Chapter 55
Actually.
The viewers can think I'm thirty or forty for all I care; it doesn't really change anything in my life.
No, wait. Come to think of it, maybe it's actually better?
-Why the hell are you playing the game like that??
-I played a game other than LEx for once, you bastards, tsk tsk
“Oh, hush, you kids still wet behind the ears.”
Even a tanker could've run all night—now that we're playing a new game, free of the LEx occupation.
I said that, lashing out after listening to the viewers' backseating.
Think about it. It's not as though their misunderstanding will make me rapidly age anyway.
Can't I just leave them mistaken?
I could enjoy the status without any of the penalties that come with getting older.
-Why is this bastard enjoying it?
-What the fuck;;
-I'm in my thirties too, you asshole
“Must be nice, being in your thirties.”
-Ah, fuckㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Hey, retract that;; Just be in your twenties;;
“You pushed this V-thirty thing so hard, and now you're retracting it? Honestly, you young'uns only know how to say two things with one mouth….”
-Ah, this is a scandalㅋㅋ
-The ones who pushed me into it can take responsibility themselves, fuck;;
-Who called her V-thirty??
You started calling me V-thirty, didn't you? Then take responsibility.
Anyway.
Saying that, I reorganized the party.
The game we're playing now is Darkest Dungeon,
and though it has a very dark atmosphere and vicious difficulty, it was definitely fun.
“Oh, we died.”
If it had a downside, it was that the difficulty was so high we kept getting wiped.
-Does this person have no ability to learn??
-Wow, this bastardㅋㅋ;;
-You're seriously fucking terribleㅋㅋㅋ
“Sorry… I'm… getting on in years….”
-?
-You fucking bastardㅋㅋㅋ
-They planned that
Still, it was fine.
I'm V-thirty, after all, right? It's okay to be a little bad at games.
Once you get older, you naturally hit an aging curve, and your gaming skills decline too.
-We apologize
-Please stop
“No, it's my fault. Time really does catch up with you.”
And honestly, even in my prime, this would be too big to clear in one go.
I like building decks in turn-based strategy games by throwing myself at them.
We just used a Plague Doctor and a Crusader combination, so should we do the opposite this time?
Let's try a gatekeeper with an STD and a priest.
-Why do you only make shitty combinations like that, sir?
-Please look at a guide just once
-What's “one-sitting clear” doing in the title??
“Huh? Ah, I failed to clear LEx in one sitting.”
So I have to do a one-sitting clear of another game.
That's also why the stream title is [Darkest Dungeon One-Sitting Clear].
“Don't worry. I woke up this evening, so I'm raring to go.”
-I'm not raring to go;;
-If you're going to play like this, just go get a good night's sleep
-We get it, so can't you look at a guide and play?
-Fuck, do I have to take tomorrow off too??
“Why haven't you taken the day off already? Pretend you're going on a trip and enjoy two full days.”
Taking the first day or two off is hard, but once you cross a certain point, taking leave gets easier and easier.
And you keep going on about taking days off.
“But you are taking days off, right? I feel like I've seen you all week last week too.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Ah..
That username looks familiar?
This, this is~
“Shall we perform an autopsy? Let's see whether you're a hardworking office worker or one of the ‘resting youths’ propping up the country.”
Let's take a look.
Dun dun dun dun.
“Ah~”
After autopsying the chat, wow, what a spectacle.
You've been chatting like crazy all year, haven't you? Anyone can see you're a proud, upstanding resting youth.
“Did you take summer vacation?”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋ
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Fuck...
“But you're not subscribed?”
-Gasp
-What
-What do you expect from a resting youthㅠㅡㅜ
And yet, you're not subscribed.
Honestly, what a shameless freeloader you are.
“You've watched my stream so diligently, so I'll reward you with a gifted sub.”
You have to give a gifted sub to someone like this.
I'm endlessly generous to a diligent log gentleman who watches the stream so much.
-Kyaaㅋㅋㅋ
-Great Wayo
-I'm not getting one??
-Please, me too
“If you keep holding that log diligently, I'll give you one.”
Anyway, shall we get back to the game?
The party had been wiped earlier, leaving the game completely ruined, so I started a new one.
[You have returned to your homeland….]
-Fuck, how many times has it been?
-Back to the starting village again..
-The stagecoach thieves appear in 13 seconds
-12..
The protagonist of the game, who had been receiving an education in the kingdom's capital,
receives a letter saying something terrible has happened in the territory ruled by his father and returns to the estate,
where a deep, dark Abyssal Dungeon has opened underground. The story of the game is about hiring mercenaries of all kinds and clearing the dungeon.
“Couldn't we just call in the soldiers and clear it?”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Where would a backwater estate like this get soldiers?
“Huh? It doesn't?”
In fantasy novels, even tiny estates like this have dozens of soldiers.
Huh? Don't they usually raise an army and go subjugate an orc settlement or something?
-Yeah, usually they have at least a few
-What the hell have you been readingㅋㅋㅋ
-There's no reason for there to be soldiers
“Hmm.”
So I guess we recruit people more or less at random.
Well, it's only the game's story, so I don't plan to dig too deeply into it.
“Then let's get going.”
More importantly, I'd already played through the early game several times by now.
After tweaking the initial setup from memory, I started recruiting mercenaries.
“We'll hire the Vestal first… Ah, we need a warrior too. It'd be a shame not to have an archer, right?”
Darkest Dungeon is a game where you hire various types of mercenaries, form a four-person party, and tackle dungeons,
but units that enter a dungeon accumulate stress and need time to rest, and you have to consider party composition and traits, so for now I recruited anyone I could.
-Is this bastard hiring people from an employment agency?
-He just takes anyone he can grab
-Wayo the warrior-loverㅋㅋ
“All right, let's go~”
Anyway, I'd recruited a rough assortment and was just about to set off for the dungeon when—
[Thank you for the 1,000-won donation, ㅇㅇ!]
First-gen voice actor, when is the second-gen voice actor coming?
As if waiting for this exact opening, a donation slipped in.
-Gasp
-Get outㅋㅋㅋ
“Tsk, do I let you live or not?”
Oh, for crying out loud.
Was this person not here earlier?
-Shuddering
-Tremblesonㅋㅋㅋ
-Should we just kill them?
For reference, before playing this Darkest Dungeon, there had been a large-scale execution.
I don't mind being treated like an elder, but do they have to keep asking for the second-generation voice actor?
Since the stream wouldn't move forward otherwise, I'd cracked down hard, but as time passed during the game, it seemed viewers who hadn't seen that had started showing up.
“Okay, I'll let you live this once.”
They looked like they had just joined the stream, so I decided to spare them.
Phew, what a merciful VTuber I am.
-She'll let them live??
-She's gotten gentler with ageㅇㅇ
-That forgiveness is Wayo-tierㅋㅋ
“Oops, right.”
More importantly, it was getting a little late.
-??
-What is it?
“I'm going to go get some coffee.”
I'd gotten up in the evening, but a late-night stream still wasn't complete without coffee.
But since I'd decided to let Aseong take a break for the time being, I had to go myself.
-??
-?
-Didn't you say something before about a streaming accident or whatever?
“Then since I'm sleepy, shall we end the stream?”
-Hey, hey
-Hey, hey
-What the fuck, after making your little sibling fill in for you, why are you suddenly doing this?
“I felt a little bad about having my sibling fill in before. Besides, if an adult V-thirty like me goes to get it, you all sit tight.”
-?
-You fucking bitchㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Fine, I'll go for a walk, then, goodbye
Tsk, did I push it too far?
Well, there are some things you can't get away with on account of your age.
“Okay, retract that.”
-Where's the retract button, fuckㅋㅋㅋ
-This old woman is saying two different things with one mouth
-Going jogging, later
“Ah, jogging's a bit much. Just go take a walk around the hill behind the house and come back.”
Saying that, I played a video to fill the audio.
It was the Wayo mad movie I'd submitted when I went to the tournament.
Since it was short, I could leave it on repeat while I was gone.
-?
-??
-Just play some music, fuck
-Hey
-Going for a marathon, later
“See you later.”
Huh? I'll be back soon.
Just go for a walk, everyone.
**
Night walks aren't something I take often, but they're always pleasant.
The gently stirring breeze and cool weather.
The occasional passerby and birdsong ringing out from somewhere.
As I walked along the main road, enjoying the sort of dawn I'd usually ceded to Aseong,
I saw a brightly lit café in the distance.
[Moonlight Café, Open 24 Hours]
As its name suggested, it was a cozy little local favorite of mine that sparkled beneath the moonlight,
Jingle~
“Hello?”
“Oh~! It's been a while!”
When I went inside, the owner, a woman wearing a baker's cap, greeted me brightly,
Since I'd often come here before Aseong went back home, the owner recognized me despite my long absence.
“I've been sending my little sibling lately.”
“Your sibling… Ah! I know who you mean.”
“Really?”
The owner looked at me, then nodded.
“There's someone who always comes in to buy coffee.”
“Tall?”
“Yes, yes.”
“A little absentminded.”
“Huh? I wouldn't know about that.”
“Really?”
Hmm, maybe other people didn't notice?
If you looked closely, no one was as spacey as them.
“More importantly, one iced Americano, right?”
“Yes, one to go… Ah, and one hot, low-sugar latte, please.”
“That one to go too?”
“Yes, yes.”
Once I got home, I planned to leave the iced Americano in the fridge and drink the latte first.
Sigh, I used to buy them one at a time so the ice wouldn't melt.
I guess I have to buy them both at once now.
“You two must be close~ Your sibling even brings you coffee.”
With two coffees ordered, while I was sitting and waiting,
the owner, who was making coffee right in front of me, started some small talk.
“Yes~ We're close.”
Aseong and I were genuinely close, by anyone's standards.
Maybe the two of us could even go out for a meal together?
“But you drink coffee so late at night?”
“Ah, I work at night.”
“Work?”
“I'm a freelancer.”
Now I just had to take the coffee back and do some viewer-wrangling work or whatever.
Get ready, the fully ripened thirty-something VTuber Wayo is coming.
“Oh, I see… You came by a lot last year too, didn't you?”
“Yes, I mostly came in the evenings back then.”
“That's right. You always came around the time my shift was changing.”
For reference, last year I usually came in during the evening to buy coffee.
I'd pick it up right after work on my way home.
I'd leave the coffee I'd bought in the fridge, sleep for a bit, then stream when I woke up; that was my routine.
“Here's your latte and Americano.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“And this is on the house.”
Anyway, the coffee was ready in no time, and
when I accepted the fragrant coffee with its familiar aroma, I saw a cookie inside the bag.
“I'll enjoy it.”
“Yes! It's a different flavor from last time.”
“Last time…?”
“Huh?”
Looking at the café owner, it seemed she'd given Aseong a freebie recently too.
This was news to me.
Wait, that little punk Aseong?
Had they been freeloading on cookies all this time?
…Hmm, good for them.
I guess eating cookies all the time would have made their conscience hurt.
“Ah… Hmm, your sibling must like cookies.”
“Haha, they have a bit of an appetite.”
“Oh, really? I'll give them extra cookies next time they come!”
“Huh? No, you don't have to do that.”
If Aseong wanted cookies, they could buy some.
That was what I meant, but the café owner smiled sweetly and said,
“No, really! They're always so cheerful and polite when they greet me.”
“That is true.”
“Ah, but… um, will that customer keep coming from now on?”
“Huh? Oh.”
For a moment, I pondered what she meant, but it wasn't a difficult question.
Was she asking when Aseong would come?
“Hmm.”
Wait, could she be sister-in-law material?
I looked at the female owner in front of me for a moment.
No, “scanned” would be more accurate.
She was in the mid-to-high 160s, and maybe a little older than me?
Though she wore a baker's cap, her skin was fair and she looked quite attractive.
And more than anything, her barista skills were outstanding.
If she became my sister-in-law, I wouldn't have to worry about coffee anymore…..
“Uh... Is there something on my face?”
“Ah, no.”
What was I thinking?
She was already happily dating that vending-machine thief, wasn't she?
I quickly erased the momentary temptation from my mind.
Right, yeah, Aseong was kind and nice too.
...Though Aseong didn't seem able to make coffee.
Tsk.