Ch.199194 – Birthday Party (1)

Early in the morning, second-grader Lee Ha-ru got up, showered by herself, and finished prettying up.

“Hey Ha-ru, where are you going so early in the morning?”

The one calling out to her in an irritated voice was her older sister, Lee Bo-reum.

‘How strange that this lazy hikikomori even changed out of her pajamas and came to the living room?’

Ha-ru tried to ignore her, pretending not to hear, but when Bo-reum showed signs of getting up from the sofa, she quickly spoke up.

“Um… why do you need to know…?”

“Answer me.”

Once again, Bo-reum was using their 9-year age gap to assert dominance.

Ha-ru trailed off but had no choice but to answer her sister’s demand.

“Friend’s… birthday party…”

“How long are you planning to stay?”

“As long as possible…! I’m leaving now, so stop bothering me!”

SLAM-!

Since when did she start caring about what I do?

The bickering between the sisters was nothing special anymore.

Even Mr. Park, who served as the bodyguard, attendant, and chauffeur for the Ha-ru and Bo-reum sisters, didn’t think much of it.

“Miss, aren’t you going too early?”

“If I go early, I can spend more time there.”

“Your friend probably isn’t even awake yet.”

Mr. Park’s concerns were completely useless.

Because,

“The government must immediately investigate the truth about the Banghwa Bridge disaster!”

“Investigate! Investigate! Investigate!”

“Hello, subscribers! This is Chika News bringing you the latest updates! We’ve just arrived at the intersection in front of Samsung Seoul Hospital where NoName is hospitalized!”

People who had been pushed out to the main road due to the hospital’s restrictions were creating quite a commotion.

They headed to the parking lot, pushing through the crowd that made her instinctively furrow her brows.

“Name is really popular…”

“Miss, do you know where we need to go?”

“Oh, it’s written here on the invitation!”

“Make sure you keep that safe.”

Mr. Park’s prediction came true.

Burly security guards were patrolling the hospital entrance.

And just as they were about to enter the hospital, one of them approached and asked about their purpose for visiting.

“This young lady is here to visit her friend and celebrate her birthday.”

“And who might this friend be?”

“Name! NoName!”

Ha-ru showed perfect timing by pulling out the invitation that Name had drawn herself with crayons.

“… This is West Gate B-3. Sending 2 people to the VIP hall.”

“May we enter?”

“Yes. When you get to the first floor, the guardian will be waiting for you. Just take the elevator up with them.”

“Got it. Thank you for your hard work.”

The gorilla-like security guard kindly opened the door for Ha-ru.

“Wait a minute!”

Just then, a man in a black suit came running, out of breath, calling for them to stop.

“I told you I have someone to see at the hospital too! Why won’t you let me in?”

The gorilla security guard glared at the man with a disgusted expression.

“Whether you’re a congressman or a rapper, I don’t care. According to hospital guidelines, we cannot allow anyone in unless they’ve been personally invited by our VIP clients. If you want to go to the general hospital, please use that entrance over there. I’m asking very politely.”

“Wow, how can you not know who I am? This is ridiculous! Haven’t you watched Show Me The Money? And don’t you live in this district? Have you never voted in your life?”

Their voices grew louder, suggesting this wasn’t their first argument.

Mr. Park decided to quickly take the young lady into the hospital. Who knows what this lunatic might do next.

“Miss, let’s ignore this and hurry inside.”

“Yes, yes! I need to go see Name, hehe!”

Meanwhile, as the argument continued between the gorilla security guard and the seemingly well-dressed man with gelled hair…

“Excuse me… I’m here to see NoName too. I have an invitation.”

This time, a scruffy-looking young man with curly hair in a gray tracksuit showed his printed invitation along with his ID card.

“Let me check for you. Hmm… pfft! Hehe, you’re confirmed. Please follow that group over there… Please go ahead. Oh, I apologize, ahem…”

The well-dressed man was dumbfounded watching the homeless-looking young man calmly enter the hospital.

He grabbed the security guard by the collar and shouted:

“Hey, that guy is a VIP client? Isn’t that invitation or whatever forged? If you do your job like this, I’ll AAAAARGH!”

The man’s body spun once in mid-air.

The thud sound that could only be made by landing on his back was perfectly captured by a journalist’s camera that had been filming the entrance.

* * *

[Real-time Best Gallery]

[Randy this crazy bastard lolololol][301]

Still can’t get his act together even with a gold badge lol

Tried to force his way into the hospital to meet NoName and got thrown by security guards lololol

(GIF of Randy getting thrown)

[Comments]

-Young, isn’t he? Totally Alpha material!

└ I’m a 16-year-old high schooler and honestly as part of the Alpha generation, this is super embarrassing

└ What’s a 16-year-old doing on this forum? Go study

└ How are you in the same generation when there’s like a 20-year age gap lol

-The Gangnam residents who voted for this so-called congressman are truly something else!

└ How is being a rapper a qualification for congressman lololol LMAO

[Let’s look at others who got rejected at the entrance besides Randy][209]

First, let’s appreciate Randy “Eom Jun-yong” who blessed us with top-tier entertainment this morning.

No matter how many times I watch it, no one can beat this pure entertainment value.

Isn’t this man who drives both fans and haters crazy the true superstar?

(GIF of Randy getting thrown)

Anyway, let’s see who else got rejected at the hospital entrance.

‘Jin Ui-cheol’, current Republic Party representative.

‘Moon Geum-rae’, current Democratic Party floor leader.

‘Seo Il-gyun’, current Gangnam District Mayor.

(…)

‘Kim Lee Jeong-rim’, Liberty Party member.

So who managed to get in when even these people couldn’t?????

(Image of Lee Jo-won doing the Sakuranbo dance)

Oh, it’s you again! The GOAT of Korean presidents, Lee Jo-won (2,000,000,000,000)!!!!!

(Image of presidential wreath thrown in garbage)

Ah… as expected. Please go away, JOAT.

[Comments]

-LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

-Yeah that gorilla security guard’s Instagram is blowing up right now

└ I checked and it’s all comments from women;;

└ Sigh, this damn lookism makes me want a cigarette

-That drift at the end lmaooooo

-So who actually got in?

└ Dunno?

└ Probably just invited friends. If it were your birthday, would you want to meet politicians who make you sick?

Due to the chaos surrounding Name, the hospital made the unprecedented decision to completely block the entrance.

The politicians, making do with what they had, finished their schedules by visiting the garden cultivated by ordinary citizens to leave signatures and letters wishing for her speedy recovery.

[NoName’s Channel]

[Currently Offline – 6,219 people waiting]

-Name please turn on your stream please

-Why are you missing this money-making opportunity…

-We’ll give you money! We’ll do super chats!

-The surgery went well, right…? You’re okay now, right…?

-Happy birthday

-I wish the stream would magically turn on

-How long do we have to wait like this?

-Going there in person would be more inconsiderate, we’re the better ones

-(Manager1): Ah, everyone

-Honestly I wonder if she even got proper sleep, it was so noisy out there

-???

-What’s happening?

-Lucky you getting to see NoName alone!

-(Manager1): That’s not it

-?

-(Manager1): NoName said she’ll turn on the stream for a bit…

* * *

Professor Cheon first brought in three groups of people.

“Name! I missed you so much! Happy birthday!”

The cute Seo Yu-na with her charming red hair was the first to open the door and hug me.

And her guardian, Seo Ma-ru, who was busy managing her VTube channel, followed behind.

“Hey, Seo Yu-na! Name is sick, you can’t just hug her like that! Come sit down here quickly.”

Not to be outdone, Lee Ha-ru with her perfect bob haircut scurried over and pulled Yu-na by the collar to sit on the sofa.

The sunglasses man waiting at the entrance seemed to be Mr. Park, whom I’d met once before.

And finally, a young man with slightly long brown curly hair and round glasses entered the room hesitantly.

“Um, hello…?”

Gray tracksuit top and bottom, dark circles that intensified his haggard appearance, tall but skinny build.

Just by his image alone, there was one person who immediately came to mind.

“SaveMeFromGradSchool?”

“Yes, that’s right! I’m Manager1 SaveMe! But how did you recognize me right away? Does my voice sound that similar to my avatar?”

Is this person seriously asking? You could identify him as a Korean Magic Institute graduate student from a hundred meters away.

Although we’d known each other for a long time, meeting face-to-face like this was a first and felt quite special.

Back when I was surviving in internet cafes, most of the donation money came from SaveMe’s wallet, so he was essentially my caretaker before Professor Cheon.

“Nice to meet you. Thank you for always working hard as my manager.”

“Oh no! It’s an honor to meet you, NoName-nim! Ah, I keep using honorifics out of habit. Your virtual reality avatar looks exactly like you.”

I shook hands with SaveMe as well.

“But what’s your name…?”

“Ah… can’t you just call me SaveMe? Or Manager?”

“Come on, I can’t do that. I’m not that impolite.”

Isn’t it basic etiquette to exchange names when shaking hands?

SaveMe suddenly took a deep breath and looked at me with serious eyes.

“You won’t laugh, right?”

“Who would laugh at someone’s name? That would be rude.”

“Right? It’s really rude!”

Sometimes in our channel, viewers would giggle or spam whenever a streamer with the surname “Eom” was mentioned, but I was never one of those people.

A person’s name should never be the subject of ridicule.

When a person is first born into this world, the first word they’re called, and likely the last word they’ll hear when they close their eyes, is their name.

If a wizard’s alter ego is their wand, a human’s alter ego is their name.

A name defines a person’s existence, sometimes constrains them, and sometimes is used against them.

Some abandon their names to live a new life, while others embark on adventures to reclaim their names.

“NoName” is also a precious name my mother gave me so I could safely settle in this world.

I don’t feel any shame if a name is unique or strange. Rather, I’m proud of it.

And I believe that once you’re born, it’s your duty as a child to make your name known to the world.

“Eun…woo…”

“Pardon?”

I had to ask again because he spoke in such a tiny voice.

SaveMe dropped his shoulders as if resigned.

“Sigh… my name is Eun-woo.”

“Eun-woo? That’s not strange at all.”

“It’s Cha Eun-woo.”

“Pfft…!”

“Hey! You said you wouldn’t laugh, NoName!”

This became the reason I ended up turning on an unscheduled broadcast today.

Wow, I really let my guard down. Isn’t this basically cheating?