Chapter 106

I looked down at the stadium.

The surroundings were covered in particles. The world after the winner was decided was this chaotic.

Even though everything was over, the stands were still packed. Even the fans of the losing team stayed to watch the winner.

The winner of this tournament deserved it.

ECK Summer Champions. Janus Dragon.

Final MVP.

Rumen.

The interviewer handed the mic to Bbangbbang, who was standing there dazed. He said something along the lines of thanking the fans who had supported him so far.

This series was quite dramatic. Lose-lose-win-win-win. It was a reverse sweep, as they say.

I recalled Bbangbbang from earlier.

In a situation where he had accumulated two losses. Standing at the edge of a cliff with nowhere to retreat, he stared blankly at me, took a deep breath, and put on his VR device.

I whispered to Pape.

“Threatening to call him ‘Nongnong’ if he didn’t win worked. Thanks to that, he remembered the threat when he looked at me during the crisis and single-handedly destroyed the game.”

“Good job.”

Pape let out a hollow laugh, seemingly dumbfounded. Mos also chuckled.

We ended up sticking together. Even though we had decided to go separately to avoid drawing attention.

The reason was…

It had something to do with me taking off my sunglasses and hat.

“Why did you just reveal it? You should’ve denied it.”

“But those who guess correctly deserve a reward. It’s the law of the game.”

“Good job.”

Even after winning, Bbangbbang didn’t cry. I thought he’d shed tears of relief, but it was unexpected.

[I won’t be satisfied with this victory and will show good results in the upcoming World Championship. Thank you.]

With Bbangbbang’s farewell, the tournament came to an end.

“You said you’d win.”

“Be careful. According to clichés, when a player who had never won suddenly wins, they tend to lose motivation and their skills decline.”

“It’s just the beginning, so that can’t happen.”

Bbangbbang briefly stopped by to say goodbye to us and then disappeared to attend the dinner gathering.

“Shall we head back too?”

At Mos’s words, we all went our separate ways.

Mos and Pape, who had brought their cars, returned to their own vehicles. Bunny Run and Chaenarin, who didn’t bring their cars because it was too much trouble, and Choco Full Bread, who didn’t have a car, rode with me.

“Alright, sis. Let’s go.”

As Yuseong stepped on the accelerator, the car started moving.

I admired the city’s night view and slowly brought up a topic.

“The weather’s nice, so where should we go? How about Jeju Island?”

“Suddenly, at this hour?”

“Ah, you’re worried about dinner. Then let’s go abroad. How about Hawaii? I’ll cover the expenses.”

“I’m tired, sis.”

“…I have school.”

“I have school too!”

Rejected.

How could this be?

As I slumped, Bunny Run asked curiously.

“Sis, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“The weather’s nice.”

“The weather isn’t particularly nice, and it’s the middle of the night. Plus, it’s a weekday starting tomorrow. This is too random. Did something happen?”

Something did happen.

I calmly explained the situation.

“When I get home, I have to start streaming, right?”

“Of course, since you just said ‘Hello’ and ran away earlier.”

“That’s the problem.”

Why is it a problem that I have to start streaming when I get home?

It’s because…

“If I don’t reveal it after becoming a Super Developer, Plan B is to announce it at a large concert venue with a countdown, but I haven’t rented one yet. Should I go rent one now?”

“Just go home and start streaming quietly.”

“Then how about Plan H, where I set off fireworks at home while starting the stream?”

“No.”

“Then Plan O—”

“No.”

Got it.

*

The red pill. Its origin starts from The Matrix.

The two choices Morpheus presents to Neo. The blue pill and the red pill.

Among them, the ‘red pill,’ which symbolizes the truth, is used differently in the VTuber industry.

It refers to the real appearance of a VTuber, their true face.

The debate over Han Yoorim’s real appearance has been a long-standing topic.

Uncovering secrets is human nature. Because humans are designed to deduce.

I can confidently say that the popularity of VTubers today is partly due to this red pill exploration.

Digging into the red pill was an incredibly fun topic.

<ㅅㅂ Is this really her real appearance?>

Nah.

-If you can still like her after seeing that, you’re a true fan.

-Those who would leave after seeing this would’ve left eventually anyway.

Of course, like the red pill in The Matrix, the truth is always bitter and painful.

VTuber viewers weren’t unaware of this. With so much big data accumulated, it would be strange if they didn’t know.

Yet, they kept digging into the red pill.

Hoping to one day find the ‘blue pill.’

Han Yoorim was no exception to this trend.

<Han Yoorim, so has the red pill been revealed?>

Yeah?

-(Mysterious link)

┗Thanks

┗┗You f***ing bastard

<Han Yoorim, is she really from a normal background?>

Usually, if someone has many past lives, there are plenty of red pills left behind, but she’s clean.

-This account seems to be her first, right?

VTubers have the concept of ‘past lives.’

It refers to changing avatars and accounts, starting anew with a completely different appearance. During this process, a lot of personal information about VTubers usually gets exposed.

During their ‘Hakko’ days, driven by the desire to become famous, they often try various things, even doing cam streams as events. The archives of these streams often circulate even after they become successful broadcasters.

It was almost a rule.

<Han Yoorim doesn't even use SNS?>

She’s a VTuber, but she’s already revealed her real identity.

Normally, this would be completely exposed in a day, but it’s fascinating.

-She doesn’t seem to use SNS?

-From Donghae, real name Han Yoorim. With these clues, she should’ve been found immediately, but since she hasn’t been discovered, it seems she never did it in the first place.

SNS is also one of the spaces where VTubers’ red pills are most often exposed.

Photos are posted on their own SNS or their acquaintances’ SNS, and trackers find them. This is the general pattern.

That’s why some creepy VTuber viewers memorize who their favorite VTuber is friends with, who they’re associated with, and routinely check their SNS.

―This person. I heard they’re friends with ○○, my favorite VTuber, and suddenly, on the day my favorite VTuber took a break, they went somewhere and posted this photo?

―(Frog holding a magnifying glass emoji)

That’s the vibe.

But Han Yoorim didn’t leave such traces.

She escaped from the clutches of debt.

This was a very strange thing.

Is Han Yoorim usually famous? She was insanely famous, and as a result, she had a lot of… slightly creepy fans too.

But despite that, nothing came out about her.

It was like she was someone who didn’t go to school, had no friends, no SNS account, and didn’t even go outside during her school days.

So, people had almost given up on finding Han Yoorim’s “red pill.”

<Reasonable speculation that Han Yoorim is actually a pig in real life>

(A compilation of Han Yoorim eating high-calorie food on stream)

She doesn’t go outside, but she eats desserts all day?

How do you think people like this look…? Even if you don’t have a younger sister, you’d know, right?

-No no no no no

-Why a younger sister?

┗Are you an only child?

┗┗Yeah

┗┗┗Tsk

Instead, they started speculating.

As mentioned, the “red pill” is a very interesting topic.

They couldn’t give up just because there were no clues.

<Isn’t Han Yoorim pretty?>

She’s overflowing with confidence and self-assurance.

Can someone with a BMI over 30 be like that?

-If she’s pretty, why would she be a VTuber? Lol

-For real, if her face is pretty, why would she be a VTuber? Do you play games without using your ultimate ability?

Anyway, like this, the topic of Han Yoorim’s “red pill” kept burning like a small flame, steadily continuing.

Then, one day…

(Clip of Han Yoorim answering “Hello” to a TTS saying “F***, it’s Han Yoorim” during an interview with Sunsal Godeungeo, then running away without looking back)

??????

-?

-??

-What is this?

Someone dropped a nuke on the small flame without warning.

Right after the post above was uploaded, silence fell over the VR Broadcasting Gallery.

It was because every single user went to watch Sunsal Godeungeo’s replay without exception.

It wasn’t just the VR Broadcasting Gallery.

VTuber Broadcasting Gallery, Game Gallery, PC Broadcasting Gallery, V-TV board, Mirinae board, etc.

For about a minute, no posts were made in any community.

<Is it really Han Yoorim?>

No. For real?

<Han Yoorim?>

Does this make sense?

And then, posts flooded in like a waterfall.

<Is it edited?>, <If you want to know why cam editing is a scam, go see a female streamer in real life lol>, <It’s not even her own cam, she just appeared in someone else’s interview, how could it be edited?>

<Hey, wtf, did Han Yoorim go to the cosplay competition held that day?>

(Screenshots of photos from the ECK cosplay competition posted by ordinary people on their SNS)

I don’t believe it even after seeing it, is this real?

-What ordinary people posted is really unedited.

-It was taken with a regular smartphone camera without filters, how is this possible?

<Han Yoorim doesn’t even seem to be wearing makeup?>

Can someone look like that without makeup?

Chaos. Destruction. Joy and confusion. Every community went wild.

<Wow. This is unbelievable lol>

Is this why Thierry’s original creator accepted it?

-She’s really insane.

-If she made a character based on herself, what can you do…

-I can imagine Shiroame’s feelings. She probably sent her own photo to Han Yoorim, and when she received it, she must’ve been like, “What is this?” lol

<What kind of person is Han Yoorim?>

Where in the world is there a VTuber who makes their avatar look exactly like their real self?

-Is this…a VTuber?

-But for real, is this a VTuber? What’s the difference between this and her cam? Lol

All the doubts and controversies about Han Yoorim, starting from Shiroame’s sniping, were resolved along with the truth.

All the circumstances fit together like a puzzle.

Then, things that weren’t visible before started to appear.

<Wait, is this why Bunny Run was so quiet at that time?>

(Clip of Bunny Run doing a real-life collab with Han Yoorim in Donghae)

Because it didn’t matter if Han Yoorim’s face was revealed or not?

-Ga Joon-sik also thought it was weird. There’s no way he’d allow dangerous stuff like AR filters.

<Wait! Then what about this game?>

(Kim In-ho’s <Mirage of the Silver God> store link)

So it wasn’t Thierry, but a game where you romance Han Yoorim?

-Hehehe

-Come here lol

Various communities dug into Han Yoorim’s surroundings.

Until it got dark outside, the ECK winner was decided, and it was almost time to go to work.

[Han Yoorim’s broadcast has started.]

Until the artist who would put an end to all this appeared.

―――

🔥🔥🔥

🔥🔥🔥

(Open the door emoticon)

―――

As soon as Han Yoorim started her stream, the chat went crazy.

Since it was an emoticon-only chat, the most they could do was set things on fire, but that was enough to crash the chat server.

The broadcast’s OST started playing.

It was a very familiar OST to Han Yoorim’s viewers.

The OST from <Cosmic Osuary>. That mysterious, somewhat eerie music flowed through the broadcast.

After 4 minutes and 30 seconds, the emoticon chat switched to a regular chat.

Along with that, donations exploded.

<ㅇㅇ님이 1000원 후원>

Han Yoorim, explain!!!!!

Explain. It was the same demand as when Shiroame sniped her, but now the meaning had changed.

It had become a more concise, more meaningful demand.

“Ah.”

Han Yoorim tested her mic. A clear, pure voice echoed through the broadcast.

At the same time.

Click. A button was pressed, and the broadcast screen changed.

From a black screen to a screen showing reality.

In other words, the cam screen.

Han Yoorim, now on screen, stared into the camera.

The viewers were momentarily stunned by her appearance.

Then, Han Yoorim opened her mouth.

“I told you, my cam is real, and I’m a real VTuber.”

―――

How were we supposed to know that’s what you meant, you crazy girl?

―――