Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: End-of-Year Live & Original Song Teaser
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[So it's coming up soon?]
"Yeah, really soon."
[Hmm... You'll be nervous.]
"A bit a lot?"
[I get it! I was super nervous too.]
Tenshi-san replied as if she totally understood. Well, she's a senior in the industry, right? She'd already walked the path I was on.
[Still, Suhyun will do great. Oh, noise from the north direction.]
"Noise? Oh, I hear it too."
Bang! Bang!
Tenshi-san swung her gun toward the sound almost immediately after mentioning it and fired right away.
Afterward, seeing the kill log pop up in the top right, I couldn't help but let out an impressed exclamation.
"Wow, you shoot really well."
"Ehehe, I've played a ton? Suhyun's good too."
"Not as good as Tenshi-san."
I play games to some extent, sure, but compared to someone who's sunk thousands of hours into FPS games like Tenshi-san, I'm still way behind.
[Suhyun should play more FPS... You barely do any. Every time I watch your streams, you're always doing weird stuff!]
"Weird stuff...?"
What weird stuff do I even do that's so bad?
Sure, compared to before, I've been actively taking viewer recommendations lately and mixing things up quite a bit.
[Why do you always play crap games?]
"Ahem... Those are games with real effort put into them by the devs, and they're pretty popular too."
Crap games? Saying it like that makes it sound like I only pick total trash.
I just go for slightly niche titles.
They're perfect for one-and-done streams, so I end up playing them a lot.
[Anyway, when are we watching a movie together again? That was fun.]
"Huh? You watched that?"
[Of course? I saw you sniffling the whole time!]
Oh no... She saw that.
Afterward, the Heavenly Realm members teased me endlessly about it.
Seeing Tenshi-san gearing up to tease me too, I struck first.
"Then let's watch a movie together sometime outside of streams."
[Eh? Is that a date invite?]
"Pretty much? Though you'd have to come to Korea."
[Pfft— Boycotting Japanese theaters?!]
"Hey, don't jinx it."
If I watched in a Japanese theater, I wouldn't even enjoy the movie properly.
Or would I? If it was a Korean film screening in Japan with subtitles instead of dubbing, maybe it'd be fine.
[Anyway, Suhyun! Time to start mentally preparing?]
"Huh? For what?"
[You promised to guest on my live! You'd have to come to Japan.]
Oh, right, there was that promise.
Sorry, Tenshi-san, but... I've been busy and forgot.
"Ah, when should I go?"
"Hmm... No detailed schedule yet! But it won't be too long. Ah! Eat this cluster grenade."
"Thanks."
Worst case, it'd be right after her year-end live, early next year, right?
By then, going to Japan wouldn't be an issue.
"Got it. Let me know when it's set."
"Roger!"
Speaking of Japan, it reminded me of someone.
"Oh yeah, Tenshi-san."
"Yeah?"
"You know Izakaya Sake, right?"
The big Japanese VTuber Lee Hyun-jun mentioned last time.
I was a little curious about her.
In Japan, the birthplace of VTubing, number one basically means number one in the world.
[Eh? Sake-senpai?]
"Yeah, I was talking to an acquaintance who knows nothing about VTubers, and even they knew her."
[Ehh— A guy?]
"Oh... How'd you know?"
She nailed it right away? Makes sense, though?
Most VTuber fans are guys anyway.
[Really?! Is he hot?!]
"Hmm... Exactly Tenshi-san's type."
[Eh?! You know my tastes?]
"Probably?"
Doesn't Tenshi-san love K-pop idols?
He just looks like one of those, so she'd like him.
"Anyway, what's Sake-san like? Just curious."
"Hmm... Hard to explain in words..."
Tenshi-san pondered for a bit before making an offer.
[Then when you come to Japan, want me to introduce you?]
"Huh? That might be a bit..."
What is she even saying...? I said I was curious, not that I want to meet her.
[Eek? Why? Tons of people want to meet Sake-senpai.]
"I'll just hang out with Tenshi-san in Japan. Plus, I don't speak Japanese."
[Sake-senpai knows some Korean. Ah! People over there?]
"She speaks Korean? Anyway, laying down smoke first."
Everyone in Japan speaks Korean?
Must be the power of K-pop.
Now I get why Civilization has cultural victories.
[I'll go first! Uh... Ah! I'm dead!]
"Wait. I'll revive you... Urk!"
We chatted away confidently while trying to push the house in front of us, but we both ended up dead.
Seeing the "4th place" on screen, Tenshi-san sighed.
"Ugh... We were so close to first today."
"Yeah... What a shame."
"Alright, time for your stream?"
"Yeah, heading there."
"Take care!"
"Haha... You don't have to."
And with that, the game with Tenshi-san ended.
As planned, I turned on my stream.
[Notice]
-?
-What's up?
-hi hi
-Oh that
"Aa, hello everyone."
-hi
-What's the notice?
-From the cafe?
-What exactly is it??
Some viewers didn't know, but a few had diligently checked the notice Manager-nim posted on the fan cafe.
"Since you guys never check the cafe, I came to announce it myself."
No need for long explanations—I put the Heavenly Realm year-end live notice in a small box on one side of the screen.
"December 31st, no plans, right? Spend the new year with Heavenly Realm."
-Nice
-What's this??
"Heavenly Realm's first year-end live schedule reveal."
-Heavenly Realm
-Live ㄷㄷ
-What exactly??
-Free??
"Of course it's free, and we'll be singing and dancing."
I learned the hard way during recording just how tough it is to do both.
But the final product... No one's gonna be disappointed.
-Dancing too?
-Dance lessons weren't for nothing lol
-Kinda obvious tbh
"Well, it was obvious, but we had to practice. We worked really hard, so come watch."
-OK OK
-Hmm.. worth it?
-Can I no-show?
-Will decide after seeing today's stream ㅇ
"Hey."
These guys.
They're definitely coming, but they gotta poke fun in chat.
[ㅇㅇ-nim, 1,000 won donation—thanks!]
But year-end live means merch, right?
-fr
-Merch tho..
-Gotta have it
Merch? It hadn't even crossed my mind, so I was stumped.
"Uh... Sorry, no plans for that."
???
-Aren't we due?
-No merch = streamer not VTuber???
"No, we haven't been around long enough?"
Less than a year feels too soon, right?
In Korea, drop merch too quick after some popularity spike, and you get slammed: money-grubbing, sucking fans dry.
From my side, Heavenly Realm merch would be nice, but it's too early.
-k
-Then when?
-Merch makes bank apparently
"Dunno. Company handles that stuff."
Their reactions made me think maybe we could've done it this time.
"But someday I wanna fill my room with Heavenly Realm merch."
After moving out my otaku stuff to storage, my room still feels kinda empty.
To the point where I'm thinking of buying a Tenshi-san figure to display.
-fr..
-Will it happen?
"Someday, yeah."
Can't keep growing forever, but steady upward trend, and it'll happen.
Probably in a few years.
By then, maybe Heavenly Realm 12th Gen or something.
"Anyway, we prepped a ton for the year-end live, so watch nicely, and now the real notice."
???
-This wasn't it?
-More??
"Yeah, one more. Hold on."
The year-end live was part of it, but not the main point of today's stream.
The real core is this.
Click.
I opened the prepared folder and the file I'd gotten that morning.
"Focus up, everyone."
And then.
On the streaming monitor, a 2D animated video appeared, with gentle melody flowing.
First up: a lake surrounded by forest.
A girl stands with her back to it, by the shore that screams natural beauty.
Pink hair, cute little horns—she stares blankly at the lake, then peers at her reflection.
The shimmering water shows a stunning figure.
Emerald eyes like jewels embedded, snow-white skin and features so perfect even she can't look away.
At the same time, a beautiful voice fills the video.
Time flies by fast-forward: day turns to night, speeds up and slows.
The melody picks up tempo to match...
Plop.
Something hits the lake; time slows instantly, showing ripples spreading slowly.
Then.
The girl, who's been gazing at her reflection for days, frowns as the mirror-like lake ripples.
She stands with that furrowed expression—and the video ends, showing one line.
[Tranquil Lake]
????
-Wow insane
-Wtf???
-New song??
"So, what do you think of the teaser?"
It was the MV teaser for "Tranquil Lake."
Even I was shocked when I first got it.
The quality was way higher than expected.
"Miro's original song is coming."
???
-fr??
-When?
-Wdym
A bit sudden?
I nodded at the viewers freaking out over the video.
Yeah, it'd confuse them.
They probably thought if an original dropped, it'd be Anna first.
But quiet kitty Miro climbed the chimney first.
"Release after Christmas."
I glanced at the calendar.
December 21st.
D-10 to year-end live.
It's really right around the corner.
[Janginmiro-nim, 10,000 won donation—thanks!]
Dae Hwang Ro
You'll stream on Christmas too.. right?
-No duh
-No stream = doom
"Haha."
-fuck
-Answer
??
-Don't you dare not
-Pls stream...
D-4 to Christmas.