Chapter 145: Camping is Irresistible

—Hoo-wook.

“Puhah~!”

As I exhaled all at once after taking a deep drag, thick smoke billowed out with an intense force.

It was practically a dragon’s breath.

“Ah, that hit too hard. I’m getting dizzy. Anyway, thanks, Sehee. You saved me.”

“Don’t smoke too much. It won’t give you cancer, but it’s still better not to. Well, anyway…”

Leaning against the terrace railing and tilting my head back, the night sky naturally reflected in my eyes.

With my long blonde hair maintaining a slight weighty pull on my head, I turned to Jihae and asked, “Yuri can’t go outside because of the curse, so that’s understandable, but you’re physically fine. Once your identity is restored, what do you want to do first?”

“Hmm… not sure.”

—Ssshh, fwooh~.

Jihae took a slow drag from her cigarette, savoring it, before speaking in a slightly subdued voice.

“I was only in this world for about a year, but when I came back, eight years had passed… My family is gone, and I’m completely alone. I really don’t know. Too much time has passed—I’m not even sure if I can go back to school. Do I have to take the college entrance exam all over again?”

The self-deprecating tone in her voice made it difficult to offer any empty words of comfort.

Heroes who return to Earth usually struggle, but Jihae’s situation was clearly beyond what anyone could easily handle.

At least Yuri, who was cursed, still had her family and could return to her normal life in about a year.

Jihae, on the other hand, had no one left.

Even if I helped, there was only so much I could do to make up for her losses.

Her entire life plan—getting into a prestigious university and chasing a bright future—had been completely derailed.

“The world changed too much while I was gone. Virtual reality? What the hell is that? Back in my day, we only had VR headsets.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

‘Who could have imagined that an online swordsmanship academy would become a reality?’ Even though the goddess had set it up, I was just as shocked at first.

“Ha~!”

As Jihae let out a sigh while looking at the city lights, there was a faint trace of regret in her expression.

“I still don’t know. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days since returning, but… the me who used to be so confident in my intelligence and academic ability is gone.”

She held up her cigarette, now down to the last drag, idly twirling it between her fingers.

The smoke danced in the air as she moved her hand.

Watching the swirling smoke, I instinctively reached over and smoothly plucked the cigarette from her fingers, placing it between my lips.

Jihae stared at me, dumbfounded at having her cigarette stolen, but I ignored her gaze and took a deep inhale.

As I breathed in, the smoke seeped deep into my lungs.

‘Maybe it was because I was a hero, but the nicotine hit felt surprisingly strong.’

‘So this is why people smoke.’

“What do you think, Jihae?”

As I exhaled, the smoke drifted upward, and I smiled.

“Convincing?”

“Pfft, haha! Not even close. You look like a total poser.”

“Well, everyone starts as a poser.”

Jihae chuckled, and I grinned in response.

“Look, Jihae. I get that everything feels uncertain right now, but here’s how I see it.”

Our eyes met.

She was smiling on the outside, playing it cool, but I could see the uncertainty in her gaze—the fear she couldn’t hide.

“When we first stepped into that world, we had no idea what was going on, but we still became heroes. Forget the Demon King’s curse and all that nonsense—just think of this as an extension of that journey. And if things ever get too hard, just tell me. I’ll help you.”

I could never ignore someone struggling to hide their wounds after being left all alone in the world.

“Alright, let’s get some sleep. It’s already late. The couch is big enough—just crash there.”

Inside, I could see Dayoung and Ajin sprawled out, already asleep.

They were definitely going to regret this when they woke up with hangovers.

Yuri wasn’t around, so she had probably gone to her room to sleep.

After everything today, it made sense that everyone was completely wiped out.

“Hey, Sehee.”

“Hm?”

When I turned at Jihae’s call, she flashed a grin and said, “Well, if you ever have a hard time, just let me know. I’ll listen.”

“You wish.”

***

I dumped everyone into Room 501 and went up to my own room.

Rather than sleeping right away, I had my usual nighttime ritual—staring at my monitor’s glow before bed.

I logged into the channel’s message board.

And…

[Boss, are you fucking AFK again?!]

[You didn’t quit streaming, right? It’s freezing in here, but I still believe in you, Boss.]

[LMAO, you won first place, so the game’s basically over. No more streams?]

[Bet the dude’s chilling somewhere, eating fried chicken.]

[Excuse me, chicken?! Our Boss only dines on steak, thank you very much.]

[If it’s Friede, she probably survives on dewdrops and never poops. LOL. Prove me wrong.]

[Man, ever since Friede stopped streaming, life’s been kinda dull.]

[“I’ve become someone who can’t live without Friede!”]

For someone who had been on an extended hiatus, public opinion was surprisingly… positive(?).

I expected to see all kinds of insults, slander, and wild speculation fueled by bitterness, but instead, it was just minor complaints.

Compared to the kind of hate I had braced myself for, this was practically a blessing.

I felt guilty about the fact that these people were eagerly waiting for my return, but the truth was, I had no intention of streaming anytime soon.

Streaming and drinking don’t mix well, and things tend to go south when they do.

‘Wait—now that I think about it, haven’t I done that a few times before?’

‘Should I stream or not…?’

Sitting at my desk, I spun my chair around multiple times.

Eventually, I scratched the back of my head with a tinge of guilt before making a firm decision.

“It’s a hassle.”

‘Maybe it was because I suddenly had more heroes to take care of, or maybe it was just laziness kicking in, but my body simply refused to cooperate.’

Besides, I even went outside today.

Surely, if the world blamed me, I could at least forgive myself.

Rather than streaming, handling other tasks seemed like a more productive use of my time.

I opened my inbox for the first time in a while.

Even though I had given Ajin full control over the stream, chat moderation, message board, and editing, email management was still one of the few tasks I handled personally.

‘Why? Well… because it involved my personal life.’

People might assume that since I had no family or friends, I had nothing to keep private, but even someone like me had secrets worth protecting.

Everyone has things they don’t want to share with others, no matter how big or small.

Unlike the message board that Ajin managed, my inbox was a complete mess.

Even after several cleanups, it was still overwhelming—this alone felt like overtime work.

I skimmed through the subject lines, but there were no spam or troll emails.

In the early days of my channel, I used to receive all sorts of borderline terroristic messages, but now most of them were business inquiries.

The majority were advertisements.

Most of them were game-related.

Good content, sure, but honestly, I had played so many games that I was going through a bit of burnout.

It was natural for my ranking to drop during a cooldown period like this.

There were also recruitment emails from talent agencies.

‘If I wanted to be part of an organization, I would’ve joined STK ages ago. There’s no agency with more name recognition than them.’

And lastly, offers to join professional esports teams.

“I already said I’m not going pro.”

The subject lines practically oozed desperation, as if they were determined not to let me slip away.

But since I wasn’t interested, there was no point in giving them false hope.

As I was deleting irrelevant emails, one particular subject line caught my eye.

At first glance, I wondered if it was a mistake rather than spam.

“It’s an advertisement, but…”

Curious, I clicked on it.

Inside was a detailed briefing, complete with text, images, and attached files.

I read through each sentence carefully, and unlike other sponsorship offers, this one actually piqued my interest.

It wasn’t about the potential earnings—it was just something that seemed genuinely fun.

So, what was it about…?

“Car camping, huh?”

A well-known car brand was offering me a chance to review their new camper van.

At first, I tilted my head in confusion.

“Why would they send this to me?”

Sure, I was a successful streamer, but I wasn’t influential enough to be in the top 100 most impactful figures in society or anything.

‘Do car companies advertise like this now? Then again, it wasn’t just a regular car—it was a camper van, so I guess it made sense.’

***

After carefully reviewing the details, I realized the video was meant to be uploaded on YouTube rather than aired on traditional TV or fixed-platform ads.

Once I understood that, it started making sense.

The ad concept was simple: drive the new camper van to a designated campsite, spend two days and one night, and enjoy the experience.

There would be a loose script to ensure smooth production, but other than that, there weren’t any major restrictions.

Plus, I could edit and monetize the footage however I wanted.

Best of all, since it was a large camper van, I could bring people along.

“Up to five people.”

That was an oddly perfect number.

I could count the people close to me on one hand.

Dayoung, my companion and fellow streamer.

Ajin, my editor, cameraman, and all-around assistant.

Yuri, my companion and our designated chef.

Jihye, our newest member… and a bard(?).

‘This might actually… be fun.’