Chapter 27 - Baseless Negativity in Dark Times
“Graaah….”
After a rough day, I collapsed onto my bed.
Rustle—
As soon as I lay down, there was a small, crinkling packet in my right hand.
I sat up on the bed and opened the envelope.
“No way….”
Inside the envelope was something I never thought I’d ever be associated with. It was wrapped in white packaging, but the three characters written on it were more than enough to leave me bewildered. I stared blankly at the sanitary pad, something I had never seen before, for several minutes.
Honestly speaking, I had kind of forgotten about it. I had been busy with work, and there had been other shocking events… so these three characters hit me harder than they should have.
“Hoo…”
This is something that will keep happening from now on. I just have to accept it and adapt. Repeating that to myself, I tried to steady my dizzy head, tossing the sanitary pad onto the bed, and checked the rest of the items.
“Hmm… Porridge and… vitamins?”
There were some easy-to-make porridge packets and a bunch of multivitamins with lots of text written on them. I wondered if all of this was really necessary, but since my sister packed them for me, I decided to keep them for now.
After carefully placing the vitamins in my mini-fridge, I sat back on the bed, and the sanitary pad came into view again.
“…Hmm…”
I felt a surge of curiosity.
“Is it okay… to open this…?”
Feeling like I was committing a crime, I carefully unwrapped the packaging, revealing a strange white object.
“Wow… how fascinating…”
The texture… it was soft, but nothing particularly extraordinary.
“Hmm… does it hurt?”
I had a rough idea of what menstruation was. But, of course, I had never experienced it myself, and I had never asked my sister or any other woman about it.
Brrrrring—
-Hello?
“Hi.”
-What’s up?
“Well… uh… does menstruation… hurt a lot?”
-Oh… it depends on the person… but since it’s your first time, it might be more intense?
“Got it. Thanks for the stuff.”
-It’s no big deal. Call me when you move. Or tomorrow, whatever.
“Okay, got it~.”
Click—
After satisfying my curiosity, I stuffed the sanitary pad back into its wrapper and read through the instructions…? I guess you could call it that.
“Hmm… Hmm…?!”
As I began to absorb this new knowledge, imagining the process made my face flush, and I hurriedly threw the thing I was holding far away, trying to calm my face, which was probably red without even looking.
“Mmhm… Ugh… Mm… Phewwww….”
After drinking some cold water, I felt my mind clear a bit.
“….”
Feeling awkward in the now-messy house, I hurriedly started tidying up. I stopped in front of the wardrobe.
“Hmm… I need to throw away all the things I don’t use anymore…”
Of course, after becoming a woman, I no longer used a lot of the items I had when I was a man—like my underwear or the now-oversized clothes.
I had worn those clothes for a long time, but now, it felt like it was time to let them go.
“This one’s too big… I’ll keep this one… and I don’t need the underwear anymore… Sigh…”
It didn’t take long since I didn’t have many clothes, but after clearing out the men’s clothing and underwear and replacing them with women’s clothes and white undergarments, it felt like so many things had changed.
“Well, what can I do… Huff…!”
I lifted the large box full of clothes. Since I had worked in a lot of loading and unloading jobs, I didn’t hurt my back.
“Ugh… My arms hurt…”
After braving the cold wind and throwing the clothes into the donation bin, I returned home. I could have sold them secondhand, but I figured no one in this world would want to buy old men’s underwear and clothes.
If only I had some muscle left, it might have been a bit easier…
“Maybe I should start going to the gym… No, I might die if I try in this state… Maybe I’ll just try a one-day trial or something…”
Lifting my sore arms, I checked the time. It was 4:40 PM.
“Hmm… Should I stream for the first time in a while?”
Thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t streamed since that time when I had drinks with my friends… before we started drinking, at least. Even my sister knows about it now, so I didn’t want to be teased any more than necessary. But this might be the last time I streamed from this house.
Since I’d be packing up tomorrow, my computer would go into a blue box soon, and today might be the last day I could record in this house.
“Hmhm~.”
Even after a long break, my old computer, wheezing and groaning as it powered on, was still working, and I felt grateful as I grabbed the mouse.
Unfortunately, just as Su-yeon feared, the rumors had spread quickly. The silver-haired woman with red eyes who appeared on Daehak-ro—her beauty so striking that anyone who saw her would say so, and her voice, short but heard by dozens of people, soon became exaggerated in the rumor mill. Some said she was drinking with a male friend, others speculated it was just a friend, and some said it was a messy, complicated relationship. But the people who had been at the stall that night knew the truth. Actually, anyone on Daehak-ro that night could have known. That she already had someone she liked.
-Waaaaah… Chocoa… sob… Chocoa…! Streaming…!! Sniff… I love you, Chocoa…!!!
Su-yeon had sobbed loudly in the taxi, her drunken cries heard by everyone, a detail not captured on any video.
Su-yeon’s drunken antics had spread far and wide. From the streamer community boards to the Lesik (Legendary Six) forums and even to Chocoa, who had been peacefully streaming that day.
But the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
-LOLOLOL omg so cute LOL
-Who is that? Such a unique look.
-For real, I’m the winner for seeing that beauty in real life.
-Show me too.
-Yuri?
-LOL how much did she drink to get like that LOL
-Aroalo- (link to Twitch Baraa) Here it is, everyone, come on in.
A few days passed, and the community’s interest naturally faded, but it had been a huge deal. Her drunken episode had pushed Su-yeon’s Twitch follower count past 10,000, and Chocoa gained more viewers without even knowing why. However, there was a problem.
Baraa wasn’t streaming. Viewers spammed “Open the door!” in her chat, but still, Baraa remained silent for days.
‘Baraa has started a live broadcast!’
“…Hello…”
-The door is open!! Everyone charge!!!!!
-Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
-Launch the attack!!!
The viewers knew Baraa’s weakness well—her lack of money.
Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding.
‘What the heck’ has donated 10,000 won!
-Welcome back!!!
‘Golden Fragrance’ has donated 1,000 won!
-Open the door!!!!!!!!!!!
‘Super Practical’ has donated 3,000 won!
-You’re back!!!!
“Uh… uh… huh? Uh… wh-what… thank you… Uh…”
Oh my god.
-She’s dead on her feet.
-Wow, she broke.
-LOL guys! Keep flooding her with donations! I can’t participate, but you’re making this moment!!!
-LOLOL
Aroalo- It’s been a while, teacher.
“…Ah, hello… I should quit my café job and just stream….”
That thought seriously crossed my mind, but streaming was such a high-risk job that it felt too much like gambling to give up a good job for it. After all, it wasn’t like these people would always give me money, nor would I always feel like streaming.
Shaking my head, I began reading out the names of everyone who had donated.
“Haa… I can’t keep going… I’m tired.”
-This is going to go on until 6! Stop it!
-For real, Cinderella streamer.
-But love is unstoppable~~~
“…Ugh…”
-? Don’t you remember?
“Be quiet.”
-Guys~ Bring the video~~~~
“…I’ll stop streaming if you do that…”
-Hold your fire!! It’s a landmine!!!!!
“Haa… Just… please forget about it…”
‘Don’t Leave Me Out of the Group Project’- Do you like Chocoa that much?
“Of course!!!! I mean… yeah…”
I banged on the desk, shouting, but quickly quieted down.
“…Let’s not talk about that today… It’s embarrassing…”
-Clipper!!!! Get it now!!!!!!!
Despite the strange sounds coming from the chat, I stopped fidgeting with my fingers and got to the point.
“The reason I’m streaming today… I think I’ll be moving this weekend? So this will be the last stream from this room.”
-You said you’re moving to your sister’s place, right?
-But it’s supposed to rain like crazy this weekend.
“Hmm… well, I’m planning to move once the rain stops. And Alro?”
Aroalo- I’m sorry, I mocked you. The only way I can atone for my sin is to have my manager status revoked.
Alro had teased me a few times in the chat. But it was always in good faith, fun and lighthearted.
“…You don’t have to go that far… but if you really feel sorry, could you help me out?”
Aroalo- ?
“Could you help me move? I don’t think my sister and I can handle it on our own.”
Aroalo- For real?
“Well, if you can’t, that’s fine.”
-Who wouldn’t help?
-Wow, I’m jealous. Let me meet her too.
-Our wandering soul… You made it… (sniff)
“…So, will you help me?”
I looked at the camera with the most desperate expression I could manage.
“Then that’s it for today. See you next week.”
I managed to get Alro to agree, and as soon as Chocoa’s streaming notification popped up, I hosted her channel.
‘Chocoa has started a live broadcast!’
-Today, we’re playing Lesik.