Chapter 90

Ȓҽа​ｄ өｎ Ｋαт​ṚеａԁίոｇＣ​ａſė​

**Natsu Is Japanese for “Yeoreum” (1)**

> “Konnatsu~ Hello, this is Ichinose Natsu from V-Spe Gamers!”

– ^^7

– First time viewer here.

– Never seen you before lol

– Hello, “Ichinose Natsu”-san.

– First time viewer.

– Hi, Nacchan~

– wwww

…I knew it.

Even though I went live without taking a break or running away, I didn’t expect _this_ kind of reaction.

There weren’t any direct comments saying “Han Yeoreum,” but there were quite a few vague hints from people who _seemed_ to know I was her.

…It’s not even confirmed yet. Don’t you think this is a bit much?

Of course, Ichinose Natsu _is_ Han Yeoreum, but still.

> “The game I’ll be playing today is called ALT F4.”

– Out of nowhere?

– Isn’t that kind of an old game?

– I thought Nacchan only played trendy games lol

– They’re up to ALT F4 3, but she’s playing 1?

– So that means you’ll be doing 1 through 3, right? Right??

– 草

And starting today, my job is to _confirm_ those suspicions.

I couldn’t outright say “Yes, I’m Han Yeoreum,” so instead, I’d prove it through my actions—or rather, give people a reason to believe it.

Sure, if I stayed quiet and did nothing, maybe this little mystery would fade away someday… but I didn’t want that.

When the opportunity came, I wanted to make it clear.

…Even if not with words.

> “So my goal is to clear the game today! Actually, I think I can do it in about an hour.”

– Seriously?

– Lately, Nacchan’s been oddly confident, huh? 草

– You meant _eleven_ hours, not _one_, right?

– If you clear it in an hour, I’ll donate 10,000 yen.

– I’ll give 20,000 yen.

– Probably not a good idea to bet money on this lol

– The unknowing will lose their coins… 草

If I’m in good condition, not even an hour—30 minutes would be more than enough.

Why? Because I used to do speedrun content for this game.

And it wasn’t something I picked up overnight. I’d struggled a lot at first, but through constant effort and practice, I got here.

> ‘Not sure if I can still do well…’

Back when I was active as Han Yeoreum, I don’t remember being this nervous.

Trying to calm my racing heart, I took a deep breath.

Stay cool, Yeoreum. It’s just another stream. You’re doing the same thing as before. No need to be so tense.

I clicked the mouse, and the character appeared—a knight in medieval armor holding a golden chicken, staring at me like, “What took you so long?”

– Golden chicken? lol

– Nacchan, are you just trying to get out of streaming by playing something you’re already good at?

– More like she’s _really_ cleared it a lot…

– Clearing it a lot = being good at it, doesn’t it?

– The golden chicken is only given to people who’ve cleared the game over 100 times lol

– We thought she’d be suffering for 11 hours, but at this rate, she’ll clear it 10 times in that span lol

> “I never once said I was bad at this game, okay?”

Chat flooded with things like “traitor!” and “this is cheating,” but I kept silently moving my keyboard and mouse.

Would I really still be good at this?

The movements were still fresh in my mind like I’d played yesterday, but my body wasn’t as familiar, so I wasn’t sure I could pull it off.

Hmm… let’s do a warm-up.

I tested a few things—checked whether I could still pull off the same tricks and shortcuts.

> “…It works.”

Nailed the opening shortcut effortlessly and let out a little grin.

Maybe I’ve gotten used to this body. Or maybe I was meant to play this way all along.

Either way… I could do it just like before!

My smile widened as the smooth movements returned to me.

> ‘Then again, if I move just like I used to, it’ll make it obvious I’m Han Yeoreum…’

But hey—I _planned_ this stream to get caught, right? No need to get cold feet now, Yeoreum.

Thanks to the familiar motions, the character’s pace quickly ramped up.

Jump here. Use that obstacle to bounce over there—
Then, glitch through the wall here—

– Nacchan, say something! lol

– Focused Nacchan is adorable 草

– But seriously, she’s _too_ good.

– At this point she’s basically a pro at this game.

– That golden chicken really _means_ something…

– Wait, didn’t Yeoreum use this same speedrun route?

– This is literally Yeoreum’s route.

> “…”

[¥1000]

– Oh, Nacchan flinched just now, didn’t she? The character paused for a second lol

I knew they’d catch on… Wait, hold up—there’s someone _in Japan_ who watched my old Yeoreum streams?

That realization caught me off guard, and I paused for a split second.

Just for a second—but the viewers noticed _instantly_.

Seriously, how much did you people _watch_ my Yeoreum streams?!

[CLEAR!]

[CLEAR TIME: 13:49]

– Why is she so good at this 草

– Is she actually Yeoreum?

– I watched Yeoreum’s old streams and the sync is uncanny.

– At this point, it’s basically a confession…

– Then again, there _are_ other runners who use that route.

– True, Yeoreum wasn’t the only one.

> “All done clearing the game! And obviously, that’s not the end~”

I ignored the explosion of chat and slyly covered the screen.

One step forward.

Even without saying the words, by the end of today, anyone who knew both Han Yeoreum and Ichinose Natsu would believe they were one and the same.

—

**[Comments from Community Forums and Clip Threads]**

[Wait, Natsu’s playing ALT F4 today.]

[Why play the first one though? Isn’t it ancient?]

ㄴ[Probably going to play all three—starting with 1 makes sense.]
ㄴ[No way she can finish all three in a day lol]
ㄴ[She said she’d beat it in an hour but I bet she won’t.]
ㄴ[If Natsu _is_ Han Yeoreum, she _will_ lol]
ㄴ[Didn’t Yeoreum do speedruns for this?]
ㄴ[This is definitely a ploy by Yeoreum to _not_ play well and throw people off ㅋㅋ]
ㄴ[Unless her new body made her worse at games, that would suck…]
ㄴ[She’s the cutest VTuber now—what’s to pity?]
ㄴ[Bro really thinks VTuber avatars are real ㅋㅋㅋ]

[Remember Yeoreum’s first stream? Speedrunning this game for hours lol]

[? Why’s she so good?]

[(Clip: Ichinose Natsu playing ALT F4)]

Bought chicken expecting to watch her rage and scream, but at this pace she’ll be done in 20 minutes.

ㄴ[She was pretending to be bad this whole time??]
ㄴ[No, she said she just wasn’t used to the keyboard and mouse.]
ㄴ[How big a difference can that really make though?]
ㄴ[Honestly, Natsu’s just clearly played this game _a lot_.]
ㄴ[How do you know that?]
ㄴ[Because those glitches and shortcuts are really hard. Only veterans can pull them off. And that golden chicken item? You only get that after clearing the game 100 times.]

[Natsu sucks at Deadly Company but is a god at climbing games lol]

[She’s _too_ good. It’s boring if she doesn’t fail. The fun of this game is rage-quitting.]

[(Natsu’s not human emote)]
[(Natsu angry face emote)]

[Ichinose Natsu is definitely Han Yeoreum.]

[(Clip comparison: Han Yeoreum and Natsu playing side-by-side)]

Same route can be used by anyone, but this is basically a confession.

ㄴ[They’re identical ㅋㅋㅋ]
ㄴ[The sync is 100%.]
ㄴ[I’d believe it if someone said she just played Yeoreum’s old footage.]
ㄴ[Other than one flinch in the middle, it’s _exactly_ the same.]
ㄴ[Feels like she _wants_ to say it, but is trying to hint without words.]
ㄴ[Cope harder.]
ㄴ[This is less “copium” and more “confirmation.”]
ㄴ[Honestly, thanks to people like you, the secret might _never_ get out lol]

[Natsu = Han Yeoreum is honestly mind-blowing.]

Fables