Chapter 115

– Munch munch.

“Ugh, it doesn’t taste like melon at all. I was tricked!”

The melon bread, which had taken a big bite out of, was put back down on the broadcasting desk right after that.

The voice that described what the melon bread tasted like sounded slightly disappointed.

“Is it not the flavor I expected? It’s sweet and delicious, but something feels off.”

However, for some reason, the chat speed had picked up a bit.

Pausing the melon bread review, I shifted my gaze toward the chat.

And almost simultaneously, I encountered the following messages.

– “If you’re not going to finish the melon bread, give it to me, Diah.”

– “Judging by the brown inside, it must be chocolate-flavored.”

– “I’m buying the leftover melon bread that Diah didn’t finish, Senja.”

– “Please don’t waste good food, share instead. 🙏”

The expressions of the viewers, who had shown a great interest in the melon bread that Ha Eun had left earlier.

With curiosity and playfulness ignited, Ha Eun picked up the melon bread and slowly brought it closer to the broadcasting cam.

“Alright, I’ll feed you, so say ‘ah~’!”

– “Ahhhhhhh”

– “Ah!!!!!”

– “Get lost, it’s mine!!!!”

– “Gasp, this is totally a French kiss.”

– “I’ve never seen a close-up of a melon bread before.”

At that moment, the chat sped up even more.

– “Whoosh!”

The melon bread, which was about to touch the broadcasting cam, was quickly brought to Ha Eun’s mouth, and she took a bite.

Then, as if to tease the audience, she munched on the chocolate-flavored bread, which was only named melon bread.

“Ha, gotcha! I’m going to eat it all~!”

– “What?”

– “Me!”

– “My melon bread, give it back!!!!”

– “Lock!”

– “This could stir up some controversy.”

– “To think even during a travel review streaming, you’d be teasing! Diah!”

– “Where’s the giving and taking? Where’s the giving and taking? Where’s the giving and taking? Where’s the giving and taking? Where’s the giving and taking?”

– “Stop eating already!ㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

– “Diah is a famous tease;;”

As they piled on with reactions to the melon bread, laughter kept escaping from the viewers.

The thrill of Diah mercilessly teasing the viewers like during the Battle Island broadcast was remarkable in many ways.

In any case, there were still many souvenirs from Japan to review besides the melon bread.

After finishing off the melon bread completely, I laid out various types of puddings on the broadcasting desk.

In that way, I tasted and savored various foods bought from Japan for quite a while.

I also continued to tease the viewers by bringing some delicious-looking items closer to the broadcasting cam.

“Ha, I want to eat. I want to take a big bite at once.”

– “Diah is excited, lol.”

– “Just one bite, pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

– “You enjoy teasing the viewers so much…!”

– “If you keep that up, I’m going to disappear~~ I’m going to go below the horizon and not come back~~”

– “Ugh, you keep saying ‘boyfriend’ but just keep toying with me.”

As expected, the chat grew more heated.

With Diah’s continued teasing, the viewers, who had taken a fair beating, made the chat even more passionate.

To be precise, the sight of the flustered audience was quite amusing for Ha Eun, but.

She also knew that if she kept teasing without restraint, it could lead to backlash.

“Alright, surprise event time~!”

– “Swish.”

– “Thud─!”

“This time, it’s a real gift for you, Noh-eul!”

I placed a Maneki-neko, the new souvenir and event item to ease the viewers’ anger, on the broadcasting desk.

The sudden appearance of a real gift filled the chat with question marks.

– “What did you just say?”

– “A gift??”

– “?????”

– “Is this for real?”

– “If this turns out to be a scam, I’m taking your wrist, Diah!”

– “What’s a surprise event again??”

Just as the viewers’ attention was drawn to the surprise event, I quickly switched the broadcast screen back from the cam view to the original monitor view.

Then, logging into the official fan cafe, I started creating a new post on Diah’s board.

“While I was in Japan, I bought gifts for my boss and the sisters, but it felt a bit wrong to leave out the Noh-euls.”

– “Tap tap.”

– “Click. Click.”

“I prepared this for the Noh-euls who waited for me while I was on my trip!”

– “Ding.”

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**Title** > !!Commemorative Return Special Event!!

Diah | 20:10

In the comments, write a two-line poem with “Diah”!

I’ll be judging it based on my personal criteria, and the three best Noh-euls will receive…

**(Picture of a Maneki-neko)**

A cute Maneki-neko that I personally bought!

I’ll announce the winners in two weeks, so please participate a lot~

**(A very famous pirate guy saying he’ll give you treasure if you want it)**

**(A composite image saying it’s now the era of the grand two-line poem instead of the era of piracy)**

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Once I uploaded the surprise event notice, I switched back to the cam view and started fiddling with the Maneki-neko on the desk.

I began to explain as detailed as I could how the Maneki-neko, which the viewers would eventually receive, looked and what it represented.

“I heard this cat brings good luck. I would have liked to buy more, but I couldn’t fit them all in my suitcase, so three was my limit. I’m sorry!”

– “Hmm.. just this once.”

– “I’m so touched, awwㅠㅠㅠㅠ”

– “If Diah personally delivers it, I’ll forgive you.”

– “In any case, you’re saying you’ll do a 24-hour continuous stream as an apology? I’ll be waiting.”

– “Prepare the keyboard and macros! It’s the time of the heroes and heroines!!!”

– “Diah is the only one who thinks of the Noh-euls.”

Fortunately, there wasn’t any significant negative feedback regarding this surprise event.

Seeing Diah’s fan cafe account ‘News Alert’ be updated rapidly, it seemed like the two-line poems were already being written.

In any case, having successfully wrapped up the review of the special souvenir, the Maneki-neko.

Ha Eun thought it was about time to end the broadcast.

“Thanks for coming even though it’s been a while since I turned on the broadcast. From now on, I will follow the newly announced schedule, so please remember it, and see you next time! Bye bye!”

– “But it hasn’t even been 3 hours since you started.”

– “Diva.”

– “Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon? Why are you ending so soon?”

– “Diah, I’m still hungry!!!!!!!!”

– “Don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go, don’t go!”

– “Hands off the end stream button!!!”

– “I’d be good with anything, just do a part two broadcast!”

Thus, in the face of the loud protestations from the viewers, the broadcast finally ended.

Honestly, I wished I could have streamed a bit longer.

But as Jee Hye-min had mentioned before, if Ha Eun wants to last longer, then I needed to exercise some restraint in how much broadcasting I did as a Virtual YouTuber.

What I wanted to remember was the difference between joy and comfort I realized during this trip to Japan.

Of course, it wasn’t that broadcasting as Diah was particularly uncomfortable, but.

“If I get tired, it will only be hard for me.”

No matter how fun something is, if I continue to give it my all without any rest, I would surely get exhausted and collapse someday.

I also recognized that to keep from parting ways with the viewers, there was a need for Ha Eun to manage her pace.

So, I decided not to broadcast until I was mentally exhausted anymore.

I promised that I would at least keep a bit of my mental strength left.

Stepping out of the pure white soundproof booth was the next thing.

I gathered the golden badge from the Western hunter and headed to Na-yeon in the living room, starting to share several stories from the school trip.

“This is given only to those who hit the target perfectly. Among all the people there, I was the only one who received it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. When I checked later, my photo was even uploaded on the official SNS.”

“Wow, our daughter is amazing. If I had known, I would have made you a shooting athlete.”

Regardless of anything, Ha Eun wasn’t the only one wanting to share the joyful memories from the trip.

There were a few things she really wanted to tell Na-yeon.

Thus, just as Diah had done for the viewers until earlier, the current Ha Eun sat next to Na-yeon and started sharing the memories of the past four days by showing her the photos taken during the school trip.

A little later, she spilled out words she had kept in her heart to Na-yeon.

“Mom, I have a favor to ask.”

“Hmm, I wonder what our pretty daughter wants to ask from me?”

She was met with Na-yeon’s usual warm gaze.

Her expression seemed curious upon hearing Ha Eun’s request, which she hadn’t spoken in a long while.

So, after locking eyes with Na-yeon, who had become an important person to Ha Eun for quite some time, she finally opened her mouth to ask for just one day with Seong-yoon, another precious person.

“I would like it if mom and dad could come to the performance of the Infinite Challenge Music Show.”

“Of course, whose performance is it? I will definitely go.”

Na-yeon asked the exact date and location of the Infinite Challenge Music Show performance right after that.

Then, using her phone again, Ha Eun searched for the location of the Infinite Challenge Music Show and showed it to Na-yeon.

“Uh? Gocheok Sky Dome? Are you really performing here?”

“Yeah. Mom and dad will be able to watch from the designated VIP seats.”

Previously, during the live-stream finale of SIT ON THE MONEY, she hadn’t invited them out of consideration for their nerves.

However, since Ha Eun’s goal was to become a star, she couldn’t take a step back due to any nervousness on stage anymore.

“Will you make time for it?”

Ha Eun asked Na-yeon to definitely come see the Infinite Challenge Music Show performance, which would be a step up for her to reach higher.

Importantly, Gocheok Sky Dome was the place where Ha Eun first stepped into the entertainment industry as a child.

Now, it was her turn to appear as a rising star in the entertainment industry, just like when she had first appeared there as a child throwing the first pitch.

“Hmm, I can go to our daughter’s performance many times…. Are you really going to perform at such a big place?”

“Yes. I’m confident I can do well. It’s not the first time I’ve been there.”

While in front of Na-yeon, she gathered her thoughts again and assured her that it would surely be a great performance.

She asked Na-yeon to hold onto only expectations, rather than worries or concerns.

“Please look forward to it. I will perform even better than you expect.”

On the day of the performance, she subconsciously wished to stand before Na-yeon and Seong-yoon as their proud daughter more than anyone else.

There was not a smidgen of anything other than sincerity in Ha Eun’s vague hope.

Having completed the final check to rise to greater heights through rest during this trip to Japan.

She thought it was finally time to soar high.

Thus, just as the blueprint for Ha Eun’s future became perfectly clear.

The discussions about Diah’s return broadcast began to increase online, slightly outside of Ha Eun’s view.

– Diah) Maybe it’s because I took a break, but the broadcast vibe feels different.

– “Just messing around and then suddenly doing a surprise event to regain public sentiment is the work of a veteran.”

– “For real.”

– “Diah’s skill in manipulating the viewers has clearly increased.”

– “I tried getting Diah to do a two-line poem with ChatGPT, what a surprise?”

– “Diah doesn’t look hurt at all, so I’ll just appreciate a lot.”

– “I just did it this one time.”

– “Diah <<[ claims the reason for going to a hot spring but doesn't show any hot spring selfies."

- "Hey hey hey!"

- "Wasn’t Diah just a year old?"

- "What a mad goat."

- "You're just... not it. Sigh."

- "You seem to be well-informed."

- "I guess you'll come to know how stifling it is inside the prison bars."

In this manner, the community's chatter about Diah's broadcast becoming raucous was not so surprising.

However, unlike the last hiatus, which had '-travel-' as the only reason.

This time, perhaps because the place and duration of the hiatus were more clear and distinct.

The efforts of people trying to uncover Diah's identity were showing up in a more pronounced manner than before.

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**Title** ] Isn't Diah in high school?
DaeDaeDiah | 23:11

These days, it’s the high schoolers' field trip season, right?

The tourist route is just perfect for a school trip.

Would you go all the way to Japan just to visit a car museum?

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- "What if she’s just a kid whose hobby is traveling?"

- "No, the tourist route is obviously different from adult tourist routes."

- "Would a Virtual YouTuber state their travel route as it is? Just tone down the wild speculation."

- "What will you say about the last long break? Do you even go to school twice a year for a field trip?"

- "The possibility of a Korean high school girl giggling in front of her classmates while being a Virtual YouTuber VS just a coincidence."

- "This would even baffle my dog at home."

- "Damn, it makes total sense..!"

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**Title** > Didn’t Diah have beer among her souvenirs?

RiaChestIsStickyLikeGum | 23:47

My acquaintances bring back beer every time they go to Japan.

There are a ton of beer recommended on the souvenir list.

She might genuinely be a minor.

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– “Whoa.”

– “Japanese beer is solidly recognized.”

– “Her fingers and skin looked a bit baby-ish, but I wonder.”

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**Title** > If she’s really a high schooler, finding Diah’s red pills is easy.

I’llThrowItOutYouBlameMe | 23:59

(Article screenshot stating that there are around 2000 high schools in South Korea).

Just go to a high school’s website and look for the announcements regarding field trips.

Once you find a field trip announcement overlapping with Diah’s schedule and route, find the exact same hand gesture as Diah’s from schoolmates’ SNS posts and that’s game over.

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– “Are you out of your mind?”

– “Go check and give us an update.”

– “Honestly, reviewing the airport CCTV would be faster, damn it.”

– “Aren’t you unable to view announcements unless you sign up for the high school website these days?”

– “How would the former know that?”

– “Did you search for that yourself?”

Yet still, no theory identical to the truth had appeared.

The community was continuously uploading speculations that were nothing more than mere assumptions without certainty.

However, it was undeniably clear that they were edging closer to the truth little by little.

The domino that held Diah’s truth at the end of this lengthy chain began to tremble.

This tremor was separate from Ha Eun’s intentions or will.

Perhaps because of that, instead of concerns over Diah’s red pills, eyes were drawn solely to her activities as a celebrity.

Maybe that’s why.

“You can think of it as filming an observational variety show set in Hwang Ji-hyuk’s workshop. There’s no need to be nervous, just chat comfortably.”

As the second recording of the Infinite Challenge Music Show was approaching, all I thought about was.

“Hmm, should I start talking about the things that happened during the filming of Don’t Stop People?”

Only thoughts about what to talk about with my partner Yoon Si-hyeok occupied my mind.

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