Chapter 3: The Grind Begins

At first, everything seemed fine.

‘I’ll earn a lot of money, take care of my parents, and live a comfortable life.’

When Minseop was making plans about how he’d live once he got rich, he was filled with happiness.

But that happiness soon turned into despair.

‘Why! Why isn’t it working?! Flashback!’

[Skill cannot be used.]

‘What?! Why not?! It worked earlier!’

He tried using the skill, but it was completely useless.

He had been doing this nonsense for three whole hours.

‘Please… just work already! Flashback!’

[Skill conditions not met.]

[Skill cannot be used.]

Most people would’ve given up by now, but Minseop didn’t.

His determination was incredibly strong.

Well, that made sense—he had continued streaming even when he only had ten viewers left.

Anyone else would’ve broken down and quit long ago.

But not Minseop.

He stuck with it, giving his best for those remaining ten viewers until the very end.

He didn’t know how to give up.

‘The only “giving up” I know is counting heads of cabbage!’

He burned with resolve.

At this rate, he’d keep clinging to the Flashback skill until he finally succeeded.

He was determined to make it work—no matter what.

Maybe that’s why the one who sent him back in time felt threatened.

Ding~

[The Flashback skill can’t be used for that purpose. It was given to help make your streaming more comfortable and effective. Not for things like winning the lottery.]

Minseop’s face twisted into a look of despair as he read the message.

In short, the ability had been restricted from being used in that way.

No matter how much he struggled or tried, he wouldn’t be able to learn lottery numbers or anything like that.

‘Argh! Damn it!!’

Ding~

[Please do your best with your streaming. We’re looking forward to it.]

‘What?! Wait! Chronos-nim! If you’re gonna do this, can’t you at least be a bit more generous?!’

Minseop cried out desperately, but no reply came.

“Haa… So, basically, I have to earn money through streaming.”

He clicked his tongue.

In that short amount of time, he had already made plans—what kind of house to buy, what kind of car to drive.

He couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

‘Well… nothing I can do about it.’

He couldn’t keep clinging to something that didn’t work.

Minseop finally pulled himself together.

He couldn’t just sit around like this.

‘I need to make money first.’

His current household had too many financial holes to plug.

Minseop picked up the envelope of medicine next to him.

It was the medicine he had been taking ever since the accident.

‘One month’s worth costs 600,000 won…’

The medicine was extremely expensive.

There were cheaper alternatives, but his parents insisted he take the best.

Even if he said he didn’t want it, they kept buying it anyway—he had no choice but to take it.

‘How am I supposed to skip this…?’

600,000 won a month.

That was not a small amount.

Considering his mother earned 1.5 million won a month, and his father earned 2.5 million, it was a big expense.

After paying rent, loan payments, and installment bills, 2 million won disappeared instantly each month.

And then there were utility bills and other expenses—there was barely anything left.

Because of that, things had been really tough for their family before the regression.

‘That’s why I started streaming.’

He had wanted to help his parents.

With his legs no longer moving, there weren’t many things he could do.

Streaming was one of the few options that wasn’t too hard to access.

And since he wasn’t good at studying, he hadn’t even considered other paths.

‘If I were smart, I would’ve studied for the civil service exam. But that takes a lot of time and money…!’

Blinded by TV shows claiming streamers and BJs made over 10 million won a month, he dove into the world of streaming.

At first, his parents were against it.

They didn’t want their sick son to struggle with work.

But after a long period of persuasion, they finally gave their permission.

He borrowed a VR headset from a close friend.

The friend’s older brother had gone to the military, so there was a spare one available, and he didn’t care when it was returned.

‘It’s a cheap model, but it’ll do just fine.’

***

‘Alright. Let’s stream.’

Starting over again.

It was a bit scary.

Before the regression, he had been a failed streamer.

Could he really succeed if he tried again?

That fear and anxiety crept in.

‘Can I really do this?’

It was then that someone entered his room.

“Son?”

“Oh, Mom.”

His mother walked in.

“Is your headache better now?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m okay.”

When he first woke up, he had asked her to give him space by saying he had a headache so he could process the situation.

“That’s good. Did you take your medicine?”

“Of course.”

“Don’t skip it, okay~?”

“I won’t, I promise.”

“I’m heading to work now. Do you want me to get you anything while I’m out?”

His mother worked at a supermarket about 1km from home.

These days, with everything delivered by online orders, stores like supermarkets and convenience stores were gradually disappearing.

Before the regression, she had been let go from the supermarket and had to look for a new job.

Eventually, she ended up doing dishwashing and other odd jobs in a restaurant kitchen.

As a result, her hands had become wrinkled and covered in eczema.

“No, I don’t need anything.”

“Okay. If anything happens, call me right away.”

“Yeah, I will.”

“Alright, I’m off then. Get some rest, and don’t overdo it with the streaming.”

“Okay. Take care, Mom.”

“Alright~”

His mother left with those words.

‘Fear of streaming? Terror?’

That had disappeared long ago.

Now, only one thing remained for him.

‘Let’s make them happy.’

A heart full of filial devotion.

He just wanted his parents, who had suffered because of him, to be a little bit happier.

Before his regression, they had gone through so much because of him.

They, too, deserved to be happy.

‘I can’t stand the thought of my parents being unhappy because of someone like me…’

“Let’s do this.”

Minseop made up his mind.

Then he left a post on Trster.

Trster was a forum provided by his streaming platform, Trs TV, where streamers could post announcements about their broadcast schedule and content to share with their viewers.

It was quite a useful board.

“One hour…”

He posted that he would start the stream in one hour.

That meant the broadcast would begin at 3 p.m.

Today, he planned to start a little earlier than usual.

Normally, he would stream at 8 p.m., but he had to go to the hospital in the evening.

So, he had intentionally decided to stream earlier today.

“I’m nervous…”

The dice had already been cast.

There was no turning back now.

‘I need to prepare a little more thoroughly.’

To make the broadcast as perfect as possible, he used his “Flashback” skill to plan out an impeccable strategy in that one hour.

***

Finally, the time to start streaming had come.

Minseop put on his headset and lay back quietly.

“Connect.”

[Connecting to virtual reality. (Y/N)]

“Yes.”

[Connecting.]

[You may feel a little dizzy.]

“Vmmmmmmm”

With a soft mechanical sound, his consciousness was pulled into the virtual world.

“……”

Maybe it was because he was using a low-end connector?

He felt slightly dizzy during the transition.

But even that could be avoided by simply spending a little money to get a better connector.

‘I’ll definitely upgrade once I start making money.’

And so, Minseop entered the virtual space.

He stood in a white void.

Soon, that space changed.

It transformed into a setting he had configured beforehand.

“Vmmmm!”

“Flash!”

The blank white space turned into a small studio.

Because the white background could hurt viewers’ eyes if stared at too long, Minseop had adjusted it to something more comfortable.

He could change the space to anything he wanted.

Some streamers decorated their space to look like their own room, while others turned it into outer space.

It was true freedom.

The kind of freedom he couldn’t get in the real world was now possible in virtual reality.

‘I should probably upgrade this space too later.’

“Let’s see.”

Minseop moved his legs.

‘It still feels a bit awkward, but it’s okay.’

Inside the virtual world, even someone like Minseop, who had paralysis in his lower body, could move his legs.

That’s why people with certain physical disabilities could fully enjoy VR games and even stream them.

‘Though it’s not possible for those with congenital conditions…’

Virtual reality wasn’t a cure-all.

If someone had a congenital disability, they couldn’t use or move that part of their body even in VR.

Even if their avatar had legs, they couldn’t move them.

The reason was simple.

Because the brain didn’t know how.

‘They say it’s because the brain doesn’t know how to move something it never used before, right?’

Think about it—what if humans suddenly had wings?

Could they move them?

No, of course not.

It was the same principle.

For someone like Minseop who developed his condition later in life, the brain already had a memory of using his legs.

That’s why he could move them in VR.

But for those with congenital disabilities, their brains had never learned how to use those limbs, so they couldn’t move them.

‘If only people with congenital conditions could use it too, then it would be perfect… but that’s still a ways off.’

Even before his regression, many scientists were working hard on that front, but there hadn’t been much success.

Still, there was hope.

Because the possibilities of virtual reality were limitless.

Someday, even people born with disabilities would be able to enjoy VR freely.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Minseop moved his hand.

A translucent panel floated up in front of him.

He adjusted it to configure the stream display.

‘Let’s make sure I show up clearly this time…’

These days, the system was advanced enough that he didn’t need to adjust the camera manually.

The camera would automatically find flattering angles.

Still, some settings were necessary.

He had to decide whether to focus the camera on the streamer or the game screen.

‘Adjust the brightness, balance the audio… this should be good enough.’

With the experience from before regression and the tips he had picked up online, Minseop finished setting up his camera.

After all the preparations, he took a deep breath.

“Ha… wow.”

He suddenly chuckled to himself.

“It’s funny how I was doing my final stream yesterday, and today I’m back like nothing happened.”

He had spent a month agonizing over ending his stream and had made his final decision.

And now, the very next day, he had returned to seven years ago and was starting his stream all over again.

It was funny when he thought about it.

‘Alright, this time I’ll do it right. I have seven more years of experience than anyone else, after all.’

He knew which games would become popular.

He knew what games would be released.

Not only that—

He even knew about hidden endings and secret features in those games.

That alone gave him an insane advantage.

While others struggled to figure things out, Minseop could just follow a guide and breeze through.

He was at least several steps ahead of other streamers.

***

Beep beep beep—

A notification sounded.

There were five minutes left until the broadcast.

Maybe it was because he’d been thinking so much, but the nervousness had faded.

“Alright, let’s do this.”

Five minutes later, Minseop started the stream.

As soon as it began, viewers started joining.

There were quite a few.

Roughly a hundred people came in.

Considering he only had ten viewers before regression, this was a huge increase.

Minseop checked the viewers.

‘Is Chronos… here?’

Chronos had been a loyal viewer since his first stream.

He figured the guy would be here again today.

Minseop looked through the entire viewer list.

But Chronos wasn’t there.

‘Well, of course not.’

Chronos had already revealed his identity to Minseop.

There was no way he’d shamelessly show up again like nothing happened.

‘Guess it’s time to get started.’

The viewer count held steady at around a hundred.

It looked like everyone had arrived.

Facing the camera, Minseop flashed a bright smile and began his opening line.

“Streaming~ now live! Hello, everyone! Exitra is back~ Thank you so much for waiting~!”