Translator: SourKimchi
Even when the Chairman asked, the old man could not answer right away.
His eyes wavered uneasily.
He was trembling all over.
Like a man gripped by fear.
Only after a long while did he steady his breathing and speak.
"......Though it's possible I saw it wrong."
"You did?"
The Chairman's eyes narrowed.
"I'd never have thought a Shaman who serves a potent General Spirit, a man who's lasted decades in this trade, could be so afraid."
The old man's lips trembled.
"I, I had no choice, sir."
"Then tell me as well. What did you see?"
The old man could not bring himself to speak right away.
It was no ordinary Body-Host Deity.
It wasn't merely a spirit clinging to a person. The moment he laid eyes on it, he felt as if everything were being laid bare.
Meddle with it carelessly, and he would surely bring disaster down on himself instead.
The old man spoke in a hard tone.
"You mustn't look into it any further. And it must not be spoken of, either."
The Chairman's gaze deepened.
"Is it so dreadful that you fear even to name it?"
The old man nodded slowly.
His mouth was already clamped firmly shut.
The drawing room fell silent in an instant.
The Chairman regarded the old man for a moment, then asked in a calm voice.
"So, then. Will it bring harm to my Third Son?"
The old man shook his head as he answered.
"......No, it won't."
Something flickered faintly in the Chairman's eyes.
The old man forced himself to go on.
"I didn't see all of it, but...... if anything, it will bring fortune. It does not seem to be the sort of thing that would harm the Young Master."
A brief silence passed.
Only then did the Chairman ease the tension in his fingertips a little.
But his expression stayed hard.
Unable to hold back, he asked again.
"Can you not satisfy my curiosity?"
The old man's lips quivered.
"No, Chairman. That man must not be meddled with carelessly!"
The Chairman studied the old man for a while, then spoke.
"Hoo...... nothing to be done, then. Very well. Thank you for sparing your precious time. You may take your leave."
Without a word, the old man bowed his head and hurried off with short, quick steps.
In the end, he said nothing more.
The door closed, and alone in the drawing room, the Chairman sank into thought.
The Streamer who had changed his Third Son.
And a Shaman who had gone deathly pale just from glimpsing the man for a moment.
The Chairman's eyes settled into a cold stillness.
'Just what did he see......?'
***
Park Ji-hun was listening to the client when his gaze suddenly stopped.
A single handle that had just popped into the chat yanked his attention.
It was a username he'd never seen before.
And yet, strangely, the energy it gave off was unlike the others.
But the instant Park Ji-hun narrowed his eyes, the handle slipped out of the chat without a trace of hesitation.
'Who is that?'
It was an energy that sent a chill down the back of his neck.
Curiosity stirred in him.
In that fleeting instant.
A Vision flashed past.
A spacious drawing room.
Air settled into a suffocating stillness.
An old man in Shaman Robes, his face drained as pale as it could go.
And across from him, seated, a man watching him in silence.
In a large frame behind that man hung a family photo, and in it was a face he recognized.
It was Nathan.
Just as he made to look closer, the old man, who appeared to be a Shaman, hastily shut the stream off with trembling hands.
The Vision ended there.
Only then did Park Ji-hun smile faintly.
'Nathan's family again, is it?'
Then the man in the photo had to be the father.
So they were already curious about him.
Park Ji-hun decided not to dwell on it.
It was enough that he knew.
If they were curious, the other side would make the first move anyway.
He turned his gaze away as if nothing had happened.
"So what was it you said just now?"
The client spoke with a flustered look.
"It's, um, about whether I should sign the contract or not......"
"Don't."
"Oh, yes, yes!"
"You're not going to ask why?"
"If PerpetualJobSeeker-nim says don't, then I just won't. That's all there is to it."
At this point it was practically blind faith.
Park Ji-hun let out a dry laugh.
"I'm telling you not to because it's a dead-end deal. Happy now?"
"Yes, thank you!"
The reading had ended, and he was about to take the next in line.
A handle he hadn't seen before popped up at the bottom of the chat.
At least, that's how it looked to everyone else.
But to Park Ji-hun, it was not an unfamiliar name.
The corner of Park Ji-hun's mouth twisted up slightly.
"Oh-ho. You leave your own stream sitting there and show up here, what for?"
The chat buzzed at once.
-SsomyeonMaster : huh? who's here?
-Fallout : someone he knows?
-ask2311 : a broadcast? so another streamer?
-agei : woo-sik's live rn tho, what's this
When the other person still gave no answer, Park Ji-hun frowned.
"Hey, Kim Woo-sik. You gonna answer or not? You think changing your handle means I won't know it's you?"
***
Kim Woo-sik was running his usual Story Stream today, same as always.
"So, picking up where I left off, that's when the guy got wasted and......"
But the chat was plastered with something else entirely.
-Asenreu : are you actually friends with PerpetualJobSeeker-nim?
-BarkingBullshit : has PerpetualJobSeeker ever given you a Spirit Reading?
-Resolve : you keep saying you're friends but he's never once read for you, makes no sense
Woo-sik frowned.
"No, we really are friends."
-FSD0011 : then why are you the only one who still hasn't gotten a reading lmao
-MiniTower : you're friends and he can't even do that much for you?
-Resolve : go ask him this time
"Hey, why would I go crash someone else's stream? Can't do that."
-Asenreu : chicken?
-MiniTower : stop calling him your friend from now on
-PowerBomb : huge letdown
Woo-sik let out a sigh.
But from a listener's point of view, it was a fair enough reaction.
After all, he was always going around bragging that Park Ji-hun was his friend, yet not once had the guy actually given him a Spirit Reading.
"Ugh, fine. I'll ask him the second the stream's over. Happy?"
At that, the chat flared up even more, as if it had been waiting for this.
-MiniTower : nah go ask him right now
-Resolve : want me to go ask for you?
-Asenreu : if you're that nervous just log in on an alt
-Mamandu : change your handle and go in, let's see if he clocks you lol
-MiniTower : if he can't tell it's you that's a massive L for him tho
"Hey, why would I pull something like that?"
Woo-sik shook his head, but the viewers were relentless.
-Resolve : chicken?
-Asenreu : this guy's totally chickening out lol
"I am not chicken, okay?"
Riled up, Woo-sik grabbed his mouse.
"Fine. I'm going. Going. But if it's that guy, he'll peg me for sure. Watch this."
After logging in on his alt account, Woo-sik went to Ocean's main page.
The moment he saw PerpetualJobSeeker's stream sitting at the very top, he froze on the spot.
[Viewer Count: 8,450]
Woo-sik let out a dumbfounded laugh.
"What the, when did he get this big?"
Now that he'd gone and entered the stream, it hit him even harder.
The chat was scrolling by in a frenzy, and the Donation alerts wouldn't stop.
This was well past just "doing well" now.
Only a few weeks ago, the gap hadn't been anything like this.
Woo-sik was staring at the screen with a dazed look when it happened.
Park Ji-hun's voice came through.
"Hey, Kim Woo-sik. You gonna answer or not? You think changing your handle means I won't know it's you?"
Woo-sik's fingers froze.
It sounded nothing like the Ji-hun he knew.
Plenty of people in the chat were startled too.
-Resolve : holy shit, spine-chilling, creepy af
-MiniTower : someone tipped him off, no?
-Mamandu : i've got multi-view on and nobody said anything
Then Park Ji-hun added one more thing.
"Good timing. Long as you're here, I'll read you too."
***
Woo-sik gaped at his monitor, mouth hanging open.
"No, hold on. Dude. He called it just like that?"
The chat erupted into an uproar, as if it had been waiting for this.
-Resolve : no bolting now lmaooo
-MiniTower : you HAVE to get the Spirit Reading
-Asenreu : facts, if you don't get a reading here you two aren't friends
Park Ji-hun said,
"What're you waiting for? Get on Discord, hurry up."
Left with no choice, Woo-sik hopped onto Discord.
"Ah, there you are?"
"Manha~ Kim Woo-sik here. If I'd known this guy was this good, I'd have asked him about Bitcoin ages ago, but he's never once read for me."
"Ugh, quit being such a pain and just get in here."
-SilentRoom : tell me what's gonna happen with Bitcoin too!
-SsomyeonMaster : why won't you give us stock tips anymore!
-kmd0131 : bet he's keeping all the gains to himself lmaooo
Park Ji-hun knit his brows.
"Shut it. I told you all that kind of thing jinxes the readings."
Watching all this, Woo-sik tilted his head.
Usually it was the Streamer who walked on eggshells around the Viewers, but this stream was the complete opposite.
'How does he get away with that?'
His puzzlement lasted only a moment before Park Ji-hun got down to business.
"You're in for a rough time once you get married."
Woo-sik's eyes went wide.
"What?"
Park Ji-hun smirked.
"First thing, you'll need to trade up for a bigger car."
"......Why?"
"Three kids, you think what you're driving now is gonna cut it?"
Woo-sik was struck speechless for a moment.
"No, hold on. Three, seriously?"
"Yep."
Park Ji-hun added it like it was nothing.
"You'll think you're done after one, but then twins'll tack on two more."
"That's insane......"
Woo-sik pressed a hand to his forehead.
The chat was already dying laughing.
-Resolve : oh my god lmaooooooooo
-PowerBomb : thought he was done after one but it's twins lmaooooo
-Tussagae : dude you really do need a new car
Then a Donation hit.
[Resolve-nim has gifted 200 Water Drops.]
-Resolve : can you see the genders too?
Park Ji-hun answered curtly.
"All three are boys."
Woo-sik froze solid.
"......What?"
Park Ji-hun spoke in a voice fighting back a laugh.
"Lucky you. Your place won't see a quiet day."
"Hey! That's not lucky at all, okay?"
Woo-sik snapped, but the chat only churned with more glee.
-Asenreu : three boys, that house is gonna be chaos lmaooooo
-MiniTower : i can see the suffering from here lmaoo
-Mamandu : gonna be a war zone at home every single day fr lol
Woo-sik scratched hard at the back of his neck.
His head was spinning.
Three boys, of all things.
And yet Park Ji-hun wasn't finished.
"And, last thing."
"Ugh, what now. That's plenty already."
Woo-sik made a queasy face, but Park Ji-hun paid it no mind.
"Don't you be the one holding the purse strings."
Woo-sik blinked.
"Why?"
"Why d'you think?"
Park Ji-hun scoffed.
"You can't save a dime once you've got it. Every bit that comes in just leaks right back out."
"Hey, I'm not that bad!"
"You are that bad."
Park Ji-hun said it flatly, then added,
"Just the other day you were bragging to me about dumping cash into FIFA Online."
"Hey! You can't just say that out loud!"
The chat exploded, as if on cue.
-Resolve : huh? swore you'd never spend on in-game stuff again and now you're sneaking buys? lmaoo
-MiniTower : this isn't a Spirit Reading, it's a straight-up fact-beatdown, damn
-PowerBomb : the future wife better confiscate his cards first
Woo-sik muttered with an aggrieved look.
"I only spend on it to make stream content."
-Dwijapman : you've squeezed out more than enough content already!
-Tussagae : let's just go ask the future wife lol
-Dwijibeo : that'd cure her low blood pressure on the spot lmaoo
"Hey! Can you all just pipe down!"
Woo-sik ground his teeth, but it was no use.
Park Ji-hun smirked and added one final thing.
"Last of all, yeah, Woo-sik really is my best friend. So the rest of you, ease off."
The chat stirred up once again.
-Resolve : friendship confirmed
-MiniTower : congrats in advance on the wedding dude lol and the three kids lol
-Mamandu : three boys though, kinda rough lol
-PowerBomb : and hand over the purse strings the second you get married
Just then, Woo-sik asked Ji-hun,
"Oh, right. There's something I've been wondering, can I ask?"
"What is it?"
Woo-sik hesitated a moment, then asked.
"They say a Shaman can't read their own 'Four Pillars of Destiny' reading. That right?"
In that instant, Ji-hun's eyes settled into a cold stillness.
He looked at Woo-sik for a moment, then, lifting only the corners of his mouth, asked back,
"What do you think?"