Chapter 4: living flame
8
A heavy silence blanketed the fog-free expanse above the bridge.
Kim Bingkwon had been rooted in place for hours, unable to move.
The sun was setting, casting dusk around him.
[IcePunch / Live – 9,501 viewers]
— Why’s he not moving?
— Is this a mirage?
— That thing behind him is legit terrifying. No way it’s human.
— Still a ghost? Can I take my hand off the screen?
The viewers were growing weary.
Despite the viewership hitting a record high, Kim Bingkwon didn’t care.
“Hey, wanna move a bit? I’ve been stuck here for hours.”
— What kind of guts do you have?
— You’re insane.
— Evande…
The viewers begged him to stay put, but a repetitive phrase echoed in his mind.
Words or fleeting thoughts? He couldn’t tell, but they felt like:
I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored. I’m bored…
An endless loop of weariness.
Focusing on it sent a chill of fear up his spine, but standing still felt like a dull act that piqued his curiosity.
One thing was clear: those words were driving him forward.
Despite the mysterious red-haired girl, her face hidden by bangs, standing firm, Kim Bingkwon had to move.
“Slowly… I’ll go.”
— Maha Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra
— Ajae Ajae Bal Ajae…
— In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
Amid the viewers’ prayers, he took slow, deliberate steps.
Glancing back, she remained in place.
Getting closer…
Each step felt ten times heavier than his earlier run.
But he could manage.
If she moved, he could react.
— Holding my breath till she’s gone
— Sigh
— Sigh
Over 9,000 viewers watched his cautious steps, praying she wouldn’t move.
Even those indifferent to his fate didn’t want that eerie figure lunging at the camera.
Keeping maximum distance from the girl in the center of the bridge pier, Kim Bingkwon edged along the railing.
Then, his broadcaster’s comedic instinct kicked in.
“I’m passing by…”
— Crazy btch, lol!
— Idiot, lolololol!
— Hahahahaha!
The TTS chat blared loudly, but the girl stayed still.
Kim Bingkwon was curious about her identity, but passing by was the right move for now.
Muttering softly, he escaped her danger zone with a crab-like shuffle.
“Is it okay?”
He turned to look ahead, but while the thick fog lingered, the girl was gone.
— Wait, if they were standing at equal distances the whole way… goosebumps.
— Fck, was the fog hiding them?
— Oh, come on.
— No panties, fck…
“No way. Stop talking nonsense, you motherfckers.”
The viewers’ theory gave Kim Bingkwon chills, but he couldn’t hesitate.
Pushing past his unease, he moved forward.
“Anyway, let’s hurry and finish. No point wasting time—”
“Didn’t Lathy say? To go ≪ g’lㅔ ■ ■■■≡ 236-161-176s’m.”
The red-haired girl, previously distant, reappeared, speaking in the same incomprehensible language as BlackHound.
— For real, what?!
— Fck!
— Ahh!
A quarter of the viewers fainted at her sudden appearance.
Kim Bingkwon, facing her directly, nearly collapsed but held on with his ability-user mental strength.
His eyes slowly studied the girl before him, slightly shorter than him.
Her hair spilled chaotically, rippling like living flames.
Some strands curled like goat horns, others stretched like membranous wings.
Her eyes glowed like embers but were black within, and her skin was dark, as if scorched.
When their eyes met, she quickly turned her head.
[(Warning!) SP is decreasing.]
Perhaps to offset her bizarre head, her body was pale and calm.
She wore a sleeveless, V-neck dress, draped diagonally with a cape like a wizard’s, resembling spirit wings.
“Wait, what was that?”
Kim Bingkwon belatedly noticed the warning from their eye contact.
Checking his abilities, his SP had dropped by 4.
[Kim Bingkwon / Abilities]
— Skadi’s Strike (A), Winter Skin (B), Light Steps (C), Void Walker (E), SP (55/60)
It didn’t feel right.
She seemed non-hostile, but he had to confirm.
Cautiously, he asked,
“Sorry… but are you human? An ability user, right?”
The viewers fell silent, those still conscious watching intently.
“I’m an ability user. And please, don’t look directly into my eyes. It’s not good for you.”
Her archaic speech startled him.
The tension broke, and the aboongis flooded the chat.
— Grandma vibes…
— Even grannies don’t talk like that anymore, lol.
— Straight out of a fantasy novel.
— Chuunibyou concept?
Kim Bingkwon was baffled. Who speaks like that today?
It had to be chuunibyou. It better be.
“How old are you? What’s your name?”
The viewers started joking casually.
— Stop the kidnapping! Stop the kidnapping! Stop the kidnapping!
— Bing-sht, danger! Run!
Glancing sideways, the girl replied,
“My age doesn’t matter. Call me Sugar.”
— So fcking cute.
— Like… me.
— Brown Sugar, aww.
— Brown Sugar, lol, this guy’s nuts.
— Brown Sugar’s legit.
— Sugar, hehe…
“Sugar. Got it. I’m Kim… no, Ice.”
Knowing his real name sounded lame, he used his hero name.
Ignoring the viewers’ jeers, he offered a handshake, but Sugar subtly pulled back.
“Don’t touch my body either. It’s not good for you.”
The aboongis went wild, seeing Sugar as a shy heroine archetype.
Only Kim Bingkwon, oblivious to the vibe, continued.
“What were you doing here alone? Why were you staring every time I turned?”
“They’re sentinels I set for surveillance. There won’t be more ahead.”
“Surveillance?”
“Yes.”
Her cryptic words continued, but Kim Bingkwon accepted them without question.
He pressed on,
“I need to keep going.”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Not now… Wait a little.”
Two thoughts clashed in his mind:
Hurry to BlackHound.
Listen to Sugar.
The former won.
Ignoring her, he stepped forward.
“… ■ ■■■А G’Ωt will appear.”
Sugar muttered something his brain couldn’t parse.
He brushed past her, speeding up until he hit Light Steps’ limit.
No ordinary human could keep up, but Sugar, an ability user, followed with nimble strides, taking four steps for his twenty.
Her illusory sentinels appeared at fixed intervals, like scarecrows.
A spherical Void Mist suppression field moved with her, unnoticed by Kim Bingkwon or the viewers.
How long had he run across the bridge?
A bizarre “derrrut” cry echoed.
Kim Bingkwon, seemingly deaf to it, kept running.
— Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!
— Trust Sugar! Trust Sugar! Trust Sugar!
— Monster, stop! Monster, stop!
The chat erupted in frenzied cheers for Sugar.
“Oh, Great Earth God of Nopke, forgive my rudeness.”
Sugar surged ahead with three quick steps, overtaking Kim Bingkwon by meters.
Lava poured from her flowing hair, forging into a hiltless, guardless sword-like shape in her hands.
Another cry, now with a whip-like crack tearing the air.
Sugar raised her sword, deflecting a supersonic object.
“Hm!”
Not metal clanging, but dull thuds of blunt objects colliding rang out.
She twisted her lava sword, parrying a series of supersonic attacks.
Blue electric currents sparked around her white boots, coiling from her toes and lengthening until they fully enveloped her boots in a glowing blue thread.
“Sorry, N’€. ■ ■■■. N’Å, this time it’ll be taken by ⊆c’ ■■■■■≒ S’ℓ.”
As her incomprehensible words ended, Sugar vanished from his sight.
The Void Mist flooded back, filling his vision.
“…What the? Fog again?”
Startled, he stopped.
The live chat was eerily silent, and the red-haired girl was gone.
9
The number of unhinged viewers on my stream kept growing.
“How’s mint chocolate tasting?”
[BlackHound / Live – 35 viewers]
— Delicious.
— Delicious.
— Delicious.
Seeing more people under my control adore mint chocolate lifted my spirits.
Perhaps it eased the boredom tied to Lathy Teparon’s thoughts.
The world needed more chaos.
A world drowned in disorder, sparked by mint chocolate.
As I delighted in my worshippers’ synchronized dance, a discordant note broke the rhythm.
— Everyone here’s gone nuts.
A foreign presence among the uniform responses.
A free, untethered being in a world of like-minded puppets.
Lathy Teparon’s instinct was to crush anyone shining so brightly.
“Welcome. How’d you end up in this shady corner?”
As I spoke, the “delicious” comments quieted.
— Just wandering and liked the vibe.
I chuckled, tearing open a new cigarette pack.
An interesting one had arrived—time to snap out of it.
“Had a similar one yesterday.”
Over ten empty packs, stuffed with butts, cluttered my desk.
“So, what do you want to do? I’m really bored right now.”
Any ability user was useful for gathering followers.
Since IcePunch likely wouldn’t reach me soon, attracting a new moth wasn’t a bad idea.
— I know a bit of hypnosis.
“Let’s see it.”
“Hypnosis through text?”
This guy’s a pain-in-the-ass ability user.
I paused my smoking.
With a clichéd smile, I muttered,
“Alright, try it. What happens?”
Could his hypnosis soothe my blasphemous urges?
Or quell the creeping weariness?
I waited eagerly.
— Focus on my chat.
— You’ll enter my world.
— Induction
— On Hypnoidal state
— Deepening
…
Each Deepening pulsed short-wavelength machine language from the monitor.
It pierced my retinas, traveled my optic nerve, and stabbed at my brain.
But it only stuck, never penetrating.
My countercurrent thoughts repelled it.
Yet, sleep crept in.
My eyes slowly closed.
— Now, you’ll want to come to where I am.
I jolted up, shutting off the broadcast.
Before powering down, I checked the clock: 10 PM.
“Time for bed.”
I dove into the dark, shaky bed.
Sleepy, but not from hypnosis.
It was the bedtime set by my absolute Father.