Time flowed without pause.
I spent my days streaming, sleeping, and going around to see houses.
I found a location a bit farther from the house I currently lived in, close to Ji-yeon’s family home.
There were pressures from Ji-yeon, and the infrastructure over there was well-established.
A small apartment with tight security. I heard it was newly built.
These days, with the increase in single-person households, such places have become numerous.
Having selected the house and set the moving date, I moved to Si-young’s house under her escort.
“Excuse me.”
“Should I set the microphone here? I have a camera, should I take it out?”
“No, it’s okay.”
In the room covered by blackout curtains, only the light from the computer’s main unit and monitor illuminated the interior.
On the screen, my recent broadcast video was playing back, just like always.
Will I turn it off? It’s the same scene every time I come.
“Would you like to take a look? The setup is done for now.”
I sat in a fluffy chair, touched the mouse, and spoke into the microphone.
It was a strange sensation.
Streaming in a different place than my own home.
Confirming that there were no issues, I pressed the broadcast start button without hesitation.
For a streamer, there is no distinction between weekdays and weekends.
There is only a distinction between streaming days and non-streaming days.
Some streamers stick to a fixed routine for regular rest days, while others, like Mollru, tend to take breaks spontaneously whenever they want.
Ryu-a belonged to the former.
Perhaps due to the habit of working right after graduating from high school, she was accustomed to resting on weekends.
Because weekends are holidays, her relationships with others were not strained.
It was easy to make plans with someone.
Though viewers questioned why a streamer would need to take two days off a week, Ryu-a at least felt she needed those two days.
There were always some lingering tasks that required her attention even on rest days, related to her broadcasts.
On her off days, sitting in a cramped but quiet soundproof booth, Ryu-a started working without turning on the broadcast.
The first thing was reviewing YouTube videos sent by her editor.
Checking emails for any broadcast-related inquiries.
Looking at the bulletin board to gauge viewer needs.
Researching what content was trending on Switch these days.
And brainstorming new content ideas in a similar vein.
With all this to do, it wasn’t exactly a great work-life balance.
Still, if she prepared for her broadcasts in advance, she could focus solely on the broadcast itself without any thoughts during the streaming.
Moreover, as if her efforts were rewarded, her viewership increased, collaboration offers emanated, and her YouTube subscriber count rose; it was something she couldn’t give up.
Thus, on her off days, she would spend one day completing work and the other meeting friends, taking a proper rest.
Months passed in this lifestyle, and a small change occurred in her routine.
“Where…”
Ryu-a fiddled with the computer screen and smiled satisfactorily.
Mollru is streaming!
– Detective Mollu, the culprit is…
While doing broadcasting-related tasks, she developed a habit of playing something in the background.
It started with soft ASMR to help her concentrate, gradually expanding to streams from fellow streamers or YouTube videos.
Ultimately, her checkpoint was always videos related to Mollru.
Today, there happened to be a fresh live broadcast, so she felt lucky.
In a way, it could be seen as a downside of working from home.
Sitting in a reading room during school, staring vacantly or getting distracted, she found herself doing the same thing at her computer; when she heard something fun, she would quickly switch to watch a video.
Ryu-a was aware, upon calm reflection, that this was not very efficient behavior.
Isn’t it better to work while working and play while playing?
She knew in her head, but…
‘What’s the use of knowing?’
She couldn’t put it into practice.
If merely knowing meant accomplishing everything, she would have already achieved all her desires.
Fortunately, she hadn’t yet seen a drop in her productivity.
She never found herself watching broadcasts without finishing what she had to do.
“Ugh…”
Ryu-a stretched and looked at the computer screen.
Current broadcast uptime: 10 minutes. Today, she was finishing work fairly quickly.
Mollru was chatting with the viewers and hadn’t started the game yet.
“Is it a mystery game?”
Given the title of Detective Mollru, it seemed so.
The fun lay in the unpredictability of the detective game Mollru was playing.
Mollru was definitely not in the category of being dumb.
But was she smart?
It was hard to say for sure.
‘There seems to be brainpower, but…’
Though her brilliance leaned toward the unusual side.
Her distinct feature was her ability to think of ideas that ordinary people would never consider.
What kind of performance would Mollru showcase in this detective game?
Ryu-a focused on the broadcast with a strange sense of anticipation.
“High school students are trapped in one place. The only way to escape is for the student who can commit murder without being caught…”
A decent mystery game that can be streamed.
Having received many recommendations on the café bulletin board before catching a cold, viewer reactions were not bad, either.
[Is that a high school student? Why is their build like that?]
[Looks like they would just snap if they tried to kill someone, lol.]
[Is the person who trapped them crazy? Why did they trap them?]
[It’s fun, so it’s all good…]
[All the characters have their quirks, but the protagonist is a bit bland.]
[The protagonist is controlled by Mollru, so it’s a broken character.]
[For real, lol.]
It seemed they were already immersing themselves in the game.
For some reason, it appears that the culprit wanted to observe what happens after trapping the students in school.
It’s sick, that.
No way anyone would suddenly kill someone just for being trapped here.
It’s not like this is a death game with a prize of 456 billion won; there’s no one who would do something like that, right?
-If you keep approaching me, I might just kill anyone.
“What the hell, this lunatic.”
In a situation cut off from the outside world, where they are meeting for the first time.
How bold to make such statements that could raise suspicion.
It was true that the world was vast and there were many crazy people.
[Kill. You might. Kill. Me?]
[I’m scared, my hands and feet are shaking, Mollru, ㅠㅠ]
[Hug me, ㅠㅠ]
[There’s a bit of a creepy taste here.]
[You need at least one character like that, lol.]
[Anyway, such characters tend to talk big but never actually kill anyone.]
[???: Don’t use such strong words; it makes you seem weak.]
That statement holds truth.
In common terms, it’s bravado.
Like a hedgehog raising its spines, all that person could do was flash bravado while being utterly fragile inside.
-First, let’s find clues about where we are.
Among the suddenly gathered individuals, a female student exhibited leadership.
Under her direction, the students moved in unison.
It seemed they were investigating the place where we were trapped.
“Right, finding clues first is the basic rule.”
As I said that, I was about to head to the area assigned to me.
-How about going with me, Moru…?
The student exhibiting leadership slightly bowed her head and asked for my help.
Her cheeks were subtly flushed.
[How long has it been since you saw this?]
[Looks like a complete alphamale lol.]
[It’s the same thing that Mollru does.]
[Unconscious seduction, wow;]
[Moru is totally clueless, lololol.]
[Ah, what can I do about the English pronunciation?]
[Successfully seduce Chihaya-chan.]
-Do you want to accompany Mizuki Chihaya?
Y/N
“Does choosing this change the direction? It’s quite liberating.”
Should I accompany her for now?
I pressed Y and agreed to her suggestion.
-Thank you! It’s kind of gloomy here, so I was scared to be alone.
Saying that, Chihaya smiled brightly.
Was she really trying to seduce me?
Or was she just an oblivious character?
One thing was for sure: Chihaya’s popularity among viewers skyrocketed.
As I proceeded with the investigation alongside Chihaya, I voiced a rising curiosity.
“Can’t I just kill her? I could kill Chihaya here and escape.”
Chihaya and I were the last to leave the classroom where all the students had gathered.
Until then, I hadn’t encountered anyone else, and we were far from the main building where other students were investigating.
It would be a simple task to stealthily kill Chihaya without leaving evidence and then to carry on as if nothing happened.
“The question is whether the protagonist has the skills to do that. Wouldn’t it be okay as a game allowance?”
[Here it comes! The psychological world of psychos that ordinary people cannot understand!]
[I was wondering why they weren’t saying this, lol. Classic shit.]
[Cyber Psycho Mollru, whoa!]
[Teacher,,,, I’m scared,,, Teacher,,, I’m scared,,, Teacher,,,, I’m scared]
[For real, lol. Why isn’t she killing? Chihaya is the smallest and the easiest target.]
[Th… that’s not true.]
“Isn’t it an accurate statement? Isn’t it more profitable to kill Chihaya right here and just leave?”
I only felt the viewer’s criticisms of my cold and rational judgment as being cruel.
