Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 27

Looking back on my actions over the past few days, it felt strangely fascinating.

I was overly reactive to the appearance of a streamer and posted malicious comments that I myself found to be wicked.

In the community, when someone suspected me of being a hacker, I expressed my emotions as if they were out of control, easily showing my feelings.

When I think about it, I felt that I had always been expressing my emotions well since the moment I fell into this world.

I could easily laugh at trivial things and got angry over things that I could have just brushed off or ignored.

It was as if I was feeling emotions too easily, like a ‘normal’ person.

Perhaps like the gentle rain that moistens a parched land, it felt like something called emotion had been instilled in my heart.

‘…’

In the world of the Black Ark, even if people died before me, I didn’t blink an eye. Besides killing monsters and adventuring in the world, I hadn’t really built significant human relationships.

I still didn’t know if they were real people or NPCs mimicking humans, but I was just living alone.

Yet, the way I am now is clearly different in some way.

The immense sense of loss from having everything I achieved in the world of the Black Ark taken away overnight makes me feel as though I could collapse, and I remember a time when I hated an entity whose name I didn’t even know, looking negatively at this reality.

Ultimately, I’m slowly adapting to this world now.

According to the given situation, it seems I’m trying to live as ordinarily as possible.

And the current me, who has taken an interest in games again, seems to be trying to find the part of myself that enjoyed past games, rather than being the person I was in the world of the Black Ark.

In the end, it appears that I’m gradually searching for myself according to my environment.

At an unexpected moment, I found myself reflecting.

It was all due to a question I never anticipated.

After finishing her brief thought, Serin slowly opened her mouth.

“The user named Lin is just… a fascinating user, it seems.”

“A fascinating user?”

“Don’t you think so too, Sua? They suddenly appeared as if they fell from the sky.”

“Well… that’s true. Their outstanding skills and appearance are all fascinating, to say the least.”

Serin spoke while looking into my eyes regarding appearance, and it was then that I began to suspect why this person named Sua had been following me.

Who would suddenly mention Another World while playing a game? Showing videos about a user named Lin on their phone?

Ultimately, the appearance of the user named Lin was the very essence of ‘me’. So I understood why Sua, as a woman, was interested in me.

Consequently, the biggest question that Sua must be feeling right now. To resolve her curiosity, Serin opened her mouth.

“The more I see the user named Lin, the more they resemble me, don’t you think?”

As Serin brushed her silver hair back, Sua smiled as if it was exactly what she wanted and nodded repeatedly.

“Yes, exactly! In fact, Serin, you know, I wasn’t really trying to follow you or anything… the reason I chased after you was that you bear such a strong resemblance to Lin, and I was wondering if you could possibly be the user Lin themselves or if you knew them. I was thinking that, you know. If you felt uncomfortable, I’m truly sorry… but this is really my sincere feeling!”

With no hint of falsehood in the fervent words of Sua, Serin completely relaxed her expression and gave a small nod.

“Well, I understand. But what can I say? I’m not related to the user named Lin at all.”

I felt like I had become somewhat famous among users playing Another World, but was that a good thing? That was a question I pondered.

So for now, I decided to deny it to Sua. That the user named Lin was not me.

“Oh! Is that so? Then what about the appearance of the user named Lin…? They seem to be styled just like you.”

Sua tilted her head in puzzlement while looking at Serin’s silver hair and face.

“Well, maybe someone saw my appearance somewhere and copied it?”

“Copying Serin’s look… You have a point there. Wow. But thinking about it, doesn’t this situation become a bit serious?”

Sua, who believed Serin’s words without a hint of doubt, muttered cautiously with a serious expression.

“Serious?”

“No, if we take Serin’s words at face value, then the user named Lin simply created their character with meticulous care by copying Serin’s appearance, right? The more I think about it, the more frightening it is. Haven’t you thought about that, Serin?”

Gradually, the Sua who was previously trembling with her hands or stuttering seemed to have disappeared.

After Serin fully dropped her guard against Sua, only a university student who spoke coherently, as if she had become an actress, remained.

And it was Serin who was taken aback by Sua’s demeanor.

‘Could it be like that?’

What I had said to brush off the fact that Lin was not me had led Sua to think of something else.

“Perhaps the currently famous user named Lin is actually a stalker of Serin, watching you from places you don’t even know. They might be a really terrible person.”

‘Uh…what?’

No, this discussion shouldn’t go that way.

With a blank expression, Serin wondered what to say.

“W-Well, that could be possible.”

Then I decided to just go along with Sua’s rhythm. After all, it’s not like we’d see each other again after today.

With that, Sua showed a worried expression.

“Do you live alone right now, Serin?”

“Ah, yes.”

“…Wow, that seems really dangerous.”

“Are you taking this too seriously?”

“Taking it seriously? Honestly, you seem really unprotected, Serin!”

Unprotected.

For a moment, Serin looked at Sua with an incredulous expression.

That was really the first time I had heard that in the last few years.

“No! Don’t you think the user Lin sounds truly malicious? Considering they went to such lengths to create a character imitating your appearance, ugh… I can feel chills just thinking about it.”

With that, Sua hugged her shoulders, showing a fearful expression.

I had no idea how the situation was unfolding.

Then the word ‘malicious’ caught my attention.

Am I really seen as a malicious user by others? Such a thought even crossed my mind.

“…malicious user?”

“Ah. Why is Serin suddenly acting like this? You must be somewhat aware of your appearance.”

With completely regained composure, Sua began to question Serin more assertively.

Thinking about a few situations, the thought of a stalker emerged, but that the woman named Serin was completely unaware of the stalker’s existence made me genuinely worried.

In reaction to Sua’s sudden demeanor, Serin nodded slightly and replied.

“Well, at least to some extent…”

“Then are you doing it knowingly? With your looks, I’m sure there have been a couple of men who wanted to cling to you until now. Why are you speaking as if you’ve never thought about a stalker’s existence? From my perspective, the user named Lin is certainly your stalker!”

‘Stalker…?’

What is this situation now?

I clearly came into this café to confront the person following me.

And now I was being accused of being a stalker myself.

In such a situation, I couldn’t easily refute.

It seemed everything had gone awry from the moment I denied that the user named Lin was not me.

I couldn’t think of an appropriate response.

“Then… I should be cautious.”

“No, you said you live alone, right? Is it really okay? You might need to report it to the police or receive protection.”

Sua’s pushing demeanor made Serin hurriedly respond.

“Ah, no, Sua!? There’s no need to go that far.”

“No, really, to me it seems overly dangerous, Serin. Saying this on our first meeting might sound funny, but really think about the existence of a stalker and keep your guard up. Honestly, I know because I’ve suffered from it before. Someone obsessing over you is not something to take lightly.”

She was genuine.

Listening to Sua’s words, Serin couldn’t help but feel it too.

She was saying it sincerely, with worry for me.

“I can protect myself to a certain degree. I should be cautious of stalkers… and keep an eye out for them. After hearing you, Sua, it certainly makes sense. That user named Lin who copied me… must indeed be malicious.”

“The fact that you can protect yourself, it makes me think with an appearance like yours, Serin, you might have learned some self-defense. And now that I mention it, outside of this café, when you looked at me, I genuinely thought you were going to k*ll me.”

‘You felt that…?’

More than anything else Sua said, I was shocked to hear that she felt a killing intent.

It wasn’t that I was glaring at her with a killing intent; I just shot her an annoyed glance because she was staring too intently at me.

Or perhaps, without realizing it, I might have looked at her with such a fierce gaze that even normal people could feel it. That thought crossed my mind.

“By the way, what’s your nickname in Another World?”

“Why are you suddenly asking about my nickname…?”

“Thinking about it, our meeting like this feels like fate. Given that we both play the same game, don’t you think this situation feels somewhat destined?”

Sua, whose acting and true self seemed to be half-mixed, was feeling a strong curiosity toward Serin right now.

Despite feeling that she was a difficult and scary person, the more we talked, the more it felt like my heart was at ease.

A counterpart with whom I could communicate without acting.

It was someone I hadn’t felt that way about in a long time.

Unlike usual conversations that exhaust me gradually, I found myself gaining interest in this one.

“Ah, no, let me reveal my nickname first. It’s ‘Plea.’ Do you perhaps know it?”

With expectancy filling her gaze, Sua looked at Serin.

If someone played Another World, they would surely know her.

What kind of reaction would this silver-haired woman named Serin have to my words? Sua was very much looking forward to it.

‘Ranked 8th.’

With a sense of pride in my tier, I didn’t think that someone who played Another World wouldn’t know me.

With Sua’s sparkling eyes, Serin briefly felt suspicious.

‘Why is she asking me this while mentioning her game nickname?’

What, was I supposed to be some famous person?

“It’s a fascinating nickname.”