NOVEL NEXT Chapter 345
<"Famous idol group A's member attempting suicide due to hateful comments... How long must this vicious cycle continue?">
– So celebrities only receive hate comments and not positive ones? Seriously, what a low level of thinking.
– But not knowing about kalguksu is a bit much, right?
– I don’t get why Hyejin is considered pretty at all.
– A person tried to commit suicide, and is it right for hate comments to still come pouring in? It’s really making me lose faith in humanity.
– It’s not like we’re worried about celebrities, haha. They thrive on attention whether it’s hate or love.
– Even if they retire at 30 with two or three buildings, I don’t feel sorry for them at all.
– Always complaining about depression or how hard it is – it’s just so annoying to listen to.
“Ugh….”
It was an article I stumbled upon, along with the comments.
The Taker, Gunhee, naturally frowned at them.
Honestly, the malice of humanity. Having been a streamer for a long time and experiencing all kinds of hate comments, he somewhat understood the victim’s feelings and pains.
“Born in ’08? So how old is that… 17 years old?”
Yikes.
Isn’t that still a naive little kid? Of course, he already knew that the entertainment world took talented young kids and made them into stars, but still, the fact that she was born in ’08 was shocking.
There was quite an age difference with the Taker. Seeing a young child struggling already made the Taker mutter.
“Well, I guess I’m doing okay compared to that.”
…
That was the very thought he had just yesterday at lunchtime.
Whether it was the power of words or just a mere twist of fate, similar disaster soon knocked on the Taker’s door as well.
– Hello, Taker. I’m a viewer who usually enjoys your broadcasts…
– Isn’t Han Kang managing things properly?
– As a server manager, I’m very disappointed in you, Taker.
With the Han Kang gossip incident, emails kept flooding in. It was as if they had been waiting for an opportunity, sending emails like malicious complainants, which was severely off-putting.
“I guess I wasn’t in a position to sympathize with anyone…”
Both the young idol suffering from hate comments and the Taker were not that different in circumstance, just different in age and gender.
She was criticized for trying too hard to act cute, putting on weight, or being less attractive compared to other idols.
The Taker was criticized for neglecting a significant incident as a server manager, failing to properly monitor Han Kang, and for the server being much weaker than the previous one.
“No way, as the server manager, am I supposed to predict events? How on earth can I prevent that?”
He found out about the incident on the same day as the viewers, just like everyone else.
The Taker protested their innocence, but there was nothing that could be done. This kind of criticism was more about senseless blame than healthy critique—it was utterly illogical.
With mindless nonsense coming at them, all the Taker could do was sigh, yet they couldn’t just sit around doing nothing.
The opinion on the server had soured due to this incident, and the server itself was on a downward spiral.
They couldn’t just whine about it. At this rate, they might have to move the shutdown date up, and if that happened, this server would be classified as the Taker’s failed project and ridiculed mercilessly.
‘I need a plan, something to turn this situation around…’
How about a sudden emergency patch? Adjust the in-game item drop rates? Or maybe announce a new dungeon?
The Taker was deep in thought while sitting in front of the computer.
Ding-
A cheerful notification chimed through the connected speakers.
‘Who could that be?’
For the Taker, who usually had all notifications turned off, this sound could only mean…
Kayak: “Taker! Are you there?”
Kayak: “I heard you created a new server.”
Kayak: “Shouldn’t you invite me first?”
Kayak: “I’m disappointed.” (Emoticon of Camilla crossing her arms and snorting)
“Ha.”
So she really does pick only the emoticons that suit her.
Usually, they would have teased each other, but right now, there was no more welcomed name.
Taker: “But Kayak, you’re in America! How am I supposed to invite you?”
Kayak: “Like in Lightning Village, and this time too… I thought we had gotten pretty close, but I’m hurt.”
Taker: (Emoticon of a white duck rolling in pain)
Taker: “How low can you go, bringing up old stories…”
It had been years since Lightning Village. The event was a painful mistake the Taker remembered well. They never imagined that Kayak would throw a tantrum because she hadn’t received an invitation.
Anyway, getting a message from Kayak at this timing was truly fortuitous.
‘That person’s already attracting a ton of aggro just by planning to come back…’
“That guy who’s been grabbing all the attention since his return…”
“Didn’t almost 30,000 viewers tune in for his return broadcast yesterday?”
“The Taker was also watching her comeback stream, so he knew. It peaked at around 35,000 viewers, probably.”
“He’s the kind of person who’s a hot topic. In the world of internet broadcasting, where the more you draw attention, the more profit you make, you won’t find someone quite like him.”
“So, the first content right after her return is on the Taker’s server? I bet Kayak will stir up new winds in the server again.”
“Nice!”
Taker: “I’ll send you an invite right away.”
Taker: “Please be careful not to leak the invite code.”
Kayak: “Ah, Taker, before that, can I ask a few things?”
Taker: “Sure, go ahead.”
Taker diligently answered Kayak’s questions like a salaryman on sales duty.
Kayak: “So there’s no specific concept for this server then?”
Taker: “That’s correct. The basic structure is RPG, but you can also raid and go to war. For those who just want to have fun lightly, they can just mess around. The server was intentionally designed this way.”
Kayak: “Hmm… I see.”
While faithfully answering every question as the server master, Taker felt a strange sense of unease creeping in.
‘…Why do I feel so unsettled?’
It felt like Kayak was bound to cause some trouble in the server.
Come to think of it, Kayak had never followed a normal path. She was notorious for stirring up incidents wherever she went—like a little shepherd girl bringing chaos.
Kayak: “This will be fun.”
‘Is this the right move?’
The invite code had already been sent. There’s no backing out now.
Perhaps Taker had unknowingly made a pact with the devil for his own personal desires.
He wondered if he had summoned someone he shouldn’t have to save the server.
*
“Hmm.”
Alright, got the invite code.
The Taker’s server boasted the charm of a warm bowl of soup. It might not have the highest peaks, but it has good fundamentals—there’s nothing particularly lacking from someone who’s run plenty of content.
It was a good place to join when there’s a lack of content to tackle.
Not that I’m just joining out of laziness to avoid making content or wanting to slack off after coming back from America—nah. I just plan to have some fun and stream on Taker’s server for a while.
“Anyway, starting today, I’m joining the Taker server. I won’t be too far behind if I join now, right?”
The server that Taker opened this time wasn’t too difficult.
It’s just an RPG game. It’s only been implemented in the Minecraft universe. There’s hardly a better game to invite streamers to with a single server.
“It’s still amazing to see. Originally, it was just a block-building game, but inside, you can do all sorts of things.”
[For real, it’s a god game]
[Originally a game for little kids, but I still don’t know how it turned out like this]
[I wonder how much money the first person who made Minecraft made]
[So, what’s the host’s job?]
True to the concept of the RPG game server, there are jobs within the game. From non-combat roles like farmer, fisherman, and miner, to combat roles like warrior, thief, and archer, there are various options, I’ve heard.
“Well, I don’t know… which job is strong? I asked Taker beforehand, but they just said all jobs are good.”
[That’s because that guy is the operator]
[I went to a one-on-one meeting with the operator, ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[A user who can directly file complaints to the game master ㄷㄷ]
“Let’s just try it out and think later. The patch is all done. So….”
At that moment, a grand background music accompanied by an echoey voice resonated.
-Welcome, Hero.
“Ah, you scared me.”
With the voice, a woman appeared on screen, and as if an animation was playing, she began to explain something while moving her mouth.
-You have been invited to the other world ‘Taker Server’-.
[The goddess is a total babe, ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[The server’s name being just Taker Server is still ridiculous]
[Babe, heh….]
Her lush golden hair cascading down to her waist, her chest rising and falling as if breathing, and her wise green eyes.
Did they prepare all this too? The quality is higher than I expected.
“Oh….”
There was a skip button, but for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to skip and listened to her explanation all the way through.