Chapter 1

It was as if the livestream had been silenced.

For two whole seconds, the screen was completely blank. Then, the comments began to flood in.

Someone even sent a row of question marks.

"Wait a second. Are my ears playing tricks on me? Did he say that he's not going to help her?"

"What did you say, Connor? Why aren't you willing to help her?"

"Did the livestream glitch? Can you repeat yourself, Connor?"

"That's impossible. It's been three years since he started helping people, but it's the first time he's ever rejected someone."

I didn't explain myself and simply accepted another person's request to join the call.

It was a man in his 30s. His work uniform was covered in dust. He explained that a company hadn't paid his father in two years. When his father tried to ask them for the salary that they owed him, they broke his legs. On top of that, the police ignored him when he reported the incident to them.

"I'll help him. Send his address and details to me."

The next person was a college student. They mentioned that their roommate had been stalking them for three months. When they reported the roommate to the police, they were told that a case couldn't be opened due to insufficient evidence.

"I'll help you."

The fourth person who joined the call was a woman in her 50s. A health supplement company had scammed her out of hundreds of thousands of dollars of her retirement money.

"I'll help you."

Every answer that I gave was direct and to the point, accepting their requests without any hesitation.

The commenters began to notice that something was amiss.

"So, you'll help someone get their salary, deal with their stalker, and get back the money that was scammed from them, but you won't help someone look for their missing child?"

"What kind of logic is this? Can you explain yourself?"

"I don't understand. Are these other cases truly more important than locating someone's child who has been missing for two decades?"

"Maybe Connor knows something that we don't. He never turns someone's request down without a good reason."

"Stop trying to defend him. It's obvious that he's accepting requests according to his own preferences."

I ignored the comments and continued accepting calls.

My fingers paused for a moment when the fifth person was selected.

It was the woman again.

I didn't know how she had managed to enter the waiting room where the callers were randomly selected again.

Her eyes were even more bloodshot this time. The tip of her nose had turned bright red, and her voice was thick with tears.

"I don't know what I did wrong, Connor. Can you tell me why you won't help me? Did I say something wrong? If money's the issue, I can give the deed of my house to you. I'm willing to do anything.

"He's my only child. He went missing when he was only three years old. He's already 23 years old this year, but I don't even know what he looks like…"

Tears streamed down her face as she spoke, splattering onto the photo that she was holding.

All the commenters began to speak up on her behalf.

"Is your heart made of stone, Connor? Look at how much she's crying."

"She's such a nice woman. Why won't you help her?"

"I feel so sorry for her. Her child was only three years old when she lost him."

"I'm begging you, Connor. Please help her."

I looked at the woman's tear-streaked face on the screen, remaining silent for the next three seconds.

I nearly opened my mouth to speak, but I held myself back in the end. I knew that the moment I said something, I would never be able to take the words back.

"I already said that I won't help you. Next."

I disconnected her from the call.

There were some people in the world who weaponized their tears to get others to do their bidding. I refused to fall for her tricks a second time.

The commenters lost their tempers at my response.

"I'm done. I'm so done with him."

"She's crying so much, but you won't even give her a reason for why you won't help her?"

"What's wrong with you today, Connor? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"I'm so disappointed. I've been your fan for three years, but this is the first time I'm considering unfollowing you."

"I think Connor has his own reasons. Let's just wait and see how this unfolds."

I didn't explain myself and turned off the livestream after listening to two more requests.

There had been 470 thousand people watching my livestream. For the first time in three years, I ended my livestream while being heavily criticized by the audience.