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Han Ye-eun.

I met her while practicing a K-pop song at the Vocal Academy with Tenshi.

At that time, she seemed bright and kind, so I thought we might become friends and we exchanged numbers…

Could it be that the VTuber I jokingly mentioned was actually part of the Celestial Realm?

If that’s the case, it kind of clears up some questions I had back then…

“What’s wrong?”

While I was deep in thought, Maho, who was sitting next to me, asked with a curious expression.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Well, thinking about it, does it really make a big difference that Hae-eun is Han Ye-eun?

It’s just a bit surprising, that’s all.

And it might even be a good thing, right?

Looking at how she was back then, if she came in as a junior, that would be more of a positive than a negative.

“I just got lost in thought for a moment. Shall we keep watching?”

“Almost done.”

“Ah.”

Since it was a debut relay broadcast, each person’s time wasn’t that long.

Hae-eun’s turn had already finished, and now the final debut broadcast of the day was starting.

The name was Haeil.

Her name is similar to Hae-eun, though the meanings seem completely different.

It’s probably that ‘tsunami’ we hear about during earthquakes.

[Nice to meet you!]

The character, fittingly named, had hair that resembled crashing waves in a vibrant blue.

Hae-eun’s hair was impressive, but this one was dazzling in a whole different way.

It seems that once the second-generation debuts are over, we’ll need to request a proper remake from The Six.

If they can create something like this, why can’t we?

Of course, I’m not saying that the quality of the first generation is bad. It’s just that the second generation is incredibly flashy.

“Wow, what a character.”

“Right?”

Maho seemed to be having the same thoughts as me and marveled again.

If we’re impressed, the viewers must be loving it even more.

Even the viewers of my broadcast are always chanting ‘Butakuni’ while loving subculture more than anyone.

[Let’s explain…!]

Haeil continued with her introduction just like the previous two.

Skipping over the basics like height and weight, my interest was in her special skill.

Seolha is drawing.

Hae-eun is singing.

So what about Haeil? I’m curious.

Since the broadcast isn’t that long, the special skill segment came up soon.

[My special skill is gaming!]

Gaming, right off the bat.

Hmm… Not what I expected, but gaming is still important.

I mean, I’m a VTuber who’s pretty good at games myself, right?

I’d probably be the best among the first-generation.

Given my solid physical skills.

[From famous games to indie games, I’m confident in all of them!]

Haeil confidently stated this next, sparking my interest.

She’s confident in everything? Is it time to pass down Civ or Romance of the Three Kingdoms?

Considering how many viewers might be overwhelmed right from the start, wouldn’t teaching Miro’s secret anteater technique be helpful?

[Well then, I’ll be going now! For the next broadcast…!]

After watching Haeil, the last of our cute juniors from the second generation’s debut broadcasts, Maho stretched her arms out and yawned.

“Finally finished watching everything.”

“How was it?”

“The newbies?”

“Yeah.”

Personally, I liked all of them. I think they’ll do well on broadcasts, and I’m looking forward to collaborations too.

With the Celestial Realm Project gaining more weight, there’s nothing bad for me in this; I hope the newcomers work hard and expand their reach.

“They were all good! I want to collaborate or meet them soon.”

Maho seemed to share my sentiments. I mean, it’s clear to anyone that they all did well.

Imagining that collaboration that might happen someday, I stood up.

“Well, I’m off then. It’s late.”

“You could sleep over; we agreed to watch together tomorrow, right?”

Since the debut broadcasts for the juniors were happening over two days, I had plans to come to Maho’s House again tomorrow.

That’s why she suggested I stay over, but…

“It’s close enough, isn’t it?”

I could walk here in no time; I didn’t see the need to stay.

“Well, that’s true.”

When I said I wouldn’t stay over, Maho puffed her cheeks in displeasure.

Why is she acting like this? She seemed so cute when Tenshi was around, but Maho, who feels 1.5 times larger, comes off a bit intimidating.

“Oh, by the way, Loa is coming over tomorrow too.”

“Loa unni?”

“Yeah.”

Loa coming over? What a twist!

I wouldn’t have thought she would come given how far she lives.

“That’s great.”

For me, as long as they’re all members, I don’t mind more people, so I nodded.

Leaving behind pouting Maho, I headed home for now.

***

The next day.

I was on my way to Maho’s House to watch the remaining three debuts of the second generation, and from a distance, I spotted a familiar face.

“Oh, Soo-hyun?”

It was Loa.

I heard she’d be coming today, and we ran into each other near Maho’s House.

“Did you come, unni?”

“Yep, just saw you up ahead.”

Honestly, even though I’ve seen Loa often, it’s still a bit hard to adjust.

She doesn’t quite match up to that innocent image I see on broadcasts.

From the outside, she seems a bit blunt too.

Well, VTubers who match their broadcast persona in reality are pretty rare.

I’m not exactly calm on air either, right?

“Let’s go in.”

“Sure.”

As we entered the building, Loa took the lead, and I noticed something had changed about her.

Now that I think about it, her hair has gotten a bit longer.

When I first saw her, she had a short haircut, but now it’s just short enough to be considered a bob.

“Now it’s a bob, isn’t it?”

Her ears peeked through her voluminous bob, but unlike before, there were no piercings.

“Oh yeah, I’m trying to grow it out.”

Now that I think about it, her makeup seems lighter too.

Has she been influenced by her character for a long time now?

What should I call this? Innocent corruption?

Anyway, she definitely looks prettier as a woman now.

“It suits you.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, I liked your previous look too.”

I genuinely meant it.

I mean, I like bands a bit, right?

I thought she’d fit right in jamming on guitar in some underground venue in Hongdae, in my mind, she’s definitely appealing.

“Then how does it compare to before?”

“Well, always better now, right?”

No one would be so tone-deaf as to say the past looked better, and the changes in Loa haven’t been drastic to me, both then and now.

“Well, that’s settled! Let’s head upstairs!”

Thus, we climbed the stairs and arrived at Maho’s House.

*Knock, knock.*

Loa knocked on the door, and it opened promptly.

“Welcome— What? Did you two come together?”

“We ran into each other on the way.”

“Such a coincidence? Come on in!”

Having been here yesterday, I felt no strong emotions seeing Maho’s room.

It just felt like it was clean every time I came here.

“Here, both of you sit down.”

Loa and I sat on the same sofa I saw yesterday.

I felt a certain vibe coming.

Once Maho sat down too…

“Yup.”

…As expected, it felt a bit cramped.

It’s a sofa meant for someone living alone, so three of us sitting here inevitably feels tight.

As we set the food just like yesterday and chatted for a bit, before I knew it the second-generation relay broadcast had begun, and we entered the first channel.

“Oh.”

It was Harbin.

“*Sigh.*”

A hint of awkwardness filled the air.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Soo-hyun, you had a meeting, right? How was it? Just like at the café.”

Feeling awkward, I waved my hands as the expressions of the two members turned strange.

“Oh, it’s not like that.”

Well, Harbin didn’t do anything wrong.

I was just a bit oblivious in my actions.

Plus, didn’t Harbin give me some advice that day, somewhat like a consultation?

This is kind of awkward.

I wonder what it’ll be like when I see her again.

What kind of expression will I wear and what will I say…?

Thus, I struggled to maintain my expression while watching Harbin’s debut broadcast.

Harbin’s character had bright purple bobbed hair with a cap and wore an outfit that gave off a completely street vibe.

Her quality was certainly good, but her character design was really similar to what we had during the first-generation auditions.

“Looks like Harbin is continuing with the same character.”

“Well, that’s because it has a story behind it.”

Unlike the other second-generation members who completely revamped everything despite having past lives, Harbin didn’t change her name and appeared to keep her character design intact.

Honestly, it’s much more relatable for viewers to have a character who successfully overcame the challenge after not making it in the first generation as opposed to an entirely new debutant.

Looking at the chat, it was clear that the responses were quite positive.

Although she might fall short in appearance compared to the three from yesterday, her story of resilience gives her the upper hand.

Moreover, she almost made it to the first-generation auditions last time.

Having gone through the process and training to become a second-generation member means she can’t mess up now.

Just as expected, she handled her self-introduction with much more skill than those before her.

Now, what would her special skill be?

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Harbin.

I had done some searching, but not enough to know her special skill…

Well, if I don’t know now, I can learn about it now.

So, I was curious about what Harbin’s special skill would be…

[So, as written here, I’m great at rapping.]

This was a bit different from what I anticipated.

“Rapping?”

“Oo….”

Maho had a reaction similar to mine, whereas Loa…

“I’m excited!”

Surprisingly, Loa seemed quite pleased.

Is this really unexpected?

“Do you like rap?”

“Yep! Hip-hop is great.”

“You don’t do it on your broadcasts.”

“Uh… for the concept?”

Oh, I see… I hadn’t imagined Loa’s character would be one to rap.

Maybe if it was done playfully, sure, but the Loa now wouldn’t fit that style.

On the other hand, I found it intriguing that she liked rap; it oddly suits her.

I hope to hear her rap someday.

Once Harbin’s broadcast ended, the next was…

“I’m excited for this one.”

“Oh, Seo Eun-ha?”

Harbin finished, and up next was Seo Eun-ha.

It seemed like the ones I met during the interview were coming up in order.

Though she appeared a bit shy in reality, I wonder how she’ll perform on air.

The manager has crowned Seo Eun-ha as the best among the other impressive second-generation members, so I can’t say I’m not looking forward to it.

As I entered Seo Eun-ha’s broadcast, I was greeted by some background music along with visuals.

“This background music is…”

“Kind of mystical, right?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

The music and the visuals gave off a somewhat mysterious vibe.

Unlike the other second-generation members, who chose calming background music and settings, she was giving us a very unique feel.

As I was captivated by the mystical music and visuals, suddenly, Seo Eun-ha’s character popped out.

[Hello, everyone!]

The bright and energetic voice that sounded so different from the one I remembered filled the area, but my focus was instead fixed on Seo Eun-ha’s character.

“No way.”

“Wow.”

And it wasn’t just me; both Maho and Loa next to me gasped in amazement as well.

Seo Eun-ha’s character was worthy of her name, with dark purple hair shimmering like she was gazing at the cosmos and sparkling eyes like stars.

It was quite different from the character visuals I had seen beforehand.

And more importantly…

“No way.”

The quality was astounding.

How did she manage to look like that?

The second-generation members’ appearances were impressive too, but this was on a whole different level.

After seeing the three second-generation members yesterday and Harbin today.

With Seo Eun-ha wrapping it all up, it’s reached a point of disbelief.

“What kind of character is this?”

What the hell, The Six!

If they can produce characters like this, shouldn’t they remake Miro first?

I need to call the manager after the debut broadcasts today.

 

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