Is It Real, or Just Acting? (3)

Originally, the VTuber Yujacha's gaming skills were pretty terrible. Even as one of her longtime fans, I could tell her basic game sense and reaction speed were below average. That was exactly why it became a running joke in her streams to call her an ajumma or tease her for being "broken."

"Press the forward key three times, then grab the potion from the shelf about five centimeters up and head outside. Yeah, just like that."

"...I'm finally getting the hang of it. Maybe it's because my dear is explaining it so well?"

But the Yujacha in front of me now showed focus and control that made her seem like an entirely different person. What on earth had changed her like this?

"That's right. Actually, it's Baekseolgi who's playing for me. Did it show that much?"

"Ah, you guys really won't believe me. Is this how you treat your goddess? I'm actually hurt."

"Even I wouldn't believe it. Yujacha barely ever does collabs with other streamers. She's basically an isolated island."

The reason viewers were relatively accepting of me, her editor, collabing with her was simple. After her first collab ended in disaster, she had shifted her content entirely toward solo gaming.

"...How do you know all this so well?"

Back when the concept of virtual YouTubers—people roleplaying behind virtual characters—was still unfamiliar in Korea, she had once been mocked by another female streamer. That person had since left the industry after scandals involving illegal gambling and theft, but being insulted in front of so many viewers must have been devastating. They say the thing that hurts broadcasters the most is when the people they thought were on their side turn against them.

"I'm a Citrus, after all. Even though you call your viewers 'believers' now, I was in the chat when you first decided on that fan name."

I deliberately covered the truth with another fact to avoid reopening old wounds. Thinking you know everything about her is just one-sided arrogance. The distance between a real broadcaster and a viewer is as close yet distant as stars in the night sky.

"Hehe, so you've been watching my streams since your teenage years? You've been a pervert since you were young, huh, pervert."

"......"

"Hey, say something. Where did the knight who was giving game advice go?"

Yujacha started teasing me while humming to herself. Her character kicked open the door at high speed and joined the knight I was controlling.

"Saintess, you're being vulgar..."

"Does it matter? This game's character is a virgin succubus, just like my race."

I was calling her "Saintess" to match her RP, but as expected from an early-generation VTuber, there were way too many inconsistencies. A succubus who's a virgin? If she'd gone with a married woman roleplay instead, she might've had even more viewers.

"Anyway, thanks to Baekseolgi Knight giving such good commands, I'm finally getting a feel for controlling the game."

"Which part specifically?"

"Sound. Even though it doesn't look like it, I use pretty expensive recording and audio equipment... so I can tell apart the sound of stepping on leaves versus footsteps, you know?"

The broadcast equipment she later listed in chat was all over five million won each. My fingertips trembled slightly as I looked at the list. I'd heard that proper VTubing required serious upfront investment, but she'd dropped nearly ten million won just on a mic and headset.

"Plus, my dear's voice is really nice. It just pierces right into your ears, you know?"

If you added VTuber equipment and modeling on top of that, it really made you wonder if she was some chaebol heir streaming as a hobby, just like the rumors said.

"Really? You couldn't do squad fights at all in Playground. You kept dying without hearing gunshots or footsteps."

"T-that's because it's a genre where you have to fight under pressure! And when I hear gunshots, I get startled and my body just freezes!"

True fans don't wonder what VTubers do in real life. There's even a term for it—"red pill"—and the VTuber community generally avoids mentioning insiders.

"Then want to try duoing in Plg later?"

"No thanks. Shooter games are scary..."

"Our Saintess is more timid than I expected. I didn't think you'd be like that."

I deliberately kept the conversation playful. I didn't want to force her to do something that scared her.

"Are you teasing me again? I'm still your older noona, you know."

"Doesn't feel like it. Is the thirty-year-old thing also just RP?"

"No, I'm not thirty. I'm still twenty-eight in Korean age..."

The chat started teasing Yujacha as an ajumma again. Her age wasn't actually that old by modern marriage standards, but the reactions were cute and funny, so we kept going.

"Anyway, I'll give more advice based on sound. I'll be holding your hand right beside you, so just follow behind me."

I grabbed Rosemary's character's hand and guided her with my voice so she could clear the game.

"...Should we stop by the inn first? Looking at the new trait I got, I think we can clear it this way."

Squeeze. Just like the virtual character Yujacha, the in-game Rosemary also shone her pink eyes and seduced the male protagonist.

Then the screen went dark. Normally my screen, from the male protagonist knight's perspective, would also show nothing but darkness. For a moment I wondered if this only applied to the blind saintess side.

Yujacha read Rosemary's line seductively from her screen, her breathing slightly excited.

"Ehehe, come here, Baekseolgi!! Hup hup, bang bang bang!"

This definitely didn't sound like character dialogue. Instead of getting turned on, I found myself laughing at her ridiculous lines while she roleplayed as Rosemary.

After that came the chirping of birds and the morning inn room cutscene. It felt exactly like a scene where the process had been censored out, leaving only the result, like in an all-ages game trying to imply an 19+ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scene.

The story of For Rosemary's Happiness was actually quite dark and heavy. At first you keep repeating loops because your teamwork is bad, spending time figuring out the conditions for different endings. But once you adapt, you start getting immersed in the game's deeper lore. No wonder viewers started saying "This is where you cry" as a meme, with people constantly spoiling it through clips and donations.

Once you get used to it, you become absorbed in the game's backstory. Viewers even started saying "This is where you cry" as a meme, with tons of people spoiling through clips and donations.

The final boss, the Demon King, was actually Rosemary from the 255th loop—the heroine after all the time in the regression hourglass had run out.

Gentle piano music and the vocalist's voice played. Even Yujacha, who couldn't see the screen, could tell we were nearing the end of the game.

Infinite regression. When the saintess Rosemary died in-game, time would rewind, and she would receive perks in future loops depending on the ending. But the male protagonist, the holy knight, received no benefits at all.

The fallen saintess from the 255th loop, Demon King Rosemary, shed bloody tears while delivering her monologue to the player. Of course, this scene was only visible from my perspective as the holy knight, so since I already knew the story to some extent, I had screen-shared with Yujacha.

"...Don't tell me the holy knight, the male protagonist, has become a different person after repeating the loops?"

"No. It's something even more pitiful than that."

Yujacha watched my screen along with the viewers, trying to figure out why Demon King Rosemary—the final boss until now—had orchestrated all this.

"...Ah."

Yujacha's eyes and mouth widened in shock. It was definitely the kind of twist that would smack collab streamers who thought this was just a cooperative romance fantasy game right in the back of the head.

Rosemary's voice trembled with tears. Normally the game company restrained her voice acting to help player immersion, but—

As if to confirm that the Demon King Rosemary on screen and the original Rosemary were different people, she had been assigned a separate voice actor. The Rosemary who had gone through countless regressions no longer called the protagonist "Sir Knight" but used the more intimate "you."

Demon King Rosemary revealed the most shocking truth in the game. If the player died more than 255 times, an overflow would occur, forcing a confrontation with her.

"So Rosemary came looking for the male protagonist's world, even taking the Demon King's place?"

"Yes. She thought that way, you'd eventually come find her. She was just pretending to be the villain."

I explained the missing parts of the story to match Yujacha's guesses. Games with this kind of creator-specific flavor were hard to understand if you played alone.

At that moment, Demon King Rosemary's voice grew smaller as she realized something was wrong. What stood before her wasn't companions.

"Ah, I thought if I had a ton of kids, I could just overwhelm the Demon King with numbers."

"They say the ignorant are fearless."

Thanks to the Virgin Succubus trait, Rosemary and her descendants had multiplied beyond human limits. So this was how speedruns were possible.

"...If the child changes with every regression, then you just keep having kids until you meet that one again, right?"

Living up to her succubus saintess RP, VTuber Yujacha smiled brightly while tearing down the final boss.

By now we'd been playing for over twenty-three hours, and the one-day deadline I'd set for sending my photo was fast approaching.

The final choices appeared on my screen, signaling we were one step away from an ending.

"Baekseolgi, what choices came up?"

"Show mercy to the Demon King or kill her. Which one should I pick?"

"That's strange. I don't think either is the answer..."

"Why do you think that?"

Suddenly Yujacha said something odd. I wondered if she was stalling to get the photo, but—

"...Then why would the game company make the blind saintess the protagonist? The infinite regression was already a hint, so this must be important too, right?"

"That makes sense."

Her reasoning was solid. A company that took hint-dropping so seriously wouldn't miss details like this.

"Then I'll look up the meaning of rosemary flowers."

Thanks to my natural gaming sense, I immediately searched for the flower meaning of rosemary.

"It says 'Don't forget me.' So maybe we need to find a way for this Demon King Rosemary to be happy too?"

"......"

I paused on the choices after hearing Yujacha's advice and tried to figure out what easter egg the developers had hidden.

Why the saintess had to be blind, and why she was named Rosemary—

"Yujacha, could you try clicking randomly anywhere on the black screen?"

"Huh? Why would I do that?"

This was probably it. Because love is something invisible to the eye.

"I'll call you 'dear,' so please do as I ask."

"Oh."

Because it's so precious and special, people often overlook it without realizing.

"...Dear, will you do what I say just once?"

"Yes, dear. Hehe."

I called her "dear" and waited. She started clicking like she was trying to break the mouse. Then cracks began appearing on the blind saintess's previously empty screen. Light started seeping through the cracks, as if a wall between two people was breaking.

A new line appeared on the white background.

Hopeful lyrics and accelerating piano music. It was clearly a hidden ending choice.