Hobbyist VTuber

With the effect of white griffon feathers, Mile appeared.

After a few more steps.

The viewer count was nearing 50,000.

After Mile’s sweet solo part ended,

effect of blue water droplets splashing appeared, and Cream appeared from the opposite side of Mile.

Then began the soft and soothing voice singing.

Her unstrained, comfortable voice filled the live broadcast’s audio.

The scenes were worthy of being called a performance, and the number of viewers continued to rise.

Then, with the red lightning effect, Yuna appeared.

With the sparkling magic circle effect, Ria appeared, and the chat was buzzing.

"Like a star, Like a wind, Like a cloud, Like a flower♪"

With the subtle firefly particles, the last member, Diah, appeared on the right side of the stage.

Almost simultaneously, the drum and bass sounds began to pick up speed.

"Giving you a dream-like moment, a memory like an illusion♪ Like an illusion─♪"

The viewer count passed 60,000.

Soon, the five members gathered in the center of the massive concert stage, performing the same choreography for the camera.

Their harmony was still intact.

However, when the second verse started, specifically when the song followed a slightly different order from the first verse,

"Follow the shining star♪ Break out of the darkness♪"

The youthful voice never faltered until the end of the performance.

"Promise with your pinky finger♪"

Thus, the second chorus hit its peak, with Mile's high notes starting the second verse chorus.

The other members took turns singing their parts, and the highlight of the live performance was completed.

Within seconds, small sparks like tiny fireworks surrounded the concert hall, shooting up into the sky.

Boom!

Simultaneously, the final pose was taken.

The fireworks, lighting up the dark night sky, brightly illuminated the members of Illusionary Realm.

When Mile, the oldest member of Illusionary Realm, said "Hello─!", the greetings from the members began, and fan names flooded the chat.

Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.

However, due to the nature of the performance studio, it was impossible to read and communicate with the live chat in real-time.

For this 1st-anniversary broadcast, they had prepared a script beforehand.

It was then that Illusionary Realm's general manager, So-ri, appeared in the middle of the broadcast screen on the left.

After the Illusion live performance, the broadcast was planned to continue with interviews with the Illusionary Realm members.

"Now, our members. You’ve successfully finished the performance you’ve worked hard to prepare, please share your thoughts~!"

The thoughts about the 1st-anniversary of Illusionary Realm began with Mile, followed by Yuna, Cream, and Ria in order of age.

The youngest member, Diah, who was both the youngest in actual age and RP (1st generation), would share her thoughts last.

"Uhm, because of my greed, I troubled the unnie's a little, but thankfully─"

However, when she began speaking about the Illusion performance, her voice became a bit more subdued.

"It wasn’t just a little trouble─!"

"Rebellion. No, it was like a revolution the way you rolled us like a boulder─!!"

Yuna and Ria, who had suffered from Diah during the performance preparation, threw teasing words at her.

In truth, these comments weren't part of the script.

But since they knew what had happened to Ha-eun during the 3D avatar testing process,

"Uh, um... I’m sorry, unnie's!"

"If you’re just apologizing, why do we even have police─!"

"Words are nothing, actions, maknae─!!"

They continued to mock Diah’s awkward apology and demanded that she bow deeply.

Diah, flustered, raised her voice in confusion.

However...

[ You can bow as long as it’s not unreasonable ]

With the OK sign from Ji Hye-min on the monitor at the edge of the studio,

Diah finally had to flip her body 180 degrees for the fun of the broadcast.

"Wow!"

"Is that something a person can do?"

"Yeah, if you’re going to apologize, that’s the least you can do!"

Of course, Diah's 3D avatar was also flipped 180 degrees.

Because of that, the viewers could clearly see what state Diah was in.

Even after Diah returned to her original position, the chat continued to express amazement at her bow.

The next segment after the 1st-anniversary comments was the Illusionary Realm Q&A.

The first question from So-ri was about the first impressions of each member.

However, given the nature of the question,

"Of course, the youngest was the most shocking."

"The maknae's aura was so intense that I don’t even remember the first impressions of the others!"

All members, excluding Diah, spoke about their first impressions of Diah.

The problem was that the next question was pretty much the same as the first one.

"Who do you think has the biggest difference between their first impression and current impression? Point them out with your fingers on 3~!"

Once again, Diah received all the votes.

To be precise, the fingers pointed at her had a slightly different meaning compared to the first question.

"She was cute only on the first day."

"From the first collab, she started changing...."

"Now she’s just a little devil, a little devil!"

"You’re too much..."

As a result, the comments were again all teasing Diah.

However, Diah was the only one feeling wronged.

There was not a single kind-hearted Noeulis defending Diah.

Thus, Diah was made the punching bag for the members and viewers alike, beaten with words and memories.

"Well, that’s all for Illusionary Realm! Thank you─!"

Finally, once all the segments had ended, they could finally be free.

After waving their hands to the camera like the other members, Diah immediately collapsed from exhaustion.

"...Huff..."

Physically, she wasn’t having any problems,

but mentally, she had long hit her limit.

After all, it was her 1st anniversary as a member of Illusionary Realm,

and having performed alongside the people she admired in the same place, with the same song, it really wore her out mentally.

Of course, it was a good kind of exhaustion, so she wasn’t in a bad mood.

The sense of accomplishment from completing the 1st anniversary that they had worked so hard for was also a great feeling.

However, in that moment where she collapsed on the studio floor,

"This is revenge!!"

Ha-eun hurriedly covered her bottom and looked at Yena with a mix of surprise and pain, only to meet a cheeky tongue-out face.

Immediately after, Yena rushed off to the changing room, leaving Ha-eun speechless.

It wasn’t a child’s play, so why was Yena doing this?

"Honestly, Ha-eun, your butt really did look like it deserved a slap."

"That’s one thing, but if you lie down like that in front of the unnie's, aren’t you asking for it?"

"...What do you mean..."

The other members, excluding Yena, also teased Ha-eun, blaming her for the whole situation.

The remark about her outfit being tight also earned a comment about how well it fit her.

"...Well then, should I try slapping you too?"

"If you slap, it’ll bleed."

"Call 119."

"You’ll die from excessive bleeding. Or get a fracture."

"You’re too much..."

"The worst part is the abs that are showing through that tight outfit."

The members’ gazes naturally moved to Ha-eun’s body—especially the muscle parts.

Ha-eun, with her ears slightly red, headed to the changing room to take off the tight outfit.

Of course, she couldn’t really throw it away, since the motion capture equipment was expensive and difficult to replace.

‘They did say it was hard to get overseas.’

At least, the clothes weren’t the problem.

If there was anything wrong, it was with the person wearing them.

‘...I wonder if I can lose this muscle.’

As Ha-eun glanced at her reflection in the changing room mirror,

within a few seconds, the other members’ playful voices entered the room, and she hastily put her clothes back on.

"Diah’s mid was amazing~."

"Of course, a celebrity. Even when she’s undressed, she has charisma."

"...! ...!!"

***

A few days after the successful conclusion of Illusionary Realm's 1st-anniversary live performance,

Nael and the rest of Illusionary Realm's 2nd generation members finally made their debut in the world of internet broadcasting.

"Hello~!"

Debuting all of the 2nd generation members in one day would have been impossible.

However, the debut broadcast that Diah would watch—meaning Ha-eun's broadcast—was already decided.

'...Hida’s is at 6 PM on Tuesday. And Nael’s is at 7 PM on Thursday....'

The reason Ha-eun kept her phone in the van with Ju Jung-yoon was because of this.

She couldn’t watch it all due to her filming schedule for Veterans, but she still had to watch at least some part of it.

Especially for Hida.

Unknowingly, Ha-eun started worrying about whether Hida would do well on the debut broadcast.

After all, it was Da-yeon’s first time doing internet broadcasting.

Although she had prepared, there was no way Ha-eun could completely dismiss her worries.

‘She doesn't even appear on variety shows.’

In situations like drama or movies, where there is a script to follow, it's one thing,

but doing something without a script, something that anyone could mess up—could Da-yeon really handle it well?

That was just yesterday.

"Ah, do you like something? Hmm... I wonder if I can even say this~."

She didn’t even stutter once. It seemed like she wasn’t nervous at all.

‘...Should I like this or not...’

Honestly, Ha-eun felt a bit disillusioned.

It was a relief that Hida's debut broadcast went off without any significant problems, but...

It felt like she had been slightly betrayed.

‘I’m hiding things too, though.’

Seeing an old friend in such an unfamiliar way gave Ha-eun a mixed feeling.

It wasn’t that she was jumping for joy, nor was she furrowing her brows in disappointment—it was that strange, ambiguous feeling.

But at some point, that proficient voice would have her doing whatever was asked of her.

Because of that, Ha-eun couldn’t enjoy Hida’s broadcast fully.

Hida-mode Da-yeon was a little intimidating.

The problem was, Ha-eun had more to worry about than just Hida.

[Just to be safe, let’s meet at the cafe first, then head to your house.]

The other person who held Diah’s free pass.

And the bold junior who called Diah for a cooking broadcast barely two weeks after her debut.

Because of Nael’s request for a cooking broadcast with Diah, Ji Hye-min had to set aside some time to observe the meeting between Ha-eun and Nael.

She needed to make sure Nael didn’t slip up and reveal anything about Diah’s true identity.

And so, on the day of the broadcast with Diah and Nael,

"I’m here."

"Ah, Ha-eun. Sit down first. Nael is on her way here."

Ji Hye-min and Ha-eun gathered at a cafe near Nael's house.

The conversation began with a discussion about Nael’s reaction to Diah’s red pill.

"Even Dong-jin told her, but she didn’t believe it."

"...Honestly, it would be strange to believe it right away."

"That’s true."

Nael hadn’t believed that Diah was the famous actress Ha-eun.

So, Ji Hye-min suggested it would be better to calmly explain and convince Nael about Ha-eun’s identity first.

"Nael lives with her parents, so I need to tell her mother separately."

"Mm...."

Honestly, Ha-eun was nervous.

Just like Nael had seen Diah’s red pill for the first time, Ha-eun was seeing Nael’s red pill for the first time today.

What if Nael looked really intimidating?

Or maybe she was very sharp-tongued?

‘Her voice was the same as I remembered, though.’

Ha-eun was caught up in all kinds of fantasies about Nael’s red pill.

However, about ten minutes later, the person she encountered was—

"Uh... Representative Ji?"

"Ah, Ji Hye-min. I’ve been waiting for you."

Nael didn’t look intimidating at all. In fact, she had a harmless impression.

She was even a little shorter than Ha-eun.

‘...She’s really cute.’

Thanks to that, Ha-eun could completely discard all her preconceived notions about Nael.

Right after, Ha-eun took off her baseball cap, sunglasses, and mask to greet her.

"Hello."

"Ah, this is Diah sunbaenim! Hello... eh?"

But just as she was greeting, Nael’s face flickered.

Then, again, flickered.

"Eh, u, ugh?"

"Uh... are you okay—"

"Hi, hiiiiik!!!"

Nael, who seemed as if she had seen a ghost, quickly hid behind Ji Hye-min.

With her trembling fingers, Nael pointed toward Ha-eun.

"Kim Jeong-hyun. No, this... this is Ha-eun? Really?!"

"...Didn’t Kang Jeong mention it beforehand?"

"No, that... I thought it was a joke... Aaahhh..."

In a way, Nael was so overjoyed that she didn’t know what to do,

while on the other hand, she was making quite a commotion.

And so, eventually...

"...I was looking forward to the pancakes Nael is going to make."

Ha-eun had to bring Nael’s mental state back to normal with a comment about the day’s broadcast.

It was a little cheesy, but there wasn’t really any other way.

"Cotton candy... I want to eat some."

"Ah, yes, yes!! I’ll... I’ll make it for you!!"

"Ji Hye-min, please calm down a little~."