162 – 157. Password
“I’m trapped.”
The recent post by Popo was a kind of rescue signal.
If you take the first letter of each of the posts that he made himself, excluding the replies, that’s what you get.
“Huh, really.”
I was lying in bed, looking at it without thinking, like I was solving a riddle.
But when I finally got the right answer, I got goosebumps.
This wasn’t some ghost story floating around the internet, or some Neapolitan ghost story made up out of boredom.
“……”
It was a real rescue signal sent by an internet broadcaster named Popo, who desperately wanted to live.
Suddenly.
The festival came to mind.
When he came to our side and ordered 20 servings of spicy pork stir-fry, I wanted to kill him right away.
That feeling continued, and when I was talking to Choi Seo-rang, I refused when Popo came looking for me.
“……”
I didn’t think I had done anything wrong.
In fact, Choi Seo-rang and I were getting along well, and it was him who came over and interrupted us out of the blue.
I didn’t know the details, and it’s possible that someone else besides me ended up helping Popo.
“Sigh.”
But the important thing is.
– Anonymous111: Hey! Everyone! Hello! This is BJ Popo! The festival is coming up soon! In fact, I’m going to be cheering with the cheerleading squad! I’ll be broadcasting live on the day of the festival, so please watch and have fun!
The last post that Popo posted on the bamboo forest was that one.
After the festival.
Popo disappeared from the bamboo forest.
He didn’t broadcast for a while, and then he came back recently.
I don’t know what happened in the meantime, but judging by the fact that Yoon-ji stepped in, it must not have been resolved.
‘No, rather.’
It’s possible that it got worse.
I was ambivalent.
Yoon-ji had stepped in, so I wondered if I really needed to get involved.
But I couldn’t just sit still either.
Before I knew it, I was tapping away at my phone’s keyboard as the administrator of the bamboo forest.
– Administrator: Hello, Anonymous111. This is the administrator of the Ga-hyeon University bamboo forest. Can I talk to you for a moment?
‘If I make a move, something might go wrong.’
I thought that I might be interfering with something that Yoon-ji and Little Brother were trying to do.
But if I just sat still, my chest felt heavy and it was hard to bear.
I guess you could say I felt an unnecessary sense of guilt.
‘Hmm.’
Despite all the worries I had, there was no reply.
After sending a few more words, I turned my thoughts in a different direction.
‘Come to think of it.’
There was someone who asked me to send them Popo’s recent bamboo forest records.
I searched for a moment and found it right away.
‘It’s Anonymous300.’
It was clear that he belonged to the Construction Engineering Department, and I think he’s probably a third-year student.
The Construction Engineering Department runs their own fan club on the bamboo forest, with their anonymity intact, so if I ask Chan-woo, I’ll know right away.
In particular, since it’s exactly 300, you could say that he’s the head of Popo’s fan club.
‘Should I ask him about it?’
I wondered why he had suddenly asked me to send him Popo’s history.
Maybe he knows something.
With that in mind, I contacted Anonymous300 this time.
– Administrator: Hello, this is the administrator of the Ga-hyeon University bamboo forest. Can I ask you something about Anonymous111?
– Anonymous300: Yes? Popo?
This time, the reply came back relatively quickly.
But the atmosphere was strange.
– Anonymous300: What about him?”Her?”
I definitely know that she was a huge fan of PpoPpo. But now, she seems like she doesn’t even want to talk about it.
Let’s continue the conversation for now.
– Admin: Last time, you requested the recent records of Anonymous111. Can you tell me why?
– Anonymous300: I did that because I was a fan. Not anymore.
– Admin: Are you saying that you requested those records just because you were a fan?
– Anonymous300: Yes.
– Admin: The police have started an investigation.
– Anonymous300: What?
– Admin: There’s a police investigation related to PpoPpo. I’m cooperating with them because of that.
– Admin: But since there was someone who requested PpoPpo’s records, I can’t just let it go.
– Admin: If that’s really the end of it, I’ll tell the police that.
Lies were flowing out of her mouth like breath.
After a brief pause, a reply came from the other side.
– Anonymous300: …I really requested it because I was a fan.
‘Because you were a fan?’
She said it like this, and seeing her confess like that, it seemed like it was true.
Then, on the contrary.
– Admin: Are you not a fan now?
When I asked with doubt, there was no answer again.
No, it wasn’t that there was no answer.
It was that it took her that long to type a reply.
– Anonymous300: Yes, that’s right. I’m not a fan now. Do you know how many boyfriends she has? She’s just a slut. Is it okay to hurt the fans’ feelings like this? How can she do that when we were fans? How can she touch her boyfriend with the hand that she used to greet us, and kiss another man with the mouth that she used to smile at us?
“Holy.”
Before I knew it, I almost threw my phone. This is serious.
Isn’t it rather fortunate that this person stopped being a fan?
But more than that.
‘Boyfriend.’
Since I solved PpoPpo’s password, it was hard to see this as a simple matter of men.
I once saw a story on YouTube about someone who was locked up somewhere and only continued broadcasting.
PpoPpo could be in a similar situation, and the men he saw could be people from that group.
– Admin: Can you tell me more about what you know?
– Anonymous300: Um… But can you delete what I just wrote above?
This punk must have been scared because of the stalking.
– Admin: Please tell me.
I was able to hear a detailed explanation about PpoPpo.
* * *
The studio where they filmed the shorts last time.
Yoo Ah-rin didn’t like it from the start.
Kim Woo-jin’s second older brother was fine, of course, but the internet broadcaster Eunbyeol and Kim Woo-jin’s ex-girlfriend Oh Yoon-ji.
Most of them were faces she didn’t want to see, and it was strange that they didn’t prepare any beef.
“What is this?”
Maybe that’s why she was blunt from the start.
It was clear that there was another reason why Kim Woo-jin had called her out secretly.
“I’m sorry, but I said I don’t do live broadcasts.”
I didn’t want to waste my time on something else, and I didn’t feel like farting around in front of people I didn’t know.
Celebrities always say that they’re grateful and that they love their fans.
But isn’t Yoo Ah-rin not a celebrity yet?
The word ‘fan’ didn’t really reach her, and she didn’t think she would have any.
“And whatever you do, you’re on Kim Woo-jin’s side, so please know that.”
Also, the fact that Kim Woo-jin had called her secretly was one of the most unpleasant reasons.
She said it as a warning while looking at Oh Yoon-ji.Oh Yoon-ji sighed and shook her head.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Since they had drunk together last time, they had become more comfortable with each other and could talk more openly.
Yoon-ji was now not Kim Woo-jin’s ex-girlfriend, but the CEO of a company.
“……What is it? The atmosphere is so serious.”
Yoo Ah-rin slowly changed her posture, wondering what was going on.
Now that she was ready to have a conversation, she waited for the other person to speak.
Ignoring the other two people with serious expressions, Yoon-ji began to explain.
“Do you know Popo? She’s an internet broadcaster who graduated from construction engineering.”
“I know her. She’s famous.”
“She has a strange contract with a company. It’s called Rainbow, and it’s a bit of a suspicious company. What kind of waves does it make?”
“Hmm?”
The atmosphere suddenly shifted to a detective story.
Yoo Ah-rin thought she was going to try to trick her into debuting as an internet broadcaster.
But that wasn’t the atmosphere at all.
“They’re similar to us. They contract with internet broadcasters and manage and care for them.”
“But?”
“In particular, what they want right now is new broadcasters. Newcomers who are just starting out and have talent.”
“…….”
“They don’t want you to be a broadcaster. They’ve already given up on you. Instead…… can you be our bait?”
Yoon-ji slyly handed her a tablet.
It showed the windmill shorts she had taken with Kim Woo-jin last time.
“Let’s upload this. It will be popular enough, and if it doesn’t, we’ll make it popular by force.”
“…….”
“We’ll put an email on the shorts. Then Rainbow will definitely contact you.”
“Popo, Rainbow. Their names are really weird.”
Aren’t their names suspiciously weird?
It even feels like an uncle or aunt forcibly gave their nephews and nieces nicknames.
“But will they contact me? Isn’t it too vague?”
Yoo Ah-rin wondered if they would really contact her.
“They definitely will.”
Yoon-ji answered confidently.
“No, we’ll make them.”
“Hmm.”
“It’s to save people. It may not be just one, but many.”
It was obviously dangerous.
She wanted to say that she could just ask the police for help, but she must have judged that it wasn’t certain enough to go to them yet.
To save people.
‘I wondered if I would ever use the taekwondo I learned in my life.’
She thought she might be able to use it this time.
“Just one thing.”
Yoo Ah-rin made a condition.
“Let’s keep it from Woo-jin.”
She didn’t want to involve him in something dangerous, and she didn’t want to worry him.
“Hmm.”
Yoon-ji hesitated for a moment as if something was bothering her.
“Let’s try for now.”
She agreed with Yoo Ah-rin’s opinion.
* * *
“Hello! Everyone! This is Popo!”
A room decorated in pink.
Popo greeted with a smile through the camera in front of the computer.
Her hair, dyed a deep pink, had become her trademark.
The chats coming up on the screen welcomed her.
– I love you, Popo!
– Popo! Popo! Popo! Popo!
– Shut up! How much will it cost to marry you, Popo?
– My loneliness is filled!
“hahahaha, I think I’ll play a game instead of eating today. I ate 10 chickens yesterday, and my stomach is upset.”- ;
– Hey, Popo is pretending to be weak again.
– Popo would be a beast if he ate 20 hamburgers as a snack while playing games.
– Hmm, that’s annoying.
– He just lost his beginner’s luck.
– He’ll get hungry and eat again while playing the game anyway.
The number of viewers and chat reactions were dropping in real time.
Even so, Popo was a seasoned broadcaster with a lot of experience, so he didn’t get too shaken up.
Next to the computer he used for broadcasting.
On a small monitor, a memo pad suddenly started writing by itself.
[Sushi outside the door.]
“……Hey, everyone, I’m going to eat some rice while I play the game. Just a moment!”
Popo left the screen and came back a moment later with an enormous amount of sushi.
“So, did you know that sushi is a gaming food? Let’s eat it while we play!”
It wasn’t a lie that he was feeling a little queasy.
He had eaten 10 pieces of chicken, but since he had been cooped up in his room, he hadn’t digested it yet.
He hadn’t been able to wash properly, so the smell of chicken wafted through the air, mixed with the forced smell of cosmetics.
From Noble mtl dot com
– This is it! This is it!
– Wow, sushi viewㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Unnie! What am I going to do about my diet?
– Good job, Popo! You never disappoint!
– Who the hell eats that much as a snack while playing a game?ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Everyone was applauding and welcoming her mukbang.
So Popo continued to eat sushi with a smile on her face.
12 hours later.
“So, that’s it for today’s broadcast. See you tomorrow!”
Popo finished her greeting and ended the broadcast.
The moment she saw the screen turn off with a smile.
“Uwaaah!”
She started vomiting into the trash can right below her.
She thought someone would come to clean it up, but no one came.
It seemed like they were playing another card game on another floor.
“Ugh, ugh!”
Popo tried to catch her breath and pushed the vomit aside.
She looked haggard.
She had to turn on the broadcast again in a few hours anyway.
As she tried to catch her breath and force herself to organize today’s broadcast.
Woong!
A notification rang on her cell phone.
She didn’t have any saved messengers, and all her chats had been deleted, so there was no reason for her cell phone to ring.
She wondered what it was, but out of the blue.
She had received a message from the Ga-hyeon High School Bamboo Forest.
The last time she tried to escape, her cell phone was checked.
But they must have thought it was the Ga-hyeon High School app, so it wasn’t deleted and was just left there.
However, Popo had already given up hope on that.
It was too dangerous to ask for help directly, so she sent an indirect signal, but no one noticed.
In the first place, if she was going to ask directly, she could have just turned on the broadcast and asked for help.
Even the person she had asked to help her at the Ga-hyeon High School festival had refused without even listening.
Popo had already given up on the idea of doing anything through Ga-hyeon High School and was just living day by day, barely surviving.
– Administrator: Hello, Anonymous111. I am the administrator of the Ga-hyeon High School Bamboo Forest. Can we talk for a moment?
The administrator of the Bamboo Forest had suddenly sent her a 1:1 chat message.
Thud!
At that moment, the door opened and a large man entered.
“Hey, what did you just get?”
“……!”
Popo was startled and handed over her cell phone like a trained dog.
She knew she was being watched, but she didn’t think they were watching her cell phone screen.
So did they not come to clean up the vomit because they were too lazy?The more I think about it, the more I feel like crying.
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
“Admin? Ugh, what is this kid?”
It seems like there’s more if I scroll down a little.
The man throws the phone at Ppo-ppo in annoyance.
“It seems like you’re a fan, so just reply to them. And don’t leave it there, delete it after you read it.”
Anyway, these kids do things half-heartedly.
The man left the room again while muttering.
Ppo-ppo carefully takes the phone.
The admin added a few more words.
– Admin: I couldn’t hold it in any longer, so I’m contacting you privately. Actually, I’m a huge fan of yours, Ppo-ppo.
– Admin: I often watch your GIFs. I watch the ones that I edited on YouTube every day. I’ve probably watched each one a hundred times.
– Admin: I always try to watch your live broadcasts, and if I miss them, I always watch the recordings.
– Admin: I saw the one where you were eating pizza, and you were amazing. It was amazing how you ate so much with such a small and cute body.
– Admin: ? Are you watching?
“…….”
Ppo-ppo, who had been blankly staring at the message, almost burst into tears when she realized the sincerity in it.
Her body started to tremble without her knowing it, and she became short of breath.
Her eyes became moist, but she lowered her head and tried to hold it in.
To the person who had found her.
Really carefully and quickly.
– Anonymous111: Yes.
After replying, Ppo-ppo deleted the bamboo forest.
She felt a little bit of hope, a burning sensation.