Not a Lamb
The First Gen members, who had immediately piled into the car at Do-hee’s command, felt their heads throb the moment they saw Jia’s message. The one hit hardest was Maru, who had been sobbing her eyes out earlier, claiming she’d given Jia a massive emotional wound.
“What the…? Did we just get owned?”
Looking at the message, it really did seem like Jia had caught on to everything and turned the tables on them with one clean counter.
Komari let out a long sigh and muttered, “No wonder all those compliments felt so awkward. We got found out.”
No matter how dense Jia usually was, even she would have noticed a group of First Gen members suddenly orbiting her like this. And the praise relay wasn’t even normal praise—it was so over-the-top that anyone listening would’ve been left speechless.
Komari openly pinched Dora. “Now that it’s all over, I’ll just say it. Everything was trash. What the hell was ‘Wow, is this the seagull Jia-nim used to raise?’ supposed to mean?”
Maru pinched Rain in turn. “And what about Rain-unni’s ‘superconductor’? That trend died ages ago.”
Dora, sitting in the third row, suddenly reached out and grabbed both of them by the scruffs of their necks.
“There they go, trying to start a UFC match again. Both of you, calm down.”
“I’m just stating facts.”
“It’s all ruined. Completely ruined.”
Once again, their timing was perfectly in sync, and Rain couldn’t hold it in any longer. The atmosphere made them try to keep their mouths shut, but laughter kept leaking through the cracks.
“Khh khh. Khhhkhkhkh.”
“Stop laughing!”
“Unni, you’re laughing right now?!”
“Kyahahaha! Kyahahat!”
But they couldn’t just keep bickering among themselves forever. Their grand hidden-camera operation—meant to move the lonely and depressed Mazia to tears—had gone spectacularly to shit. Still, they needed to salvage the mood, show her the cake, sing the birthday song, and at least hand over the presents properly.
Komari sighed again and muttered, “But seriously. Who prepares a hidden camera prank for their own birthday? Jia-unni is such a weird person.”
Hearing that, a memory suddenly flashed through Do-hee’s mind as she drove. It was the “surprise gift” Jia had mentioned was inside her huge bag when Do-hee had gone to pick her up that morning.
Knowing Mazia’s personality, there’s no way she’d just let it slide once she caught on…
It was a gift she could have given anytime. But the moment she realized the members were trying to mess with her, the odds were high that she’d been waiting for the perfect chance to strike back. There was no way she’d prepared something half-heartedly.
It would be better to give the members a heads-up so they could brace themselves.
On the hill leading to the campsite, Do-hee stopped the car for a moment and leaned over her seat.
“Once we get up there, let’s check on Jia’s condition first, calm her down a bit, and then have the party. That seems better than just awkwardly wrapping things up because it ‘failed.’ We still have a couple hours before she has to sleep, right?”
Since Maru had been the one to suggest the hidden camera in the first place, everyone’s eyes naturally turned to her. She’d spent the entire day worrying about Mazia and was emotionally drained, but her desire to let Jia know she was one of their most precious people remained unchanged.
Even if the hidden camera had failed, they couldn’t forget the main objective. After all, they had all come together because they wanted to give Mazia the best “Happy Birthday!” of her life.
This was the first time Mazia—who never made a fuss about her own birthday and would even use vacation days to hole up at home—had come out like this. Since Mazia had made such a big decision to be here, Maru needed to steel her own resolve too.
Wiping away her teary eyes, Maru said, “Yes. Let’s talk to Jia first and then prepare again. It’s too early to give up here!!”
Late November is cold. Even if the stars twinkle in scattered groups across the sky, acting cute as if they might fall right into my heart at any moment, cold is still cold.
I didn’t know how long I’d have to stay hidden, so it was a good thing I’d stuffed hot packs into my jumper in advance. Having a small body is a pretty big advantage at times like this. Even though it’s just a normal jumper, when I crouch down like this, it completely wraps around me, and the heat from the packs warms me up in no time.
I wish they’d hurry up and get here….
I searched for constellations in the sky. Then searched for the same ones again. I whistled softly, wondering what that one was called.
Vroom.
The boss’s car came rumbling up the hill with the heavy sound of its diesel engine. Her impatience showed even in her driving. Normally she would have stopped smoothly, but the moment she arrived—screeech.
All six of them burst out of the car at once and came sprinting toward me in a frantic rush.
I, who had been hiding in the corner, immediately turned on the battery pack and activated the device connected to it by wires. Four long, straight blades shaped like fan rotors spun on a circular plate—whirring.
Soon, a thin string-like object in the center of the blades began to glow, projecting letters into the air. It was a hologram projector.
A magical device that would make the stars floating in the sky look pathetic and bring my own stars down to earth.
[Please gather around the speaker in the center.]
[It’s dangerous to come too close, so please watch from where the speaker is.]
The six people froze in place when they saw the letters that had suddenly appeared in the air. They picked up the brick-sized Bluetooth speaker sitting on a camping chair a short distance away.
The text changed shape.
[5]
The countdown began from five. The moment it reached one, music familiar to the four First Gen members started flowing from the Bluetooth speaker.
“Holy shit. It’s my song.”
Rain muttered in English, startled. Soon, her 3D broadcast model was projected into the air, dancing. It was the groovy dance she had shown during the one-year anniversary song.
No one could tear their eyes away from the hologram. The dancing Rain smoothly transitioned into a glamorous red-haired character.
The music changed to one of Dora’s original songs, which showcased her signature refreshing tone.
“Whoa…! Did you see that transition? That’s insane, insane…!”
Dora danced and sang, fluttering like a bird. This too was a modeled recreation of a scene from the music video. She soon scattered into countless particles of light, then drew a small elf in the air.
“…Insane.”
The dance was ordinary. The singing was decent at best. But when it came to games, Komari—full of spirit—became the archer she loved most and dashed across the battlefield. This was also a scene from the music video.
Finally. After the light vanished and everything went dark, an explosive vocal burst from the speaker first. Then a beam of light fell from the sky, stuck to the ground, blazed like a fountain of sparks, and spread out hazily to summon a girl.
Grasping a standing mic with both hands like the genius singer who used to shout “Mama,” and after a short instrumental break, the virtual Maru sang with heartfelt emotion. As if wherever she stood instantly became a stage.
“………………”
While Maru stared at the video, unable to speak, her character also vanished into the air. Four stars symbolizing each of them danced together, eventually forming a diamond shape. In the center appeared the congratulatory message I had prepared for the First Gen.
Parallel Another, Happy 1st Anniversary!
The sensitive Maru was already trembling all over, desperately holding back tears. Even though she had cried so much earlier, her tear ducts must have finished recharging, because the kids were hugging her in a total mess.
…Hmm. There was still more to the hologram video before I could let them feel moved….
—Burp.
Ah. A dragon burp. Whoa, I nailed it~.
Starting with Dora, who jumped in surprise at the sudden burp, the second half of the one-year anniversary hologram began.
“W-what the. What the?!”
—Whoa, dragons normally burp like this. It’s proof I’m healthy! Ehehe!
“Kyaaaak…!”
This was my absolute favorite Dora dragon-burp clip. I’d specially asked an MMD expert to turn it into 3D.
—Huuuugh. Hic. Thank you. I never thought I’d turn out this well….
—God damnit! Defense meeting. What the parking delicious! Hou yeah!
—Ah! Rain-unni, shut up for a second!!
—Hey Maru. Shaddap. Stop crying and eat some damn sashimi.
—Krrup hup hrrup hup!
“……No way.”
“What the…”
Next came Rain and Maru. It was the scene where Maru was crying because she was so happy she could finally eat expensive things like this after debuting, while Rain kept ruining the mood from the side. This was also one of my favorite collab clips. MMD Expert Number Two had worked hard on it.
—You sons of bitches. If you keep throwing that shit, huh? I’ll come find your houses and throw your damn computers out the window! Huh?! Hey! Heyyyyy! Fuck!
“Ah. Ah. Ah… Ah!”
And finally, Komari. I’d seen plenty of VTubers who swore well, but Komari was the first one to spew such perfectly timed curses in such an adorable voice. This was another favorite clip of mine, and MMD Expert Number Three had put in a lot of work.
After that, a flood of holograms passed by—things like the members’ “ara ara,” “darling,” “pouty again,” and other lines that would make them die of embarrassment, but which the viewers and I absolutely loved.
[FIN]
[Another, please take care of us for the next year too!]
After the closing line, the hologram projector slowly stopped spinning. Everyone stared blankly into the air for a moment, then began shouting as if on cue.
“Mazia!!!”
“Jia! Where!! I’ll KILLL YOU!!”
“Where are you really, unni? Come out right now. I’m holding the speaker in my hand. This thing’s basically a brick, you know?”
“Where are you, Jia-nim? I’m seriously itching to give you a beating…?”
It was a beautiful four-part harmony. Congratulations didn’t have to be touching, and crying on anniversaries wasn’t my style, so I’d prepared this gift instead. It seemed like they all liked it, which was a relief.
As expected, I much preferred fun over tears.
But if they caught me right now, I might actually get beaten up. I needed to stay hidden for about five minutes until they calmed down….
“Mazia.”
Just as I had watched the boss for six years, the boss had also watched me for six years. There were still many things we didn’t know about each other, but it seemed she had finally figured out that when I was up to mischief, I liked to hide somewhere and watch.
The boss, who had somehow gotten behind me, spoke in a low voice as she grabbed my back.
“Come out here.”
Hoehh.