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Two days have passed since the peaceful lake was announced.

Yesterday was really… quite chaotic, so I don’t even remember much.

[Uh, is Miro okay?]

At the manager’s question, I just let out a hollow laugh.

“Well….”

The red pill was dropped.

And just like that, in a split second.

Honestly, I had prepared myself to some extent, but to be caught so quickly like this…

“It doesn’t really matter.”

Saying that, I looked at the popular posts in the community.

Since I hadn’t streamed yesterday, it started with a desperate plea to turn the broadcast on immediately, and then there was spotlight on the Wonderland featuring, and some talk about my music performance.

More than that… the music performance…

[Still… the song did well, right?]

“Yes, that’s a relief.”

The reason for the smile in my manager’s words.

It was precisely because of the music performance.

Ranked 38 in real-time charts.

I let out a hollow laugh upon seeing the number.

Isn’t this higher than the Celestial Realm’s performance?

The reason this happened, I could say, was thanks to Hyeon-su.

As soon as I got caught, he immediately promoted it on Instagram.

Claiming it was his own song.

Since he went ahead and did that, even people who were friends with Hyeon-su listened and posted it on their stories—anyway, the promotion was definitely effective.

Even after Hyeon-su’s shout-out, it continued to grow steadily through word of mouth.

Looking at it this way, it’s clear how fearsome the influence of celebrities is.

Furthermore, thanks to the music video, it’s also doing well on YouTube.

[I’m glad the results are better than expected.]

“Indeed.”

Though it’s beyond what I expected, it feels unreal.

[So, are you all going to watch the year-end live together?]

“Yes, I plan to watch with the members.”

Since it’s something meaningful, we decided to gather together to watch it.

Yesterday, Anna invited the members over to her house to watch it together.

[It’s good that people from the Celestial Realm get along well.]

“Well, we really have no reason to be at odds.”

What reason would we have to fight?

Since we’re grouped together in this Celestial Realm, there’s a sense of camaraderie.

[Anyway, everyone worked hard to create this, so I hope you all enjoy it without worries.]

“Yes, Manager, are you… working today as well?”

[On a day like today, I have to work even harder.]

“…You’re going through a lot. Take care.”

[Yes.]

After finishing the call with my workaholic manager, I started getting ready to head out.

Fortunately, Anna’s house isn’t far at all.

I should be able to get home right after the year-end live and stream.

Since I didn’t stream yesterday, I have to today.

So, as always, after meeting Maho, I headed to Anna’s house.

“Is this the right place?”

“Yeah, according to the map.”

Since Anna had taken off her rookie status and earned money as a musical actor, she lived in an apartment in downtown Seoul, and it looked like a nice building at first glance.

By the way, why did Anna quit being a musical actor to become a VTuber?

It’s been a while since I met the members, but I still don’t know everything.

“What are you doing? Let’s go in.”

“Oh, okay.”

So, together with Maho, we entered the apartment and took the elevator to the corridor Anna mentioned.

Ding-dong—

I pressed the bell, and Anna immediately opened the door.

“Hey, you’re here? Everyone’s inside, so come in.”

“Oh, I didn’t want to come empty-handed.”

“Oh, thank you.”

After handing her the drinks I brought and entering, the living room scene came into view.

“Wow, it looks nice.”

“Right? I prepared a bit since you guys were coming.”

Anna, who is always interested in finance and retirement plans, seems to have nicely managed her house as well.

More than anything…

“Wow.”

“What’s this?”

The large TV in the living room caught my attention.

How many inches is this? It almost takes up an entire wall.

As Maho and I admired the TV, Anna shrugged her shoulders with pride.

“Cool, right? I saved up to buy this~”

There was a reason she confidently invited us to see her place.

With a TV like that, anything must be worth watching.

“Come on, you guys sit on the sofa.”

“The sofa?”

Other members, aside from Maho and me, were already huddled on the sofa.

But with Maho and me sitting, that space… looks a bit cramped, doesn’t it?

“What? Don’t you want to sit with us?”

“Now that Su-hyun is doing well, he’s rejecting older sisters!”

“Oh dear, with such a sudden pressure, I guess it’s my turn to squeeze in.”

If they’re going to push us like that.

I seated myself beside Maho, who is larger in build.

Hmm, still cramped.

“Shall we order something?”

“Of course, how about some chicken?”

“Chicken again?”

“That’s what chicken is for, to eat in times like this.”

Anna said that as she opened the delivery app.

Hmm, seems like she’s fully set on eating chicken.

I heard she usually doesn’t order delivery food because she’s managing her diet, so she must really want it this time.

“I like chicken.”

“Right? Su-hyun knows how to eat.”

“Do you have beer at home?”

“Of course.”

“Well, that’s good.”

We placed the order for chicken and while waiting, we all chatted cuddled up together.

In the meantime, while I was secretly planning an escape from the cramped sofa, Maho showed me her phone.

“Hey, Su-hyun, this person also posted your song on Instagram.”

“My song?”

“Yeah, look here.”

She showed me a post from Lee Hyun-jun.

It was nothing serious, just a picture of my song playing.

In an instant, memories of the terror of the bluebird account sprang to mind, but soon faded.

Isn’t song shout-outs something celebrities do often?

“…He’s close with Hyeon-su, so I suppose it makes sense for him to post it.”

“Wow, do you really think you’ll make it into the top 10?”

“No way.”

And I quietly slipped down from the sofa to the floor.

Phew, feels like I can breathe now.

“Su-hyun’s song is actually really good.”

“Right? I was surprised when I heard it.”

But even though I got off the sofa, the members shifted their focus onto me.

Well, we had talked all about it already yesterday.

Once my picture began circulating around the community, the members were all buzzing for a while, so we wrapped that discussion up.

Now, they’re just starting to compliment my song, something I couldn’t address earlier.

“Honestly, your skills are improving fast! Makes me feel inadequate.”

“Right? And the featuring… I was jealous of Su-hyun a lot, but this time, I was so jealous I almost did a somersault.”

Ugh… being complimented makes me so shy.

I don’t mind the attention, but standing in front of the members like this makes me want to run away.

“So, how did you come about making the original song? Spill the tea a bit.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really hear about it yesterday.”

Creating an original song?

Honestly, it’s nothing too dramatic.

“I’d been casually nudging for a song for a while, and this time I got it from Hyeon-su.”

“Wait—he actually gave it to you?”

“Yeah, he said it’d suit me.”

“Uh….”

Hearing that, the members’ expressions changed subtly.

Are they… not possibly thinking of something weird?

“That’s not what you think! He’s still in high school. Do you guys want to get caught or something?”

“But he’ll turn 18 tomorrow, right?”

“Still underage for now.”

And maybe the members don’t know since they never actually met him.

Hyeon-su is already someone who got married due to a music project.

That kind of misunderstanding is quite problematic.

“So how did you make the music video?”

“I told my manager.”

“He just made it for you like that?”

“No, I asked Slim Gold for the song and when I, a music video rookie, asked if I could make it, he freaked out and decided to help me.”

“Ah….”

Honestly, it’s more like I threatened him to get it done.

I wonder if the members realized that, as they looked at me in shock.

“You’re really something else.”

“Right, your caliber is something else.”

“Did you understand? From now on, call me the more divine Miro.”

“Uh, that’s a bit much.”

Oh dear, cutting the line so sharply.

When to worship and when to draw the line.

“Anyway, it’s about time to start, but when will the chicken arrive?”

“Wait, the app says it’ll be here soon.”

As Anna said, the chicken really arrived quickly.

I thought it might take longer since it’s the end of the year, but it came sooner than expected.

So we set the chicken and beer on the table in front of the sofa and turned on the TV.

“Alright, shall we enter the channel?”

Just one minute left.

As the members, including me, all felt tense, Anna calmly handled the remote to access YouTube on the TV.

Once we entered the Celestial Realm channel in the subscription list, the live waiting room was prominently visible.

“W-Wait, there are 30,000 people waiting?”

“Wow.”

There were indeed a staggering 30,000 viewers waiting in that live waiting room.

Even before it had started, that number was more than I expected.

Thinking about how many more people might join after it starts, it could even reach 100,000.

Seeing so many more than expected, it seems the hype is properly built.

“It looks like we’re attracting a lot of attention thanks to Su-hyun…”

“Damn, Su-hyun again… I might have to end up worshiping you.”

“Great Su-hyun.”

“Is it you again…?”

I couldn’t help but crack up seeing the members use internet terms in real life—surely they don’t act like this outside, right? I hope not.

As we casually chatted, thinking our nerves had settled, it suddenly turned eerily quiet just before the year-end live began.

Well, everyone must be nervous and speechless.

Thinking about how hard they’ve all worked since Chuseok.

Everyone aside from Anna, who knew how to dance, took dance lessons to prepare.

I’m sure everyone shares that same hope for a good outcome.

Then, the waiting room screen changed.

The highly anticipated year-end live had begun.

 

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