Chapter 5

Choices

Turn back time.

[Stream Time 02:59:31]

Three hours since the stream started.

Neo Chronicle finished installing.

The mouse was over the [Launch] button.

But my eyes went to the streaming program.

[Viewers: 1,929]

Download, installation, updates, and so on.

About forty minutes had passed since I said I’d try it myself.

Around ten minutes of that had been spent apologizing.

And an incredible two thousand viewers had disappeared.

That meant nearly three thousand bastards had come just to cause trouble.

As many as three thousand guys like richboy4, who kept switching back and forth between both sides.

‘They really were fucking assholes?’

The two thousand still here?

I don’t know.

How am I supposed to know what other people are thinking?

- What are you doing

- Click it, you bastard

- Now that you’re actually about to play, it feels like shit, huh? Now that you’re actually about to play, it feels like shit, huh? Now that you’re actually about to play, it feels like shit, huh? Now that you’re actually about to play, it feels like shit, huh?

- Aren’t you starting?

Even if I get lost in thought for a moment, insults pour in.

Trying to distinguish those people seems pointless.

“I’ve been studying lately, so I don’t usually play games at this hour. I was just thinking about that. I probably won’t get any studying done today anyway, so I’ll start.”

I rattled off excuses and started the game.

“...”

I thought the screen would change right away, but something was strange.

Only the color of the [Launch] button changed, while nothing happened on the screen.

There’s no way my computer is bad.

The first thing I spent a lot of money on after getting discharged was this computer, wasn’t it?

I cautiously glanced at the chat.

They were talking among themselves as if nothing was wrong.

- Upvote if you think he’ll run away after seeing the character select screen

- Agreed

- Agreed

- Fucking baiting for upvotes hahaha

Does it normally take this long to launch?

Can games with huge file sizes be like this?

“Is there some kind of problem...”

Just as I hesitated and finally spoke, a huge logo appeared on the screen.

[ NEO CHRONICLE ]

Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be a problem.

But apparently there was a problem with what I said.

- Ah fuck, it’s because the game is old

- It’s because that fucking bastard Go Jong-hyeok said he’d optimize the game and never did

- Old game trait: shitty optimization

Because the insults started coming in again.

I wondered, ‘Who the hell is Go Jong-hyeok?’

But I didn’t feel the same sense of crisis as before.

At first, the insults had suddenly poured in.

This time, they were only mixed in among spam that had already lost momentum.

There’s a big difference between suddenly shooting from 0 to 100 and going from 60 to 100.

‘It’s amazing that I’m actually getting used to this.’

Thinking I was impressive, I accepted their excuses.

“I see. Well, you said it’s over ten years old, right? The friend I mentioned earlier when I was explaining everything said there’s a ridiculous amount of stuff to do in this game. Wouldn’t all that take up space?”

I even threw out a line that sounded like something a streamer would say.

Seeing the proportion of insults dilute instantly, I nodded.

‘Ah. Like this?’

I think I roughly get it.

How you’re supposed to stream.

I glanced at the viewer count, which was draining away even now like someone had flushed a toilet.

Only after exchanging a few more words did the game fully launch.

Along with majestic music, a screen appeared showing characters in various outfits looking toward somewhere.

At the server selection screen that came afterward, I followed the advice from chat.

For my class, I chose the Rapid-Fire Archer, since they said it could at least be built relatively cheaply.

‘But what does “cash-farming class” even mean? Can I ask that?’

I’d heard far too much new internet slang today.

A lot of it seemed like words viewers could use, but streamers would get in trouble for saying.

I’d already gotten cursed enough for a lifetime after parroting my friend’s words.

Asking now somehow felt scary.

Earlier, it hadn’t been a big deal and calmed down quickly, but if things blew up again, I might not be able to handle it that time.

“I think this is good enough for character customization, so I’ll finish.”

I entered the name I usually used in the character name field and created it.

[Would you like to create the character ‘Seongbuk-dong Haaland’?]

It was my nickname in high school.

Because my soccer style was like Haaland from the Premier League.

I immediately clicked ‘Yes.’

Then I pressed [Start Game], and my heart dropped again.

-???

- What are you doing?

-?

- Dude?

- What are you doing

The question marks pouring into chat sent a chill through my chest.

“Uh, why? That’s my nickname.”

- Why do you think, you bastard

- How many Haalands do you think there are in Korea, fuck

- He picked a male character and even chose the nickname however he wanted

- Whyyy are yooou dooing thaaat

Don’t tell me game streams use things like this as material too?

Was this another one of those things I was supposed to do?

And what does the thing about it being a male character even mean?

But then it happened.

= Even if memories disappear, the body remembers.

A deep, middle-aged man’s voice came from the game.

= A broken body with neither memories nor skills remaining.

= I fought, and fought again.

As the narration began, the insults vanished as though they had never existed.

- Damn

- The Great Kairan

- Ooooh

- Kairan bro is here

I watched the chat’s mood for a moment.

‘Never mind. Forget what I said about knowing how to stream. This shit is impossible. It never lets me relax.’

Feeling obligated to join in, I opened my mouth.

“Oh... what’s with that voice? That’s cool as hell.”

- Ah, the familiar taste of industrial-grade reactions

- MSG really does taste good

- Please mix in a little sincerity

I insisted that I was being sincere while watching the cutscene.

And so, really, truly, the game finally started.

Starting the game had been incredibly difficult, but I had finally made it.

I thought things would be quiet while I played.

But that thought was quickly shattered.

When I arrived at the starting village, various features were unlocked.

“Looks like a bunch of things just opened up.”

I said that while moving my character along the quest marker.

Until some kind of alert sounded with a ding.

- Is this bastard fucking deaf or what

More precisely, until the viewers cursed me for failing to hear the alert.

“Mail? Where is it?”

I searched all over the screen for quite a while before finally finding it.

“There’s just one tiny red dot in the corner. How am I supposed to notice that instantly? You can miss the sound sometimes.”

Now they even tolerated my complaining fairly well.

Feeling relieved about that, I opened the mail.

[ Neo Chronicle players have been a little sensitive lately. ]

Normally, we like newbies and we’re fun people haha

Anyway, now that you’re trying it, I hope you enjoy yourself

I thought you might need this to progress through the game, so I’m sending it

(Attachment: 500,000G)

I knew it.

I knew it, the world was still a decent place.

There was no way every single player of a game could be someone who only cursed at people!

“Oh, come on, you were only angry because I spoke without thinking. It’s fine. Since I’ve started, I’ll try to enjoy it.”

After getting cursed at for three hours, I’d finally heard something nice.

I thought I had handled it like a respectable adult without letting my guard down.

Then I started progressing through the game again, but the reaction was strange.

- This bastard is accepting that while sitting down

- Who the fuck do you think you are, some huge streamer? Look at this asshole

-?? What are you doing

Did I give them something else to curse me about?

When I looked more closely at the chat, numbers started standing out.

- You just got 100,000 won in cash

- Roughly ninety-something thousand won

- Why the hell aren’t you standing up??

Ah! I’d been given actual money.

I reopened the mail and checked.

Only now did I notice the attached amount at the bottom.

500,000G.

Five hundred thousand gold.

After checking the number, I awkwardly stood up and bowed.

“Ah, thank you. One hundred thousand won? One hundred thousand won? Is game currency really that expensive?”

- Neo Chronicle money is worthless (somewhat loose translation)

- Then why the fuck do cash-farmers exist, and why did the director declare they’d preserve its value?

- Has this bastard seriously never played an RPG?

“When did I say it was worthless! Hard-earned money... Uh. Right. And I’ve never played an RPG before. My friend curses them all the time, so I never even started one.”

- hahahahaha legendary friend

- You picked a good friend lol

- What’s your friend’s username?

“I don’t know my friend’s ID. I’ve heard him say something about being in the top few percent in terms of gear, though. Ah! Thank you again for the gold!”

Then I got cursed again for giving a soulless reaction.

And while progressing through the story, I kept asking questions until they told me to just let some things slide.

The Chapter 1 story was gradually nearing its end.

“That fucking bitch, I just killed her! Ah, sorry for cursing. No, but I put an arrow through her damn head!! Why is she getting back up and running away!!”

The boss I had barely managed to kill just sprang back to her feet in the cutscene.

She babbled something, acted as mysterious as possible, and ran away.

- Ah, they have to recycle her~

- Sweet, sweet asset farming

Five hours and thirty minutes since I started Neo Chronicle.

They said an experienced guide could finish it easily in an hour and a half, but it took longer because I kept doing this and that.

I can’t just ignore something I’m curious about. What am I supposed to do?

Anyway, after constantly talking with chat.

I’d even learned the real meaning and origin of the term cash-farming, and how people used it nowadays.

“That’s seriously the reason?”

- It’s bullshit, idiot

- It all comes out if you progress the story

- Put it on the curiosity list

“Okay. I will.”

I opened Notepad and added another line to my list of questions.

I’d been writing them down one by one as I progressed through the story.

Anyway...

The chat had become really peaceful.

Even when I received the gold earlier, spam and insults had made up most of the chat.

Now, most of it was people discussing the story clues I had organized.

It was an extremely satisfying sight.

[Viewers: 859]

The number had shrunk drastically, but this was much better.

Yesterday, I’d been happy about having forty or fifty viewers in the first place.

The reason things had settled down like this was because something had happened once in the middle.

- This is getting in the way of talking about the story.

- The spam’s starting to get boring haha

- We can’t even give advice because it gets swept away so fast, you fuckers

- Alright~ everyone except the Neo gentlemen, leave~ Alright~ everyone except the Neo gentlemen, leave~ Alright~ everyone except the Neo gentlemen, leave~ Alright~ everyone except the Neo gentlemen, leave~

- Quiet! Please be quiet! Quiet! Please be quiet! Quiet! Please be quiet! Quiet! Please be quiet! Quiet! Please be quiet!

A little after the beginning of Chapter 1.

Around the time important story hints started appearing, chat suddenly suggested cleaning up the chat window.

At the time, I didn’t even know why, but since they wanted to stop the spam, I happily agreed.

As a result, it had now turned into a Neo Chronicle story appreciation session.

Chapter 1 had ended, and we were now at the airship dock.

We were just about to depart for another continent.

Several characters I’d met in Chapter 1 had come to see us off.

“Ah... I want to take Irene with me.”

- Damn, widow killer

- This bastard isn’t just obsessed with pretty faces

- What an honest young man

Irene was a female character wearing a very revealing outfit.

She was also a widow whose husband had died during the story.

= Poooo—

The airship rose into the sky with a ship-horn-like sound.

I wanted to turn off the stream soon too.

I’d said I would watch the story, but I never said I would watch all of it today.

It had gone on far longer than planned, and it was almost time for my parents to come home.

I quietly took off my headset and cautiously spoke.

“Um, everyone.”

- Nope, no way. You said you’d never run away

- Right, right, you’re curious about the next part of the story, aren’t you?

- Put on the headset immediately

“Im... immediately.”

With no choice, I continued the story.

Chapter 2 took four and a half hours.

Chapter 3 took six hours.

Total stream time: around nineteen hours.

Normally, if I was just gaming, staying up for about two days wasn’t a problem.

If I was grinding ranked matches, I had to sleep at least once a day, but anyway.

Streaming consumed a different kind of stamina on top of gaming stamina.

In other words, my mind was starting to go hazy.

Because of that, my ability to sense danger had dulled considerably.

LoveNeoNoodles: But why are you playing Rapid-Fire Archer? It’s fucking trash

“I heard it’s good for doing various kinds of content cheaply?”

LoveNeoNoodles: If that’s your purpose then fair, but there are way stronger classes that are just as cheap

“Really? What classes are there?”

Actually, more than my danger sense, what mattered was that the chat had started coming in only sporadically.

[Viewers: 611]

Two hundred people had left, but the chat activity had dropped to less than one-tenth.

Did they make me keep going and then fall asleep? Those damn bastards.

I’d started getting sleepy once the sun came up too.

Anyway, the important thing was that I’d ended up having a continuous conversation with one person.

LoveNeoNoodles: Gale Fist Master is busted, and Triple-Battery Gunner is fucking absurd

“Ah~ really? So there were better classes.”

And then it happened.

- Rapid-Fire Archer is the best value

- Some clueless bastard crawled in here

- Triple-Battery Gunner is overpowered? lol

Other people joined the chat where one person had been talking continuously.

They pushed back against him, but he didn’t hesitate.

LoveNeoNoodles: Forgot Blood Mage. It’s insanely fucking busted.

LoveNeoNoodles: Actually, all mages are busted

LoveNeoNoodles: Just restart as a mage right now

What? I don’t think that many people were recommending mages earlier?

- River, what the hell are you doing, bastard

- Flame Mage is overpowered?

- Those aren’t classes you recommend to a newbie

-???

- Triple-Battery Gunner is overpowered...?

But something about the atmosphere felt ominous.

The chat... was coming back to life.

Focus slowly returned to my eyes, which had been about to close, and my brain started working again.

“Everyone, don’t fight. And the person saying everything’s overpowered, please stop too.”

At that moment, two options came to mind.

1. Compliment the body of the female character in front of me and divert their attention.

Even with armor on, more than half her body is exposed. Wouldn’t that attract attention?

2. If this and that are all overpowered, isn’t that fine?

Even if I tried to carefully determine who was right and wrong, I didn’t know anything.

Like Teacher Hwang Hui once said, if I just say you’re right and he’s right too, it feels like I could roughly patch things up.

‘Complimenting a woman’s body in front of several hundred people feels a bit much.’

I immediately reached my answer and spoke.

“If this is overpowered and that’s overpowered too, then the balance is good. Everyone, stop fighting and let’s focus on the story.”

After saying that, I dubbed a little more of the dialogue and then turned my head.

What I faced was a wave of question marks.

-???

- The balance is... good?

- Jeong River: Neo Chronicle has perfect class balance

- What kind of insane nonsense is that

-?

- Say that shit again

- Fuck?

After the wave of question marks came a wave of single characters.

- A

- P

- O

- L

- O

- G

- I

- Z

- E

“Apologize...? You seriously want me to apologize?”

My determination to endure the endless wave quickly faded.

“Okay. I’ll do it.”

Is this right? Is this really right?

With a confused, blank mind, I put the suit jacket back on.

I raised the camera, stood up, and asked one final time.

- A

- hahahaha

- O

- P

- hahahahaha

- hahaha

- L

- O

Looking at the chat, I realized it.

This time, it was closer to a joke.

“Ah, fuck!”

I slammed the suit jacket onto the floor and sat back down.

“I’m continuing the story. I need to head out on the expedition to the Zulu Continent, and we’ve already wasted time.”

Internet streaming really is difficult.

Watching the laughing messages, I let out a sigh of relief inside.

I can never let my guard down.