Hobbyist VTuber

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It has already been half a year since Jihae Min and Ha Eun met.

Including Ha Eun’s days as a devoted fan of D.A, it’s been over ten long years that she has known Jihae Min.

Thus, she was well aware that Jihae Min was someone who clearly distinguished between public and private matters.

It was a long enough time to be sure of that.

Crucially, Jihae Min was the representative of LUX and the head of the Fantasy Realm.

There was no way someone in a so-called “responsible position” would mix personal interests into important projects like Fantasy Realm merchandise.

However, that meant—

“Ugh, sorry… Actually, I’m not sorry at all~!”

The lines displayed on the monitor in front of Ha Eun were all results of strictly distinguishing between public and private matters.

They weren’t just a collection of jokes to tease Ha Eun.

It meant they were lines deemed fitting for D.A’s voice pack.

“Do you really think they suit me? These things?”

“You’re the first to raise an objection. The other members all said those lines suited you well!”

Ultimately, she even heard the surprising truth that other members of Fantasy Realm also thought such lines suited D.A.

It dawned on her that it was only Ha Eun who found it strange.

Yet instead of immediately accepting it, she raised another question because she couldn’t accept the notion.

She simply couldn’t acknowledge that the embodiment of innocence, D.A, had become a character suited for such mischievous lines.

Of course, she couldn’t deny that she had teasingly made fun of colleagues like No Eul or other members who were worse at the game than D.A.

However, that was merely for the sake of fun during the broadcasts.

Ha Eun believed there were no ulterior motives.

Yet, from Jihae Min’s perspective, who had monitored D.A’s broadcasts countless times, Ha Eun’s thoughts on this matter were—

“I didn’t really feel like you were being forced to be teased.”

“But, even so, this is way too much…!”

“Hey, Ha Eun. These were somewhat toned down. There were worse ones!”

It was neither denial nor exaggeration of reality.

“Sort D.A’s YouTube videos by popularity. You’ll see why these lines suit her well.”

With facts based on accurate statistics and indicators, Ha Eun’s stubbornness and misconceptions were ruthlessly crushed.

Consequently, Ha Eun had to reluctantly admit something she didn’t want to.

The discussion about merchandise beyond the voice pack began afterward.

“For now, I’m thinking of acrylic stands and keyrings. Also, a character file and pin buttons.”

She was soon asked what kind of merchandise designs would be good.

Eventually, various illustrations of D.A appeared on Jihae Min’s monitor.

From the concept art submitted when creating D.A’s virtual avatar, to the waiting screen illustrations and SD emoticons, various illustrations were displayed.

After much deliberation, Ha Eun’s first selection was an illustration of D.A in a sweater.

“This character file illustration seems pretty!”

Following that, she continued to select her favorite illustrations for use in creating D.A’s merchandise.

Among them, she was particularly meticulous in choosing the illustration for the acrylic stand.

Since it would be made as a full-body illustration, she wanted it to have a higher quality.

She took notes of elements she wanted expressed that were beyond what was depicted in the example illustration.

“Really working hard, huh.”

To Jihae Min, it seemed that Ha Eun’s enthusiasm for her VTuber activities hadn’t changed at all, whether in the past or in the present.

Regardless, the more detailed the requests Ha Eun made, the higher the quality of the finished product would be.

Thus, the merchandise other than the voice pack was completed without any significant hiccups.

The drafts for the other members of Fantasy Realm had all been completed.

Since they had already selected a company to produce the merchandise, all that was left to do was email the drafts.

They wrapped up their conversation by deciding that the completed samples would be delivered to Ha Eun’s house in a few days.

“Since I need to receive them at home, please contact me as soon as the delivery date is set.”

“Okay~.”

Then, they began discussing D.A’s cover song.

Strictly speaking, the recording of D.A’s cover song had been completed long ago.

However, the production of the music video had been handled by LUX.

And since the result was completed two days ago—

“Hmm, where did I put it?”

-Tap tap.

-Tap tap.

“…Ah, found it.”

“How is it? Does it look good?”

Confident in the quality of the final product, Jihae Min finally showed Ha Eun D.A’s cover song music video.

Just a few seconds later, Ha Eun’s eyes began to widen.

‘Guess she likes it.’

There wasn’t a loud exclamation of excitement coming from Ha Eun, who was staring at the music video on Jihae Min’s monitor.

Nor was there any wild jumping around.

However, the sharp gaze completely focused on the monitor was enough.

“The thumbnail I’ll send you via text. Oh, feel free to show it off during the broadcast if you want.”

“…Okay.”

It was immediately clear that Ha Eun was pleased with D.A’s music video.

Her expression was calm as always, but the slightest twitch at the corners of her mouth revealed her subtle excitement.

What was unexpected was that Ha Eun, who had already recorded an excellent-quality cover song, expressed her desire to re-record for some reason.

“Um, Representative? No, Hyemin unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“Actually… I’d like to record the cover song just one more time, if that’s okay?”

Her eyes held a desperate longing.

Her voice noticeably cautious.

Perhaps because she had seen the music video with her own eyes, she seemed to be feeling a change in her emotions.

Finally, she got permission to re-record.

Jihae Min also knew well of Ha Eun’s singing ability.

While it might take longer for other regular members, Ha Eun, being a professional singer, could finish the re-recording quickly.

“Can I ask how you plan to re-record?”

“Well, the last recording was a bit lively, so this time I want to sing it in a softer tone.”

Then she mentioned that this re-recording would also be done with D.A’s voice, so there was no need to worry.

To be honest, she had some doubts about whether a calm tone was even possible with D.A’s voice.

‘Really, who is worrying about whom here?’

If Ha Eun said she could do it, then she could.

Ha Eun’s enthusiasm might sometimes seem a bit too assertive, but she never clung to the impossible.

So, the meeting about D.A’s merchandise and cover song was completely wrapped up.

However—

“We should record the voice pack at the company.”

Since Ha Eun was already busy, it would be difficult for her to carve out separate time for the voice pack recording.

While the cover song could easily be recorded at Doublie’s studio, it was a bit much to record the voice pack there as well.

“Maybe it’s better to keep the voice pack a secret from the Doublie folks? I’ve heard they are pretty playful.”

“Ah, yes. We definitely need to keep it a secret.”

Ultimately, Ha Eun had to record a few lines for D.A’s voice pack in the studio at LUX Headquarters.

Because Jihae Min personally oversaw Ha Eun’s recording, there was ample feedback.

The problem was that the feedback had everything to do with D.A’s cuteness, innocence, and cheerfulness.

“Happy birthday~~~!”

“Hmm, just a bit cuter.”

“Happy~~ birthday, yay~~!”

“Good.”

Ha Eun knew it was just a necessary job.

There were indeed some ordinary lines unrelated to the mischievous lines she’d seen earlier in Jihae Min’s office.

However, as she received real-time evaluations of D.A’s cute and youthful voice from Jihae Min outside the recording room,

No matter how hard Ha Eun tried, she could feel her ears growing red.

“Why are you laughing…?”

“Oh, just… it’s cute?”

“…Can’t we record at home?”

In the end, she even contemplated escaping from this embarrassing situation.

Unlike the cover song, where she could entrust full authority to Ha Eun, Jihae Min was the expert when it came to the voice pack, so she was firmly rejected.

“It’s better if I give feedback when I can. Now, the next line is number 23.”

“…Ugh…”

And so, she ended up clenching her fists and diving into the voice pack recording.

For quite a while afterward, there was no option left for Ha Eun but to blush in the recording room.

*

“Hey, Ha Eun. What are you thinking so hard about?”

It was now lunchtime at the Narae Academy.

More precisely, they were in the long bench of the hallway.

Ha Eun had intended to chit-chat with Dayeon just like any other day, but after a certain point, she found herself lost in deep thought with her mouth shut.

“Dayeon.”

“?”

“Um, that merchandise you showed me earlier… Do we really have to buy it?”

No matter what anyone said, Dayeon was a devoted fan of D.A.

That meant there was a good chance she’d buy merchandise related to D.A.

Which ultimately meant she might end up buying D.A’s voice pack too.

When Dayeon had recently shown the promotional post for D.A’s merchandise with a perfectly innocent expression, Ha Eun belatedly realized.

For some reason, Dayeon’s hand was tightly clenched into a fist, but she didn’t pay much attention to that.

Should she put Dayeon’s ID, ekdus7, on the blacklist of the merchandise purchase website?

Or should she find a buyer whose delivery address is Dayeon’s home and refund them, claiming it was out of stock?

“What’s the problem? It’s not like it’s super expensive.”

“Ah, no. It’s not that there’s a problem, but…”

Ha Eun was stuck in an endless loop of how to dissuade Dayeon, who seemed adamant about buying D.A’s merchandise.

Still, the conclusion she reached was ‘there’s no answer.’

“Sigh…”

“The ground is gonna swallow me up. Why do you keep messing up in Sunshine these days?”

“…This moment is an NG…”

“…??”

In the end, it became a ‘whatever will be, will be’ situation.

Dayeon, sitting right next to Ha Eun, was clenching her fists with a very determined expression, but Ha Eun failed to notice.