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– Dding!

<Someone has been killed by the killer.>

A system message announcing the start of the “killer’s” activities.

Considering that killing can only occur once every ten minutes since the content began, it was quite early.

“Wait, they killed someone right as the ten minutes hit… Who could it be?”

Even Ji Hye-min, the planner and host of this collaborative stream, didn’t know the identity of the killer.

Well, if she knew in advance, it would give it away.

Purely randomized selection, 100 percent.

It was an unavoidable choice for the sake of immersion in the content.

However, if one of the less experienced members from the Fantasy Realm, who had previously played the ‘Hide-and-Seek with the Killer’ content countless times, were to be the killer…

With a poor playstyle, it could lead to a lackluster ending, so several countermeasures had been prepared.

One of them was the existence of a “Spy” who assists the killer.

The Spy creates discord among the citizens or directs suspicion towards specific citizens, and if left alone with the killer, they achieve victory.

It’s a role that requires higher content proficiency and brainpower than either the citizens or the killer.

Thus, the member assigned to the Spy role had been determined to be Ji Hye-min herself from the planning stage.

– Dding!

<Someone has been killed by the killer.>

‘…At this rate, maybe I don’t need to help?’

As soon as ten minutes passed after the first murder, another killing message appeared, meaning Ji Hye-min probably didn’t need to step in.

If she joined in now, the citizens would be completely overwhelmed.

So, rather than fulfilling her duties as a Spy right now…

She aimed to balance the situation between the citizens and the killer to keep the exciting progression of ‘Hide-and-Seek with the Killer.’

Then, she approached Dia, who was passing in front of her.

‘That’s not Haeun, that’s Dia, that’s not Haeun, that’s Dia…!’

Ji Hye-min had been treating Haeun with deference this whole time.

However, it might seem strange to use honorifics when speaking to Dia, who was role-playing as a one-year-old spirit.

“Dia~. Did you find anything?”

“…I haven’t found anything yet…”

“Oh? Why does your voice sound like that?”

“…I’m scared…”

In a broadcast situation like this, she dropped her honorifics and spoke to her like a little sister.

– So cute, for real!

– Her voice is shaking from fear!

– Baby Dia is scared during the chase!

– The 30-something Spy is about to leave a one-year-old to die at the hands of the killer (not fabricated)

– This might spark some controversy!

The sudden spike in the chat following Dia’s entrance was promptly ignored.

The so-called “cuckoo” comments were swiftly cut off by the broadcast managers.

Anyway, since she ran into Dia, she thought about asking her for her thoughts on the collaborative stream.

She didn’t mind giving advice to Dia, who seemed to be struggling with this content.

However, before Ji Hye-min could open her mouth…

“Um, boss…”

“What is it?”

“I found something that looked like a box earlier, but I can’t reach it no matter how much I jump…”

Since Dia came asking for help first, Ji Hye-min decided to find a hint for her.

“Where?”

“Over there, by that brick roof…”

Ji Hye-min would be going to get a hint for Dia, who didn’t have a clue about the killer.

It required a certain level of control to get to the hint box Dia found.

Given Ji Hye-min’s control skills from streaming Minecraft for years, she could certainly showcase her abilities.

Giving a beginner like Dia an advantage through Ji Hye-min’s help didn’t seem wrong either.

What followed was what they called ‘Parkour.’

Using the surrounding landscape, Ji Hye-min’s avatar started to get closer to the hint box little by little.

But at the moment Ji Hye-min reached the highest platform…

Dia, who had claimed she couldn’t reach the hint box due to poor control, abruptly…

– Thud.

“?!”

Suddenly, Dia had followed right behind her and struck Ji Hye-min’s avatar, pushing her off the platform.

The huge fall damage suffered by Ji Hye-min’s avatar ensued.

A moment later, Dia’s avatar landed right next to Ji Hye-min’s.

Then, almost simultaneously, she pulled out something small and sharp from her inventory and said,

“B-Baka.”

– Slash─!!

Once again, she hit Ji Hye-min’s avatar.

Since Ji Hye-min’s avatar was already in a dying state from the fall damage she just took, there was no chance to escape, and she died instantly.

– Dding!

<Someone has been killed by the killer.>

“Oh no… What the heck?!!!”

– LMAO!

– LOL, what the heck!

– She got totally destroyed! Haha!

– A 11-year veteran of Minecraft being beaten by a one-year-old (not fabricated)

– Oh, jeez, LOL!

– The shotgun noise was heard from here, haha!

I thought to myself, was this what it felt like when surprise hit out of nowhere?

I had played the ‘Hide-and-Seek with the Killer’ content more times than I could count over the past few years, but this was the first time I had been killed like that.

And Ji Hye-min was the Spy.

A spy who should be helping a clumsy killer.

Yet she foolishly deceived into thinking the killer was just a citizen and ended up stabbed in the back.

There was no scenario that Ji Hye-min had previously devised that included such a humiliating death.

‘Did I really just get played? Me?’

For quite some time after, I tried to deny the reality of being out of the content.

But I couldn’t deny that every process from just now was laid out by Dia.

Had I not been killed in one hit, I could have definitely escaped.

I could easily have led Dia, given Ji Hye-min’s godly control.

The problem was that Dia knew well about Ji Hye-min’s superior control skills.

Creating a situation where there was absolutely no chance of escape was probably because of that.

After all, Dia’s identity was D.A, which had been watching Ji Hye-min’s broadcasts for the past 11 years, so it was only natural that she would know about Ji Hye-min’s great control skills.

“…You said you couldn’t do parkour… You said you couldn’t even get to the box…”

– You gotta trust someone!

– It’s Ramji’s fault for believing the killer’s words, right?

– But seriously, I didn’t expect Dia to be the killer, haha!

– That’s not just any skill; she’s clearly practiced!

Hiding Dia’s control skill and putting Ji Hye-min off guard was not an easy task.

As a result, Ji Hye-min, who had thought of Dia as a Minecraft rookie, was the one who ended up looking foolish.

Well, either way…

With Ji Hye-min dead, all she could do was watch in ghost form.

“Let’s see how good you are at backstabbing the boss…”

– Oh no!

– Dia will be cut off from her food supply!!

– Is our Dia now going to end up homeless?

– Keep an eye out, sir!

– I can hear the splitting noise from here!

I began to watch over Dia with burning eyes.

It was ten minutes later when one of the innocent citizens, Mile, finally crossed paths with Dia.

“I found an item called a killer’s diary. What have you found, Dia?”

“That is… I found something, but… I’m not sure what kind of hint it is… Can you at least take a look?”

So, after passing over the item that was Ji Hye-min’s Spy token to Mile, Ji Hye-min’s avatar handed it over.

At the same time, as Mile began to read the item description in a voice filled with curiosity, Dia pulled out her sword.

“All that you’ve heard is a traitor’s証 that hopes to be the only one to survive─”

– Slash─!!

“I heard your last words well…☆”

She mercilessly killed the clueless Mile.

And with this scene witnessed with her own two eyes, Ji Hye-min couldn’t help but be excited in a different sense than before.

She had never seen a killer like this, who kills so brazenly.

– Dding!

<Someone has been killed by the killer.>

“Um…? What, what’s going on? Am I dead?!”

“Yep. Mile killed you.”

“? Why is the boss dead?”

“…I don’t know how this happened.”

It was right after Cream, who had been dead for a while, joined in.

And as they continued to witness Dia killing in increasingly bizarre ways, everyone started to munch on popcorn.

After some time, only four people remained.

Among them, excluding the killer Dia, there were three citizens left.

However, was it because the citizens had been killed one after another with no results?

The remaining citizens were on high alert.

As such, Dia also stopped further killings and began to amass hints while lingering near one of the citizens, Lettuce.

It was only natural that the spectators began to have their suspicions about Dia’s actions.

“What… is she thinking? She only needs two more and she’ll be revealed as the killer?”

“I mean, with a kill cooldown, she can’t fight all three at once, right?”

“Probably has a plan. Let’s see what kind of mischief that pure-hearted little troublemaker will cook up.”

Thus, the atmosphere continued to be calm, with no killing messages for a while, until one of the remaining citizens finally found another hint.

“Ugh… Mamaaaaaa!!!”

“?! W-What happened?!”

For some reason, Dia, who suddenly let out a shrill cry, ran towards the nearest citizen, Lettuce.

At the same time, another citizen, ‘Geunuk,’ joined Lettuce.

Therefore,

“Cloud tried to kill me!”

“Really? Where’s Cloud right now?!”

“I… I don’t know. He suddenly disappeared while I was running away.”

The conspiracy against the absent citizen, ‘Cloud,’ worked perfectly.

To make matters worse, they hadn’t tracked Cloud’s movements among the three citizens.

So, Lettuce and Geunuk had no choice but to mete out their suspicions on Cloud, deciding to group together with Dia and hunt him down.

And when they finally faced Cloud, it was only natural that they would say,

“Give up, Cloud. It’s all over.”

“Wow, this is crazy! I didn’t do it!!”

“Dia and Geunuk both have been looking for hints tirelessly. The only one who doesn’t know what’s going on is you.”

The innocent citizen, Cloud, had been accused of being the serial killer.

The harsh criticism asking how he could commit so many murders without blinking an eye followed soon after.

From Cloud’s perspective, who was desperately seeking the final hint of the killer until just moments ago, it was truly maddening.

However, for Cloud, unfortunately…

– Whack! Whack!

“Die, you killer!!”

“Hey, you crazy!! Geunuk, don’t do this!!”

Geunuk, determined to eliminate the killer before it was too late, began attacking Cloud’s avatar.

Despite Cloud’s best efforts to run and survive, he ultimately couldn’t hold out and died.

The problem was…

– KABOOM!!

As a penalty for one citizen killing another, lightning struck from the sky and turned Geunuk’s avatar into ashes.

“Wha…?”

As a result, two innocent citizens unexpectedly vanished in an instant.

Faced with the shocking scene, the last remaining citizen, Lettuce, felt his logical reasoning temporarily cease.

What followed was a question that seemed silly coming from Lettuce.

“Um, Dia? Why did Geunuk die?”

“…Are you curious?”

– Creepy.

“Um, no… No, it can’t be…?”

“…That’s a pretty short last word☆”

In less than a second, Dia’s avatar, which had been empty-handed until now, gripped another small, sharp dagger in her hand.

And so, with a slicing motion…

And then, Dding.

<Someone has been killed by the killer.>

In the end, justice was not served.

What remained was only a quiet stillness and the acrid stench of blood.

And thus, the killer, who succeeded in killing every citizen, was now waiting for the final tally of the content.

– Dding!

[ Juurin has donated 10,000 won! ]

Type ‘You suck’ in the chat for 50,000 won!

“…50,000 won!”

A lucrative mission had reached Dia.

As expected, she quickly typed it in.

And hit enter.

<Diah> – You suck!

The chat exploded with those four characters that dramatically adorned the grand finale of the first official collaboration in the Fantasy Realm.

The online communities currently streaming this collaboration also exploded in sync.

– Real-time) Dia: You suck!

– How did no one notice, LOL!

– Can you expect that the one cowering in fear of the killer is actually the killer?

– The moment she seemed innocent, she couldn’t speak properly after hearing those three letters!

– ???: Did everyone have fun until now?

– The last killer is making them kill each other.

– Crazy, it’s you, Ichigo Kurosaki!

– We’ve decided to call this sort of thing ‘Ijie’ or something.

– So, let’s just call it a political game instead, okay?

– Why is that a hard term?

– The Daramji crew is done for! Now Dia and the sunset will rule!

– Having won one ‘Poo Rock’ title doesn’t mean much, huh?

– LOL, your leader got taken out first!

– Isn’t this the first time we couldn’t combine handcuff items in ‘Hide-and-Seek with the Killer’?

– The combo items were all gathered.

– But why couldn’t we combine them?

– Because everyone died before they could even get to a crafting table!

– Then what can we do, right?

The news of this collaborative content, hitting like a tsunami across various communities, surprised not only the members of this collaboration but also everyone involved.

However, Ji Hye-min, who had to shoot the opening sequence of <2 Nights 3 Days> in some remote mountain village ten hours later, said,

“U-Um, I have to wake up early tomorrow… so I’m afraid I’ll have to take my leave now.”

With a voice that had grown noticeably cautious, she sought understanding from all the collaborative members and then immediately turned off the computer.

Almost simultaneously, she headed to bed and fell asleep right away.

Though, unlike usual, she woke up after two or three hours less sleep to get into Joo Jeong-yoon’s black van.

Seeing Ji Hye-min in a half-asleep state, Joo Jeong-yoon forcibly reclined the back seat, telling her to get some rest.

Thus, she had to once again go back to the land of dreams.

Yet, because the thrilling aftertaste of the first collaboration lingered,

‘…When was the last time I saw such a smile?’

Once she slipped into sleep, her expression turned far from the calm demeanor she usually had.

For a long while, Joo Jeong-yoon kept his gaze on Ji Hye-min’s upward-curved lips.

Ultimately, his choice was to…

– Click!

Capture this rare sight with his camera.

Shortly after, he sent a picture of Ji Hye-min sleeping to Nayun and Seong-yoon.

Of course, he kept it strictly secret from her.

As time passed and they finally arrived at the opening site of <2 Nights 3 Days>, he simply cheered her on, wishing her good luck.

“If you end up soaked, make sure to call me, okay? I’ll bring a change of clothes… No, I’ll bring them ASAP!”

“…I think I heard something strange in the middle of that.”

“It’s just your imagination!”