Translator: SourKimchi
By the time he got back to Seoul, the night had grown deep.
The moment Park Ji-hun opened the door to his shabby Rooftop Room and stepped inside, he shrugged off his coat and hung it in the closet.
He wanted to lie down on the bed and rest for a bit, but there was no time.
First things first, Park Ji-hun turned on his computer.
There were only a few minutes left until stream time.
His body was tired, but his head, if anything, felt sharp and clear.
As he got ready to go live, he pictured his mom's face from the pork belly place where they'd grilled meat together.
In the time he hadn't seen her, the blemishes and wrinkles had multiplied all over her face.
He was burning to give her an easier life, the sooner the better.
‘And for that, I'll have to work hard.’
Park Ji-hun sat down in his chair and moved the mouse.
When he pulled up the Ocean admin window, the Reservation List was the first thing to catch his eye.
"Whew."
An impressed breath slipped out.
The reservation window was already packed.
Nicknames were lined up one after another, top to bottom.
The number of Viewers who'd paid for a reservation was well over twenty.
It had been this full even before the Novagen Therapeutics thing blew up, so there was no telling how much it would swell once he went live tonight.
Park Ji-hun checked them in the order they'd sent 500 Water Drops.
Most of them were Viewers who'd been watching steadily since his very first stream.
Then, about halfway down, his eyes stopped on a familiar name.
Nathan.
His name was there too.
Going by five readings a day, that meant another four days of waiting for him.
"Not much longer now."
Park Ji-hun muttered to himself.
The truth was, he was secretly curious about Nathan's identity too.
But he had no intention of letting anyone cut in line.
That was the whole reason he'd fixed his Divination Fee at 500 Water Drops in the first place.
He pulled a bottle of water from the fridge and took a sip.
The whir of the PC's case fan rang loud through the cramped Rooftop Room.
Sitting at the desk with the monitor glowing in front of him, he finally felt like he was back where he belonged.
Park Ji-hun went straight for the Go Live button.
A moment later the broadcasting indicator popped up in the corner of the screen, and the instant the chat window opened, messages came pouring in fast.
-SilentRoom : he's on!
-mk912 : finally live!
-ask2311 : novagen was actually insane damn never thought it'd crash like that
-Soljji : been waiting just for your stream hyung :(
-Berserk : nathan still stuck waiting? lol
Park Ji-hun skimmed the chat for a moment, then switched on his mic.
"Pipe down."
Park Ji-hun pulled up the Reservation List window as he spoke.
"Same as always, we go in order. No cutting in line, you know that?"
-Soljji : that's how it should be!
-Berserk : where'd nathan go?
Just then, the day's first Donation dropped.
[agei gifted 1,000 Water Drops!]
-agei : you saved my life hyung thank you :(
Park Ji-hun let out a small snort of a laugh.
"agei's got manners."
The chat felt the same way.
-SseomyeonMaster : he had to drop that, hold on any longer and it's a one-way trip to the river lol
-Kkoka : accuracy is insane damn when's my turn
-dwm9911 : let's keep this stream going for real hyung
Meanwhile, the Donations kept coming, one after another.
[mk912 gifted 500 Water Drops!]
-mk912 : putting in my reservation too hyung
[ask2311 gifted 500 Water Drops!]
-ask2311 : reserving my spot before it's too late!
The Donation alerts kept popping off, but Park Ji-hun spoke up, unfazed.
"UniverseClassroom, you here? If not, I'll start with the second one."
-UniverseClassroom : just got here!
"Good. Hop into Discord, and we'll get right to it like always."
It hadn't even been a few minutes since he'd gone live, and the Viewer count had already hit 3,000.
***
"UniverseClassroom, go ahead."
From the other end of Discord came the sound of someone catching their breath.
Then a young man's voice came out, cautious.
"Oh, hey, hyung."
"Skip the greeting."
Park Ji-hun tossed it out flatly, eyes on the monitor.
"What do you want read?"
"Um...... an Interview."
The chat reacted instantly.
-Soljji : oh an interview
-SseomyeonMaster : must be a job seeker lolol
-Kkoka : bet he nails this one too
UniverseClassroom rushed on.
"I've got two of them overlapping right now. One's at a mid-sized company, and the other's a small place, but the terms are actually pretty good, so I can't decide which one to go with......"
Park Ji-hun drummed his fingertips against the desk.
"Both Interviews are on Wednesday, right?"
"Yes, yes. That's right."
"Which is exactly why it's giving you a headache. You can only make one of them."
"Whoa, yeah, how'd you know that?"
"Because I can see everything."
Park Ji-hun stopped for a moment and closed his eyes.
Silence fell.
The chat went quiet right along with it.
-SilentRoom : oh he's seeing something again
-LegendDrumBarrel : man i'm up next and i'm already scared damn
After a beat, Park Ji-hun spoke.
"That mid-sized company? Don't go there."
"Huh?"
"Even if you get in, you won't last long."
"Oh, but that's the bigger company...... the benefits are good, the salary's pretty solid, it's better in a lot of ways......"
Park Ji-hun cut him off.
"Bigger doesn't mean better."
A short, firm voice.
UniverseClassroom asked back.
"So I should go to the second company's Interview?"
Park Ji-hun answered at once.
"Yeah. Go there."
"But the pay's a little lower there. And it's a startup......"
"Chase the money and you'll regret it."
The chat stirred again.
-Soljji : now what
-SseomyeonMaster : people over money, i guess
-Berserk : ppl quit jobs over coworkers all the time fr
But UniverseClassroom was still only half-convinced.
"Is there a particular reason?"
Park Ji-hun answered, gazing steadily at the monitor.
"At the first one, people are what ruin you."
"...... Really?"
"You'll get stuck with a bad boss."
Park Ji-hun added briefly.
"He'll act decent at first. But before two months are up, your face is going to be rotting away."
UniverseClassroom swallowed dry.
"Then what about the startup?"
"You'll get paid a little less, but at least you'll be able to breathe."
"......"
"Go where there are people to walk alongside you."
Park Ji-hun said, flat and final.
"Don't just look at the number in front of you."
UniverseClassroom let out a short sigh and answered.
"Okay, understood. I'll go to the second company's Interview. Oh, and can I ask just one more thing?"
"What."
"I bought a stock recently......"
Ji-hun cut him off.
"I can't see charts."
"Huh? But last time, Novagen Therapeutics was definitely......"
"That was just me seeing how that stock was going to tangle up that person's life."
"Oh...... it's like that?"
Park Ji-hun said nothing more.
"Next."
***
The second Viewer was LegendDrumBarrel.
"Hello. I really respect you, hyung. You have no idea how stunned I've been, watching all the things you've gotten right."
The second he joined Discord, he ran long.
Park Ji-hun frowned.
"Just the point."
"Oh, right. So, here's the thing. I've actually got an important deal today. So I wanted to ask you for some advice, hyung......"
The chat reacted instantly.
-Berserk : guy really runs his mouth lol
-SseomyeonMaster : an important deal lol makes it sound so grand
-Soljji : getting a bad vibe here
LegendDrumBarrel went on.
"So I decided to sell my used car. I was originally just going to hand it off to a dealer, but a private buyer reached out. Says he'll pay more for it, too."
Park Ji-hun listened quietly, then asked.
"You're meeting tomorrow afternoon, right?"
"Yes. That's right."
"Where?"
"Songdo. He asked me to come out there."
Park Ji-hun tapped the desk once.
"You going alone?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. I just show him the car and sign the contract and that's it, isn't it?"
The chat stirred.
-SilentRoom : going alone seems kinda sketchy
-mk912 : even i'd be nervous about this lol
-agei : this is already looking bad?
Park Ji-hun closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he spoke right away.
"Just go and come back."
For an instant, the chat froze.
LegendDrumBarrel asked back, flustered.
"I really can go?"
"Yeah, you can go."
"I'm seriously trusting you and going to sell the car tomorrow, okay, hyung?"
"Go right ahead."
Park Ji-hun added indifferently.
"He's not a scammer. He really does want to buy the car."
A beat late, the chat flipped out.
-Soljji : huh?
-Berserk : whoa, plot twist
-SseomyeonMaster : wait, it's not a scam? lol
-mk912 : this guy always goes the opposite of what you'd expect lol
LegendDrumBarrel let out a relieved laugh.
"Wow, I got scared over nothing. Thank you, hyung."
Park Ji-hun tossed out a line as if to cut him short.
"One thing, though."
The other end of Discord went quiet.
"Sorry?"
"After you sell the car, don't head straight home. Stop by a hospital first."
LegendDrumBarrel asked back in a dazed voice.
"A hospital?"
"Yeah."
Park Ji-hun spoke with his eyes narrowed.
"Your stomach's been burning lately, hasn't it?"
"...... Sorry?"
"And it gets worse after you drink."
The chat stirred once more.
-SilentRoom : huh? he's seeing something else again
-SseomyeonMaster : isn't an upset stomach pretty common? everyone gets that when they drink
LegendDrumBarrel's voice grew noticeably smaller.
"No, that's...... I just figured it was because I've been kind of tired lately."
"Don't write it off as just being tired."
Park Ji-hun's voice dropped low.
"Right after the deal tomorrow, go in. Get your stomach looked at first."
"...... Do I really have to go to a hospital?"
"You were planning to get hammered to celebrate selling the car tomorrow, weren't you?"
A short, icy remark.
"Ah, yeah......"
"Hospital first."
LegendDrumBarrel was silent for a moment, then answered quietly.
"Understood. I'll go right after I sell the car."
Park Ji-hun said nothing more.
"Next."
***
Park Ji-hun scrolled the Reservation List down one slot.
The third nickname was Kasungi.
A moment later came the Discord connection tone.
"Hello, this is Kasungi."
The voice was low and calm.
Park Ji-hun stared at the monitor without a word.
"It's my turn, right?"
The chat reacted.
-Soljji : wonder what comes out this time
-mk912 : this is actually fun to listen to lol
-Kuroae : reserve fast guys lfg it's first come first served lol
Park Ji-hun tossed it out.
"Kasungi?"
"Oh, yes. I'm Kasungi."
Park Ji-hun tapped the desk with his fingertips.
The nickname on the Reservation List was, in fact, Kasungi.
And yet, strangely, this didn't feel like Kasungi.
It was like some guy who'd jammed himself into someone else's clothes.
Park Ji-hun narrowed his eyes.
"Is there a problem?"
The voice came again.
Park Ji-hun spoke in an icy tone.
"I told you not to cut in line, didn't I?"
For a moment, the other end of Discord went quiet.
The chat buzzed.
-Berserk : huh? cutting in line?
-SseomyeonMaster : wasn't it kasungi's turn?
-mk912 : what's going on
The other party let out a sound laced with a scoff.
"I'm not sure what you mean."
Park Ji-hun didn't change his expression one bit.
"You thought I wouldn't notice if you borrowed someone's ID to get in?"
This time the chat just exploded.
-Soljji : what? he borrowed an id to get in?
-agei : borrowing an id is a new one lol
-Berserk : no way, is it nathan?
-ask2311 : whoa chills damn
On the other end of Discord, a breath wavered briefly.
And a few seconds later, the other party let out a short exclamation.
"Wow."
Then he went on.
"You caught this one too?"
Park Ji-hun spoke, still frowning.
"How bored do you have to be to go and buy someone else's turn?"
The chat churned even harder.
-Soljji : whoa it really is nathan lmaooo
-SilentRoom : this is for real? damn
-mk912 : legendary line-cut damn
Nathan said with a laugh.
"I paid a fair price to borrow it."
"Same difference."
"No, more to the point, I'm seriously dying to know, how did you figure out Novagen?"
Park Ji-hun cut him off.
"Your turn's still a long way off."
"I know that...... I just couldn't stand not knowing."
Park Ji-hun didn't answer; he spoke, sharp as a blade.
"Get out."
A short, cold word.
Without waiting, Park Ji-hun cut Nathan's Discord connection.
Click.
After Nathan was kicked out of Discord, Park Ji-hun parted his lips again.
"Next."
Just then, a Donation dropped.
[Nathan gifted 1,818 Water Drops!]
-Nathan : ha you really drive a person crazy