Chapter 57: [EDen] The end of the human era has arrived [Yuki/Rin] (1)

Fortunately, I wasn’t devoured by Miho.

I managed to escape at the right time, and more importantly, it seemed Miho was just planning to tease me.

…Though only she would know if it was truly just a tease.

Anyway.

Perhaps it was her own timid form of revenge, but the omurice we had for dinner contained an unusually large amount of vegetables.

Well, if she thought I couldn’t eat vegetables, she was sorely mistaken.

My tongue, trained through years of poverty, can handle any food as long as it’s not poisoned.

In other words, her plan to take revenge with unappetizing vegetables, treating me like a child, had come to naught.

I didn’t dare say it out loud, though, for fear of retaliation.

“Well then, take care.”

“Yeah, bye.”

Since she had a stream in the evening, Miho couldn’t stay for too long.

After she left having eaten dinner, I, once again alone, let out a sigh of relief.

But the relief of finally escaping the threat of the beast was short-lived; I immediately headed to the computer room.

“Ah, come to think of it, I need to buy a soundproof booth too…”

Akari senpai had told me to buy a soundproof booth before.

She said that while most speech isn’t audible during broadcasts, sometimes when I scream or slam my desk, the soundproofing fails?

I couldn’t keep bothering my neighbors every time I streamed, so I needed to install a soundproof booth as soon as possible.

Well, let’s put the soundproof booth aside for later.

Right now, the stream comes first.

I spent too much time cleaning the house with Miho, so there wasn’t much preparation time left until the stream.

“By the way, why hasn’t Rin contacted me?”

The computer screen was pretty much the same as when I last checked it.

It was almost time for the stream, so she should have contacted me by now, but there was no news, like a messenger sent to Hamheung.

(TL: Hamheungchasa is a Korean idiom referring to someone who goes on an errand and never returns or is greatly delayed.)

[Calling…]

Eventually, out of impatience, I called her first.

Triring triring, the call tone rang. How much time passed?

Instead of the ‘…’ indicating it was connecting, Rin’s profile picture popped up, and the call connected.

/Kudangtang!!/

“R-Rin?!”

As soon as the call connected, the sound of something falling came through the speaker.

Only after hearing Rin’s faint groan could I hear her voice over the call.

“Haa… I-I’m fine! I just dropped something for a moment!”

Her ragged breathing could be felt behind her strangely urgent tone.

Did she forget about the stream and was working out or something?

Looking at how she usually keeps her house a mess, she doesn’t seem like the type to diligently exercise…

“You know the stream is soon, right?”

“Y-yes! Of course! I was just… a bit late taking out the recycling.”

“Aha. I see.”

No wonder.

Rin exercising? That’s impossible.

It’s like an cognitive dissonance on par with Manager-ssi shouting “To your heart, cherry!”

I don’t quite remember who said that line, though.

Afterward, only after Rin had some time to calm her ragged breathing.

We were able to start our third EDen stream.

---

[【EDen】THE. END. OF. THE. HUMAN. ERA. HAS. ARRIVED.【Yuki Yuki/ Rin Rin】]

[17,000 people watching]

“Yukigen~ I’m Yuki, the so-and-so young lady!!”

“Kon-Natsuki! I am Rin, the swordswoman who slices the moonlight.”

-Say your greeting properly, hey

-Hahaha

-Yukigen~

-Kon-Natsuki!

-Hey, greet properly!

-Yukigenyo

-Konkon Natsuki~

-KON.

Today’s stream started as usual.

No, perhaps there’s a slight difference from usual?

According to Rin, today’s stream will probably be the last EDen stream.

“It’s a bit sad that it’s already the last one.”

“If you’re sad, how about playing the EDen DLC with this one?”

“No, I don’t want to. I need to start playing other games soon.”

There are quite a few streams I couldn’t do because of EDen.

Of course, I played some games I wanted to play in between, but my computer is still overflowing with unopened, brand-new games.

I need to pop the cherry on those games.

“Shall we start right away then?”

“Sounds good.”

Even if the playtime was reduced, it was still a AAA game.

To finish it in one sitting today, we had to proceed quickly, so we skipped the idle chat and went straight into gameplay.

When we restarted the game, what appeared on the screen was a drab and dark prison.

The faint light flowing from the laser bars dyed the place we were in red.

Well, even so, the scary atmosphere quickly dissipated due to something like an arc reactor embedded in Rin’s chest.

What is this, she’s not some Ir*n Man.

Perhaps that’s a new kind of veteran player look.

“Rin. I always think this, but can’t you change that Rider-like customization?”

“I cannot. Mecha suits are romance, I say.”

“No… Even if it’s a cyberpunk world, covering your entire body in robot parts like that is too much.”

“The enemies all do it…”

“That’s because they’re enemies!!”

-Hahaha

-Honestly, Rin always looked like an enemy

-This guy lololol, finally becoming a villain lololol

-Actually, Rin was the secret mastermind!

-Hahahahaha

-Was Rin-sama a narrow-eyed character?

[[Meat Dumpling] donated 10,000 won!]

-But why are you a martial artist and a mecha otaku?

A donation questioning Rin’s identity.

At that, Rin changed her avatar to an angry face and shouted loud enough to blow out the microphone.

“Gal !!!!!!!!!! Cyberpunk is the true orthodox martial arts!!!!”

(TL: “Gal” or “喝” is a sharp, commanding shout often used in martial arts or Zen Buddhism.)

Rin got excited like an otaku whose berserk button had been pressed.

But at the absurd content, I couldn’t resist tsukkomi-ing her.

(TL: Tsukkomi is a Japanese term for the straight man in a comedy duo, who points out the absurdity of the funny man’s (boke) statements/actions.)

“No, that’s wrong, isn’t it? Cyberpunk as orthodox martial arts…”

“Why can you not understand?? Look at these sparkling neon lines, the details of these luscious leg parts!!!”

“No, so what does that have to do with martial arts?”

“It’s hot, isn’t it!!!!!!!!!!!”

-Hahahahahaha

-Rin’s sudden outburst lol

-Hahaha

-Lol

-It is hot, though lol

-Gaaaaaaal!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Hahaha

Then, as if she had a lot of pent-up feelings towards me, Rin moved her Rider character and started throwing Cheonma Punches at me.

Fortunately, since we were allies, no damage was dealt, but the sight of a Rider throwing Cheonma Punches at a beautiful girl was a laugh riot in itself.

“Cheonma Punch! Cheonma Punch!!!”

“Noooo~!! Stop hitting me!!!”

-Haha

-Cheonma Punch! Cheonma Punch!!

-Poor Yuki…

-Hahahahahahaha

-Breaking News) Excessive violence incident on internet broadcast

-This is… martial arts?

[[Zzone Cheonma] donated 5,000 won!]

(TL: Zzone Cheonma means “Supreme Heavenly Demon”)

-Mu has forgotten Hyeop, and Hyeop has forgotten Mu.

(TL: Mu refers to martial prowess, Hyeop refers to chivalry/righteousness. This is a play on a common saying in martial arts fiction lamenting the decline of true martial spirit.)

“Silence! This one is Mu, and Hyeop!!”

“No, even so, hitting a beautiful girl like this is…”

“Cheonma Punch!!!!!!”

How long had it been since I was unilaterally assaulted by Rin?

My body was gradually being pushed towards the prison wall, and as it happened, there was an NPC in shabby clothes there.

Moreover, that NPC seemed to be one of the important ones, as just getting close to them locked my controls and started a story scene.

“Tsk… I could have hit you a little more…”

“You know that’s assault.”

“Like I care? There is no mercy for those who blaspheme orthodox-martial arts.”

“……”

Finding it hard to listen to Rin’s nonsense anymore, I ignored her words appropriately and refocused on the screen.

Just then, the screen was showing an NPC dressed in shabby rags.

The face, faintly visible in the darkness under the hood, couldn’t be seen clearly, but it roughly had the shape of a skeleton.

[[Megal-lovania] donated 10,000 won!]

-Wow! Sans!

-You know EDen! It’s. FCKING. DIFFICULT!

-WA!! SANS!!!!!-Hahahaha

-Crazy btch lol

-This is Sans?

-The developer intended this

-WA!!!

The chat window became suspiciously noisy after the NPC’s appearance.

The Yukidans were chattering as if that NPC was some famous meme.

Why are you guys having fun by yourselves?

Talking about things only they know again…

Let me play too!

If it were up to my heart, I would have shouted that, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it out loud for fear of interrupting the NPC’s lines.

[???: New here? Pitiable… to end up in this prison means your crime must be quite severe…]

[???: Seeing ‘that thing’ on your leg, you must be from the Resistance.]

The bony finger, leaving only a frame, pointed to my ankle, which was shackled with a laser-emitting electronic anklet.

“What. Yuki-chan has never committed a s*x crime, why am I wearing an electronic anklet?”

“…If you have a conscience, don’t say such things.”

“Why? But pure Yuki-chan has never done anything bad like that?”

-Hahaha

-Lol

-Speak with your hand on your conscience

-Sh*t lol

-Honestly, you deserve to wear it

-“Erogaki”

-This is the dignity of a spicy Vtuber

-Hahahaha

Why is everyone reacting like that?

This is honestly quite unfair from Yuki-chan’s perspective.

I don’t remember doing anything wrong enough to deserve an electronic anklet…

Well, anyway.

Let’s just continue with the story for now.

[???: Don’t worry, kiddo. I’m not trying to blame you.]

[???: In the first place, I don’t have the luxury to go around catching Resistance members.]

[???: Can’t you see what I’m doing right now?]

[???: I’m diligently guarding the prison.]

[???: ‘Working my fingers to the bone,’ so to speak.]

For some reason, I felt like I should make a ‘ba-dum, tss!’ sound effect right now.

After throwing out a dad joke like that, the skeleton let out a cackling, mechanical laugh.

[Me: ……]

[???: You look dissatisfied. Aren’t you?]

[???: Alright. I’ll stop joking around now.]

[???: Let’s see… First, you want to get out of here, right?]

[Me: (Nods silently.)]

[???: Alright. I’ll let you out.]

[Me: …What?]

[???: The ‘higher-ups’ will nag a bit, but what does it matter?]

[???: It’s a small price to pay to screw over that b*tchy nun-can.]

Clank!

The prison door began to open with a metallic sound.

Seeing the door open without me pressing any button, it seemed he had access rights to the prison’s network.

‘Come to think of it, he seems to be a rather high-ranking NPC… Why is he letting us go?’

But there was little time to ponder.

Not long after the prison door opened, the lights turned red, and sirens began to wail.

Wheeeeee~~!!!

/Warning, Class 3 prisoner facility door has been opened./

/Activating security robots to prevent escape./

[???: Hehehe… Well then, good luck.]

Kiddo.

With those words and one last hearty laugh.

An unexpected prison escape began.