Chapter 27: Fast-Forward to Disaster

Minseop was checking the reaction to his recent stream.

He had read the forum post about how to defeat the Giant Black Mountain Goat, and he had also checked the comments.

The results were satisfying.

“Not bad. The response is decent.”

He muttered with a grin.

[You’re enjoying streaming because of me, right? Having my support makes everything better~]

Minseop smiled at Chronos’s message.

That was true.

If he had only returned in time without anything special, he would’ve barely managed a slightly better stream than before.

But thanks to Chronos’s constant support and the well-timed skills he provided, streaming had become much easier.

“Hahaha, you’re right. I can’t deny that. Thank you.”

[Don’t mention it. I’m your fan. I can’t do much for you right now, but I’ll help you make more entertaining streams whenever I can.]

“Thank you.”

Minseop offered his gratitude once more.

Then, a sudden curiosity came to mind.

“By the way, Chronos… since you’re a god, what kind of god are you? I mean, even among gods, aren’t there different types?”

“In the real world, there were various religions beyond just Christianity and Buddhism. Christians believed in God. Buddhists believed in Buddha.”

“Just like that, gods had always existed in many forms. So what kind of god was Chronos?”

Since they were already talking, Minseop decided to ask.

But Chronos replied first.

[Sorry, but I can’t say much. I’m under certain restrictions. Honestly, even talking to you like this is something I’m not supposed to do… I’m doing this in secret. So, for now, I can’t tell you or do much more.]

Apparently, being a god didn’t mean he was all-powerful.

There seemed to be some kind of constraint on him.

‘He’s doing this secretly?’

The idea of a god sneaking around was surprising.

Gods must have their own circumstances.

“I see. Alright, I won’t press the issue any further.”

Minseop put aside his curiosity.

Chronos had said “for now.”

Which meant that someday, when the time was right, Minseop might get the answers he wanted.

‘I’ll wait.’

There was no need to poke around and risk triggering one of those restrictions.

No point in crossing a dangerous river without reason.

‘Still, this is pretty amazing. What would happen if someone religious found out I was communicating with a god?’

They probably wouldn’t believe him.

If he told anyone he was talking with a god, they’d likely throw him into a mental hospital.

‘Not that anyone would believe me anyway. They’d just think I’d gone mad.’

This was something he had to keep completely secret.

***

Beep-beep-beep!

A notification went off.

It was a reminder—ten minutes before the stream started.

Minseop picked up the connector device.

“Alright, let’s have a fun stream today.”

[Of course.]

— [Dohaaa~]

— [Haha, smooth Doha~]

— [DohaDoha~]

— [Dogry~ We’ve been waiting for you!]

Dogry turned on his stream.

But his current state was… not normal.

How should one put it?

It looked like he had lost everything.

“Hello, everyone… This is Dogry…”

Even his voice lacked energy.

[‘SmoothSkin’ has donated 10,000 won.]

<How was the full-body waxing? Any good?>

One of the viewers asked the question everyone had been dying to know.

Everyone who tuned into Dogry’s stream was focused on one thing.

Dogry’s full-body waxing!

They all wanted to hear his review.

— [Kkkkkkk]

— [Dogry, you look so clean!]

— [Smooth body, smooth head!]

— [Please turn off the light—wait, never mind, that’s not the light, that’s just… LOL]

“You devils… You jump on me the moment you get the chance!”

“Nothing left to bite.”

“He’s already in shreds.”

“Ptooey! Not even tasty anymore lol”

— [??? : Selling used goods~]

— [LMAOOO]

“Sigh…”

Dogry let out a heavy sigh.

It was his first time getting a full-body wax.

To be honest, it felt… weird.

“You guys wouldn’t understand. Full-body waxing… sigh…”

His sigh carried layers of emotion.

The sensations he experienced during the waxing were not something easily forgotten.

“Can you see? There’s no hair on my arms! Even… ngh…”

— [Even? Where exactly?]

— [Where else did you shave?]

— [Talk, man.]

— [Hey, are you crying? LOL]

— [Are you mad~?]

“Ngh… How could I possibly say that out loud?!”

Dogry made an embarrassed face.

When he first got the waxing, he thought, ‘I’m totally going to give a detailed review!’

But after actually going through it, he changed his mind.

It was too embarrassing to talk about.

It felt humiliating.

‘How was he supposed to put it into words?’

It was shameful.

“I’m not saying it!”

[‘Chairman’ has donated 50,000 won.]

<Say it.>

“Chairman, thank you for the 50,000 won donation! But no!!”

[‘Chairman’ has donated 100,000 won.]

<Say it.>

“Ch-Chairman… Thank you for the generous support. But I said no!!”

— [Whoa, look at Dogry’s eyes shaking.]

— [Tempted by money already.]

— [Chairman! Just a little more and he’ll crack!]

[‘Chairman’ has donated 100,000 won.]

<Say it.>

“Ugh…”

Dogry’s eyes were trembling uncontrollably.

Feeling embarrassed and humiliated, it was as if the weight of capitalism was pressing down on him.

‘Wasn’t this world a capitalist one?’

Nothing came before money.

‘No, I can’t… but still…’

[The Chairman has donated 100,000 won.]

<Still not going to talk?>

— [Wow, even after getting 350,000 won, he’s staying silent?]

— [Honestly, if it were me, I’d have spilled everything already.]

— [A streamer who takes money and zips their mouth? Ppussyung ppashyung ppussyung?!]

— [Wow, look at that shamelessness, lol.]

— [Even the hair on his conscience must’ve been shaved off~]

The viewers jumped at the chance to grab Dogry by the collar and shake him.

They were the kind of audience always waiting for a chance to tease and torment the streamer however they could.

They weren’t about to let this one go.

They planned to bite, chew, lick, and suck out every last detail—nothing would be left untouched.

“Urgh! A-Alright! I’ll talk, okay?!”

He really didn’t want to.

But the amount of money involved was too much.

At this point, it felt like getting slapped in the face with a stack of cash.

— [There you go!]

— [So how was it? Full-body waxing?]

Dogry let out a deep sigh at the viewers’ questions.

“It was actually pretty refreshing. Full-body waxing isn’t as bad as people think. Hair grows to protect our bodies, sure, but honestly, nowadays it’s not really necessary, right? It feels nice being smooth.”

— [Ah, so you shaved your head too because you didn’t need hair anymore?]

“Guh, my hair!! Manager! I didn’t even want to remember that! Manager, please ban that person!”

— [‘Bald Boss’ has been banned by a manager.]

— [Whoa, that word is banned in here, lololol]

— [Another one… taken.]

— [Press F to pay respects.]

The chat exploded in laughter.

Then, one viewer dropped a bold question.

— [So I’ve been wondering… did you shave there, too?]

“Hahaha…”

Dogry gave an awkward laugh.

They didn’t say exactly where “there” was.

But everyone already knew what the question meant.

“I did shave it… yeah…”

— [Ooooh!]

— [How does it feel?]

That was a hard one to answer.

You could say it struck right at a man’s pride.

No matter how much money someone offered, some things weren’t meant to be said—though he had to admit, he was tempted.

Dogry smiled faintly.

“You’ll know once you try it for yourself.”

***

Exitra turned on his stream.

At the same time, a notification went out to his viewers that his stream had begun, and people immediately started tuning in.

— [Exha~]

— [Eeeeeeeek!!]

— [Exha!]

— [Hiyo hiyo!]

— [I’ve been waiting for this moment!!]

The number of viewers shot up rapidly.

It only took a moment for the viewer count to pass 3,000.

It was an emotional moment.

‘This is great.’

Before his regression, he’d only had ten viewers for his final stream.

And even then, three of them left halfway through because they got bored—leaving just seven at the end.

Compared to back then, he’d come a long way.

‘I’ve got to hold onto these people.’

***

“Hello, everyone! I’m the brainpower monster, Exitra!”

— [Exha!]

— [Here to watch again today!]

— [Show us your little brother!]

— [Little bro chaaaaan~]

“Haha, it looks like you’re all starting to love the little brother, huh?”

— [I had no idea the little brother would be this cute.]

— [This isn’t the brother I know!]

It seemed everyone had fallen for the charm of the “younger brother.”

[‘PrettyOne’ has donated 1,000 won.]

<OGM match~? Of course it’s Molgahub, right??>

— [OGM always leads to Molgahub!]

— [Honestly, Molgahub is in its prime right now!]

— [We can’t stop here!!]

“Of course.”

Exitra nodded.

He had been planning to play that game anyway.

“Alright! Then let’s begin ‘Heir of a Fallen House,’ the game you’ve all been waiting for!”

Exitra launched Heir of a Fallen House.

As usual, a burst of flame spread out from Exitra’s avatar, and the background began to change.

The last time he had saved the game, it was right after selling items to Mosquito and receiving money.

“Then… let’s fast-forward time a little, shall we?”

He had asked Mosquito to summon a merchant and a representative from the Architect Guild.

It hadn’t been long since Mosquito left, so it would take time for them to arrive.

— [Yeah, let’s do that.]

— [Waiting is boring.]

— [But how much should we fast-forward?]

“Let’s go one day at a time.”

You never knew what could happen.

Especially in Exitra’s territory, which was in a dire state.

If he fast-forwarded too recklessly, something bad could easily happen.

“Alright, here we go!”

Exitra put on a tense expression and activated the fast-forward.

— [You’ve used the fast-forward feature.]

— [You may feel slightly dizzy. Please be cautious.]

The surrounding scenery began to blur and rush past at a rapid pace.

As time sped forward, it felt like everything was being sucked into a vortex.

— [It’s a time warp!]

— [I love time warps~]

— [Ooooh, we’re being pulled in!!]

Fast-forwarding wasn’t always a good thing.

It was useful for skipping time, but it could cause motion sickness—both for the streamer and the viewers watching the screen.

— [Fast-forward complete.]

— [You will be able to move in 10 seconds.

***

Ten seconds later, Exitra was able to move again.

“Let’s see… hmm, judging by the situation, it seems they haven’t arrived yet.”

— [00]

— [Maybe one day wasn’t enough?]

“That might be it. Then I guess we’ll—”

Just as Exitra was about to fast-forward again—

“Exitra!”

The door to the drawing room burst open, and Ray rushed in, panting.

“What’s wrong?”

“A-a merchant just arrived!”

“A merchant? Then why are you so out of breath?”

“B-because… the merchant’s carriage and the people from the Architect Guild… were captured by bandits!”

[Sudden Quest: ‘Rescue the Captured People’ has appeared. Do you accept? (Y/N)]

— [Ohhhh!!]

— [This is insane, lol]

— [Unlucky streamer strikes again!!]

— [Every other day, misfortune awaits him!]

— [He’s truly blessed by the god of content.]

— [Huff huff!!! So unlucky, so good!!]

[Ding~]

[‘Haha another quest lol’]

It was enough to drive anyone crazy.

It felt like he’d never had a peaceful day in this game.

“Haa…”

Exitra let out a quiet sigh and muttered the words he always said when something went wrong.

“Go get Alfredo.”