Chapter 169: The Job of the Top Student

“Hey, what’s going on here?”

“I just wanted to visit your place, oppa. But coming alone felt a bit awkward, you know?”

“Is this okay for an idol? What if you get caught coming into a guy’s house?”

“That’s why I came with Na-young unnie. Right, unnie?”

“Yes, don’t worry too much, Chan-sik.”

My horror game punishment broadcast progressed much faster than I had anticipated.

It was heavily influenced by Na-young and Joo-hyun’s wishes rather than my own, but a decided punishment is inescapable.

Unfortunately, since Joo-hyun wasn’t active at the moment, the collaboration was scheduled with astonishing speed, and Na-young and Joo-hyun decided on the game.

For the broadcast’s urgency, they didn’t reveal the game to me in advance.

Joo-hyun and Na-young knew me too well.

They figured out that if I received the game beforehand, I’d probably study it in advance, even if it was a horror game.

Honestly, it was a bit disappointing.

Fear that you’ve learned in advance isn’t as scary as you think.

True fear is facing the unknown.

I sighed as I served Joo-hyun and Na-young a cup of coffee each.

“Wow! Oppa, you even got a capsule coffee machine?”

“It was sponsored.”

A famous foreign capsule coffee machine had arrived a while ago through a chicken box.

They had asked me to promote it a few times during my broadcasts and do some product placement on my MiiTube.

Foreign companies had grown to the point of advertising inquiries on my MiiTube.

Reaching that level allowed me to move into this kind of house.

Did I sound a bit arrogant? Na-young glanced at me and said,

“You seem a bit cocky these days.”

“Right, oppa. You shouldn’t brag just because things are going well.”

“…What did I do?”

Those two women’s tongues could surely make me out to be a scammer or trash.

I took a sip of the coffee I made and asked Joo-hyun,

“Are you really not going to tell me what game we’re playing today?”

Joo-hyun nodded and answered,

“Not a chance.”

“Did you inform your agency properly?”

“I talked to my uncle. He told me to promote our comeback diligently today. We’re making a comeback next month.”

Was it because they were making a comeback at the end of the year?

Many people were eagerly awaiting the comeback of Redline, the group Joo-hyun belonged to.

I guessed they told her to promote it on my broadcast in line with that.

Joo-hyun had considerable influence within Redline.

Ironically, my broadcast, which could be considered minor, helped her build a more familiar image.

“It was really tough deciding on today’s game.”

“…So, what is it?”

“Hehe, it’s still a secret. You’ll love it to death when you play it later. Oppa, are you bad at horror games?”

“I haven’t played one yet.”

“This is your first time. I often played horror games with Na-young unnie during our collaborations.”

“I know.”

“Sounds fun, right?”

Actually, I had watched horror game collaboration videos on Na-young’s MiiTube to experience horror games in advance.

But VR games have a clear difference between watching and playing.

What you see isn’t everything.

Horror games.

Especially those that innovated with VR, used all five senses to drag players into the abyss of fear.

I tried to keep a calm face as I took a sip of coffee and casually said to Joo-hyun and Na-young,

“We’ll split today’s donation amount equally into three.”

“I don’t need a share.”

“Me neither.”

What?

Are there really such angelic-hearted people?

With them insisting like that, did I have any reason to refuse their offer?

The uncomfortable feelings caused by the horror game melted away.

This was true financial therapy.

The chilled atmosphere quickly thawed, and we had a light meal with an hour left before the broadcast.

Then we connected the latest TV from Sungdo Electronics that Seong-su hyung had replaced with my smartphone and started watching someone’s broadcast.

“AAAGH! DAMN IT!”

“Wow…”

“Is Husu really bad at horror games?”

The owner of that broadcast was none other than Husu.

Thinking he should get hit by the horror game mission before me, Husu had been playing the horror game early in the morning.

The game’s name was .

A game where you have to survive against haunted dolls, and it had a substantial fanbase since the PC game era.

Every streamer in Korea had played it at least once, a classic masterpiece.

It had its renaissance as a VR game, gaining popularity again.

Watching Husu scream on the screen, I couldn’t hide my complex emotions.

“Is that what we’re going to do?”

Joo-hyun shook her head and replied,

“That’s a single-player game, so we can’t play it together. It’s pretty fun alone, but that wouldn’t justify a collaboration, would it?”

Then what game did they prepare?

Honestly, seeing them so confident was terrifying.

I turned my gaze back to the screen to watch Husu.

was a game where you had to survive against haunted dolls.

Players acted as security guards, aiming to survive until quitting time.

In the game, players couldn’t do anything to the dolls.

All they could do was check that the dolls weren’t moving, like in ‘Red Light, Green Light’.

However, Husu in the video was screaming almost desperately.

“Horror games are so damn bad!”

Husu, who usually didn’t curse unless he was with me, was swearing, proving how frightening it was.

“That’s why we play horror games.”

“Exactly.”

“Kerberos sure knows how to make a good game.”

“How about it, Chan-sik? Aren’t you excited already?”

Unlike my pale face, Joo-hyun and Na-young looked at me with shining eyes, their expressions relaxed.

I clenched my fist lightly, avoiding their gaze.

What sin did I commit in my past life to deserve this punishment?

Anyway.

Our brief horror game preview time ended, and we headed to the studio.

There weren’t enough capsules for three people to use simultaneously in my room, so we used an additional capsule I had installed and one we borrowed from Jin-hyuk.

With a total of three capsules, we prepared for today’s collaboration.

[Twipod Streamer Module Activated.]

[Please set the broadcast title.]

“Today’s broadcast title is…”

Let’s keep it simple.

The goal was to finish the horror game as quickly as possible.

“Let’s just call it ‘Three Idiots’.”

[Broadcast Title: Three Idiots]

[Starting the broadcast.]

[5… 4… 3… 2… 1!]

[Broadcast has started!]

Soon, viewers quickly flocked in thanks to the pre-announcement, and the chat window heated up.

– Shaha

– Shaha

—

**”You’re going to scream deliciously today, right?”**

**”LOL, the next-door neighbor already seems about to die.”**

**”Haha, Shia must be good at horror games. Doesn’t she curse out Chinese and Japanese kids without fear?”**

**”She’s got guts, that’s for sure.”**

**”So, who are today’s guests?”**

The guests hadn’t been announced yet.

Some viewers were already making plausible guesses, but there had been no official announcement.

I took a light breath and looked at the chat window, then spoke.

“Here are the guests you’ve been waiting for. Guys, say hello to everyone.”

With that, Na-young and Joo-hyun, who had finished connecting, greeted the viewers.

“Hello, this is Joo-hyun from Redline. It’s been a while. Have you all been well, Tsu?”

Joo-hyun’s idol-like greeting.

Naturally, the viewers went wild, and Na-young followed with a heavy comment.

“Today, we’re going to make Chan-sik pee in his capsule, so look forward to it.”

Na-young, really…

—

**2.**

After the broadcast started, we had a simple talking time.

It was because we hadn’t downloaded the horror game we were going to play yet.

I swallowed hard as I stared at the title of the game taking up a slot in the download list.

“Are we really playing this today?”

“Of course. We came all the way here to play this.”

“…Sigh.”

[**Offlast 3 – Download in progress 87%**]

**”LOL”**

**”That just got released two weeks ago, it’s brand new!”**

**”As expected, both luxury goods and games are best when new.”**

**”I’m already drooling.”**

**”I saw other streamers playing it… 3 is seriously scary LOL.”**

**”1 and 2 were really scary too.”**

**”For real, LOL.”**

The viewers’ reactions were hotter than I expected.

Normally, opinions about the game we played would be divided, but today there were no such chats.

Everyone was united in wanting a horror game.

Why were they so enthusiastic about horror games?

“Hey, do you guys really like horror games? They don’t seem that fun.”

Then Joo-hyun dropped a heavy fact bomb on me on behalf of the viewers.

“Do you really not know why they like it, oppa?”

“Why do they like it?”

“Of course, because you’ll be suffering.”

“Do you think I’d be scared of a game?”

“Well, you won’t know until you start.”

Honestly, very honestly, I wasn’t too worried.

No matter how scary it is, a game is just a game.

How scary could it be?

As I tried to calm myself with this thought, Na-young, who had been quietly watching me, whispered in my ear.

“Don’t worry. VR horror games these days have solid safety measures.”

“Safety measures?”

“Yeah, if your heart rate records a dangerous level three times, the game shuts off automatically.”

“…Heart rate?”

“They said it’s a special measure to prevent heart attacks?”

Seriously, that just made it scarier.

Seeing my expression falter, Na-young chuckled and nodded.

“Chan-sik, you look kinda cute when you’re scared.”

This is humiliating.

While I was chatting with the guests, the game download was completed.

[**Offlast 3 – Download complete!**]

[**Do you want to start the game?**]

“Game installation complete.”

“Mine too.”

“Me too.”

Since everyone else had finished downloading, there was no reason to delay.

I took a deep breath again and looked at the guests.

“Shall we connect then?”

“See you in the game.”

“See you soon.”

With that, we left the chat room and I started the game right away.

When the game started, a chill ran down my spine, and soon a spooky fog spread everywhere.

Is this the intro video?

The atmosphere was killer.

Literally, it felt like it could kill someone.

“AAAAAAH!”

Someone’s scream in the distance made the atmosphere even scarier.

[**The safety program is now running.**]

[**If your heart rate exceeds a certain level, a warning will be issued, and if it exceeds three times, the program will automatically shut down for the player’s safety.**]

The red-bordered message box maximized the fear even more.

Hoo.

Even so, could the intro video be that scary?

But how much time had passed…

As cold sweat dripped from my entire body, a huge scream escaped my mouth.

“SIIIIIIIIIIT! DAMN IT!”

Hell wasn’t far away.