LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 40
Chapter 40: Art Stream (3)
Before heading out, there were a few things to prepare.
First was a parasol. Without it, I might literally die. Carrying a parasol tends to attract attention, but that’s just because everyone’s jealous.
Second were sunglasses and sunscreen. The sunlight stung my skin and hurt my eyes, so these were essential defensive items.
Lastly, a notebook and pen. I always carried them, just in case.
“Yehwa, aren’t you going to overheat in those black clothes?”
“…It’s fine. I was wearing this when I came here.”
That was this morning, though. Now it was almost noon.
Just in case, I asked Yoon.
“Do we have any white or light-colored clothes left?”
“Should I grab some? I’m kind of worried the older girls might faint in this heat.”
“Bring two, just in case.”
“Yeeees~.”
Yoon went back to her room, changed her clothes, and brought out a couple of extras.
“Hand those to me. I’ll carry the bag.”
Ha Soyeol eagerly took the bag, as if showing off her strength, then gave me a proud look.
“Good job…”
Her eyes clearly sought praise, so I couldn’t ignore her.
Her delighted reaction, wagging her head like a cat flicking its tail, was oddly endearing.
I also changed into outdoor clothes: a white T-shirt, light blue shorts, and white arm sleeves to block the sun.
Lastly, I grabbed my sunglasses and stepped out.
“Wow…”
“Ha-eun, you look like a celebrity going out.”
“Hmm.”
“As expected, simple is best for oppa.”
The girls each gave their reactions, nodding in approval.
“Not ‘simple,’ you mean ‘stylish,’ right?”
“No, I meant ‘simple.’”
“???”
With that, Yoon opened the front door and stepped out first.
The rest of the girls followed her, saying goodbye to my mom on their way out.
“Son, don’t push yourself too hard out there. If you collapse, it’ll be a big problem, okay?”
“Yes, yes. I’ll be back later.”
Mom stayed behind, saying she’d relax at home, and told us to have fun.
I closed the door and followed the group of four as they walked ahead.
‘This selfie stick is surprisingly light. Probably because it’s small.’
I’d bought the selfie stick thinking I might need it someday, though I hadn’t expected it to come in handy like this.
It had a quirky design: hot pink with pale blue stripes. It looked like something meant for toddlers.
When I mounted my phone on it and held it up, it felt a bit heavier than expected.
‘Should I ask Ha Soyeol to carry it? No, I’d better carry it myself.’
She was already holding the clothing bag, so it’d be unfair to ask her.
“Hey~! Hurry up, old man!”
Choi Yeseo, one of the four walking ahead, turned and yelled at me.
I laughed at the absurd nickname and quickened my pace.
When I caught up, they slowed down to match my steps. Moments like this made me think they could be quite considerate.
But still…
Flick!
“Ow! Why’d you hit me?”
Choi Yeseo yelped, clutching her head.
“Who’re you calling an old man? I’m only 17.”
To be fair, if you included my past life, being called an ‘old man’ wasn’t entirely wrong.
“If you’ve lived one-fifth of your life already, that makes you an old man!”
“Then by that logic, are you an old woman?”
“Nope! I’m an idol, so I’ll never age!”
What kind of double standard is this?
I looked at her incredulously, but she just grinned smugly as if she’d won.
Sighing, I placed a hand on Yoon’s head as she walked beside me.
“Don’t act like her, alright?”
“Okay, oppa. You’ll always be a flower boy.”
At least put some sincerity into it. Your eyes are clearly devoid of any truth.
I pulled my hand away and muttered, “No more Haagen-Dazs for you.”
“I’ll just buy it with my own money~!”
Her giggling face left me at a loss for words, so I let out a resigned laugh.
We continued our lighthearted banter as we made our way to the bustling downtown area.
‘Should I start the stream here? The timing seems right.’
Fiddling with the phone mounted on the selfie stick, I began the livestream.
Before turning on the sound and camera, I gave the group a quick briefing.
I reminded them to be mindful of what they said and asked one last time if they were sure about appearing on stream.
With that, I unmuted and started broadcasting.
“Testing, testing. Can you hear me?”
[Hi hi hi]
[Hello hello hello]
[Ha-eun!]
[Where is this? It looks so sunny.]
[It looks nice on screen, but I bet it’s hot outside.]
The sunglasses felt a little uncomfortable, but not enough to interfere with the stream.
“This is Myeongmok-dong. I live nearby, so we’re starting here.”
“Hey, hey! Should you really be saying that?!”
Choi Yeseo whispered urgently, but I responded nonchalantly.
“People who know already know. Yoon mentioned it on her stream too.”
“Wait, what? Really?”
[Who is that???!!!]
[The streamer has girls with him?!]
[WTF Ha-eun; you have a girlfriend?!]
[This voice sounds familiar. Isn’t that Choi Yeseo from SN Entertainment?]
The viewers couldn’t resist speculating and quickly identified Choi Yeseo.
“Yes, this is the Choi Yeseo you’re thinking of. Nice to meet you all in this stream!”
Seeing the chat on my phone, Choi Yeseo scratched her head awkwardly.
[OMG it’s really her!]
[Why is Yeseo here???]
[How do you two know each other?]
[This is so unfair; I can’t believe this.]
[That foreigner has been consistently calling for a cat girl, lol.]
‘Looks like scandals and rumors don’t really exist in this world.’
I couldn’t decide whether to feel relieved or unsettled.
“Ha-eun, watch where you’re going.”
“Ah, sorry. One moment, everyone.”
Distracted by the stream, I hadn’t been watching where I was walking.
Thankfully, Ha Soyeol’s reminder snapped me out of it, and I focused on the road ahead.
[??? What the hell.]
[Why is there another girl?]
[That’s not Yeseo, right?]
[This voice is calmer and more relaxed. Who is it?]
[The world is so damn unfair.]
The chat was on fire again as Ha Soyeol stepped into view on the stream.
“Hey, this makes it hard to walk.”
“Hush, Ha-eun. Hello, everyone! I’m Soyeol.”
Since I was holding the selfie stick in my right hand, my posture was a bit awkward.
Ha Soyeol stepping in front of me made it nearly impossible to walk comfortably.
The whole group was starting to feel like a half-formed circle.
[The streamer should pay taxes at 200x the normal rate, seriously, damn it!]
[Why is it just him? Why is it just him? Why is it just him?]
[There’s a real main character in the world.]
[Is this the average Korean?]
[Average? Not even an irregular would live like this, Nippon dude.]
While there were plenty of messages criticizing me, there was also a noticeable excitement about Ha Soyeol appearing on the stream.
Which was to be expected. Who could dislike a beautiful girl?
With both Choi Yeseo and Ha Soyeol on screen, my viewer count had tripled compared to an average stream.
“Ahem. Let’s all calm down for a—”
Before I could finish, an unidentified hand suddenly appeared in the space vacated by Ha Soyeol.
It waved slightly, drawing attention. The hand, rough and calloused in spots like you’d expect from an artist, clearly belonged to a woman—something the viewers immediately noticed.
[You damn streamer, you son of a—]
(Message blocked by moderator)
[Why was this stream even started?! WHY?!]
[This is just showing off. 300x taxes for the streamer!]
[Is this what it means to be an alpha male? Is it really?!]
[fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck—]
(Message blocked by moderator)
“What are you going to do about this?”
“You said I could join the stream…”
“At least wipe your sweat before saying that.”
I handed her a handkerchief from my pocket. However, the reactions from Ha Soyeol and Choi Yeseo were…
‘Let’s just pretend I didn’t notice.’
Hong Yehwa took the handkerchief awkwardly and started wiping her sweat.
Meanwhile, Ha Soyeol’s gaze sharpened, and Choi Yeseo looked utterly scandalized, pointing accusingly.
“That b—!”
“Yeseo, shh. Not now. Later.”
This was starting to feel like a full-blown skit.
“For those wondering, the hand belongs to Hong Yehwa. You might know her as ‘The Hand of God.’ Yes, that’s her.”
[Hong Yehwa? The Hong Yehwa I know???]
[How does the streamer live a life where every beautiful woman ends up around him?]
[Is this even real? Did God screw up while creating him?]
[Maybe the mistake was ours.]
[Ever heard of mitigating circumstances, you fools? lol.]
“Everyone here is a friend from school… We just happened to gather like this.”
My futile attempts to downplay the situation—possibly influenced by my memories of a past life—were as pitiful as they were ineffective.
“Should we take a break here?”
We had arrived at a small park. The neatly trimmed grass felt more like an open field, and people were scattered around playing with their pets.
“Ha-eun, we’ll head to that convenience store for a bit. Yehwa’s about to die.”
“Also, change your clothes. I told you to switch before we left.”
“…Pervert. Degenerate. Trash.”
She’s doing this on purpose, isn’t she? We’re alive, you know?
Hong Yehwa grabbed the clothes Yoon had brought and headed toward the convenience store.
Ha Soyeol and Choi Yeseo followed her, though their determined expressions made me suspicious.
Left behind were just me, the viewers, and Yoon.
“Interestingly, anyone I don’t explicitly feature gets automatically blurred. Cool feature, right?”
This functionality still amazed me. How had they even implemented it?
Thanks to this, I could keep the vlog camera running without worrying about privacy issues.
I set the selfie stick, which doubled as a tripod, on the grass and sat on a shaded bench.
I took off my sunglasses and rolled up my arm sleeves.
“Summer hasn’t even officially started, but the weather’s already insane.”
[Seriously, this heat is nuts these days.]
[At this rate, people are going to turn into stew.]
[Please, I beg you, cat girl.]
[Lol, did that foreigner seriously translate their plea?]
[Wait, is that hair in the corner of the frame? What is that?]
The viewers assumed all the girls had gone to the convenience store.
But there was still one girl here.
“Hehehe, the great me is here!”
Yoon, who had been biding her time, suddenly leaped into the frame.
And with her entrance, my body temperature, which had been cooling down, spiked again.
She had climbed onto my lap.
I wiped the beads of sweat off her forehead with my hand.
“You should’ve rested here earlier. Why were you waiting in the sun?”
She grinned sheepishly in response to my scolding.
“It’s my first time on your stream, oppa. The main character always enters last.”
I seriously need to cancel her OTT subscriptions. She’s learning all the wrong things.
[Wait, Ha-eun’s sister is Yoon? What?!]
[What’s going on here now?]
[Hand me a knife. I’m taking his spot today.]
[OMG, it’s Yoon!]
[At this point, maybe God really did bless this family.]
I gave up trying to make sense of it all and just held Yoon tightly.
Her head fit perfectly against my chin, making it comfortable to rest like this. She seemed to enjoy it even more than I did.
Of course, this display caused the chat to explode in activity.
When the others returned, the chaos in the chat finally started to die down—just a little.