Chapter 155

– Ttiroring.

“I’m back….”

Inside the dark house.

The only bright place was the hallway light that had just been turned on.

Still, with a hopeful heart, I peered into the master bedroom door, but.

“…Phew.”

Fortunately, both Na-yeon and Sung Yoon were asleep.

After all, there was no particular reason for them to be awake at 3 AM.

Feeling relieved, Ha Eun headed straight to her room and fell asleep.

About 5 hours later.

“Ha Eun.”

“Yes?”

“Um, it’s good to earn money. But isn’t it a bit…hard to work so late already?”

A worried voice, which had never been heard during breakfast before, came through.

Almost simultaneously, a chill ran from her head to her toes.

“Uh, is there something specific that makes you feel that way…?”

“No, it’s just that you seem to be working too late these days.”

There were too many hints to ignore.

Among them, the most concerning were the things related to the Illusion Realm.

Jee Hye-min had done her best to cover it up, but the fact that Na-yeon called LUX instead of Luna Entertainment was the real issue.

Unlike the famous entertainment agency Luna Entertainment, LUX was an MCN.

In other words, a company housing people who conduct internet broadcasts.

This meant that Na-yeon had somewhat noticed that Ha Eun’s late nights were related to LUX’s internet broadcasters.

‘Just how much does she know…’

Cold sweat began to drip from Ha Eun’s forehead.

This was understandable, as older generations like Na-yeon tend to look down on internet broadcasting.

Of course, Na-yeon might not have any preconceived notions or prejudices against internet broadcasts.

However, even if Na-yeon didn’t think negatively of internet broadcasting.

“Um, can’t someone else do the performance simulation?”

“No, it’s something only I can do.”

“Is it really something you have to do, Ha Eun?”

“…Yes…”

The fact that Na-yeon must never find out about Diah remained unchanged.

So, cautiously observing Na-yeon’s expression, Ha Eun decided to try her best to schedule as many appointments during the day as possible.

“Um, I’ve wrapped up almost all urgent tasks. The Sunshine shooting is completely finished.”

“Is it because of the people you’ve met while working? Are you having a hard time quitting because you’ve grown attached?”

“It’s true I like them, but… for now, it’s because I genuinely enjoy what I’m doing.”

I want to try to do as much as I can.

Ha Eun lowered her head slightly in nervousness as she said this and cast another glance at Na-yeon.

From Na-yeon’s perspective, this side of Ha Eun was something she rarely saw.

Yet, she chose not to press further, knowing Ha Eun wasn’t a bad kid.

Regardless of the situation, Ha Eun disliked making others worry about her.

Knowing this better than anyone, Na-yeon decided not to interfere any further with matters related to that “puppet show.”

However, refraining from intervening didn’t mean she wouldn’t ask.

“By the way, Ha Eun.”

“Yes?”

“Do you do puppet shows on YouTube these days?”

“…Yes?”

Not asking questions is a different matter.

“When I looked it up, I found out that human-shaped dolls are singing and doing radio broadcasts.”

Ha Eun was asked whether the puppet shows that Jee Hye-min mentioned really were profitable.

“Back in my day, you could only watch these at children’s theaters.”

Almost simultaneously, Na-yeon showed her a character keychain that she had brought before Ha Eun.

She continued, recalling how Ha Eun’s friend, Da-yeon, had the same keychain.

“Is this kind of character popular among young people these days?”

“It’s, it’s popular, but… where did you get that keychain?”

“I found it underneath your bed while cleaning. I thought you didn’t use it, so I was going to throw it away, but I didn’t want to because it seemed wasteful.”

It seems that one keychain Ha Eun had accidentally dropped was hiding under the bed.

To be honest, she wanted to ask for it back right away, but Na-yeon seemed to like it for some reason.

As a result, Na-yeon’s keychain completely parted ways with Ha Eun.

Showing that she was caring too much would only raise more suspicion.

Thus, various questions about the popular puppet shows, which had enough popularity to come out with merchandise like keychains, began to pour out at Ha Eun.

“I’m off to school.”

Only when it was time for Ha Eun to attend school did the conversation cease.

As Ha Eun disappeared through the front door like she was fleeing, Na-yeon called out a farewell wishing her well.

Only, Ha Eun’s ears had been flushed red for a long time.

“…Are you embarrassed about being caught by mom?”

Left alone in the house, Na-yeon pondered while looking at the keychain attached to her phone.

In Na-yeon’s view, it was a cute character that elementary or kindergarten girls would likely enjoy.

To be honest, it seemed quite juvenile for someone like Ha Eun, who would be an adult next year.

Once she realized that Ha Eun was flustered and stuttering as soon as the keychain was brought up, it became more understandable.

“…If Ha Eun’s dad finds out, he would tease her until she becomes a grandmother, right?”

For now, they decided to keep the keychain a secret between just Ha Eun and Na-yeon.

Regarding things related to the puppet show, they thought of it as something Ha Eun liked.

At least, for now.

“Na-eul~ Come on─ ♪ Let’s get hit with a shotgun─ ♬”

“…The theater these days is really peculiar.”

Ha Eun’s voice reciting some odd lines led her to think it was just a script.

The audition Ha Eun had seen a long time ago was misinterpreted as being for the voice actor for the character “Diah,” whom she cherished.

“Is that why you suddenly said you needed a soundproof booth…? You wanted to try voice acting.”

***

As promised to Na-yeon, there were no more nights where Ha Eun stayed out late.

This was due to wrapping up the filming of [The Sunshine], which freed up Ha Eun’s schedule to some extent.

There was no longer a reason to schedule work at late hours.

The filming of [The Veterans] also no longer ran past 10 PM at the latest.

However, that didn’t mean Ha Eun’s schedule had become completely easy.

She wasn’t lounging around the house without a particular agenda.

[The Veterans] script study.

Or, studying.

-Knock, knock.

“Ha Eun~. Come and eat some fruit~.”

“Ah, okay.”

Whenever Ha Eun received fruit from Na-yeon, she was always wearing her study glasses.

At least until dinner, she lived every moment like a “senior in high school.”

But, after dinner.

-Click.

[Illusion Realm Quote World Cup☆]

– Diah

– Welcome back

– I absolutely believe this is the 128th round

– Is this the broadcast that got Granzerled and realized reality??

As always, she turned on the broadcast inside the bright white soundproof booth.

It was now that there was little time left until the first anniversary of the Illusion Realm.

[Kream: “Aah? Ice avocado?”

VS

Mile: “If you can’t break it, take it.”]

“Oh, putting black and white along with quotations gives it a certain vibe, even if it’s nothing much!”

– The lineup from the start is hilarious.

– Let’s refrain from bad comments that undermine intelligence.

– It’s funny how Mile got caught trying to steal a car after saying that.

– I have no idea where that avocado came from, so it’s chaotic.

These days, most of the broadcasting content was focused on communication with the Illusion Realm fans.

There were some game streams like Battle Island occasionally, but as the first anniversary of the Illusion Realm approached, she concentrated more on interactive communications with the audience.

The part she focused on the most was teasing about the first anniversary live performance.

“Our group song turned out really great. Especially Kream’s part, wow─! It makes you want to scream~.”

– Kream lover is starting again.

– So when are you going to have a relationship with Kream?

– Everyone else, besides you, said that Diah’s part is the best.

– Diah, Yuna has been talking a lot about you.

– Ding.

[eternalyg donated 30,000 won!]

: Is it true that the Demon King in tight clothes was compared to a Power Ranger right after seeing him?

“No, I didn’t say that to tease you. I mean, you all would naturally want to say the same things when you see the older sisters, right?”

– Then show us, please?

– Why are you only looking at me, why are you only looking at me, why are you only looking at me, why are you only looking at me, why are you only looking at me?

– We’ll be the judges; show us some pictures, okay?

With mentions regarding the first-anniversary live performance, the Illusion Realm’s attention was diverted toward the special first-anniversary stream.

Other members, besides Diah, were also checking out the 3D avatars and teasers for the group song “Illusion” throughout the stream.

However, there were also questions about other scheduled content.

That is to say, questions related to the debut of Illusion Realm’s second generation, aside from the first-anniversary of the first generation.

These inquiries were all due to Da Ramji, the head of the Illusion Realm project.

Just like Da Ramji had spread hints regarding the second generation before the first generation even debuted, lately, Da Ramji had been hinting at the second generation again.

The problem was that among those hints, there were references concerning Diah.

More precisely, there were hints about Diah’s usage rights, which were filled with dopamine.

Hence, there were times when the audience’s attention gravitated towards Diah’s usage rights content.

-Ding.

[WithCoin donated 10,000 won!]

: I heard there are not just one, but two members among the second generation who are Illusion Realm fans. Is that true?

“…Yes.”

– Hahaha.

– Alright, I won’t go and greet you.

– Let’s go for excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses.

– First, let’s start with the public game ㅇㅇ.

– If a junior tells you to bark, do you have to bark?

“Hey! How could a junior talk to a senior like that! This is Korea! The land of courtesy!”

– You were talking informally since the first meeting.

– You got wrecked, ha ha.

– Such territorial behavior, wow.

– If it’s scary, just say it’s scary; come on, baby.

Da Ramji mentioned that both Illusion Realm fans were grinding their teeth.

Thus, for the next few days, most broadcasts revolved around the anniversary of the first generation and the anticipated debut of the second generation.

What Ha Eun didn’t particularly think about was the existence of people who were “preparing” by watching her streams.

“Hmmm, I didn’t particularly grind this like that…”

Among the two Illusion Realm fans Da Ramji spoke of, one of them, Na-eul, often referred to Diah’s streams.

Included in the reference range was also the chat room of Diah’s streams.

Therefore, whenever the fans mentioned Na-eul, Ha Eun end up responding out loud, even unintentionally.

In hindsight, while Na-eul’s name had yet to be revealed, the general ideas about the type of person it was could be guessed through nuance.

However, on one particular day.

[Announcement for a break or tardiness (Drama issue…!)]

The announcement that Diah would take a break for a day appeared on the official Illusion Realm cafe.

This was due to Na-yeon’s request to watch the finale of [The Sunshine] together.

While the content of that announcement explained that a drama she had recently been into was simply too entertaining to bear, and sought the audience’s understanding,

For at least Na-eul, that meaning felt slightly different.

“Whoa? You’re also watching [The Sunshine]?”

This led to a decision to discuss [The Sunshine] during a later cook-off collaboration with Diah.

Developing shared interests makes it easier to bond, so from Na-eul’s standpoint, it was a good thing.

As time flowed on and on.

The long-awaited finale of [The Sunshine] began, but.

​

“I said I lost. But why….”

In the end, what Na-eul was confronted with was not the scene they had imagined.

Towards the latter part, there was an ominous feeling, but they believed without a doubt that the ending would be a happy one.

-Thud.

“…This can’t be happening. You can’t be like this…?”

“Ah, no…! This isn’t right….”

Somewhere along, the once-clear world dulled, preventing Na-eul from directly facing the long-awaited last scene.

That moment, which had recorded a viewership rating of 27%, was, at least for Na-eul, unbearably painful.

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