LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 2 - Fetal Parasite 2
Chapter 2 Fetal Parasite 2
Ah, I don’t know.
I’m too lazy to move my body, and I don’t feel like thinking complicated thoughts.
I’ll just leave those things for tomorrow’s me.
My arm is numb.
I moved the bag to the other side and trudged up the hill.
On both sides of the mountain road, there were buildings of varying heights, scattered unevenly, and the walls, all peeling paint, had dark, dull colors.
A moth with brown wings started its shabby flight, following the orange light of the streetlamp.
I stared blankly, and without realizing it, my gaze went up.
The sky I looked up at was dizzyingly breathless.
I typed in a password that I hastily made using my birthdate into the door lock and opened the door.
I hung my jumper back on the chair and quickly took off my uncomfortable pants.
It was slightly warm inside, probably because the boiler temperature was high.
I rummaged through my summer clothes and took out some shorts with a line on the side and an oversized henley-neck short-sleeve shirt.
I had bought these pants to wear for jogging but had never worn them. Yet, they were still uncomfortable because the bottom kept getting pulled tightly upwards on both sides.
I think I need to buy some clothes.
Since my body shape has changed, the range of motion in my pants has drastically shrunk.
I didn’t realize it when going downhill, but it wasn’t just a strange feeling coming from my pants for no reason.
To climb uphill, I had to raise my legs more than usual, but the fabric of my clothes was pulling uncomfortably above my hips and knees.
I put water on the kettle and put my lunch in the microwave.
While the lunch was heating, I decided to browse through the community.
For some reason, the bulletin board is especially noisy today.
[Where did they go?]
[Has the first TS graduate of Season 1 finally appeared in our gallery?]
[Don’t you know the TS national rule? When you wake up, you should post a certified selfie.]
[This damn gallery is starting again.]
[Advanced GoodNickGoroshi]
It seems like one of the GoodNicks has disappeared.
A certain sticky feeling naturally develops when everyone pulls each other’s legs, preventing them from escaping from the boiling pot of the bulletin board.
It’s nothing more than a fight for survival, wanting to drag everyone to hell together, but it’s much stickier than anything that could be called friendship.
Posts from newcomers don’t get a single downvote, while GoodNick posts accumulate comments, even if they are filled with insults.
If they heard about this, they’d be horrified, but from the outside, it certainly looked like a lost cause.
The term “failed gallery” has been circulating for more than a year now, but in my opinion, it can’t fail.
That’s because it had already been failing long before that term even came up.
I poured water into the cup ramen and clicked on the first post.
[Where did they go?]
[Didn’t they hang around every day except the day they were officially indicted for cyber defamation by YellowYellow?]
(ㅇㅇ)1: I don’t know, not my problem. Didn’t they get sued again? Lol.
(ㅇㅇ)2: The CTube was uploaded yesterday, though?
(UndergroundSubwayIsCold): Lol, even CTube?
(ㅇㅇ)2: Yep, with 4 views and 46 subscribers. Such a small fry. Lol. They said they’d do an event when they hit 50 subscribers, should try subscribing.
The 50-subscriber event was never actually mentioned, but they made it an official thing among themselves.
Anyway, judging from the mention of the summary charge and the fact that I’m being roasted, it seems pretty clear they’re talking about me.
It’s only been an hour, and four posts have already gone up, huh?
When I think about how my mom never once called me for six months, I realize these guys feel more like family.
It would be embarrassing to reveal it directly, so I thought I’d leave a post on the CTube community, just for those who know.
Out of the 46 subscribers, about 10 are from the gallery, so if I post it, they’ll figure it out on their own.
[Beep Beep]
Looks like 4 minutes have passed.
I took the lunch out of the microwave.
My body’s tired, but I thought I might just go to sleep today.
The effects of the medication haven’t worn off, so maybe just one more pack of pills for dinner will make me sleepy.
I swallowed the pills with an energy drink in my mouth.
Come to think of it, what about the cost of the medicine?
I could ask for help with the rent this one time, but I don’t have money for living expenses.
[Over 50 subscribers. Didn’t you say you’d do an event?]
[Hey, YellowYellow said you’re in your 50s, right? Let’s meet face-to-face and throw some insults. Do a live stream for the subscriber event, lol.]
[Summary charge (50s, unemployed)]
Looks like a few more from the gallery hit subscribe.
I was eating ramen, and slowly, the effects of the medication started kicking in.
It felt like I was floating.
Maybe because I only took the right amount today, I don’t feel bad.
I almost replied with some insults but deleted it.
[Don’t spread rumors. I never met YellowYellow in person, and I didn’t reach a settlement. Also, you keep talking about the summary charge, but that guy also got a suspension of prosecution.]
[YellowYellow said the police told him you’re a 50-something unemployed?]
[Lol, if you’re so upset, just turn on the live stream and prove it.]
[Yeah~ Get lost~ I know you’re going to capture my face and spread it around, right?]
I can’t bear the thought of my face floating around in the community as some meme, like in that picture.
[Summary charge (50s, unemployed, fucking pathetic) LMAO]
At the last comment, my rationality snapped.
If you’re debating whether to do something, it’s usually safer not to do it.
[Wait, I’m turning it on now.]
But I couldn’t follow that kind of cautious logic; my brakes, so to speak, were weak.
‘It wasn’t even my real face, so this is technically a mask, right?’
If I were sober, I wouldn’t have had such a crazy thought, but already 3 minutes had passed since I turned on the live stream.
The number of viewers at the bottom of the screen was 0.
I knew this would happen.
For a moment, I exhaled a sigh full of frustration, but then, messages started appearing in the chat.
[Kwakhyunsoo]: This bastard’s a woman?
[Hwang Yeowoon]: What? Did I click on the wrong stream?
[If you don’t subscribe, you’re a face]: Excuse me, are you the person who uses the Melon Mask as your fixed nickname?
“Well, Hyunsoo, you dumbass. I’m a guy, by the way. Ugh, you really put up that disgusting profile pic. Hey, change it before I say something bad.”
After throwing a jab at the guy with a bizarre profile pic that looked like something from the deep web, I put down my vape and pulled out a cigarette.
[Kwakhyunsoo]: You sound like you’re full of shit, so it must be you. But why does your speech sound so awkward?
[Hwang Yeowoon]: Sis… I’m feeling weird…
[The Thunder King of the Elderly Seating]: Hey, if you’re going to do this, wouldn’t it be better to stream somewhere else? If you expose yourself like that here, you’ll get banned instantly.
I couldn’t tighten my jaw, so the capsule didn’t pop open.
I took the cigarette from my mouth and popped it open with my hand.
“Ah, this won’t pop! Ugh! What? My chest?”
At one gallery member’s comment, I quickly covered my chest with my clothes.
It felt strange.
I’d been wearing a henley neck shirt with the buttons left undone, thinking it’d be more comfortable for my chest if it was loose and fell to my midriff, but I never expected it would show my cleavage like this.
“Shit. What are you looking at, you wanna die? I wasn’t even planning to stream. I only turned this on because someone started arguing with me saying I was a 50-year-old high school graduate, unemployed, so I just turned it on for a moment. You say I’m awkward with my speech? Yeah… it’s because I took meds. Fuck, I’m allowed to take meds. I took them because I’m depressed. So what!”
I felt a burst of irritation and shot back with a snarky remark.
As the smoke entered deep into my lungs, I felt my anger begin to settle.
I adjusted my posture, briefly placing my cigarette on the keyboard, and took a drag from my e-cig.
[Hwang Yeowoon]: Is this bitch on meds or something? LMAO, you scared me when you suddenly yelled.
[If you don’t subscribe, you’re a face]: Why is she throwing a tantrum when she showed us everything?
[Pi Mong City Resident]: Hi. It’d be better if you broadcast from Pi Mong City, right?
“Hmm, this is annoying, should I just turn off the stream? I’ve already shown proof anyway. By the way, who the hell talked shit about me earlier? Own up now, or I swear you’ll regret it. Pi Mong City? Ugh, that sounds like a hassle.”
[Kwakhyunsoo]: Why? You hit 50 subs and now you’re just gonna shut up?
[The Thunder King of Elderly Seating]: You’re just gonna write trash posts anyway, so why not make money with a stream in the meantime?
“Well, since these idiots came to watch my shit, I guess I’ll do a mukbang and call it a day. I’ll stream for a bit from Pi Mong City. Hyunsoo, please say something logical. Seriously, who would do a subscriber event for 50 people? Trash posts? I won’t be doing that anytime soon. I’m running low on living expenses and need to find a part-time job. And Thunder King, you dumbass, there are only about five or six viewers in my stream right now, and you’re talking about making money? What money? What kind of broke-ass person, who’s been self-isolating since before COVID, has money to spend… I really wanna choke someone.”
I chewed as fast as I could through the spicy pork in my lunch and took the last drag from the cigarette I’d left on the keyboard.
“Alright, you guys better wait. I’ll turn it on right away. If you don’t show up, I’m gonna spam KyaruCon in every post.”
[Hwang Yeowoon]: What does it taste like when you eat and smoke right after?
[The Thunder King of Elderly Seating]: Don’t worry, I posted a promo in the gallery. Now it’s only a matter of time before I blow up.
[If you don’t subscribe, you’re a face]: That’s true love, lol. I hope you have a beautiful relationship.
Before ending the stream, I blew out a puff of e-cigarette smoke and raised my middle finger.
Since I occasionally watched other streamers, I already had an account.
I quickly logged into Pi Mong City and started the mobile broadcast.
“Ugh, seriously, this is annoying. You guys told me to come, so I’m here. But why are there only 10 people? Did my promo really get posted in the gallery?”
[Stream Addict]: Ambitious bitch. Didn’t think the gallery would actually post a promo, huh? So, how much does your part-time job pay?
[QuantumVirginTheoryCopenhagenInterpretation]: Are you a virgin?
[Random]: I thought unicorns only acted like that in the gallery, but they’re doing it in real life too.
[No one here likes ㅇㅅㅇ]: Core’s fucked… Agadispenser is savage.
[Wanna do TS]: Kyaa! Did you really just ‘TS’ all by yourself?
[Hwang Ha-ron, National Disaster of the Sky]: LOL, 62 subscribers. Start that 60-subscriber event already.
[Da Hye]: This bitch is actually a woman?
I’d thought that I wouldn’t do something like that while wearing a mask, but I’d overlooked the fact that the gallery’s members were all human trash.
And so, the notorious trolls started pouring in after hearing the rumors, flooding my mobile broadcast.