Chapter 181
"Why'd you give this to me?"
"But yeah, their guides are seriously top-notch, right? That's why they're kinda famous across all the game communities. The comments are always super friendly too."
"...From a user's perspective, they just want as many newbies as possible, so the devs must love it."
"It's like having a million troops on your side. Keeping a game alive means user influx is everything."
Do-yoon hyung nodded openly in agreement. Makes sense—not just for players, but for the devs, this person's basically a benefactor. Players can drop a game if it's no fun, but someone voluntarily drawing in new users? To a game company, that's an angel straight from heaven.
And now that angel's joined our club. Talk about a jackpot recruit.
"But despite all the popularity, they never talk about themselves. 'No cliques,' they say. Instead, they post total nonsense every day."
"...Like illustrations or something?"
"Yeah. Titles like I Wish Luluka Would Look at Me with Eyes of Scorn..."
"D-Do-yoon, you want a drink? I'll grab one for you."
She held out as long as she could, but Yuna unnie finally bolted from her seat. She's not the type to ever interrupt, so even Seo-yeon looked a bit thrown off—but without knowing why, she just floated a question mark.
Now with just four of us left, I'm the one suffering most. The secondhand embarrassment crashing over me, mixed with the laughter bubbling up from watching Yuna unnie desperately keep a straight face—I'm stuck in this frozen limbo, unable to cry or laugh.
"...Why's your face like that?"
"Nah, just feels like I'm gonna cough..."
Seol-ah eyed me weirdly as I clamped my mouth shut and stiffened up, but I couldn't exactly spill it first. Blabbing someone else's info without permission is just rude, no matter the situation.
"...Do-yoon, Aenspehner okay? I can swap if you want something else."
"I like Aenspehner. Thanks, I'll enjoy it."
After that agonizing wait, Yuna unnie returned—immediately checking my expression. She must've realized from our brief eye contact earlier that I'd spotted her nickname. Otherwise, she could've just played dumb through the community talk.
Sensing from the vibe that her identity was still safe, she pondered with a troubled look.
"But still, posting consistently on communities like that is impressive. Doesn't it take some real persistence?"
...Seol-ah, you just dragged it back up. She's the type who loosens up around friends and jumps into any convo, so can't be helped. Honestly, I'm not sure posting dumb stuff daily requires much persistence, but Seol-ah's always one to speak kindly of others. Probably relates since she runs her YukiNyang SNS nonstop.
But Yuna unnie seemed to bristle at the well-meaning tone.
"...Nah, people who post crap consistently on communities are probably just lonely..."
"I-Is that so...?"
Seol-ah runs her SNS for promo, but she doesn't even have a personal one, so communities are kinda foreign to her. She tilted her head, unfamiliar with the culture.
"If you're super happy IRL with tons of friends, you don't end up living on communities... right?"
Her tone turned fully self-deprecating, and my heart started aching more. What the hell does a company do to turn someone into this?
"You only really see friends back in school days. Once you're working, you barely meet up. Weekdays you're dead on arrival, crashing immediately. Weekends? Everyone's schedules clash, so it's not easy. Meeting once a month is already a lot."
"...Office life really sucks, huh..."
"Yeah, so you're lonely but can't meet people, hence the dumb posts..."
"...Unnie knows a lot about it?"
Yuna unnie finally seemed to decide on coming clean. Better than dragging it out.
"These days, mobile games greet you with character hellos the second you open the app, right?"
Most subculture mobile games do that now—basic user interaction, even birthday wishes. Watching Yuna unnie, I get why it's the trend.
"And honestly, I kinda wanna see Luluka's scornful face...!"
Full self-abandon mode from Yuna unnie. By now, everyone was piecing together who this user was. Thankfully, no one asked the dreaded Unnie, you're that LulukaMalangChewyArmpit... thing?
...Luluka's basically too sweet to ever scorn anyone, so tons of fans love her for the healing vibes. Even fanart of her with a contemptuous look gets called soothing.
"...H-Hey, unnie. I post pointless crap on SNS all the time too..."
Seol-ah jumped in with comfort right away—she even shares her adult game clear records, after all. But the damage from her dumb posts being outed hit hard; Yuna unnie stared with dead eyes.
"...Yeah, thanks for saying that. Can't argue when I'm a total mobile game haunt myself..."
"Unnie, but now you've got the cafe, and you can hang with our club anytime? Or we could take a trip—just us girls. Japan sound good?"
"...Japan's great?"
With Seo-yeon joining to cheer her up, Yuna unnie bounced back quick. Saintess perks? Even mental damage heals at ludicrous speed.
"And their posts read so well... Super well-organized too."
"Put some effort in. Everyone quits quick if you start from scratch without guidance."
"Unnie really knows her games. I brought my laptop—mind showing me?"
"Sure. I peeked earlier, but wanna see properly."
Once game talk kicked in, she reverted to her usual soft, gentle voice. Yuna unnie would crush as a GM. User comms aren't easy, but with her online history, she'd reflect player voices perfectly.
"Whoa, what's this? AR? But insanely detailed..."
"Sample from last shoot. Not graphics—it's Seol-ah's summoned doll. Could solve both Live2D and 3D with this, so I've been tinkering."
"...Never even imagined this. That's Ruinele, right? I can tell."
"Yep. Unnie gets it."
Spotting Ruinele instantly? She's got wide reach in Astasia terms. As Do-yoon hyung explained, Yuna unnie's eyes sparkled brighter.
"...Looks so fun? Reminds me of some old JRPGs I played—maps, battles like that. Seriously wanna try it ASAP."
"Yeah. Confident it'll succeed. Frame done in a year."
"Not even club level anymore. With this much done post-semester start, it'd be a waste not to go pro. Plus Seol-ah's here."
"Right."
"...I-I haven't done much yet..."
We all smiled warmly at bashful Seol-ah, then Yuna unnie scanned the game structure and tossed a question.
"Planning to start a company later?"
"Gotta. We can build the base ourselves, but for full promo, need outsourcing and more staff."
"Promo budget?"
"Watching for now. If it fits my standards, aiming over 10 billion."
...Grown-up talk vibes hit; I glanced at Seol-ah, who looked lost trying to keep up. 10 billion meant borrowing Seo-yeon's power for sure.
"Game shows too?"
"Essential."
"Got a great idea suddenly."
Yuna unnie's mischievous glint had Seol-ah wary but curious.
"What?"
"Game shows aside, devs do their own channels now—AMAs, comms streams?"
"...Yeah. Feels like a hearing sometimes."
"Fake a 'broadcast accident' with Seol-ah or Seo-yeon peeking in. Stage it like a team meeting, reveal the illustrator's a total beauty—boom, hype train rolls... I mean, it'd blow up."
"Unnieee! I can't do that..."
Yuna unnie chuckled at Seol-ah's freakout. ...Years of community life showing.
Terrified it'd actually go viral as [New Mobile Game Illustrator Face Reveal Broadcast Mishap OTL].
"Kidding. Gameplay looks solid—no need, still hyped."
"Why not just have unnie do it? The LulukaMalangChewyArmpit haunt turns out to be this pretty, plus story writer? Total chaos."
"Ugh..."
She flinched at the nickname drop, but Seol-ah had a point. Especially since LulukaMalangChewyArmpit was already a mobile game vet—prime hype material.
"Gotta do external stuff anyway. Two's better than one."
"......"
With Do-yoon hyung chiming in, Yuna unnie naturally got roped into future user comms.
"...Not impossible, but... that nickname's from another game char. Gotta change it."
"True, but knowing it's you builds game trust."
Once out, changing it wouldn't matter. Game cred up, but personal cred down.
"...S-Seol-ah. My image..."
"Unnie. Embarrassed by your nickname?"
"Of course I am...!"
Her blush confirmed it—genuinely mortified.
"That's the explanation for now."
"Good work. Loved hearing it."
We'd gone deep; shop closing time passed. Yuna unnie teased occasionally but listened dead seriously.
"Wrap up?"
"Yeah. Getting late."
"Oh, before you all head home—wait a sec?"
"What?"
"Long time no see—gotta send you off with gifts."
...Gifts? We sat tight as Yuna unnie vanished, returning with prettily wrapped boxes and a huge cushion.
Boxes look edible; cushion? She handed small ones to Seo-yeon, Do-yoon oppa, and Sion, then pulled me aside for the cushion.
...Hold up, the text...
"Special gift for Seol-ah~"
"...U-Unnie? What's this?"
"You know what it is, right? Bought it in Japan—nice material, try it."
Not a cushion—a pillow. One side yes, the other no.
...Most haven't seen it in Japanese manga, but basically sex-related. Face the pink heart yes side out for "tonight's a go"—signal pillow for couples. Heard it's even a newlywed gift in Japan...
We're always yes anyway, so the pillow's kinda pointless...
"W-Why give this to me?"
"Huh? Thought you'd need it? Star said so."
"What're you even...?"
"Guys, had a blast today. I'll visit soon!"
She dipped with a sudden farewell, leaving me no room to protest. Leaving it on yes would be mortifying too...?