chapter_0018

18 – Grow Up Healthy

18 – Grow Up Healthy

Dora devoured two steaks in the blink of an eye, then, without even glancing at the salad or vegetables that came with them, put them straight into the refrigerator.

Only then did the peppermint tea I’d bought earlier emerge from the freezer to moisten Dora’s throat.

“Haa. Just the right amount of cold. Full, refreshed. I feel so good.”

I held out a pizza topped with refreshing and appetizingly colorful fruit pieces to Dora and asked,

“You really won’t eat even one slice?”

“I eat food, not weird food. Hehe.”

“It’s delicious, though.”

As I was munching away, diligently swallowing my second pizza, Dora, as if trying to wait for me, who eats slowly, sauntered over and lay down on the drug cushion placed in one corner of the living room.

“Jia, look at this. I feel like my stomach’s going to burst.”

Dora patted her white, bulging belly like a drum.

Her defenseless, sprawled-out appearance made her look like a complete idiot.

But she’s a whopping 171 cm tall.

That’s a difference of more than a head compared to me, who’s become 140 cm.

She’s smiling like a fool, looking relaxed and full, but she’s a dangerous Devourer, just like her broadcast Avatar, the Red Dragon.

The reason Boss put our Team Leader, who has a high salary, in the monitoring room instead of me?

It’s because if I get caught by Dora, I’ll never be able to escape.

“Don’t lie down too much. You’ll fall asleep. You should start preparing for the broadcast soon.”

Dora jumped up and sat across from me, grinning.

“Jia, when you’re done eating.”

“Are you going to be late again?”

“I won’t be late. There’s still 30 minutes before the broadcast starts, you know?”

“You should prepare in advance so you don’t break the equipment.”

“Ugh. It’s not like the equipment breaks down because I don’t prepare!”

She was huffing and puffing, but she kept smacking her lips, looking like she had something she wanted to say.

“You can say whatever you want. If there’s anything I can help you with, tell me. I’ll help you with anything after I finish eating, though.”

Then, as if she had been waiting for it, Dora placed her chest and elbows on the table and leaned her face towards me.

“Horror Game. Can’t you play it with me…?”

The sly expression from just now was now filled with sadness.

It looked like she would burst into tears if I refused.

Still, she didn’t say anything about putting me on her lap like Komari.

She didn’t hug me tightly because she was scared, either.

It seemed that even though she treated me familiarly, there was still a bit of distance between us.

But Dora is a famous hugging demon, even among the first generation.

Little Komari is a given, and Maru and Rain can’t escape Dora’s embrace when she rushes at them with joy as soon as they meet.

It seems she’s a little conscious of the attention outside, but according to the stories the first generation has told so far, when she goes to visit her colleagues’ houses, she’s always stuck to someone like glue.

So, if she thought of me as a colleague, she would have just hugged me silently and dragged me to the soundproof booth.

But, this remaining distance.

It’s not bad.

After all, I came here to work, not to meet friends.

“I can be with you, but. I don’t think I’ll be of any help to the broadcast.”

“That’s enough….”

I was amazed by Boss’s insight in entrusting my work to our Team Leader.

I nodded in agreement.

“Okay. Let’s go together when I’m done eating.”

“Yay!”

Dora’s head nodded quickly, her face having been on the verge of turning blue.

Her complexion returning to her face like someone who had come back from the dead was a bonus.

“But, um. Are you okay, Jia? Komari was fine because she’s not afraid…. It’s okay if it’s a different game, but because it’s a Horror Game….”

Today’s Pandemic Village is a so-called survival horror genre game in which players are given weapons to fight enemies.

In other words, monsters suddenly pop out and surprise the player, but in the end, they are monsters that can be knocked down.

Therefore, I, who enjoy FPS, do not consider the survival horror genre to be horror.

I have a gun?

I just have to kill the enemy?

… What’s scary about killing them as I see them?

“I’m fine.”

A little later, I borrowed a guest chair and sat next to Dora.

I quietly watched Dora preparing for the broadcast, and I was quite impressed by the way she calmly adjusted the broadcast settings with her Avatar placed at 5 o’clock on the screen.

I watch the broadcast every day, but I’ve never seen this preparation process up close.

Even though equipment issues often arise, I was surprised at how professional she is the moment the broadcast starts.

Interestingly, there is one more piece of broadcast equipment today, a liquid crystal tablet, which looks like a monitor that is usually fixed to an arm and put away behind the left side of the monitor.

It was a used model that Dora had since before her debut because she liked to draw.

⚡Ppajijik

[Akari Dora / AKARI DORA]

@akaridora_parallel_vtuber | 261K followers

A dragon curious about humans, Parallel 1st generation Akari Dora!🐲

[(🔴Live) I’m so scared, I called a friend] 👪4,491

#Pandemic_Village #Parallel #ScaredyCat

The broadcast starts a little later.

When the intro music ends and the microphone is activated, what greets the viewers is a white-backgrounded creation tool, Comic Pro.

— ?

— What are you doing?

— Dora-ha~

— Yong-ha~

— What’s with the sudden lol

Everyone was taken aback by the sudden white canvas, while Dora giggled and appeared from the bottom right.

As she moved her pen, black lines grew quickly on the white screen.

— Drawing right away?

— This is fresh

— Yong-ha

It seemed like she was just drawing roughly, but she was quite fast and skilled, probably because she had some experience drawing.

After a while, the lines crossed, the colors were filled in, and various processes were carried out. Before long, a cute baby dragon with red skin and black horns, Dora’s fan character Hatchlings, appeared.

However, it was a little different from the ordinary Hatchlings in that it had long, black hair that shouldn’t be there, and it was also wearing an employee ID card around its neck. As a bonus, its head looked bigger than usual, whether it was intentional or not.

Soon, people who realized who the drawing meant started laughing.

— Big-head-ling hahaha

— Look at how pathetic it is haha

— hahaha So cute

— giyu

Of course, half of the people hadn’t noticed yet, so there were many comments asking if it was a female Hatchling, or who it was supposed to be.

Dora cut out the drawing and placed it next to her character at 5 o’clock on the screen.

Then, a donation flew in immediately.

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 Clouds! :: Wow lol I really don’t know who it is haha ::

— Seriously haha

— You just gave all the hints haha

— ??

— It’s someone who ate with me today~

“Hehe. I wonder who this could be.”

Dora said that and winked at me.

It was time for me to introduce myself as promised.

I cleared my throat briefly and introduced myself.

“Hello. I’m Jikwon D. Actually, I’m not a guest. Dora has equipment issues every time she plays Horror Games, so I came in advance to stand by today. I also came to be a totem next to her because she’s scared. Please don’t mind me and enjoy the broadcast.”

The reactions of the people who expected it and the people who didn’t know at all were clearly divided.

— Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

— They’re hereaaaaaaa

— Irasshaimase!!!!!

— I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting

— ????

— Eh

— Wait, Jikwon D is here?

— Crazy lol Jikwon D is here?

— My victory for taking a day off tomorrow♣

— Wow lol

However, the people who expected it were happy because their guesses became certain.

The people who didn’t know were thrilled because they received a surprise gift.

Decisively, the fact that an employee was on standby was well-received by the viewers.

It seemed that the company’s credibility had skyrocketed because they didn’t neglect the issues that had been happening every time, and they minimized the broadcast issues by having an employee on standby in advance.

— Parallel is working hard

— Well, lol, it was a mess every time Dora played Horror Games lol

— Dae Parallel

— This is how you run things lol

Perhaps that’s why the cheers for the company naturally turned into interest in me.

They wanted to praise the company for having such a great idea, and it seemed that it was because someone from the company was on the broadcast.

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: I’m suddenly curious, but is Jikwon D actually cute? ::

— ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— I was wondering that too

— I’m curious because of the voice lol

Dora turned her head and stared at me.

I thought she would start describing my appearance right away, but surprisingly, she seemed to be asking me what I thought.

I gestured with both palms showing, as if to say, “Do as you please.”

Meaning that it was not something I should get involved in.

After all, I’m just like the lights hanging from the ceiling or the speakers standing on one side of the stage for the broadcast.

It doesn’t matter how you use them.

Dora hummed and pondered, then spoke into the microphone teasingly.

“That? I’m the only one who knows? Fufufu.”

— Are you a little kid, noona?

— Aww, that’s annoying

— You’re not going to tell us

— Yeah~ We all know Jikwon D is cute anyway~

“You all know she’s cute? You don’t know that. You don’t know how cute Rain is, do you?”

— No way

— What are you even saying

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: With that logic, why don’t you say Boss is cute too? ::

— Kawaii Gwanro-dong Sashimi Master

— ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Don’t say Boss is scary

Dora is definitely an idiot.

When you talk to her, she constantly makes spelling mistakes, and there are many times when she acts so immature that you wonder if she’s really an adult over twenty years old.

But strangely enough, she becomes a professional as soon as she turns on the broadcast.

Just now, instead of telling the truth, she deliberately twisted it once to call the viewers to the wrestling stage.

The glimpses of genius that Dora sometimes shows that I mentioned are exactly these parts.

If you just look at how she usually acts, you’d think she’d make a mistake, but the reason why she’s as solid as a rock as soon as she starts broadcasting is because of that.

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: I think Jikwon D is a super kawaii pretty girl, so she’s hiding it ::

“Yeah~ I’m never going to show you guys~. She’s precious, so I’m only going to look at her~ Hehe.”

— Oooo

— Oooo Monopoly is illegal

The words she’s saying now are acting for the broadcast.

If I was precious to her, huh? She wouldn’t have made me come here.

Of course, no matter what Dora said, I was a cute girl in the viewers’ guesses, so it seemed that they naturally came to this conclusion.

:: Anonymous donor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: So, is Jemma Mari-like Jikwon D also going to give cute reactions when you play Horror Games together? ::

— Kyaaak

— Hiiing

— I kinda want that

— Ehehe

— I’m kinda curious to hear you scream lol

The attempt to scratch me in a way that Koreans can never resist was good.

But, Pandemic Village has a gun, so it’s not scary.

However, an hour later, I faced the true meaning of horror.

“Hwaaaa, what should I do. Hwaaa…. Die! Dieeee.”

— How many tries are you doing on the first boss

— Please look and shoot lol

— Aim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

— (Facepalm emoji)(Facepalm emoji)(Facepalm emoji)(Facepalm emoji)

— (Red face emoji)(Red face emoji)(Red face emoji)

— Addukbadduk

This is the first time in my life I’ve seen someone play a Horror Game like this.

It was truly a rare sight that I could see because I was sitting next to Dora.

No, I thought she was just surprised and knocked over the desk, which caused equipment issues.

It turns out that the biggest problem was that she wasn’t looking ahead and just moving her hands around.

It looked like the aim was shaking wildly on the broadcast because she was surprised.

This person, she doesn’t even look at the screen because she’s scared.

When a monster appears, she turns her gaze away, and without knowing where anything is, she wildly swings her aim around and bang bang bang bang.

Especially the hand holding the mouse was dangerous.

It was unnecessarily going too far and dangerously passing through the area where the broadcast equipment was gathered.

Wait a minute, if you go there, the audio interface, uh oh?

Author’s Note

The real horror of Horror Game broadcasts isn’t jump scares