Streaming Life After Paying Off Debt - Chapter 70

“This is the last one!”

I placed the items I bought from the mart onto the kitchen shelf. Surrounding it were already many things I had piled up.

“Why are there so many materials needed to make just this one thing?”

No wonder it’s ridiculously expensive when you buy it outside.

I grumbled and left the piled-up items behind, heading into my room. There, a computer with all the preparations ready was just waiting for my permission.

“Shall we start today then?”

I double-checked the broadcast title I had set beforehand and clicked the broadcasting button.

– Miju has started broadcasting!

– Mi-ha!

– You’re a bit late today?

– Turn on the cam, turn on the cam, turn on the cam.

With the broadcast notification sound, numerous viewers began to gather in the chat room. Watching the viewer count rise rapidly, I greeted them with a grateful heart.

“Did you all wait for my broadcast? Oh dear!”

– Yes, yes, yes, yes.

– No, right? You f*cker?

– Your tone is weird from the start.

– That’s true, but admitting it feels like losing…

Perhaps feeling embarrassed that they had been eagerly waiting for me, the viewers reacted intensely to my words. I thought about teasing them a bit more, but the moment was interrupted by a donation that stopped me in my tracks.

– Duntang donated 1,000 won.

[What does the broadcast title mean???]

– I’m really curious too.

– If it’s going to be weird again, it’s a downvote, hahahaha.

– ?? What’s the broadcast title about?

With the donation coming in, many people’s attention began to focus on my broadcast title. I too looked back at the title I had written to match the atmosphere.

– Helping the Less Fortunate Broadcast!

It perfectly summarized today’s content.

Unlike me, who recognized the theme at a glance, the viewers kept throwing out question marks to show off their intelligence. I started an additional explanation for them.

“Helping the less fortunate is just helping the less fortunate. Is there room for different interpretations?”

– That’s the case, but it’s hard to relax because it’s you.

– So-mazing.

– But it’s a bit out of the blue.

“It’s not out of the blue; it’s common to help the less fortunate at the end of the year.”

I remember that people dressed in red were shaking bells around this time on the subway. Ah, of course, I have never put money in that box.

– That’s true.

– Well, isn’t it a good thing if you do it?

– Really, since you’re a streamer, I don’t have to worry about you running away.

Thanks to my explanation, the viewers finally began to understand my deep meaning little by little. However, a donation came in from a still skeptical viewer.

– Expert donated 10,000 won.

[But why suddenly help the less fortunate? There must be a reason that made you interested in that.]

That viewer was asking through the donation why I started today’s broadcast.

To explain why I thought of helping the less fortunate, I needed to go back to this morning.

“Let me tell you what happened today…”

————————-

The day after I received a chilling email, I visited a mobile phone store with Jihye.

“Welcome. Is there a product you want…”

The clerk, who had said the same thing dozens of times a day, seemed to forget what he was saying when he made eye contact with me and suddenly stopped.

“Uh… uh…”

I told the frozen clerk why I was there.

“I’d like to change my number; I’ve been getting too many spam emails lately.”

“Ah… yes…! Please wait a moment.”

“Here’s my mobile phone.”

I handed my phone to the clerks who fumbled around with the computer and leaned back in the chair behind me. Then I began to tell Jihye about the incident I had experienced last night.

“Was there really such an event?”

An unbelievable series of incidents that were hard to believe even for me. If this were made into a movie, it would undoubtedly receive harsh criticism for being unrealistic.

So, even while explaining the incidents I experienced to Jihye, I kept glancing at her for her reaction.

However, contrary to my concern that she might doubt the truth, Jihye only encouraged me, the victim of the incident.

“You’ve been through a lot. There won’t be any more such incidents in the future.”

Her soothing voice made my face feel like it would melt away. But for a moment, a cold voice made me tense up.

“And please let me know the contact details of the person who sent the email later.”

Feeling an unexpected chill, I turned my head to the side. Jihye’s eyes held a glint of something dangerous.

“Huh…? Alright. But since you’re a viewer from my room, don’t torment them too much.”

I sincerely hoped to save my life. I accepted Jihye’s request while praying for the survival of the faceless viewer.

Even after that, while Jihye and I continued chatting, I finally heard what I had been waiting for from the clerk.

“Your number transfer has been completed!”

“Yes, thank you!”

I stood up to express my gratitude. As I received my phone from the shaking clerk’s hands, they continued to explain the changes.

“Only the number has changed; all existing phone settings are the same. If there are any sites linked to the number, you’ll have to set those separately.”

“Yes, thank you. What’s the fee?”

“The transfer fee is free.”

The clerk’s announcement of it being free made a smile spread across my face. At that moment, the clerk’s face turned bright red.

“Wow…”

Seeing the clerk marvel at my face, I felt embarrassed and attempted to cover my face with my hand. Finally, as if the clerk had regained their senses, they closed their previously open mouth.

“Ahem!”

After clearing their throat, the flushed clerk continued explaining.

“However, there are overdue parts related to your phone bill… so we would appreciate it if you could make a deposit for that.”

“What? You mean the bill is overdue?”

I blinked in surprise at the unexpected news. However, recalling my bank balance from last month, I could understand the entire situation.

‘It seems like there was no money to come out.’

Last month, I had literally drained my bank account to invest in stocks. The repercussions of that were cascading down to me now.

“Oh! Then I’ll pay right now.”

But the poverty belonged to my past self. Now that I had become a big-time streamer, communication costs were just trivial fees for me. In my confident voice, the clerk stated the amount I had to deposit.

“Yes, please deposit 8.7 million won.”

“Excuse me?!”

At that moment, I heard an unbelievable figure.

‘I must have misheard.’

Blaming my seemingly broken ears, I asked the amount again.

“Wait a minute, I think I heard that wrong… How much is overdue?”

“You currently have 8.7 million won overdue.”

But hearing the same amount again confirmed that my ears were functioning properly.

“No!! That doesn’t make sense! What on earth did I do to rack up such a huge bill?!”

As far as I remembered, my monthly communication fee was only 30,000 won. But suddenly facing 8.7 million won was enough to rob me of my rationality.

As I began to argue with the clerk as though I were addressing my viewers, the clerk, as if anticipating this, showed me a piece of paper.

“This… is the detailed statement…? If you look at this part…”

My gaze followed the clerk’s pointing finger.

[Text Messages]

– Number of sent messages: 400,000

– Cost: 8.68 million won

The numbers written there prompted me to make one assumption.

‘Could it be… that the cost of spam emails is being billed to me?’

Considering the overwhelmingly high frequency of message sending, this assumption was likely true.

I explained this situation to the clerk.

“Right now, my phone was hacked and sent emails… There’s no way an ordinary person would send 400,000 emails.”

My explanation continued uninterrupted. To sum up my long story, it could be reduced to: ‘It’s not my fault, so please show me leniency.’

“I’m sorry, but from our perspective, we can only rely on the records…”

However, despite my sad story, the clerk’s response remained unchanged. Nevertheless, continuing my appeal, the clerk managed to connect me to the headquarters, but the result did not change.

“Then I’ll make the payment for now…”

In a situation with no solution, I ultimately handed my card over with trembling hands.

– Insufficient balance.

At that moment, the cruel voice rang out. Logically, it’s unlikely that many people have a card that can be charged 8 million won at once.

“Uh… I’m sorry, but do you have any other cards?”

I checked my wallet again. But inside, there was only my ID left.

‘To think I barely had less than 500 won.’

Even though I had become a big-time streamer, I was still a rookie who had only been in the game for a few months. I had made a good amount this month, but that money wasn’t going to come in until next year.

With my choice feeling extremely limited, I chose the last resort, feeling an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“Uh… Jihye…?”

“Yes, sis.”

Miju’s loan,

an additional 7 million won!

————————

“And that’s what happened!”

My rollercoaster story ended in tragedy.

– hahahaha

– How is the communication bill 800,000? hahahaha

– fool hahahaha

The viewers burst into laughter at my story. Looking at them, my indignation swelled again.

“Hey, don’t laugh! I’m the one who’s wronged!!!”

The viewers didn’t stop laughing at my words. What finally silenced their laughter was a donation that came through.

– OOO donated 1,000 won.

[Instead of helping the less fortunate, it seems you need help first, hahahaha.]

– For real, hahahaha.

– Uh… wait a minute??

– Thinking about it, this story came from the broadcast title.

– You can’t be serious, right?

As if they had gained enlightenment, the laughter faded from the viewers. I presented the donation box I had prepared in advance to them.

– Miju’s Donation Box –

“Okay, who wants to participate in Miju’s donation box! I’ll only accept up to one million won!”

So hurry up and send the money, you viewer bastards.