---

[So how much longer is it?]

“Yeah, it’s really soon.”

[Hmm… that sounds nerve-wracking.]

“A bit too much?”

[I get it! I was really nervous too.]

Tenshi replied as if she understood the sentiment. After all, she’s a veteran in the industry, right? The path I’ve walked has already been taken by Tenshi.

[But Suhyeon will do well. Ah, I hear footsteps coming from n direction.]

“Footsteps? Oh, I hear them too.”

Bang! Bang!

Just after Tenshi mentioned hearing a sound, she quickly turned her weapon and fired immediately.

Afterward, I couldn’t help but admire the kill feed appearing in the upper right.

“Wow, you shoot really well.”

[Hahaha, I’ve done it a lot, right? You do well too, Suhyeon.]

“Not as well as Tenshi.”

While I do play games to an extent, compared to Tenshi, who has played FPS games ten times over, I had a long way to go.

[It’d be great if you played more FPS, Suhyeon… You always do strange things when watching the broadcast!]

“What do you mean by strange things…?”

As if I was doing something weird.

Still, compared to before, I’ve been actively taking viewer suggestions and mixing things up a bit recently.

[Why do you always play those kusoge?]

“Umm… those games are all made with the developers’ hard work and they’re quite popular.”

Kusoge? Saying it like that makes it sound like I’m only picking terrible games.

They’re just a bit more obscure, that’s all.

Those kinds of games are great for quick sessions, so I play them often.

[By the way, when will we watch a movie together again? That was fun.]

“Huh? You watched that?”

[Of course! I saw you sniffling!]

Oh no… she saw that?

How much teasing did I get from the Celestial Realm members after that?

Looking back, it seems Tenshi is about to tease me too, so I made the first move.

“Then how about we watch a movie together later, just the two of us?”

[Eh? Is that a date proposal?]

“Something like that? Well, you’d have to come to Korea first.”

[Beep beep— Are we boycotting Japanese movie theaters?!]

“Oh dear, that’s a dangerous thing to say.”

If I watch a movie in a Japanese movie theater, I wouldn’t be able to properly enjoy it.

Or would I? If it’s a Korean film showing in Japan, it might be worth watching.

As long as it’s not dubbed but subtitled, of course.

[More importantly, Suhyeon! You need to prepare your heart soon!]

“Huh? Prepare for what?”

[You promised to come to my live show! You have to come to Japan!]

Ah, come to think of it, I did make that promise.

I’m sorry Tenshi, but… I forgot because I’ve been so busy.

“Ah, when should I go?”

[Hmm… I don’t have a detailed schedule yet! But it won’t take too long. Ah! Eat this samgyeopsal.]

“Thanks!”

Well, my guess is that the earliest would probably be sometime early next year after the year-end live.

By that time, I should be able to make it to Japan without issue.

“Alright. Let me know once it’s settled.”

[Wakatta!]

Speaking of Japan, someone comes to mind.

“Oh right, Tenshi.”

[Yes?]

“Do you know Izakaya Sake?”

The famous Japanese VTuber Lee Hyun-jun mentioned before.

I’m a bit curious about who he is.

If he’s ranked number one in Japan, the birthplace of VTubers, that’s almost equivalent to being number one in the VTuber world.

[Eh? Sake-senpai?]

“Yeah, I was talking with a friend the other day, and even a friend who knows nothing about VTubers knew about him.”

[Ee-eh? Is he a guy?]

“Oh… how did you know?”

Right on the money! But is that really something that’s common knowledge?

I guess most people who know about VTubers are likely to be guys.

[Really?! Is he handsome?!]

“Hmm… he looks just the type Tenshi would like.”

[Eh?! Do you know my taste?]

“Maybe?”

Doesn’t Tenshi like K-Pop idols?

I figured she’d like him just because he looks the part.

[More importantly, what kind of person is Sake? I’m curious.]

[Uhm… It’s hard to explain in words….]

After a moment of contemplation, Tenshi made a suggestion.

[How about I introduce you to him when you come to Japan?]

“Huh? That’s a bit… awkward.”

What is she even saying right now? I’m curious, but I don’t necessarily want to meet him.

[Eh? Why not? There are tons of people who want to meet Sake-senpai.]

“I’ll just hang out with Tenshi in Japan. Plus, I can’t speak Japanese.”

[Sake-senpai knows a bit of Korean. Ah! There’s a person over there!]

“He speaks Korean? First, let me lay down some smoke first.”

Why does everyone seem to know Korean?

Is this the power of K-Pop?

I can kind of see why there’s talk of a cultural victory.

[I’m going ahead! Uh… oh! I’m dead!]

“Wait! I’ll save you… Ugh!”

As we talked and boldly tried to breach the house in front of us, we both ended up dying.

As I saw the number 4 floating above, Tenshi sighed.

[Oh dear… I thought we’d at least get first place today.]

“Yeah… that’s too bad.”

[Then shall we head to the broadcast now?]

“Yes, let’s go.”

[I’ll be watching!]

“Haha… you don’t have to draw that many.”

After finishing up the game with Tenshi, I turned on the broadcast just as I had planned.

[Announcements]

-?

-Is there something?

-Hello hello

-Oh that stuff

“Ah, hello.”

-Hello

-What’s the announcement about?

-Is it what was posted in the café?

-What exactly is it??

Many viewers didn’t seem to know, but some of them noticed, thankfully the Manager had posted the announcements in the café.

“Since you guys don’t seem to check the café much, I came out to make an announcement myself.”

There was no more to be said; I simply displayed the notice for the Celestial Realm year-end live on the broadcast screen.

“On December 31st, I hope you all have no other plans. Let’s spend the end of the year together with the Celestial Realm.”

-Kya

-What’s going on??

“The schedule for the Celestial Realm’s first year-end live is now revealed.”

-So it’s the Celestial Realm

-Live?!?

-What exactly is it??

-Is it free??

“Oh, of course it’s free, and we’ll be singing and dancing together.”

I learned painfully during this recording just how difficult it is to sing and dance simultaneously.

Still, looking at the end results… there shouldn’t be any disappointments.

-You’ll also dance?

-Well, lessons aren’t just for show!

-It seems a bit obvious, yeah.

“Well, it may be obvious, but we can’t skip the practice, right? We really practiced hard, so please come and watch.”

-Okay

-Hmm… is that all?

-Can I no-show?

-I’ll think about it based on what’s going on today.

“Oh dear.”

These people.

Even though they’ll all come, they still have to complain in the chat.

[Thank you for your 1,000 won donation!]

But if there’s a year-end live, merchandise should be included, right?

-Really?

-As for the goods…

-There should be something!

Merch? That caught me off guard since I hadn’t even considered it.

“Well… I’m sorry, but there are no plans yet.”

-???

-Isn’t it about time to start?

-If there’s no merchandise, how can you call yourself a streamer? This is VTuber business, right?!

“No, well… I just haven’t had the chance?”

Honestly, isn’t it a bit too soon to drop something less than a year in?

Plus, in Korea, if you just cash in on your popularity with merchandise out of the blue, you’ll immediately get hit with accusations of being money-hungry and taking advantage of your fans.

Of course, I personally would love to have Celestial Realm goods, but it still feels too early.

-Please!

-Then when will you start selling it?

-I heard that goods sell really well.

“I don’t know. That’s something the Company handles.”

But judging by the response, I started to feel that it might be fine to sell something this time around.

“I hope that one day I’ll have enough Celestial Realm merchandise to fill my room.”

After moving the figurines from my room to the warehouse, my room still feels somewhat empty.

I even thought about getting a Tenshi figure to put on display.

-Really…

-Do you think that day will ever come?

“Well, I guess it’ll come someday.”

Even if I can’t maintain this growth, if I keep going steadily upwards, it should be possible someday.

Probably a few years from now.

By then, we may even see the 12th generation of the Celestial Realm coming out.

“Anyway, I’ve put a lot of preparation into the year-end live, so everyone please look forward to it. Now, I’ll make the real announcement.”

-???

-Wasn’t that the announcement?

-Is there more?

“Yes, there’s more. Just a moment.”

Well, it was correct to say I came to announce the Celestial Realm year-end live, but actually, this isn’t the core of today’s broadcast.

The real core is right here.

Clack.

I opened the prepared folder and pulled up a file I received that morning.

“Alright, please pay attention.”

And then, the broadcast monitor displayed a video made in 2D, with a calm melody playing in the background.

The first thing shown is a lake surrounded by a forest.

In that scene, one might think of the word “natural beauty,” and a girl’s back can be seen by the serene lakeside.

With her pink hair and adorable little horns, she gazes vacantly at the lake and then sees her own face reflected in the water.

At that moment, her beautiful form shimmers on the sparkling surface of the lake.

With eyes that look like they’ve had emeralds embedded and delicately shaped features, she herself can’t take her eyes off the water.

And at the same time, a beautiful voice fills the video.

The speed of the video seems to fast-forward time, darkening, lightening, and repeating.

As the rhythm of the softened melody picks up tempo…

Tok.

As something drops into the lake, the speed of the video suddenly slows down, showing the ripples spreading slowly.

And then…

The girl, who had been staring at her reflection for days, frowns as the still lake shivers and becomes restless.

As the final scene, the video ends with her sitting back down, frowning.

[Calm Lake]

-????

-Wow, that was incredible.

-What was that???

-Is it a new song??

“So, how do you like the teaser?”

The identity of this video is none other than the teaser for the music video “Calm Lake.”

I was shocked when I first received it.

The quality was unexpectedly high.

“This is Miro’s original song.”

-???

-Really??

-When is it?

-What is this?

Did it come off a bit too sudden?

Seeing the viewers who seemed bewildered, I nodded.

Yeah, it must be confusing.

Perhaps the viewers thought Anna would be the first to release her original song if it came out.

But here I am, the quiet kitten Miro, who took the lead.

“The release will be after Christmas.”

As I said that, I checked the calendar.

December 21st.

D-10 until the year-end live.

It’s really right around the corner.

[Thank you, Master Miro, for the 10,000 won donation!]

Miro, are you going to have a broadcast on Christmas too?

-Of course!

-If you don’t, it’ll be a disaster!

“Haha.”

-Get lost!

-Answer!

-??

-Just please don’t skip it…

-Please turn it on…

Christmas is D-4 away.

 

---