Translator: SourKimchi
Park Ji-hun kept the Discord window open and just skimmed the chat.
Not everyone had believed it from the start.
When he'd suddenly said the taxi driver was dangerous, plenty of people had refused to buy it.
Some had clamored that they needed to report it right away; others had sneered that he was overdoing it.
But now the mood had completely changed.
-agei : i called 112 earlier
-dwm9911 : i reported it right away too
-SsumyeonMaster : wrote down the plate number too just in case
-Boserk : it was real holy shit
-Kasungi : did he seriously just save someone's life
Park Ji-hun tapped the desk with his fingers.
"Pipe down."
The chat stalled for a moment, then started scrolling again, even faster.
-SilentRoom : heard the cops actually rolled out?
-agei : just got word it's all wrapped up damn
-dwm9911 : i filed a report too and they said it's handled
-Ajukara : holy shit, chills
-SpaceClassroom : PerpetualJobSeeker what even are you
That was when it happened.
A Discord connection alert popped up again.
Park Ji-hun's eyes shot straight to it.
A moment later, the video came on.
The footage was shaking violently.
Red and blue lights bled across it in turns.
Footsteps hurrying back and forth, the crackle of a radio somewhere off in the distance, and the sound of someone catching their breath in ragged gasps.
When the picture finally steadied, Han Yu-na's face came into view.
Her expression was dazed.
Her hair was a mess, and her eyes were rimmed red.
Off-screen, the faint voices of paramedics checking on her condition drifted through.
For a while, Han Yu-na couldn't get a word out.
Only the small sound of her steadying her breath went on.
The chat exploded in an instant.
-SilentRoom : oh thank god
-agei : are you okay?
-SsumyeonMaster : so glad she's safe
-Ajukara : huh? i've seen that face somewhere
-Boserk : isn't she an actress
-NeonSign : pretty sure that's Han Yu-na
-dwm9911 : think i saw her in an article
Han Yu-na parted her lips with effort.
"Um......"
Her voice trembled.
"Thank you so much. If it weren't for you, PerpetualJobSeeker-nim, I really would have......"
Her words trailed off.
Park Ji-hun looked at her without a word.
The Vision was gone now.
The cold sensation that had settled at the back of his neck had vanished too, as if it had been washed clean away.
Han Yu-na hesitated, then added carefully:
"I'd really like to treat you to a meal sometime, at the very least."
The chat stirred.
-Kasungi : oh an actress is offering to buy him dinner
-LegendDrumBarrel : she owes him her life, so yeah, makes sense
-KillerKo : omakase incoming lol
Park Ji-hun said curtly:
"Forget it. Just go home."
Han Yu-na blinked, visibly flustered.
She clearly hadn't expected him to turn down her offer.
Then a voice came from off-screen.
"Han Yu-na-ssi, could we talk for a moment? We've got a few questions about the incident."
"Oh, yes. One moment."
She'd been staring at Ji-hun; she let out a breath, like she was swallowing a sigh, then spoke again.
"Thank you. Truly."
Park Ji-hun never did answer.
And with that, the video call ended.
***
The moment the video call ended, the urgent noise that had filled the space off-screen until just then cut out along with it.
But the chat didn't quiet down in the slightest.
Donation alerts were going off in a frenzy on top of it all.
Ba-bam–
Ba-bam–
Ba-bam–
[SilentRoom-nim has gifted 50 Water Drops.]
[agei-nim has gifted 100 Water Drops.]
[dwm9911-nim has gifted 10 Water Drops.]
Donations big and small kept rolling in without pause.
-SilentRoom : wow today's stream was an absolute legend
-agei : first time i've ever seen a stream save someone live
-dwm9911 : too much dopamine to sleep, work tomorrow is gonna be a disaster lol
-Soljji : anyone who missed the live really missed out lol
-Kasungi : the Replay just won't hit the same
Park Ji-hun looked down at the screen without a word.
The cold sensation that had been clamping the back of his neck until moments ago was completely gone.
In its place, a heavy throb pulsed behind his temples.
"It's extra loud in here today."
That one line set the chat stirring again.
-Boserk : of course it's loud lol
-Kuroae : this was always gonna blow up
-agei : i'm still waiting in line here :(
-SpaceClassroom : it hit Recommended Posts on the Internet Broadcast Gallery lol
-SsumyeonMaster : the reach on this is insane
-KillerKo : there's already Shorts up lol
-Kkoka : at this rate aren't more articles gonna drop? bet articles drop too idk
Park Ji-hun gave a slight shake of his head.
The chat had seemed unusually fast, and the reason was easy enough to spot.
[Current Viewers: 3,947]
Ji-hun's brow furrowed.
'When did it climb this high?'
An hour ago it hadn't been anywhere close to this.
In that time the viewer count had nearly doubled.
Ba-bam–
[Kaet-nim has gifted 300 Water Drops.]
-Kaet : paying my Viewing Fee. salute!
Ba-bam–
[Shaiker-nim has gifted 500 Water Drops.]
-Shaiker : hyung you stream every day right? i'll be back tomorrow too, gotta sleep first for work :(
The donations were still backed up.
Park Ji-hun rested his chin on his hand and skimmed the chat.
-SilentRoom : he's about to get seriously famous damn
-SpaceClassroom : no way, i need my Spirit Reading too ugh
-Kkoka : how many Reservations are backed up right now?
That was when it happened.
-SsumyeonMaster : wait there's an article up too <link>
Ji-hun tapped the link.
(Digital World) Ocean BJ Stops Kidnapping Mid-Broadcast, Becomes Online Sensation
It was a news outlet he'd never heard of.
Still, the headline alone was plenty to catch people's eyes.
"Ugh. I can't stand the noise."
It was the moment he creased his brow.
[Nathan-nim has gifted 10,000 Water Drops.]
-Nathan : came over from a Shorts, heard you're supposed to be the real deal? do my Spirit Reading
Park Ji-hun's eyebrow twitched, just barely.
***
Kim Tae-jun lounged sideways against the sofa, looking down at his phone screen.
Music pounding, boom, boom.
A club VIP room where glasses clinked and the reek of hard liquor tangled with laughter.
The women seated across from him kept trying to chat him up, but he let it wash right over him.
He always got bored of scenes like this fast.
Today was worse than usual.
Unable to stand the boredom, he'd been flicking through Shorts when his finger suddenly stopped.
A dark, empty building.
A broken door.
The beam of a police flashlight.
And a rookie actress, found bound.
And the Internet Broadcast that had pinpointed the whole scene in real time, on top of it all.
"This is supposed to be real?"
At first he meant to snort and scroll right past it.
"Total fake, obviously."
But once he'd watched it all the way through, his thinking shifted a little.
Tae-jun let out a dry laugh.
"......it was real."
There was no room for anything rigged.
The whole thing had run live from start to finish.
The comment section under the video was already a madhouse.
-dude saved an actress in real time damn
-still live on Ocean right now
-just go watch PerpetualJobSeeker's stream <link>
-heard 500 Water Drops gets you a Reservation
-got chills realizing it wasn't fake
Tae-jun tapped the link in the comments.
It took him to a platform called Ocean.
Without much hesitation he installed the app, breezed through the sign-up, and dropped into the stream.
The chat was scrolling too fast for the eye to keep up.
-Kasungi : today was a real legend
-agei : am i up next? ugh what do i even ask
-SilentRoom : the people who came from the article are super skeptical, they'd believe it in a second if they'd seen it live lol
-dwm9911 : let 'em not believe it, the line just gets longer otherwise
Tae-jun typed out a quick message.
-Nathan : came over from a Shorts, do my Spirit Reading
It got buried.
In the blink of an eye it was shoved aside by other messages and vanished without a trace.
Tae-jun's brow tightened.
He typed again.
-Nathan : hey
-Nathan : do my Spirit Reading first
One viewer answered.
-dwm9911 : get in line first lol if you want a Spirit Reading drop 500 Water Drops first
Tae-jun let out a dry laugh.
"What's this. How much is 500 even?"
He pulled up the donation window, and 500 Water Drops came to 50,000 won.
Next to the bar tab rolling around the table right now, it was a laughable amount.
"That's nothing."
The corner of his mouth lifted.
He topped up, then hit donate right away.
Ba-bam–
[Nathan-nim has gifted 10,000 Water Drops.]
-Nathan : came over from a Shorts, heard you're supposed to be the real deal? do my Spirit Reading
The chat buzzed in an instant.
-Kasungi : whoa 10,000?
-agei : insane lol
-SilentRoom : a big spender's here
-SsumyeonMaster : that's a chairman right there damn
Tae-jun smirked as he watched the screen.
This much, he figured, would get him his reading now.
Just then, on-screen, Park Ji-hun opened his mouth.
"Get in line."
Tae-jun's expression froze.
A single line, short and low.
That was all.
The chat flipped out again.
-LegendDrumBarrel : whoa he just cut him off lol
-SilentRoom : even a chairman's gotta wait in line
-agei : my turn's first so wait your turn hehe
-Kasungi : even 10,000 won't cut it lol
Tae-jun stared hard at the screen.
Something stubborn rose up in him.
He topped up once more, then opened the donation window again.
Ba-bam–
[Nathan-nim has gifted 50,000 Water Drops.]
-Nathan : how about now?
This time the chat outright exploded.
-SilentRoom : insane, 50,000?!
-SsumyeonMaster : whoa lol
-LegendDrumBarrel : okay that's a lot
-Kkoka : he's dead serious about cutting in line damn
Tae-jun leaned back into the sofa and pulled his lips into a grin.
There was nothing money couldn't do.
At least, not in Kim Tae-jun's life.
But Park Ji-hun, without changing his expression in the slightest, said:
"Stay in line. I'm taking everyone in order."
At the same time, the grin slowly drained from Tae-jun's face.