Chapter 150
Chapter 150
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 150
Chapter Title: Second Gen Debut Relay Broadcast (2)
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Han Ye-eun.
She was someone I ran into at the vocal academy while practicing K-pop songs to perform with Tenshi-san.
She seemed bright and friendly at the time, so we exchanged numbers, thinking it might be fate...
Who would've thought that the VTuber she said she'd never do was in the Heavenly Realm?
That does clear up some of the questions I had back then...
"What's wrong?"
As I sat there lost in thought, Maho, who was next to me, asked with a puzzled look.
"Oh, nothing."
Come to think of it, does it really change much if Haeun is Han Ye-eun?
I'm just a little surprised, that's all.
And isn't it actually a good thing?
From what I saw back then, having her join as a junior would be great—no downsides at all.
"You zoned out for a sec. Shall we keep watching?"
"It's almost done."
"Oh."
Since it was a debut relay stream, each person's broadcast wasn't that long.
Haeun's turn had already ended, and now the final debut stream of the day started.
Her name was Haeil.
Her name's similar to Haeun's, though the meanings seem totally different.
It feels like the "haeil" from tsunami.
[Nice to meet you all!]
Her character matched her name perfectly, with flowing blue hair like crashing waves.
Haeun's hair texture was impressive too, but this one's flashy in a whole different way.
Once the 2nd Gen debuts wrap up, I should formally request a remake from The Six.
They can make something like this, so why not for us?
Of course, the 1st Gen quality isn't bad. It's just that the 2nd Gen is too extravagant.
"Wow, that character is insane."
"Right?"
Maho seemed to be thinking the same as me and let out another gasp of admiration.
If we like it this much, the viewers will lose their minds.
Even my stream chats are full of V-Taku talk, but they love subculture stuff more than anyone.
[Let me explain a bit...!]
Like the two before her, Haeil continued with her introduction.
She breezed past things like height and weight, and what caught my interest was her specialty.
Seolha's was drawing.
Haeun's was singing.
So what about Haeil? I was curious.
With the stream time being short, her specialty came up quickly, just as I'd hoped.
[My specialty is gaming!]
Gaming, right off the bat.
Hmm... not what I expected, but games are important anyway.
Take me—I’m a VTuber who's damn good at games, aren't I?
Probably the best among the 1st Gen.
I've got the basic physical skills for it.
[Famous games, indies—I'm confident in them all!]
Her bold declaration piqued my interest.
Confident in everything? Is it time to pass on Civilization or Three Kingdoms?
With so many viewers from the start, it could be overwhelming, so teaching her Miro's secret technique—fleecing ants—might help.
[Well, that's it for me here! See you next stream...]
With that, we'd watched the first-day debut streams of our cute new 2nd Gen juniors, ending with Haeil. Maho stretched her arms with a big yawn.
"Finally done."
"What'd you think?"
"Of the newbies?"
"Yeah."
Personally, I liked them all. They seemed like they'd be great at streaming, and collabs would be fun.
The Heavenly Realm Project was leveling up, which was nothing but good for me, so I hoped the newbies would stream hard and help it expand as much as possible.
"They were all great. Can't wait for collabs or meetups."
Maho seemed to agree with me. Well, anyone could see they'd done well.
Imagining future collabs that might happen someday, I stood up.
"Well, I'll head out then. It's getting late."
"You could crash here—we're watching together tomorrow too, right?"
The newbie debut relay was over two days, so we'd planned to watch tomorrow's at Maho's place too.
That's why she was suggesting I stay over...
"It's close enough to walk anyway."
It was walking distance, so why bother?
"Fine then."
When I said I wouldn't stay, Maho puffed out her cheeks in protest.
Why's this sister acting up? It looked cute when Tenshi-san did it, but Maho—1.5 times bigger—felt a bit intimidating.
"Oh, Roa's coming tomorrow too."
"Roa-unnie?"
"Yep."
Roa coming over? That's new.
It's not exactly close for her.
"Sure."
More members were always welcome, so I nodded.
Leaving behind the disappointed Maho, I headed home for now.
***
The next day.
Heading to Maho's place to watch the remaining three 2nd Gen debuts, I spotted a familiar face in the distance.
"Huh, Suhyun?"
It was Roa.
I'd heard she was coming today, and here we were, running into each other near Maho's.
"You here already, unnie?"
"Yeah, just up ahead."
Still, even though I'd seen Roa often, it was a little hard to get used to.
She never quite matched the pure, innocent Roa from her streams.
She seemed kinda blunt outside.
Well, few VTubers are the same on and off stream.
My stream energy is way higher than real life, right?
"Let's head in."
"Yep."
As we entered the building with Roa leading, something different about her back view caught my eye.
Her hair had gotten longer?
It was a short cut when we first met—now it's bob-length.
"Bob now, huh?"
Her ears, peeking through the lush bob, had no piercings anymore.
"Yeah, growing it out."
Her makeup felt lighter too?
After doing the Roa character so long, was she starting to embody it?
What do you call this—pure corruption?
Anyway, as a woman, she looked even prettier.
"Suits you."
"...Really?"
"Yeah, though your old look was great too."
I meant it.
I mean, don't I have a bit of a band girl fantasy?
That Hongdae underground gig guitarist vibe was appealing in its own way.
"How's it compare to my old self?"
"Well, now's always better, right?"
I'm not clueless enough to say the old one was better, and honestly, Roa hadn't changed much to me either way.
"Good enough. Let's head up."
We climbed the stairs to Maho's door.
Knock knock.
Roa knocked, and the door opened right away.
"Come on in—oh, you two together?"
"Ran into each other on the way."
"What a coincidence. Come in."
Having been here yesterday, Maho's room didn't faze me.
Just the usual—always so clean.
"Sit here, both of you."
We sat on the same sofa from yesterday, Roa and I.
This setup felt ominous.
Once Maho sits...
"Eutcha."
...Yeah, as expected, cramped.
It was a single woman's sofa to begin with—three people made it tight.
We set up food like yesterday, chatted a bit, and soon the 2nd Gen relay started. We hopped into the first one's channel.
"Oh."
Habin.
"Sigh."
A twinge of awkwardness hit me.
"What's up?"
"Oh, you did her interview, right? How was she? Like at the cafe before."
As I squirmed, the other two gave weird looks, so I waved it off.
"Oh, it's not that."
Habin hadn't done anything wrong.
I'd just been a bit oblivious.
And I'd even gotten some worry-consultation-ish advice from her that day.
Made things a little awkward now.
Scary thinking about meeting her later.
What face to make, what to say...
I forced a neutral expression and watched Habin's debut.
Habin's character had bright purple bob hair with a hat, dressed in street-style clothes overall.
The quality was solid, but the design was almost identical to her 1st Gen audition one.
"Habin's keeping her character as-is."
"Well, it gives her a backstory."
While the other 2nd Gen had overhauled even if they had past lives, Habin kept her name and design intact.
Better than a blank-slate newbie: the one who barely missed 1st Gen, rose again, and nailed 2nd Gen—more depth, more relatable.
Chats confirmed it—great reactions.
Visually maybe less than yesterday's three, but the failure-to-triumph story was pure profit.
Plus, she'd been runner-up in 1st Gen auditions.
With 2nd Gen selection and training, she couldn't flop if she tried.
She handled her intro smoother than the others.
Wonder what her specialty is?
Honestly, I don't know much about Habin.
I searched a bit, but not down to specialties...
Well, if I don't know, now's the time to learn.
And her specialty was...
[As it says here, I'm good at rap.]
Not what I expected.
"Rap?"
"Ooh..."
Maho matched my reaction, but Roa...
"Looking forward to it."
She actually liked it.
Not surprised?
"You like rap?"
"Yeah. Hip-hop's great."
"Didn't do it on stream."
"Uh... concept?"
Makes sense. Hard to picture the Roa character rapping.
Maybe cute-style, but she probably meant the real deal.
Still, rap suits her, honestly.
Wanna hear it sometime.
Habin's stream ended, next up...
"This one's got hype."
"Oh, Seo Eun-ha?"
Habin followed by Seo Eun-ha.
The interview kids back-to-back.
She seemed shy in person—how's she on stream?
Manager-nim ranked her top over all the other big-shot 2nd Gen, so expectations were high.
Her stream just started—BGM and background loaded.
"The BGM's kinda..."
"Mysterious?"
"Yeah, exactly."
BGM and background had a mystical vibe.
Unlike the comfy choices of other 2nd Gen.
As we took in the mystical BGM and backdrop, her character popped up from below with a "shuk."
[Hi everyone!]
Her bright, energetic voice was worlds from the girl I'd met—hard to believe it was her.
But my focus was on Seo Eun-ha's character.
"No way."
"Wow."
Not just me—Maho and Roa gasped too.
Matching her name, she had deep purple hair like gazing at the cosmos, eyes sparkling like stars.
Slightly different from the preview design.
But...
"No way."
The quality was insane.
How does it look that good?
Yesterday's 2nd Gen trio was impressive, but this was a whole level up.
Yesterday's three, today's Habin.
And now Seo Eun-ha as the crowning cherry—mind-blowing.
"What kind of character is that?"
Fuck this, The Six!
If you can make shit like this, remake me first, obviously?
Gotta call Manager-nim after today's debuts.