Chapter 4

Chapter 1 Oh, Happy Day! (4)

***

"Shit."

Yeah, I expected as much. Internet communities are practically sewers of culture, where all sorts of twisted desires and manias run rampant. After the Great Disaster, anonymity in society has become a monster several times larger than it was in the past.

And I knew that broadcasting meant standing up to that huge, dirty monster head-on.

- Jokass: Haha lol

- NoruDrug: Haha lol

- Speed Wagon: I remember explaining it clearly.

- Professor: The situation turned out this way.

- HighWayNachoman: Haha lol

After announcing that I would earn money through the broadcast, regardless of my mental state, the chat room went into chaos. And for good reason...

- SoySauceGayBar: Haha lol, kid, life is something that doesn't go as you wish.

- NoruDrug: Isn't that what makes life more interesting?

- SoySauceGayBar: Did you check the goods and the final payment? I may be a lot of things, but I follow the code of the streets. I won't show mercy, so be prepared hahaha.

Finding a sponsor so quickly was good, and it was even better that it was someone from the local chat room I usually hang out with.

But why did it have to be that guy, SoySauceGayBar? A personality wreck, a lunatic verified over seven years! Pure evil! A guy that 100 people would all shake their heads at if they knew him! And now I have to accept conditional play from that guy!

My throat was already itching, and I wanted to say, "Haha, just kidding^^" and go dig through the wasteland, but the red gas can that had already arrived at my feet was like a shackle, asserting its presence.

- Speed Wagon: Still, you got it pretty quickly.

- SoySauceGayBar: I have a lot of money. How can I just stand by when someone is on the verge of dying just because they don't have a measly can of oil?

- Jokass: Don't act normal, you lunatic.

- HighWayNachoman: Don't act human, you freak.

Indeed. As soon as I announced that the generator was broken, I wouldn't join any other factions, and I couldn't run the backup generator without fuel, a chat appeared saying, "Then, should I send the rest of the money as oil?" And now, 8 hours later, a can of fuel is sitting right in front of me.

"I'm alive!! We're alive, Master! Electricity! Ah, the gracious electricity is spreading deep into every corner of the shelter!"

"You're alive. I'm not."

"Come on~ Why are you so tense? They're all people you know, they wouldn't treat you that harshly, right?"

"Because I know them, I'm more tense, man."

Honestly, I had a bit of hope. Maybe he's just chatting like that, but he's actually a decent person inside. Even if I don't know his face, we've built a long friendship over seven years, so he might ask for a normal, healthy play! I had that kind of hope.

- SoySauceGayBar: Hmm... I gave you exactly 700,000 for the fuel, so 3 to 4 traits should be fair, right?

- Professor: Yeah.

- SoySauceGayBar: "Legendary Stench," "Severe Exhibitionism," "Unusual Diet: Excrement," "Habitual Vomiting."

- Professor: Where do you live?

Of course, that hope was shattered with the first move.

- Jokass: You really...

- SoySauceGayBar: 700,000.

- Jokass: There's no saint like you!

- NoruDrug: Ah, for 700,000 upfront, you should be grateful and bow twice! Hahaha

- SoySauceGayBar: Hrm hrm.

- Professor: Give me a break... I have to live off this.

Yeah, I could survive for a month by rolling in dung and pretending to be a clown, but my old generator will keep eating fuel, and I need to keep earning seals to pay for it.

I could accept some terrible traits, but at least give me something that can sustain the broadcast. How many people would pay to see a smelly, naked man eating and defecating?

- SoySauceGayBar: Okay, let's go with something well-known. Seed 9274983, "Killer Billy" world. How about it? It's already proven to be a hit, right? By the way, Billy hasn't been broadcasting lately. What's he up to?

- Speed Wagon: Suicide. He made a large razor just like in the game and used it to disembowel himself. A radar found the scene and posted a screenshot in the gallery.

- SoySauceGayBar: Hmm... Well, a mentally strong professor might be okay?

- Jokass: Bullshit.

- Holy: I think that's a bit...

I knew Billy would end up like that. Putting a psychopathic killer into an ordinary person's mind is bound to explode. That's a more serious mine than the previous conditions. Of course, it was rejected.

- SoySauceGayBar: ...Damn, this is getting frustrating. Hey, do I look like a fool to you?

When I showed my refusal again, SoySauceGayBar's chat started to turn nasty.

- SoySauceGayBar: I gave you 700,000, and this isn't good, that isn't good... Professor, what do you have to say? Just going to eat and run? Did I look like an idiot? Why? Why not keep refusing until I give you exactly what you want?

- Holy: No, but you should at least make reasonable requests...

- HighWayNachoman: Tsk. How old are you, Holy?

- Holy: Seventeen...

- HighWayNachoman: You were 10 during the Great Disaster, and from your words and actions, it seems you grew up in a place like the Upper Dome and recently joined the community...

- Jokass: Hey Nacho, stop digging. Follow the rules, kid.

- HighWayNachoman: Whatever. I have to tell you. Miss, you might not know because you grew up in a privileged environment... but do you know that radars post on the community?

- Holy: ...Yes.

- HighWayNachoman: They get 200,000 for finding and killing someone. 700,000 is enough to put options on the heads of three people, including a limb or two.

- NoruDrug: ...It's also the price of 300 low-calorie bars, enough to feed a small group for two weeks.

- Holy: !!!!!

- HighWayNachoman: The 700,000 SoySauceGayBar gave is essentially the price of your life. You should accept any request because of it, but you're acting up based on a thin friendship. The one in the wrong is the professor, not SoySauceGayBar. Got it?

- SoySauceGayBar: Haha, Nacho is defending me. I'll live to see this! Was that a gesture of reconciliation?

- HighWayNachoman: Bullshit.

"....You talk well."

It's all true. What I'm doing now is begging for my life by selling the friendship of the past seven years. Of course, I have no guilt. Like the people of the wasteland, I have no intention of losing out. Once I put the friendship on the market, I have to get more than its value. In this damn world, life is always the heaviest weight, so I have to sell everything I can.

As the atmosphere in the chat room grew colder, just as I was about to do something, Speed Wagon, as always, offered a solution.

- Speed Wagon: How about this?

- SoySauceGayBar: What?

- Speed Wagon: Something that was popular about three years ago. Random trait conditions.

- SoySauceGayBar: No. The price doesn't match. It used to be 400,000 for that. Even with inflation, I'm losing the value of a head.

- Speed Wagon: Instead of 4 traits, everything is random. Job, race, traits, appearance... everything that can be set. You can pick one from the all-random and change it to what you want. Realistic mode, of course.

- Jokass: Oh.

- HighWayNachoman: Fresh idea? It seems balanced.

- SoySauceGayBar: Hmm... What if something really good comes up? I'll feel really dirty.

- NoruDrug: That's why you get to pick one trait. To ruin the professor's good mood if something great happens. This isn't an easy game where you can push through with random traits that don't match.

- SoySauceGayBar: That makes sense. Okay, I'll call. Professor?

- Professor: Call.

I stood up from my seat without realizing it.

"Of course, I'll call! As expected, the greatest personality of this era, Speed Wagon! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Is it really that good? If you get a lot of bad traits, it could be dangerous, and even if you get several good traits, the other party has the option to flip the combination?"

"Of course, it's a good thing! Normally, I'd have no choice even if I started with only bad traits, but now there's a chance to start well by rolling the dice?"

In terms of negotiation, this was the best outcome. An all-random start, the topic is good, and it seems suitable for broadcasting. Not bad. No, it's the best outcome!

This isn't the time. I need to sign the contract before he changes his mind.

- SoySauceGayBar: Yeah, it's good. The more I think about it, the more interesting it seems.

- Professor: So, the deal is like this? All-random start / 'SoySauceGayBar' trait pick 1 / Play and broadcast for a month (5 in-game months) with minimal breaks / Realistic mode / Agree?

- SoySauceGayBar: Yeah, I agree. Should we confirm the deal?

- Professor: Ok.

When both parties clicked the deal confirmation in the chat window, a system message appeared: "The deal has been successfully processed."

One of the biggest reasons seals could be the main currency in this world. If both parties don't confirm the deal, it is canceled, and Gedroyts' drones return the items. If there is any unnecessary friction in the process, the account is immediately suspended.

Now that the Gedroyts-managed GG community is the only means of real-time long-distance communication with the outside world, account suspension means being cut off from society. Even domes that accept anyone, including the limbless, don't accept people with suspended accounts.

People who tamper with Gedroyts' transport drones for their parts are also suspended, and in such cases, all IPs within a 500-meter radius of the person are suspended, allowing Gedroyts drones to perform their tasks smoothly in this chaotic world.

Anyway, the contract is now in place, so I can breathe a sigh of relief. The sense of crisis that made my neck stiff has eased.

- SoySauceGayBar: Well, as the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. Since the payment has been made, can we start right away? Everyone, take your seats!

- Speed Wagon: /Take seat/

- Jokass: Hurry up!!! I'm getting dizzy!!!

- Holy: Heart pounding!

+ Player 'NutriaJina' has entered the chat room.

- NutriaJina: I heard the rumors. Is this the all-random 1 pick realistic mode broadcast?

- WhaleIsComing: This broadcast is good.

- ChaoLeQiDuoJi: I also spread the word in our local chat room.

+ Player '....' has entered the chat room.

+ Player '....' has entered the chat room.

+ Player '....' has entered the chat room.

- SoySauceGayBar: Welcome, new members! I'm the host of this party, SoySauceGayBar! Since it's a 700,000 concept play, let's all enjoy it!

- GunpowderAndBlood: The atmosphere is hard to get used to.

- Jokass: Bang bang bang!!! Host!!! Open the door!!! People are waiting!!!

- WhaleIsComing: Bang bang bang!!

- NutriaJina: Open the door!!!

==========

"Master, are you ready?"

"Yeah. I won't be able to react to external stimuli for a while, so increase the stealth field and shield output."

"Understood. Have a good dream."

Squeak- Thud.

The door of the connection device closed, and the soft interior enveloped my body. A comfortable yet strangely tense sensation I hadn't felt in two years.

"I really didn't want to do this again..."

Well, as they say, every cloud has a silver lining. If this game can have a bad influence, it can also have a good one. If I compare the scenes outside the shelter in the wasteland to the scenes in this game, I would choose the game 100 times out of 100 for mental health. That's why people can't stop playing this game even though they know it's dangerous.

While these thoughts were swirling in my mind, the lights inside the connection device turned off after recognizing my bio-pattern, and a soft female voice echoed as my body felt weightless.

[Welcome, Professor Park. For the world, and the world beyond. Would you like to connect to Gedroyts' game?]

The familiar voice, which I had heard countless times, made me slightly uncomfortable, but I suppressed it. Don't think about it. This is a matter of my survival.

"I'll connect."

As soon as I finished speaking, a blinding light enveloped me.

***