Chapter 60…
[“Jihan’s here!!!”]
[“Are you okay!? Did you rest well!?”]
[“Hey hey hey! Rest more, I said! Rest more!”]
[“Honestly, if you’re a Cheonma Cult follower thankful for Jihan’s return, big thumbs up.”]
[“Lol nah, Saint Squad here, thumbs down.”]
[“Actually I’m Saint Squad too, but I’m still happy Jihan came back.”]
[“Lol see? Everyone’s been waiting for you!”]
[“Come on in, hurry up!”]
[“You don’t even have to game today tbh (but we’d love if you did).”]
When Lee Jihan started his stream, the waiting viewers flooded the chat like crazy.
Like addicts, starved of their “Jihan dosage,” shriveling away.
They were rushing in even more frantically than the zombies in Zombres.
“Haha, I rested well. Thanks to you all.”
[“Rest some more lol.”]
[“You know it’d be a huge loss if you die mid-game, right?”]
[“Yeah, actually the loss would be ours.”]
[“So if you don’t want us to suffer, rest plenty, okay?”]
Concerned messages started pouring in.
Jihan smiled softly, thankful to those who had waited for him.
[“As expected, you look the most gorgeous, boss!”]
[“Editor #1? Whoa, Jihan got an editor?”]
[“Ah, don’t tell me it’s that person? I saw their comment asking you to contact them and thought it was a scam lol.”]
[“But of course Jihan actually contacted them. Very Jihan-like.”]
“Well, they didn’t leave any contact info. I had no way to reach them directly.”
Jihan laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head, choosing his words carefully.
“Anyway, our editor has officially joined the stream team. For now it’s just one person, so uploads might be a little irregular….”
Dundundundun dan!
[‘Editor #1’ has donated 50,000 KRW.]
—Boss, you can grind me down and use me up. Please, grind me!
The editor, Baek Sua, cut him off mid-sentence.
Her intense and extreme words filled the chat with laughter.
They continued chatting lightly, announcing their YouTube plans.
“Anyway, that’s the plan—we’re starting a YouTube channel. We’ll upload mostly shorts at first, so the editor won’t be too burdened.”
[“I prefer long-form… but you’ll still upload full replays, right?”]
[“Please, king replays! I’m begging on my knees!”]
[“I wanna fall asleep watching your VODs! Please! Please! I wanna fall asleep to your face!”]
[“That one’s kinda scary lol.”]
[“Yeah chill out; (though honestly I want that too).”]
Even when cheeky messages popped up, Jihan only smiled gently.
“Yes, I’ll upload replay videos separately too.”
But even as they chatted, certain buried topics kept resurfacing.
[“But seriously, what was that we saw that day? I didn’t know Zombres was that scary.”]
[“Ugh;;; no one believed us;;;”]
[“Tens of thousands watched it live, but everyone treats it like an urban legend.”]
[“Lol for real, they act like we’re liars.”]
Zombres.
Right near the final chapter, the sudden shift in atmosphere.
Alien-like parasites, research facilities, strange ambience.
…and that bizarre secret passage.
A fleeting glimpse before the stream ended.
The eerie imagery was burned into the viewers’ minds.
“Honestly, I do want to log back in. I clipped it, but no one’s cracked the cipher yet.”
[“Yeah, if you go in now, it’d just be a pointless death.”]
[“Since it’s the final chapter, you wanna prepare first, right?”]
[“But how do you go into the final stage with no gear?”]
[“Shouldn’t you at least bring some weapons?”]
[“Wouldn’t it be better to open multiplayer and get items from people?”]
[“If you open multi, it’ll be at that lab. Everyone who joins = instant death.”]
[“Oh, true, that’s possible.”]
Viewers put their heads together, sharing ideas with him.
“So I’m considering pausing until someone cracks the cipher, or at least until we get a solid hint.”
[“Fair enough.”]
[“But then what game will you play?”]
[“Gangho Sword Chronicles? Or something else?”]
[“You got that Chambara recommendation last time, right? How about that?”]
[“Shouldn’t you go back to Zeg?”]
[“What about Heroes League or League of Duty?”]
[“Majors are fun, but indies are nice too, aren’t they?”]
[“Majors are the best though—indies are good but majors have that stability.”]
The chat got noisy again, clearly leaning toward combat-heavy games.
But with the cipher looming, learning something new felt like a waste.
And Gangho Sword Chronicles?
Jihan recalled logging in briefly during his break.
Instantly, people swarmed him like he was some public enemy of the martial world.
And rumors spread that he was secretly grinding off-stream.
He’d only logged in out of boredom during sick leave…
Explaining it felt impossible.
Streaming that game would be messy.
So he picked another option—something already recommended before.
It made sense.
Plenty of justification.
A big streamer server was coming soon, the cipher could drop any time.
A lighthearted game would be best.
One viewers wouldn’t get overly immersed in.
One they could just laugh at.
And there was a perfect fit.
Though Jihan had resisted this choice repeatedly…
In the end, there was nothing better.
“The game I’ll be playing today is…”
He opened the hologram menu and tapped the game.
“Rhythm Poten. A rhythm-dance idol training game. It was one of the recommendations I got earlier. I figured we could take it easy with this one.”
The shocking declaration froze the chat.
Jihan grew uneasy.
‘Did I pick the wrong game? It feels way too quiet….’
Dundundundun dan!
[‘[Saint Squad] JihanFaceRiceThief’ has donated 50,000 KRW.]
—So… does this mean we get to groom Jihan into an idol?
A single donation.
Instantly, the chat exploded in wild excitement.
Jihan’s judgment—that this game wouldn’t cause over-immersion—
was completely wrong.
‘Wh-what the hell….’
The chat’s madness actually felt frightening.
Rhythm Poten.
A dance rhythm game.
You play as an idol-in-training, building stats and skills, aiming to debut and become an “eternal star.”
Though it sounded long-term, in practice it was a lightweight mini-game collection, a fanservice-style game streamers often dabbled in.
The biggest problem?
Most mini-games involved dancing.
Jihan wasn’t uncoordinated.
But he’d never danced in his life.
Never even hummed a tune.
The thought of suddenly becoming an idol was overwhelming.
But what could he do?
Kim Suho recommended it, and viewers clearly wanted it.
‘If I said I’d do it, I’ll do it.’
He launched Rhythm Poten.
[“He’s in!”]
[“Time to customize Jihan!”]
[“But since it’s a modern setting, do we even need to customize?”]
[“He already shines as he is.”]
[“It’s not like he’s doing a special concept like Cheonma.”]
[“Cheonma! How can you become an idol!?”]
[“Lol modern Cheonmas do everything—idols, masseurs, you name it.”]
[“Idols aren’t a joke! Some die if they can’t debut!”]
[“Being an idol isn’t play! You have to stake everything on the concept!”]
The customization screen appeared.
The chat doubled in speed instantly.
[“Make him stand out against NPCs!”]
[“It’s multiplayer too, he can’t lose to other streamers!”]
[“He has to be the best looking, no exceptions!”]
[“Prepare yourselves—we’ll be customizing all day if needed!”]
The chat atmosphere turned fierce, even more intense than when Jihan fought duels in Gangho Sword Chronicles.
For customization enthusiasts, this wasn’t a game.
It was life-and-death war.
Jihan felt like wolves were glaring at him through the screen.
[“Square your shoulders, Jihan!”]
[“Don’t cry, Jihan!”]
[“Didn’t you come here to be an idol!? Huh!?”]
[“Idols aren’t a joke! Hurry up and move to the next screen!”]
The once angelic chat now felt like a merciless training camp.
‘Huh?’
The sensation was oddly familiar.
Not pressure, but… nostalgia.
‘Since I’m doing this, I’ll go all in. That desperate energy—I’ve missed it.’
With resolve, Jihan opened the customization menu.
Dundundundun dan!
[‘[Saint Squad] JihanUnderwearThief’ has donated 50,000 KRW.]
—From now on, customization is an auction. I’ll control it with donations.
Provocative Saint Squad donation.
Then, bam bam bam! Donations poured in nonstop.
Together with his “patrons,” Jihan customized his character.
About an hour later—
[“I don’t even know what to tweak anymore;”]
[“But trimming the details, softening his expression—it looks great, right?”]
[“Whoa, who suggested ash-blonde hair? It suits him perfectly.”]
[“Changing the eyes to a deep green gave him that mystical yet gentle vibe. That was my pick, by the way.”]
Before them stood—
a figure worthy of being called a real idol.
Ash-blonde hair, lightly curled, stylishly messy.
Gentle eyes, glowing emerald green, amplifying Jihan’s puppy-like charm.
A toned physique, peach-toned skin.
[“Whoa, did someone turn on a spotlight?”]
[“Lol another halo incident?”]
[“No, seriously. I see a halo.”]
[“Look closely, he’s glowing! Jihan’s literally shining!”]
[“Ugh, cringe… Wait. Why can’t I see? Did I go blind?”]
Like the so-called “Jihan Halo Incident,”
without any special effect—
he simply shone.
“Guys, doesn’t this look weird? It doesn’t feel like me, it’s super awkward….”
A perfect puppy-like idol boy stood in his place.
