Midterm Study Session at Choi Hana's Café (3)
I was momentarily speechless.
What is that supposed to mean?
I already knew Naharing’s true identity. But Choi Hana had no way of knowing that I knew. Still, I kept that thought carefully hidden and simply stared at the smartphone screen.
“D-do you… happen to dislike VTubers or something?” she asked.
Obviously I couldn’t say I disliked them here.
VTubers, huh…
Streamers who used moving otaku drawings as their avatars—those were VTubers. Their public image was never going to be great. On live streaming platforms especially, the reputation of VTubers was even worse. Most regular YouTubers used YouTube’s live features as their main base of operations, so for VTubers, Toka TV was still largely uncharted territory.
There are quite a few streamers who run both platforms in parallel…
Even so, it remained a platform with deep-seated hostility toward subculture. Lately, though, the atmosphere had begun to shift—thanks to none other than Naharing’s crew, the Underdolls.
I quickly drafted a model answer in my head.
If I just cheerfully say I like VTubers, that’ll look a little off.
It would make me seem far too much like an otaku. Choi Hana was waiting for my reply with a tense expression, so I answered her.
“I don’t… dislike them.”
“Really?!”
Choi Hana’s face lit up. Without thinking, she leaned her face right up close to mine. For a second my heart gave a hard thump.
Why is she doing this…
I buried the feeling and kept talking.
“I saw the Mungsukkyu crew doing joint game content with a few VTubers. It wasn’t as… otaku… no, as weebish as I expected.”
“Exactly! There are all kinds of VTubers, so thinking they’re automatically super-otaku is just prejudice!”
Choi Hana’s words sped up as she launched into a rapid explanation of the different types of VTubers.
“Korean VTubers don’t necessarily copy the Japanese mainland style. Plenty of them strip out the subculture flavor entirely. There are even ones who don’t go for the idol vibe at all.”
When you thought about it, Naharing herself fell closer to the latter category. Jeong Noeul, whom I’d spoken with earlier, surprisingly kept her role-play as strict as a mainland VTuber. Naharing, on the other hand, leaned less on the otaku aesthetic and more on simply being excellent at internet broadcasting. She possessed every talent a female streamer needed.
“Honestly, these dances are the ones that trend in clips, so they’re total mainstream content. Right?”
She hit play on one of Naharing’s videos. Just like the short-form dance clips that go viral, an oddly foreign-sounding upbeat track started playing. On screen, Naharing began to dance—a faintly sexy number that somehow made her cheeks look a little flushed.
Wait. Even if she’s a VTuber… that means someone is actually dancing that.
VTubers wore full tracking gear. So even though the figure dancing on screen was Naharing, it meant Choi Hana herself was performing that suggestive dance in real life. The thought made my mood turn strange all over again. That same Naharing was sitting right beside me, pressed close.
Ever since I became Unknown… maybe my tastes have gotten a little weird.
I suddenly became hyper-aware of Choi Hana. More than anything, the knowledge that I alone knew the real identity behind the VTuber—something none of her viewers could ever guess—felt strangely intoxicating. Plenty of fans pretended not to care, but deep down they desperately wanted the red pill: the real person inside the VTuber.
If Choi Hana’s identity ever leaked, her popularity would only skyrocket.
A current freshman at Theia Academy, and by any standard a pure black-haired beauty. If anything, the pink bob of the Naharing avatar might actually be nerfing her real looks.
Though personally I prefer the pink bob.
I ruthlessly buried those thoughts and watched the clips with her. Naharing’s videos routinely pulled hundreds of thousands of views; the really popular ones cleared a million.
“Nice sense of humor. This clip’s funny.”
I kept my ulterior motives hidden and offered an honest reaction. Even the dead-silent, cringeworthy jokes that killed the chat, Naharing instantly caught and filled the dead air with seamless banter.
That wasn’t all. Even the raw, unfiltered jokes from the Mungsukkyu crew she fielded with the same shameless ease. It was no wonder people had started calling her the Queen of Voice Chat.
We watched a few more clips until, on one particular video, Choi Hana suddenly cried out in panic.
“Th-that one! Skip that one!”
But the clip had already started playing.
It was a video of Naharing logging into VR Warworld and interacting with her audience. A dreamlike world map filled the screen. Naharing wore a dreamy expression while the camera slowly tracked around her—the absolute peak of simp-farming content. Full-tracking VR Warworld streams. Content designed to let viewers lose themselves while she wandered the virtual space.
I remember the Underdolls had someone really good at full tracking.
No matter how many tracking devices you strapped on, some awkwardness was inevitable. Yet the Naharing on screen moved with uncanny smoothness. She must have gotten help from a crew member with the setup. Just as real-life idols inspired parasocial romance, VTubers used these VR Warworld streams to pull viewers in deep. In the clip, Naharing dropped her usual high energy, speaking in a slow, soft voice that filled the audio like a quiet conversation. It felt exactly like a private date with a maid girlfriend. There was a reason full-tracking female VTubers raked in donations.
Because nothing farms simps better.
In that regard, Naharing’s simp-farming power was terrifying. One of the crew members was apparently a skilled avatar creator, so the model was excellent. Pink bob. Maid outfit. She sometimes wore a maid uniform in real life too, but the version provided by VR Warworld was a little more… suggestive. Short skirt, garter belts, and a top that deliberately emphasized her cleavage.
I glanced at the title of the clip.
“Naharing Currently Enchanting All the Simps,” huh…
On screen, Naharing gazed at the viewers with a sultry expression. And that same girl was sitting right beside me. Back in high school, and even now in the Free Major Department, Choi Hana’s image was that of a beautiful but unapproachable ice queen. The idea that she was secretly a popular VTuber would never cross anyone’s mind at Theia. Knowing that secret filled me with a peculiar sense of satisfaction. The person in question, meanwhile, was so embarrassed she had turned her gaze completely away—straight onto the chocolate cake I was eating.
“Want some?”
I deliberately changed the subject to hide my own thoughts, casually spearing a piece of cake with my fork and holding it out to her. Choi Hana startled far more than I expected.
“Huh? Th-that’s… aah!”
She took the cake into her mouth. Her face turned bright red.
What’s with her?
I hadn’t meant anything by it, but watching her get so flustered made my own mood turn even stranger. Her personality was usually impossible to pin down, so I hadn’t given it much thought—but maybe Choi Hana was conscious of me too.
Still… no way…
Silence settled between us. Choi Hana quietly pushed her phone aside. She seemed lost in thought, fidgeting with her fingers. Then she suddenly spoke.
“Um… hypothetically… just hypothetically.”
“Yeah?”
“If one of Junwoo-ssi’s classmates… no, if someone you knew was a VTuber, how do you think you’d feel about it?”
“That…”
I didn’t even need to think hard. This was clearly about Naharing. There was nothing bad about it. Once Blood Jaguar was more firmly established, I planned to expand Unknown’s influence in earnest. Toka TV was relatively free-spirited as platforms went. Openly streaming as a villain would get you permanently banned, but simply supporting villains didn’t trigger warnings. Plenty of black money flowed through streaming platforms, after all. That was why the Mungsukkyu crew had recently been walking a fine line with content that brushed against the underworld and villains. For me, any rise in Naharing and the Underdolls’ standing was pure profit.
Even a little goodwill from the Underdolls toward Unknown would be more than enough.
Even without cold calculation, the fact that Choi Hana—operating as Naharing—kept catching my attention was simply true.
“Well… I don’t think it’d be a problem. My friend Jiyu streams too. Back when I was in Aegis, Ha Yeeun did the same. A VTuber isn’t really any different.”
“Really? Th-then that’s a relief…”
Choi Hana immediately looked satisfied. It was an uncharacteristically cute expression for her, and I found myself staring without meaning to.
“……”
Silence—no, a strange atmosphere—settled between us. Without realizing it, my hand came to rest on top of hers. The moment our hands touched, a voice called out.
“Hana! It’s… time to work! I thought I should let you know.”
Jeong Noeul’s voice. The café had already closed for the evening since there were no customers. For a while she had been moving between floors of the building rather than staying in the café itself—clearly setting up for an Underdolls stream. Choi Hana jerked in surprise and yanked her hand under the table.
“Ah, okay. Unnie.”
She hurriedly stood, gave me a quick bow, and practically fled the café. Jeong Noeul tilted her head in mild confusion, then looked at me and smirked.
“Hmm~”
The knowing smile made me feel oddly exposed. I looked away.
“Anyway, like I said earlier, I need to help with the office interior work too. I won’t keep Hana too long, so study hard!”
She set a fresh coffee in front of me and left. Neither of them could admit they were streaming, so both had explained it as helping with Blood Jaguar’s interior renovations.
In the quiet café I briefly pictured Choi Hana again, then pushed the awkward feeling aside by thinking about the rest of the day.
Choi Hana isn’t the only one with work tonight.
This building also housed Blood Jaguar’s office—Hwang Yonggyun’s office. According to the original story, once Blood Jaguar began operating, Hwang Yonggyun would be ambushed by hitmen from Mad Knife. Hwang Yonggyun was a critical figure: practically Choi Hana’s foster father, and someone who could become Unknown’s right hand.
I should forge a solid connection with him.
I quietly stared out the window for a long while. I had deliberately scheduled today’s study session for this date because, in the original timeline, Friday was when the hitmen moved. Just as expected, the system had already flagged a suspicious individual under observation.
I carefully drew Unknown’s mask from my coat.