The Streamer From Another Dimension

Chapter 2 – Rookie, Day 1, Secondhand Streamer (1)

—–CROW—– 

I once asked Ahyeon-ssi if she wasn’t tired of constantly struggling with her illness.

She told me that it had definitely been hard before. Not just the pain itself, but after her parents passed away, she’d been so lonely spending all that time alone in the hospital room.

But after she started watching my broadcasts, she said the pain became bearable, and the loneliness lessened significantly. She said it was all thanks to me.

And now, I realized those words were a complete lie.

“Ugh, ow, shit!”

A pain that I assumed stemmed from Ahyeon-ssi’s illness was coursing through my body. I trembled uncontrollably, my body refusing to cooperate, as waves of pain washed over me, as if forging my very being.

“I thought I was actually going to die.”

As the lingering pain subsided, I took deep breaths to calm myself, sitting on the edge of the hospital bed. I wanted to curse, thinking about the pain I’d just felt, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, remembering how Ahyeon-ssi had always endured such pain. I just sighed.

“I need to assess the situation once I’ve calmed down.”

First, I was in a hospital, and the body I was moving seemed to be Ahyeon-ssi’s.

But Ahyeon-ssi was definitely dead. I’d even attended her funeral.

“I don’t know what’s going on, but…”

One thing was certain: Ahyeon-ssi wasn’t dead in this situation. The question was, where had she gone, and why was *I* in her body?

So, I needed to think carefully about what had happened before this situation arose.

“I met a strange viewer during the broadcast.”

They’d asked me if things would be different if I went to a world suited to my talents.

And when I said it would be nice if that were possible, they replied, “Try it.”

Right after that, I lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I was here.

“‘Try it’?”

It was as if they were implying they could make it happen.  Thinking about it, it was reasonable to assume that this viewer had caused this situation.

But if this strange viewer had done this, what was their purpose?

No, before that, *how* could they even do something like this?

“I’ve been trying to ignore it, but I guess I need to look at this.”

[Name: Shin Ahyeon

Remaining Time: 10,000

Status Condition: Episodic Albinism (Terminal)

Traits: None]

It looked like a game status screen.

At first, I’d thought it was a hallucination, but given how unreal the current situation was, it was highly likely that this, too, was real.

“It seems I can move it by touching it, and clicking on it gives a simple explanation…”

[Episodic Albinism (Terminal)

A rare congenital disease. The exact cause of onset is still unknown.

In the early stages, like localized albinism, only parts of the body exhibit symptoms of albinism. However, as secondary sexual characteristics begin to develop, immunity decreases, and convulsions and seizures occur frequently. If painkillers are ineffective during these episodes, it is extremely painful.]

Detailed information appeared when I clicked on the name of the illness listed under “Status Condition.”

This must have been the cause of the pain I’d just felt, and the illness that led to Ahyeon-ssi’s death.

“So that’s why Ahyeon-ssi had silver hair.”

I now understood the illness, more or less.  Then, what was this “Remaining Time”?  Judging by the word “remaining,” it seemed like some kind of resource.

[Help: Time

A currency used in the 10,000-Hour Rule system.  It can be used for specific traits or in the shop.

Time can be acquired through activities related to the target mechanism, ‘Broadcasting’, or through Constellation sponsorship.]

“Bingo.”

As expected, Time was the currency used in this system.  I didn’t know what Constellation sponsorship was, but it was clear that I could acquire Time by broadcasting.

By the way, the fact that there was a help section meant there were explanations for other things too, right?

[Help: System

System: The ‘10,000-Hour Rule’ helps the user properly acquire and use ‘Time’.

At the end of each month, the user automatically pays 730 hours as a system usage fee. Failure to pay results in the user’s immediate death.]

“Hmm?”

I was a bit taken aback by the last line. 730 hours… With the Time I currently had, I could only last a year.  “Death” probably meant exactly what it said.

In other words, if I couldn’t consistently earn more than 730 hours per month, I would die.

“730 hours… That’s roughly the number of hours in a month, isn’t it?”

It seemed I wouldn’t earn Time equivalent to the amount of time I broadcast. If that were the case, I would have to broadcast 24 hours a day.

“Broadcasting…”

It was ironic. I was about to give up on broadcasting, and now I was in a situation where I would die if I *didn’t* broadcast.

“It’s like it’s forcing me not to quit…”

I sighed and continued to rummage through the system.  I thought I’d seen the word “shop” in the explanation earlier.  Was it here?

“Found it.”

[Time Shop

Draw Trait: 1,000 Hours

Remove Trait: 1,000 Hours

Remove Status Condition (Terminal): 5,000 Hours

Draw Advanced Trait: 10,000 Hours

World Alteration: 1,000,000 Hours]

“Oh, shit.”

It was much more expensive than I thought. I’d have to see how much Time I could actually earn through broadcasting, but for now, most of these were out of reach.

And the most expensive item, “World Alteration,” was hard to understand.  Even if I clicked on it, there was no explanation.

“Judging by the name, it sounds like a wish.”

If that were the case, it would definitely be worth aiming for.  Although, the price made it impossible anyway.

“If anything, I should buy ‘Remove Status Condition,’ right?”

It was expensive, but there was no other way.

I felt particularly uneasy since I’d just come back from Ahyeon-ssi’s funeral.

“I definitely need to buy this.”

I had to start broadcasting again, and I didn’t want to die because I hesitated and missed my chance.

[Do you want to purchase ‘Remove Status Condition (Terminal)’ from the shop for 5,000 Hours?]

“Yes.”

[Status Condition: ‘Episodic Albinism (Terminal)’ has been removed.]

The information on the system changed as soon as I finished speaking. My remaining time became 5,000, and the Status Condition section disappeared.

“This feels so unreal…”

Now, all that was left was “Traits.” I assumed it was something similar to skills in a game.

“Random skill draws? That’s brutal.”

As I clicked on “Traits” with that thought, the help section appeared again.  And the contents were not much different from what I’d expected.

[Help: Traits

Refers to the special abilities the user possesses.

Abilities are assigned a rank from F to S based on their influence on the world and their rarity.]

“Is this really a game?”

I didn’t know exactly what “special abilities” meant, but if it wasn’t referring to some extraordinary superpower, it was reasonable to assume it had a similar meaning to talent.

If so, the fact that I could acquire them through a draw, even if it was random, was a huge advantage.

“1,000 Hours…”

I considered trying a random draw, but since it wasn’t urgent right now, it seemed a bit risky to use up my remaining Time.

“I should try broadcasting first and then decide.”

It would be better to purchase a trait after I figured out how Time was earned. I might lose my life if it was difficult to earn 730 hours a month.

“If it were my own body, I wouldn’t mind, but this is Ahyeon-ssi’s body.”

I didn’t understand the current situation, but I had to consider the possibility of returning this body to Ahyeon-ssi. I absolutely couldn’t die yet.

“So, the conclusion is that I have to broadcast?”

I checked all the system information, but there was nothing about the person who sent me here.

However, it seemed clear that they were leading me to broadcast.

“Since Ahyeon-ssi never broadcast, I guess I should consider this starting from scratch.”

Then I needed to figure out what content to start with. People wouldn’t just watch if I simply started a broadcast.

Honestly, I was most familiar with tarot broadcasts.

But I knew now that starting with tarot broadcasts wasn’t a good choice.

“The safest bet is gaming…”

The problem was that I wasn’t very talented at games.

Of course, things might be different in Ahyeon-ssi’s body, but since *I* was the one controlling it, I doubted it would be significantly different.

As I was pondering content, I realized I’d been overlooking something important.

“Come to think of it, I don’t even know what day it is.”

Preoccupied with the system floating before my eyes, I hadn’t thought to check basic information.

I looked around urgently, but there was only a clock in the hospital room, no calendar. Where was the phone?

“Is this it?”

It was a model I’d never seen before. Well, I wasn’t familiar with recent models anyway, so it couldn’t be helped.

The controls themselves were the same, so I turned on the phone and checked the date.

March 28, 2020.  It was the day after I’d lost consciousness, March 27, 2020.  That meant time was flowing normally, considering I’d been unconscious.

“I wondered if I’d gone back in time, but I guess not.”

This time, I tried to open the broadcasting app on the phone, but no matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it.

That was strange. Was it possible that Ahyeon-ssi’s phone didn’t have it?

“…Huh?”

So I tried to install the app, but there was no app store.  Panicked, I rummaged through the phone and launched an app called Cube Store, which looked similar.

The design and name were different, but like the app store, it was a place to download apps.

“This phone is really weird…”

I couldn’t even find the app when I searched for its name. A bad feeling washed over me, so I opened the internet and searched for the same name.

A chill ran down my spine when I saw the results.

“…It’s not there.”

I searched a few more sites just in case, but all the search results were different from what I knew.

Even the search engine I used had a name I’d never seen before.

It was like a different world, completely separate from the one I’d lived in.

“No, at this point, it’s certain, isn’t it?”

I’d been too naive until now.

With a trembling heart, I started by searching for “internet broadcasting.”

A wiki site appeared, suggesting that wiki sites existed here as well.

“‘Sprout Wiki,’ huh?”

The name was different, but it felt similar to the wiki sites I knew.

I opened the internet broadcasting article on Sprout Wiki, and a summary of various broadcasting platforms appeared.

“‘CubeOn,’ this is like YouTube. Then this ‘Switch’ place is…”

It started as a game broadcasting platform and became incredibly popular worldwide thanks to its convenient features for broadcasting virtual reality games.

“Virtual reality games?  Are they talking about VR?”

But the article that appeared when I clicked on “virtual reality games” was full of shocking information. Virtual reality games in this world weren’t the conventional VR games I knew but futuristic games that seemed straight out of a movie.

Games where you could experience all five senses… And such games had apparently been around for several years.

“This is a completely different world from the one I know.”

Then, did the information and experiences I had even have any meaning?  No, beyond that, would I even be able to live a normal life?

A headache came on, as if my brain couldn’t process the sudden change in circumstances.

“No, is this for real?”

I was suddenly a newbie, not only in games and broadcasting but in the world itself.

—–CROW—– 

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