Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Watching the Year-End Live
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Two days had passed since releasing Tranquil Lake.
Yesterday was... honestly such a blur that I barely remember it.
[Uh, are you okay, Miro-nim?]
I could only let out a hollow laugh at the manager's question.
"What..."
The red pill had leaked.
And in an instant, no less.
I'd been somewhat prepared for it, but I never thought it'd get exposed this quickly.
"It's not a big deal."
Saying that, I checked the popular posts on the community sites.
Since I hadn't streamed yesterday, the posts started with pleas to turn on a broadcast right away, then spotlighted the Wonderland featuring, and there was even some talk about my music chart performance.
Speaking of music charts...
[Still... the song's doing well, right?]
"Yeah, that's a relief."
The reason the manager's voice had a hint of amusement right now?
My chart position.
38th on the real-time charts.
I let out a hollow laugh seeing that number.
Isn't this higher than Heavenly Realm's performance?
It was thanks to Hyun-su, in a way.
The moment I told him I'd been exposed, he immediately promoted it on Insta.
Saying it was a song he made, of course.
And since he grabbed everyone he knew, they listened and posted it to their stories or whatever—anyway, the promotion was solid.
Even after Hyun-su's promo, it's been steadily gaining traction through word of mouth.
Looking at it like this, celebrity influence is no joke.
On top of that, the MV's doing great on NerTube too.
[The results are better than expected. Glad to see it.]
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Better than expected? It's so unbelievable it's hard to process.
"So, you're watching the year-end live with the members?"
"Yeah, planning to."
Since it's such a meaningful event, we decided to gather and watch together.
Anna called everyone to her place yesterday, saying let's watch it as a group.
[Heavenly Realm members always get along so well. Lucky you.]
"We're not exactly the type to fight."
What would we even fight about?
From the start, being grouped together in this Heavenly Realm thing fosters a sense of camaraderie.
[Anyway, since everyone worked so hard on it, enjoy it to the fullest.]
"Yeah. And you, Manager-nim... working today too?"
[Especially on days like this.]
"...Tough job. Take care."
[Yep.]
Ending the call with our workaholic manager, I immediately got ready to head out.
Luckily, Anna's place isn't too far.
Far enough that I could come straight home after the year-end live and still stream?
Since I skipped yesterday, I have to stream today.
As usual, I met up with Maho and headed to Anna's.
"Is this the place?"
"Map says yes."
Anna, who shed her early-career social worker image to earn as a musical actress, lived in a Seoul apartment that looked high-class at a glance.
Come to think of it, why did Anna quit musicals to become a VTuber?
Even though we've been members for a bit, times like this remind me how little I really know.
"What're you doing? Let's go in."
"Oh, right."
Maho and I entered the apartment, took the elevator, and arrived at the floor Anna mentioned.
Ding-dong—
Ringing the bell, Anna opened the door right away.
"Hey, you made it? Everyone's inside, come on in."
"Oh, yeah. Didn't feel right showing up empty-handed."
"Whoa, thanks."
Handing over the drinks I'd bought, we stepped inside and the living room came into view.
"Wow, it's so nice."
"Right? Spruced it up a bit since you guys were coming."
Anna's always talking about investments and retirement, and it shows—her place is impeccably maintained.
But above all...
"Whoa."
"What's this?"
A massive TV dominated the living room.
How many inches is that thing? It took up almost an entire wall.
Maho and I stared in awe at the TV, and Anna shrugged proudly.
"Pretty sick, huh? Saved up and bought it~"
No wonder she was so confident inviting us to check it out.
A screen that size would make anything look good.
"Come on, sit on the sofa."
"The sofa?"
The other members, minus me and Maho, were already huddled on the sofa.
But if Maho and I squeezed in too, it looked kinda tight...
"What, don't wanna sit with us?"
"Suhyun's getting all famous and ditching her unnies!"
"Whoa, ganging up on me like that? Guess this newbie's gotta squeeze in."
If they're gonna push that hard.
I shoved the bigger-built Maho in first, then sat next to her.
Hmm, still cramped.
"Should I order something?"
"Obviously. Chicken?"
"Chicken again?"
"That's what chicken's for on nights like this."
Anna said that and pulled up the delivery app.
Man, she's all about that chicken.
Apparently, she sticks to a diet and rarely orders out, so she indulges on occasions like this.
"I'm good with chicken."
"See? Suhyun gets it."
"Got beer at home?"
"Yeah."
"Then we're set."
We ordered chicken and, while waiting all huddled up, chatted away.
That's when I was secretly plotting an escape from this cramped sofa—Maho, sitting next to me, showed me her phone.
"Hey, Suhyun, this person's posting your song on Insta too."
"My song?"
"Yeah, look."
The person she showed was Lee Hyun-jun.
Nothing major—just a photo of him playing my song on Insta.
My Bluebird account that got terrorized flashed in my mind for a sec, but it faded quick.
Celebs shout out songs all the time, right?
"...He's tight with Hyun-su. Makes sense he'd post it."
"Damn, think it'll crack the top 10?"
"No way."
I slipped out with a quick scoot and dropped to the floor.
Phew, breathing room.
"Suhyun's song is seriously good."
"Right? I was shocked when I heard it."
I'd escaped the sofa, but now the topic was me.
Well, we'd already talked it out on calls yesterday.
The moment my photo hit the communities, the members lost their minds, so we'd wrapped that up.
Now the song praise was kicking off—stuff we skipped in yesterday's chaos.
"Seriously, your skills improved so fast. Kinda self-conscious now."
"Yeah. And that featuring... I've been jealous of you plenty, but this time I was flipping out with envy."
Ugh... all this praise is embarrassing as hell.
I love the attention, but having the members pile it on right in front of me makes me wanna bolt.
"So, how'd the original song happen? Spill the story."
"Yeah, couldn't get the full scoop yesterday."
Original song production?
Truth is, the behind-the-scenes is pretty mundane.
"I've been nagging for a song forever, and this time Hyun-su gave me one."
"Eh? He actually gave it to you?"
"Yeah, said it'd suit me."
"Oh..."
The members' faces turned a bit weird at that.
These guys... don't tell me they're getting the wrong idea?
"It's not like that. He's still in high school. You all trying to get arrested?"
"But tomorrow he's an adult?"
"Still a minor till then."
And they haven't met him in person, so maybe they don't get it.
Hyun-su's already married to music—speeding way past the limit.
That kinda misunderstanding is a huge problem.
"So, how'd you make the MV?"
"Told the manager."
"And he did it right away?"
"Nah, I told Slim Gold I got his song but as an MV newbie, should I make it myself?—he freaked and whipped it up."
"Oh..."
Truth is, it's basically me shoving a gun to his head and threatening.
The members seemed to get that, staring at me in shock.
"You're a real menace."
"Tell me about it. She's on another level."
"Took you long enough? Call me Jesus Miro from now on."
"Ew, no."
Ugh, drawing the line so sharply.
Worship me one minute...
"Anyway, it's about time to start, but when's the chicken coming?"
"Hold on, app says it's almost here."
True to Anna's word, the chicken arrived super quick.
Figured it'd take longer with it being year-end, but nope.
We set up the chicken and beer on the table in front of the sofa and turned on the TV.
"Alright, tuning into the channel?"
One minute to go.
Tension gripped even me, but Anna calmly worked the remote to pull up NerTube on the TV.
Heavenly Realm channel from the subscriptions had the live waiting room front and center.
"W-Waiting room's at 30k?"
"Whoa."
Over 30,000 people were already waiting in that live room.
Hasn't even started, and it's more than expected?
Post-start, it might even hit 100k.
Way more than anticipated—aggro must've pulled hard.
"Thanks to Suhyun, we pulled a ton of aggro..."
"Damn, Suhyun again... Guess I have no choice but to stan her."
"Great Suhyun."
"You too...?"
Internet streamers in real life, spouting net slang—unbelievable.
They don't act like this outside, right? I hope not.
We bantered to ease the tension, but right before the year-end live kicked off proper, they went dead quiet like ghosts.
Well, everyone's nervous, words failing them.
How hard we'd worked since Chuseok.
Everyone but Anna took dance lessons from scratch.
We all wanted it to go well.
Then the waiting room screen shifted.
The long-awaited year-end live began.