I Regressed but the World Didn’t Fall Apart

A Slightly Strange Guest (1) – [It Kills Two]

006.

There is something called video donation on Twok.

Viewers and streamers watch YouTube videos or Twok clips together through broadcasts, sending videos along with donations for interaction.

Sometimes there were even assassins sending death threats, but many streamers still used video donations as a form of communication.

Donations were a very effective—written as communication, read as a free meal—content where you could handle donations, watch video donations, and react appropriately to fill in communication time.

[‘XX’ has donated 5,000 won.]

-Today’s epic scene from It Kills Two (video)

Black Oak, a streamer of horror games with an average viewership of 2,000 to 3,000, was no different.

With 2,000 to 3,000 viewers, in the past, it was a significant scale, enough to hear the sound of “corporate” streamers.

Of course, with the advancement of VR and the emergence of full-dive games, the internet broadcast industry has had a tremendous boom, so it was no longer the same, but it was still enough viewership to be considered a mid-level streamer.

Black Oak, a mid-level streamer, was continuing his communication broadcast with viewers as usual when he received a video donation.

“Hey, if this is another weird one, it’s a ban.”

A few days ago, Black Oak was on the verge of getting his broadcast suspended after unknowingly playing an assassination threat sent by a viewer.

That’s why he had to be sensitive to such threats.

“It Kills Two, it’s been a while. We used to have so much fun with this.”

Nevertheless, fortunately, this video donation seemed normal this time.

A video of two men and women playing It Kills Two.

Seeing them just entering the second basement level, it was the very beginning.

-Who are they? She’s pretty, right?

-The couple is doomed.

-No, they’re siblings.

-The girl is a streamer named Jiyanchu, and the guy is her brother.

-Ah, are they promoting again?

‘Hmm, it’s the same old repertoire.’

Black Oak, reading the chat, watched the video with a broadcast-ready smile.

This kind of promotional content by Hako, a streamer who can be considered on par with Black Oak, often receives multiple sponsorships in a single day.

This broadcast is likely one of those.

Thanks to that, it was already clear that the flow of the video would be predictable, being a Black Oak.

If it was the place where you would first encounter a Neck Huger on the second basement floor.

Perhaps, it would be a video where that streamer, Jianchuu, would be pranked by the Neck Huger, creating a funny scene.

“This is something they should watch among themselves.”

If Jianchuu is a famous streamer, and everyone knows what character’s streamer he is, then even in Black Oak’s room, this video could be quite entertaining.

However, if it’s a video of a completely unknown female streamer, and moreover, if it’s just a pretty streamer dying to the newbie cutter from the early stages, then…

– I can already predict the ending.

– She’ll probably get her neck twisted by the Neck Huger and end up screaming. Lol

Because it’s too obvious, the reaction can’t be positive.

Especially in a place like Black Oak’s room, where people gather to watch skilled gaming streamers, it’s even more so.

And that was precisely the moment.

Thud-!

“…Huh?”

The first one to sense something strange was Black Oak.

As a streamer specializing in horror games, Black Oak had played “It Kills Two” several times.

Normally, at this point, one or two, at most three Neck Hugers should appear.

But the sound that reached him was strange.

Being a skilled streamer, Black Oak could detect that the sounds of multiple Neck Hugers jumping were overlapping.

– ???

– What’s going on?

And a little later than that.

The viewers couldn’t help but feel something was off.

More precisely, they couldn’t help but see.

Thud!

The first Neck Huger.

– ???

Thud! Sizzle, whoosh!

Followed by the other three.

The sight of Lee Dohyuk effortlessly slaughtering the Neck Hugers with just an axe in hand.

“Wait a minute.”

– No way;; What is this?

– Are those stats supposed to be that high? It’s a character from an action game?

– It looks like real mode…? How did he do that?

– What’s with leaving the gun and killing the Neck Hugers with an axe lol

Chaos erupted in the chat.

Having experienced “It Kills Two” through Black Oak’s play, they knew very well how impressive the gameplay in the broadcast was.

“…Does this even make sense?”

Especially Black Oak, who had cleared the “One Kills Two” multiple times in both Game Mode and Reality Mode, was astonished beyond belief.

The fact that four Neck Huggers had appeared.

“It’s impossible without Reality Mode!?”

He knew well what it meant to have faced that in Reality Mode.

“What was the name of this streamer again?”

[“‘XX’ has donated 5,000 won.”]

– Jianchuyoㅋ That person is Jianchu’s brother. But this top-tier play is not the end hereㅋㅋㅋ (Video)

The viewer who had just sent a donation now sent another.

This time, a shorter 3-second video.

Black Oak, entranced, played the video.

It continued from where it had cut off after he had defeated all four Neck Huggers.

And…

“Kyaa, kyaaak!”

Tadada tatang!

“Ugh!”

Ting- ting-

Screams, gunfire, then more screams.

Finally, the sound of brass shells bouncing.

-?

-???

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-Uhhㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-?

-Danshandanshan, this is crazy;

-Is this a comedy show?

Numerous hooks were collected.

**

Back to Jianchu’s broadcast.

[MISSION FAILED]

=RESTART=

=LOAD GAME=

=QUIT GAME=

A message indicating game over appeared on the screen.

[Mission Failed!]

Tworke’s broadcast system also announced the mission failure.

Among the missions on air, the mission for clearing the first round was automatically marked as failed.

It was an automation system that had been developed after the appearance of the broadcasting assistant AI.

[Total Mission Amount: 1,225,000 won]

The greatly reduced mission amount.

“······.”

“······.”

-hahahahaha

-Stage 3 cleared, failed miserably

-Major play, success!

-hahahaha, laughed so hard my stomach hurts

-What’s with the dramatic reaction, hahahaha

What should I say?

Amidst such pondering, Ido-hyuk chose silence.

Gun··· Gun··· Yeah, could have shot out of surprise.

But then, the bullet might hit an unfortunate spot.

“···Hmm. Unfortunately, the first stage mission was a failure.”

Ido-hyuk remarked, looking at the reduced mission reward.

-?

-What? Unfortunately?

-Not at all unfortunate, hahahaha

Well, if the disappeared Stage 3 clear mission wasn’t a regret, Ido-hyuk wasn’t too bothered.

“Sigh···.”

What worried him more was his slightly absent-minded younger sister, Jee-an.

She was deeply apologetic for causing a game-over situation due to her mistake.

-hahahaha, that expression is hilarious

-From zero hits with the Legendary Clip to one team kill with the Clip 1, impressive

-Jee-an, you’re on fire!

And the chat teasing Jee-an.

However, Ido-hyuk didn’t think the recent incident was Jee-an’s fault.

“It’s okay, Jee-an. It was my mistake just now.”

“Oppa···.”

Seeing her brother comforting her in such a situation, Jee-an was touched by Ido-hyuk’s words.

But Ido-hyuk didn’t say those words to comfort his sister; he genuinely believed so.

He had misjudged.

“I shouldn’t have given you the gun.”

-?

-Giving a hand axe is even more excessive

-Then you’ll get hit by the hand axe

“No, that’s not it.”

He had it wrong from the start.

Thinking it was a two-player game, he had assumed cooperation between them was crucial.

Even though briefly, playing firsthand made him realize.

“I should have used both the gun and the hand axe. Just gave you a weapon for no reason, Jee-an… It’s my fault.”

“···Huh?”

-Oh, got it.

-Yeah, passengers should fasten their seatbelts.

-Oh, this is a two-player game, lol.

-hahahaha lol

Survival horror game? Cooperation between two players?

Though not familiar with that, Ido-hyuk knew other things well.

“Just do as we used to do.”

It was common during his early days as a rookie hunter when playing solo was prohibited.

Since there were no fixed parties, the Hunter Management Department would assign parties in such cases, leading to countless encounters like this.

“Um… Alright. Let’s divide the roles.”

“Roles?”

What if you’re in a party with a hunter who’s a troll?

“Yeah. I’ll handle firearms, close combat, item farming, and scouting.”

Then he could handle everything on his own.

Ido-hyuk never needed help from others since he could handle multiple awakening abilities on his own.

“Huh? Then what about me…?”

“Jian, you’re in charge of cheering!”

-? hahahaha

-Okay, cheering is crucial.

-??? : Frustrating, I’ll do it all

-Forced bus declaration hahahaha

-The cheerleader’s form is insane!

“…Ah, really?”

Upon Ido-hyuk’s words, Jian made a strange sound with her mouth shut.

“Got it? Thanks. Well, let’s do our best in the second round.”

And just like that, Ido-hyuk smoothly restarted the [It Kills Two].

**

Bang! Bang, bang!

“This time, it’s four of them again.”

Unlike the previous round, Ido-hyuk hunted neck huggers using a handgun.

“Their name is neck huggers, right? It’s not just a random name. As you saw, their attack patterns are quite simple. They jump straight towards the player’s neck. Thanks to that, the counterattack is simple too. Just aim well and shoot them right in the head at the right moment.”

Even explaining the strategy, Ido-hyuk continued the broadcast comfortably.

“Did the owner of the broadcast change?”

“Is this the Ido-hyuk’s show?”

“Broadcast NTR *surprised face*”

“Hmm. These neck huggers are nothing special.”

Jian chuckled as if unimpressed.

Meanwhile, she calmly stepped on the body of the neck hugger.

“Upon closer inspection, it’s not even that grotesque.”

-?

-Next, the person who did nothing.

-Did nothing? Even though you’re the head of the cheer squad?

Of course, Jean had done nothing except for cheering, as the viewers had pointed out.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Whether two people worked together to clear it or one person carried the team, a clear was still a clear.

Jean had worried that she would have to play “Ethereal Kills 2” for days, trembling in fear.

For Jean, the sight that Do-hyuk was showing now was like a ray of light.

Moreover, Do-hyuk was Jean’s older brother.

“Ah. ‘Ethereal Kills 2,’ is this all it is? I see. I’ve figured it out. Your level.”

That meant she could boast like this instead.

-Soon, we’ll see Jean’s true colors, LOL.

-An hour later, Jean: (holding back tears) Pl-please… spare me…

-It’ll take an hour? Seems like you’d scream and wail in 10 minutes.

-Neck hug? Hey… that guy is the weakest among us.

But Jean’s pride didn’t last long.

Creak-

“Yikes!”

Even at the sound of the door opening, Jean, who was startled, clung tightly behind Do-hyuk.

-LOLOLOLOL

-Looks scared, LOL

-Gonna cling like a barnacle, LOL

Viewers mocking Jean’s appearance.

Of course, they weren’t genuinely mocking her.

Before they knew it, the number of viewers had reached 250, breaking through the ceiling.

Half of them were not regular fans of Jean’s broadcasts, but they were all united in teasing her.

“She’s good at broadcasting.”

To Do-hyuk, his younger sibling was quite talented in this field.

It didn’t seem like Jean was intentionally acting this way, but her natural demeanor was eliciting positive responses from the viewers.

It wasn’t just the surprising income of a 3-month-old rookie streamer that had amazed him.

Jean might be clumsy in physical skills, but she did have a talent for broadcasting.

“So, to progress with the story here… Hmm, should we go down one more level?”

“Do we have to? Oh, by the way, is this really your first time playing this game?”

-Yeah, just now and earlier, the movements aren’t that of a newbie, right?

-Newbie? Not a veteran?

-Forget that, explain why there are 4 Neck Huggers now.

“Oh? Weren’t there supposed to be 4?”

-Usually, it’s 1-2… If you set the difficulty to Madhouse, it’s 3.

-Seeing 4 for the first time, yeah.

– I know why that is… It’s because of the Reality Mode that reflects the player’s stats.

At that moment, the chat window became lively with the news of Neck Huggers appearing four times.

Even before that, there had been discussions related to it popping up intermittently.

“Why did four of them show up from the start? Did the difficulty get patched? Is that not it?” and so on.

Jian, who had been observing the chat atmosphere, stepped in.

“Stats reflection? Does it mean that the difficulty increased automatically because your stats are high?”

– Yeah, if you don’t turn on Fixed Difficulty in Reality Mode, the difficulty adjusts automatically based on the player’s stats.

– It means one of you has significantly higher stats… One of you is at 53…

– 53? I saw it today, 53 is excessive, it should be rolled back to 49.

– Lol, got it.

And then it happened.

[“PhysicalChung” has requested a 50,000 won mission.]

– Hyung, reveal your stats for 50,000 won.

A mission worth fifty thousand won.

Revealing stats wasn’t a difficult task, essentially meaning to just accept it.

“Alright. Let’s have a clarification session.”

With those words, Jian paused the game, “Eat Kills Two.”

The essence of horror games is immersion.

Immersing viewers into the game so that they feel like they are actually playing the horror game is crucial.

Jian, as a professional broadcaster, was well aware of this fact.

However, if the chat shifts focus from the game to other topics, it becomes challenging to maintain the immersion properly.

Hence, taking a short break from the game to refresh the atmosphere.

– First, let’s check the stats history.

– No, let’s start with the stats.

– Stats first.

– I have a fitness enthusiast background with stats at 120, but just checked and there are two Neck Huggers.

“Revealing stats? Jian, is it okay to do this?”

“Yeah. Personal information is protected, so apart from the game, it will be hidden anyway. Show it quickly. I’m curious too.”

“Just a moment. Like this?”

[Status – 134]

With that, Ido Hyuk revealed his stats publicly.

Physical abilities at 134, considering the average figure for adult males is 90 and professional athletes’ stats are around 125, it was a remarkably high number.

Yet, it wasn’t a shocking figure to the point of being jaw-dropping.

Among those specializing in physical broadcasts, a stat in the 130s isn’t rare.

– ?!!?

– Huh?

– ???

– Insane…

In essence, what shocked the viewers was something else entirely.