[Yes, we can do that. How about we meet at the location at around 10 PM? How does that sound?]
“That sounds pretty good.”
I sent a straightforward ‘ok!’ and put my phone away. At the same time, I nodded in satisfaction.
“What a nice guy.”
For him to agree to my absurd demands, he really was quite nice. I was prepared to be cursed at by him, but that didn’t happen, making me sigh in relief.
‘Although I do feel a little sorry, I don’t really have much of a choice on this matter.’
There was no need to explain why I had to return before 1 AM. The same went for the time limit and the game’s revenue split—it all came down to one thing: I needed to earn as much money as possible to afford my medicine.
And that included completing the mission before the time limit was up.
“I’m glad he was understanding.”
Any normal person would’ve already stopped talking to me.
‘In any case, now that I have arranged everything, I should go get some sleep and get ready for the inevitable stream.’
I looked at my phone and set up an alarm for 5 PM.
“….This should be enough time.”
Before heading out, I needed to add a few finishing touches to the game before putting it up for sale.
I couldn’t just go over with an unfinished product.
‘Hopefully, if all goes well, I’ll get a few purchases.’
Sorted with that, I opened the system shop and looked through all of the items that were available for me to purchase.
I then looked at my available balance.
SP : 750
After purchasing one medicine, I only had 750 left. That was still good, but looking at all of the items, I could hardly buy myself anything.
The number of items that I could buy with this amount of SP was in the single digits.
This wasn’t good at all.
…And as my thoughts paused there, I looked at my phone and checked my balance.
My heart pressed against my chest.
“Should I do it…?”
I bit my lip.
This was everything that I had left. If the game didn’t end up selling, then I was completely done for.
‘No, I might be done for if I don’t do this.’
The prior event had made it clear to me that I had to invest in the shop. The events were simply too dangerous.
I couldn’t afford to horde the money.
As such, after pushing the demons in my mind away, I decided to convert 7,000$ into SP.
I did that by pressing the [Convert] button on the window and inputting the amount that I wanted converted.
Ding—
A chime rang on my phone shortly after.
[7,000$ has been withdrawn from your phone]
My heart bled at the sight of the notification. But I soon felt better when I saw my SP balance show 1,450.
With this, I felt a lot better.
“Now, what item should I buy…?”
I use the filter option and sort through all the available items to me. There were quite a few interesting ones, and just as my mind was about to settle on a certain item, I stopped.
“…No, not yet.”
Taking into consideration the speed at which I had received the pill beforehand, there was no need for me to purchase any of the items yet.
‘I’ll hold off until I really need them.’
I would choose to purchase the item in accordance with the situation.
This way, my chances of survival would increase.
‘But if I’m going to do this, I should also memorize all of the items that I can buy so that I don’t waste time looking through them when I need to.’
The thought made my head throb, but considering the events that were about to transpire, I had no choice but to do so.
And so, that was what I did after coming back to my room.
It was only after I memorized everything that I finally went to sleep.
***
To Velora Art Museum was located in a remote part of the island.
The road to the museum was narrow and abandoned, choked with wild bushes and grass that had taken over the path. Streetlights were nowhere to be found, and only by peering through the tangled branches and overgrowth could one catch sight of the large, abandoned gray building looming behind.
A rusted gate encircled the building, and coils of barbed wire lined the top of the surrounding walls.
Right at the entrance of the building was a large piece of paper that read; Do not Enter!
Such a sign was not taken seriously as the lock of the gate was broken, and several people entered.
“He should be arriving in a few hours. Start setting up everything.”
Jamie, alongside two other people, got to work in preparation for the upcoming stream
It was now 6:30 PM, and the sun was slowly starting to fade on the horizon.
“…All we have to do is scare him, right?”
A young man with a long nose and a slender frame was the one to speak up. He wore square-shaped glasses that neatly framed his equally angular, square face.
His name was Cody, and he was a close acquaintance of Jamie.
The two had worked together on a couple of projects.
Jamie looked at Cody, and then Jake, a chubby kid with blue eyes and black hair.
He slowly nodded his head.
“Yeah, scare the shit out of him. That’s all we have to do. Put on whatever makeup or clothes and hide within the museum. When the time comes, I’ll give you a signal and you can scare him.”
“Alright.”
The two nodded their heads and moved into the building with a couple of bags. It was just as they were about to move that they stopped.
Staring at the distant building, Cody swallowed quietly.
Something about the structure felt eerie.
As if sensing his thoughts, Jamie dismissed him with a wave.
“What are you scared of? This building has been raided before. There’s nothing to be worried about. Just focus on your task.”
“…Alright.”
And so, following Jamie’s words, the two entered the building and quickly got to work, setting up several cameras around and putting on their disguises.
The entire process took several hours, and by the time they were done, they alerted Jamie through a message.
[It’s done.]
“Good.”
Jamie smirked, staring at his phone screen.
Then, checking the time, he mumbled, “He should arrive soon.”
It was pitch dark outside, the only sounds breaking the silence were the soft rustling of leaves and the distant, rhythmic chirping of crickets echoing through the night.
“Keum! Keum!”
Jamie coughed several times before adjusting his posture and holding onto the selfie stick.
He waited for three seconds before suddenly smiling.
“Alright! Welcome back! How have you all been doing?”
—Yo!?
—Live stream now?
—What’s with the sudden occasion? You don’t normally do this. Are you running out of money?
The chat immediately exploded, the viewers slowly climbing.
Jamie chuckled and looked behind him, flashing the flashlight in the direction of the abandoned building.
“It’s quite dark outside, but I’m currently at the Velora Art Museum! I will be exploring the place with a guest. I’m sure you all will be entertained.”
—A guest?
—You’re not doing it solo?
—…Why are you bringing someone with you? A collab?
“Hehe, just wait un—Oh, he’s here!”
Jamie suddenly turned the phone toward the gate, the flash slicing through the darkness as the rusty door creaked open. Standing there was a young man with jet-black hair and deep, shadowed eyes. His gaze was hollow, his expression pale, and as he stepped forward, he looked less like a person and more like a ghost drifting through the night.
Coming to a stop, he looked towards the camera with a deadpan expression.
Then, with a single nod, he mumbled,
“…Where is the bathroom?”
He touched his stomach.
“I feel like puking.”