Veteran Streamer in a Reversed World

The broadcast flowed more smoothly than expected.
After casually sharing the story of my first day on the battlefield, the viewers’ reactions were good, and the number of new incoming viewers noticeably increased.

-You’re beautiful, big brother
-You rolled around on the battlefield with that face?
-Enemies must have had heart attacks
-For real lol
-For real lol

While watching the continuous incoming chats, I took a sip of water from a plastic bottle.
My throat was dry from talking non-stop for an hour.
Feeling the hardships of professional broadcasters anew, I cleared my voice.

“Aa- ae i o u-”

After vocalizing a few times, I could feel my throat loosening up.
Indeed, being a broadcaster doesn’t seem to be something just anyone can do.
Thinking about straining your voice like this every day…

-Do you have any other battlefield stories?
-Experience of hitting people
-Didn’t you say you did it a lot
-That’s why I’m asking for specific experiences

“I’ve killed so many… I’m not sure where to start…”

-Holy shit…
-Didn’t you ever feel guilty and unable to shoot the enemy?

I answered the viewer’s question calmly.

“If you hesitate on the battlefield, you die. Once you encounter an armed opponent, you have to pull the trigger immediately. If you react even a little slower than the other person, either I or my comrades will die.”

On the battlefield, a split second, a split-second decision determines life and death.
The only things you can trust on the battlefield are the comrades watching your back and the rifle in your arms.
In a battlefield where we couldn’t distinguish between civilians and enemy soldiers, we trusted our instincts and senses.
That trust sometimes betrayed us.
There were often cases where we shot someone we thought was an enemy, only to find out they were an ally or a civilian upon checking.
It was a horrifying experience in many ways.

-Seems like you’d get trauma;;
-What happens when a person gets shot?
-They’d die, I guess

“If they’re hit in the torso, they just collapse like a switch has been turned off, and if they’re hit in the head, they fall while spraying their contents everywhere. It differs depending on the type of bullet, but usually, if you’re hit in the head with a rifle bullet, it just explodes. With a pistol bullet, it’s more like the face being smashed beyond recognition?”

-Damn, I imagined it
-Don’t they fall while shaking their body like in movies?

I laughed while answering the viewer’s question.

“There are cases where they fall quietly and convulse. Sometimes they wet or soil themselves too. Movies exaggerate the acting for visual effect.”

This is from actual experience.
A comrade I was fighting with got shot in the chest area and just sat down, wetting his pants.
I’m not sure of the reason, but I guess it’s a phenomenon that occurs when all the muscles in the body relax at the moment of being shot.
By the way, that comrade who got shot died in action.
The 7.62mm bullet ruptured his left breast and dug straight inside, tearing his lung.
In the end, my comrade died in my arms before the allied helicopter could arrive.

“Haah…”

Maybe because bad memories suddenly came to mind, I find my mood sinking without realizing it.
He was a friend who often made funny jokes.
Just as I was lost in memories for a moment, another chat that came up caught my attention.

-What happens when you’re hit by a sniper rifle?

“With a regular sniper rifle, you get a big hole in your body or your head evaporates, and with an anti-materiel rifle, literally, your body gets torn apart and you die.”

-They use anti-materiel rifles on people?
-Isn’t that a gun for taking out armored vehicles?
-Wasn’t it prohibited to use those on people?

“It’s never been prohibited. Because of its excellent penetration and stability, it’s also used to eliminate difficult targets like snipers hiding behind cover at long distances. Its performance is definitely reliable.”

-I can’t even imagine the power…

“It’s better if you don’t know. It’s not a pleasant sight.”

I spoke briefly into the microphone and then took another sip of water from the plastic bottle.
We weren’t the only ones using anti-materiel rifles.
The Jibro army also possessed a considerable number of anti-materiel rifles and used them plenty throughout the war.
Of course, my comrades and I have also been on the receiving end of anti-materiel rifles.
While moving in an infantry fighting vehicle, the wheels got destroyed so we disembarked, and immediately a 20mm bullet came flying.
Actually, with a 20mm caliber, it might be more appropriate to call it a shell, but anyway, since it was fired from an anti-materiel rifle, we all called it a bullet.
Those who have seen with their own eyes how the sturdy front armor of that infantry fighting vehicle gets horribly dented realize.
If you take a direct hit from that, you’re really done for.
Well, fortunately, none of our comrades actually took a direct hit from an anti-materiel rifle.

“…?”

While I was briefly wetting my throat and adjusting the camera, another chat came up.

-Is Solomon’s combat ration tasty?
-Ooh, I’m curious

“Aha.”

Solomon’s combat ration.
You can just think of it as the U.S. military MRE.
Because the soldiers of the International Legion were supported from such diverse countries, the Solomon government distributed combat rations in the style of U.S. military MRE as a consideration for the soldiers.
It was to accommodate soldiers who might not like Middle Eastern food.
The taste of the combat rations we received like that was…

“It’s fucking garbage. It really tastes like it was made from food waste.”

-Lololololol
-I heard some country’s combat rations are really tasty
-Was it France?
-Italy maybe?

“France is correct. I haven’t tried it myself, but it must taste better than the combat rations we ate… Those were really food you eat because you’re hungry…”

Ah, suddenly a painful memory…
It clearly said chicken curry on the package, but when I opened it, there was a yellow liquid that looked like diarrhea…
It literally tasted like eating cheap retort food that had been rotting for 3 years.
Eating it with vegetable crackers somewhat neutralized its unique foul smell, making it barely edible.
The shocking thing is that this chicken curry was among the tastiest of the combat ration menu.
I don’t want to describe the taste of the other menu items.

“Ugh, fuck… Just thinking about it makes me nauseous…”

-Lolololololol
-Let’s do a combat ration mukbang later
-Where do they sell combat rations?
-The internet is full of combat rations
-How about trying Korean combat rations?

“Korean combat rations?”

At the viewer’s enticing suggestion, my churning stomach immediately settled.
Actually, I have experience with military service before falling into this world, so I’m well aware of the taste of Korean military combat rations.
But would the taste of combat rations here be exactly the same as in the original world?
Honestly, I’m curious.
In the end, I decided to praise the viewer who proposed a good idea.

“That’s a good idea. Thank you, VEX!”

As I smiled brightly at the camera, the chat window exploded.

-OMG
-OMG
-OMG
-Oppa marry meeeee
-How is this a war veteran? How is this a war veteran? How is this a war veteran?
-Dad, I want to be VEX when I grow up! Dad, I want to be VEX when I grow up! Dad, I want to be VEX when I grow up!
-He was actually a nine-tailed fox lol
-Hnnng please take my liver…

“?”

Being new to internet broadcasting culture, these reactions from viewers are a bit bewildering.
Still, the atmosphere doesn’t seem bad, so it should be fine if I leave it be.
I briefly took my eyes off the monitor and looked at the clock.
It’s already almost 2 o’clock.
I was so engrossed in sharing stories that I almost missed lunch time.
My throat is starting to hurt, and if I share all my stories in one day, I’ll run out of content, so let’s wrap it up here for today.

“Alright, that’s it for today’s broadcast. I’ll share other stories in the next broadcast. I’ll turn on the broadcast at this time tomorrow too, so please come watch a lot.”

I naturally delivered a closing greeting and prepared to end the broadcast.

-?
-?
-?
-Oppa, are you abandoning me?
-Stop ending the broadcast!
-No!!!!

The chat window was a bit noisy, but I had no choice but to end the broadcast.
My lunch is precious, after all.
Since this was just a trial broadcast anyway, I plan to wrap it up quickly.
I could see people feeling regretful, but what can I do?
I have my own schedule.

“Then I’ll see you tomorrow!”

-Bye
-Bye
-Bye
-I’ll definitely come watch tomorrow
-He’s really ending the broadcast lol

[The broadcast has ended.]

“Huaaagh…”

As soon as I confirmed the camera was off, all strength left my body and I slumped in the chair.
From now on, I am one with this chair.
The physical drain from broadcasting was beyond imagination.
I had to continuously speak while checking the reactions in the chat window to ensure there was no dead air.
I’ve only just finished my first broadcast, but I’m this exhausted.
Can I really become a streamer?

Grumble-

“…”

The future of my streamer life may be uncertain, but my honest stomach informs me that it’s hungry.
I should go to the convenience store and buy some cup noodles.
At least it’ll taste better than Solomon’s special combat rations.

.
.
.
.
.

“Ughhhh…”

Lee Ji-yul, who had gotten off work at dawn and returned to the convenience store in the afternoon, dragged her tired body towards the counter.
There were no customers visiting the convenience store yet, and she sat down for a moment and started looking at her phone.

“…Hehe.”

A tired smile spread across Ji-yul’s face as she looked at the contacts on her phone.
The white-haired man who had introduced himself as Chris.
Last night, she had succeeded in getting his phone number.
Although she hadn’t really met and talked with him properly yet, the happiness circuit in Ji-yul’s head was already busily turning.

Ding-

“Welcome… ?”

Ji-yul’s voice trembled at the end as she reflexively responded to the bell sound announcing a customer’s arrival.
In front of her eyes stood a breathtakingly beautiful white-haired woman in a slightly tilted posture.
She resembled the man who had stolen her heart last night, but Ji-yul was flustered by her somewhat exotic appearance.
The woman wearing desert camouflage combat uniform had deep black eyes.
Ji-yul felt as if she was being drawn into those eyes of unfathomable depth without realizing it.

Tick-
Tick-

Barely coming to her senses at the regular ticking sound of a wristwatch, Ji-yul cautiously asked the female customer:

“Um, customer? Is there something you’re looking for?”

“…dles.”

“Pardon?”

Ji-yul waited for her answer with a tense expression at the woman’s quietly muttered voice.

“I need. Fucking spicy noodles.”

“…?”