Chapter 108: Reuniting with her was the worst.

[User ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won.]

─”Reuniting with her was the worst.”

“The legendary figure who once dominated the arena with keen eyes and intense, passionate talent was nowhere to be found.”

“All that remained was a pseudo-macro hunting machine, repeating the same hunting routine and staring blankly at the screen.”

<[That phrase perfectly and appropriately expresses how I feel.]>

<[Give us back the real Ex-Legend! You monster!]>

<[Watching this hunting routine, doesn’t it seem like this requires talent too? Moves like a real machine, probably gets a ton of kills haha.]>

<[Why waste talent on something anyone can do!]>

<[Is this really something anyone can do? Seems like it’d be hard unless you’re crazy….]>

“Isn’t this similar to exercising, in a way?”

“I’m trading my time for experience points.”

“It’s like working out, building muscle, and your body getting better.”

“When I look at my level later, I feel a sense of pride.”

<[What kind of bullsh*t is that?]>

<[Normal people feel a sense of loss, not achievement, from watching that.]>

<[This is a serious level of Meteor Story addiction.]>

<[Wrong, her brain has already melted.]>

[User ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won.]

─”I hoped she’d do communication streams often, but I didn’t hope for her to only communicate to this extent…..”

<[She doesn’t leave the house, so how would she have any new stories? Hahahaha.]>

<[This is why they say you need to have your own lives when dating to have a healthier relationship…]>

<[??? : I’m lonely because I have no friends (Really)]>

<[If you’re just going to do a ‘Just Chatting’ stream, please at least turn on your cam, ma’am.]>

<[Such a waste of a pretty face, haha. If you’re gonna use it like that, give it to me, hahaha.]>

<[Never-been-kissed, room-corner, homebody (Really)]>

<[When I first heard it, I didn’t know if it was true…]>

“What do you mean ‘Just Chatting’?”

“This is a game stream right now.”

“Don’t you feel anything seeing that experience bar continuously going up?”

<[Was that thing even going up?]>

<[The experience bar isn’t budging at all, ma’am.]>

<[Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture! Aaargh! Stop the torture!] -This message has been deleted.>

There was a minor incident where some viewers fell into a state of delirium, spammed the chat, and got banned.

<[Haha, the die-hards will never leave! Keep doing this, yup, only I will watch, everyone else can leave.]>

<[Not only the streamer, but also the viewers are complaining of mental illness. Is this normal?]>

<[If you empty your mind, you will be at peace.]>

One humanities scholar described this game as ‘a great game that voluntarily and effectively isolates the sick people of society.’

In the harsh modern Korean society, if you misstep even once on the predetermined path, you are framed as a failure and cast out.

Instead of pouring out their hatred for society and the world, those who were thrown off this ‘correct’ rail were made to spend their time raising their levels and experience points in this game and collecting its currency; how could this not be a great achievement?

The countless gateways of society require long-term, consistent effort, and even then, there’s no guarantee of victory.

Those who have given up on and turned away from these gateways are living by accumulating small achievements one by one in this false paradise made of digital information……

It is truly a game that contributes to achieving world peace.

“Alright, alright.”

“I’ll turn on the cam, okay?”

Ex-Legend finally decided to turn on her cam due to the viewers’ nagging.

Just looking at a pretty face stabilizes the mind and body, heals the spirit, extends lifespan, cures cancer—anyway, it’s good.

The reason Ex-Legend’s stream, where she only plays Meteor Story, hasn’t failed is probably because many people are addicted to the cam screen she occasionally turns on.

Ignoring the anger and criticism of countless people wondering why someone with her looks and skills is playing Meteor Story, Ex-Legend continues to hunt today.

Since it’s a super long-term project that takes 30,000 hours to reach max level, there’s no shortage of content.

It’s just that the viewers’ patience and mental strength are gradually being depleted……

<[Wow, sht, playing Meteor Story with that face, hahahahaha.]>

<[She’s a face genius, indeed.]>

<[Are you Ex-Legend fans upset? You’ll feel better if you see my face.]>

<[I’m really melting, sht.]>

<[Please swap the sizes of the game screen and the cam screen.]>

<[Can’t you mute the game sound to 0? It’s disturbing my music listening.]>

A new paradigm of game streaming where no one wants the game.

Today, too, Ex-Legend’s stream is peaceful.

[User ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won.]

─”Victory and Wild, take responsibility and save your friend who has fallen into a swamp.”

“Who’s fallen into a swamp?”

“I’m happy.”

A sad beast, unable to love her viewers, unable to love her friends, unable to love her family.

How can someone who has never experienced the weight of that solitude measure it?

<[Please!!! Stop hunting!!!!]>

<[Let’s watch video donations instead, sh*t!]>

<[I think I’m going crazy I think I’m going crazy I think I’m going crazy I think I’m going crazy I think I’m going crazy I think I’m going crazy] – This message has been deleted.>

Some office workers might feel unhappy for reasons like this.

Even if their livelihood doesn’t seem to be in immediate or future jeopardy, the thought that they worked yesterday, are working today, and will work tomorrow, an ominous premonition that nothing new, better, or changing will happen in their lives.

Material affluence did not unconditionally guarantee happiness.

Ex-Legend also, after living a life virtually confined to her house, had her head snap and ended up starting Meteor Story.

The terrible guilt of having wasted her life, and the strange sense of accomplishment from her level and experience points increasing.

It could be called a harmony like sweet and salty, if it were food.

[User ㅇㅇ has donated 1,000 won.]

─”Watching anime while playing Meteor Story is a national rule; since it’s come to this, how about an anime watching session?”

Playing animation on stream is illegal due to copyright infringement.

However, streamers who still wanted to watch anime with their viewers mainly used this method.

Everyone pays for it themselves, and they start watching simultaneously at the same time.

Then they can share their impressions while watching the same scene at the same time as the streamer.

Ex-Legend had been earnestly continuing her ‘Just Chatting’ streams disguised as game streams for a while, but her repertoire was all used up.

1. She had so many secrets that there wasn’t much she could talk about.

2. Since she rarely left the house, no new episodes were added to her life.
   On top of that, an anime watching session content that perfectly fits the game.
   Since it was content she had never tried before, she thought it might be good to try it at least once.

“Then, what should we watch?”

Numerous recommendations came up, but among them, the one that received the most overwhelming recommendations was ‘Oshi no Ko’.

This anime, which hit Korea hard in April 2023, became a trend even among normies who usually had no interest in anime, and it could be said that it truly shook Korea.

<[Is there anyone who hasn’t read the manga?]>

<[Then I’m a bit disappointed…]>

<[I thought your fan-level was pretty high, Ex-Legend, but I guess not.]>

Setting aside the strange people who, for some reason, feel proud about having read the original work.

And so, Ex-Legend and the viewers began the anime watching session.

The immersion level rose with the brilliant animation and ‘spicy’ plot development.

Ex-Legend found herself naturally uttering praise.

“Wow, it’s spicy, but this is too spicy.”

“So this is why people watch morning dramas.”

The problem was the shocking twist at the end of the first episode of this anime.

“No, huh? Eh? Huh?”

The woman thought to be the protagonist was murdered by a ‘darkened’ fan.

For most people, it was shocking even though it was just an event in a fictional work.

But Seol-ah couldn’t see it as mere fiction.

Suddenly, a gunshot echoed in her head.

The face of a boy, once a friend, who had smirked at her, surfaced in her memory.

A subtle realization that broadcasting was no different from casting a wide-area charm spell.

The fear of her personal information being leaked.

The news she’d recently seen about a streamer being murdered.

Her heart felt like it was being tightly squeezed.

Her head grew hot.

She couldn’t breathe properly.

“Heok……”

A flashback phenomenon is one of the symptoms caused by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where encountering something related to a past trauma causes strong immersion in that memory, replaying the sensations and psychological state of that time.

Seol-ah stared wide-eyed at the monitor for 10 minutes, then fainted.