LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 71
Early afternoon.
Having stayed up late for yesterday’s broadcast, I ventured out of my room, still trying to shake off the lingering fatigue.
“Grr! Grr!”
As I stepped into the living room, Bok-sil immediately rushed over to me.
So today, we’re home instead of the yard, huh?
I skillfully scooped up Bok-sil and plopped down on the sofa, staring blankly.
Ah, what peace.
I’ve pretty much wrapped up everything I needed to do.
I only need to stop by for the new song work occasionally.
Speaking of which, it’s been ages since I posted anything on my art account.
Maybe it’s about time to kickstart my activity again?
The memory of the portrait I drew yesterday is lingering, filling me with a sudden urge to create.
Should I just dive into some drawing later?
Sounds good, sounds good.
First, I’ll play with Bok-sil for a bit.
“Come here!”
“Grr! Grr!”
As I was having a blast playing with Bok-sil, my phone started ringing.
Who could it be at this hour?
It’s just a bit past lunch.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw it was Hyejeong.
“…What’s up?”
Since moving, we hadn’t really called much, pretty much just messaging…
I wondered if there was news from the university I had dropped out of, so I picked up.
“Hey! You, you! ksh, is that you?”
Then came Hyejeong’s panicked voice.
What’s going on? Also, ksh is my art account.
“Suddenly? Yeah, but why?”
“Have you met Hyun-jun?”
Hyun-jun?
Who’s Hyun-jun… oh.
“Ah, the Derby-st?”
“Beastz!”
“Y-yeah… why are you so mad? How do you even know?”
What’s happening that’s got her so frantic? And how does she know I met Lee Hyun-jun?
“Hunters are in total chaos!”
“What? Hunters? What’s that?”
She seemed anxious, but suddenly throwing out professional terms like that, how am I supposed to understand?
“Our oppas’ fan names… no! I’ll send you a link, just look at it!”
What on earth is going on?
Did Hyun-jun post something weird?
No, he didn’t seem like that type.
Well, judging someone by appearances isn’t a good thing, but… did he really post something bizarre?
With a mix of curiosity and dread, I clicked on the link Hyejeong sent.
It took me to a summary post in some community.
What kind of situation requires a summary post, anyway?
I only met that idol named Lee Hyun-jun yesterday.
I read through the text.
The first part was a post Hyun-jun made on his Instagram.
Pretty much just a post of the drawing I did for him, mentioning how he got it from a friend’s workshop—nothing problematic at all.
So what kind of controversy could arise from this?
I continued reading line by line, sometimes squinting, occasionally gasping in surprise.
After finishing the entire summarization, I smacked my forehead.
“Crazy folks.”
Did I underestimate the fanbase of a boy idol who’s selling millions?
“Wow, this escalated quickly.”
To summarize the post, it seems the nation’s fangirls launched a massive investigation into who drew the picture.
I hadn’t even hidden my drawing style, so it didn’t take long for them to pinpoint me.
Okay, this much I can handle.
My account ksh has been credited for doing Hyeon-su’s album art, and since he and Hyun-jun posted a singing challenge video together yesterday, it all fits perfectly—there’s nothing strange about it.
But….
“Wow, how did it turn out like this?”
“Are you taking this too lightly?”
The issue was my past records.
No, to be exact, it was the records of the former female Kim Soo-hyun that were causing trouble.
She hadn’t held back during disputes online, often starting with harsh words.
Especially in a place like Bluebird.
Maybe it’s different in other countries, but here in Korea, that’s basically a community with a high percentage of female users.
It’s like pouring three buckets of camaraderie into that mix.
What does that imply for Kim Soo-hyun, who just coasted along in real life?
So what’s that mean?
A massive fight.
I saw signs of the arguments she left behind in the summary post.
I had searched out some of it before, but seeing it all compiled like this is just overwhelming.
In the midst of it all, the Kim Soo-hyun who had smashed keyboards to protect her parents on League is now seen as both Xiang Yu and Lu Bu here.
When fighting, are there really any rules to uphold?
She wielded every kind of insult and personal attack to uphold what she thought of as justice.
And all of this got captured, causing Hyun-jun’s fans to freak out over who he’d be hanging around with.
But they can’t really say anything to him, so they just put their sights on my account.
“But what can they actually do?”
So did I go and do something wrong?
Did I ever say anything harsh online?
What charges are they going to throw at me?
“Is your account alright?”
Well, the account might be a bit of a mess, but they aren’t going to be like that forever.
I’d rather think of this as a kind of noise marketing.
More importantly….
“I guess I’ll need to apologize.”
“For what?”
“To Hyun-jun, since it’s somewhat my fault.”
“That’d be good, but how? Just leave a message on Instagram? You don’t even have an account!”
“I can just call him.”
“Wait… do you have his number?”
“Well then I’m hanging up. Thanks for the info!”
I ended the call with Hyejeong and immediately called Hyeon-su.
Why would I have Hyun-jun’s phone number? I need to ask Hyeon-su to find out.
After a few rings, Hyeon-su answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Hyeon-su, are you alright?”
Come to think of it, didn’t he not post my drawing either?
This feels like some kind of virus.
“Oh, that? Our fans haven’t said anything, though.”
“You know what happened, huh?”
“I didn’t know either, but Hyun-jun told me.”
“Hyun-jun?”
“Yeah, didn’t he call you? He got my number.”
He got the number?
“Didn’t he? When?”
“Oh, it’s been a little while.”
“Is that so? I should be the one to call first, don’t you think?”
“Is that how it works? I honestly don’t know.”
“Hey, they say you’re just a kid, but send me Hyun-jun’s number via text.”
“Sure, I’ll send it.”
But now that I think about it, is it okay to receive an idol’s number like this?
No, and to think, I already gave MY number out—how ridiculous!
I mean, I’m still (virtually) an idol too, you know.
“…Hyeon-su, but isn’t it reckless to be handing our numbers like this?”
“They both seem like they won’t mind that much. Right?”
True, but still.
“Ugh, fine. Take care.”
“Good luck sorting it out!”
After hanging up with Hyeon-su, I called the number he sent me right away.
He isn’t busy, right?
If he is, then I’ll just call back later.
Beep—
[Hello?]
But to my relief, the call went through without a hitch.
[Hello? This is Lee Hyun-jun.]
“Hey, it’s Kim Soo-hyun, the one you met yesterday.”
“Oh, um, I’m really sorry.”
As soon as Hyun-jun picked up, he apologized, looking genuinely troubled. But it wasn’t his fault.
At the end of the day, it’s my and his fans’ problem.
“No, it’s my bad. I should have thought it through.”
“Oh… I saw that…”
He saw the chat logs? Great, now I might as well blush just thinking about it, knowing someone who knows my face saw that.
“It’s a bit harsh, huh? I lose my control online.”
Truth be told, I can control myself, but the female Kim Soo-hyun couldn’t.
[You’re quite honest. Either way, I’m sorry. My fans are a handful.]
“No, it’s fine, really.”
In truth, it’s okay.
I was right about my side of things being fine, and I can just take a break from the account for a while.
It’ll all blow over soon, anyway.
“Guess I’ll just game until this calms down.”
[But I should offer some compensation…]
I felt like the tables had turned entirely.
I called to apologize, but here I am, receiving apologies instead?
Well, based on what he said, it seems like no real harm has come to him, so that’s a relief.
“If you’re really concerned, maybe just send me a gift during the holidays.”
Proposing to meet for a meal felt like flirting with an idol, so this should suffice.
[Ah, haha. If you put it that way, then I understand. Sorry once again.]
“It’s really fine, so don’t worry about it. Take care.”
With that, I ended the call.
It felt like a satisfactory resolution, and I let out a sigh of relief as I collapsed onto the bed.
Now, what should I do?
It’s still too early to broadcast.
I enjoy streaming before bed.
Just finishing the broadcast, washing up, and collapsing into bed feels heavenly.
But thinking about drawing makes me lose motivation, considering my account is currently chaotic.
Maybe I should play a game for the first time in a while.
Speaking of which, I have that fancy gaming computer, but I’ve only been using it for streaming, how wasteful that is!
With a better computer than those in gaming cafes, I should really give it some usage.
So I sat down at my desk, turned on my computer, and saw familiar Miro characters and messy icons.
What game should I play?
League of Legends… if I play more, I’ll really hit level 30.
Once I reach level 30, the viewers will certainly hound me to keep my ranked promise, so I’ll skip that.
In that case, maybe Civilization or Rogue Legacy…
But do I want to save Civilization for the broadcast?
I moved my mouse a few times and clicked on the Royal Ground game icon.
Was the last time I played it before the move?
What a nostalgia trip.
I’ll just play a few rounds.
Since each round takes a while, doing a few should get me close to broadcast time.
Feeling comfy, I entered the game, but—
Ding-ding—
[awxt1004: Are you free right now?]
[awxt1004: Want to play together?]
I got a message from a fellow gamer from the island games, someone I hadn’t heard from in an eternity.
Huh… should we play together?