Chapter 74

The time was around when the delicious food at the restaurant started being set on the table.

“Since I’ll take you home, make sure to contact Jung Yoon unnie in advance.”

“…Okay.”

At Da-yeon’s promise to take her home, Ha Eun nodded without any real refusal. It was because her mental strength had been depleted due to the continuous playback of Diah’s broadcast clips.

Even when all the food Da-yeon and Ha Eun ordered was placed on the table. Even when they celebrated Da-yeon’s 18th birthday by sticking candles on the new birthday cake that Kim Jin Soo had bought again.

“I love you, happy birthday to Da-yeon…”

‘…Did I catch a throat cold?’

Aside from Ha Eun’s voice sounding extremely hoarse while singing the birthday song for Da-yeon, there wasn’t any significant problem.

However, after all the meals had finished. Immediately after Da-yeon and Ha Eun climbed into Kim Jin Soo’s van, who had come to pick them up.

“Here.”

Da-yeon’s one side of the wired earphones was handed to Ha Eun without hesitation. More precisely, Diah’s voice that was once again coming from the pure white wired earphones.

‘You know who I am, right?’

This sent Ha Eun into a panic. The delicate consideration of Da-yeon slightly tilting her phone screen towards Ha Eun, just in case it was hard to see, was a bonus.

Was it because today marked the end of the lonely days Da-yeon spent alone? Or perhaps it was because Da-yeon had revealed all her inner thoughts to Ha Eun?

“My favorite food is cotton candy─! It looks just like a cloud☆”

“Isn’t she really cute?”

“Uh, yeah… She’s cute…”

There were no brakes on all of Da-yeon’s words and actions. Driven solely by the desire to show fun videos, she pressed Ha Eun’s shoulder tightly against her own.

Of course, this was overly burdensome for Ha Eun. It felt like she needed to jump out of Kim Jin Soo’s van for an emergency escape at any moment.

However, despite that, she couldn’t really jump out.

“Uh, Da-yeon, I… think I might get motion sickness.”

Lying that her head felt a bit dizzy, Ha Eun pulled out the earphone lodged in her left ear.

This forced Da-yeon to begin watching Diah’s videos alone. Until they arrived at Ha Eun’s house, Diah’s video on Da-yeon’s phone didn’t stop playing. Da-yeon’s joyful giggle also echoed throughout at intervals.

‘…Is it really that fun?’

It was a complicated feeling. A complex feeling that couldn’t be neatly described with a single word.

While she was grateful that Da-yeon was enjoying Diah’s broadcast, she didn’t intend to interfere with Da-yeon’s personal preferences.

However, if Da-yeon were to discover that the person appearing on her phone screen was sitting right next to her, Ha Eun felt that something far beyond her imagination would occur.

She firmly resolved to do everything she could to ensure that Da-yeon would never know about Diah’s secret.

Eventually, Kim Jin Soo’s van arrived at Ha Eun’s house after that.

However, she would have to say goodbye to Da-yeon a little later. This was because Da-yeon, who told Ha Eun to wait a moment, had headed to the nearby convenience store alone.

Thus, while waiting and waiting for Da-yeon to return.

-Swish.

“Here.”

When she accepted the black bag Da-yeon handed her without thinking, she asked.

“What’s all this?”

“It’s ginseng tea and medicine for a sore throat. The Yuja drink is warm too, so drink it before it cools down.”

She added that having a sore throat for too long can become a hassle. This inevitably left Ha Eun a bit perplexed.

Regardless of everything, what Ha Eun prioritized most was her health. She had never thought about catching a sore throat, and she didn’t plan to either.

Thus, everything Da-yeon handed her was rather unnecessary for Ha Eun.

She didn’t even understand why Da-yeon assumed that she had a sore throat.

But before Ha Eun could ask her about the reason Da-yeon brought her the medicines and drinks,

“Well, see you tomorrow.”

After Da-yeon gave a brief farewell, she promptly returned to Kim Jin Soo’s van.

As a result, it turned out that today, the one whose birthday it was, was on the receiving end of gifts rather than giving them.

‘…Yena is still so self-willed….’

Thus, eventually, the sound of the glass bottles rattling in the convenience store bag accompanied her home.

However, Ha Eun too felt the necessity of ‘voice management.’

“Hm… Since when did my daughter’s drink preferences change to that of an old person?”

Ignoring Sung Yoon’s incredulous voice, she drank all the health drinks that Da-yeon had gifted her.

It was shortly after when she countered Sung Yoon, who was teasing her for having become an old person in her drink preferences, with:

“Aren’t you the one who eats sprout-based drinks often?”

“What? Ha Eun, are you saying that drinks like pine needle tea are only for uncles like Dad? No way, I need to report this.”

“I’m going to report that Dad is hiding beer behind the kimchi container without Mom finding out.”

“Oh no.”

After leaving the speechless Sung Yoon behind, she headed to her room.

After collapsing onto the soft mattress where a large teddy bear had been lying instead of Ha Eun, she began to ponder.

‘Voice management…… I hadn’t really thought about it.’

She started to consider the necessity of managing her voice.

Above all, the most important thing for a singer was voice management.

Especially in a situation where she had an important stage coming up, there was a need for more attentive care.

This meant that as Pinocchio, a ‘singer,’ Ha Eun too, who had an ‘important stage’ ahead of the [SIT ON THE MONEY] live broadcast finals.

‘It would be best to take a day off…’

This meant that she needed to pay extra attention to her voice management than usual.

Consequently, she decided to stop broadcasting on Thursday, the day before the [SIT ON THE MONEY] live finals.

The issue was that she had to take a break on the day of the [SIT ON THE MONEY] finals as well.

‘I know I have no choice… but it feels a bit unfortunate.’

Since the finals themselves would end at 10 PM, if she got caught up in various post-show gatherings, it would surely be close to midnight by the time she returned home.

There wouldn’t be time to broadcast at all.

Somehow, this led to a situation where she would have two consecutive days off.

During the previous shoot for [2 Nights 3 Days], she had to take an unavoidable break, and if she took another one again, she felt that the fans’ sentiment towards her would not be good.

What was needed was an extraordinary measure to appease the fans’ sentiments.

Thus, she stood up from the soft mattress again.

Ha Eun rummaged through the old notebooks in her desk drawer that contained numerous broadcasting content ideas.

[Shirooni]

– Horror Game ★★

– Not very scary for a horror game ★★★

– Viewers can give advice ★

– Popularity ★★★

‘This is the one.’

She discovered content that could satisfy her fans.

Diah’s usual broadcasts were communication broadcasts represented by “Just Chatting.”

Although she occasionally did gaming broadcasts, she had never done an intense horror game even once.

In other words, this upcoming [Shirooni] game broadcast was a type of ultimate skill.

With the title of Diah’s ‘first’ horror game combined with the unexpected reactions of a pure spirit who had never felt fear, it was a masterful content planning.

As time flowed on.

Finally, the day arrived for her last broadcast before taking two consecutive days off on Wednesday.

[I’m back☆]

She started the broadcast with a title not too different from her usual broadcasting title.

– Diah

– What do you mean two consecutive days off in the schedule? Diah?

– Are you leaving the fans again to go traveling? Leaving the fans again? Leaving the fans again? Leaving the fans again? Leaving the fans again?

– Sigh, was I the only one being sincere?

As expected, the chatroom had become a bit chaotic again due to the announcement of yet another break.

Trying to calm the chatroom, she awkwardly apologized, but it showed no signs of calming down even a fraction.

So in the end, she quietly displayed the broadcast settings window on the broadcast screen.

And then, she deliberately typed loudly enough to be captured by the broadcast microphone.

[Isn’t the interior cleaner than expected? (Horror Game Stream)]

She changed the broadcast title to one that could instantly reveal what game Diah would be playing.

Almost simultaneously, the chatroom and donation window began to grow noisy again.

– ? Game stream? Diah, are you confident?

– Isn’t this your first time doing a horror game?

– (Personal opinion) Is Shirooni really a horror game?

– Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~ Let’s go~

– Can we see a one-year-old baby crying?

– Can you actually cry during a Shirooni game?

[Geosok’s donation of 10,000 won has arrived!]

: If you don’t die even once, it’s 50,000 won.

[HappyCircuitBurningClothes’ donation of 10,000 won has arrived!]

: Plus 100,000 won if you take it!

“Okay─☆”

Officially, Diah’s horror game play count was 0.

No matter how much the story of [Shirooni] was already known, its level of difficulty was not something to be underestimated.

The hefty missions before even starting the game were also rooted in underestimating Diah’s gaming skills.

However.

‘If I clear it too easily, it’ll be obvious. I need to pretend to struggle a bit.’

Knowing how to proceed with [Shirooni], she intended to make sure her fans learned that underestimating Diah’s gaming skills could lead to consequences.

Of course, she planned to give a reaction that would completely surprise everyone.

Because one of the reasons people watch horror game broadcasts like [Shirooni] is to see the broadcaster’s delicious reactions.

So after setting the player name for [Shirooni] to Diah.

“Hmm, the interior is cleaner than expected~☆”

She began Diah’s first horror game stream, reciting the title of the broadcast as well as the line associated with [Shirooni].

And not even five minutes later.

– It’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming.

– ? Why is she just standing there?

– No, Diah, the door just creaked.

“Uh? What creaked—”

[Bang!]

[Guwaaaaahhh!!]

Diah’s reasoning was halted by a white apparition that popped up from a completely different location than she had remembered.

Simultaneously, they let out a shrill scream that briefly overpowered the broadcast microphone.

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