Even Touching Games Make Lulu Cry
After that, Lulu's San Jebi playthrough kicked off for about four straight days.
That's right. She burned through both weekend days and two weekdays.
On top of that, Tuesday was supposed to be her day off, but she straight-up pushed it back, announcing, "I wanna see the ending so bad, so this week's off days are Wednesday and Friday instead."
And finally, at the end of that marathon...
Lulu made it to the final chapter of San Jebi.
"Phew... That was looong, for real...!"
"Shush, everyone!"
Meanwhile, the real trolls calling out Lulu's skills were getting absolutely shredded in chat.
Tease her all you want, but keep it to WWE-level jabs, guys. Our Lulu gets hurt.
Thankfully, Lulu knows exactly how to shut down those viewers with her sick burns.
"Alright! Let's start the final chapter!"
In San Jebi's last chapter—that very final chapter—Lulu uncovered the true story of the game.
Between the revealed truth and the illusion she'd been chasing as her goal the whole playthrough, the one Lulu picked was, naturally...
"The truth, duh. This is obviously the true ending no matter how you look at it!"
She went straight for the true ending.
We felt a twinge of regret seeing Lulu with zero interest in the bad ending route, but we got her choice.
This wasn't a replay run; she'd spent days suffering through a single playthrough of San Jebi.
So no one batted an eye at her heading right to the true ending.
But after choosing the true ending...
Lulu witnessed a story that was pure emotion.
Revelations about the protagonist's child from the prologue, the protagonist's own truth, why the protagonist had to endure this game's story...
Some might call it clichéd melodrama, but that's exactly what made it hit so hard, overwhelming Lulu.
And then...
"Sniff..."
I heard Lulu sniffling back her snot.
She'd clearly been moved to tears by the game's melodrama. Big time.
Thankfully, the viewers weren't mocking crying Lulu—they were bawling right along with her at the emotional finale.
Yeah, that's the Lulu fandom.
They roast her harder than anyone, but love her more than anyone and get the most joy from her streams.
Her diehards who dive deep into her playthroughs with her.
"I am the tiger who hides its claws, the silent owl... Hic...!"
Lulu recited the protagonist's iconic catchphrase, then burst into tears again.
"You guys believe in Lulu, right...? You believe in meee...!?"
Thinking there was more gameplay left, Lulu turned to the viewers.
Asking if they trusted her, like she was gonna one-shot the presumed final boss coming up.
The chat fired back instantly.
But our dense Lulu had no clue.
"You gotta play along with the mood, you T's!! Sniff...!"
Her teary voice was so cute—and prime clip material—that I was already typing in the timestamp.
Anyway, Lulu soaked in all the cutscenes and post-credits epilogues after that.
"Ah, that was fun. I feel like I really grinded hard these past few days..."
As the end credits rolled, Lulu waxed sentimental in all sorts of ways.
The chat started roasting her reaction.
Aris was still dropping her chaos bombs in chat to troll Lulu.
"ClumsyLulu good job? Aris, you try it!!"
(For the record, Aris had already played this game. And crushed it on Hard mode in a replay run.)
Hard mode is basically no-hit territory, and she cleared it like it was nothing.
Pretty impressive, right?
That's part of what makes Lulu and Aris so appealing.
Lulu doesn't excel at games but loves them and grinds to the end with sheer tenacity.
Aris is insanely skilled, delivering top-tier gameplay entertainment.
Their charms are polar opposites—which is probably why they mesh so well.
"That's it for today's stream! Lulubaba! See you in your dreams tonight, my sacrifices~!"
Lulu signed off brighter and bouncier than in her recent streams, hyped from the ending.
Watching her joy, I fired up the editing software for her stream.
What can I say? Her happiness makes me happy.
I'm a true blue Lulu stan now. I used to clip other VTubers too, but these days I'm basically her full-time clipper.
*
The next morning, Im Lua eyed my finger and asked,
"...When's your finger gonna heal?"
"Gotta hit the hospital this week."
"This week?"
"Yeah."
I'm planning a checkup around then—if it's good, swap the cast for something lighter. Like just a brace.
"Phew, good..."
"How's your toe?"
"Ah, I'm going for a checkup this week too."
I remembered her foot when she came over. Probably because of her cast, she'd shown up barefoot and slipped on some house slippers.
She'd looked like she was in real pain, so I'm glad it's improving.
"Does it hurt when you walk?"
"A bit. Of all toes, it had to be the big one..."
She hung her head, embarrassed.
"But you powered through somehow, so that's a win."
"Yeah, really lucky."
She nodded with a beaming smile—small and subtle, but straight out of her haughty charm. Gorgeous.
"How's studying going?"
"Pretty good. Thanks to someone. Math aside, I think the rest'll come out decent."
Dead serious.
Math's a lost cause with my weak basics—no expectations there. But the others? Solid shot.
Especially society studies and Korean lit—I'm confident.
"English any better?"
"English... Honestly, no clue. Some stuff crams well, some doesn't."
She nodded, eyes on me.
"Still, you'll nail it. I'll keep helping."
"Thanks."
I nodded back.
Having someone cheer you on feels this good, huh.
* * *
After helping Jinwoo study and stepping out to the bathroom, my classmate Jihye approached me.
"Lua."
"Yeah, Jihye? What's up?"
We're friends, but not super close.
You know, we know each other's faces and can call it "friendship," but not the type to spill our deepest secrets. That vibe.
Then Jihye dropped an unexpected name.
"...You close with Seo Jinwoo?"
"Jinwoo?"
"Calling him by name, huh."
(I call him that unilaterally, but anyway.) I nodded.
So Jihye asked,
"...Why are you hanging out with Seo Jinwoo so much?"
"Why? 'Cause we're friends?"
"You and him?"
"Yeah. Problem?"
She panicked and shook her head at my question.
"N-No, not a problem or anything..."
"Then move, I gotta get back to class."
"Oh... Yeah, got it..."
I headed into the classroom, mood soured.
I hate people who judge books by covers.
Jinwoo's looks aren't great—more delinquent than model student, sleeps through class mostly.
But I know how good he is inside. How warm his heart is.
Plus, he's putting in the effort now. He hadn't before, but he's started again.
Pulling all-nighters editing videos—that's real effort.
How could anyone dislike a guy like that?
Back in class, I spotted Jinwoo's back as he studied.
I smiled without thinking.
But seeing him like that stirred something weird in me.
That Jinwoo—he's one of my viewers. One of the countless Lulu stans.
My friend being my fan? The absurdity hit me like a punchline.