NOVEL NEXT Chapter 449
I remember when I went to the university MT.
We rented a spacious room, gathering as students to drink and have fun, then just naturally collapsed wherever we fell asleep.
Of course, we didn’t really have alcohol, and it wasn’t quite a party atmosphere either.
Last night, while wandering around the neighborhood, I felt like I was on a tour guided by someone.
I mean, it wasn’t just me; Claire, Alice, Charlotte, and Mia were also there, but every time we saw something, it reminded me of how Alice and Claire answered questions, and how Charlotte and Mia reacted.
“…someday, let’s go to a better place. It seems we came here a bit too suddenly today.”
I said that while having a meal back home.
It’s pretty obvious, but eleven people can’t just walk into any restaurant without prior reservation.
It was tough to find a place that would accommodate us without proper bookings.
But splitting into smaller groups made me a bit uneasy.
I mean, I think there wouldn’t be any big issues if Claire or Alice, or even Charlotte and Mia mixed together…
But still, those four aren’t kids like me who have lived in this world for decades, right?
“Sis, you worry too much.”
“Still, I feel uneasy if we don’t follow the rules.”
I replied to Claire, and she didn’t really say anything else other than shrugging her shoulders.
But I’m glad she understood my point.
I looked back to the living room again.
The table was too small to accommodate eleven people, so we were eating food spread out on a camping mat we had brought along.
The dishes were diverse. Everyone had different tastes, and above all, the types of food people wanted to eat from their countries were all different, so it felt like it took forever to order.
No, wait, isn’t it a miracle we only took an hour to order different menus for this many people?
This morning and afternoon, after a long tour around our neighborhood, I didn’t have much appetite, and I kept picking at the pickles in front of my Jajangmyeon.
“…Claire, didn’t you say you went live when you arrived?”
“Yeah!”
“And you must’ve talked about Jake too.”
“She said she missed you a lot.”
Claire laughed.
I placed my hand on my forehead.
That’s right.
In that last broadcast, I had spoken as if I would never be able to broadcast again.
Would those playful viewers really let me off the hook?
*
[We were originally going to return to the other world.]
Ding ding ding.
See? I knew they would send donations like that.
[Hahahahaha]
[Oh man, the concept was heavy]
[Oi oi, did you really just come back?]
[The broadcaster who just couldn’t hold it back, hahahaha]
I rolled my eyes in disbelief and said, “You might not believe it, but we really came back from the broadcasting station.”
[Zunty rue dear Sie if then you~]
[Ahahaha, what do you think you are, a teleporter?]
No, I didn’t think I’d be a teleporter either.
[Can you really call that the Goddess’s power? Sylvia, you really seem like you didn’t play the game properly?]
That chat made me seriously consider whether I should just permanently ban them out of frustration.
No, it’s not about the settings; it actually happened. Why are they acting like this when I said so?
…Is this some kind of mirror therapy?
“Okay, okay, everyone calm down.”
Claire made a gesture like ‘whoa, whoa’ with her hands.
“No matter what, isn’t it a relief that we have come back? Did you all wish for my absence?”
[That’s not true]
[It’s nice to see you again]
[Now we can have a sequel]
Ah, that’s true.
We can have a sequel.
…Not just that; I might even get to see the series come to a conclusion. How exciting.
“Oh, right. While we’re at it.”
Claire, who had been setting up the broadcast before I entered, pulled up a video on the screen.
“There’s going to be a sequel trailer, right?”
“I heard it’s about time for it to come out. We took so long playing this game, to be honest, we could’ve cleared it a while ago if we had played for a few hours every day.”
That much is true.
“Oh, wait a minute.”
Claire said that and left the broadcast room.
As I calmly watched the question marks popping up in the chat, the broadcast room door opened soon after.
And—
“Sylvia?”
The one who came in saying that was Rena.
Ah, by the way, the rest of the people were currently cleaning. Since they had spent the weekend here according to their time standards, they needed to head back by midnight.
[?]
[What’s this?]
[Hahaha, how long has it been since the sequel was released, and a new character is added?]
Looking at the chat reactions, I thought I understood why Claire brought Rena along.
Claire sat Rena next to me and took her own seat beside Rena.
“Well, you probably know without me having to introduce her. This is Rena Meyer. Just like us, she’s Korean and speaks Korean well.”
“…Um, who are you talking to?”
Rena said, looking a bit surprised at the images of us on the screen.
Well, from her perspective, it probably looked like a mirror conversation.
“Can you see this?”
“Yes… the characters are coming up.”
Rena knows enough to recognize this is Hangul. She has seen enough of it outside yesterday and today.
“Right now, the people watching us are typing in real-time.”
“Huh?”
“This is what they call a broadcast. There are over a thousand people watching right now.”
“Wha—!?”
Rena jumped in surprise and immediately touched her hair.
Yeah, she was as much into her concept as I was.
After touching her hair, Rena straightened her back and tried to look dignified.
[Sylvia Mark II, haha]
[This one looks bad too, haha]
“…What are those people saying right now?”
“They’re saying you look cool.”
I told a little white lie.
“Is that so?”
Seeing Rena grow a bit confident made me feel good.
But looking at Claire’s evil grin next to her, I doubt it will last long.
“Well then, let’s start watching the sequel trailer!”
Claire said, pressing the play button on the streaming site.
And—
“Ah?”
That sound slipped out of Rena’s mouth.
“……”
What showed up in the trailer was Rena herself.
It seems I guessed correctly that the sequel would take place in the Riclant Autonomous State.
Rena… would probably be a playable character. The video was so short that she couldn’t grasp the entire plot, but it seemed to show Rena as the protagonist with other characters appearing, and a few characters from the Empire of Aetherna as well.
“What is this?”
“It’s a game.”
[Ahh… that’s a game]
[There are characters that look just like you in it]
Of course, people think this is all a concept.
No, wait, do they somewhat believe it now?
“This… I will make sure to buy it and play on release day.”
When I said that, the chat went wild with excitement.
“Of course, right?”
“Of course! Let’s bring Rena with us!”
“I think it’d be fun to let Rena play the game too.”
“Wait, me?”
“You’re the protagonist, after all.”
Rena froze at my words.
She is charming in her cute way.
I chuckled softly.
*
The broadcast continued after that.
Not just Rena, but I ended up calling in each person who had finished cleaning, filling up the broadcast room.
Of course, I didn’t call Leo and Jake.
Maybe I’ll invite the teachers later.
Not that they have that much relevance, but there are quite a few people who like them. For example, Carolyn. Her figure is quite unreal in many ways, yeah.
“In that sense!”
Then, when the broadcast was about to end, as we were getting ready to really wrap things up, Claire abruptly raised her voice for a major announcement.
[Oh]
[What’s this?]
[Are you preparing something?]
“Hey, do you guys have any plans for Christmas?”
With Claire’s words, the chat filled with anger.
A ton of angry emoji flooded in, and it seemed like Claire was intentionally provoking them.
“So, we will hold a Christmas broadcast!”
With Claire’s words, the speed of chat messages skyrocketed.
“……”
Well, to be honest, that was something we had been planning from the beginning. We just hadn’t thought about executing it since we unexpectedly came back early.
Christmas was just around the corner.
Ah, of course, that’s just around the corner according to this world’s standards, and in Azernar, it’s still a bit early for the year-end celebrations.
“And we’ll also have a New Year’s Eve broadcast!”
[!!]
[Thank you, thank you]
[A broadcast with the heroine from the game is happening?]
Indeed.
I never expected a broadcast like this would come to exist.
If it were to exist, I would rather be the one watching it instead of being in it.
I guess even the Goddess can hear me from here.