Shia’s drone camera is an amalgamation of cutting-edge hunter technology and returnee science that’s not even available in stores.
Developed at the magical scientific technology center under the Hunter Association, this drone camera is basically the pinnacle of tech created by professors and their poor, overworked graduate students. Almost like a monument built from their blood and sweat—truly fantastic stuff!
Unfortunately, since it’s crammed full of every possible useless technology, the price tag is astronomical, making it completely unfeasible for retail. Thus, it ended up branded as a “prototype next-gen AI Hunter drone camera,” becoming an unwanted piece of junk with no real purpose.
If not for selling, it could be donated to Yeonseo to help with her hunter life, but she’s technically a retired hunter now, so the use case was off.
Then, a special case like Isia showed up, which became a stroke of luck for both the technology center and the Hunter Association. By leasing the uselessly high-tech drone camera to “special returnee Isia,” they found a suitable application. The technology center could conduct demonstrations and collect various testing data—so it was a win-win!
Of course, the association didn’t just hand over this insane piece of tech to Isia out of sheer goodwill. Isia was a special returnee with powerful abilities, as confirmed by Yeonseo, and for the association, the drone not only served as a gift but also as a means of surveillance. Various reasons led to the current situation where Shia now possessed this drone camera.
In terms of mechanical operation, Shia’s knowledge was limited to something akin to the mechanics of a smart watch from 2024, and she was nowhere near unleashing even a fraction of the drone’s potential.
Still, Shia hadn’t experienced any inconvenience yet, so it didn’t matter much. Anyway, her drone camera had a “stealth feature.”
This wasn’t just about hiding the drone—it meant that when a hunter sneaks into a dungeon or takes on criminals, the drone’s AI records everything and assists the hunter.
Thanks to returnee technology, everything from sight to sound was cloaked by a force field, effectively silencing all unnecessary background noise as long as no special settings were applied.
Sounds from the camera, force fields, and even slight electronic noise from the drone were all suppressed.
To put it simply, right now, the drone’s AI had perfectly muted Shia’s broadcast.
It was no big deal.
The drone AI determined stealth was needed and muted Shia’s hunter streaming as well.
If only the stealth feature was activated, that would’ve been it. Yet, Shia continuously pressed the “broadcast” button, resulting in her live stream starting in broad daylight, but none of her subscribers or net runners received any alerts. Even the “This streamer is live!” indicator was absent, and viewers only realized she was streaming after they intentionally entered her channel.
In other words, the busy office workers and people caught up in their weekdays weren’t even aware that the illness-priestess had turned on her stream. Very few managed to catch onto the fact that Shia was live.
The people who did notice Shia’s stream were few, and at best…
“What’s up! Shia, are you trying to do a broadcast behind my back?”
“Olga, aren’t you supposed to attend the Elder Council?”
“Just have my sister do it! Hehe, I can’t resist surprise streaming. Hehe, with points I ripped off KawaiiHorned… oh?”
As the child of the World Tree, she’s been revitalized, but still, she acts like a jobless wanderer exploring the Daesanrim together with her sister Olgania, leaving everything up to her.
“………………”
Creak!
“……..Sister?”
Like a reverent younger sister, Yeonhwa admired Shia and envied her strength.
“Hmm…….”
And the weather was beautiful.
The wind felt great.
The air was nice.
Taking a stroll along the Han River waterfront like a bored old-timer wearing sunglasses, Yeonseo happened to witness Shia being abducted by a shady black van (!).
In total, there were less than 50 viewers who caught wind of Shia’s stealth broadcast.
As a side note, even though Yeonseo watched Shia being taken away right in front of her, it didn’t quite register.
“What kind of mischief is Shia up to today…?”
It was utterly improbable that someone like Shia, capable of facing off against her directly, could be abducted by something so trivial.
“Also, she turned on her stream, so could it be…?”
Besides, Yeonseo was an eyewitness to Shia’s “illness”—her ‘sick episodes,’ so to speak.
“Oh, how could I forget that cheerful face of hers approaching me while bringing three raw orcs to be slaughtered…”
Honestly, Yeonseo felt no worry at all about Shia. She thought to enjoy the warm sunlight and wind while strolling along the Han River contentedly, turning on Shia’s broadcast on her smart watch.
She was quite certain Shia would probably unleash a new type of “illness,” and she was somewhat looking forward to what chaos would emerge this time.
○○○
La~la la la~ la la la la~
As I hummed a familiar work song in my head, I awaited something.
Of course, when I snapped out of it, I realized I was tied up in a dark room of the kidnappers.
It seemed like they had tied me up securely, so they must have had some form of hunter training.
The mana and strength I sensed weren’t very strong, at best they seemed like a C-grade awakened. But it was kinda disheartening that such an awakened one resorted to this pathetic kidnapping.
Witnessing people of worlds even lower than this awakened pursuing their daily lives diligently plunged into despair made me feel a bit regretful.
“But is that drone in stealth mode? It’s pretty visible to me…”
I saw a drone camera hovering near me and slyly smiled as if greeting it.
Well, it was quite hard to avoid my gaze.
That menacing kidnapper looked oblivious to the drone camera hovering beside him, so I figured I could smoothly broadcast a hilarious show in real-time.
First, I was dragged into an apartment by the kidnapper, but the situation turned out to be disappointing, contrary to my anticipation.
Initially, I was expecting to be captured by some criminal organization of awakened ones, facing the dark underworld’s villains, and possibly stumbling into an international mafia conspiracy that could lead to endless intrigue.
I had probably replayed an epic crime movie series in my head about 12 times as we drove in the van.
Yet, rather than the grand epic of conspiracies starting, it turned out the reality was I was just facing a pathetic stalker?!
Talk about disappointment…!
I was seriously let down!
Honestly, I expected so much more than this…!
Isia, I’m disappointed in you! Stalker!
Grrrrr…
“I’m hungry.”
By the way, it was meal time, and since I hadn’t eaten, my stomach was starting to grumble.
With the malignant being having just feasted on the concentrated malignancy from the World Tree and Big Olgania, I was fine, but the rumblings from my stomach couldn’t be ignored.
-???
-What is this?
-Where is the streamer?
-Sis? Where are you? What’s going on?
-That guy’s up to no good.
-What do you mean, the streamer’s a girl? Call it “view beam docking” instead.
-Oh wow.
-Oh wow oh wow.
-Totally possible.
-Where are you?
-The absence of a stream alert is terrible, what’s up with the Switch server?
-Wait, I was binge-watching the reruns and just realized she’s live.
-Look at how less than 100 are here, lol.
-How many are watching?
-Excuse me, is anyone here?
As people began to trickle into the chat, it was still far less than usual.
At most, just a handful of tens.
What happened? Did she really go live in stealth mode?
“Though, you know, this might actually be better?”
It dawned on me that the topic of being stalked was bound to be polarizing.
Regardless of the outcome, as the priestess broadcasting, I had a duty to protect people’s eyes.
A glance around stalker bricks showed it wasn’t a wealthy home.
The sparse furniture seemed even smaller than the returnee shelter I lived in.
There was some mana present, so maybe a D or C grade hunter or awakened, but they didn’t seem like they had much financial leeway. It also felt stuffy, and with the curtains shut in broad daylight, the place looked dreary.
In short, it had a bit of a “bachelor pad smell,” which was quite bothersome, but, whatever… let’s consider this all another form of hardship for content creation.
I sat still in my chair, waiting for the intimidating kidnapper to return.
“Heh heh heh, finally here. You’re mine.”
“….?”
-What does this guy want?
-Don’t know.
-Hey, hey, is he your boyfriend?
-What nonsense.
-Sis, sis, where are you, tell me quickly!
-What’s up with this guy?
The stalker, grinning with a very shady smile, approached me and pulled out a strange-looking bone pipe from his pocket.
That thing looked like it was made out of bone?
Tooooot!
“?”
-?
-Ouch, my ears.
-What is this?
-Stop it already!
In that instant, a weird sound seeped through my ears and spiraled into my mind…
Ping!
And then it bounced right back.
What is going on?
It felt somewhat familiar, like when the dark mages from the Demon King’s army were casting mental manipulation spells on our troops.
“?”
“Did it work?”
“……?”
What worked?
“What is this about Isia? You are now mine!”
“Eh…?
-?
-??
-?
-?
-What’s the streamer doing?
-This is a prank, right?
-Is it hypnosis?
What on Earth?
Ah, is he possibly trying… hypnosis?
Ah, I see! That was the plan?
No wonder, my stalker doesn’t seem mindless; he must’ve had some kind of ace up his sleeve to neutralize me!
Honestly, the sound coming from that bone pipe wasn’t just any ordinary sound—there was something physical about it, trying to dig in and fiddle with my brain.
If this was someone else, there’s no doubt that someone could’ve fallen victim to that hypnosis trick.
The stalker cautiously undid the ropes tying me after sensing I was sitting quietly.
And after he released me, he saw I was still doing nothing and seemed convinced that whatever “hypnosis” he pulled worked, a look of delight lighting up his face.
-??
-???????
-What the heck is this?
-What’s the streamer up to???
-Sis, sis, where are you? I’m coming! Wait a minute!
-What’s up with that guy?
This made me stifle a laugh, despite how suspiciously babyish his laugh sounded.
-This isn’t something to report?
-Seriously, the streamer got kidnapped?
-Come on, look at the situation; our streamer seems to be messing around.
-Yeah, you’ve got a point.
-Just check out that grin, does it look like someone who’s in danger?
-Is she having fun, or what?
Once again, our sharp-eyed viewers lightened the chat atmosphere, preventing it from spiraling out of control.
As I glanced at the chat, tilting my head slightly while smiling, the viewers now seemed to realize that nothing was amiss with me.
-Oh, it’s really happening.
-LOL!
-Ah, I get it now; it’s a prank about being kidnapped! Haha!
-Seriously!
-Yeah!
-It’s actually true!
-Ohhhh, that makes sense. That makes sense!
-Yes, it’s definitely true!
With the chat buzzing, it was also crucial to get my point across that this was, in fact, a concept-driven stream. Luckily the stealth mode drew the stalker’s attention away from my live broadcast.
Well, realistically speaking, if he’d kidnapped me to his home, he’d naturally be focused on me instead of his screen.
“I’m starving over here.”
“Ah, right? I bet you are!”
The stalker seemed to know me well—as he rummaged around somewhere and began pulling something out.
“Just a moment, I’ll give you something. You can stay here forever if you want. Hee hee.”
Oh, really?
Looks like he was prepared for quite the meal?
Alright, what kind of food does this stalker have ready for me…?
“Heh heh heh, here’s the food!”
“……”
Frozen food?
So far, post-return, I hadn’t wolfed down any decent meals, but my long-lasting aversion to frozen foods began nagging at me.
It wasn’t that I hated them; I had memories from long ago in the military, eating frozen grub like it was nothing, but now, I finally had the chance to eat tastier food that wouldn’t leave my mouth a mess.
Seeing all these various items laid out brought back a flood of memories.
I wasn’t expecting something exceptional anyway, but I thought at least homemade grub would be waiting for me.
But hey, at least he went through all this trouble…
“Alright! I’ll eat it then!”
“Yeah! Eat up!”
-Oh wow.
-Where is this?
-“If you come to my house, I can feed you until you burst!”
-LOL!
-Nee, Sis, just get out of there!
-Stalker sleepover? Is it your funeral today?
So, I had five frozen fried chicken pieces heated in the microwave, and the same with five frozen cream pasta.
It was one of the few combos I enjoyed back in the day.
How could I pass on fried chicken and cream pasta?
There were plenty of other snacks littered around, like leftover fried chicken I heated in the microwave, three packs of frozen shrimp fried rice, hot dogs, sausages, and ham.
Honestly, most of the food heavily resembled trash picked up from a convenience store!
Later on, I learned that hunters had special discount marts where they could score groceries cheaper compared to regular shops.
As for drinks—four bottles of orange juice and two bottles of grape juice.
There were no sodas?
Well, I’d deal with that after the meal.
Slurp!
“Heh heh heh…”
Chomp chomp… Not bad, huh?
That familiar flavor resurfaced.
The sharp, slightly fishy scent of frozen meals and the oddly chewy, partially frozen parts combined for a weird taste experience.
Of course, compared to what I usually ate, this was no prizewinner, but hey, that cute stalker prepared this for me, so tossing it out wasn’t an option!
“YEAAH!”
“Yeah, eat up.”
Seeing me enjoying the meal seemed to brew a wider smile on the stalker’s face!
Sure, smile away.
“Hehehe.”
“Hehehehe.”
At this rate, I might not get another chance to smile in the future.
○○○○
For Yeonhwa, today was a rare day off.
Since she earned the hunter title “Icicle Nine,” recognizing her of unrivaled skill and integrity among A-grade hunters, she had hardly found a moment of respite for hunter activities.
Aside from rare instances when Shia solicited her help, or they shared a meal, Yeonhwa had slain thousands of monsters, racking up over 30 dungeon completions in just a few months.
Many rookie hunters were present, but none shone quite as brightly as Yeonhwa, aside from Yeonseo, who also remained highly regarded in that regard.
So, for her, this day of rest was incredibly valuable.
Pursuing strength, she had been pushing herself, but after meeting Shia, that urgency eased a bit.
Thus, on her days off, she would lie in bed and gorge on Shia’s streams or binge-watch the ones she had missed—rare hobbies for Yeonhwa.
As such, she kicked back, enjoyed the reruns of Shia’s earlier streams, and giggled.
All previous broadcasts were engaging, but the episodes streamed from Daesanrim were particularly entertaining.
[Love you~]
BAM!
“Pfft!”
Like that beloved large figure’s voice was replayed, it triggered a chuckle from Yeonhwa.
She hadn’t anticipated the broadcast from the Elf Great Forest to be quite so rich in such content!
As a side note, when Shia used her “aggressive AV director” persona with a married elf, Yeonhwa found herself involuntarily engrossed, heart racing.
‘If given the chance, should I secretly donate to encourage her to keep that concept rolling?’
Eh, perhaps that was going a bit too far.
So, with those thoughts in mind, Yeonhwa returned to Shia’s channel’s main screen to pick another rerun.
“Oh? My sister’s live? Why didn’t an alert pop up?”
Had an alert sparked, she’d have jumped right into the stream!
What she stumbled upon instead was…
[Cooking a Meal at the Stalker’s House]
“……..?”
Sister?
As a muscle vein formed on Yeonhwa’s forehead and the temperature of her room dipped sharply, it was only natural!
