The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

The stream was growing smoothly.

It wasn’t at the level of a major channel yet,

but the amount of support we were getting was steadily increasing.

I was starting to think maybe I should start uploading recorded videos to other streaming platforms too,

but in the end, I decided to hold off for now.

I didn’t know how to edit.

Alice and Claire had only just started learning to read and write Korean.

Their learning speed was unnaturally fast,

but that didn’t mean they were proficient enough yet to handle professional video editing software.

And I had no intention of dragging anyone else into it.

Even if someone helped us,

how long could we work together with them?

We were people who would eventually leave this world.

But anyone who edited and ran the channel for us would be someone living here permanently.

If we suddenly left without even properly paying their salary at the end,

our image would crash straight into the dirt.

And I didn’t want to be remembered like that in my hometown.

[Pretty sure I saw you three yesterday]

And the moment that thought crossed my mind,

we ran into a wall.

"...Is that so?"

If it had just been a normal chat, I might have pretended not to see it,

but since it came with a donation, I had to respond.

"If you did, please keep it a secret.

We’re only human, after all — we need to rest when we’re not streaming."

The person who sent the donation replied immediately, this time just in the chat.

[Still, I kinda wanna see you in person]

[If you look that good on camera without lighting, you must be even prettier in real life]

Well, yeah.

We looked exactly like heroines straight out of a game. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

...What if we really did run into someone?

We lived in Seoul.

Adding in the surrounding areas like Gyeonggi-do and Incheon,

about half the country’s population lived in the greater metropolitan area.

If you lived in the farther parts of Gyeonggi-do,

Seoul wasn’t exactly part of your daily life,

but for those in Seoul and its satellite cities, it was different.

It wasn’t strange at all for people walking around Seoul to run into us.

Even though we didn’t take weekends off,

someone commuting into Seoul from Gyeonggi-do could easily run into us if they happened to be out on a Monday or Tuesday.

...I had heard stories before about female streamers being stalked.

Of course, we were always traveling together,

so it was safer than being alone.

"Just so you know,

please don’t try to find us.

If anyone crosses the line, we absolutely will not show mercy."

[😨😨😨😨😨]

[😳]

[😳😳😳]

[Yeah if anyone crosses the line they should deal with it legally]

At least none of the current chat messages were giving off any criminal vibes yet.

If we were ever going to force the goddess’s hand and get sent back to our original world,

we needed a certain level of recognition,

but I definitely didn’t want that recognition to come from "collabs with major streamers" or anything like that.

That would just drag us into a mess.

When I glanced at Claire and Alice,

they were both wearing serious expressions.

It was good that they picked up on it so quickly.

Maybe I could relax just a little after all.

Normally, streamers would take a little time before gaming to chat with the audience — a sort of warm-up.

But we didn’t bother with that.

I wasn’t very good at small talk,

and I wasn’t quite ready to trust Alice and Claire to carry a conversation yet.

Even if they were adapting quickly,

they were still from another world.

Luckily, the game itself was slow-paced.

There was no need to hyper-focus like in action games,

where you barely had time to talk between inputs.

[You already seem familiar with the map?]

"It’s because I played the previous game.

Looks like they reused a lot of the same maps."

No shame about it.

Well, not exactly a direct copy.

The maps had been expanded somewhat,

but it was still mostly areas that had existed before with some new parts added.

It felt more like a glorified expansion pack than a full sequel.

Not that it was unusual for this series.

Normally, they at least added a completely new region,

but this time — using the excuse of time reversal —

the reuse felt especially blatant.

"Still, it feels familiar."

"Because you’ve been there before."

Behind me, as we wandered the underground of Lutetia,

Claire and Alice chatted casually.

[??]

[lol makes sense if she played the °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° previous game]

[lol they really are heroines aren’t they]

[Where’s Leo?]

"Leo’s still back in our original world."

Claire answered while reading the chat.

[lololol]

[lmao]

[This is kinda cringe lol]

[But the commitment to the bit is impressive]

I didn’t ban the ones calling it cringe.

Honestly,

from the perspective of people who didn’t know the full story,

it must look like we were just taking the roleplay way too seriously.

Even if our story started spreading online,

I wouldn’t be surprised anymore.

"Ah, this place."

Alice mumbled as she watched the game screen.

Right now, Leo — the character I was controlling —

had entered the capital’s sewer system.

The same sewer where Alice, Charlotte, and I had once ventured together.

Originally, you were supposed to enter this area later in the story—

[So Sylvia came down here?]

[Yeah, for sure.]

In this case, the reason was slightly different.

While controlling Leo and completing quests,

you could spot Sylvia slipping into the sewers,

and then Leo would come investigate.

If it had been a real objective,

Sylvia wouldn’t have broken the lock to sneak in.

Leo hesitated over whether to chase after her alone

but decided to call in backup.

...Realistically, if you waited too long,

Sylvia would probably come back out again,

but this was a JRPG —

summoning your party instantly was standard.

If this had happened in reality,

would things have gone differently?

Maybe someone would’ve been wandering nearby,

like when Leo and Claire slipped out early in the morning to complete a request.

Well, the game was unfolding differently from my real experiences,

so it wasn’t worth dwelling on.

"......."

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

Alice stared at me, so I asked.

"Did you also sneak into the sewers first?

Is that why you know your way around?"

"I did not.

I know it because I played the game."

"...Even though the paths are that complicated?"

Alice pointed at Leo, Alice, Charlotte, and Claire’s party navigating the maze-like sewer system.

"It was in the previous game too."

"And it was complicated back then too, right?"

"I memorized it by playing over and over."

"You memorized it?"

"......."

What.

Why.

Didn’t you reread your textbooks dozens of times when you were studying too?

Games and studying aren’t that different when you think about it.

"Sis, did you ever go on an adventure like that alone with Alice?"

"......."

I couldn’t immediately answer Claire’s question.

Eventually, I said:

"At that time, you were on a separate request with Leo."

But Claire still puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

[You're talking about the game, right?]

[This is how scary gaming addiction can be]

[lol they talk like it’s real life]

[Their commitment to the bit is top tier]

It’s not a bit, though.

Of course, I had no intention of correcting them.

If they believed it,

it would help destabilize the order a little —

and that was enough.

I didn’t know if this method would really work,

but at least we were trying something.

The sewers were filled with monsters.

Bats, giant rats —

they called it a 'dungeon,' but honestly,

none of these creatures belonged under a modern city.

And the difficulty was higher than expected.

"...It’s really here."

After defeating a bunch of monsters,

we finally obtained a blue Maramaros item in one of the rooms.

Alice looked a little deflated.

"Feels like learning the trick behind a magic show and realizing it wasn’t that impressive after all."

...Sorry about that.

"Oh, isn’t this the thing you gave Mia?"

"Yes.

This was the Maramaros that Alice, Charlotte, and I found together."

"...Ugh, so I was the only one who didn’t know."

[so cute]

[adorable]

[700700]

Maybe the viewers were starting to accept our "concept" after all.

There was a lot less mockery in the chat now compared to earlier.

And honestly, I agreed with them.

Yeah.

She was cute.

Honestly, it felt almost ridiculous to think her ID said she was legally an adult.

Of course, I didn’t say that out loud.

I kept my expression steady as I continued controlling Leo.

And then—

[...Sylvia, what are you doing here?]

—we found Sylvia installing a bunch of bombs on the sewer ceiling.

......

...Bombs? What the hell!?