Roadshow Tour
“That’s right! The friend famous for her violin playing!”
The man clapped his hands together with a smack.
“What a coincidence! Hey, Macky, you really didn’t recognize her until now? She’s a TikTok celebrity too!”
The cameraman shoved his phone with the TikTok app open in my face, making a huge fuss.
“The violin girl who hit 15 million likes and topped the weekly charts last month! Macky, you gotta watch other people’s videos sometimes. How can you call yourself a TikToker if you don’t even recognize a fellow creator?”
“Fellow creator? TikTok’s got millions of people...”
Macky trailed off mid-sentence, stared at me, then hurriedly backpedaled.
“Ah, yeah, you’re right—a fellow creator! Haha... We’re really sorry. We didn’t mean to come off that harsh. Our security guys got a bit overzealous, I guess. Let’s go, Felix.”
“Where do you think you’re going? You got my number already—”
“Shut up and let’s move! It was a drag hanging with you—let’s never meet again, kid!”
“You’ve been asking for it all this time!”
“Nami, hold it! It’s over on a good note!”
Yoon-sl grabbed me under the arms, leaving me dangling in midair, kicking my legs helplessly.
The two flighty men bolted from the police station like fugitives, and the whole incident fizzled out anticlimactically.
This country called Germany really has zero warmth left in it. I popped the last piece of candy into my mouth to soothe my anger.
“Kids!”
Gu On-yu, the principal, arrived soon after. Her entrance was so boisterous I half-expected the glass doors to shatter.
“Principal, they said the case is resolved, so we can head out now—”
Before I could finish, Gu On-yu dropped to one knee and pulled me into a tight hug.
Caught off guard by her sudden move, I blinked and rolled my eyes sideways.
“Principal?”
“Thank goodness... really, thank goodness... No injuries anywhere...”
The elderly woman’s hand gently patted my back, slow and light.
All the prickly emotions from moments ago melted away.
“Injured? Can’t have that if I’m a Seferon Academy student.”
Even the principal shows some concern for her students, huh? Nice to see.
I leaned my head against her, savoring the rare human warmth after so long. Being in a far-off foreign land made me miss Mom more than ever these days.
Römer Square, smack in the heart of Frankfurt’s old town, is a hotspot for tourists. Especially on a fine day like today, everyone’s toting a selfie stick.
But the wooden buildings ringing the square and the bloodstains on the pavement told a different story.
A group of freshly arrived Japanese tourists shivered at the sight and asked the locals.
“Um... is this really human blood?”
“Don’t even ask! Some tiny brat swung her fists and smashed four guys to pieces!”
“For real? Right here in broad daylight in Germany?”
“Swear on it! I even filmed it!”
Before their doubts could fade, cops in ‘POLIZEI’ vests showed up with street cleaners in tow.
A few transmutation circles swept the ground, and the street was reborn spotless, as if nothing had happened.
The old man who’d just answered the tourists pointed dramatically at one corner of the square, where beautiful music flowed, and yelled.
“That’s her... that one! See? That kid did it! What kinda trouble is she stirring up by coming back here...!”
Suit-clad elderly gentlemen were busking with violins and cellos. But with the massive crowd, the Japanese girl couldn’t spot the kid the old man meant.
“Miss Katsuhata, we’ve got places to be. If we don’t leave now, we might miss our flight.”
Frankfurt was just a layover for them. The girl stared blankly toward the square for a moment before reluctantly nodding and rejoining her group.
Meanwhile, as one piece ended at the performance, applause poured in.
Another girl wove through the crowd on short legs. NoName, sticking to her usual low twintails.
She dropped coins with a clink into the violin case the performers had laid out for tips.
“Thank you so much, little angel!”
It was a heartwarming sight. Smiles bloomed on performers and onlookers alike—dad grins all around.
“Mind if I give it a try?”
“You play violin too, miss? How old are you?”
“Eight.”
“Hoho! Here, wanna hold it?”
“Sure.”
Contrary to expectations of awkward fumbling, Nami took a perfectly relaxed, skilled stance.
“Oh?”
Her fingering on the strings and bow grip screamed experience.
“I’m with a friend—could she join too?”
“A friend? Sure thing! Need another violin?”
“No. One of us will play in VR.”
“VR?”
Danielle had logged into VR from a nearby PC bang ahead of time. I’d been shocked Germany even had PC bangs, but Yoon-sl explained it like it was no big deal.
Makes sense—not everyone can afford a bulky capsule at home. And for those unsatisfied with outdated helmet models, PC bangs popping up was just capitalism doing its thing.
A hologram projector conjured an avatar from the floor. A temporary model that’d form the base for ‘Eudex,’ the avatar Danielle would use going forward.
“Where’re you girls from?”
“Korea. South Korea.”
“Ooh, South Korea! Angels from South Korea are gonna play violin for us! Big applause, everyone!”
The grand welcome flushed Danielle’s cheeks. Yoon-sl and Principal Gu On-yu cheered us on from nearby.
“You’re not scared of the capsule, Ni-el unnie?”
“I realized there are things scarier than claustrophobia... But do we really have to go this far? It’s so embarrassing...”
“This is just the beginning, Ni-el unnie.”
Kariri’s American Dream—no, ‘Safari Dream’—had kicked off before debut.
Why do agencies run survival shows with pre-debut trainees? Visibility.
Kariri, ex-idol trainee, ranted that debut wasn’t the start—it was an event to pour your soul into for success.
For a new VTuber, folks only had VODs to watch post-stream. Pre-debut content to build buzz? Solid plan, in my book.
And so, me in reality, Danielle in VR. Our violin busking tour hit European cities: Frankfurt in Germany to start, Zurich in Switzerland, Salzburg in Austria, ending in Venice, Italy.
Our short trip wrapped up. On the flight home, Yoon-sl grinned at the footage she’d captured of us.
Every show opened with Arirang.
“What about this title? ‘Playing Korea’s Greatest Hit Arirang at Foreign Buskings’? Eh? Still too weak?”
Monster born of capitalism. She gets national pride.
I ignored her lightly and donned my sleep mask for some shut-eye.
Principal Gu upgraded us to business class for the return—way comfier. Time to hole up at home for a while. One grueling Europe trip was enough.
└ Balance game’s way off lololol
└ Thinks Korea’s livable? What framing lmao
[ThesePatch=ReporterKang]
The sole survivor of Korea’s Walpurgis extermination op, ‘NoName,’ departed Incheon International Airport for Frankfurt, Germany, on Aug 2 afternoon.
A week earlier, an online article with Nami’s departure pic had blown up. The reporter got flak in comments at first—who cares about some random kid flying out?
But when rumors hit that Switzerland offered her 10 to 30 billion won, everything flipped.
Money talk always draws eyes, good or bad. Plenty envy an 8-year-old scoring billions.
Fueled by public buzz, channels tracking her whereabouts gained traction. Issue VTubers compiled sightings from forums into vids; her hopping Europe was no secret.
└ Economy in crisis. Where’s their cash? Germany? Swiss? Austria no, Italy maybe. Or immigrated already, touring on the payout?
Then Kariri and NoName’s YouTube channels dropped a vid simultaneously. Yoon-sl’s national-pride-packed brainchild.
Two girls with violins in Europe’s heart, playing Arirang and K-pop. A few local fans who’d been there commented first, sparking algo-fueled cheers from loyal US and SEA K-pop stans.
End credits: 5-sec cookie of Nami passed out on the flight home. Jaws dropped worldwide.
The same guy who’d topped with “Why leave for real?” before. 100 billion—not a soul could blame her for ditching Korea.
Yet she flaunted it: jetted to Europe, played songs touting Korea, slipped home like nothing happened.
Her baffling actions drew quiet cries from some.
That whisper became the first ripple on a still lake, spreading across the whole of Korea.