[TS] Starting the Broadcast - Chapter 125

Soft, warm, and happy.

The chilly weather of November.

Despite the time approaching noon, I'm savoring peace in bed.

Happiness isn't far away.

This was a reward I gave myself for overcoming difficult times.

[Sergeant Hani, today's roll call is outdoor roll call.]

"Ugh, what annoying outdoor roll call... Huh?"

I instinctively got up as soon as I heard the voice ringing in my ear.

But after getting up, something felt strange.

Oh right, I've been discharged now, haven't I?

"Hey!"

[Laziness is the root of all evil. You've rested all morning, so that's enough. Get up now.]

I was about to yell at the annoying assistant but lost strength and closed my mouth.

Come to think of it, it's time for lunch.

Since I've been like this without even having breakfast, I should fill my stomach first.

"Ugh... there's nothing to eat."

I opened the fridge, but it was completely empty.

Since starting to exercise, I've been cutting down on delivery food and mainly eating salads, eggs, and fruits for breakfast and lunch.

But as luck would have it, there was nothing to fill my stomach.

I feel like I need to eat something greasy for once.

"Of course! I deserve to eat this much. Ahem! I'm the King after all."

[Weren't you making a fuss just yesterday? Saying this wasn't your plan.]

That's right.

I became the King.

After beating Elsa in round 3 and becoming the King candidate, I waited for the final stage of the previous King, The Clown.

The Clown took off the golden mask, symbol of the King, and stood on stage.

What he sang was a heart-wrenching ballad.

His skill was amazing, but unfortunately, it had almost the same emotion as my song just before.

Of course, the judges' reaction to experiencing similar emotions back-to-back was bound to be a bit deflated... Plus, was it the halo effect from the various shocks I showed besides singing?

Favorable evaluations beyond my skill poured towards me, and in the end, I became the new King with a 53 to 46 vote, a difference of 7 votes.

Pouring cheers and passionate applause.

I felt a bit dazed.

No, I really didn't intend this, but I'm the King?

Wearing the golden mask, it started to feel a bit real.

On the way out surrounded by security guards.

The thought that came to mind at that moment was 'What should I do?'

It was like that at JYC Entertainment's audition too... Anyway, things got too big.

I can barely remember in what state of mind I received congratulations from Producer Bae Il-man, talked about future schedules, and went home.

My head was too complicated and dizzy.

So I just slept.

I was already in a state of not having proper rest for almost 2 weeks.

If I took enough rest and thought about it with a clear mind, I might find some answer.

With that feeling, I slept deeply until the sun was high in the sky, then woke up and was now having lunch with delivery food.

"Let's talk."

[Yes.]

After finishing the meal, I seriously called the assistant.

I had been putting it off with excuses of being too busy and not having time, but now I needed to be more certain.

"The goddess's purpose... and my role... the plan for that."

[......]

"Tell me honestly."

It was time for a sincere conversation.

---

The first meeting with the goddess.

Even looking back now, it was absurd and strange.

She said she realized divinity in another dimensional world and became a goddess, and after a long journey following the laws of gods, arrived here.

The law of gods she mentioned is that one cannot work as an administrator in one's birth dimension.

Something about personal emotions possibly interfering?

Anyway, she received adaptation training for a year from senior gods of this dimension and got her first assignment in the East Asian region.

More specifically, around Japan, the Korean Peninsula, and eastern Manchuria?

Naturally, she started activities to recover divine power that had been depleted while crossing dimensions.

It was missionary work.

Trying to gather followers who would worship her in this new dimensional world.

But this place was too desolate, a world dominated by 'money' rather than faith.

So the goddess decided to change her approach.

If direct missionary work doesn't work, choose an indirect method!

There were various candidates.

Singers, actors, athletes, politicians, war heroes - there were many objects people idolize.

So, let's create an object people look up to.

And through that object, receive people's faith, love, joy, and various other good emotions.

But such an ambitious plan was bound to go wrong from the start.

It was too much to create such an amazing system with divine power that was already depleted.

In the end, she had to lower her sights considerably.

Since there wasn't enough power to create something new, she decided to borrow systems and platforms already created by humans.

That was New Continent TV, which had the largest share domestically, and YouTube, which she slightly stepped into thinking of the future.

[The divine power recovered so far with the administrator's help is being used entirely for YouTube. Why do you think there were no YouTube channel-related missions at first, and they appeared later? We're opening a pipeline in that direction through the goddess's divine power.]

"So what does the goddess ultimately want? Don't hide it, tell me honestly."

Isn't this a common story in novels?

Like the goddess who summoned someone to another world to save the world turns out to be the final villain and boss.

[There's nothing like that. Just trying to recover power.]

"T-Then world domination after recovering power!?"

[What would a god do by conquering the world? The very concept of existence is different from humans to begin with.]

"......"

Is this not it?

Certainly, the assistant's explanation made sense.

There are currently 5 gods managing Earth, and the goddess is the youngest among them and in a powerless state, so she's not really in a position to do anything.

[And at the current rate of power recovery, it will probably take about 500 years. The efficiency is lower because we're taking an indirect approach.]

Even if the goddess is planning something in 500 years, it has nothing to do with me.

Maybe it would be relevant to my grandson's grandson's grandson?

Anyway, after erasing suspicions about the goddess, the situation I'm facing now felt even heavier.

"You know what situation I'm in now, right?"

[I know. In the end, this is also a choice, and you just need to take responsibility for it.]

"......"

The choice is free, and you just need to take responsibility for it.

That ultimately means my initial wish.

Namely, returning to being a 'man'.

"Now... how many points are needed to return to being a man?"

As my female appearance was imprinted in people's memories, additional divine power was needed to manipulate memories.

It was 30,000 points when I first turned into a woman, but now that I've become quite well-known...

[37,255 points.]

"......"

My bad premonition hit the mark exactly.

The required points increased by almost 25%.

A chill ran down my spine for a moment.

What if the moment comes when I'm eliminated from King of Masked Singer and have to take off the mask?

It was public broadcast, after all.

Of course, many people would get to know about me and remember me.

Then how much would the required points increase?

'I really shouldn't be an entertainer. If that happens, I'll have to be prepared to live as a woman for life.'

If the goddess's power extended beyond New Continent TV or YouTube and affected the real world itself, it wouldn't matter.

Missions related to that would be generated and I could earn points.

But reality wasn't like that.

Missions are only generated related to those two platforms.

Appearing on public broadcast would surely build tremendous recognition, but the increase in points needed to return to being a man was greater than the points I would earn from it.

In the end, the conclusion is that I need to focus on New Continent TV and YouTube where I can directly receive missions for the future.

[The required points have certainly increased a lot, but we're reinvesting the recovered divine power, so missions with bigger rewards will appear gradually. You don't need to worry too much.]

I slowly raised my middle finger to the assistant who spoke so easily as if it wasn't their problem.

It's been half a year already.

The period my precious treasure has been missing.

Time passed while adapting to the sudden change of becoming a woman.

Time passed while enjoying the broadcast I was forced to start and working hard for greater growth.

Time passed while being with newly formed relationships and existing ones.

Just like that, half a year has passed.

It felt like I had reached some important turning point.

'37,255 points... If I endure and save up, how long would it take?'

The points I've saved over half a year are about 15,000.

By simple calculation, that means it would take a little over a year.

But I also need to factor in that it's gradually increasing.

I should also anticipate that it could surge when my identity is revealed on King of Masked Singer.

Being generous with the timeframe, I estimate between 2 to 3 years.

"Sigh..."

It was an even longer time than military service.

The path to returning to being a man was really not easy.

'And do I... really want to go back?'

I compare my current life to the image of struggling at age 28, earning just over 2 million won a month at a black company.

My head hurts.

Still, I lived 28 years as a man.

[You don't need to decide right away. Think about it slowly. What kind of life you truly desire in your heart.]

"......"

The night was growing deep.