The chat scrolled by at a speed that made it nearly impossible to read.
The Young God watched the screen in silence, a faint smile on his lips.
While people clamored and fought over who would get to be his official sponsor, the Young God said nothing.
The viewers eventually began to argue among themselves and established a rule.
M-Tube supported a donation feature that allowed viewers to send funds to the M-Tuber hosting the broadcast.
They decided that the person who sent the most Star Shards via donations would become the official sponsor.
The Young God watched those fighting in the chat as if it were an entertaining show.
He enjoyed watching them struggle to reach him, but then he suddenly stiffened.
"Ah."
Letting out a short groan, the Young God spoke again, his tone significantly calmer.
"That... was just a greeting to commemorate the start of the broadcast."
It was as if he had become a different god entirely; the vibe was completely different from before.
Uncharacteristically composed for a first broadcast, the Young God continued.
"First of all, thank you for coming to watch. As I mentioned earlier, I am looking for someone to enter into a formal sponsorship contract with me."
All sorts of messages flooded the chat.
It was a moment where the attention of countless people was focused on a single individual all at once.
One might have been flustered, but the Young God read the messages one by one and answered them.
’I have no intention of opening donations yet. Today is just a temporary broadcast.’
And...
From the start of the stream, there were several people consistently spamming that the golden eyes were fake or CGI.
"Some of you are asking if I’m a fake."
The Young God paused. Once again, the atmosphere shifted abruptly.
Staring silently at the screen, the Young God suddenly leaned in close to the camera.
As his golden eyes filled the screen, the speed of the chat slowed down for a moment.
The Young God tilted his head from side to side, muttering to himself.
"Can you see it better this way?"
He swept his bangs aside with his hand, showing his golden eyes from various angles so they were clearly visible.
Curling the corner of his mouth into a smirk, he asked.
"Does it still look fake?"
Those who had been buzzing about him being a fake went dead silent.
The Young God pulled his face back. Then, he suddenly ran a hand down his face.
After a gesture that seemed laced with a hint of fatigue, he continued in a flat tone.
"As you’ve seen, it’s real. But if you still think it’s fake, there’s nothing I can do about it."
The Young God read a few more messages after that.
"Coordinates for my home planet? That’s a secret. You’ll give me a galaxy as a gift. So I should take it immediately?...hm, no. That was a slip of the tongue. I appreciate the thought."
"Many of you are asking why I like my subordinates so much. Wouldn’t it be weirder to dislike them? Everyone, stop coveting my subordinates! No, I’d be grateful if you didn’t covet them. I’ve never thought of them as toys."
The chat moved too fast for the eye to follow, but the Young God accurately picked out the questions the viewers were most interested in and answered them.
He seemed remarkably accustomed to dealing with an audience.
At some point, the chat began to move in sync with the Young God’s words.
Then, the Young God’s gaze shifted off-screen.
As if someone were with him, he exchanged a look of communication before announcing the end of the stream.
"I’lI stop here for today."
Questions about the sponsorship contract poured into the chat.
The Young God scanned the chat and continued.
"I will give you more details about the sponsorship contract in the next broadcast. Today was just to see if there were people who would be willing to be my sponsor. So...."
After a brief pause, the Young God grinned.
"Please come watch the next broadcast as well."
With those words, the screen turned black.
I let out a small breath after confirming the broadcast had ended.
It had been troublesome with the Young God popping out here and there, but it seemed to have gone well overall.
For some reason, I felt like the viewers liked it more when I acted all over the place.
Mo Hae-in, who had been watching from the side, asked with wide eyes.
"Have you done broadcasts before?"
To her comment that I looked very skilled, I replied somewhat awkwardly.
"I did it a bit back when I was a professional player."
There had been a clause in the player contract requiring a certain number of hours of personal broadcasting per month.
Although it was mandatory, I had actually enjoyed broadcasting quite a bit.
It was a time to communicate with fans while playing various games.
There were people who said strange things, but the kind words from my fans were far more precious.
Many people who weren’t even fans came to watch my game guides, so my viewership had always been quite high.
Thanks to that experience, dealing with aliens wasn’t particularly difficult.
The chat seemed reasonably tame, too. However, there was one message that lingered in my mind.
I recalled a single comment that had flashed by.
- Turn off the stream right now.
It was a message that stood out among the aliens who were only talking about themselves.
Even the aliens sending hostile messages hadn’t told me to turn off the stream.
While everyone else was enthusiastic about provocative entertainment, this person was taking a completely different route, which piqued my curiosity.
What kind of alien was that?
To dare command me, how arrogant... not an alien, but...
I felt I should check if they sent similar messages during the next broadcast.
Regardless, being able to do this broadcast was entirely thanks to the Administrator.
’Thank you, Administrator!’
I had quickly learned how to use Akasha’s M-Tube from him and started the stream.
Once I learned how to create a channel, I could handle the rest on my own because the structure was very similar to Earth’s M-tube.
Thanks to that, I had deduced one new fact.
The creator’s broadcast that I had watched in the past was probably...
’Akasha’s M-Tube.’
That explained why Samra hadn’t properly recognized the creator’s broadcast.
If it had happened within Akasha, there would have been almost no traces left on Earth.
However, a question still remained.
’Congratulations! Planet ’Earth’ has become a member of Akasha.’
The system window that appeared when I reached 10% recognition meant that Earth had not been part of Akasha until then.
The creator wouldn’t have been able to use Akasha’s civilization, so how did they use the universe’s M-Tube to broadcast?
I didn’t think the creator was a being from outside Earth.
After all, they had made me the God of Earth after making 666 people play a game.
While I was lost in thought, Kwak Han-mook asked while tidying up the camera.
"You’re not actually doing the sponsorship contract, right?"
Having watched the broadcast with Mo Hae- in, he had taken charge of the equipment setup.
"Yes. That’s the plan."
I had dropped a bombshell about looking for a sponsor, but I had absolutely no intention of actually signing a contract.
I wasn’t bold enough to do such a thing without Dominic’s permission.
Then why did I pull such a so-called ’aggro’ move?
The sponsorship contract was, in short, bait to lure out the Black Block.
’Because that’s what the Black Block wants most.’
From the beginning, he had wanted the position of the Young God’s sponsor.
If a situation arose where I might enter a sponsorship contract with another alien, he wouldn’t be able to stand it and would jump out.
’It would be best if an alien as strong as the Black Block approached me.’
In this vast universe, there must be at least one target that the Black Block would be wary of.
Ideally, Dominic would also take the bait, but he likely wouldn’t move for something of this scale.
At any rate, the fishing line was cast, so now all that was left was to wait.
Just as I was speculating when the Black Block would react.
"Um, and Captains."
I spoke up after hesitating slightly.
"About the part where they called you toys... please don’t mind it. Since they’re aliens, their concepts seem to be a bit different from ours."
It must have been hard enough to understand the concepts of gods and subordinates, and then aliens started appearing in droves.
Kwak Han-mook and Mo Hae-in must have been confused in many ways.
They had even heard me treat my subordinates like toys.
I made sure to reassure my subordinates so they wouldn’t feel anxious.
’I’ll protect you, so don’t worry. I mean, you don’t have to worry."
As I was explaining that Earthlings didn’t need to follow alien common sense, Kwak Han-mook spoke with his arms crossed.
"Are you okay?"
"Pardon?"
"You’ve become more endangered."
I didn’t immediately understand what he meant by ’endangered’, but then it clicked.
He was talking about the fanatical interest directed toward me.
I had told the Captains everything about the Black Block, and it seemed I had only caused them more worry.
When I explained that I would be safer now, Kwak Han-mook frowned and asked.
"Nothing else to tell us?"
"No, nothing..."
I felt a slight pang of guilt, but I said there was nothing.
It couldn’t be helped.
I had told them about the Epic Quest and been honest about many other things.
But there was one thing I couldn’t bring myself to say until the end.
Dominic.
Telling them about an unsolvable disaster would only add to their anxiety.
Mo Hae-in, who had been listening quietly, asked.
"That god in the Tower is very different from a trainee, right? Like, in the way they think."
"Probably as different as a human and an alien."
Kwak Han-mook answered for me, just as the old door of the shelter opened with a loud noise.
The person who entered, ducking her head to avoid hitting the doorframe, was Cecilia.
Upon returning to the shelter, the first person she looked at was me.
Then she glanced at Kwak Han- mook and Mo Hae- in before looking back at me.
Silence followed.
I looked at her with my still-golden eyes and suddenly thought.
I was glad I was half-mixed with the Young God.
If the Young God had been in full control, he might have been mean to her, as he only cared for his subordinates.
Of course, there were still parts of me that prioritized my subordinates.
It couldn’t be helped since my subordinates were so pretty and cute.
Still, in this state, I wasn’t completely obsessed with them and could still think of Cecilia.
After locking eyes for a long time, I called out to her.
"Noona."
The moment I called her, a clear look of relief washed over Cecilia’s face.
In that instant, I realized that Cecilia had been worrying about the same thing I was.
She had feared that I, having completely become a god, might look down on her as a mere insignificant creature.
I slowly spoke to Cecilia.
’I’m going to climb the Tower."
"Roasted Chestnut."
"I’m sorry. But I have to go up."
I remembered the promise I had made with Cecilia in the past.
"Give up on the Tower. And never come back to Hyper Eden."
Every Stringer’s dream was to climb the Tower.
They wanted to uncover the secrets that no one in Hyper Eden knew.
I was the same.
When I played the game, I wanted to climb the Tower to learn the truth about the city.
Cecilia had helped me, and just before the True Ending, I had found a way to infiltrate the Tower.
No, I thought I had found a way.
The events that happened the moment I tried to infiltrate the Tower played vividly in my mind.
Recalling those memories, I said.
"It’ll be okay this time."
I was going to make the Black Block, the master of the Tower, open the door himself, so it would definitely be different from last time.
However, Cecilia wouldn’t let me go.
"I’m coming with you."
She glared at me with piercing eyes and said.
"I can’t let you go alone."
Just as I was thinking I wasn’t alone.
"Noona. What are you so worried about?"
Kwak Han-mook threw an arm around my shoulder with a thud. Then he looked at Cecilia sideways and grinned.
"He’s got two younger siblings right here."
It was a statement that faithfully maintained the ’orphanage sibling’ worldview.
I suppressed the urge to blush from embarrassment.
What was slightly unexpected was that Kwak Han-mook wasn’t the only one who stepped forward.
Mo Hae-in also silently came and stood beside me.
If she were simply playing along with the lie, she wouldn’t have needed to go this far.
Just as I thought this was unlike her, Cecilia let out a short, dry laugh.
She muttered slowly.
"Right, younger siblings..."
While I spent a moment wondering if making an orphanage sibling a subordinate was strange by alien standards, Cecilia looked intently at the Captains and curled her lips.
Smiling with her eyes crinkled, she said.
"Let’s all go up together."
I realized belatedly that this was a sort of declaration of war.
While waiting for the Black Block to open the Tower doors, I had to push through the quests as quickly as possible to close the Trial.
Thus, I planned a double life: Young God broadcasts by day, Stringer activities by night.
Day News hadn’t revealed Earth’s coordinates, and I had edited out the scenes where I used divine power in the live streams.
It seemed my nighttime Stringer activities in a mask wouldn’t interfere.
In fact, I was certain the Black Block would want to watch how I tackled the quests.
◆ Main Quest: Report on the monster in the large convenience store.
[Find the large convenience store in the eastern district using the map.]
[Caution! You must enter stealthily after closing hours.]
Previously, the quest to film the monster at the fast food restaurant had failed because I got dragged off to the arcade.
I had missed out on a report that would have earned me a fortune.
Still, the monster sounds I had sold to the <Spooky Sound> segment of the radio had brought in a decent amount of money, giving me some breathing room, and I had purchased all the basic filming equipment.
A slate, a boom mic, one light, and a camera.
I was in charge of filming with the camera, Mo Hae-in took the slate, Kwak Han-mook took the boom mic, and....
Cecilia took the light.
Despite my repeated attempts to dissuade her, Cecilia insisted on joining the quest.
Left with no choice, I shared my state of being half-mixed with the Young God and warned her in advance that I might do something strange occasionally.
Although I had done quests with Cecilia in the game, this was the first time she had followed me from such an early stage.
I awkwardly adjusted the white half-mask covering my face and looked ahead.
The closed convenience store was completely dark, but the bluish light of the refrigerated showcases remained.
The Captains and Cecilia stood in front of the corner displaying synthetic convenience foods like calorie-supplement jelly tubes and caffeine concentrate capsules.
Having Cecilia with us was incredibly convenient.
She started by manipulating the entry-level payment kiosk.
The kiosk, which had been about to sound an alarm upon detecting a nighttime intrusion, flickered and spat out a customer guidance message.
Awkwardly adjusted the white half-mask covering my face and looked ahead.
The kiosk, which had been about to sound an alarm upon detecting a nighttime intrusion, flickered and spat out a customer guidance message.
"Welcome, Labor Grade E-level customer. High-calorie protein blocks are on a 2+1 promotion. 100% cultured meat hot bars are 50% off."
The kiosk’s messages varied by grade; as Stringer’s fame grew, their labor grade also increased.
Since I was currently a rookie Stringer, my labor grade was set low.
I turned on the camera, checked the screen, and said.
"My pretty subordinate. Come here...no, sigh. Captain Mo. Please stand right here for a moment."
Mo Hae-in took the slate and stood there.
While I was testing if the image was coming out well, Kwak Han-mook, who was holding the boom mic, yawned and said.
"Sweet Chestnut, when is the monster coming out?"
"I think it’ll take about an hour if we start searching now."
A Shadow Human was hiding in the gaps of the large convenience store’s shelves.
The Shadow Human, a black figure with only eyes, would drag people passing by the convenience store after closing inside and kill them.
They were a particular nuisance because they targeted those with high labor grades.
Since a famous figure in Hyper Eden had previously fallen victim to a Shadow Human, public interest was high.
If I filmed it well and sold it, there would be a huge reaction...so....
"Then the more monsters, the better, right?"
"Huh?"
Kwak Han-mook slipped with the boom mic he was holding. I looked at him and pressed the record button on the camera.
"Look here."
I filmed my subordinates with the camera.
After capturing the things I wanted to see most on video, I gave the command.
I regained my senses after doing it. But it was already too late.
Cecilia quickly drew her pulse gun. Mo Hae-in threw away the slate and drew her Black Moon Blade.
Zzzzt, zzzzt.
A noise sounded, and one of the extinguished ceiling bulbs flickered on.
Then, suddenly, the lights began to pop on one after another, illuminating the entire area.
As the lights that had turned on of their own accord flickered, the shadows that had been stretched long between the shelves bent and distorted.

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