“Haaah.”
Stretching languidly, I checked my smartphone for about thirty minutes.
After letting time gently melt away with pointless E-Tube (TL Note: A Korean portmanteau for YouTube) Shorts, I reluctantly rose and put water in the coffee pot.
As I poured water into the cup ramen, warm steam wafted up.
A spicy aroma, tantalizing my nose.
I wasn’t sure how healthy it was to eat something spicy so early in the morning.
But there was no alternative, as cup ramen was all the food I had left.
“Even the bottled water is running low.”
Turning my head, the windowpane reflected a sparkling beautiful girl, acting as a mirror.
“It’s already been a week.”
A full week had passed since I had become Yu Seoyeon.
Though initially bewildered, I wondered if a change in body also brought a change in mind.
Within a few days, I had completely adapted.
The awkwardness had all but vanished.
‘Thank goodness I have an ID card.’
I slurped a mouthful of ramen, lost in thought.
After regaining my senses, my greatest concern had been my identity.
It would have been utterly problematic if my body had suddenly changed but my identity remained the same.
If I, now a beautiful girl, were to confidently pull out an ID card from my past male self,
wouldn’t people look at me like some crazy guy… no, some crazy girl?
‘Being merely seen as strange would be a blessing. I’d be nothing more than an ordinary undocumented immigrant….’
An illegal resident with no identifiable status.
This was absolutely not a situation to laugh off as a joke.
I wouldn’t even be able to open a bank account, let alone get a phone activated.
‘It’s a good thing it wasn’t just my body that changed.’
Fortunately, such a predicament had been avoided.
After a few days of investigation, it turned out that my body wasn’t the only thing that had changed.
For reasons unknown, the world itself had subtly shifted.
It was a timeline where Yu Seoyeon, the VTuber (TL Note: Virtual YouTuber) I had created, actually existed.
More precisely, perhaps it was a timeline where Yu Seoyeon had taken my place instead of my past self.
As preposterous as it sounded, my own investigations had led to no other conclusion.
Aside from that, numerous other things, both major and minor, had changed from the world I once knew.
Yet, the truly important things remained untouched.
My parents and my only younger sister were still the same.
They simply knew Yu Seoyeon as their original me.
My resident registration card was perfectly intact (aside from the changed numbers), and a debit card had been issued.
Therefore, my initial panic over losing my identity had been entirely unfounded.
“The real concern was something else entirely.”
I muttered, gazing at my dwindling food supply.
Three cup ramen packets,
two instant rice bowls,
four eggs (I’d already fried one, and its cloudy white didn’t look particularly fresh),
and some withered green onions, their vitality long gone, were all that remained.
“This is serious, truly serious….”
I tapped my small feet nervously.
So little food left.
If things continued this way, soon my refrigerator would hold nothing but dust.
“If I run out of money, I’m ruined….”
As always, money was the root of the problem.
I sighed deeply, glancing at the ambiguous balance remaining in my bank account on my smartphone app.
The fortunate aspect was that I could last for a few months.
The unfortunate reality was that I could only last for a few months.
“I don’t really have anything to do right now.”
Unlike my past self, Yu Seoyeon had just graduated from high school and wasn’t attending university.
Nor was she working any part-time jobs.
There was no income stream; while I was fine for now, my bank balance would hit rock bottom in a few months.
“Should I get a part-time job?”
I turned my head once more.
Though my hair was disheveled and I wore no makeup, the mirror reflected an exquisitely beautiful girl, like a doll.
Even now, I occasionally startled myself when I caught a glimpse.
Regardless of anything else, Yu Seoyeon was a rare beauty.
Her appearance was so captivating, as if she had stepped right out of a comic book, drawing all eyes even when she simply stood still.
‘Wouldn’t finding a part-time job be easy?’
While her petite stature and slender arms might make physical labor difficult,
a service job with this face would be a free pass.
Whether at a PC bang (TL Note: Internet cafe) or a convenience store, or even something more comfortable, I could easily find any number of jobs.
It was as if all the best, easy part-time jobs (TL Note: ‘Kkul-alba’ refers to a highly desirable, easy, and well-paying part-time job) in the country were practically reserved for me.
“Ugh…”
Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the thought of taking a part-time job left me strangely reluctant.
My body didn’t exactly tremble and break out in cold sweats as if having an adverse reaction… but I simply felt an inexplicable aversion.
‘I never liked part-time jobs before either.’
How many people truly enjoyed going to work?
While workaholics certainly existed, I was definitely not one of them.
‘But it’s an easy, well-paying job, isn’t it?’
Even if I disliked work, I would have eagerly pursued such a ‘honey’ job; there wouldn’t be this strange reluctance I was feeling now.
‘Is it because of her timid personality?’
The personality I myself had designed.
Yu Seoyeon—meaning, me—possessed a rather introverted personality.
According to her character settings, she was a natural-born loner who rarely ventured outside.
There was no way such an extreme loner could handle a service-industry part-time job.
‘Have I been influenced too? It feels like my personality has changed.’
While my own consciousness was undeniably present, it seemed to be somewhat influenced by Yu Seoyeon’s personality.
“Even so, if I run out of money, I’ll do anything.”
I collapsed onto the bed.
After all, people always do whatever it takes when their backs are against the wall (TL Note: Korean idiom ‘baldeung-e bul tteoreojimyeon’ literally means ‘when fire falls on one’s instep,’ similar to ‘when the house is on fire’ or ‘when one’s back is against the wall’).
My aversion to part-time work would naturally disappear once I no longer had money for food.
But I wasn’t at that point yet; I still had a few months of leeway to survive.
That ambiguous leeway created a perfect excuse for self-justification: I could still rest for a few more months…
‘So, part-time jobs are on hold for now.’
Having neatly concluded my thoughts, I turned on my smartphone.
After all, when troubled, one must seek solace in the sanctuary of one’s smartphone.
The video-sharing site, E-Tube.
The world’s largest video platform.
As I scrolled down, edited videos flashed before my eyes.
My body felt languid, yet my thumb moved as swiftly as a rabbit.
[Chain Roller Challenge! Going for a 4-hour clear!]
[What if 3 Pro Gamers take on the Chain Roller Challenge?]
[Gotta reach the Chain Roller ending no matter what~~🔥🔥]
The algorithm presented a stream of recently trending videos.
Among them, one particular title stood out.
“Chain Roller?”
It was a game I’d never seen before.
Apparently, it was the latest trend, as streamers were uploading videos of a game called Chain Roller.
“What kind of game is this?”
From the videos suggested by the algorithm, I clicked on a few with high view counts.
[N-no, the swamp, what is this! Aaaargh!]
[Seriously, guys, isn’t this pattern just rigged (TL Note: ‘Eokkka’ is a Korean slang term meaning ‘unreasonably difficult’ or ‘unfairly rigged’)? They’ve created something impossible.]
[Don’t go that way! Kiiieeeek!]
In the videos, numerous streamers were screaming.
The streamers shrieked with desperate expressions, as if playing a horror game.
Meanwhile, viewers could be seen smiling brightly at their agonizing faces.
Just from that, I could tell what kind of game it was.
‘Ah, it’s a ‘Pot’ (TL Note: Refers to games like ‘Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy,’ where the player is stuck in a pot and uses a hammer to climb) game.’
‘Pot’ games.
Typically, the main goal is to reach a designated finish line.
The difference from ordinary games is that the path to get there is incredibly, infuriatingly difficult.
Furthermore, in stark contrast to typical games that prioritize intuitive controls, a defining characteristic is the deliberate implementation of clunky, awkward controls.
These are games where the difficulty is artificially cranked up to extreme levels.
[H-huh! Aaaaargh! There’s no save in this?!]
The lack of a save function, in particular, was the ultimate highlight of ‘Pot’ games.
Spending hours climbing only to be unfairly defeated (TL Note: ‘Eokkka,’ as explained before, means ‘unreasonably difficult’ or ‘unfairly rigged’) and sent back to the starting point—the so-called ‘Primordial Village’—was the game’s greatest appeal.
That is, from the perspective of those watching, not those playing.
Thanks to the characteristic of being painful to play but enjoyable to watch, they were quite a big trend among streamers.
“I’ve tried a similar game before.”
It was about a bald man stuck in a pot, swinging a pickaxe to reach the moon.
The controls were stiff, and precise power adjustment was difficult.
With no save function, blindly pushing through to clear it was impossible.
After a few attempts, I understood why streamers spent all day on it and still couldn’t clear it.
‘I just turned it off and refunded it.’
I wasn’t a streamer, nor was I a pervert who enjoyed such agonizing games, so I remembered quitting after about an hour and getting a refund.
This ‘Chain Roller’ was likely the same type of game.
‘There are clear videos too, I see.’
While it usually took tens of hours to clear, there were also highly skilled streamers who overcame such unfairness and aimed for speedruns.
These were so-called ‘skill-based’ streamers, with exceptional gaming talent.
Clicking on one video, I saw a streamer playing the game with a calm expression.
[Now?! Ah, exactly. The pattern is too obvious~]
Unlike the many streamers who screamed or slammed their desks, he navigated the game with quite skillful movements.
[Ah, what’s this rigged pattern?]
Being human—or more accurately, because the game was exceptionally difficult—he did stumble quite a bit.
[Chah-ha! Solo clear-ot!]
He cleared the game at a speed incomparable to other streamers.
[How was that, guys? I’m not dead yet, you know. What are the clear times of other streamers? What rank am I?]
In response to the streamer’s question, the chat window erupted with reactions.
[You hit 1st place?]
[Crazy bastard….crazy bastard….]
[Why is this jerk so good at this trash game?]
Judging by the chat reactions, he seemed to have taken first place among streamers.
Checking the chat window, he grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
[Ah~ the difference with the 2nd place person is quite significant. I don’t think others can break this record. No~ honestly, isn’t it true?]
His words were arrogant, but looking at the actual record, they weren’t wrong.
He held an overwhelming lead in first place.
[Ugh, gross]
[Fact) It’s a fact]
[But seriously, how did you manage a 3-hour clear, you son of a b*tch]
[Talented bastard….]
The chat window was filled with insults like ‘gross’ and ‘bastard,’ but most of them were playful reactions.
Most viewers were simply amazed by his skill.
[‘JangBbiBbi’ sponsored 100,000 won!]
– My eyes have been cleansed, yayyy
[Oh my! JangBbiBbi-nim sponsored 100,000 won! Thank you! You really didn’t have to give this.]
The streamer also enjoyed the viewers’ reactions, taking a moment to collect donations in celebration of his clear.
‘If I had such good physical skills, I might try streaming myself.’
Talent.
No matter how much it was called a ‘trash game,’ achieving such an overwhelming first place was clearly a realm of talent.
I, on the other hand, considered my own gaming skills to be unremarkable.
I had only scratched the bottom of the ‘Pot’ game for an hour before refunding it.
My skills in other games were, at best, average.
I occasionally watched broadcasts by pro gamers or skilled streamers,
but I also knew well that I could never be like them.
“Sigh.”
I let out a deep sigh. Not only did I lack gaming skill, but my timid personality would make even a normal broadcast difficult…
‘Huh?’
Come to think of it,
both my appearance and personality had changed to match Yu Seoyeon.
And Yu Seoyeon was not just a timid girl.
[Timid, but her gaming talent knows no bounds.]
The fundamental setting of Yu Seoyeon, which I had seen countless times, flashed in my mind.
