For a brief moment, Park Jung-woo doubted his own ears.
Of course, it was only natural, wasn’t it?
In this entire world, who talks about their own birthday on the same day, and right before breaking up, no less?
“What?”
Jung-woo blankly asked again, unable to think of anything else to say in this situation.
It wasn’t just Jung-woo who was flustered. The cameraman who was filming them, along with producer Shin Young-woo, were equally perplexed.
Excuse me? A birthday?
“Yes, it’s my birthday, so I’ll be leaving now. Everyone, thank you for your hard work.”
With a slight bow, Seoyeon prepared to depart. Under the circumstances, it was an ordinary way to say goodbye.
“No, no, no, wait!!”
“Please, wait a moment!”
“?”
Suddenly, Sooyeon simply tilted her head as the cast members objected to her departure.
While it was awkward that people suddenly stopped her, they didn’t hold her back for long.
They just bought a small cake and let her blow out the candle once, and that was all.
For some reason, Jung-woo was visibly irritated, tapping his foot repeatedly, but he didn’t say anything else.
“Oh, my daughter. What kind of present did you receive?”
When Seoyeon returned home, her mother, wearing an apron, looked at her with wide eyes and asked.
“She said goodbye to me as I was leaving, so she gave me this.”
“So?”
It seemed my mother found it strange that I received so many gifts.
Why? I can receive gifts sometimes, can’t I?
‘Just because I act a certain way at school.’
Though I may seem a certain way now, people have always liked me in my professional life.
‘Ah, come to think of it, I never checked how the footage turned out.’
Unlike dramas, variety shows don’t offer much time to review in between segments. I planned to check it at the end, but I forgot.
‘There’s nothing that can be done now.’
Variety shows air pretty quickly anyway. It will probably be on next week or the week after.
“Seoyeon! Blow out the candle!”
My mother’s voice called out from outside. Normally, we celebrate my birthday with family.
Not because I have no friends or because Jiyeon had something else to do.
It’s not due to any trivial matters that I spend it with my family—it just happens that way.
“Our Seoyeon is really turning seventeen now.”
Sua ignited the candle with an expression of awe. The flickering light caught my eyes. The four members of our family sat side by side at the square table.
It was a scene I saw every year, yet it always felt fresh to me. Suddenly, I recalled something from not too long ago in Daejeon.
A woman walking while holding the hand of a little girl.
There was no trace of ‘me.’ In fact, I had already checked it once before. But the reason must be that I’ve been reborn anew.
So this existence named ‘me’ doesn’t overlap with the other.
For some reason, perhaps it had to do with that.
The face of the woman holding the little girl’s hand was one I had only seen once before.
“Seoyeon?”
My mother looked at me curiously. Before me, on the dimly lit dining table, sat the lit cake.
“…”
The sense of loss from the past.
I finally understood the feelings Cha Sooah might have had when looking at others over the years. Due to ignoring it, the pain felt even sharper. But—
“No.”
I shook my head and blew out the candle energetically.
As the sound of clapping filled the air.
Watching the last candle flicker out, I closed my eyes.
I am not the same as the former Joo Seoyeon. That person is a complete stranger to me now. Naturally, that existence will have no influence on me.
‘Still.’
Opening my eyes, I smiled faintly at those who were looking at me.
‘Someday…’
Not necessarily for The Chaser,
but I have a wish that someday you’ll come watch a movie I’ll be in.
That was all I asked for.
Just that.
Anyway.
Today, my birthday wasn’t the only important event.
That’s because…
‘Ramiel’s first broadcast!’
For some reason, her first broadcast was scheduled for today.
“Happy Birthday, Seoyeon”
Jiyeon’s text arrived at exactly midnight the night before, along with a gift. As expected, it didn’t mention anything about Ramiel. The message was just like the tens of years of consistent greetings I’ve seen.
“Hmm.”
Seoyeon glanced at it before turning on her computer. The speakers were ready for Ramiel’s first broadcast.
‘What if that wizard shows up too?’
Even so, there’s no way they’d both appear together on the first broadcast. I felt a bit uneasy about it. In fact, I wondered why she had even started broadcasting in the first place.
If I tried asking, it’d be like drinking the red pill, making it impossible to ask. Not to mention, I have no right to say anything about Jiyeon’s private life.
I calmed my bubbling thoughts and waited for the first broadcast.
Of course, not many people were waiting.
Thirty.
No, thirty people waiting for the first broadcast is actually an impressive number. Honestly, I thought it would just be me, but thirty? That’s a lot.
[Ramiel Live Streaming Now]
With that notification on my phone, Ramiel’s broadcast began.
“Hello.”
The first thing that came through was a refreshingly clear voice.
The familiar tone that Jiyeon often used when talking to me, identical to what I had heard in my past life.
A calm and serious voice.
‘No wizard, thank goodness.’
I let out a sigh of relief while watching the video. If the wizard had shown up today, I would’ve visited the voice acting school immediately.
“I am Ramiel. My race is a Harpy…yes.”
At the mention of ‘Harpy,’ comments started appearing in the chat box. The thirty users didn’t increase dramatically but did climb to about thirty-five and then stopped.
Not surprising, considering it’s not an official corporation stream or anything like that.
“Yes? Oh, you thought I might be an angel? Why a harpy, you ask… Well…”
It was an ambiguous response. As expected for a first broadcast, there was some awkwardness. It involved a brief introduction to Ramiel, explaining why she’s a harpy and sharing a little about her setting.
Everything was identical to the Ramiel I knew from my past life.
Ramiel is a harpy who can’t sing and left her world because she was curious about the human world.
That was the character she was set as. She couldn’t sing. She wondered about the human world and decided to explore it.
That’s how it had to be.
“Once, I found a notebook. It must’ve come from the human world.”
Ramiel spoke. This wasn’t just a story—it was also the roleplay of the character.
“In the notebook, there were stories about the human world. These clothes are also based on what I saw in my friend’s notebook.”
But Ramiel’s next words were different from what I remembered.
There was no inability-to-sing setting. There was a notebook.
“Seoyeon.”
Elementary school.
When Jiyeon and I were in the same class, she once glanced at the notebook I absentmindedly doodled during class.
“What’s all this scribbling?”
“…”
Scribbling?
It wasn’t really scribbling. It was about my past life’s knowledge.
‘My memories.’
The videos and media I had seen in my past life, along with various web novels and comics.
They would come back vividly when I tried to recall.
It was like ‘reruns.’ Whenever I wanted to retrieve them, the memories of those moments would resurface, including related articles or news stories.
‘But Vtubers…’
That was something I was destined to remember. Over time, the other memories blurred, becoming less distinct.
As time passed, human memories tend to fade.
Of course, I didn’t realize it at first. They were so vivid.
But as time went on, I noticed the difference. I could feel them gradually becoming vague.
During that time, I occasionally jotted down bits of memory in my notebook.
Details about Ramiel’s design, like her clothing or personality.
There was no particular reason.
Though I didn’t care much about my past life, I didn’t like forgetting what I had loved.
“…”
Since I didn’t say anything,
Jiyeon looked at my notebook and said,
“This angel isn’t a angel but a harpy? What’s a harpy?”
“…”
“What’s this stuff you’ve written down so meticulously? I’m curious.”
Jiyeon said this, thinking, as a child, that I was drawing something interesting.
‘Ramiel’s setting is kind of like a fairy tale, I suppose.’
Nonchalantly, I told her a bit about Ramiel. At the time, I had no idea Jiyeon would one day become Ramiel, so it wasn’t a big deal to me.
Though, I had forgotten all about it until now.
“I’ve come out into this world to find the owner of that notebook.”
Ramiel said with a smile.
“This clothing is my guide. A guide for finding the owner of the notebook, my friend.”
As I watched her calmly speaking, a strange feeling welled up inside my chest. It was the same sensation I had felt earlier when I blew out the candles with my family.
“Today’s outing was because it was my friend’s birthday, wasn’t it? Huh? Do you think that alone will be difficult to find her?”
Ramiel covered her mouth and laughed elegantly.
Her appearance was pure Ramiel, distinct from Jiyeon. Yet,
“No.”
Ramiel confidently declared,
“Ah, my friend—I think the owner of that notebook is quite persistent. She’ll find me soon. Or maybe—she’s watching me right now.”
With those words, Ramiel glanced at the chat window and smiled gently.
“Happy birthday to you.”
Hearing Ramiel’s teasing words, I couldn’t help but lose consciousness.
“Wow, the PV was absolutely brilliant, right?”
Director Cha Dong-jin said as he watched the video again and again. The filming was nearly wrapped up.
Considering how fast the days had gone since filming began, it all felt like a blur. GH Group was also pleased with the fast production pace.
“First, we’ve concealed Cha Soo-ah as much as possible in the PV.”
“Right. That’s perfect.”
There was a brief glimpse of the face of the convenience store clerk.
But it didn’t overlap with the image of the murderer running in the rain.
The raincoat obscured the character’s gender, giving the chase scene a distinctly masculine air.
“Was this filmed by a stunt double?”
When team leader Kim of the publicity team asked this, Cha Dong-jin shook his head.
“No, this was all performed by actor Joo Seoyeon.”
“Wow, this is incredible. I’ve heard stories, but it’s amazing to see in person… and she runs so well…”
As Team Leader Kim said this, Cha Dong-jin chuckled awkwardly.
‘If he knew it was filmed over and over again, he’d probably faint.’
And she ran so fast…
Even if we told him the truth, he might refuse to believe it.
“Are we airing the PV tonight?”
“Yes, that’s the plan. It will hit theaters four months from now.”
“Wow, that’s quick.”
“We don’t need much CG work, so the production will be quick. We plan to focus on promotion until then.”
Truly satisfying words. After filming a movie, it’s rare to see things progress this smoothly.
“This movie will make quite a few actors shine. Especially…”
Neither of them said it outright, but both likely envisioned the same person.
Cha Sooah, the murderer, portrayed by Joo Seoyeon.
A star destined to bring a storm into The Chaser.*
A returned young starlight.
