NOVEL NEXT Chapter 71
Time passed by without mercy.
I spent my days broadcasting, sleeping, and house-hunting.
I found a location a bit farther from my current home, closer to Ji-yeon’s family house.
There was pressure from Ji-yeon, and the infrastructure over there was well developed.
A small apartment with tight security. I’ve heard it was newly built.
These days, with the rise of single-person households, such places have increased significantly.
After selecting a house and setting the moving date, I was escorted by Si-young to her house.
“Excuse me.”
“Shall I set up the mic here…? We have a camera too; should I take it out?”
“No, it’s okay.”
In a room covered by blackout curtains, only the light from the computer’s case and monitor illuminated the interior.
On the screen that was on, my most recent broadcast video was playing back as it always did.
Do I ever turn off the computer? This is how it looks every time I come.
“Would you like to take a look? The setup is complete for now.”
I sat in a plush chair, touched the mouse, and spoke into the mic.
It felt strange.
Broadcasting in a different place than my home.
After confirming there were no issues, I pressed the broadcast start button without hesitation.
BEEP
For streamers, there’s no distinction between weekdays and weekends.
There’s only a difference between broadcasting days and non-broadcasting days.
Some streamers set a routine for their time off, while those like Mollru take sudden breaks whenever they want.
Ryuah fell into the former category.
Maybe because of her habit of working right after graduating high school, she was used to resting on weekends.
Since weekends were holidays, her relationships with others remained intact.
It’s easier to make plans with someone.
Viewers asked if streamers really needed to take two days off a week, but Ryuah thought at least two days were necessary.
She had minor tasks to handle, even on her days off, related to broadcasting.
On her off days, frustrated but quietly sitting in the soundproof booth, Ryuah started working without broadcasting.
First, she reviewed the YouTube video sent by the editor.
Next, she checked her email to see if any broadcast-related inquiries came in.
To understand viewer needs, she checked the bulletin board.
She researched what content was trending on Switch recently.
Similar tasks included brainstorming new content ideas.
Looking at this, it’s clear that it’s not a job with a great work-life balance.
However, by prepping for broadcasts in advance, she could focus solely on the broadcast itself without any distractions.
Moreover, seeing her efforts rewarded by increasing viewer counts, collaboration invitations, and rising YouTube subscriptions made it impossible for her to give up this routine.
So, on her off days, she would take care of work for about a day and spend another day meeting friends, enjoying a complete break.
A few months into this lifestyle, a small change occurred in her daily routine.
“Where…?”
Ryuah fiddled with the computer screen and smiled in satisfaction.
Mollru is livestreaming!
– Detective Mollru, the culprit is…
While working on something related to broadcasting, she developed a habit of having something playing in the background.
Starting with calming ASMR that helped her concentrate, it eventually escalated to streaming fellow streamers’ broadcasts or YouTube videos.
Ultimately, the destination was always videos related to Mollru.
Today, she was lucky enough to catch a fresh livestream.
In a way, it could also be seen as a downside of working from home.
Like when she sat in a reading room as a student, zoning out or getting distracted, she would find herself watching videos whenever something entertaining caught her ear while working at her computer.
Ryuah was coldly aware that this behavior was ineffective.
Isn’t it better to work while working and play while playing?
She knew it in her head, yet…
‘What’s the point of knowing?’
She couldn’t put it into practice.
If knowing was enough, she would have already accomplished all her desires.
Fortunately, her productivity hadn’t dropped yet.
She never found herself watching streams without finishing the tasks she had to do.
YAWN
Ryuah stretched and looked at the computer screen.
Current broadcast uptime: 10 minutes. She was finishing her tasks relatively quickly today.
Mollru was chatting with the viewers and hadn’t started the game yet.
“Is it a detective game?”
Based on the title “Detective Mollru,” it seemed so.
The fun of a detective game was that you couldn’t predict anything Mollru would do.
Mollru was definitely not stupid.
But was she smart?
It was a bit ambiguous to say that too.
‘She seems to have a sharp mind…’
It was just that her brilliance leaned in peculiar directions.
Her characteristic was the ability to think of extraordinary ideas that ordinary people could never come up with.
What kind of performance would Mollru show in this detective game?
Feeling a peculiar anticipation, Ryuah focused on the broadcast.
DING
“High school students have been trapped in one place. The only one who can escape this place is the student who can commit murder without getting caught…”
She brought a detective game with decent ratings for streaming.
It was a game heavily recommended on the café bulletin board before she caught a cold, so viewers’ reactions were not bad.
[Is that kid really a high schooler? Why’s their build like that?]
[Looks like they’ll snap their spine if they try to kill them, lol]
[Is the person who trapped them a crazy psycho? Why was it done?]
[It’s fun, so yep…]
[All the characters have traits, but the protagonist seems a bit bland.]
[The protagonist is controlled by Mollru, it’s an OP character.]
[LOL]
They were already immersing themselves in the game.
For some reason, it seemed that the culprit wanted to observe what happened to the students trapped in the school.
What a grotesque hobby.
Yet, she couldn’t believe there would be a lunatic who would kill someone just because they suddenly got trapped.
Hundreds of millions in prize money for a death game doesn’t mean anyone would resort to that kind of madness, right?
-If you keep approaching me, I might kill anyone without hesitation?
“What the heck, this crazy guy.”
In such a situation, where they were cut off from the outside on their first meeting, he speaks such threatening words so casually.
It’s true that the world is vast and there are many crazies out there.
[Kill. You. Possible?]
[I’m shaking in fear, Mollru! ㅠㅠ]
[Hold me! ㅠㅠ]
[This has a bit of a deadpan taste, huh?]
[Everyone needs a character like that, lol.]
[Such characters usually talk big but don’t actually kill anyone.]
[??? : Don’t use such strong words; it makes you seem weak.]
That was correct.
In layman’s terms, a blowhard.
Like a hedgehog puffing up its quills, just spouting threats, while being weak inside.
-Let’s start by finding clues about where we are.
A female student demonstrated leadership among the suddenly gathered group.
Under her directive, the students started moving in an organized manner.
It looked like they were trying to investigate the place they were trapped in.
“Right, finding clues first is the rule of the game.”
As I was about to say that and head to the area assigned to me…
“Hey, how about you and I stick together?”
The leading girl asked for my help with her head slightly bowed.
Her cheeks were softly flushed.
[Hasn’t been that long since meeting, but she’s flirting?]
[Must be an alpha male alpha, lol.]
[Acting just like Mollru, huh?]
[Subconsciously seducing?!?]
[Moru got it, lol.]
[What can I do with that English pronunciation?]
[Chihaya-chan is already in the bag.]
-Mizuki Chihaya will accompany you?
Y/N
“Will this choice lead to branching paths? This is some high freedom.”
Should I accompany her then?
I pressed Y to agree to her suggestion.
“Thank you! It’s kinda gloomy here, so I was scared to explore alone.”
Chihaya beamed at me with a bright smile.
Was she trying to charm me?
Or was she just a clueless character?
One thing was for sure; Chihaya’s popularity among the viewers skyrocketed.
As I investigated alongside Chihaya, I voiced a sudden curiosity.
“What if I can’t kill anyone? I can just kill Chihaya to escape, right?”
Chihaya and I left the classroom where the other students were gathering last.
During that time, we hadn’t encountered anyone else, and we were far from the main building where the other students were investigating.
It would be easy to secretly kill Chihaya without leaving any evidence and go on my way.
“The problem is whether the protagonist has the skills for that. Is it okay with game mechanics?”
[Here it comes! The psyche of the crazy people that normal folks don’t understand!]
[Finally, I was waiting for that, lol.]
[Cyber Psycho Mollru, whoa!]
[Teacher… I’m scared… teacher…, I’m scared… teacher…, I’m scared… teacher…, I’m scared… ]
[LOL, why don’t you just be killing? Chihaya’s the smallest and weakest target here.]
[Uhm… no, I don’t.]
“Isn’t that a fair point? Just kill Chihaya here and leave would be a better move, right?”
Only the viewers criticizing my rational and logical judgment were regretful.