A house left alone after everyone has departed.
They say some people feel lonely when it suddenly becomes quiet after being so lively, but that’s not how I feel.
Well, I can just turn on the broadcast. Once I do, thousands of people from beyond the internet start chatting with me.
Mollru is live!
– Diligent broadcaster
[What’s up]
[Hi hi]
[Explain the illegal fan meeting]
[Oh, ㅋㅋ did anyone not get to attend the fan meeting?]
[For real, don’t go around saying you’re a Mollu fan elsewhere]
[Unnie, it was nice that day ^^]
“What explanation do you need? I didn’t know you all would come. It wasn’t even a fan meeting to begin with, so why did you show up?”
That’s how it was. Of course, I can’t stop them from saying they like me, but there was no reason for them to come in the first place. What would they have done if I hadn’t shown up?
I browsed the fan café, exchanging short chats. Most of the popular posts were reviews of meetings with me. The posts featuring photos taken with me had overwhelming recommendations.
Responses like “so jealous,” “this is ridiculous,” and “is the moderator’s face for real?” followed.
<GeujeMolHwang donated 10,000 won!>
– Are you not holding an official fan meeting?
“Fan meeting? Not really appealing to me.”
“Please communicate with fans via Bulsutagram, share your daily life, hold a fan meeting.” That’s what I think every time I hear those words.
Aren’t they overdoing it? What are these people expecting, things that celebrities would do?
I’m just an ordinary person with a slightly pretty face; there’s no way I would do such things. Besides, aside from anything else, I realized through this situation that holding a fan meeting takes much more effort than I thought.
From reserving a venue to planning how to hold the fan meeting, guiding fans, monitoring for weirdos, and those who would handle them. This is just what I can think of off the top of my head; there would undoubtedly be more to do.
Noticing the annoyance in my tone when I said I wasn’t interested, the viewers stopped pressing further.
Instead, they focused on something else.
[So why aren’t you turning on the camera?]
[Are you not turning on the camera today?]
[Please turn on the cameraㅓㅓㅓㅓㅓ]
[Is it that?]
[It has been a while since I turned it on.]
“Today’s broadcast is by Virtual Mollu. I will not be turning on the camera.”
A familiar character with blonde hair and blue eyes, one I hadn’t shown until recently, appeared. Viewers who knew my real face and those who had just come in showed intense rejection, but I didn’t flinch.
I planned not to turn on the camera from the beginning. To turn it on, I’d have to tidy my hair and dress nicely.
Today, I didn’t even bother to wash up and was just in a shirt with a stretched neck and shorts. I used to wash up every day, but with long hair, it takes a considerable amount of time just to wash it, making showering a task.
The thought of being dirty only crossed my mind at first; nowadays, I didn’t feel that way. Perhaps because I was born with a body that doesn’t accumulate waste, not washing my hair for a day didn’t make it oily. The same went for my body.
“It’s awkward to turn on the camera without washing. It’s too much trouble to get dressed up.”
[Oh…]
[I don’t care though]
[I actually like it]
[Just turn it onㅠㅠ I want to see your face]
[That might be nice too?]
[There’s a certain demand for that.]
Gently ignoring the viewers’ whining, I pulled out the game I would play today.
Today’s game is…
“I will play Animal Crossing: New Horizons.”
Well known as a relaxed daily life game, this was a game I had put off saying I would play someday.
[Hmm…]
[Isn’t this trend already over?]
[This doesn’t really suit the broadcaster though]
[It’s too calm]
[Mollu, do whatever you want.]
The viewers’ reactions were varied. Those who enjoyed stimulating content expressed their disagreement.
However, I had come to realize through previous experiences that you could never satisfy everyone, no matter what game you choose.
Moreover, the chat wasn’t the voice of all the viewers. Right now, my broadcast had 20,000 viewers. Out of those, less than half likely were chatting, maybe even less than 10,000. The rest were probably not chatting or just had it on like a radio.
In short, there was no need to pay attention to the chat. My belief was that it was best to proceed as the streamer wished. That’s what I had always done.
– Nice to see you! Thank you for coming!
As I launched the game, a cute raccoon character greeted me.
The game begins with me moving to a deserted island as a new resident. I provide my name, date of birth, and set up my basic appearance.
[Character customization by an old man on]
[This will take a few hours again]
[I’ll go to sleep.]
“Don’t make a fuss. It’ll be over soon.”
This time, I finished character customization with just a few clicks without much thought. After all, everyone has round, cute character designs, so why put in too much effort? The world looked realistic, so that got me motivated.
As if to prove it wasn’t just a healing game, there was an introduction showing the peaceful island while flying on an airplane.
– Nice to meet you! I am the representative raccoon who will help you with your daily life on this island!
“Ah, nice to meet you.”
– First, let’s find a spot for your house. I’ll give you a tent, so go find a place to stay!
“Alright, so this is how the start goes.”
[In this weather? A tent?]
[Are you trying to freeze us to death?]
[The raccoon seems to have a motive to kill us ㄷㄷ]
I proceeded to gather twigs and pick cherries following the representative raccoon’s directions.
A campfire welcoming the new residents. There are three resident animals, including myself.
One animal looks like a duck, and the other resembles a bear.
“Will more residents come later?”
[Yeah, isn’t it up to 8?]
[You can expand the island.]
As life goes on the island, it grows, and more residents gather.
For now, let’s follow the NPC raccoon’s guidance.
After finishing the first day’s campfire, when I woke up in the tent I set up…
– Knock, knock.
In the morning, I heard a noise outside. When I went out, the representative raccoon I met yesterday was waiting for me.
– Good morning! Did you sleep well?
Is he here to check on how the new residents are doing? Since he has a role like the village head, he might feel some responsibility.
That thought was shattered by what he said next.
– Welcome again as a member of our island. But I have something important to tell you.
I stayed silent, curious. The raccoon began to pull something out from his pocket.
What appeared from his pocket was a stack of documents.
– This is the relocation package invoice!
“Invoice?”
With a word that sounded suspiciously like money, I focused on what he said.
– The cost of airfare, labor, and equipment… totals to 49,800 Bells!
“What?”
No way, he hadn’t mentioned money before I got on the plane, and now suddenly?
Three choices appeared: I understand, I can’t pay, I have no money. My answer to this would be “I can’t pay.” No, “I won’t pay.”
– Haha, Mollu! Since it’s a deserted island life, you came empty-handed, right?
Of course. Hasn’t he read about surviving on a deserted island? In a normal deserted island scenario, any money would have to be used for firewood.
Even amidst that, he continued cheerfully.
– It’s alright! I had something prepared knowing this might happen.
What now?
– With the special relocation package, you can use a mileage system instead of money!
“Mileage?”
Listening to him, it turns out these points accumulate when you do various activities on the island. You can pay him with that instead of money.
– If you pay with mileage, you can pay at a much cheaper rate than with money!
While he tried to phrase it positively, the core was simple.
“You’re just saying if I don’t have money, I can pay with my labor, right?”
[That’s correct.]
[This is how the game works ㅋㅋㅋ]
[I thought it was a healing game and brought this up.]
[It’s all based on reality, yes, everyone gets scammed like this.]
[A healing game where you repay your debts…]
With the contracts being shoved in front of me, the moment he saw I didn’t have money, it was as if the words flowed out naturally. This guy’s scheme didn’t seem like a one-day thing.
Did I just get scammed?
Was the campfire we had to welcome the new residents all just a setup for this?
Truly meticulous.
– Then I’ll take my leave! If you come to the center of the island, you’ll find me!
[Time for some raccoon soup ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Life is a reality check.]
[Hang in there, Mollu!]
[Looks like I’ll have to work like a dog again.]
On my first day on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, I got scammed.
