Duo Livestream
Rubbing the back of his head, Yeongho left his son’s room and let out a small sigh.
He had thought they’d had a good time together, but judging by Jaemin’s expression, the boy had felt uneasy somehow, and that pricked at Yeongho’s heart.
We’ve been living under the same roof, and I still haven’t spent enough time with the kids.
Sunhui had been born with a bright, easygoing temperament, so at least she didn’t seem awkward around him.
But as for Jaemin, his father was probably just some unfamiliar adult—distant, hard to approach.
I need to try harder. If possible, I’d like my next job to be somewhere with a decent work-life balance. Somewhere I can spend at least a little more time with my family... Huh?
Lost in thought, he suddenly felt something strange and hurriedly raised a hand to cover his nose.
Blood was trickling out again.
“It’s not because the house is dry... or at least, I don’t think it is.”
He muttered to himself and went into the bathroom to wash his hands and face.
The nosebleed stopped quickly enough, but a faint unease lingered.
It wasn’t normal to spill blood twice in a single day for no clear reason.
Still, it couldn’t be a health issue.
He wasn’t working, so physically he was in better shape than ever.
And just before retiring, he’d gotten one of those government-sponsored medical checkups—completely clean. Not a hint of disease anywhere.
That left only one possibility.
It really is because of the game?
The bizarre phenomena inside the game.
Judging from everyone else’s reactions, it was clearly not something ordinary people experienced.
Virtual reality was a field closely tied to the brain, and throughout its development there had been no shortage of major and minor accidents.
By now, the technology for controlling brainwaves was said to be flawless, with every side effect completely eliminated.
But I don’t see a single story about someone having an experience like mine.
Yeongho, scrolling through the internet on his smartphone, eventually turned off the screen and rubbed at the corners of his eyes.
What did it matter if everyone else insisted there was nothing wrong?
He had just gone through an experience he couldn’t make sense of, and now his body was sending out warning signs in the form of blood.
Tomorrow’s the weekend, so I’ll let it slide. I should go in during the week, I guess.
Yeongho decided to visit the VR Center soon and get himself checked.
People called it the VR Center for convenience, so it might sound like nothing more than a commercial company selling VR devices.
In truth, it was a globally respected facility belonging to an international treaty organization, working in close partnership with each country’s neuroscience institutes and medical centers.
Whatever had happened to him, it probably wasn’t some grave problem they couldn’t handle.
And if worst comes to worst, I’ll just stop playing VR games, the same way I’ve done everything else. Besides, I probably only have about two more weeks of this kind of free time.
He’d really enjoyed spending time with the kids, but once he found work again, he wouldn’t be able to carve out days like this so easily.
By that logic, what was one strange incident in a VR game, and a little nosebleed besides?
It was an experience that would soon drift away into the category of a passing memory anyway.
Lost in that chain of thoughts, Yeongho sank deep into the sofa.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“All right! Here we have the streamer, Dotoring!”
“Nice to meet you, everyone!”
Watching the noisy pair of man and woman pumping out energy at a ridiculous level, Yeongho found himself inexplicably embarrassed and cautiously checked the people around him.
But the passersby showed no interest at all.
Lately there were so many people filming outdoors for their personal broadcasts and whatever else, so a couple of people waving a camera around and talking loudly didn’t seem to bother anyone.
Still, this is a little embarrassing.
He knew the streamer, Choi Pinam, from appearing on Sunhui’s broadcast.
When his daughter had told him that the other man had actually suggested they meet in person and do a stream together, Yeongho had waved it off and politely declined.
Maybe it would be different if he were just watching a game, but what possible entertainment value would there be in a normal middle-aged man from real life?
And with his foot still bothering him, it was difficult enough just getting around outside.
But after his daughter kept clinging to him and begging him to do it because she really wanted to, he’d finally had no choice but to raise both hands and agree.
“It’s been forever since we did an outdoor broadcast, right? What’s that? You say we’re not here to see you, so get lost?”
“Gasp! Dotoring has been hurt!”
“Come on! I get what you people are hoping for, but then you’ve got to make a good impression on Dotoring-nim, don’t you?”
“Maybe I should just hold hands with Dad and go on a date today~”
“You want to kill the content right here and now? Hurry up and apologize!”
As if they were performing onstage, Sunhui and Choi Pinam shouted at the camera with theatrical flair.
A moment later, at what looked like a signal to him, Yeongho approached the two of them with an awkward, shy smile.
“All right, everyone! Give him a hand—this is the God-Father you’ve all been dying to see!”
“This is my dad. Ahem!”
“Hello. I’m Park Yeongho, Dotoring’s father.”
He bowed politely toward the camera attached to the end of a long boom pole.
On the display pad mounted just below it, the viewers’ chat messages poured upward without pause.
- Damn, God-Father!
- Wow, he really does just look like a regular guy.
- Then why is he on crutches?
- Temporary accounts can’t modify appearance, so of course the real person looks the same.
Yeongho caught one of the questions and answered with a wry smile.
“Ah, I was in a traffic accident last week. It wasn’t a serious one, but I hurt my foot a bit.”
- Oh no, that must hurt.
- Glad it wasn’t anything serious.
- Wait, a traffic accident? Come to think of it, I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere.
- ?? You saw him on a broadcast, obviously, where else lol
As he watched the chat, one line stood out and kept tugging at his attention.
- No, I really did see him on a broadcast, but not in this room.
A viewer left a message that sounded like he knew Yeongho personally.
But the only broadcast Yeongho had ever done was the one where he played a game with his daughter. What in the world was that supposed to mean?
They must be confusing me with someone else.
He kept glancing at the chat window, slightly bothered, when—
“All right! Shall we head over to our office then? Chief Man! Go drive~”
“Yes, yes, on it.”
At Choi Pinam’s words, the man holding the camera pole packed up the equipment and ran off to fetch the car.
As Yeongho watched the screen recede, Choi Pinam spoke to him.
“That guy handles my manager work and edits the videos too. Honestly, you could say he takes care of all the off-broadcast stuff by himself.”
“Ah, I see.”
“I make decent money, sure, but I’m not in a position to hire a bunch of staff, you know. Heh heh.”
He said it as if he still had a long way to go, but Yeongho felt a fresh little shock.
For someone like him, who had spent years grinding away for a pathetic salary at a small company, the idea of running a personal broadcast, setting up an office, and even having staff was startlingly novel.
It’s probably hard to make it, but the people who do succeed really are like walking companies.
Maybe that was why his daughter—and young people in general these days—put streamer and YouTuber near the top of their dream jobs.
A little later, even after they got into the vehicle, the broadcast continued without a break.
He tried not to think about the camera pointed his way from the passenger seat, but Choi Pinam, who was leading the collab stream, kept talking so there wouldn’t be any dead air.
“What a shame you got hurt, though. If possible, I wanted to take you to the center, get you formally registered, and then play some games together.”
“Hmm. So an injured person can’t do that?”
“I’d guess there’d be problems during the full-body scan? They test physical responses with electrical stimulation and stuff, so they’d probably send injured people back.”
“I see. That’s how it is.”
The meeting had come together all of a sudden, which was why he was out here now, but originally Yeongho had planned to visit the VR Center in the very near future anyway.
I wanted to get a proper checkup and, while I was at it, get my official account verification done too.
As he stared down at his foot in the cast, Choi Pinam lowered his voice and asked cautiously, “But, uh, God-Father-nim, how old are you, exactly...?”
The honorific still felt awkward to his ears, and Yeongho answered with a stiff little laugh.
“Ah, I’m thirty-nine.”
“Wow! You really don’t look it at all. You’re not just an older brother—you’re an older brother’s older brother.”
“Yes, well. Ha ha.”
“I mean, you said Dotoring-nim is sixteen, so I guess it makes sense. Then you got married pretty early, didn’t you?”
“Yeah. I didn’t know anything back then, so I had my share of rough times.”
The chat window also sprang to life in response to their conversation.
- He looks like he’d be early thirties at most. If he’s thirty-nine, he really is a middle-aged man.
- Then he and Choi Pinam are the same age lololol
- ??? What are you talking about, Choi Pinam is 27.
- Exactly, they’re a twelve-year gap lolllll
- Oh right lmaoo
- So Choi Pinam’s the one who looks thirty-nine and God-Father-nim looks twenty-seven lolllllllll
“Seriously, I’m going to die, you know? I know I look a little mature, but that’s crossing the line no matter how you spin it!”
“Hahaha!”
Normally he didn’t pay much attention to his looks, but even so, being told he looked young always put him in a good mood.
By the time they had spent some time talking in that cheerful atmosphere, they’d arrived at Choi Pinam’s office.
“Wow! This is what a full-time streamer’s studio looks like! Amazing!”
“It’s hard to do things at home because of soundproofing, and there are tax issues too, so I figured it was better to have a separate workspace.”
“Ahh. Tax deductions are important.”
“Dad! I want a studio too!”
“Uh, um...”
“Hey, I’m joking, so don’t make that face! I’ll build one for myself after I succeed, or whatever.”
As they chatted and looked around, Yeongho noticed two VR capsules installed in the room.
Capsule-style VR devices were expensive enough already, but they also took up a lot of space, so most ordinary homes couldn’t accommodate two of them.
“Wow! Two capsules! Lucky!”
“I actually just replaced the devices with new models recently. I was thinking of selling the old ones secondhand, but I kept them as backups just in case.”
Choi Pinam laughed heartily, saying that thanks to that, he could invite guests like this and play games together.
As they talked, Yeongho glanced sideways, worried that his daughter might feel left out.
What they were putting on stream was the sight of Choi Pinam and Yeongho playing together.
Meanwhile, Sunhui had nothing to do except watch and leave comments, just like any other viewer.
In truth, she’d already agreed to everything because she figured her father appearing on a famous streamer’s broadcast would help her too, and had tagged along as an extra.
Still, Yeongho wondered if she might feel disappointed, so he kept checking on her.
But seeing her look around the studio with obvious fascination and chatting at length with the man who had been introduced as the manager, he decided there was probably no need to worry so much.
And then, as planned—
“All right then! The star of the video everyone’s been waiting for, a stream with the God-Father himself! Let’s get started!”
- So what are we playing?
- Choi Pinam still hasn’t cracked IncreseHand’s weakness strategy lol. Is he going to show that?
- I’m not really feeling Yetto City, though.
“Ahem! The hidden boss strategy takes time because I’m researching it so even you guys can follow along. Today we’re not playing Yetto City—we’re playing something else.”
Since everything had already been arranged while they were coordinating the broadcast appearance, he could reveal the game right away.
“After appearing on Dotoring-nim’s stream, we heard that God-Father-nim had tried other games too, right? So today’s game is... Battle Island!”
- Oh, so he’s doing a multiplayer game for once?
- Wow, Battle Island! This’ll be fun haha
- lol the snipers are frantically booting up the game right now
- Taking squad viewer matches??
- Name your price. Hurry up and put the viewer-match roulette in!
“Now, now, settle down. Our God-Father showed an incredible performance in Yetto City, but now I’m curious what kind of showing he’ll make against other gamers in a multiplayer PvP game, don’t you think?”
- No matter how hard the difficulty is, fighting AI is still pretty different from fighting real people.
- Ah, this is going to be so fun lol
- Haven’t Choi Pinam and Battle Island played that much either?
“Multiplayer games aren’t really my specialty, so I’ve only played Battle Island, what, about two hundred matches? God-Father-nim said he’s only played three so far, right?”
“Ah, yes. I played a little with my son.”
“Oh! I’m excited to see what kind of skill you’ll show us.”
Chatting as they logged into the game, Yeongho changed the settings to match the broadcast as requested, then clicked the invitation message and joined Choi Pinam’s team.
And a little while later—
“Shall we take a look at the records of this fresh new rookie? You said you’d played three rounds, so... huh?”
- ????
- What the hell is that??
- ???????
- Looks like there’s a profile error?
- Huh????
As soon as Choi Pinam clicked Yeongho’s ID and checked the profile record, the chat room was instantly flooded with question marks.