Anomaly Detector
Once permission was granted, everything moved like a swift current. Originally, they had planned to begin working with Yeonamdang in earnest on January 1st, but with consent secured, there was no reason to hold back.
The pair, having obtained parental consent forms, proceeded with negotiations with Yeonamdang the very next day.
They moved the schedule up slightly and set the official announcement date for Christmas.
It would feel like a Christmas present for the viewers.
After school ended, as they walked home together, Sang-hyun’s eyes widened as he spoke.
“Your mom was a VTuber? For real? No way. Maybe you becoming a VTuber really was destiny.”
“…Destiny, you say. It might truly have been.”
Sang-hyun needed to understand why Seon-yeong had opposed it so strongly, so with her permission, Myeong-yun gave him a brief summary of what had happened.
He didn’t reveal the full details—just that Myeong-yun’s mother had once been a professional VTuber.
“What was her streamer name? Do you know it?”
“Hmm, I overheard Father mention it once. I believe it was ‘Anima Musica.’”
“Anima Musica? …?”
Sang-hyun tilted his head for a moment at Myeong-yun’s words.
As if trying to recall where he had heard the name, he suddenly froze, mouth falling open as he shouted.
“…The Virtual Diva!! Anima Musica! Is that actually true?!”
“What’s with you all of a sudden?”
“Dude, look at this.”
Sang-hyun instantly searched ‘Anima Musica’ on his smartphone and showed it to Myeong-yun.
The records for Anima Musica remained preserved in an old archive known as Root Wiki.
Anima Musica (Anima Musica)
A VTuber of Korean origin. Approximately twenty years ago, she was known as the Virtual Diva and dominated an entire era in the virtual scene.
During the ‘Virtual Boom’ period—the second generation of VTubers, when Live2D streaming was the mainstream—she debuted under Parallel Live’s Korean branch. With her unique charm and talent, she became a monstrous rookie who skyrocketed her subscriber count in the blink of an eye.
She had a massive international fanbase and held live concerts in various countries, all of which sold out completely. She even made occasional appearances on public television. A true whale of the virtual world, without question.
Anyone who had watched VTubers since the early days would recognize her name.
However, her story did not end well.
Due to the immense fame came relentless stalking and death threats, leading to a semi-forced graduation… and the rest is as you know.
“My mother was someone like this? She’s incredible.”
“She really is. Now I get why you’re so good at streaming. The talent clearly came from your mom.”
Was broadcasting truly something that required talent?
Myeong-yun felt a bit skeptical, but he didn’t press the matter.
If such a thing existed, then he must have inherited it from his mother.
“If she came back now, she’d probably draw a massive crowd. Look at this—there are still people in her fan cafe writing posts praying for her return.”
The fan cafe Sang-hyun showed him was flooded with advertisements, yet among them were people still waiting for her comeback.
Every single day. For 365 days a year. For over 7,300 days.
They had been posting daily, praying for her return for more than twenty years.
Sang-hyun fell silent for a moment, deep in thought, before speaking to Myeong-yun.
“…Couldn’t you try convincing your mom just once?”
“You want her to appear on stream?”
“Yeah. The return of a legend. Honestly, I doubt she wanted her career to end that way.”
It wasn’t a bad idea.
Of course, it would be Seon-yeong’s decision, but Myeong-yun was in favor of it as well.
If it meant restoring his mother’s lost honor…
“Not bad at all. I’ll ask her. If she says no, then there’s nothing we can do.”
“Yeah, exactly. We can’t force her to come out.”
Though Myeong-yun said this, he fully intended to apply some pressure.
There were fans who had waited for her for over seven thousand days.
People who still longed for her return.
People who remembered an old love that had vanished without a trace after reincarnating into a personal life, leaving no word behind.
Surely… his mother felt the same.
If she could meet her fans again and clear the air, it might also be the chance to shake off the thick layer of dust that had settled in her heart.
Whenever Father spoke of the past, Mother’s expression had been one of pure torment—pain mixed with longing.
He wanted to see that face smile brightly once more.
He wanted to return the love his parents had given him.
I suppose I really have become human.
Myeong-yun let out a small chuckle and said,
“This year really has been full of interesting events. I even learned about Mother’s hidden past.”
“This year? Just wait until next year. It’s going to be even more fun.”
“I suppose so.”
What would happen once next year arrived?
Even Myeong-yun, who once read the heavens to foresee the future, could not easily predict it.
But there was one thing he could be certain of: it would be filled with a kind of enjoyment completely different from his previous life.
That much was clear.
“Anyway, that’s about settled. Is the game you picked for today really okay? I chose it, but…”
“It looks interesting.”
“It is fun. And pretty popular. But the genre and vibe are a bit different from what we’ve been playing so far.”
The fact that Sang-hyun was hedging like this meant that even though he had picked a fun game, he wasn’t entirely confident.
The game Myeong-yun would be playing today belonged to a completely different genre than anything he had played before.
The genres Myeong-yun had played so far were roguelikes, asymmetrical horror, and open-world RPGs.
Most of them centered around combat and physical movement.
But the genre of today’s game was horror.
“Alright then. Let’s have some fun with it today as well, Heavenly Demon.”
“Indeed. Let us do so, Grand Strategist.”
Myeong-yun and Sang-hyun looked at each other and smiled.
◎[The Heavenly Demon Does Everything Well]◎
“Greetings, my dear children. Have you all been spending your day well?”
The chat messages poured in the instant the stream started.
Today’s starting viewer count was fifty thousand.
Fifty thousand people had come to watch him, even though today’s game wasn’t For Honor.
Myeong-yun read through the incoming messages and spent some time making casual conversation.
“You want dinner recommendations? Hmm, how about sweet and sour pork ribs? This Lord quite enjoyed it in the past. For some reason, it suddenly came to mind today.”
Starting with dinner suggestions,
“You wish to have a one-on-one duel with me? Defeat Portis first, and I shall accept your challenge anytime.”
He accepted the challenge from an ignorant pup who didn’t know any better,
“Confess to the person you like…? I do not understand why you are asking this Lord such a thing. Hmm. Challenge them to a spar. If you confess like a man after a duel, wouldn’t that settle it? …She’s a woman, you say? Then a duel it is, regardless.”
And even gave out relationship advice.
Myeong-yun made an effort to read and respond to as many messages as possible.
He recalled the mindset of a VTuber that Seon-yeong had shared with him before the stream began.
A VTuber must always be sincere with their fans! Never forget that the viewers are not beneath you!
It was an exceedingly proper mindset.
Having held such a mindset, it was no wonder Seon-yeong had surpassed a million subscribers.
After finishing the casual chat portion of the stream, Myeong-yun snapped his fingers.
As always, countless game titles swirled around him.
“The game we will be playing today—if you are quick-witted, you should have already realized it from the title alone.”
“How can all of you be so slow on the uptake? Lately, many have been saying that this Lord is nothing but a physical talent. How can there be so many jealous fools?”
Although Myeong-yun had proven his skill through many different games,
To the haters, it was still prime material. Even after he had boldly declared ‘legal sniping,’ the ones who had tucked their tails and run away were now spreading rumors that he was purely a physical player with no brain, that he didn’t use his head when moving, and so on.
This was despite the fact that he had already proven his reflexes and calculation ability on Butterview.
Perhaps they simply could not accept that a person could be perfect.
Once the contract with Yeonamdang took effect, those pests would disappear soon enough. But until then, Myeong-yun and Sang-hyun had decided to suck every last drop of value they could from them.
“Therefore, today this Lord has prepared a game that will test your intelligence as well.”
This time, it wasn’t an especially difficult game. It wasn’t something that would take several days like Narak or the cyberpunk martial world.
It was a game that could be finished in a single day, yet pushed the player’s memory to its absolute limit.
“This is the one.”
The moment Myeong-yun grabbed a title, a gloomy BGM began to play.
The quiet track, occasionally interrupted by bursts of noise, already conveyed the game’s atmosphere through its sound alone.
The once pure white space quickly filled with dark fog.
The sky darkened, fierce snowflakes began to swirl, and a world of black and white revealed itself before Myeong-yun.
What appeared next was a large cabin standing within a blizzard, along with a single CCTV camera pointed directly at it.
“Now then, today’s game is this. A game where you must detect anomalies, correct them in real time, and survive the attacks of monsters.”
Above Myeong-yun’s head, the game’s title floated into view.
A game that requires the player to memorize an entire area’s layout, patrol the zone, and correct any changes in real time. Due to the presence of monsters, ghosts, and intruders, it has been labeled ‘Not Suitable for the Faint of Heart’ in virtual reality.
A true horror game, completely different from the Dead by Daylight played previously.
The appearance of a horror game sent the viewers into an excited frenzy.
Myeong-yun lifted the corners of his mouth into a smirk and continued.
“Very well. Let us go forth and subdue these bizarre and unnatural entities.”