Streaming of the Absolute

  Absolute’s Streaming – Episode 1

Rumble…!

A massive door creaked open as a man stepped inside.

He was middle-aged, neatly dressed, and had a hood wrapped around his head. Moving forward, he pushed something along the red carpet laid out on the floor.

Creak…

At the end of the long red carpet, Minseong was slouched on a chair, looking completely uninterested.

The man gave a respectful nod before speaking.

“My lord, you’ve seemed to have lost your appetite recently, so I’ve prepared a special dish for you today.”

“…”

Minseong glanced at the cart the man had wheeled in.

On it lay food—raw, completely uncooked, with fresh blood dripping from it.

“This is an extremely rare delicacy—grilled chest meat of the Tukuman boar. The taste is truly out of this world. Your appetite will return immediately.”

The man spoke with absolute confidence.

But…

Minseong’s expression was far from pleased.

“I prefer my food cooked.”

“Oh dear! How could you say such a thing? The Tukuman boar loses its true essence when cooked! Just try it.”

“…Fine. Get out.”

“Yes, my Lord. Please, enjoy.”

With that, the man turned around and walked back out, leaving Minseong alone.

Minseong stared at the food for a moment, then took a bite.

…As expected, it tasted like absolute garbage.

It was raw. Just raw meat.

He let out a long sigh.

“Ugh… I swear, no matter how long I live here, I’ll never get used to this damn food.”

Minseong wasn’t originally from this world.

One day, without warning, he had been dragged into this place—as if he had been forcibly transported to another dimension.

At some point, he stopped keeping track of the years. He knew that at least a few decades had passed.

And yet, not once had he forgotten about his original world.

Why?

Because this place… was completely unlivable for someone who had experienced modern civilization.

It was a medieval fantasy world.

That meant everything was inconvenient.

To put it bluntly…

It was like a modern person suddenly being forced to live in the Stone Age.

Nothing suited him. Not the clothes, not the houses, and especially not the food.

Here, people ate things raw—with nothing but a little salt sprinkled on top.

And even if he tried to cook it, it didn’t make much of a difference.

It was still absolutely disgusting.

But what could he do?

If he wanted to survive, he had to eat.

“Haah…”

Despite how awful it was, he forced the food down.

And that’s when—

Rumble…!

The doors burst open again. Another person came rushing in.

“My lord! We’ve found the last Demon King!”

At those words, Minseong immediately spat out his food and shot up from his seat.

This was the only thing that made living in this world bearable.

The only thing that gave him joy.

Slash!

A sword plunged deep into a woman’s chest.

She gasped, coughing up blood.

The warm, sticky liquid splattered onto Minseong’s face, filling the air with its thick, metallic scent.

But Minseong wasn’t fazed by the blood.

No, he wasn’t even the slightest bit disturbed.

After everything he’d been through, something like this was nothing.

What shocked him was something else entirely.

“Wait, are you serious? You couldn’t even dodge that? How?”

The woman had gone down way too easily.

“Aren’t you supposed to be the last Demon King? The strongest in this world? And you just—”

He stopped mid-sentence.

She was already dead.

Gone.

Just like that.

“What the hell…? That’s it?”

This woman—the so-called strongest being in this world—had died without even putting up a fight.

Finding her had taken forever. He’d spent years tracking her down.

And now she was gone.

Just like that.

“…What am I even supposed to do now?”

The one thing that had kept him entertained in this world was now gone.

The only thing that made life here bearable.

As he stood there, lost in thought—

CRACK!

A sharp, shattering sound filled the air.

The space around him started breaking apart.

Like glass shattering into tiny pieces, reality itself was crumbling.

And Minseong knew what this meant.

He’d seen this before.

The first time he was dragged into this world—

This exact phenomenon had occurred.

“Am I… going back? Just like that? Seriously?”

The shattered fragments of space started rewinding.

A new reality was being pieced together.

And then—

It appeared before his eyes.

A place he would never forget.

‘Wait… This is—!’

Korea.

His world.

More specifically—

The exact place where he had been when he first disappeared.

A small, local fried chicken joint.

He had been here, drinking with a friend, before he was suddenly pulled into the other world.

The lively chatter of customers, the sound of sizzling oil, the smell of fried food—

Everything felt so real.

So much so that the decades he’d spent in the other world suddenly felt like a dream.

‘Was it… just a dream?’

For a brief moment, he considered the possibility.

But then—

A mosquito flew by.

And as soon as he focused on it, something strange happened.

His vision zoomed in.

He could see every tiny detail of the mosquito’s wings flapping—

As if he were watching it in slow motion.

He wasn’t supposed to be able to see this much detail.

Which meant—

His abilities were still intact.

The other world had been real.

It wasn’t a dream.

And then—

Throb!

A sudden pain struck his head, like someone had just smacked him.

“The hell?”

He instinctively clutched his head.

That’s when—

“Dude, what are you doing?”

A familiar voice.

Minseong turned.

It was his friend, Ha Seonghoon.

“Minseong, are you already drunk?”

Minseong.

His real name.

A name he hadn’t heard in decades.

He had really… truly… come back.

The realization hit him all at once.

His gaze slowly shifted to the table.

And there—

Sitting before him—

It was a plate of golden, crispy, freshly fried chicken.

Thud.

Without hesitation, he grabbed a piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

The moment he took a bite—

He nearly cried.

‘This is it. This is the taste!’

The taste he had dreamed about for years.

And then—

He devoured it.

“Dude, slow the hell down! Did you starve for a week or something?”

Seonghoon looked horrified.

Minseong was annihilating the chicken like a starving man.

Then—

Cough!

He choked.

“Jesus, you idiot. At least drink some beer with it.”

Minseong’s head snapped toward the cold, frosty beer sitting on the table.

Without a second thought, he grabbed it and chugged.

The crisp, refreshing taste flowed down his throat.

“Holy shit…”

For the first time in decades—

He was finally, finally, home.

Minseong had spent years trapped in another world, fighting monsters and surviving in ways no ordinary human could.

So, when he finally returned to his original world, he thought life would be perfect. He used the money he had saved up and went on a spree, eating all the delicious food he had missed out on for decades.

For about a week, he was truly happy.

But after that… something felt off.

It was like there was a piece missing—something important, something that should’ve been there but wasn’t.

And the longer time passed, the worse it got.

By the time a month had passed, the emptiness had become unbearable.

Nothing satisfied him. Everything was boring.

“……”

Minseong didn’t understand.

He had been so sure that once he got back, he’d live happily ever after. That he’d enjoy every second of his life here.

So why the hell did everything feel so dull?

“…Honestly, I think I had more fun back then.”

He actually missed it—the fights, the battles, the thrill of tearing apart demons and monsters.

And that wasn’t even the worst part.

His money was almost gone.

Just as that grim reality was sinking in—

Click.

The door swung open, and his friend, Seonghoon, stepped inside like he owned the place.

The guy didn’t even knock. Just punched in the passcode and walked right in.

Seonghoon didn’t even glance at him at first. He was too busy staring at his phone.

Minseong, still lying on his bed, barely lifted his head.

“Oh. You’re here.”

That was when Seonghoon finally looked at him—with a face full of disappointment.

He pulled out a chair and sat down, shaking his head.

“Dude, did you win the lottery or something? You quit your job out of nowhere, spent a whole month just traveling, and now you’re just rotting in your room?”

Minseong let out a short laugh.

“Lottery, my ass.”

He sat up, stretching a little.

“Not like I can afford to mess around anymore. My savings are basically gone.”

“Figured that’d happen. So, what now? Getting another job?”

“…I guess I’ll have to.”

That’s what he said, but the truth was, he didn’t want to.

Could he even do it?

For decades, all he had done was fight, wielding a sword day in and day out.

He had convinced himself that once he was back, he’d live a normal life.

But now that he was here… it just didn’t feel right.

While he was lost in thought, Seonghoon was still glued to his phone.

“What are you looking at?”

“You wouldn’t care even if I told you,” Seonghoon muttered.

Which, of course, only made Minseong more curious.

He leaned over, peering at the screen.

On it, a man wielding a sword was fighting a grotesque monster.

Seonghoon spoke without looking up.

“One of the top ‘rankers’ just posted a new guide for Blood Saga. I was stuck on this part, so I’m studying it.”

Now, it made sense why Seonghoon had told him not to bother asking.

Blood Saga.

A virtual reality MMORPG that had taken the world by storm.

The first-ever VR game that was so immersive that people called it a revolution.

Seonghoon had explained it to him once before.

There was the world before Blood Saga, and then there was the world after it. That’s how big of a deal it was.

But Minseong had never cared.

Not only because he wasn’t into games—

But because it was stupidly expensive.

The VR capsule required to play cost at least 10 million won.

Even renting time in a capsule café drained your wallet fast.

So, he had just ignored it.

Until now.

“…What’s with you?” Seonghoon frowned.

Minseong had moved right next to him, staring at his phone screen with an unreadable expression.

This was the first time Minseong had ever shown interest in the game.

“Dude. It looks… so easy.”

“What? You’ve never even played, man.”

Minseong ignored him, still focused on the fight happening on screen.

“This thing… It’s exactly like real life, right?”

“Yeah. It’s insanely realistic.”

Something clicked in Minseong’s head.

A memory resurfaced—something Seonghoon had once told him.

Blood Saga made people rich.

“…This game. You can make serious money off it, right?”

“Are you kidding me? The top rankers? They’re walking businesses, dude. They make bank.”

“…That much?”

“Hell yeah. If I had even a little talent, I’d—”

Seonghoon stopped mid-sentence.

Because Minseong had suddenly jumped to his feet, grabbing his jacket.

“Oi. What are you doing?”

“What do you think? Getting ready to leave.”

“Where the hell are you going?”

Minseong turned to him with a grin.

That emptiness he had felt since coming back?

The money problems?

He had just found the solution to both.

“I’m gonna play Blood Saga.”