Midterm Study at Choi Hana's Café (1)
"What brings you all the way out here?"
Jeong Noeul said with a bright smile.
She was wearing a café apron, but her long blonde hair and glamorous figure made even ordinary everyday clothes look anything but ordinary. In truth, she wasn't much older than me—the thought crossed my mind that if she'd been a cadet at Theia, she would have been extremely popular.
Well. Looking at that face alone, no one would ever guess she's an underworld syndicate member.
This was a private café, but the interior was gloomy overall. Not only that—the building itself looked rundown from the outside. It wasn't strange. This whole stretch of Jongno, dense with aging buildings, was packed with underworld syndicate offices.
This dilapidated building was the territory of Choi Hana's organization, Blood Jaguar.
That's why I deliberately set the meeting here.
It was a gloomy and dangerous place for young people to hang out. Naturally, part-timers were hard to find and labor costs added up, so the female syndicate members seemed to be covering café duty instead.
Doesn't look like there are many customers anyway. So it should be fine.
I answered Jeong Noeul.
"I made plans to study here with Hana."
"Really? There are plenty of good cafés near Theia's library or campus! Coming all the way to a gloomy place like this is pretty unusual."
Jeong Noeul looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"She said this café is quiet and good for studying."
"Ah! That's not wrong. Hehe. We really don't get any customers here."
Even Jeong Noeul, the staff member, couldn't deny it—she had left the counter empty just to come talk to me. In fact, not just this café; the entire alley around the building was deserted.
Then she looked at me with a curious glint in her eyes.
"Anyway. How are things going with Hana lately?"
"What do you mean by that all of a sudden?"
"Come on. This is prime time for young college freshmen who are dying to date. It's common knowledge that campus couples explode at the start of the semester!"
She wasn't wrong. I was too busy to spare any attention for my surroundings, but it seemed like countless couples were already forming in Free Major Class and the Crime Studies Club alike.
Couples, huh…
Just then, a delivery order came in, and Jeong Noeul returned to the counter.
"Just a sec! We'll talk more in a bit!"
Jeong Noeul said it with a touch of regret, but the truth was I wasn't free enough to spare any interest in romance. Especially now, when the underworld atmosphere was anything but ordinary.
I briefly organized the recent underworld situation in my head.
The Hunter Association and Valhalla's Apostles. The feud between those two massive powers had thrown the underworld into chaos as well.
The Hunter Association already had considerable collusion with the underworld. So Valhalla's Apostles was actively intervening in underworld affairs under the pretext of dealing with villains.
The weaker they make the underworld's power, the bigger the pie Valhalla's Apostles can claim for themselves.
They could also play the media—framing it for the public as Valhalla's Apostles accomplishing what the Association couldn't. So for me, this was a clear opportunity.
I can use this chaos to expand Blood Jaguar's influence instead.
That was why I'd come straight to Blood Jaguar's building. Hwang Yonggyun, vice-boss of Blood Jaguar—the man effectively serving as boss in Choi Hana's place—also worked out of the office here. I planned to contact him soon as Unknown.
Mad Knife, Blood Jaguar's parent organization. I need to take it for sure.
I needed at least that much bulk to get anything done in the underworld. My ultimate goal was to bring even the villain organization Crimson Teeth under my control.
Crimson Teeth would keep making moves not just in the underworld, but directly against Theia like last time.
They'll go after the demi-human cadets soon enough.
Fatal Blood, the A-rank villain vampire who'd attacked me and my party at the Old Campus. On orders from the executive behind him, they'd start something new again.
Almost no one knows that executive's identity except me, who knows the original story.
Among the original's main cadets, there were quite a few of demi-human origin. Song Sia and Jeong Ungyeong of Aegis. And Lim Jaeho of the middle class was a demi-human too. It was An Yumin the protagonist's main quest, but I planned to get involved in that quest the same way I had last time.
If Song Sia gets mixed up in it, I can get my hands on Demonic Power.
Especially if Song Sia got directly involved with Crimson Teeth, that would be a problem. With True Blood mixed in her veins, she'd be a massive asset to that villain group.
I planned to grow my power in the underworld faster than Crimson Teeth, so I needed a capable operator to help me.
I need to win Hwang Yonggyun's favor.
Choi Hana, daughter of a legendary boss. Hwang Yonggyun was practically her adoptive father. If he became my right hand, it would give wings to the activities I was about to start as Unknown.
Hwang Yonggyun is extremely loyal to Choi Hana…
Naturally, being on good terms with Choi Hana couldn't hurt. Even if I didn't immediately reveal that Unknown and Lee Junwoo were the same person, if he became my subordinate he'd find out eventually.
But when it came to Choi Hana, unlike the members of Aegis, I wasn't operating on pure calculation of interests. She was already very favorably disposed toward me—a colleague I could trust. So I was treating her sincerely as well.
Of course, only as a friend.
Just then, Jeong Noeul came back over with expectant eyes.
"Hana says she'll take a little while to get here. So be honest. Do you really have zero interest?"
She casually sat down next to me. The shirt she was wearing was loose, making it a little hard to know where to put my eyes. I fell silent for a moment at Jeong Noeul's words.
The truth was, I'd never thought I'd develop feelings for Choi Hana beyond friendship. But lately, to say I felt nothing at all would be a lie.
Is it because I've been watching too many of Naharing's streams?
Thanks to my Mental Strength of 90, even with a captivating older-sister type like Jeong Noeul sitting right next to me, I didn't particularly think anything of it. But strangely enough, when it came to Naharing, I'd gotten so deeply immersed lately I could call myself a hardcore fan.
Jeong Noeul was also a popular VTuber under the nickname Yunori, but even among the Underdolls, my number one pick was still Naharing.
Do I just like pink bob cuts?
Or maybe it was proof of how outstanding Choi Hana's streaming skills were. Watching her streams so much, I'd even accidentally watched one while logged into Toka TV. Normally I watched logged out just in case, but Naharing had so many viewers that it probably wouldn't be a problem.
The truth was, I'd deliberately set today's study session here for her sake as well. Not only could I help her with theory study for midterms, but studying here meant she wouldn't have any trouble streaming.
We're pulling an all-nighter tonight. She can't just cancel her stream for no reason.
Tonight was Friday night. If she canceled during a golden time slot like this, Naharing's fans would go nuclear. Not just Choi Hana—all of Underdolls' streaming equipment was set up at this office, so there were plenty of reasons to come here.
I chatted a little more with Jeong Noeul while waiting for Choi Hana. About an hour later, she arrived.
Choi Hana sat in a subway seat.
Long black hair. Plenty of people stole glances at her pure, innocent looks—and even some rough-looking tattooed men eyed her briefly—but everyone quickly averted their gaze.
The clothes Choi Hana was wearing were Theia Academy cadet uniform. Naturally, that was proof she was an Awakened with a hunter license, not an ordinary person. Even if the absolute elite of civilian combat sports stepped up, they couldn't beat even a low-license-rank hunter. So there was no way any ordinary person would dare approach Choi Hana.
That was why Choi Hana could keep sinking into her thoughts, bag clutched in her hand.
Is it really okay to just keep streaming like this?
Blood Jaguar, the organization where Choi Hana served as boss. She'd started VTuber activities to raise operating funds for the organization. The total donation amounts were enormous, so for now she couldn't casually quit Underdolls crew activities.
More than anything, the VTuber name Choi Hana operated under—Naharing—was the face of Underdolls. Even if other crew members could take short breaks, Choi Hana herself couldn't casually cancel streams.
"Haa…"
A sigh slipped out unbidden.
Vice-boss Hwang Yonggyun had started moving. He'd raided several other organization offices under Mad Knife and brought them under Blood Jaguar—clear rebellion against the parent organization. But the justification was solid enough. At the Pure White Festival, Mad Knife had made a disgrace of itself while Blood Jaguar had put on a stellar performance. Hwang Yonggyun and the combat members were currently continuing their struggle in secret. For her organization.
So as the boss currently doing internet streaming, she couldn't feel at ease.
Boss, please focus only on academy classes and streaming activities. Thanks to Underdolls, this struggle was possible, so there's no need to worry too much.
Still, Hwang Yonggyun had been considerate of her. In reality, Underdolls' activities had allowed them to purchase many items for the organization. Choi Hana was caught in a dilemma on multiple fronts.
Just then, she noticed an ordinary person nearby watching a YouTube video.
That's Naharing!
Of all things, they were watching a Naharing clip. The video playing showed Naharing dancing to a trend popular in short-form content.
W-watching VTubers on the subway…
But according to posts on streaming communities lately, more and more ordinary people were watching Underdolls clips on the subway. VTubers were relatively underground even in the streaming world, but Underdolls had shed a lot of that underground image thanks to their association with the popular Mungsukkyu Crew. And of course, Naharing's share of that was huge.
Choi Hana squeezed her eyes shut and thought of herself as Naharing.
The moment I put on the VR gear… it feels like I become someone else.
Dances and songs she'd be too embarrassed to perform in real life, she could pull off more skillfully than any female cam streamer or idol. And voice chat banter suited to streaming, personal communication streams—all of it. But still, the real her and Naharing were different. Moments of mild existential crisis like this were inevitable.
She carefully opened Toka TV on her smartphone. And out of habit, from her stream account logs, she was about to search for one viewer's ID.
That was Lee Junwoo's email ID. Through various party activities and classes, they already knew each other's emails.
At the very least, I hope Lee Junwoo never watches Naharing's streams.
She hadn't told him she was Naharing. But just thinking about Lee Junwoo watching Naharing's live streams made her feel incredibly strange. Fortunately, until now there had been no record of Lee Junwoo watching her streams.
That was how it should have been.
"Huh…?"
But she froze right there in her seat.
In the viewer records, Lee Junwoo's email ID was there. And of all things, a record of him watching that stream from a few days ago—the one where she'd really gone all out.
The subway was about to arrive at Jongno, where Blood Jaguar's office was. And at the café the organization ran, Lee Junwoo, who'd arrived first, was waiting.
Choi Hana's mind went completely blank.