Chapter 81: Summer Welcome Co-op Game (3)

The next evening, 7:50 PM.

In other words, it was the night of the horror game collab.

“This… this should be fine, right?”

With a sigh, I double-checked the settings.

Technically, this was my second stream.

But it was essentially the first time I was starting a stream on my own.

Just thinking about starting the broadcast myself made me feel a bit nervous.

I opened the Soopjijik (Forest TV) streaming program, checked the microphone settings one last time, and hit the start broadcast button.

‘I wonder how many people will actually show up.’

The hype from the Pixel Wars streamer server had already died down.

It was practically my first time streaming solo.

‘I did post a broadcast notice, though.’

I had carefully written a notice saying that there would be a collab with Raidel and Siren at 8 PM.

But how many would actually come?

Of course, the first broadcast had over 40,000 viewers,

but that was largely due to the Pixel Wars streamer server’s highlight event.

In other words, it was mostly thanks to the game.

This time, aside from the planned collab, it was just a normal stream.

I had no idea how many people would actually tune in.

‘I’d be happy if at least a hundred people showed up.’

Is this what it feels like for a small business owner opening their first restaurant?

I gulped and checked the viewer count.

[Viewers: 142]

[Viewers: 521]

…

[Viewers: 1201]

‘Huh?’

I would have been content with just a hundred, but,

contrary to my expectations,

the viewer count was rising much faster than I anticipated.

Not even five minutes into the broadcast.

[Viewers: 1907]

1,900 people.

Far more than I had expected.

And this was just the initial wave.

The number was still steadily rising.

If I kept streaming, more people would definitely join.

– “Yuha\~\~”

– “ㅇㅎㅇㅎ”

– “It was tough waiting for you, lol”

– “Seoyeon-nim, bang on\~”

– “Came running when I heard it was a horror game”

– “Oh, you started streaming”

At the same time, the chat was rapidly filling up.

“Ah, hello everyone.”

“Today… is my second broadcast. Wow, over 2,000 people already… Thank you all so much for coming.”

– “Wow, 2,000 people”

– “It’s a Silverhair stream, of course it should be over 2,000!”

– “She seems nervous, lol”

– “Cute, lol”

– “Her voice is adorable”

– “I was worried you wouldn’t stream, lol”

– “What are you doing on stream today?”

“Ah, like I mentioned in the notice, I’ll be doing a horror game collab with Raidel and Siren today.”

“Scrap Planet, I think? It’s a popular game these days. Plus, it’s summer…”

As I cautiously explained today’s plan,

the chat became even more lively.

– “Horror game hype”

– “This is gonna be wild, lol”

– “Summer horror games are great, lol”

– “Isn’t it more than just a regular horror game, though?”

– “Well, it’s still technically a horror game”

– “Looking forward to the collab with Raidel, lol”

Seeing the chat made my cheeks flush slightly.

I still wasn’t used to this kind of attention.

– “But Seoyeon-nim, isn’t it normal to start a bit earlier for a collab? Why just 10 minutes before?”

“Ah… well.”

I couldn’t help but fidget with my fingers.

Actually, most other streamers usually start their streams a bit earlier before a collab.

It’s called “warming up the stream” beforehand.

They usually chat with viewers, browse fan communities,

basically warming up before the main event.

But for me, streaming itself still felt awkward,

and I hadn’t set up any fan community pages yet.

So,

“I just thought… as long as I’m not late… it’s fine?”

“Kinda like a straight-to-the-point broadcast…”

I muttered, a little shyly, like making a timid excuse.

– “Straight-to-the-point broadcast, lol”

– “Haha, that’s adorable, I’m dying”

– “Socially awkward vibes, lol”

– “As long as you’re not late, that’s what matters, lol”

– “Right on time, couldn’t ask for more, lol”

– “Starting 10 minutes early is just fine, lol”

– “Just do whatever you want, Seoyeon-nim!”

Thankfully, the viewers were quite understanding.

Some even said they liked the no-warm-up, straight-to-game approach.

“Alright… I guess I’ll join the voice link now.”

It was almost 8 PM already.

There was no reason to delay any longer, so I started preparing for the collab.

After a few clicks to join the voice link program,

I found that the other two were already waiting.

〈Ah, Seoyeon-nim, you’re here. We’ve been waiting for you.〉

Raidel’s cheerful voice.

〈Kyaa! Seoyeon-nim. Hello!〉

Next came Siren’s lively greeting.

She seemed even more excited than yesterday.

– “Lol, Siren seems super pumped”

– “Siren’s energy level is off the charts, lol”

– “Haven’t seen her this hyped in a while”

– “After the concert, she was saying she really wanted to meet Seoyeon-nim”

– “Really?”

– “She’s just a hardcore Seoyeon fan, lol”

– “She set up the collab just to get closer to her, lol”

Looking at the chat, I could get a rough idea of the situation.

Apparently, Siren had mentioned on her own stream that she really wanted to do a collab with me.

She must have been looking forward to it…

“Ah, hello. Nice to see both of you.”

I greeted them awkwardly in return.

After a brief exchange of greetings, Raidel immediately got to the point.

〈Alright, first of all, let me briefly explain the game we’ll be playing today.〉

〈Today’s game is called ‘Scrap Planet.’〉

〈It’s a survival horror game…〉

〈The setting is a ‘Scrap Planet,’ which, as the name suggests, is a deserted planet.〉

〈We, the players, take on the role of ‘janitors’ and head down into a place called the ‘Abyss’ located underground.〉

〈The Abyss is an incredibly deep and complex artificial labyrinth.〉

〈Naturally, the deeper we go, the more dangerous it becomes. The structures are unstable, and there are monsters as well.〉

Raidel’s calm yet slightly tense voice continued.

〈So, what’s our goal?〉

〈In each area, there’s something called an ‘AI Core.’ It looks just like a piece of scrap.〉

〈We need to collect a certain number of these and deliver them to the ‘Return Point’ where we first started, within a set time.〉

〈Oh, and there’s no way to clear the game.〉

〈All of us have ‘Control Collars’ around our necks.〉

〈Despite the name, they’re just bombs. If we don’t meet the quota within the time limit… boom. Game over.〉

〈Why is it impossible to clear?〉

〈The reason is that the quota keeps increasing the longer you survive.〉

〈Because of that, the game is essentially impossible to clear.〉

〈It’s just a matter of how long you can survive.〉

〈Everything is controlled by a mysterious system called the ‘Administrator.’ No one knows why it forces players to do this.〉

〈Anyway, that’s the basic gist of this survival horror game.〉

After finishing the explanation, Raidel took a short breath.

So, to summarize…

The setting is a deserted scrap planet.

Specifically, a deep and complex artificial labyrinth called the Abyss.

Players take on the role of ‘janitors’ and have to collect AI Cores and return them within the time limit.

Everyone wears a Control Collar, which is actually a bomb, and if you don’t meet the quota, it’s game over.

There’s no way to clear the game, and the longer you survive, the higher the quota becomes.

The game’s entire purpose is to see how long you can hold out.

Everything is controlled by the mysterious ‘Administrator’ system, but no one knows its motives.

‘It’s really popular.’

Currently, Scrap Planet was dominating the top rankings on Soopjijik.

Since the game required group play, it was great for streamers to collab with each other.

Plus, the game itself was of high quality.

On top of that, there was a solid fanbase of horror game enthusiasts known as ‘Concrete’ that guaranteed its popularity to some extent.

〈Alright then… enough with the explanations, let’s start the game, shall we?〉

– “Let’s go!”

– “So there’s no way to clear it?”

– “Is Seoyeon-nim going to clear it anyway, lol?”

– “There’s literally no way to clear this game though…”

– “That’s just a figure of speech, lol”

– “Right, lol”

‘This… this game has no clear ending.’

There were a few comments in the chat jokingly asking if I would clear the game anyway.

But this game was fundamentally designed to be impossible to complete.

The whole point of competition among streamers was simply to see how long they could last.

The ones posting those comments were in the minority, just making jokes.

There probably weren’t any real believers that I could actually clear it.

〈But Seoyeon-nim, you must be really good at games, right? The chat’s saying that if it’s you, it might be possible to clear it, hehe.〉

It was Siren’s voice.

Apparently, her chat was making similar jokes to mine.

– “Has Siren-nim never seen Silverhair play games? Lol”

– “Fake fan detected, lol”

– “She probably just became a fan after hearing Seoyeon-nim sing”

Siren was passionate about singing from the start,

and her interest in me sparked after she heard me sing.

She might not have seen my gameplay yet…

“Alright then, let’s get started.”

I put on the VR headset,

and my vision blurred for a moment.

Before long, I found myself inside the rugged, utilitarian interior of a spaceship.

Cold metal walls and blinking control panels.

Outside the window, a massive, junk-filled planet was approaching.

‘Scrap Planet.’

An impossible-to-clear game that’s currently the most popular on Soopjijik.

[Party Connected: Raidel, Siren]

A notification appeared on the side of my vision,

and just as I had set up beforehand, the connection with Raidel and Siren was established in an instant.

Then,

Thud!

A heavy vibration shook my body slightly.

The scenery outside quickly grew closer,

and with a strong impact, the spaceship landed on the planet.