018. A Pitiful Display
Prrrr... Prrrr... Peep!
Peet-peep... Snore... Peeeep... Snore...!
“Sleep well, guys.”
Late that same night.
Starting from the five-layer pork belly party, we had continued filling the table with delicious food until late into the night.
The children, stuffed with food and alcohol, had already fallen asleep long ago.
As for me...
“Phew.”
For some reason, I could not sleep.
So I blankly stared at the sky filled with sparkling stars.
How much time had passed since I decided to return to Father’s fish farm?
It did not feel like that much time.
Yet so many things had already happened.
I had become an Awakened.
I met Daldal and Orlan.
Instead of flounder and rockfish, I was raising Fantasy Fish at the farm.
I was selling food gathered from the Dragon King’s Sea to people.
“Seriously.”
When I returned home, I had vaguely thought things would somehow work out.
That I would live a better life than before.
Looking back now, I realized I had possessed the exact same attitude when I first left for Seoul.
Vaguely.
Things will somehow work out.
Somehow...
Yet why was everything so different now?
I had accomplished nothing in Seoul.
But after returning here, incredible luck kept appearing as if it had been waiting for me.
Of course, I had only just taken my first steps.
But being able to wake up every day looking forward to achievement and good fortune felt completely different.
I looked forward to morning.
What will I do with these two tomorrow?
Thoughts like that filled my mind.
This place.
This fish farm.
This sea.
Had they been waiting for the wounded me to return?
‘Come back whenever you think of home.’
Just as Father had said.
“Come on, seriously.”
I almost started crying again.
The kids were definitely asleep, right?
Phew.
Good.
Snorrrrrre...
Snorrrrrre...
Yeah.
When you drank alcohol while looking at the night sea, emotions naturally overflowed.
Crying while thinking of Father was perfectly natural.
No one was watching anyway.
So why not call out that name I missed?
“Dad! Mr. Taesik! Have you eaten?! I’m doing well! I’m having fun at the fish farm you left me! I met some cute friends too, and we’re all working hard together! Seriously! I miss you! Have a drink! Your son will pour you one after so long!”
I filled a clear glass with soju carrying a strong grain aroma and offered it toward Father, who was probably watching from somewhere in the sky.
“Your son will have one too.”
Then I drank.
With stars and the night breeze as my side dishes, I slowly let the alcohol flow down my throat.
Nice.
Inside my body, golden rice fields blessed with a rich harvest seemed to flow gently.
As time passed, my head warmed.
Meanwhile, the throat the alcohol had burned slowly cooled.
I placed my longing into the soft breeze and sent it far away.
In exchange, the warm wind and happiness of today came to me.
“Hehe.”
Even if I could not share a drink with him, simply remembering his face made me smile.
Seriously.
If Father had seen my face, he probably would have teased me for looking stupid.
Suddenly, I wondered what expression I was making.
The Status Window had a camera function.
Maybe I could use it like a selfie camera?
Just how happy was the expression Father would have teased me for...
‘Whoa, owner face close-up.’
‘Hi.’
‘He finally looked this way.’
‘We’ve been waiting, damn it!’
...??
????
????????????????????????????????????
What?
Who are you people?
“Huh?”
‘He spoke. The world stopped for a moment.’
‘Successfully joined the mysterious owner’s first vlog.’
‘The battle earlier was amazing!’
‘Why are you so good at fighting?’
‘Owner, when will the Star Turtle Stone Seaweed be restocked? My Partners love it 😍’
Why are you all here?
Why is the chat still alive?
I was sure I had ended the broadcast when the Hostile Gate appeared.
Uh...
No way?
“Um... everyone.”
‘Yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes.’
‘Yes.’
‘Yep.’
‘May I ask whether it is appropriate to request permission to report that I possess a question regarding whether I may utter that I wish to ask whether I can answer the owner’s question? (User blocked for spam.)’
‘One gone.’
‘Whywhywhywhy.’
‘Where’s Daldal?’
“No, um, I... No, that...”
‘Nonononono.’
‘No? Yes? No? Yes?’
‘We’re listening.’
“Why are you all still here?”
‘Because you called us.’
‘That was romantic.’
“No, that’s strange. I definitely ended the stream. I pressed the button... Why are you still here?”
‘Because you didn’t press it?’
‘Skill issue.’
‘Aim issue.’
‘Old man eyesight issue.’
“Old man eyesight...?! No, seriously... I thought I pressed it. Then... everyone. Did you see everything from the Poison Slime battle until now? You didn’t, right...?”
‘We did.’
‘Wasn’t that why you streamed it?’
‘I fell in love at first sight with that blazing battle, by the way, I’m a guy.’
I was doomed.
Ah.
Seriously doomed.
I had only ever heard stories about streamers or video creators forgetting their cameras were on and ruining themselves by doing stupid things.
And now that was me?
“Did you see me crying while drinking too? Please. Tell me you didn’t. Please.”
‘Yep ^^7’
‘Fatherrrrrrr!’
‘Father said he didn’t like pork belly.’
‘Yai-yai-ya.’
‘What song is this?’
‘No idea. Trot?’
‘Sit down. I’m about to tell you an insane story.’
‘Guys, the owner says he has an honest story to tell while drunk!!’
“Ah. Ahhh. AAAAAAHHH.”
Forget it.
Close everything.
How could I show such an embarrassing sight to the entire world?
How many viewers were there?
...Two thousand!?!?
I had drunkenly embarrassed myself in front of two thousand people?
Haa...
‘Don’t cry.’
‘You already cried, and now you’re crying again?’
“Everyone. Thank you for loving Otter at the Fish Farm until now.”
‘Sure sure.’
‘Forget that. Tell us about your first love.’
“I’ll never forget all the love you’ve given me. I’ll work hard for the rest of my life. Thank you very much for everything.”
‘See you tomorrow.’
‘Don’t run away! Fight it!’
‘Oi oi, what about my tear glands that got heated up by the owner’s sincere story, heh.’
‘You’re not seriously quitting after one drunken broadcasting mistake, right?’
“What? No, I’m not even a professional streamer. I showed something this embarrassing. Obviously I should step away. Isn’t that normal? I showed you every ugly side of myself.”
‘Nope.’
‘We liked it.’
‘Don’t know what happened to you, but I’m rooting for you.’
‘I listened to the owner ramble and called my dad for the first time in a while. Thanks.’
‘Most vlogs these days are full of fake stories. It was nice hearing something that felt like real life for once.’
“What? ...You liked that? Really?”
‘Why do you care? I said I liked it.’
‘What does canon know?’
‘Tell us about your first love!’
“My first love? I... Almost got tricked into answering. Secret. That’s a secret. Anyway... I’m sorry about the broadcast accident, and thank you for understanding.”
Considering I had drunkenly cried in front of everyone, their response was not bad.
If anything, strangely, more people seemed to like it.
Why?
I had been worried I would need to close the entire broadcast channel.
For now, at least, it was a relief.
‘The battle against the Gate by yourself was cool too.’
‘Daldal and Orlan? They were insanely strong.’
‘Didn’t you just awaken recently?’
‘Edit today’s battle properly. Guaranteed huge views. Trust me.’
‘Owner isn’t good at editing. Better outsource it.’
‘Hey, that slight B-grade editing smell is the good part.’
‘A true gourmet.’
‘Isn’t this the guy who left a hate comment saying his editing was bad last time?’
‘Shut up.’
Whether they knew I was worried or not, the viewers chatted among themselves about what they liked from today’s stream.
‘Are you all okay physically? A Poison Slime appeared, why didn’t the Awakened Association show up at all?’
“Uh. We’re okay. I was more worried about the kids than myself, but fortunately we finished safely. The Association... I don’t know. They haven’t contacted me separately or visited.”
One kind viewer asked about our condition, so I quickly answered.
‘Really? That’s strange. There’s no way they wouldn’t detect a Hostile Gate of that size.’
‘It appeared in the ocean. That alone makes it an irregular case. And as everyone know.’
‘Knows.’
‘Come on.’
‘As everyone knows, it’s still a public organization.’
‘Ah.’
‘Ah.’
There are far more hardworking public officials and public organizations than bad ones, everyone...
But even I remembered how much trouble I had gone through just to receive farming approval.
So I said nothing and simply smiled.
‘He smiled.’
‘The world stopped.’
Ugh.
Maybe these people simply enjoyed teasing me?
Still...
Once my pounding heart calmed down...
I started to enjoy talking to these people in real time.
‘Owner, I brought alcohol to drink with you. Want to drink together?’
“Awakened 103994. Oh, nice. I still have some alcohol left too, so I was debating whether to finish it before going inside. I have plenty of firewood too. And it’s only... ten at night. That’s not really late, right?”
‘Finally, someone reasonable. I brought wine.’
“Oh. Sounds delicious. I brought Barracks Soju today. Father enjoyed it while he was alive, and after seeing it so often, I started liking it too. Anyone else bring alcohol like Awakened 103994?”
‘Me me me me.’
‘Me!’
‘Does non-alcoholic beer count?’
‘Lightweights stay out.’
‘I have to drive, so I had no choice...’
‘That gets a pass.’
“Good. Then even if it’s only for a little while, let’s drink together. Just for today, we’re each other’s drinking buddies. How about it?”
‘Oh.’
‘Never seen an Awakened stream where the streamer drinks with viewers.’
‘Right. They usually only drink with their own raid parties.’
‘Owner knows how to seduce viewers.’
“S, seduce? That’s not what I’m doing. Ah, whatever. Come on, everyone, show off what you brought. Anyone who can’t drink, bring a delicious late-night snack. Let’s enjoy ourselves together. Ah, I ran out of food too, so I’ll prepare something.”
‘Oh.’
‘You ate that much pork belly and still have room?’
“Uh... I do eat quite a lot. Is that weird? There are people on YouTube who eat way more than me.”
‘True.’
‘How many burgers max?’
“What? Ah, how many burgers? I don’t eat burgers often... When I worked heavy labor during semiconductor factory construction, I got really hungry and I think I once ate seven.”
‘You win.’
‘wtf’
‘You look like someone who would pick at food, but you eat everything. Unexpected.’
‘Probably exercises a lot.’
“Exercise? I don’t really exercise separately. I just run in the morning. Lightly. Around five kilometers.”
‘Now I’m getting annoyed.’
‘Oh, so you manage yourself perfectly too?’
‘Oppa, we’re breaking up.’
‘Stop making appetite suppressants! Make medicine that lets me eat everything without gaining weight!!!’
“Hm? No, no. I gain weight too if I eat too much. I’ve actually gained a little recently because I’ve been eating so well.”
‘How much do you weigh?’
‘Height?’
“Right now? Height? Weight? Am I supposed to just reveal that? Well, I’m not becoming a celebrity or anything. I’m 183 centimeters and 74 kilograms. Pretty normal, right?”
‘I’m unsubscribing.’
‘Life is so unfair. Give me a reset.’
‘STATUS WINDOW!!!!! Ah, I already opened it. Damn.’
‘Do morning runs with us too!’
“Huh? Why is everyone angry? If I said something wrong, I’m sorry...”
After being tossed around by mischievous viewers a few more times...
I felt much closer to them.
Even though I could not see their faces, it felt like I had gained distant neighbors who sympathized with my ordinary life.
This was not bad.
Instead of only introducing products and the fish farm...
Maybe I could start sharing small parts of my everyday life like this too?
It still felt a little awkward.
But after talking for a while longer, I finally tried to properly end the stream.
“Everyone. Today was really fun. I showed you a lot of embarrassing sides of myself, but I’m relieved you enjoyed them. Thank you. See you next time!”
‘BYEBYEBYEBYEBYE’
‘BYEBYEBYE’
‘BYEBYEBYEBYEBYEBYE’
After all the viewers left...
I turned around feeling refreshed.
Then...
‘AWAKENED!!!!!!!!!!’
‘THIS IS THE KOREA AWAKENED ASSOCIATION!!!!!!!!’
‘YOU HAVEN’T ANSWERED ANY CONTACTS!!!!! PLEASE LOOK HERE!!!’
I saw a message with such overwhelming desperation that I could not ignore it.
