Dora devoured both steaks in record time but ignored the accompanying salad and vegetables, shoving them straight into the fridge.

    Only then did she finally retrieve the peppermint tea I had bought her from the freezer and take a long sip.

    “Ahhh, perfectly chilled. I’m full, refreshed—this is amazing.”

    I pushed my pizza toward her, the colorful fruit chunks on top making it look extra appetizing.

    “You really won’t even try one slice?”

    “I eat food, not abominations. Hehehe.”

    “It’s delicious.”

    As I quietly chewed through my second slice, Dora, clearly waiting for me to finish, wandered over to the giant beanbag in the living room and collapsed onto it.

    “Giaaa, look. I’m about to explode.”

    She lazily drummed her full stomach like a satisfied idiot.

    But at 171cm, she wasn’t exactly a harmless fool.

    With me stuck at 140cm, she was literally more than a head taller.

    She was sprawled out, giggling like a happy fool, but in reality, she was a predator—like her streaming persona, the Red Dragon.

    This was exactly why the CEO had left our very expensive team leader to cover my duties in the monitoring room.

    Once Dora got her claws on me, I wasn’t escaping.

    “Don’t lie down too much. You’ll fall asleep. You should start prepping for your stream soon.”

    Dora shot upright and grinned at me from across the table.

    “When you finish eating.”

    “...Are you planning to be late again?”

    “I won’t be late. There’s still a whole thirty minutes before I go live.”

    “You should prep early so you don’t break your equipment.”

    “Uuuuugh. My equipment doesn’t break because I don’t prep.”

    She huffed, but she kept glancing at me, licking her lips like she had something else to say.

    “If you have a request, just ask. If I can help, I will—after I finish eating.”

    The moment I said that, Dora immediately leaned forward, resting her chest and elbows on the table as she brought her face inches from mine.

    “...Can you play the horror game with me?”

    Just like that, her smug expression melted into something pitiful.

    If I rejected her, she looked ready to start crying on the spot.

    At least she hadn’t tried to pull a Komari and invite me onto her lap.

    Or outright grab me the way she did when she got scared.

    She might be treating me more like a friend now, but there was still a bit of distance left between us.

    Which was surprising.

    Dora was infamous among the first-gen members as the Hug Demon.

    She tackled Komari without hesitation.

    Even Rain and Maru never escaped once she got them in her grip.

    She did restrain herself a little in public, but every time she visited another member’s place, she apparently latched onto someone like a koala.

    If she saw me as a fellow first-gen, she would’ve just picked me up and dragged me to the soundproof booth.

    ...This remaining distance?

    Not bad.

    After all, I was here to work, not to play with a friend.

    “I can stay with you, but I won’t be much help on stream.”

    “...That’s fine.”

    As I silently admired the CEO’s foresight in leaving my duties with the team leader, I nodded.

    “Fine. I’ll go with you after I finish eating.”

    “Yay!”

    Dora’s face, which had been moments away from turning blue, instantly lit up.

    The way she looked like she had just been revived from death was a bonus.

    “...Wait. Are you okay with it, though? Komari didn’t mind because she’s fearless, but this is a horror game...”

    Tonight’s stream was Pandemic Village—a survival horror game.

    Meaning, yeah, monsters would pop out to startle the player...

    But you also got weapons to fight back.

    Which meant it didn’t count as horror to me.

    I had a gun?

    I could kill the monsters?@@@@

    ...Then what was there to be scared of?

    “I’m fine.”

    — Are you five?

    — Bro, what is this childish teasing.

    — Wow, she’s actually withholding info.

    — Doesn’t matter, we ALL know Employee D is cute.

    “Oh? You think you know? That means you don’t know.”

    Dora smirked.

    “You guys don’t even realize how cute your precious Rain is.”

    — OKAY THAT’S JUST A LIE

    — BRO SHUT UP

    — WHAT ARE YOU EVEN SAYING

    :: Anonymous donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

    :: By that logic, why don’t you just say the CEO is cute too? ::

    — Kawaii-style industrial fish filleting master

    — LOOOOOOOL

    — No one’s saying she’s scary or anything but—

    — Yeah, no.

    Dora was undeniably an idiot.

    She constantly butchered spelling, often spoke without thinking, and sometimes felt more like a clueless child than a grown adult.

    And yet, the moment the stream started, she became a pro.

    She could have answered truthfully.

    Instead, she deliberately twisted the conversation and dragged the viewers into a wrestling ring of debate.

    This was Dora’s brand of unpredictable genius—

    She seemed like someone who’d make careless mistakes, but the moment she was live, she became as solid as stone.

    :: Anonymous donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

    :: My theory: Employee D is actually a super kawaii anime girl IRL, and that’s why she’s being hidden. ::

    “Hmmm~ Even if that’s true, you guys will NEVER get to see. Because she’s too precious, and I’m keeping her all to myself~ Hehehe.”

    — UUUUUUUUUU

    — UUUUU Monopoly is ILLEGAL

    That was also just stream banter.

    If I were really that precious, I wouldn’t be here in the first place.

    But since Dora framed me as a cute, mysterious employee, the audience just accepted that as the reality.

    :: Anonymous donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

    :: So, is Employee D like Jemari? Does she make cute reactions while playing horror games too? ::

    — KYAAAAAAAAAA

    — OMGGGGGG

    — I NEED TO KNOW

    — PLS SCREAM ONCE FOR US

    — That’s actually a good question tho lol

    Classic.

    Koreans couldn’t resist baiting people into proving themselves.

    Not a bad attempt.

    But see, Pandemic Village wasn’t even scary.

    Because—

    One Hour Later

    I was experiencing true horror.

    “HUUUUUUAAAAAHHHH, WHAT DO I DOOOO. HUUUUAAAAHH. DIE, DIEEEEEEEEEEE!”

    — WHY IS SHE STILL ON THE FIRST BOSS

    — FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, JUST AIM.

    — AIM. JUST AIM.

    — (facepalm emoji) (facepalm emoji) (facepalm emoji) (facepalm emoji)

    — (red face emoji) (red face emoji) (red face emoji) (red face emoji)

    — MY TEETH ARE GRINDING

    I had never seen someone play a horror game like this before.

    It was truly a rare and valuable sight, only possible because I was sitting right beside Dora.

    I thought she just panicked, flailed, and caused equipment failures.

    But in reality—

    She wasn’t even looking at the screen.

    The way she played—

    She got scared, turned her head away, flailed her arms wildly, and just randomly fired her gun without even checking her aim.

    To the stream, it just looked like shaky panic aim.

    But the truth?

    She wasn’t even looking at the enemy.

    Whenever a monster appeared, she physically averted her gaze, blindly waved her mouse around, and mashed the trigger.

    This was beyond just being bad at games.

    This was a new level of survival instinct.

    Even worse—her right hand was the real threat.

    She kept shifting too much, nearly colliding with the broadcast setup.

    She was dangerously close to knocking over expensive equipment.

    Wait.

    If she moves any further—

    The audio interface is right there—

    No, no, NO, NOT THAT WAY—

    CRASH.