I thought it was cloudy, and as expected, it was.
I scratched my head in front of the rain pouring recklessly as if saying there was no option to just get hit by it and go.
It's coming down refreshingly.
The forecast definitely said it would start late at night.
Even if forecasts these days are inaccurate, shouldn't they warn us if it's going to pour this much?
"Wow, what's with this rain!!"
"It's pouring like crazy."
"I know right. Still, it's fortunate the raindrops are thin... No, more importantly! Have you seen Ye-rin? I definitely saw her going down earlier..."
"Over there."
I pointed to Han Ye-rin walking through the rain.
And I was about to open my mouth to continue.
No matter how crazy Lee Ju-yeong is about Han Ye-rin, surely he wouldn't run into this rain, I thought.
"Hey, thank you! I'm going first, Ye-rin!!! Waitttt!!"
Wow, he's actually taking the hit.
He's truly amazing too...
... Ah, wait, that's right.
It's today, that event.
Seeing Lee Ju-yeong running without an umbrella, I only then remembered.
One of the very important episodes, "Rainy Day, One Umbrella."
As the subtitle suggests, it's the day the two share a single umbrella.
It was also the day they realized they coincidentally lived close to each other.
You ask if they didn't know that for 3 years?
Surprisingly, yes.
First of all, their arrival times at school are polar opposites, and Lee Ju-yeong, having exhausted all his courage in hitting on her, couldn't touch Han Ye-rin after school.
If it were just this, it would be a common episode, but it doesn't end here.
In the middle, the umbrella flips over and both get soaked.
Then the two of them... what happened again?
I don't know.
Some event happens...
Honestly, at this point, I don't remember well.
Anyway, it was the day that became the catalyst for their relationship to change.
The point where Lee Ju-yeong's pure love finally comes to fruition.
He finally did it.
Watching the two create the same scene despite the impurity called 'me' being mixed in, something choked up inside me and rose up, making me stop in my tracks.
Since it was raining, I was getting drunk on sentiment and letting it settle down, when I heard a familiar yet awkward voice.
"Kim Jae-hyun?"
"?"
Reflexively turning my head at the low voice coming from behind, there stood she, making the gloomy sky look embarrassed.
As always, a smiling mouth and brightly shining eyes.
Perhaps because she was tall for a girl, her face caught my eye instantly.
Honestly, other kids don't really come into my view well.
Realizing anew that Shin Yu-ri is tall, the moment our eyes met as usual, I became somewhat dazed.
I fell for it without even a moment to question.
Maybe because there were no people around, unlike usual, her eyes were half-closed, which made her look a bit sharp and catty.
In other words, it means provocative.
As expected, she seems closer to a fox than a puppy.
First of all, she's too flashy to be a puppy.
Looking at her like this, her hair color is similar to a fox's fur color too.
Perhaps because she's a character in a webtoon, the color coordination is very good.
Is that why? Shin Yu-ri's face gave me a strange satisfaction the more I looked at it.
It's definitely a face I see often usually, so why does it feel so different today specifically?
The eyes? The atmosphere?
Or maybe simply because I'm soaked in sentiment.
Or...
"Is there something on my face?"
Ah, right.
I forcibly cut off the continuing train of thought.
"No."
"Ah, I thought there was. Your gaze was so intense I misunderstood."
Seeing Shin Yu-ri speak while frowning slightly, I realized only then.
That my state is very bad.
I don't know why I became like this, but what I had to do was clear.
I need to leave this place quickly.
"Sorry, my condition is a bit strange right now."
"It's okay. My face is pretty good-looking, right?"
It was a remark spat out to lighten the mood in my own way, but since I was still in a dazed state, I couldn't give a proper answer.
Silence flowed for a moment, and Shin Yu-ri opened her mouth again.
"But why were you standing still? Do you not have an umbrella?"
Seeing Shin Yu-ri taking out an umbrella as she said that, I realized the identity of the strange emotion I had felt since earlier.
And why I am so shaken right now.
As I said, at best, I'm a supporting character.
When I first joined the group, honestly, I had a little expectation too.
That something might come to my boring daily life.
But I was exactly up to there.
My life was still boring.
When any event occurred, I always existed outside that range, and I was either one step late or early.
As if it were decided that way.
I was always a bystander.
Included in the story, but unable to give any influence.
Right now, the protagonist eventually enacted that scene even though I was there.
I definitely thought I had changed quite a bit, though.
It seems that was quite shocking to me.
So, what I want to say is.
"No, I have one in my bag too."
That an event like sharing an umbrella with a female friend encountered by chance doesn't happen.
I took out the umbrella stuck in a corner of my bag and opened it.
"I'm going first. See you tomorrow."
The folding umbrella that surely the 'me' of sometime past must have put there.
"Uh, yeah. Bye. See you tomorrow."
Today the sky was gloomy.
Just enough to my liking.
This didn't work.
Shin Yu-ri frowned as she watched Kim Jae-hyun getting further away.
He definitely looked unstable.
If I were to dig in, today was the day...
Roughly sweeping up her hair, she clicked the umbrella held in her hand.
I get that he has an umbrella.
Yeah, technically, there's no need to go together.
The way home might be different, and even if it is, we'd only go together until the school gate.
If we dig deeper, going together under an umbrella is an uncomfortable thing in many ways.
But...
Usually, don't people go together?
I'm plenty pretty enough, and I thought it would be a sufficiently fluttering event for a boy and girl in their prime.
His eyes trembled like that, he looked at me like that, yet he refused?
Shin Yu-ri looked at her sufficiently large umbrella.
A quite large umbrella purchased because she hated getting hit by rain pathologically.
I didn't have thoughts of... using it together.
First off, he's too tall so my shoes would probably get wet for no reason, actually it's still awkward, and if I'm under an umbrella alone with a guy, rumors might...
"Why am I thinking like this."
Like this, doesn't it seem like I got rejected?
Shin Yu-ri struggled to think of other things while calming down the unusually rampant possessiveness.
And why did he look at my face for so long?
If he had an umbrella, he should have gone sooner, why block the path.
Ha, the more I think about it, the more absurd it is.
Cutting off the continuing thoughts with annoyance, Shin Yu-ri opened her umbrella and stepped onto the rainy path.
Maybe the time for thinking was long, as Kim Jae-hyun had long since disappeared, but the dull and calm rainy path forced her to recall him.
The reason Shin Yu-ri had become close to Kim Jae-hyun was largely due to his peculiar sunken eyes.
Yes, she had become close.
She measured distance well.
She instinctively realized the gap between people and had used it.
But Kim Jae-hyun was different.
His calm two eyes that seemed to contain no emotion confused her senses, and when she came to her senses, she had already become close.
He was definitely far, but when she came to, he was in a position she could reach if she extended her hand.
Ah, it didn't mean they were close friends.
Literally, the sense of distance was close.
The two were distinctly different concepts, and thus Shin Yu-ri decided to rather get closer than to distance herself again.
That side was more natural, and it wasn't that she wasn't interested, so since we got close anyway, I intended to find out what kind of person he was...
"Ha."
Shin Yu-ri thought while feeling the raindrops tapping on the umbrella.
As expected, the umbrella was sufficiently large.
Enough to block even the rain carried by the wind.
As soon as I came home, I turned on the broadcast.
Today was a day I wanted to do that.
Category is... talk.
I suddenly had something I was curious about, so I planned to ask.
I searched YouTube, played some appropriate music, and stared at the ceiling for a moment.
It's not like I became depressed now of all times.
Chat Window [Viewer]: First [Viewer]: Why is the intro song so depressing today
I just suddenly had that thought.
Chat Window [Viewer]: Bear-Hi [Viewer]: Oh [Viewer]: You came early [Viewer]: Hello
That wherever I am, it feels like it's not my place, something strange.
Ah, is this being depressed?
Chat Window [Viewer]: Why suddenly Talk? [Viewer]: Isn't it to decide the next game [Viewer]: That's the betting favorite
"Ah, yes. Nice to meet you."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Finally looking here [Viewer]: So what are you doing now?
"Ah, actually I was going to decide that."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Ha, praying [Viewer]: King the Com 2 obviously [Viewer]: Knowing the host's personality, a different game will come out [Viewer]: Civilization is okay too [Viewer]: Please not Civilization
I laughed slightly seeing the fluctuating chat window.
Two months is short if you call it short, and long if you call it long.
But it was enough time for the viewers to grasp my personality.
It was time enough and overflowing to grasp the disposition of never listening to others.
Now the viewers prayed rather than persuaded.
"Originally, I was going to continue with King the Com 2."
Saying that, I moved the mouse cursor.
When I entered the broadcast station page I usually don't even visit and clicked the viewer board, the chat window started rising again.
Chat Window [Viewer]: Eh? [Viewer]: First time seeing this person look at the board [Viewer]: You checked this? Ah, should have deleted my shitposts
"No, I also saw it for the first time yesterday."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Check it a bit; [Viewer]: Phew thought the person changed [Viewer]: Fr lol
And among the few posts, I found it.
One post that stood out uniquely among posts with at most 10 views and mostly 0 comments.
"46 views and 6 comments. Actually, at this level, you can assume all my viewers saw it, and thanks to that response, it was the first to climb to the Hall of Fame. Okay, applause."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Clapclapclapclap [Viewer]: Wow Hall of Fame! [Viewer]: Truly the first lol [Viewer]: So why the board?
"So, without going through the trouble of a demand survey, I will go with this post. I will consider this post to represent the viewers."
[Title: Host-nim, are you perhaps interested in a Life Server?] Seeing you play King the Com, I thought the RP server would be tasty
(Rough application link) <<<< If interested go go
ㄴ Oh
ㄴ As expected, big things are done by anonymous users
ㄴ Fucking agree
ㄴ Should go straight to King the Com 2
ㄴ Even if he goes, feels like he'll just work like crazy
ㄴ This fr
"Life Server?"
Chat Window [Viewer]: Please just click the link first [Viewer]: But even if he joins, he's a small male streamer so it's a bit ambiguous [Viewer]: He'll probably do well though [Viewer]: As a viewer from day 1, he'll definitely do well [Viewer]: Not doing King the Com 2?
I don't know what it is, but the reaction was strong.
When I moved the mouse and clicked the link, what popped up was a simple introduction, rules, and application method.
"I've never played GAT even once."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Unless you're going to be a cop or gangster, it doesn't matter [Viewer]: If it's you, no need to worry
"What is RP again."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Just digging a new persona [Viewer]: Role Playing [Viewer]: It's like role-play [Viewer]: Concept
I watched the chat window for a moment and then read the rules and methods thoroughly.
And a moment later, I understood completely.
"400 people can enter one server."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Max capacity is 400 [Viewer]: Since the last one was a huge hit, it'll probably fill up
"All 400 of them... so they live their own lives while acting? Like gangs, police, small business owners. Like this?"
Chat Window [Viewer]: Yep literally a Life Server [Viewer]: Hey now, acting, it is life
"Ah, not acting but RP. Anyway, they do that. 400 people in one server."
Chat Window [Viewer]: Yepyepyepyepyep [Viewer]: Looks boring, go King the Com 2 [Viewer]: Above please stfu
Oh...
"Anyone know when recruitment starts?"
Chat Window [Viewer]: This is happening??? [Viewer]: It's fascinating that he's communicating, but even a Life Server? [Viewer]: Is this a dream?
No, 400 people living their own lives in one server.
Not AI, but people.
Why, how can I resist this.