Chapter 2: The Trash Game Genius Who Descended Like a Dancer (1)

“Yaaaawn.”

After a long stretch, I checked my smartphone for about thirty minutes.

I slowly melted time away with pointless ETube Shorts, then sluggishly got up and set water on the kettle.

When I poured the water into the cup noodles, hot steam rose in thick swirls.

The spicy scent tickled my nose.

I wasn’t sure how healthy it was to eat something spicy first thing in the morning.

But there was no helping it. Cup noodles were the only food I had left.

“We’re almost out of bottled water too.”

When I turned my head, the glass window reflected a shiny, radiant girl.

“It’s already been a week.”

It had been one week since I became Yoo Seo-yeon.

I’d been incredibly flustered at first, but maybe your mind changes when your body does too.

In just a few days, I’d completely adjusted. The awkwardness was almost entirely gone.

‘Good thing I had an ID.’

I thought as I slurped up some noodles.

Once I came to my senses, the thing I was most worried about was, unsurprisingly, my identity.

Suddenly having a new body while my official ID remained the same would’ve caused all sorts of trouble.

Imagine pulling out my ID as a pretty girl, and it still said I was a guy—

People would probably look at me like I was insane. Or worse, like some crazy b*tch.

‘At best, I’d just look like some weirdo. At worst, I’m an illegal alien…’

An unidentified illegal resident.

Definitely not something to laugh off with a casual “haha~.”

I couldn’t even open a bank account or get a phone plan.

‘Thank god it wasn’t just my body that changed.’

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

After a few days of investigating, I realized this wasn’t just a body swap.

I didn’t know how, but the world itself had subtly changed too.

I was now in a world where Yoo Seo-yeon—the VTuber I had created—actually existed.

To be more precise, this was a world where Yoo Seo-yeon had taken my place in the past.

It sounded completely ridiculous, but based on my own research, that was the only conclusion that made sense.

Plenty of other little things in the world had changed as well.

But the really important things had stayed the same.

My parents were still around. My one and only little sister was still there too.

They just knew me as Yoo Seo-yeon now.

Even my resident ID card was intact (aside from the numbers being different), and a debit card was already set up in my name.

So all that panicking about losing my identity? A total waste of energy.

“The real thing I should’ve been worried about was something else.”

I muttered as I looked at my dwindling food supply.

Three cup noodles,

Two packs of instant rice,

Four eggs (I used one for a fried egg, but the white looked cloudy and kind of sketchy.)

And a limp, barely alive bunch of green onions. That was it.

“This is bad, seriously bad….”

I stomped my little feet.

There wasn’t much food left.

If this kept up, the only thing in the fridge would be dust.

“If I run out of money, I’m screwed…”

As always, the problem was money.

I let out a deep sigh and opened a banking app to check my not-so-healthy balance.

The good news was, I could survive for a few months.

The bad news? I could only survive for a few months.

“I’m not even doing anything right now.”

Unlike my past self, Yoo Seo-yeon had just graduated high school. She wasn’t attending college.

And she wasn’t working a part-time job either.

There was no income. Things were fine for now, but a few months down the line, I’d be flat broke.

“Should I get a part-time job?”

I turned my head again.

My hair was messy and I wasn’t wearing any makeup, but the mirror still showed a doll-like beauty.

Even now, I’d sometimes startle myself when I looked.

Whatever else you said about her, Yoo Seo-yeon was a rare kind of beauty.

The kind of face that looked like it came straight out of a manga—one that drew attention even while doing nothing.

‘Getting a job shouldn’t be too hard.’

My petite frame and slender arms weren’t ideal for manual labor, but…

With this face? Landing a service job would be practically a free pass.

PC café, convenience store, or even easier gigs—I could get any of them.

It’d be like I had a reservation at every top-tier part-time job across the country.

“Uuugh…”

But for some reason, the idea of getting a job just didn’t sit right with me.

It wasn’t like I was trembling or breaking into cold sweat like I had some kind of trauma or anything… but something about it felt off.

‘I didn’t want to work before either, but still.’

How many people go to work because they want to?

Sure, there are some workaholics out there, but I definitely wasn’t one of them.

‘Still, it’s an easy job, isn’t it?’

Even if I hated it, if it was a cushy gig, I’d usually jump at the chance. I wouldn’t be feeling this weird aversion like I was now.

‘Is it because of the shy personality?’

That was part of the character settings I’d created.

Yoo Seo-yeon—meaning me—had a very introverted personality.

According to the backstory, she was the type who rarely ever left the house. A natural-born outcast.

No way someone like that could handle a service job.

‘Maybe it’s rubbing off on me? My personality feels different.’

I was still me, that much I was sure of. But it felt like I was also being influenced by Yoo Seo-yeon’s personality to some degree.

“Still, if I run out of money, I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I flopped onto the bed.

People always take action once the fire’s at their feet.

Even this weird resistance to getting a job would vanish once I had no money left to buy food.

But it wasn’t quite that dire yet. I had enough to survive for a few more months.

That vague buffer became the perfect excuse to rationalize my inaction. I could still take it easy for a while…

‘So let’s put off the job hunt for now.’

Having reached a neat conclusion, I picked up my smartphone.

When you’re stressed, nothing soothes the soul like a phone.

Video site: ETube.

The world’s biggest video platform.

As I scrolled, edited clips flashed past my eyes.

My body was slouched, but my thumb moved like a hyperactive rabbit.

【Chain Roller Challenge! Going for a 4-hour clear!】

【What if 3 pro gamers tackled the Chain Roller Challenge?】

【We’re getting that Chain Roller ending no matter what~~🔥🔥】

The algorithm was overflowing with the latest trend.

One thing, in particular, caught my eye.

“Chain Roller?”

I’d never seen the game before.

But judging by the feed, it was trending hard—streamers were uploading tons of Chain Roller gameplay.

“What kind of game is this?”

I clicked on a few of the higher-view-count videos from the algorithm.

〈W-What is this swamp level! Aaaagh!〉

〈Guys, this pattern is complete bulls*it, isn’t it? This is insane.〉

〈Don’t go that way! Screeeeech!〉

Streamers were screaming in agony in the videos.

Their expressions were pure anguish, like they were playing some kind of horror game.

And on the other side of the screen, the viewers were laughing their heads off at those tortured faces.

Just from that, I could tell what kind of game it was.

‘It’s one of those “cauldron games.”’

Cauldron games.

The goal was usually to reach a set endpoint.

But unlike regular games, the path to get there was ridiculously, absurdly difficult.

And unlike normal games that prioritize smooth controls, these games deliberately made the controls awful.

Games that crank up the difficulty just to make your life hell.

〈W-Wait! AAAAAH! There’s no save feature?!〉

The true hallmark of cauldron games: no save feature.

You could spend hours climbing upward, only to mess up and fall all the way back to the start—what players lovingly called “the starting village.”

That was the charm of the game… for the viewers, at least.

Playing it was torture. Watching it was a blast. That’s why these games were so popular among streamers.

“I tried something like this before.”

There was that bald guy stuck in a pot, swinging a hammer to reach the moon or whatever.

The controls were stiff, the force adjustment was tricky, and with no saves, brute-forcing it was impossible.

After a few tries, I understood why streamers spent all day and still couldn’t beat it.

‘I just quit and refunded it.’

I wasn’t a streamer, and I definitely wasn’t the type of pervert who enjoyed torturing myself with these games. I gave up after about an hour.

This “Chain Roller” seemed to be one of those games too.

‘Oh, there are clear videos too.’

Usually it took dozens of hours to clear, but…

Some top-tier streamers overcame all the bulls*it and pulled off speedruns.

People with raw talent—streamers known for their skills.

I clicked one video, and a streamer appeared calmly playing the game.

〈Now?! Yeah, that’s it. The pattern’s so obvious~〉

Unlike the others who were screaming and rage-slapping their desks, this guy handled the game with practiced ease.

〈Ugh, what is this garbage pattern?〉

Of course, he wasn’t superhuman—just that the game was really hard—so he stumbled here and there.

〈Bam! Solo cleaaaaar!〉

He cleared the game at a speed none of the others could match.

〈How about that, guys? Told you I wasn’t washed. What’s everyone else’s time? What rank am I?〉

The chat exploded in response to his question.

「You’re ranked 1st.」

「This guy’s insane… straight-up insane…」

「Why is this dude so good at trash games?」

Judging by the chat, he was ranked number one among all streamers.

Grinning, he gave the camera a thumbs-up as he read the comments.

〈Man~ I’m way ahead of second place. No one’s beating this record. I mean, come on, tell me I’m wrong.〉

It sounded arrogant, but looking at the leaderboard, he wasn’t wrong.

He held first place by a landslide.

「Disgusting」

「Fact: It’s true」

「Seriously tho how the hell did he clear it in 3 hours」

「Gifted little sh*t…」

The chat was full of mock insults, but it was mostly playful.

Most viewers were clearly impressed by his skill.

《‘Jangbbippi’ has donated ₩100,000!》

—Thanks for the eye bleachㅅㅅㅅ

〈Whoa! Thank you, Jangbbippi, for the 100,000 won donation! You really didn’t have to!〉

The streamer was basking in the reactions and raking in donations to celebrate the clear.

‘If I had better reflexes, I might’ve tried streaming too.’

Talent.

Even if people called it a trash game, being that much better than everyone else was clearly a matter of skill.

Me, on the other hand… Even I knew I sucked at games.

I spent an hour scraping the floor in that cauldron game before refunding it.

Other games? I was at best average.

And I was fully aware I could never be like those streamers.

“Sigh.”

I let out a heavy sigh. Not only was I bad at games, but now I had this timid personality making normal streaming feel impossible…

‘Huh?’

Now that I thought about it,

Both my looks and personality had become like Yoo Seo-yeon’s.

And Yoo Seo-yeon wasn’t just a shy girl.

[Shy, but her gaming talent knows no bounds.]

I recalled the core essence of Yoo Seo-yeon I had seen countless times.

---

TL Notes:

• ETube: Fictional parody of YouTube.
• “Cauldron games”: A nickname for ultra-hard, rage-inducing platformers like Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, often featuring physics-based movement and no save points.
• Yoo Seo-yeon‘s character description and setting were written by the protagonist themselves before becoming her.
• The joke in the chat comments like “우욱씹” is internet slang expressing a dramatic, fake-disgusted reaction to someone being too talented.
• Donation line “눈 정화하고 갑니다ㅅㅅㅅ” literally means “Thanks for cleansing my eyes,” slang for “you’re so good it’s satisfying to watch.”