Broadcast accidents refer to unexpected situations that disrupt the flow of a broadcast.
You know, like when you accidentally click on an ad and a porn site pops up, or when you clumsily hit the end broadcast button without any warning.
While there are various types of broadcast accidents on Twish, what just occurred was definitely on a different level.
The whole incident started when Na-me suddenly shouted and pushed Yoon-seul out of the room.
The viewers, thinking Na-me was just playing around, didn’t take it seriously until she enveloped herself in aura.
It’s not common for someone to emit aura without knowing the color of their own aura throughout their life.
Then, a burst of light emanated from the music box, flooding the screen, followed by a BANG that slammed into the viewers’ eardrums.
It seemed that the camera set up on the desk was also swept away, as the screen crackled and shook.
Soon after, darkness shrouded the view, and communication was abruptly cut off.
[The broadcast has ended.]
With an explosion sound that seemed to exceed the volume limit and Na-me’s desperate scream, no one was denying that what just happened was real.
The comment section was in a panic.
Before long, Twish Korea’s operators joined in, reporting to the police and trying to disperse the remaining viewers from Na-me’s broadcast to quell the anxiety, but by then, people weren’t in their right minds.
In fact, bursting the chat room became a blunder.
Thirty thousand viewers from around the world scattered.
Especially in Korea, twenty thousand viewers hurriedly shared unbelievable news with the community and streamers currently broadcasting.
[‘Han Yong-cheol’s Broadcasting Station]
[‘loop1004’ donated 5,000 won!]
– Na-me was hit by a bombing during her live stream. If anyone knows the address, can you please report it quickly!
“Na-me was bombed? Quickly, report it… Wait, bombed? What does that mean?”
– Don’t draw attention and leave.
– Ban them.
– It’s actually real, you fools!
– This isn’t even chaos yet!
– ???
– What’s going on?
– Terror?
– It’s urgent, hurry…!
– Bomb? Like, an actual bomb?
[‘Lakititi’ donated 5,000 won!]
– It’s real. The Twish operators and managers have already reported it, so let’s calm down and keep an eye on the situation…
“It’s real? Wait a minute.”
Han Yong-cheol stopped his game and tried to contact Na-me with a serious expression.
[Your call is turned off-]
Before he could even hear the ringtone, he scrolled through the community and sensed the situation was going terribly wrong.
[What in the world is happening in Korea…]
[Bombing? Damn;;]
[Please, Na-me must be okay.]
[My heart is racing, I can’t focus on anything, what should I do?]
[That was Na-me enveloped in aura at the end, right? Na-me is okay, right? Please say yes.]
[The world is in chaosㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Just as Han Yong-cheol was about to call the police, news articles started flooding the main page of the portal site.
[Breaking News) Bombing occurs in Twish personal broadcast… Police Special Forces deployed.]
Terrorism was no longer someone else’s problem in Korea.
When a national-level disaster occurred, people were naturally sensitive to even the slightest issues.
Countless inquiries came flooding into the Gangnam Police Station.
The police informed that the special forces had already been deployed for the incident, urging caution when opening unknown deliveries.
[It seems like NoNa-me lives near my place. I can hear ambulance and police car sounds heavily on the main street.]
– I can’t believe there’s a bombing in Korea.
– Na-me, please just stay aliveㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– Looks like they were determined to kill someone…
[If it’s a magical bomb, honestly, I can’t guarantee survival… be mentally prepared.]
– Why would you say that, you little…
– If it’s just chemical substances or weak explosives, it’s one thing, but magical bombs can pierce through anything, including aura hearts.
– They say Na-me deployed an aura barrier!
– Do you really think that would hold up at eight-year-old levels? It burned the whole room down!
– Damn itㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Soon after, emergency vehicles including fire trucks broke through the main gate of the Parthenon Apartment.
Already, some residents, dressed in slippers and pajamas, had gathered in clusters to evacuate.
Smoke was billowing out from the 40th floor, nearly the top level of building 102.
Given the absence of light escaping, it was presumed that the fire hadn’t spread yet.
However, it was still daytime, so no one could let their guard down.
Twelve members of the police special forces in black protective gear arrived, half rushing to the main entrance while the other half rappelled up the wall toward the source of the smoke.
It was clear that since it was a bombing involving magic, precautions against secondary and tertiary explosions were necessary.
“On three, we enter simultaneously. Three, two, one!”
The operation briefing was wrapped up as they moved.
Hastily, the special forces entered the room, wrapping a barrier with a 1 million kE output to quickly rescue potential victims.
Even though there was no fire, the continuous flow of black smoke was simple to understand.
When magic from the fire magic system is imperfectly cast, the condensed mana in the magic circle tries to return to a stable state.
“Cut off the mana!”
The special forces attached professional devices to the walls, trying to lower the mana concentration surrounding them to prepare for any unexpected second mana surge.
As the mediating material vanished, the smoke filling the abnormal room gradually began to thin out.
Sounding from the living room were the cries of a woman, indicating the presence of life.
They received a radio from the members who had entered through the stairs indicating they safely rescued a person still in the living room.
“Team… Team leader, look over there!”
“Hmm?”
The tactical team leader, who maintained calm even if a ghost appeared with a knife to his neck, accidentally dropped the walkie-talkie from his hand.
Such was the inhuman scene unfolding before his eyes.
“A barrier?”
Four magic circles floated in the air, maintaining a cubical form.
Inside, fragments of a shattered magic circle floated.
These were clearly the remnants of the magic circle that had triggered the magical bomb.
Then it happened.
CLANG!
A core embedded within the fragment of the magic circle fell away accompanied by runes.
‘It’s going to blow!’
The special forces instinctively raised their aura barrier to the maximum.
For a moment, bright light burst forth, but the mana surge collided with the cubical barrier, draining away the light.
Soon after, another barrier magic circle activated.
The pure mana that had lost power condensed down into a central point, transforming into a black sphere.
This black sphere, now with mass, rolled down to the floor once more.
Like a smoke grenade exploding, black smoke poured out of the sphere.
This was the source of the black smoke seen from outside.
“Could someone throw that out the window?”
“…!”
As the smoke cleared, the figure of a girl emerged from just behind the magical barrier.
She was trembling, but gripped her Light Transmutation Circle Inscriber tightly.
The previously misfired magic wasn’t happening for no reason.
Someone had been sustaining an incomplete cast of the detonator magic circle right before self-destruction.
The tactical team leader, quickly grasping the situation, sent a radio message to the magic circle disposal squad that had reached the living room.
“Disposal team! Hurry and come in to collect the magic circles!”
With a loud crash, the room’s door burst open, and people wearing thick helmets stumbled in.
They firmly plunged their specialized wands into both sides of the barrier, and the explosive magic circle fragments inside gradually dimmed and disappeared.
The girl, covered in soot on her face, finally seemed relieved, kneeling on the ground.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Just wait a moment; I’ll take you to the hospital right away.”
“Yes…”
The tactical team leader handed the child over to another special forces member and continued directing the scene.
Magical terrorists are dangerous individuals whose on-site execution is permissible.
Finding the criminal was paramount above all.
“Where’s the core?”
“Everything has been recovered.”
“Turn it over to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation and go to the Magic Construction Bureau to check the magical usage records. If we identify the culprit, contact the detectives and have them issue a warrant.”
“Yes, understood.”
Checking magical usage records requires judicial permission, but in the case of anti-terror activities, procedures could be simplified immediately.
This was also due to the changed legal provisions stemming from Valpurgis.
If the culprit was still in Korea, it was evident they would be caught within 12 hours at the latest.
Cleaning up the mana-contaminated scene, the team leader let out a breath as he looked over the sooty wallpaper.
A bombing in Korea.
While there had been no casualties, and the cores of the explosive magic circles were perfectly recovered, he couldn’t shake the uneasy thoughts.
“Who’s the owner of this place?”
“It’s the woman who was in the living room just now.”
“Does she live alone with a child?”
“No, she lives alone.”
“Then who was that girl?”
“Are you talking about Na-me?”
“Na-me?”
“Yes, NoName… She lives right below us, broadcasting together.”
The team leader recalled the child who had been carried by the squad member and already taken down the elevator.
He tossed aside his goggles that obstructed his sight and rubbed his eyes.
NoName, huh?
Isn’t she the genius kid who recently got famous after going viral?
And, coincidentally, she’s also a survivor of the Valpurgis terror.
“How did that happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“That thing from earlier. The spinning.”
“I’m not sure? Isn’t that what you set up, Team Leader?”
“Ugh…”
Even though the magic circle exploded, it wasn’t just absorbing all the mana winds but condensed them into particle form.
This was a type of magic he had never heard of in his fifteen years of special forces experience.
Moreover, recalling it clearly, there were definitely four magic circles operated at once.
He furrowed his brows.
In focusing entirely on solving the urgent incident, he had let something significant slip by.
He asked the team member once more.
“How long after we were dispatched?”
“Exactly 7 minutes and 47 seconds after the incident was reported.”
“7 minutes, 8 minutes… 9 minutes… yeah, 9 minutes. That’s it.”
Nine minutes at best.
Did that little girl hold on for nine minutes with a bomb spell that looked like it had a kill radius of at least 10 meters?
He gently closed his eyes, falling into thought.
But as he faced this difficult question, he shook his head and left the room.
“The world is indeed chaotic.”
Impossible things had been occurring far too frequently as of late.
*
I was transported to the hospital in the ambulance, comfortably accompanied by Yoon-seul.
Just before we departed, I could overhear Professor Cheon furiously ordering the special forces to catch the perpetrator and drag them to him.
Confident replies assuring they would have him by today led to him saying four hours would suffice; in reality, it took less than two hours for the detectives to barge into the culprit’s home and slap the handcuffs on.
[Breaking News) Terrorist who sent a magic bomb parcel to streamer caught in Paju, Gyeonggi-do.]
[Breaking News) The identity of the assassin targeting ‘NoName’ is a 27-year-old university student, Mr. J… What were the motives?]
The police’s press release followed suit.
The culprit was identified as a chemistry major who allegedly learned to create TATP explosives using magic circles for acetone and hydrogen peroxide.
A central ignition magic circle, crucial to the plan, was engraved in the music box, enabling the remaining magic circles to activate just as I spun the gear.
Subsequent reports stated Yoon-seul and I were unharmed.
News cycling back to report the same information came around again.
I turned off the television and let out a low hum.
Something felt off.
Acetone and hydrogen peroxide were already readily available materials.
Of course, they are substances that could be easily created through magic as well.
But the pressing issue was that the culprit must have been aware that magical abilities are all monitored.
Did he want to make sure I was dead by using magic even if he got caught by the police?
And above all, the root of all this trouble was that ignition magic circle engraved in the music box.
The other magic circles would likely have been easily dismantled.
The ignition was typically employed with a 2nd circle spell, but here it had been woven into a complex 4th circle, doubling the dimensions.
It was as if he anticipated that I would know the flawless dismissal from the very beginning.
Had I known from the outset, perhaps it could have been different.
However, in that brief moment, there was simply not enough time to draft a 6th circle dismissal formula, and the only method to maintain the shattered magic circle was to revert to the lithographic formation I learned long ago.
Gradually triggering explosions would weaken the power of the magic circle, allowing the unburnt mana to condense into smoke and gradually reveal itself outside.
It was a difficult and complex task, but not entirely impossible.
Had the situation continued, my mana would have been depleted before long, but luckily, the Korea Police were much quicker.
It can be seen as a blessing that I didn’t have to resort to using my unique magic.
Taking out my phone, I remembered that I had been swept away in the first explosion and missed contacting my worried acquaintances.
In the end, it seemed better to watch anything rather than lie still on the bed, so I switched on the television again.
Just then, a segment regarding the investigation into the animosity surfaced.
It was reported that Twish viewers frequently frequented streamer galleries and various hate community sites, posting defamatory posts about me.
These days such information gets revealed right away.
It seems like internet culture doesn’t respect privacy rights, but then again, it’s no surprise since it concerns a terrorist.
The individual had been banned after repeatedly ranting about me on various broadcasts.
I felt frustrated, wondering why I had to endure such a thing over something so trivial.
Even now, the world is teeming with madmen.
Back in the day, those with such subversive thoughts would have already faced the wrath of street thugs, never to be heard from again.
[Here’s the summary. The police have clarified they are also investigating additional accomplices involved with Mr. J, who is suspected of having collaborated in the magic bomb plot. It appears Mr. J communicated with an accomplice through an encrypted messaging app called ‘Wicked,’ who identified themselves as a member of the Valpurgis Iraq branch and is believed to have provided Mr. J with the bomb construction blueprints.]
My thoughts shifted. I hope his head would still be intact by the time I go to see him.
