Streamer Crazy About Slaughter - Chapter 94

Is there anyone who thinks about how a day has passed in detail?

A day.

In terms of time, it is 24 hours.

Half of that is 12 hours,

and half of that is 6 hours,

until it ends up at just 30 minutes, with some people meticulously planning even down to those time units.

Chasing time, with time being too important and precious.

People who cannot even afford to waste a brief moment of time.

Such people are often referred to as living diligently.

People who strive to make each day fulfilling and meaningful, with not even a single minute wasted.

Even if no one else recognizes it, they live earnestly for themselves.

And there are also people who tell such individuals to take a moment to rest.

[Video for those who suddenly gained a lot of money or feel financially strained]

That was the title of the NewTube video Serin was currently watching.

—I have counseled quite a few people who won the lottery or unexpectedly came into a large sum of money. And do you know what the first thing they change is? Ironically, it’s not material things like cars, houses, or expensive bags that they had always wanted; it’s their relationships with people.

—These are people they usually trust and believe in, but when they suddenly come into a large amount of money, they become unable to trust even those people and end up wanting to change the ones they know entirely. They start to wonder when the people they’ve been close to will betray them or if even their smallest actions are motivated by greed for their money.

—Thus, they distance themselves from parents and children, friends, or even partners and spouses. Many are unable to trust even while they sleep. Among those who come into large amounts of money, there are actually many who suffer from insomnia.

The words of the psychologist coming from the screen seemed to resonate.

A woman with pure white, silver hair stared blankly at the NewTube video she was watching, as if drawn in by an incomprehensible algorithm.

On the last day forced to take a break due to a suspension on Twitti, she was wondering if it was okay to pass the time just checking videos or communities, and whether it was acceptable to be doing nothing while lost in thought when she came across a video.

She didn’t understand why she was watching this video now or why she was staring at it in a trance-like state, but each word from the counselor in the video pierced her ears.

Perhaps it was just that the counselor was particularly good at speaking.

“Interesting.”

After washing up and sitting in front of the PC, Serin had spent nearly 6 hours gazing at communities and NewTube videos, feeling a bit guilty for doing so.

It almost felt as if the description of suddenly becoming rich was speaking directly to her, and the mention of human distrust made her reflect on herself.

—And what remains for those who grew distant from acquaintances and family? A sense of security that they no longer have to worry? The happiness of being wealthy? Countless people I’ve counseled have felt all of that. Yes, everyone initially felt a fleeting sense of serenity and happiness. But many of those I’ve counseled began to feel that everything about it was absurdly empty. The void left by those who distanced themselves out of distrust. Great loneliness comes from that. And what fills the space where that loneliness resides…

But the counselor’s subsequent words, while somewhat relatable, felt blocked by a small wall and didn’t resonate as much.

“…family and acquaintances.”

Muttering blankly, her younger sister Seoyoon and Sua immediately came to mind.

Right now, just the two of them.

Then suddenly, editor Park So-yul and Kim Ha-yoon flashed into her thoughts.

Neither of them had met her face-to-face in reality, yet they were the people she was still in contact with.

She realized how narrow her human relationships actually were.

‘A sense of emptiness from growing distant from someone close…’

Did I even have time to feel that?

Falling into this world and just living passively to the flow, she hadn’t realized it when she was busy, but now that she had some spare time, the video made her think too much.

Her own existence here felt like a divine prank, incomprehensible.

As she delved deeper into her thoughts.

“Ah, I crave alcohol.”

The words escaped her lips unnecessarily. Perhaps because she had drunk after a long time yesterday, now thoughts of alcohol were naturally crossing her mind.

Then, she quickly pushed those thoughts away.

She had been rolling in melancholy or dwelling on the past for far too long already.

In the world of Black Ark.

Over what could be many long years, she had already anguished too much in that world.

So now, she didn’t want to feel sorry for herself anymore.

“Well, what’s wrong with doing nothing?”

As she said that, she leaned back.

Buried into the soft chair, she let her thoughts drift.

She accepted the thoughts that rose up lazily as they came.

Whenever the absence of her younger sister crossed her mind, instead of trying to turn away from that emptiness, she simply acknowledged it.

“Someone like that existed,” she thought, instead focusing on recalling memories.

No matter how much she tried to forget or erase it, it was something she couldn’t turn back from anyway.

In fact, later on, that emotion would accumulate and inevitably fester.

During one of her quests in the Black Ark world, her emotional change had once caused her to k*ll someone and derail the quest altogether.

She had just killed someone out of irritation. At that time, she hadn’t realized it would lead her to k*ll dozens.

“I killed quite a lot.”

In a world where the line between reality and game blurred, she realized she had lived quite recklessly.

Then she recalled the early days when she practiced one technique all day, wielding the Crescent Moon Blade.

“…”

Lifting her arm over her shoulder, she stretched her body.

Her heavy body briefly felt refreshing.

As she looked up and blankly stared at the ceiling of the room, she burst into quiet laughter.

“Still… it’s pretty comfortable here.”

Living life without particular worries, just flowing along.

Whether busy or leisurely like today: that was her current state, but was that really a bad thing?

‘Does life have to be busy?’

Trying too hard to live each day diligently ultimately leads to exhaustion.

Some people in the video she just saw spoke many words, while others told her to take a break and that it was okay not to do anything. Conversely, there were also those who constantly urged her to strive and take action.

In the end, wasn’t it just a matter of how one perceives it?

When she wanted to work hard, she looked for videos encouraging effort, and when she wanted to rest or receive comfort, she watched those kinds of videos.

That thought crossed her mind.

And perhaps because she resolved to take a complete break today, she felt particularly full of distracting thoughts.

She chuckled slightly, perhaps because she had lived relatively busy these past few days.

In the past, she had also tried to split time into minute intervals in the game world, seeking to spend time as efficiently as possible.

As she got stronger in real-time, that itself propelled her forward; it was all about becoming stronger.

Once she reached a certain skill level where survival became easier, her next goal was simply to become stronger—stronger than anyone else.

Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the Arena World capsule.

A faint but perceptible sense of omnipotence.

The thrill of merely stabbing or striking something.

And there she was, seemingly entranced by just moving.

Even though she was aware of this, what did it matter?

In reality, there were hardly any problems, and she had no significant inconveniences living her life.

In Another World, she sometimes acted spontaneously, but in the end, it was still just a game.

Oddly enough, she sometimes felt that it was even better because it was a game.

The fact that she could fight again against an opponent she had faced before.

That meant she could once more enjoy the thrill of dueling.

“…I guess it’s fortunate that there’s Another World.”

Her figure appeared in the large full-length mirror in the room.

Having lost her strength, she had become an ordinary person.

“Why don’t I get a status window or something?”

In stories, typically when someone is sent to another world, they are given some sort of system, like a status window, to help them live well.

However, all the hard-won items were taken away, and the only thing she got was the exchange of dozens of billions of silver won—how unfair that seemed to her.

In the world of Black Ark, a sum of dozens of billions of silver is more than enough to make one a billionaire.

“Ah, in the end, I was just whining.”

Muttering that while looking at the mirror, she forcibly lifted her body.

When distracting thoughts became numerous, she ultimately had to move her body.

Then her eyes fell on Sua’s contact in her phone.

The only acquaintance she could meet right now.

A streamer who had shown her great affection.

[Sua, can we take a break from the broadcast today?]

So she sent a message, not really knowing what she was doing.

Wondering what kind of nonsense this was to someone with a proper schedule.

But then, an alert rang immediately, and without realizing it, her gaze shifted.

Yoon Sua.

[Older Sister Se-rin, why all of a sudden? Where shall we meet? Just tell me. I’ll come right over.]

Her laughter burst out at Sua’s energetic reply.