Chapter 89: ………….

[LIVE]

[Let’s Watch a Movie with NeoLive! •w » ]*

[41,000 Viewers Watching]

A virtual streaming session had gathered nearly 40,000 viewers. The screen displayed a total of five VTubers.

One noticeable feature was that each avatar had different animal ears. All five VTubers were inspired by animals. The chat was blazing with activity.

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

The chat was flooded with laughter.

However, the expression of Deer VTuber Sikarin was not pleasant.

For her, it was an obvious reaction.

A quiz mission with a prize of 3 million won.

And Sikarin had failed.

— Mission Failed: “Answer at least 3 questions correctly!”

[3,000,000 Won Lost!]

“Ugh, guessing actors’ names! It’s harder than I thought!”

Sikarin finally opened her mouth. When she pressed the pre-set shortcut key, her deer-antlered avatar appeared to be on the verge of tears.

“You cruel people! Do you really find this situation that funny?”

The female character “Sikarin”, with deer antlers.

Sikarin, who had just suffered a major failure in the “Guess the Actor’s Name” quiz, was actually one of the most popular figures on NeoLive.

To begin with, her anthropomorphic deer character was adorable.

Moreover, her voice was incredibly appealing. But most of all…

[Nice ㅋㅋ Nice ㅋㅋ Nice ㅋㅋ]

[“Did you really think you could guess it with that kind of knowledge? Answer me. Did you really think you could?”]

[“There are many geniuses, but only one at the top. I love this saying.”]

[“Everyone, take your hands off the keyboard~”]

[“I feel so bad for the other four members.”]

“Hey! Shut up! No more mentions!”

…The real charm was the witty back-and-forth banter.

Among the countless VTubers, Sikarin had managed to rise to the top. The main reason?

She made the viewers feel like they were just teasing a close friend—laughing and messing around together.

“Haaah?”

Sikarin put her hands on her waist.

Of course, she wasn’t actually angry.

She was just incredibly smart.

Sikarin—Go Eun-bi—was a VTuber who instinctively understood “What kind of reaction will entertain the viewers in this situation.”

A natural-born streaming genius.

Like the embodiment of WWE or the master of comedic timing.

To be honest, she didn’t care about failing the 3 million won mission.

The content was gold—she could clip it into multiple videos and easily make more money than what she lost.

But Go Eun-bi was dedicated to her job.

Because right now, she was 100% VTuber Sikarin.

“You idiots! Do you really think Sikarin got it wrong because she didn’t know the answer? What do you take Sikarin for?!”

[Primitive ㅋㅋㅋ Primitive ㅋㅋㅋ Primitive ㅋㅋㅋ]

[Burning 3 million won is so satisfying ㅋㅋㅋ]

[“Justice is alive! Justice is alive!”]

Acting like Sua and then pretending to be angry.

This was the streaming persona Sikarin had built, but even she hadn’t expected it to blow up this much.

Wow, Sua, I guess you were actually useful for once.

And then, suddenly—

Sikarin smoothly zoomed in on one specific chat message and displayed it on the screen.

[“She’s so cunning, lol. She knows she can’t win the quiz, so she’s just pretending to be mad to get donations.”]

“Haaaah?”

Sikarin’s eyes narrowed.

“You guys, Sikarin has one thing to say.”

Dun dun! A dramatic serious expression appeared on her avatar.

“If Sikarin showed how smart she really was, wouldn’t that be painful for you all? That’s why I’m purposely getting things wrong.

It’s exhausting pretending to be a shut-in who doesn’t watch movies.”

[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ LMAO ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[“She nailed the character today, lol.”]

[“You should’ve just answered correctly, lol.”]

“And you guys—you should be ashamed!

If you have time to watch movies and dramas, you should be watching Sikarin instead!”

[Gasp]

[“What do you mean? I have a film festival assignment due!”]

[“Advertisers are crying right now.”]

[“Don’t watch movies! (Said while promoting a film festival ad)”]

Sikarin quickly coughed.

“Ahem ahem, well… watching with Sikarin is okay…”

Of course, even this slip-up was intentional.

Right after Sikarin pretended to be flustered, she handed the momentum to the chat.

The chat exploded.

[“I’ll only watch movies and dramas!”]

[“I like actresses more than Sikarin!”]

[“Sikarin isn’t even pretty!”]

[“Sikarin has no talent. Just quit streaming.”]

[“I just joined the stream. What’s the chat like?”]

[“It’s a festival!”]

“…Quit streaming? That’s too much! Weren’t we best friends? Weren’t we supposed to be together forever?”

Sikarin pretended to be angry for a moment, then took a deep breath.

“Whew… That’s it. This time, I’ll show you my real skills.

I’m going for a rematch!”

And with that, she started another version of the “Guess the Actor’s Name” quiz.

That’s just how Sikarin’s streams worked.

A fun, playful atmosphere where everyone messed around together.

“Sikarin! This time, good luck!”

“We’ll help as much as we can!”

“Sending you all the support energy!”

This was exactly why the NeoLive members loved Sikarin.

Whenever they had collab streams, it was always like this.

As long as Sikarin led the show, they just had to laugh along.

First question—

(Profile picture of a man dressed in all black)
(Hint: “Cool trash”)

“Ah?”

Sikarin immediately reacted.

“Sikarin knows this one. Kim Sun-il.”

[?]
[????]
[“Wow, she got the male actor right immediately.”]
[“Sikarin, I’m disappointed…”]

“Wait, wait, wait! You guys look like this too!

That’s why you always make fun of my face, isn’t it?!”

[“S-Sorry…”]

[“Sikarin, let’s make up…”]

[“I’ll go buy charcoal briquettes…”]

[“I’m dying because of Sikarin today…”]

Next question—

(Profile picture of a drenched, innocent-looking actress)
(Hint: Ion Drink Commercial)

[“Oh my…”]
[“+†····”]
[“Wait, keep the screen like this for a moment, I need it.”]
[“Oh…”]

“HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY!”

Sikarin yelled, then moved her avatar to block the actress’s profile picture.

And what happened next?

[“WTF”]
[“You cruel woman.”]
[“Move it right now, I need it.”]
[“Sikarin, don’t mess with us…”]
[“Sikarin, show some ‘respect’.”]

“Ugh, you perverts! Trash!”

While the NeoLive members were stunned by Sikarin’s WWE-tier performance, she was deep in thought.

But there was a problem—

She had no clue who the actress was.

[They don’t know Seo Yeon-ju?]

[It’s Seo Yeon-ju!]

[Deer-brain, please engage with pop culture a little.]

[So sharp, so sharp. Acting like they don’t know. ON.]

[Pretending not to know because she’s prettier than them. LOL.]

“No, I really didn’t know,” Sikarin muttered to herself.

Seo Yeon-ju? Sure, she had a pretty face, but she was also insanely popular.

“They say you must be a spy if you don’t know this actress? Is she really that famous?”

[How could you not know Seo Yeon-ju?]

[She’s the one who brought headbands back into fashion.]

[That ‘Did you? Did you?’ speech pattern is so addictive.]

[Her chest shape is pretty. We call it ‘ang’ and love it.]

That last chat message was immediately banned. Click.

Right around then, a whisper came in from the manager.

[Manager]

Sikarin.

The film festival is starting soon.

Let’s wrap up the quiz and get ready to watch.

Today’s stream went really well. bb

Sikarin quickly acknowledged the message.

Whenever a female actress appeared, the chat lost their minds. You guys are way too pervy. This righteous Sikarin could not stand for it.

She turned off the quiz. Ugh.

“Alright, let’s just watch the movie together.”

Smoothly, she ended the quiz session.

A quick glance at the time—9:25 AM. The screening of Sword was set to start in five minutes, but that was plenty of time for some casual chatting.

What should she talk about for the next five minutes?

Then suddenly, Sikarin thought of Sua.

“Hey, hey, guys! My precious friends!”

[Yep]

[Focused]

[Yep, yep]

[Please, go ahead.]

“There’s actually a very dear friend of mine.”

[A guy?]

[A guy?]

[My horns are about to snap.]

[You little—]

“No, no! A girl! She’s a girl! Anyway, she’s been going on and on about how she wants to be an actress. But to reach the level of someone like Seo Yeon-ju… that’s got to be tough, right?”

[Matching Seo Yeon-ju? That’s impossible for anyone.]

[You have to be born to be an actress.]

[What does she look like?]

[Three-size measurements, please.]

Before she realized it, Sikarin had started seriously talking about Sua.

The chat’s response was predictable: It’ll be difficult. Anyone would look plain next to Seo Yeon-ju or Kim Sun-il.

[So, how does she look?]

[I’m so curious about her face.]

[She must be pretty if she wants to be an actress, right?]

“Her face? Well… not as pretty as me, but still—”

Right at that moment.

—Sword.

As the title of Sword appeared on screen.

Ssshhhhhh.

The eerie sound of the wind.

And then, the appearance of a female actress.

“Oh! Right! She looks just like this.”

Sikarin instinctively reacted upon seeing Wi Ji-hye.

“Her sharp eyes are exactly the same. Just like this… huh?”

But then, Sikarin suddenly went silent.

And it wasn’t because she wanted to be respectful during the screening.

It felt like she had just been hit over the head with a hammer.

…You little trickster.

…Lee Sua?

It was Lee Sua. No doubt about it.

The person on the screen was definitely Lee Sua.

—Nyaruharu has donated 10,000 won!

[Whoa LOL, starting strong with a big donation.]

—TunaNyang has donated 1,000 won!

[Do short film festivals only feature pretty actresses?]

The donations started pouring in like crazy.

The chat exploded.

[Wow, even a martial arts uniform can’t hide it.]

[We can see it, we can see it LOL. Whoa.]

[That thin outfit plus the wind? LOL.]

[Huge LOL. Huge LOL.]

[LTE LTE LTELTELTE]

[Zoom in! Zoom in the screen!]

“…”

But Sikarin had gone completely silent.

[LIVE]

[Let’s watch movies together on NeoLive! •w »]*

[60,000 viewers watching]

Maybe it was because Sua’s face had appeared on the stream thumbnail, but the viewership had skyrocketed.

“…”

Yet Sikarin still didn’t say a word.

She didn’t even move.

Like she had just died standing up.

That night, when the screenings had all ended—

“What… what did you just say?”

BANG!

The head of CT Entertainment, Yang Ha-rin’s agency, slammed their desk.

---

Night.

Busan, Gwangalli Beach.

Whoooosh—

Sua’s group chat members stood against the sea breeze.

“…Where’s Lee Sua?”

Go Eun-bi, standing on the sand like a deer, asked.

Instead of answering, the others just checked the time.

There were only five minutes left until Sua’s arrival.