Lunar New Year Special Stream
Lunar New Year's Day arrived.
And, as was only natural—
My daily routine hadn't changed one bit from before.
"Huff… huff… huff… huff…"
"Haaah… haaah… haaah… haaah… Hwaaah… I'm done, I'm resting…."
Lua collapsed first, and I dropped down beside her.
That was right. It was Lunar New Year's Day, and yet here I was at the gym, working out hard alongside Lua.
Lua looked over at me between ragged breaths, her voice full of genuine incomprehension.
"Jinwoo, how… how on earth… do you keep running like that…?"
"Huff… you're… the impressive one… if anything…."
I honestly thought Lua was more impressive than me.
When you considered the difference in stamina between men and women, the fact that she'd only collapsed two or three minutes before I did made her the real standout.
Sure, I was holding a faster pace, and I'd started jogging earlier than her—but even so, that gap was seriously impressive.
Lua sat there beside me, still gasping for air as she watched me.
The sight of her soaked in sweat was a little too stimulating, so I averted my eyes and spoke up.
"Anyway… the holiday starts… today, huh…."
"Yeah… it does…."
"Got anything special planned?"
I casually steered the conversation toward streaming.
I was doing freelance work for them, sure, but I was still an outsider.
I didn't have a clear picture of what went on behind the scenes.
So I took the chance while Lua was exhausted and slipped the question in.
And of course, Lua's reaction was…
"You think… I'd tell you…?"
Exactly as expected.
"Dang…."
"You're so sneaky… Seo Jinwoo…."
I just shrugged at that.
After resting for a bit, we hit the showers, cleaned up, and headed out. Then we walked home together, chatting about this and that.
It was all completely trivial stuff—games, streams—but…
Even those trivial conversations were really nice. Because they were with Lua.
That night, Lulu went live, of course.
But it wasn't just Lulu streaming alone like usual.
Lulu, Aris, and Mei.
All three of them were on stream together.
"Hello~ We're Sweet Mare!"
"Waaaaaah~!"
"Clap clap clap clap clap~!"
Leader Mei kicked things off with the greeting, and the other two were hyping it up with maximum energy.
But that wasn't the important part.
The important part was the stream screen.
The layout looked completely different from usual.
A traditional Korean house filled the background, and the three of them had brought out models prepared specially for Lunar New Year.
Hanbok models. The preparation that had gone into this was seriously impressive.
Lulu, Aris, Mei—all of them.
In hanbok, they almost looked like slightly different characters.
The one thing they had in common was that all three looked insanely pretty.
"We're pretty, right? Aren't we?"
Everyone piled on with a flood of "yeah yeah yeah yeah" reactions, matching Lulu's energy.
I was right there with them.
"Anyway! So today~ we're doing a Lunar New Year special stream!"
"That's right, that's right!"
"Exactly~"
A Lunar New Year special stream. I'd figured there would be one, but actually seeing it go live put me in a pretty good mood.
"So what's today's stream about?"
"What else~ The one game you absolutely cannot skip on Lunar New Year!"
When you thought of games you absolutely could not skip on Lunar New Year, two things came to mind.
One was the kind of game even kids could enjoy. The other was the kind where adults put their money and pride on the line.
Of those two, Sweet Mare had already done the "adults betting money and pride" version before.
So I naturally assumed they were going for something more family-entertainment-show, something kids could join in on…
"Today we're playing Yutnori~!"
"Wow wow wooooow~!"
Just as expected, the harmonious luck-based game even kids could enjoy—Yutnori—had made the cut.
Yutnori. Thinking about it, I had memories of playing it with Im Lua back in kindergarten.
Im Lua had been ridiculously good at it. A total Yutnori pro.
I had a feeling that pro-level skill was going to come out in full force again this time.
"We also have a special guest today!"
That special guest, I had not seen coming.
"Who's the special guest?"
"That would be~!"
"Yes, that would be me. Hello."
The person who suddenly popped into frame was, of course, the Representative—wearing a pretty-girl model and speaking in the voice of a full-grown man.
At his entrance, the chat exploded with laughter all over again.
Of course they did. How were you supposed to keep a straight face when a cute, pretty model opened its mouth and a rugged man's voice came out?
Sure, a few people weren't thrilled about it.
A male Representative sandwiched in among female VTubers—it could look like he was just indulging himself.
But one line from Lulu wiped that hostility out in a single stroke.
"It's Papa, Papaaa~!"
"What's wrong, my youngest daughter?"
"Gimme New Year's money!"
"Haha, so our Lulu wants a little extra on this month's payout, does she?"
"Aaaahhh~ Noooo~!"
In an instant, a few light back-and-forths had turned the stream into a genuine family game show.
"Anyway, I've come today as the father of these three kids. Clap clap clap~"
That was right.
Today's stream was full-on family concept.
So the most wholesome game a family could play on Lunar New Year—Yutnori—was being played by the members of Sweet Mare together with the Representative, who was basically their dad.
"For reference, if I come in last today, I'll be giving out event prizes to you fans."
And having something like that on top of it all was the cherry on the sundae.
Naturally, the viewers started cheering the second those words left his mouth.
As expected, when it came to winning people over, the Representative was a total pro.
Side note—apparently on the second-gen members' stream, it wasn't the Representative who showed up, but Mama.
Yeah, that Mama. The one who designed and built their VTuber models.
Apparently they'd gone with a multiplayer horror game over there, and even from a quick glance the clip potential looked insane.
Their chemistry was pretty solid too.
Anyway, it looked like Fantasy Live had gone all-in on the family stream concept for this Lunar New Year.
If it works, it works, right?
Sweet Mare's Yutnori began.
Unlike Happy Heaven, the second-gen unit, Sweet Mare was all about competition—so the mind games were fierce from the very start.
"You know if you go first you're basically guaranteed to get captured, right?"
"I absolutely do not want to go first!"
"Right, right, worst possible position."
They went back and forth like that, each trying to push the first turn onto someone else…
"Why am I first?! Why am I firrrst!!"
Lulu had ended up first.
In Yutnori, the player behind you can capture your pieces—so with four players, going first meant you were almost guaranteed to get eaten.
Unless you somehow landed a Yut or a Mo and got another throw to rocket ahead, that is.
And sure enough.
"Geol! It's a Geol!"
"You're about to get caught."
"I will not get caught, okay?!"
"Hup!"
"Oh, another Geol~"
"Aaaaaah~! Don't capture me! Don't capture meee!"
Right out of the gate, Lulu got captured.
How did consecutive Geols even come out like that and take her down?
Anyway, using Lulu as a stepping stone, Mei advanced—and then rolled another Geol.
"Unnie, you're supposed to piggyback me, right?"
"You're not piggybacking? Weren't you a Teto girl?"
"Right, our Mei is pure Teto. I never raised my eldest like that."
"Dad, I'll be an Egen girl then~ Egen girls are the popular stereotype, you know~"
Mei said it all in the softest, gentlest voice as she glided six spaces forward, and the second I saw that, I understood.
Skill or no skill—today, Lulu was going to get absolutely wrecked.
And sure enough.
"This time a Yut…! And… a Do!"
"Five spaces, five spaces!"
"Mo~ Oh dear, Lulu, you've been caught~"
"Aaaaaah for reeeaaal!!!"
She'd barely managed five spaces before getting captured again.
"Geol! Captured you~ Yut! And a Gae! Captured another one~ Geol!"
She'd somehow chained her way all the way up to right in front of Mei's lead piece…
"Oh my, a reverse Do~?"
"Ah, Unnie! Wait! Wait a second!!"
…only for Mei, sitting right in front of her, to reverse-Do and capture Lulu's piece on the spot.
In the end, Mei sent two pieces all the way home and Aris got one home as well—while Lulu hadn't managed to move a single piece forward.
"Uggghhh… you're so meeeean…."
Lulu switched her model to a crying expression on the spot and started grumbling with a little scrunched-up face.
Maybe it was because she looked so much like a youngest daughter throwing a tantrum, but the Representative immediately started coming to Lulu's rescue.
"Lulu, you just need a Gae. Then you can capture my piece and keep going."
"Representative…?"
"I've got to look after my youngest too~"
"Only the Representative cares about me… sob sob… mean unnies…."
A full dad-coddling-his-youngest-daughter moment had arrived.
Just as that heartwarming scene was unfolding—
Geol!
"…Ah."
"Youngest daughter, you roll a Geol for that? Just go ahead and take last place."
In an instant, the warmth flipped into a comedy beat.
Lulu, seriously, just take last place. How were your rolls this cursed?
But the one who actually finished last was the Representative—who had been playing like a man who'd fully committed to coming in dead last on purpose.
And the best part was how he spun even that as "the Representative's warm heart, wanting to give gifts to the fans."
The Representative really knew how to work a stream. He was something else.