Chapter 225
“Aren’t you donating too much?”
Shiwoo sighed as he watched Yerang excitedly chatting with Un Hyang in sponsorship messages.
“A thousand points for just one sentence. Who do you think you are, Clementine? There’s no luxury like this.”
“What are you saving it for? You can’t take it to the grave.”
“But what if you don’t die?”
“Then that means we saved Hyomin too. That’s a total win-win.”
“……”
He had no comeback because she wasn’t wrong. If it could indeed be beneficial, what was the harm in a bit of sponsorship through chatting?
However, that was a separate issue.
“At least change your name to something thoughtful.”
What kind of name was ‘Yejung’ anyway?
Though the chances of getting caught because of the name were slim, it still made him uneasy. Especially considering he had already met this manager named Un Hyang twice.
“And yet you didn’t meet Lee Suhyuk.”
“I think I’ve heard that from you at least five times by now.”
“Then did you handle it well?”
“He’s not going to the Blue Zone, you know.”
“So you just left it?”
“And you keep watching streams just fine yourself.”
Shiwoo was lost for words after Yerang’s remark. Indeed, whether it was Yerang or himself, both enjoyed watching Lee Suhyuk’s streams.
Today, Lee Suhyuk was unusually silent on screen. Perhaps he was simply observing the excited chatter between Un Hyang and Yerang.
“I’d really like to meet him once.”
He was curious.
Unlike him, Yerang had actually seen Lee Suhyuk in person. Although it was from a hidden spot, it counted.
‘He really does look like him.’
He had stumbled upon this stream by chance. While checking out streams with a Lee Suhyuk concept, Yerang had discovered the channel.
A player said to have gained the Lightning.
It was intriguing, so she had started watching.
‘And then the next time, and the time after that.’
The more she watched, the more they resembled each other. If it weren’t for the stream medium and the fact that Lee Suhyuk was supposedly dead, the resemblance was uncanny.
Above all else.
‘Is he really after the points?’
Money-grabber.
That was the most common nickname for the streamer Lee Suhyuk.
But something seemed off. If it was the Kim Ilsoo he knew, he would have done anything to recruit Lee Suhyuk. The symbolic Lightning, the skills, and the future potential. There was no reason not to recruit Lee Suhyuk.
“So… why?”
This left him even more puzzled.
“Why doesn’t he join Blue Zone?”
“What kind of nonsense is this all of a sudden?”
Yerang, resting while watching the stream, seemed suddenly annoyed.
“Why should he go there, anyway?”
“Then why isn’t he going?”
“If he sets foot there, I’ll just take back the shoes I gave him.”
“Did you really give them to him?”
“Ah, maybe cutting off his foot was a bit much?”
“What are you using your head for?”
Shiwoo sighed deeply. Likely, in Yerang’s head, Lee Suhyuk had gone in and out of the Blue Zone several times already.
“Why do you think he’s streaming anyway?”
“Why else? To earn points, obviously.”
“Then why isn’t he joining the Blue Zone?”
“Why should he go there then…”
As soon as Blue Zone was mentioned, Yerang reflexively began to get annoyed but then stopped, a curious expression on her face.
“Isn’t… he going?”
Huh?
Yerang tilted her head in confusion. Now that she thought about it, it made sense. If earning points was the goal, joining a large guild would be a much more surefire way. Plus, joining a large guild didn’t mean he couldn’t stream.
“There must be some reason other than points.”
“Why would that be?”
Yerang was still perplexed. While it was the resultant choice she favored, it lacked the crucial ‘why’ for Lee Suhyuk.
If he was streaming under Lee Suhyuk’s theme, joining the Blue Zone would be the right move. Broadly speaking, it could become part of the content, and it would garner viewers’ support too. Unless the guild restricted streaming, which wasn’t the case.
“The matter with Un Hyang would have been much easier if he were in the Blue Zone.”
No matter how they thought about it, there was no reason for Lee Suhyuk not to enter the Blue Zone.
No.
There was no one like that anywhere.
If they existed, they would be the only ones who knew what happened that day.
“… Is it really Suhyuk?”
“Why are you thinking so extremely?”
At Yerang’s hint, Shiwoo shook his head in disbelief.
“It’s not possible for a dead person to come back to life…”
“They came back to life.”
Lee Suhyuk opened his mouth on the screen after a long pause.
-How did you escape from the Divine Dragon Group?
The moment he saw that chat.
Suhyuk found the answer to his dilemma.
“They came back to life.”
“…?”
Next to him, Un Hyang looked at him as if he had said something strange.
“Wow, I really was brought back to life. I was dying…”
“Suhyuk?”
What nonsense is that?
It felt like he could hear Un Hyang’s thoughts. Wasn’t it not that dangerous, anyway?
But the viewers, who didn’t know the context, could only hear one thing.
– Did you fight with Un Cheon-guk too?
– He seems insane when fighting lol.
– Is it really Lee Suhyuk who killed Baek Lidan?
– Could it be Un Hyang?
– But is that true?
– There’s a rumor that Un Cheon-guk killed him.
As soon as Suhyuk showed interest, the topic in the chatroom quickly changed. At some point, even Q1W2E3R4’s donations stopped coming in.
‘It was just something I said.’
He had not really died and come back.
If Un Cheon-guk had been there, it might have been different, but the fight to bring down Baek Lidan and escape the Divine Dragon Group was not all that dramatic.
Yet there was a reason Suhyuk phrased it that way.
‘I really did come back to life.’
It was a message intended for the viewer, Yerang, whom he suspected to be Yerang.
‘How much should I reveal?’
Knowing that Yerang was watching his stream was good news.
But that also meant that Kim Ilsoo might be watching it too.
He needed to let Yerang know who he was, without Kim Ilsoo finding out.
For that…
Un Hyang glanced in Suhyuk’s direction. He had been trying to send some kind of signal.
‘What is he trying to say?’
It felt a bit strange. He suddenly went silent and then said nonsense after seeing a chat message.
‘Thinking back, even then…’
The first time the topic of Yerang had come up, Suhyuk’s reaction had been unusual.
He abruptly ran out, as if searching for something while listening to the conversation.
‘Do they know each other?’
Whatever it was, if Suhyuk had something to say, she needed to play along.
“It was indeed dangerous.”
Un Hyang nodded in agreement with Suhyuk and asked.
“… But why did you help me?”
Considering Un Cheon-guk might have been there. It could have been really dangerous.
Why did you come to help?
“Because I was confident.”
“Confident? Confident of what?”
“Of somehow making it through.”
Briefly, Suhyuk’s gaze shifted from Un Hyang to the chatroom.
“… I just believed.”
It was a long time ago.
Suhyuk had a similar conversation with Yerang.
It must have been right after they tackled the Guardian on the 6th floor.
“Why did you do that?”
Late at night.
Yerang came to find him alone.
“What, why?”
“You almost died, you know!”
“Well, I really did nearly come back to life.”
It was because of Suhyuk’s actions during the battle with the Guardian.
Yerang almost died in that fight, and Suhyuk risked himself to save her.
Thanks to that.
They all survived the near-death experience.
If it hadn’t been for Lee Suhyuk’s choice, they would never have been able to gaze at the night sky together from this place.
“But why did you do it? You could’ve really died.”
“I had confidence.”
“Confidence? What kind of ridiculous confidence is that?”
“I believed that we would somehow manage.”
That day, those had merely been words meant to calm an angry Yerang.
“… I just believed.”
Even if I acted like that, wouldn’t you all find a way?
It was an excuse, but it was also the truth.
When they tackled the guardian on the sixth floor, and even thereafter.
Lee Suhyuk had protected his other comrades, and they had protected him in return.
– Is this part of the act?
– Manager nuna has heart eyes
– Oh wow…
Un Hyang had a momentary blank expression at Suhyuk’s reply.
Seeing that not only the chat but the atmosphere seemed to head in a strange direction, Suhyuk quickly changed the topic.
“Let’s wrap up the opening and get started.”
Having said that, Suhyuk began walking back toward the examination arena.
Stealing glances, he kept checking the chat window while moving.
– He’s running away
– Why are you filming a hidden marriage with us unaware?
– Dropping Viola??? Are you really?
– I think it’s okay to drop her with this combo…
But all he saw were strange remarks.
The chat or support from Yerang, who he was waiting for, didn’t appear.
‘This is as far as I can go.’
This was all he could do right now.
In about half a month, he would visit her himself, but it would be meaningless if she didn’t recognize him at that moment.
It would be ideal if she recognized him immediately, like Hwang Gyuseong did, but there was no guarantee for the two of them.
‘Please notice.’
That’s why Suhyuk needed to say something, however small.
That he had returned.
* * *
Shiwoo and Yerang were silently watching the stream.
They became silent precisely when the phrase ‘nearly died’ came up.
“Uh…”
And when Lee Suhyuk began to seriously engage in the trial, Yerang started speaking.
“I’ve heard this conversation somewhere before…”
“Why?”
“No, it just seemed odd.”
Yerang hurriedly corrected her words, which she had expressed with a mysterious feeling.
“No, no. It’s not odd, maybe familiar?”
“Familiar?”
“I’m sure I remembered it word-for-word… Could this really be a coincidence?”
“Ugh, it’s so frustrating.”
Watching Yerang’s gibberish and fading words, Shiwoo pounded his chest in frustration.
“So, with whom and when did you have what conversation?”
“With Suhyuk. Probably… right after we cleared the first guardian together.”
Yerang pointed at the stream screen with her eyes.
“We had this exact conversation before.”
“This conversation just now?”
“Yes.”
Yerang furrowed her brow, unsure how to describe the feeling she currently experienced.
It was a conversation she had forgotten. That was probably back when she first truly got angry with Suhyuk.
The event had become just one of the many scenes as their time together extended.
Why did it resurface now, of all times? A coincidence, perhaps?
“… Isn’t it just your imagination? It wasn’t anything special.”
Even Shiwoo wasn’t particularly suspicious.
Yerang nodded.
She and Shiwoo were aware of the events between Un Hyang, the manager, and Lee Suhyuk. Anyone with even a bit of interest in Suhyuk’s streams would know about it.
Thus, conversations like this occurring between those two wouldn’t be odd. In fact, they were natural.
But why…
“To me, it felt like he was speaking while looking directly at me.”
As if Suhyuk were addressing her, not Un Hyang.
“You…”
Shiwoo looked at Yerang scratching her head with a protruding bottom lip.
Shiwoo shot her a genuinely abhorrent look, seeing her deep in thought.
“You’ve really become a fangirl, haven’t you?”
Yerang lifted her head sharply at those words.
“What? How does that make me a fangirl?”
“Isn’t it obvious? How does he even see you? I’ve known since you shot points at him from the start… Ow! Did you have to actually hit me?”
“You called me a fangirl!”
“If we end up in hell, Suhyuk will find out what you… Yerang…”
“Just die!”