EP.28 Train (1)

 

[Breaking News))))) Yu Parang’s Broadcast Live]

 

[Author: ㅇㅇ]

 

(A screenshot of Parang’s broadcast. The simple title ‘East Sea Exploration Day 1’ catches the eye.)

 

It’s real ㅇㅇ

 

─Is she really exploring the East Sea Hive today?

 

─Who is she?

 

ㄴ (T-Tube link. A channel that edits and uploads highlights of Parang’s broadcasts.)

 

ㄴ Wow, what the heck

 

─Is the East Sea the one I know?

 

ㄴ What other East Sea could there be?

 

“……”

 

Parang turned on the broadcast and spaced out for a moment. She was waiting for viewers to gather.

 

Not all viewers join the broadcast within the first second, so this was a necessary process.

 

Considering her first two broadcasts where she started talking immediately, this was a significant improvement.

 

Thanks to this, viewers could enjoy some unexpected underwater ASMR.

 

Fortunately, this time it was genuine ASMR.

 

Soon, the broadcast screen, which showed the shimmering light pillars and blue void beneath the surface, made a clicking sound.

 

“Ah, ah. Can you hear me well?”

 

─ㅇㅇ

 

─What’s with the voice…?

 

─Why is the video quality so good?

 

─What’s with the screen?

 

─???????

 

Many viewers expressed their amazement and curiosity.

 

And it was understandable. The broadcast screen they were watching was a culmination of the pinnacle of human technology.

 

Silo’s ‘support’ wasn’t just words. They truly provided Parang with top-notch treatment.

 

One of those was the broadcasting equipment.

 

The video quality was as clear as seeing with one’s own eyes, and the audio quality made it feel like being on-site.

 

But what surprised the viewers the most was the screen.

 

It was the usual first-person view, but viewers could click the ‘switch’ button in the bottom left corner.

 

And lo and behold, the screen’s perspective changed to third-person, showing Parang from a distance!

 

To achieve this, Silo Corporation had added a dedicated broadcasting UI for her on their site.

 

There was no problem with this. It was Silo’s property, after all.

 

This was also why Parang’s broadcasts never got suspended.

 

Underwater, Parang wore a bodysuit, her long blue hair flowing.

 

─What the heck, how did they do this?

 

Parang didn’t know either. How could she, an artist in both her past and present lives, know?

 

“I decided to collaborate with Silo Corporation. They made this broadcasting equipment for me.”

 

The world’s greatest intellects at Silo Corporation succeeded in combining the footage from the cameras attached to her body to reconstruct a third-person view in real time.

 

And tada!

 

─Why is this rotating?

 

─Is this even possible?

 

Her first-person and third-person cameras could rotate 360 degrees, just like manipulating a game screen.

 

Of course, to protect Parang’s privacy, zooming in was disabled.

 

But zooming out was possible. To showcase the enormous size of the monsters, the view could zoom out to a point 100 meters away from Parang.

 

From a certain point, the video switched from live footage to seamlessly integrated 3D modeling, making it possible.

 

Thus, viewers could now see the full appearance of most monsters.

 

Based on the various drawings Parang had made, Silo Corporation created 3D models of the monsters, objects, and Hives.

 

There were as many as 300 of them.

 

Parang received this while talking with the Silo man and leaving the building.

 

She didn’t know how long it took, but it meant they had prepared it in advance.

 

It felt a bit unsettling, but well, it was for saving the world. She decided to let it go for now.

 

Because of this, the broadcasting equipment Yuna had made became useless.

 

Parang was worried that Yuna might feel hurt, so she asked for her opinion.

 

‘No? It’s totally fine!!’

 

But Yuna said she was okay with it. It felt like she had received something from Silo too, but Parang hadn’t had the chance to ask what it was.

 

‘I should ask her after today’s broadcast.’

 

Parang added that to her mental notepad.

 

─ ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 1000 won! –

 

[What are we doing today, teacher?]

 

Parang skillfully handled the question.

 

“We’re going to explore the Hive in the East Sea. Just so you know, it’s a long-term content, so we’ll be doing it over three days.”

 

─How big is it that it takes 4 days at your speed?

 

─It’s not 4 days, it’s three days, you idiot.

 

─If it’s 4 days, isn’t it 4 days?

 

A sudden debate about 3 days vs. 4 days erupted in the chat. In the past, Parang would have ignored it, but now, she was different.

 

She had learned how to handle her viewers.

 

From what she had observed, these viewers oddly enjoyed being mistreated by her.

 

How else could it be explained? In just two broadcasts, Parang had pranked her viewers in creative ways.

 

Yet, instead of getting tired or leaving, they kept watching her broadcast, screaming and shouting.

 

The number of viewers was even steadily increasing!

 

Compared to the first broadcast, the second broadcast had almost twice the viewers, and now, the number of viewers was three times that of the second broadcast.

 

She could be called the white knight of the internet broadcasting world.

 

So, the twisted nature of Parang’s broadcasting environment was partly the viewers’ responsibility.

 

– Tap, tap. –

 

She manipulated her phone to activate a one-on-one chat mode with a viewer.

 

The viewer who appeared in the chat was nicknamed ‘Glowing Monster,’ the first to claim that three days equaled four days.

 

She tapped her phone again, and soon, the permanent ban button for Glowing Monster appeared on the broadcast screen.

 

[Do you want to permanently ban this user?]

 

[Confirm / Cancel]

 

With her hand hovering over the brightly lit green confirm button, Parang quietly asked the four-day advocate.

 

“How many days is three days?”

 

─It’s three days, teacher. Isn’t that obvious?

 

“Well done.”

 

And so, the incident was settled.

 

─Does anyone have a clip of her saying ‘well done’? It’s urgent, please upload it, I’ll reward you generously.

 

Temporary ban for this one.

 

─I got it, teacher.

 

Temporary ban for this one too.

 

─50,000 won

 

‘What is this….’

 

In fact, followers of Parang’s voice had existed since her first broadcast.

 

There were even videos on YouTube titled ‘Yu Parang’s Voice One Hour ASMR.’

 

And they had quite a high number of views.

 

Viewers tended to be somewhat obsessed with her voice.

 

Since most of the broadcast was in first-person view, viewers rarely saw Parang’s face.

 

But it wasn’t that Parang’s voice was overrated.

 

Her voice was genuinely good.

 

It was soft and pleasant to listen to, her tone was gentle, and her diction was very precise. (Of course, this was underwater.)

 

Her voice was so good that it went beyond simple compliments like ‘nice voice’ or ‘makes me feel good’ to comments like ‘addictive’ and ‘makes me happy just listening to it.’

 

And broadly speaking, getting excited over Parang could be seen as a form of admiration.

 

This made Parang feel a bit uncomfortable.

 

Her lingering sense of being a man in her heart played a part in this discomfort, and even if it didn’t, it felt like people were trading pictures of her body.

 

No matter how accustomed she had become to handling viewers, it was still quite unsettling.

 

And as a broadcaster with only two broadcasts under her belt, her true feelings sometimes slipped out.

 

“This feels bad…”

 

It was such a small voice that it wouldn’t have been heard if Silo hadn’t upgraded her broadcasting equipment.

 

Of course, she didn’t mean to say it. No matter what, how could she say such a thing to her precious viewers?

 

She was startled and quickly covered her mouth.

 

But just as Parang was about to apologize.

 

─Wow, what was that just now?

 

─Teacher, one more time, please.

 

─Clip it, clip it, clip it, clip it.

 

─Teacher, please.

 

─150,000 won.

 

The reaction was… explosive.

 

Even viewers who usually found the fuss over Parang’s voice annoying joined in.

 

‘What the heck. Why do they like this?’

 

It would be a while before Parang understood what they were so excited about.

 

─ ‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 30,000 won! –

 

[Please do that again, just once more, please.]

 

A large donation burst out before she could even collect her thoughts.

 

While Parang’s income made the donation amount irrelevant, a larger amount still exerted an invisible pressure.

 

The sound effect was loud and flashy, and the effects were extravagant.

 

And since it was a request with a 30,000 won donation, Parang felt reluctant to just take the money without doing anything.

 

It felt like stealing.

 

Ultimately, she cared about her fans. She used harsh measures like Rassius ASMR to keep them out of the deep sea, but it broke her heart to mistreat them like that. (Not really.)

 

So, the conclusion? She did it once more.

 

“This feels bad… Is this okay? But why do you want me to do this?”

 

─Thank you, thank you.

 

─Wow, I got the clip.

 

─I have to go out for a bit due to an urgent matter.

 

─Me too.

 

“Hmm…”

 

Parang pondered.

 

Judging by the atmosphere, it was very well-received, but she couldn’t understand why they liked it.

 

She recalled something Hunter Shin Yuna had told her before.

 

‘The scariest thing in engineering isn’t a malfunction. It’s a normal operation with an unknown cause.’

 

At the time, she didn’t understand what it meant, but now, facing a similar situation, she had a rough idea.

 

Well, at least it was functioning correctly. The viewers seemed to enjoy it…

 

‘I guess I’ll have to do this occasionally.’

 

Parang thought.

 

Around this time, a mysterious new group of viewers began to appear in her broadcasts.

 

They were suspiciously wealthy, suspiciously polite, and suspiciously courteous.

 

Anyway.

 

That was that, and she still had things to do.

 

After a bit more banter with the viewers, Parang said, “I’m going to start now,” and quickly dived into the sea.

 

Just like in her first broadcast, the surroundings changed rapidly as she dived deeper.

 

After passing through the familiar layers of monstrous creatures, which the viewers were now accustomed to,

 

a bit of time passed, and then,

 

“We’ve arrived.”

 

─What the heck is that?

 

─That’s really bizarre.

 

─Gives me chills.

 

“This is the Hive of the East Sea, ‘Train’.”

 

The mysterious Hive of the East Sea revealed itself.