Chapter 8
There are a lot of rich people in the world.
You don't know any?
Then there's a good chance they just didn't tell you because they don't trust you.
Real estate.
Crypto.
Stocks.
People whose lives were turned upside down in an instant.
Most of them just don't show it.
They don't want people around them asking to borrow money for no reason.
There were actually quite a few people like that on internet forums too.
Usually they'd be going, "Line up for hambugi!"
while secretly having billions of won sitting in their accounts.
But even people like that usually don't spend money on small fry.
Especially
someone with no subscribers
and no viewers.
Dropping ten million won on a rookie streamer like that would be even weirder.
In that case,
just who was this person who'd donated ten million won to me?
Pwaaaang—!
A blaring fanfare burst out of the drone above my head.
Startled, I instinctively pulled Baby tight into my arms while it was drinking.
Whiiiiiir.
The drone began circling over my head. Then a mechanical voice rang out.
[Congratulations! 'nongnongnongnongnong' has donated 10,000,000 won to Reels!]
The unbelievable amount made my mind go completely blank.
"...Huh?"
...Ten million?
Did I hear that wrong?
[Current balance: 10,000,000 won]
"...."
I stared blankly at the long string of holographic digits.
That's a lot of zeroes.
A ridiculous amount of zeroes.
With trembling fingers, I pinched my cheek.
Streeetch.
"Ow."
My soft cheek stretched out, and the sting made it clear this was real.
I-It really is ten... million won?
Was this sent by mistake?
Like they accidentally added an extra zero or something.
Honestly, that was the only explanation that came to mind.
No matter how I thought about it, it was weird.
I turned my head and looked Yerin over.
An unbelievably beautiful woman with glossy light-blond hair.
Her curvy figure, the complete opposite of mine, pulled the eye.
Obviously, if anyone was going to get donations, it should've been her...
...Ah!
I got it.
They'd meant to donate to her and accidentally sent it to me.
I walked over to Yerin, who was standing there with her mouth hanging open, and said,
"I think they were trying to donate to you, Yerin-nim, and sent it to me by mistake."
"Huh?"
"That person's a real idiot. How do you accidentally send ten million won?"
Yerin's expression slowly crumpled in a strange way.
"...There's no way. Is this guy seriously stupid?"
"Huh?"
"Are you messing with me right now? Is this some new kind of teabagging?"
"Nooo...."
I felt wronged.
Logically, if a rich viewer was going to like someone, it'd be Yerin's type.
Not a little kid like me holding a lizard and smearing mud on himself.
No matter how I looked at it, the most likely explanation was that the viewer had donated to the wrong person.
At that, Yerin let out an incredulous laugh.
"The API donation system only works if they send the money to Mister Rich's broadcast and say the streamer's name. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"Yup."
"So the oppa who sent that ten million specifically picked Reels-nim! Hah. I'm seriously jealous."
"...."
Then
that person had really given the money to me?
Why?
Why would you give money to somebody else in the first place?
I couldn't sort my thoughts out at all.
I just stood there staring blankly at the numbers in the air.
Ten million won.
That's a lot.
I'd have to work part-time for months to make that much.
No.
Would a few months even be enough?
Rent, electricity, phone bills, food, and everything else.
So much money goes out even when I'm doing nothing.
The unbelievable situation made my head hotter and hotter until my brain stopped working.
"Mieee...."
Yerin, who'd been watching me stand there completely broken, jabbed me in the side with her elbow, looking baffled.
"Snap out of it."
"Urk."
"You need to thank them already!"
"I-I don't know! I don't know anything about this stuff!"
"Reels-nim, this means your life is made! Do you know how hard it is to land even one whale?"
Meanwhile,
the drone kept zooming in on my face.
Like it was waiting for me to do something.
Still broken, I spent five minutes locked in a staring match with the drone.
"Ugh, this is so frustrating!"
In the end, Yerin couldn't take it anymore and sprang forward.
Then, in an instant, she completely changed her expression and beamed at the drone.
"Nongnong oppaaa~!"
Mwah.
She even blew it a kiss.
"Thank you sooo much for the ten-million-won donation~!"
It was such perfect pro mode that it was hard to believe she was the same person who'd been sweating buckets just moments ago.
So this was a top-tier girl streamer?
"Looks like our Reels-nim was super shocked since it was his first donation~ Heehee."
Yerin naturally pulled me into a one-armed hug too.
"Please keep loving Reels-nim, and give Yerin lots and lots of love toooo~"
She even snuck in some self-promotion.
And
Baby, tucked in my arms,
Lick.
was drinking the water dripping from the crack in the rock.
@
[Our gallery star froze and won't move. What do we do?]
Posted by: nongnongnongnongnong
(A gif of Reels standing blankly in the middle of the jungle)
Those hag-squad bastards got under my skin, so I cashed out my savings and donated,
and he's been standing there zoning out for ten minutes
Even that look is adorable
ㄴYou killed him
ㄴTen million is enough to make anybody short-circuit
ㄴWait, holy shit, did you really cash out your savings?
ㄴHow much money does this guy even have?
ㄴWasn't he that fixed-name user who used to line up for hambugi?
ㄴThe sense of betrayal is insane, holy shit lol
ㄴTurns out he was rich
ㄴA normal girl streamer would've gone, "What do I do~ thank you~" and instantly pulled a reaction, but his brain just blue-screened
ㄴ"Mieee..." lmao
[That asshole Nongnong]
Posted by: (223.17)
Back when I was handing out hambugi,
is it for real that one of the line-up bastards dropped ten million?
Give me back my hambugi, you bastard
ㄴThe ones who have money always go harder
ㄴSo it's true there are a lot of people who turned their lives around with crypto
ㄴWhy is that dude so hung up on Reels?
ㄴYou have to take care of the baby
ㄴnongnongnongnongnong
ㄴBut seriously, Reels's reaction is cute as hell. Protect baby Reels
[Yerin's composure is slipping a little in real time]
Posted by: (175.61)
She's smiling, but her eyes aren't
ㄴShe just got reverse-teabagged by Reels lol
ㄴTen million exploded right next to her, so it's understandable
ㄴShe's been busting her ass and got 6 mil, while the guy next to her got 10 mil with one click
ㄴAnd he's a small-fry streamer lol
ㄴThis has to be the most incomprehensible moment of a girl streamer's life
ㄴBut Yerin really is a pro, stepping in to do the reaction for him right away and all
ㄴNo wonder she has 300,000 subscribers
ㄴBet she's dying of envy on the inside
[Shut the hell up already, you Nongnong Squad bastards]
Posted by: GirlCamLover
Plenty of streamers have already gotten over ten million in donations
Guess that's what you'd expect from people simping for a small fry. You're overreacting like crazy
ㄴBut those were all already major streamers
ㄴWhat's shocking is that a small-fry streamer got ten million
ㄴDid that hit a nerve, hag squad?
ㄴWhy's GirlCamLover so pissed today lol
ㄴThey're mad it didn't go to Yerin
ㄴlol
ㄴHonestly, even I'd have sent it to Reels
ㄴHow are you supposed to resist when he's touching poop with his fingers and smearing mud on himself?
@
"Um...."
Yerin cautiously waved a hand in front of my eyes.
"Reels-nim?"
"...Yes."
"You with us again now?"
I nodded blankly.
"More importantly."
Yerin glanced toward the crack in the rock.
"Is that water really okay to drink?"
Slowly pulling myself together, I turned my gaze toward the little pool where water had collected from the crack in the rock.
Impurities were floating on top, so it looked cloudy overall.
"Hmm."
Honestly, it didn't look clean.
Still.
It didn't seem totally foul, so if I strained it a little, it'd probably be drinkable.
At least in our current situation,
it was much better to drink water directly as it seeped out of the crack in the rock than from standing water.
At least that meant it was constantly being renewed.
I looked around, then plucked off a leaf that was wide enough.
And carefully wedged it beneath the crack in the rock.
Drip.
The falling droplets began to run slowly down the tip of the leaf.
"Oh. That's neat."
Yerin's eyes widened a little.
I caught a little of the falling water in my palm and smelled it first.
It had a bit of an earthy smell mixed in, but there was no strong stench.
"I think this should be okay to drink."
I carefully held the water in my mouth.
Cold.
I slowly rolled it around on my tongue, checking the taste.
Hmm. I couldn't tell.
Honestly, water all tastes pretty much the same.
Even experts can't tell if it's expensive bottled water or tap water in a blind test.
Gulp.
The cold water slowly slid down my throat. It felt like my dried-out throat was finally loosening up.
"...Haa. I can live again."
A short sigh of relief slipped out before I knew it.
Since earlier, I'd been taking in nothing but hot air without getting any water, and it felt like my whole body was drying out.
Only now could I breathe a little easier.
Swallowing over and over, Yerin stared hard at me and asked,
"...How is it?"
"It's good."
"Are you sure it's okay to drink?"
"I don't know. Survival is about finding out with your body."
"...."
I caught more droplets in my palm and held them out to Baby.
Lick.
As if it'd been waiting for this, it stuck out its tongue and lapped up the water.
"Slowly."
Lick.
Baby still looked completely at ease.
In contrast, Yerin wore a grave expression as she alternated her gaze between the water and my face.
Her face practically said, 'Can I really drink this?'
Honestly, I understood.
I couldn't be sure it was clean water.
But
perfect survival doesn't exist in the first place.
In extreme situations, you eventually have to test things with your own body and decide.
Especially in an environment like this.
There's no fire, and no water-purifying equipment.
Boiling the water and drinking it is, for now, close to impossible.
I looked at Yerin for a moment, then asked,
"Yerin-nim."
"...What."
"How old are you?"
"Out of nowhere?"
Yerin answered with a flabbergasted look.
"I'm twenty-eight."
I slowly nodded.
"Then you probably shouldn't drink water like this."
"...Huh?"
"Your digestion gets worse when you get older."
Crack!
A brief silence passed.
Yerin's eyebrows twitched faintly. It even looked like a vein was starting to pop near her temple.
"Just now."
"Yes."
"Did you just call me old in a roundabout way?"
"Not at all. I was worried."
"Your face says otherwise?!"
Yerin immediately held her palm under the flowing water.
And then
drank.
One gulp.
Two gulps.
Three gulps.
She didn't stop drinking, like she'd been far thirstier than she'd let on.
Gulp gulp.
"Pwah!"
Yerin sucked in a rough breath and wiped her lips.
"See? I'm totally fine."
Then she glared at me with an oddly triumphant look on her face.
"And I'm not old, okay?"
"Yes, yes."
"What's with that soulless answer?"
Still huffing, Yerin pulled out an empty plastic bottle and held it under the crack in the rock.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
The slowly falling droplets began filling the bottle.
Watching her, I let out a small snort.