Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 127
Chapter Title: Patrol
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Zip.
The lighter flame flickers for a good while before the cigar finally catches.
"Phew—"
Sitting in the rickety rooftop yard chair, puffing on the cigar brings back memories of the first time old man Kamarr handed me one along with some wine.
A quick rummage through my subspace reveals plenty of that wine he packed for me still left.
Pop!
I pry the cork out with my fingernail, and a subtle yet rich fruit aroma wafts around.
Gulp, gulp, gulp.
"Pffhew! Ahh, that's the stuff."
"Me too!"
"Baekseol too? This is booze, you know?"
Baekseol, who'd been rolling her favorite toy ball around on the table, climbs onto my lap.
I wonder if it's okay for her to have any.
She's a special little one, though, so I figure it'll be fine. I pour a tiny pool into my palm, and she laps it up with her small tongue.
"Tasty?"
Her ears keep twitching like mad, so she probably has no clue what flavor even is.
"Pffhehe. Let's save it for when you're bigger, Baekseol."
But... will she actually grow?
I stroke her, and she's just so ridiculously tiny.
My palm glides past her head toward her back, and her hidden little ears pop out, perky and plump.
Someday, maybe Baekseol and I can share a drink...
"Phew—"
Gulp, gulp.
The wine slides down my throat so smoothly it feels unreal.
"Hmm."
It's become habit now—time to fire up the morning stream.
The second I do, it'll turn into a marketplace racket, guaranteed.
It's the kind of morning that makes you want to savor the leisure just a bit longer.
"Phew—"
What a delightful morning.
Curious what the viewers are up to, I hop into the TripleNet community. As always, it's buzzing.
📰 Title: When's the Streamer Coming? Wasabi Bean Flour Sleeping in or what? — Non-Participating Mayo Rice But the streamer is insanely diligent, totally unlike her image. — Angelru For real lol — Ariel Land Hasn't taken a full week off, right? Barely any breaks. — Wasabi Bean Flour Yeah lol, she's a streaming machine. — Mourinho I'm all for it, actually. It's the TripleNet community named after me, Ga-eul, no less.
Obviously they're chatting about me, but it feels kinda weird.
"What even is my image?"
Gulp, gulp.
Blowing across the glass somehow tastes better than sipping from it.
I think old man Kamarr said wine blooms like a flower in the glass, but this feels more right.
"Phew—"
Does an expensive cigar smoked from a cheap rooftop chair pair well with even pricier wine? Who knows.
"Good things are good, right?"
"Good!"
Baekseol keeps lapping at my palm—it's ticklish.
Playing with her using my fingers, I check out the Demon Realm community next.
📰 Title: Streamer Sleeping Honey Good (112.111) 100% sleeping like some old dude. — Anon Lmao for real — Anon If you're gonna make that face, give it to me. — Lol Take it to your own board. — Anon Lol take care of your own home board, you retard with your board pride. — Lol You fucking bastard. "Whoa."
Are these guys always this feral?
No, it's straight-up braindead levels.
Says "streamer," but I know it's about me without checking.
📰 Title: Hakko Recommendation Anon (123.131) Nick: Ullala New streamer. Sucks at games. — Anon Checked it out, no personality, total snoozefest, and they're recommending this crap. — Anon Lol worse than the lame house down my street. — Anon I said Hakko, dumbass. — Anon When's Ga-eul's stream on? — Anon Sleeping in lol. They start biting from the jump.
Feral hounds would be tamer. Total idiots.
"She definitely looked cute to me though..."
Hanging with psychos must've clouded my judgment somehow.
📰 Title: Han Boss!!! Non-Participating Mayo Rice (117.111) OPEN THE STREAM!!!! — Anon Lol Han Boss is deep in dreamland. — Non-Participating Mayo Rice Open it quick!!! — Sirutteok Open!!! — Anon Opened! Thor! www.triple.net/RaDelhi/775321 — Anon You fucking bastard, it's Radelri!! — Anon Fucking Heimdal!!!! Do these guys never get tired of this every damn day?
"Radelri, huh?"
Clicking the link a viewer posted brings up a prompt about compatibility with the TripleNet app.
Hit confirm, and there's Radelri, streaming hard first thing in the morning.
📺 Radelri's Stream 『Wow, more viewers than usual today, huh?』 — Chat [Me] [Rock] [Me] [Rock] 『Ah, why's everyone acting up?』 [Die!!] [Ugh fuck, why's this loser on?!] [Heimdal!!!!!!] [Isn't this the dude who sucked at Panic Field? Lol] Out of nowhere, Radelri's catching hell first thing in the morning.
No, it's a full-on disaster.
He's sweating bullets trying to calm the influx viewers, but not a single one is biting.
『I'm good at Panic Field!』 [Lmao scraping?] [Dude's scraping lol] [Who even are these people?] [This idiot switches personas every morning lol, but we're onto him] A vein bulges in Radelri's neck.
To a Korean gamer—especially a pro streamer—being called bad at games is straight-up humiliation.
I watch a bit longer, then shut my phone and lift the wine bottle.
Gulp, gulp.
The smooth grape wine glides down effortlessly.
Once it's gone, I'll ask Grandpa for more.
"Baekseol, let's head in."
"Okay!"
Scooping up Baekseol and plopping into the chair inside, my whole body goes limp and lazy.
Guess booze doesn't just tenderize meat—it tenderizes people too.
"Phew."
Baekseol's the obsessive type, huh? She's back to messing with my fingers on my lap.
"Nyong nyong nyong."
"Tickles!"
Scratch her belly, and she goes nuts.
One hand entertaining Baekseol, I scroll through what other streamers are up to.
There—Euna-noona's stream.
Part 1 as always: singing.
"Sis is so consistent."
I needed song practice anyway, and she's doing viewer requests.
PC power button—boot sound, desktop up quick.
Enter her stream; still recruiting participants.
『Anyone else wanna join?』 "Donation work?"
[Cha-ching!] [NoButCute donated 100,000 won] [Me!] Donation in—my old alt ID from crashing other streams pops up.
『Whoa! Thanks for the huge 100k donation, NoButCute!! Come to my request room, what song should I sing?』 — NoButCute I'll do Im Yoo-jun's Three Steps Until Love. 『Whoa, you picked a super tough one.』 Im Yoo-jun's Three Steps Until Love.
A famously tricky song that everyone respects copyright on, even without official registration—it's that hard.
Euna-noona queues the backing track, and music flows out.
Starts off easy enough.
【A step of friendship that becomes precious memories】
But it gets harder as it goes.
I used to nail it effortlessly before.
Skills made the technical bits a breeze.
Yet now, the protagonists' emotions in the lyrics feel so heavy.
【Heart pounding at the sight of your smile】
Even a simple tune about early-love flutters and affection feels tough.
「Child, song always comes with understanding.」
Grandma's words from yesterday flash through my mind.
I'm starting to get it a little.
Understanding emotions isn't something you force.
Regular folks can't grasp a drug addict's pain.
They just try.
Regular folks can't grasp mental illness.
They just try.
How could I grasp love I've never felt?
Glancing down, Baekseol's twitching her ears to the song, batting my fingers.
Gently scratch her chin, and she melts like mochi, sprawling on my lap.
I think I know a bit what love is, without even trying.
Right now, I could melt yesterday's wistfulness and this adorable sight right into the song.
【Hoping this feeling reaches you without words】
【A step of love wishing to reach you♪】
Song ends. Waiting for noona's reaction, but silence hangs. Her, the viewers—all stunned.
『Whoa, insane!!』 [Whoa insane for real] [First time hearing Euna curse lol] [Soul-deep, couldn't help it lol] [Holy shit amazing] 『That was insane! Wait, Ga-eul!?』 Busted right away.
— NoButCute NoButCute Sudden wave of embarrassment—I bolt from noona's stream.
"Phew! Baekseol, did I sing good?"
"Good!"
Baekseol approves, so it must've been solid.
Late thought: Radelri. Check his stream—it's even worse.
Face gone purple.
My presumed viewers are demolishing his chat.
Smart enough not to mention me once while trashing the place.
A pack of rabid wild dogs.
The vibe gap between Euna-noona's cozy stream and Radelri's hellhole is insane.
Turning on my stream would fix it, but this is my morning breather, so not yet.
Tap tap. Tok.
Make an ID in my viewers' main community haunt, post, wait—replies flood in right away.
📰 Title: It's Me, Ga-eul NoButCute (112.123) My babies, stop messing with innocents and behave. — Anon Main chick!! — Anon Incomer touching the board lord lol — Anon Dumbass — Anon Familiar somehow, acting like boss of my babies lol — Anon Why am I your baby, you fuck? "Ugh, dizzy."
Click.
📰 Title: It's Me, Ga-eul NoButCute (112.123) Behave before my babies get themselves killed. — Anon ㅇ_ㅋ — Anon ㅇ_ㅋ — Anon Ah lol does the board lord scout too? — Anon Is it really Ga-eul? — Anon So freaking cute lol ⭐ Top Comment — Rice Gomtang (･`◡´･)ゝ — Han Ram Mouse STREAMER OPEN THE STREAM!!!!!!! — Anon Han Boss what you doing, open the stream!! — Anon Woohyo!! It really Ga-eul?? Lol — Non-Participating Mayo Rice Let's gooooo — Anon Streamer hasn't opened yet lol — Non-Participating Mayo Rice Ah open it quick!!