Chapter 62

– Yesterday, there was a movie shoot in front of my house.

This was a post that appeared on a certain online community.

Initially, most people disregarded it as nonsense, but several photos and videos taken through the window caught people’s attention.

– Oh, it’s Dae-heon again. Is he playing some kind of criminal this time?

– From the video, it looks like he’s chasing someone?

The video wasn’t long, likely only about 10 seconds.

It showed a man presumed to be actor Kim Dae-heon, and someone smaller in stature.

What drew people’s interest was the smaller figure.

– Man, the video quality is terrible.

– You really need to upgrade your phone.

– Who’s the person in the raincoat?

– Their feet are insanely fast! Haha!

Apparently, it was a scene where Kim Dae-heon is chasing someone in a raincoat. What stuck out was the unusual speed of the person being chased.

– Looks like it skipped frames.

– They suddenly disappeared. Are they a ninja?

– We can’t even see their face, so how is Kim Dae-heon’s face visible?

– ㄹㅇㅋㅋ (Really funny)

People even started making comments about fast-forwarding or glitches in the video. The ridiculous NG scene gathered more and more comments.

– Anyway, is it okay to post these kinds of things arbitrarily?

With this final comment, the post was deleted.

But.

The truth came next.

***

“Ms. Seoyeon.”

At the sudden call from director Bae Jin-hwan, Seoyeon blinked a few times.

‘Did I do something wrong again?’

Lately, she’d been called out by the director quite often. Of course, it wasn’t just Seoyeon; other actors were similarly critiqued.

On the other hand, unless it was physical performance-related, Seoyeon hadn’t been reprimanded much. After all, the number of shooting sessions she had participated in was still limited.

“Are you into online communities?”

“Huh?”

Seoyeon hesitated for a moment. How should she respond?

‘Well, I do…’

It would be more accurate to say, ‘Of course, I am.’ She often looked up information on VTuber communities, wrote posts, and even actively participated in discussions. Beyond that, Seoyeon dabbled in all sorts of online communities.

It made sense—after all, as a VTuber, one needed to stay familiar with memes and trends to keep up with the times.

This was an old but relevant theory of hers about VTubing. It was about this time when the flow and trends of such communities would change rapidly.

Even if you weren’t deeply immersed, keeping an eye on things helped keep up with the flow. Taking even a year off could make you feel like an outsider and disconnected.

“I don’t use them much.”

“Right. Ms. Seoyeon doesn’t really seem like the type to be into the internet.”

Seoyeon awkwardly smiled at this. But an actor’s image does matter, doesn’t it?

“Yesterday, someone posted about our filming site on a specific movie community site.”

“Really?”

Is that even allowed?

Well, technically, it is possible, but…

“Someone posted it and quickly took it down, but… it’s somewhat complicated.”

“Is there a problem?”

“Take a look.”

Seoyeon glanced at the iPad Director Bae Jin-hwan handed her. It was a familiar online community site—one that she occasionally used herself.

“Recently, this kind of video has been circulating as ‘shorts.’”

It was a chase scene featuring both Seoyeon and actor Kim Dae-heon. It was the very first take of the chase.

The portion where Seoyeon disappeared instantly had made its way around.

“This turned into a funny meme and is being shared as a clip. It’s not the only place you can find it.”

“So, is that true?”

“Well, it’s an NG scene, so it’s fine, but…”

He paused for a moment to think, then glanced at Seoyeon. She blinked her large eyes.

It was clear that she had innate star quality.

Considering how this single scene could spark conversation…

“There’s been some talk online, asking who the person in the yellow raincoat is.”

“Raincoat guy?”

I’m a woman.

Seoyeon involuntarily flinched. Why did everyone assume it was a man?

“So, what should we do?”

It felt odd that Director Bae Jin-hwan would consult Seoyeon about something like this. Curiosity piqued, she inquired further.

“There’s nothing we need to do.”

He smiled faintly.

“Because this has already become a topic of discussion, it actually works well for promotion.”

The issue was gradually gaining traction, but feeding the buzz would surely accelerate its popularity.

In online communities, topics spread like wildfires; once they gain momentum, they spread rapidly and uncontrollably.

The production team for [The Chaser] intended to make the most of this situation.

“Although we mentioned that Seoyeon was acting in this movie, we never revealed which role. Right?”

“Yes. But, there was already a bit of mention in an article…”

“Please try to keep that as a secret for now. Since Seoyeon has a specific image, no one will guess her as the killer. By the way, if the article hasn’t been finalized, we can always retract it.”

In thrillers, the question of “Who’s the culprit?” is crucial. Moreover, Seoyeon had the image of Princess Yeonhwa—a paradigm of innocence and vulnerability.

When it eventually comes out that she plays the killer, it will have much greater impact. The production team agreed on this approach, and Director Bae Jin-hwan supported it.

“So… Should I promote my role?”

“Yes, you should. But we’ll try to keep the details about your character hidden.”

Promoting but hiding her role would naturally attract more intrigue.

“As a convenience store part-timer.”

“Huh?”

“And, the script might need some tweaks. The screenwriter mentioned a better direction has come up.”

While they mentioned that the changes weren’t entirely due to the online community discussion, it was to make the revelation of the culprit more impactful. They were merely adding some visual tweaks without altering the story’s fundamental content.

‘Convenience store part-timer, huh?’

Will people buy that?

‘Come to think of it, my entire acting career revolves around playing Princess Yeonwha.’

Perhaps it’s a plausible role. Maybe they’re framing it this way as part of the promotion strategy—to create a character who could develop some sort of romantic tension with the detective hero.

“So, please don’t tell anyone.”

“Not anyone?”

“People who already know can’t be helped, but please tell them to keep it strictly confidential.”

Seoyeon nodded. So far, only her family and Jiyeon knew about her playing the villain in this movie. She should contact them soon to request discretion.

“Well then, let’s focus on today’s filming.”

“Yes, thank you.”

As Seoyeon bowed deeply, Director Bae Jin-hwan smiled contentedly. She was the epitome of professionalism—an actress who had been popular from a young age yet retained humility and respect.

‘…Of course, whether she’ll keep this attitude remains to be seen.’

He thought it. This movie would undoubtedly change Seoyeon’s life.

***

[Your call cannot be answered right now, and you’re being routed to voicemail.]

…

I tried calling several times, but it only led to endless rings. Frustrated, I threw my phone aside and leaned back into my chair.

“Why isn’t she answering?”

I needed to talk about this situation.

Mostly, it was about her acting.

The chase scene, and other physical movements presented no issues.

The issue was the character “Cha Sooah” herself.

‘A character who shares the same illness as me.’

To me, Cha Sooah represented someone who’d been emotionally neglected and abused by her parents. It wasn’t hard to understand her distorted and broken psyche.

Humans tend to be drawn to people similar to themselves, but they feel discomfort towards those who differ. People like my past self or Cha Sooah stood on the edge of that discomfort zone—human in appearance but lacking the emotional essence of humanity.

This shared characteristic with sociopaths and psychopaths but was slightly different. They lacked emotional capability, whereas Cha Sooah and I possessed them fully but just didn’t know how to properly use or process them.

Thus, my understanding of Cha Sooah as a character was almost perfect.

Except for one thing.

‘Her motive behind the crimes.’

While I empathized with Cha Sooah’s distorted emotions, this part lingered in my mind. Cha Sooah, upon seeing the happiness of others who were different from her, commits crimes impulsively. That was her first murder.

‘Jealousy.’

Yes, jealousy. She couldn’t stand the sight of those ordinary people displaying their happiness and, driven by envy, she acted out.

The problem was I had never personally experienced jealousy.

At least, not yet.

So, this aspect was difficult to fully empathize with.

Cha Sooah is described as feeling a pain akin to the stabbing of her heart with a knife.

‘Jealousy, jealousy.’

Ugh, I tilted my head. I could act it out—jealousy was a common enough emotion for people to imitate easily—I understood why people became jealous. But direct experience was lacking.

Even asking my mom or dad wouldn’t help.

“Seoyeon’s too kind. You’re always willing to share and don’t have much greed. That’s why.”

Mom hugged me tightly and said that.

“Hmm, maybe it’s because you don’t overthink life?”

Dad added his thoughts. I wanted to punch him so badly.

“Mom’s right.”

It seems I’m too considerate. Could it be the influence of my past life? My heart’s too open for this.

Awkward. What will I do if I can’t fully grasp this emotion called jealousy?

Around that thought…

Uuung~!

“Huh?”

My phone vibrated. Curious, I checked.

[Ramiel uploaded 2 new videos]

I blinked. What is happening?

‘Is this really her?’

Could it be someone else with a similar name? I hesitated to open the video.

What if it isn’t the Ramiel I know? What if it’s a regular YouTuber and not a VTuber like her? Various thoughts swirled in my head.

“Still, I should check.”

With my eyes closed, I tapped the new video. Slowly, I opened one eye and saw…

“Hello, I’m a new VTuber, Ramiel!”

A cheerful voice. Bright blonde hair, with wings on her back. She looked like an angel but was, in fact, a harpy.

Even the voice sounded exactly like the Ramiel I knew.

“Her modeling… wow.”

How much money did she invest? I recalled Ramiel’s older corporate-style modeling, which was already impressive. But what I saw now was on an entirely different level. It was very rare for an individual VTuber to debut with equipment of this caliber.

“Wow, the facial capture is amazing.”

How expensive must her equipment be? As I pondered this, I wondered if all this was prepared entirely by Jiyeon. It wasn’t just about finances—this was complex technical knowledge that was required to achieve this level of quality.

With these questions swirling in my mind, I watched Ramiel’s first video. It seemed like today’s post was more for promotional purposes.

From what I gathered, she seemed to be announcing when her debut live stream would be.

‘What an interesting approach.’

I thought as I pressed the second video.

“Let me introduce my friend!”

Ramiel’s voice was bright. Who was this friend?

As I wondered, a new character appeared beside Ramiel.

“This is the precious friend who brought me here from the nest where I just sleep.”

Ramiel then hugged a character with blue hair—an enchantress VTuber.

It struck me. This enchantress VTuber must be the person who helped Ramiel with her debut process.

“…Who are you?”

At first glance, the blue-haired enchantress and Ramiel seemed incredibly close. In fact, they debuted with a collaborative video. This felt odd.

“Stop fooling around!”

As the enchantress joked, Ramiel’s response made me explode internally.

“Who THE HECK are YOU??!”

This was one of the few times in my life where I felt such intense emotion.

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