Shattered Glass and Misunderstandings

My house made the tears well up all at once. Giseong had vanished like smoke. Feeling hollow, I stared blankly at the exploded house. It’s fine. The other person hadn’t done it on purpose. There was no intention to hurt me. It had all happened so suddenly. Besides, in Mark, destroyed blocks simply turn into items that remain. So I could just rebuild everything from scratch. The frame was still standing, so it would be okay.

The moment I thought that—

“…Huh?”

There weren’t many wooden planks left, and the glass hadn’t even dropped to the ground. A wave of confusion hit me. With trembling eyes, I looked at the chat.

Then came the solemn messages.

Most of the chat was filled with worried messages. Seeing them all concerned for me made my eyes sting. I had tried so hard to convince myself it was fine, but watching the Jireongi pity me made the tears threaten to fall.

Still, I forced a brave voice.

“Hic…! U-um… d-did the glass all explode too…? I can’t get any more now… the furnaces all blew up too… hic.”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The replies from the Jireongi were truly shocking. The news that all my hard work had gone to waste made tears leak out. What kind of bolt from the blue was this? My house, the glass I had worked so hard to obtain, was all gone.

“…Ah.”

Maybe Giseong actually hated me. Maybe he came all the way here and died on purpose because he disliked me. I had become an eyesore to someone again.

“Hic… Jaeseong… Jaeseong-ah……”

Watching me sob and apologize, the chat scrolled rapidly. Tears blurred my vision so badly I could barely see. I felt like I was being expelled from the world of Mark and thrown back into reality alone. In the dark room, I wiped the tears streaming down my face and sobbed.

Maybe it had been so long since I experienced direct bullying that it hit harder. A deep, piercing ache. A tingling pain. I hadn’t felt real malice in so long that this was the result. It felt like my chest was burning.

“…Um… I really tried my best… hic…! I messed up again… hic… I-I made them hate me… what do I do…? Am I going to get banned now?”

All kinds of delusions crashed over me, pushing me deeper into despair. The urge to run away seized me, pinning me in place.

Just then, I spotted someone running toward me from afar.

“…Hic!”

My hands and eyes trembled. Even so, I quickly moved the keyboard and mouse, heading toward Giseong.

‘I hope you forgive me.’

I wanted him to forgive me. I didn’t even know what I had done wrong, but I had to apologize first. So with a trembling, tearful voice, I apologized.

“I’m sorry… please don’t bully me anymore.”

[…What?]

His voice had calmed slightly. Fear gripped me, and I couldn’t say another word.

At the same time as the donation, a dozen creepers were summoned. Seeing them, Giseong felt a chill run down his spine and realized he was utterly screwed.

Giseong’s viewers were just as shocked and began criticizing the donor. When Giseong checked the donor’s ID, it read:

‘First time here today?’

A viewer who had only started watching five hours ago. Giseong immediately banned the obvious troll and frantically typed on his keyboard.

‘I have to apologize!!’

He had made a female VTuber cry. That meant her fandom could flood into this server at any moment. A controversy could erupt and completely bar him from the streaming scene. He had never heard of the VTuber named Snake before, but since he had never been interested in that side of things anyway, her size didn’t matter. Anyone who joined this server had to have some level of influence.

“F-first, let’s go apologize!!”

Giseong, who had no intention of attacking anyone, could easily be painted as the villain. Since he had caused trouble, it was only right to help out of moral obligation. He quickly ran toward the signal marking where he had died.

The chat was filled with anger. Seeing it, Giseong tried to calm his viewers while arriving at the place he had died earlier.

“W-we’re here, so let’s apologize first and think later…! Earlier I saw it was covered in glass, haa… we’re screwed.”

Giseong and his viewers felt a small sense of relief that they could at least apologize. But another donation arrived, keeping the tension high.

“What…?”

The donation sent a chill down his spine.

“No… it can’t be. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won’t be.”

Together with the chat, Giseong tried to steady his mind with denial. Then the warning donation disappeared from his view, and a sorrowful crying sound reached his ears.

A frail voice kept apologizing over and over. Hearing that lovely voice, Giseong couldn’t erase the rising guilt.

‘Why is she apologizing when she didn’t do anything wrong?’

It was strange to see someone apologizing even though they hadn’t done anything wrong. But that wasn’t a reason not to apologize, so Giseong moved his feet and soon heard Snake’s sorrowful plea.

He couldn’t hear everything clearly, but roughly, it sounded like she was sobbing that she had wanted to do well here but something strange had happened again. Feeling slightly solemn, Giseong decided he had to apologize sincerely and walked toward Snake.

Snake muttered in a hollow, tearful voice. Perhaps moved by that beautiful voice, tears began to pour in the chat as well.

Even while reading those comments, Giseong couldn’t shake off his guilt. Before he knew it, he had arrived in front of Snake.

“…What?”

At the same time, he heard an utterly absurd statement. Don’t bully me anymore. Overwhelmed with guilt, Giseong also felt a headache coming on.

“Hic… Jaeseong… please don’t hit me.”

Because he had apologized so loudly, I had been startled once. Now Giseong spoke to me in a gentle voice. Feeling relieved yet still trembling, I looked at him.

“…Please spare me.”

He promised he would somehow get the items back for me. Seeing him like that, I was frozen with fear and couldn’t say a word.