Surprisingly, Shin Ara was tracking Katzenjäger.
She planned to reverse-trace his donation through Universe.
But Katzenjäger wouldn't be that sloppy.
If he couldn't even handle this, he wouldn't have survived months on the Eastern Front, and he would've been caught by the police before old Victoria even attempted suicide.
I was certain he'd hidden his tracks using every means possible.
I couldn't even imagine a self-proclaimed hunter falling for such a simple trap.
And above all, I wanted to handle the issue with Katzenjäger myself.
The sin of tormenting me in that hellish game, and driving a poor girl to death. I didn't want such personal, heinous crimes judged by soft laws.
"Still, don't get your hopes up too much. Katzenjäger's more meticulous than you think."
"Yeah, I wasn't really expecting anything. Just couldn't sit idle, so I sent the inquiry."
"Then can I borrow the laptop for a sec? I wanna inquire with Universe too."
"Of course. But wouldn't it be easier with the VR device?"
"I prefer Ara unnie's lap."
"Hehe, okay. But why are you so damp? Did you sweat?"
"Yeah, it was a bit hot."
Luckily, Shin Ara didn't seem keen on digging into this incident.
Relieved, I sat on her lap and started typing on the laptop.
I didn't want to get involved with game companies if possible, but pinning a sexual harasser label on me was unforgivable.
So I planned to file a ruthless complaint through Universe's direct contact.
Naturally, the only contact was Frontline Archive's developer, Hwarang.
He was still my stream manager, so a barrage of personal messages would get a response.
[Sukka: Hwarang oppa, hi.]
[Sukka: Hwarang oppa, busy?]
[Sukka: Hwarang oppa, whatcha doing?]
[Sukka: Hwarang oppa?]
[Sukka: Hwarang oppa?]
[Sukka: ?]
* * *
"No going home today either... Dust's piling up at my place...."
Frontline Archive's programmer, Yu Harang.
He slumped over his desk, shedding tears of lament.
All four of his screens displayed the full-scale war map of Frontline Archive.
Historical wars and the game's progress differed in pacing, so he was monitoring everything to sync the timelines.
France, expected to hold for 6 weeks, was collapsing, forcing a shift to summer time—overtime confirmed again.
On top of that, unexpected bugs kept popping up, driving him mad.
[Sukka: ?]
As Hwarang nearly dozed off, an alert chimed in his ear.
Scratching his disheveled hair, he checked the screen to see a cute emoticon from Sukka.
Come to think of it, he'd completely forgotten to contact Sukka.
He'd even promised a proper apology later, but updates had consumed him.
Eyes snapping open, Hwarang hurriedly typed.
Sukka's 'pouting cat emoticon' felt like it was scolding him.
[Hwarang: Yes!! Sorry for the late reply!! What's up!!]
[Sukka: Are you busy by any chance?]
[Hwarang: I have some time now!]
[Sukka: I have a few inquiries. First, any update on the sniper incident?]
[Hwarang: You mean Nongnongtanya?]
Hwarang recalled the recent incident.
To lure Sukka into Frontline Archive, he'd dangled 'Tactical Papasha' as bait. Sukka bit beautifully but got sniped by a toxic player mid-game.
Of course, the lawsuit against Nongnongtanya was still ongoing.
Hwarang shared everything he knew without holding back.
[Hwarang: Already passed Nongnongtanya's info to the police. You'll hear from them soon. Also froze Nongnongtanya's VR body data for sure. If you want it lifted, I'll pass it to the relevant dept.]
[Sukka: Thanks for the help. But I found a serious bug while playing Frontline Archive just now. Got an unfair sexual harassment warning and restricted. Can you fix it?]
[Hwarang: Sexual harassment bug? Let me check the data.]
This seemed like the main issue, more than Nongnongtanya.
Already headache from bugs, and now Sukka brought more work.
But he couldn't neglect a VIP sharing quality data.
Reminded once more of Sukka's importance, Hwarang quickly pulled up her data.
"Contact with female NPC leads to sexual arousal... Continued contact despite repeated warnings...."
But no matter how he checked, no bug.
Instead, he just learned Sukka got aroused by a specific NPC.
A petite, cute girl getting excited by an NPC flashed in his mind.
Too busy to watch her stream—now a regret.
[Hwarang: No signs of a bug... What exactly did you do to our NPC?]
[Sukka: Huh? What do you mean?]
[Sukka: Check again properly.]
[Sukka: It really was a bug.]
[Sukka: Maybe my VR device is faulty?]
[Sukka: My VR safety lock is broken.]
Panicking, Sukka's messages poured like a machine gun.
But to Hwarang, it just looked like a girl's embarrassed excuses.
Sukka claimed a VR device fault, but data confirmed her arousal by the NPC.
Data never lied.
The arousal detection in-game was ridiculously simple.
Users assumed advanced tech, but it just checked blood flow to the lower body.
Telling Sukka that outright was too embarrassing.
In the end, Hwarang sided with Sukka's innocence over the data.
[Hwarang: Could've been a bug, yeah.]
[Hwarang: Lifting the account restriction right away. Adjusting arousal detection too.]
[Hwarang: Must've been inconvenient.]
[Sukka: Thanks for understanding.]
[Sukka: But this bug made thousands think I'm a pervert.]
[Sukka: Please be more careful in the future.]
"......."
But Sukka's last message struck the game dev's sore spot.
Already no sleep from bugs, now scolded for an unfair reason—infuriating.
Sukka probably didn't mean to nag.
But without tone or expression in chat, Hwarang misunderstood.
And Hwarang was a programmer, not a GM.
Weak to service complaints, his fingers were already typing.
[Hwarang: But no bug, really.]
[Hwarang: Sending you a link.]
[Hwarang: Read it and be careful going forward.]
Pissed off, Hwarang sent the link.
Bluntly titled 'Why Erections Are Dangerous in VR Games.'
The chat went silent as she read, and Hwarang stared, wondering if he'd gone too far.
[Sukka: Hi, Hwarang oppa. This is Kukudas, Sukka's stream manager. Sukka's in the bathroom and asked me to reply.]
[Sukka: Sorry if Sukka caused a misunderstanding. Not meant badly, so please understand.]
[Sukka: Guess it wasn't a bug after all. But you went too far, Hwarang oppa.]
How did they confirm no bug?
As a dev, insanely curious, but too sensitive to ask.
For a guy, too late once shrunk.
Can women tell later?
"Ah!!"
[Hwarang: Nooo!! It was a bug!! Sorry! I'm really sorry!!]
A dangerously vivid scene popped into his head.
Hwarang decided to call it a bug.