I Returned, and Now I See Strange Things-Chapter 46: Being a Streamer Is Hard

She sank into the PC bang chair as if collapsing into it and began aimlessly moving the mouse around.

“Hmm...”

It was because Hyeyeon had said, “I’ll help you with guest sourcing, but shouldn’t you also look for material yourself? In the end, the sourcing too.”

It wasn’t like she had any complaints.

She agreed with the need, after all. It wasn’t like she could rely on Hyeyeon to spoon-feed her forever.

Click—click—click.

As she scrolled the mouse wheel, she browsed through stories and recommended links posted in the NewTube community.

(Noona, please come here...)

Anything that started out like that was, without fail, not worth reading.

Most of them were messages claiming there was a ghost in the sender’s house and asking her to check it out.

...Obviously fake.

At first, the first one or two times, she had wondered “Is this real?”, but after seeing several similar posts, she got the gist of it.

There might be someone among them who really needs help, though.

Even just skimming them, none of the stories seemed particularly urgent.

Things like strange shapes appearing in an egg... or odd stains forming on a desk surface.

Why even send stuff like this in?

Honestly, she’d get better results just by searching “haunted house” in an internet search bar.

She pressed her temples and let out a long sigh—when she sensed someone approaching.

Glancing to the side, she spotted a familiar face.

That’s the part-timer who gave me free service last time.

She remembered him, but they weren’t close enough to greet each other, so she focused her eyes back on the monitor.

Then, a drink was placed on her desk.

With her hoodie pulled deep over her face, she responded in a low voice.

“I didn’t order a drink...”

A voice replied, tinged with amusement.

“It’s complimentary.”

...What was this?

Did PC bangs normally give out free drinks like this?

The world had changed so fast it still felt strange to her, so all she could do was bow her head and express her thanks.

After watching the part-timer smile contentedly and head back to his station, she turned to look at the monitor again.

She stuck a straw into the large can of cider with a green label and took a few sips while continuing to skim through the remaining posts.

Among them, a few stories stood out.

(Try the method to travel to another world using an elevator!)

It was a fairly intriguing post.

In some ways, it seemed more convincing than getting hit by a truck and waking up in another world.

Of course... it was still equally ridiculous.

The fact that all you needed was a building with more than ten floors made the barrier to entry appealingly low.

[If something like this really worked... Master wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.]

“So true.”

Still, the “other world” described in this post didn’t seem like Entera or anything mystical—more like a barren, empty wasteland.

It was interesting, but... didn’t seem very fit for a broadcast.

If she went and the stream cut off the moment she crossed over... it would be a total waste.

It’s not like I can edit videos, or afford to pay someone else to do it.

Even so, the idea that something unique could happen just from pressing some elevator buttons had a certain appeal, so she decided to jot it down.

Picking a good topic is harder than I thought.

Hyeyeon and Hyesung had always come prepared like it was nothing, so she’d assumed it wouldn’t be that difficult—but it was turning out to be a real headache.

Finding something suitable for streaming was already tough... but expecting a story like this to be believable in the first place was absurd.

Which made it feel impossible to filter out the ones that wouldn’t be a complete waste of time.

And come to think of it, the fact that something weird always happened wherever she went... that was starting to feel suspicious.

Is it because of me...?

If so, maybe she didn’t need to worry about it?

But if that were the case, then why is it so quiet around my neighborhood?

...Well, with the exception of the old man in the park.

Anyway, while she was still jotting down haunted spots in the provinces that she couldn’t visit without Hyesung’s help, one particular post caught her eye.

(Ever since I moved, strange things keep happening in my house.)

Unlike the previous ones, this one had a surprisingly serious tone in its title.

Though that didn’t guarantee the content would be serious too.

(Hello. I’m a viewer living in ○○ City. I’ve always been interested in this sort of thing, and after watching Ayun-nim’s streams, I thought maybe I could get some help. I apologize # Nоvеlight # for the sudden message.)

...She didn’t know when she had earned that kind of image, but the respectful tone caught her attention, so she kept reading.

(*To get to the point, it’s been almost a month since I moved into this place. And ever since the weekend right after the move, strange things started happening in the house.

At first, I thought it was my own carelessness. Lights I was sure I turned off were on when I got home, faucets I thought I shut off were running—just the kind of little things you often forget in daily life.*)

Like going out with the gas valve still open.

To her, that kind of thing was unthinkable, so it felt a bit more serious.

She used Ignis for gas, and she almost never turned on the lights anyway since she was trying to save on the electricity bill.

But... if she came home and found things turning on by themselves...

That was the kind of thing that sent chills down her spine.

(*But lately, even while I’m just sitting quietly, objects fall down on their own, or the lights go out even when I’m in the room.

At first, I figured maybe something just tipped over by accident, or there was a wiring problem. But the inspection came back saying there’s nothing wrong with the house.

If you’re going to suggest moving out... I’ll have to say that due to personal circumstances, that’s not an option for me.

I mean, I do have an interest in these things... but I didn’t want it to be something that happens every single day.

I asked the landlord too, but they just said they’d never heard of another tenant reporting anything like this. So I decided to send this in. I’ll be waiting to hear back. Thank you for reading this long message.*)

That was where the story ended.

It was seriously unsettling.

If it were her, she wouldn’t even be able to leave the house—never knowing when the lights might come on or the water might start flooding.

I don’t know if I can help... but maybe I should check this place out.

With that thought in mind, she sent a message to Hyeyeon.

Earlier, when she’d brought up the idea of dragging in the guys she fought with for a haunted house experience, Hyeyeon had completely lost it—so this time she approached it with more caution.

Hyeyeon was throwing a fit about wanting to fight Arin, yet always held her to these rigid standards. The hypocrisy was baffling.

...Not like I wouldn’t win if we actually fought.

Or maybe Hyeyeon just wanted to avoid drama before things were fully settled.

Either way, this particular post had struck a chord with her, so she carefully wrote out a long, wordy, detailed message to Hyeyeon and stretched out her limbs.

While waiting for a reply, she suddenly remembered Arin and sent her a message too.

– You doing okay?

[You sound oddly old-fashioned.]

“...I’m still lively, okay?”

Honestly, in terms of age, wasn’t Arin technically older?

There was some internet term for this... hal-something?

She was about to look it up, but for some reason got a bad feeling and decided against it.

In the meantime, a reply from Arin came in.

– Uh... yes.

– Why so stiff? ^^ We’ve shared secrets, haven’t we? 👍

– D-Did I do something wrong?

What was with her now?

– No, nothing like that. Just wanted to see how you’re doing. Oh, by the way, did you watch my stream?

– Ah... not yet...

– Really? Why?

She’d thought Arin was into this sort of thing, so the reply was unexpected. Or... maybe her stream was just boring?

– I-I’ll watch it soon... I’ve been kind of busy lately...

– Got it. ^^

– I really was busy!

– I believe you.

– I’m serious...

– I said I believe you. Watch it when you get the chance. And if you’re ever interested in appearing, let me know. Oh—do you have a driver’s license, by the way?

– Uh, um, n-no?

– Oh? Too bad.

She had hoped, but it couldn’t be helped.

As she was smacking her lips in disappointment, a surprising reply came in.

– I-I’m planning to get it soon.

– Oh, really?

She thought it would be nice if the channel grew fast enough that she could start hiring more people.

After finishing up the chat with Arin, she refreshed the channel page on her monitor and saw the subscriber count had gone up since earlier.

...This feels kinda nice.

Maybe this was the appeal of becoming a clout-chaser.

Maybe I’m more cut out for streaming than I thought.

She stared blankly at the rising numbers, hitting refresh again and again.

Before long, Hyeyeon sent a reply too.

It was a positive one.

Visit ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com for the 𝑏est n𝘰vel reading experience.

– This one looks promising. I’ll reach out to them myself.

– Oh, really?

Her shoulders bounced slightly at the sense of success.

– Yeah. Did you find anything else?

– A little. But it’s harder than I expected. Most haunted houses and spots are in the provinces, so it’s tough to choose.

– Not much we can do about that for now.

They chatted a little longer, and once she felt like she’d done enough for the day, she clicked the “End Session” button on the PC bang screen.

Just in case she wanted to come back and use it later.

As she got up to leave, she noticed the part-timer who’d given her the drink was still at the counter.

Since she’d gotten a freebie, it felt like the right thing to at least say thanks.

“Thanks for the soda. Take care.”

“Oh, already heading out?”

“Yeah. I’m done with what I needed to do.”

Leaving the part-timer waving warmly behind, she made her way home with a light step.

Ah, come to think of it...

There was something she’d meant to try.

She locked the now-fixed, silent door and double-checked the windows.

This wasn’t something anyone else should witness.

Then... she took the red stone into her hand and whispered softly.

“Ignis.”

At her call, a faint light began to seep out from within the red stone.