chapter_0063

63 – It’s Not Ram

63 – It’s Not Ram

The first-year student who immediately got into the car at Dohee’s instruction felt a headache upon seeing Jia’s message.

Especially Maru, who had cried loudly about hurting Jia, was the most shocked.

“What the…? Did we just get played?”

From the message alone, it felt like Jia had figured everything out and had turned the tables on the members.

Komari sighed and muttered.

“It was awkward how everyone was praising her, so we got caught.”

No matter how oblivious Jia was, it was probably the first time she had seen a first-year student chasing after her like this.

Moreover, the praise relay was not just any compliments; they were exaggerated to the point of absurdity.

Komari openly pinched Dora.

“Now that I think about it, everything was terrible. What was that ‘Wow, is this the seagull that Jia raised?’ supposed to mean?”

Maru pinched Rain.

“And what about ‘Rain Unni’s superconductor’? That trend has been over for ages.”

Dora, sitting in the third row, suddenly reached out and grabbed the napes of both their necks.

“Are you two trying to start UFC again? Calm down, both of you.”

“No, I’m just stating facts.” “It’s all ruined. It’s ruined!”

Once again, they were in sync, and Rain couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

Given the atmosphere, they forced their mouths shut, but laughter leaked out through the cracks.

“Khuhuh. Khuhuhuhuh.”

“Don’t laugh!” “Are you laughing right now?!”

“Kahhahaha! Kyahahah!”

However, it wasn’t a situation where the members could just bicker endlessly.

The elaborate prank to touch Majiya, who was feeling left out, and make her cry had failed miserably.

They needed to regain control of the atmosphere, show the cake, sing the birthday song, and properly present the gifts.

Komari sighed and muttered.

“But seriously. What kind of hidden camera does Jia Unni prepare for her own birthday? She’s really strange.”

Hearing that, a memory suddenly popped into Dohee’s mind as she was driving.

It was the “surprise gift” that Jia had mentioned was in her large bag when she went to pick her up in the morning.

‘Given Majiya’s personality, she probably couldn’t just let it slide the moment she figured it out…’

It was a gift that could have been given at any time.

But the moment the members tried to prank her, she was likely calculating her counterattack.

It definitely wasn’t something she prepared carelessly.

It would be better to prepare the members’ hearts in advance.

As they headed up the hill towards the campsite, Dohee briefly stopped the car and leaned her head out of the window.

“First, let’s check on Jia when we get up there, calm down a bit, and then have a party or something, okay? I think that would be better than wrapping things up carelessly. We still have a couple of hours before bedtime.”

After all, the one who suggested the hidden camera was Maru, so all eyes were on her.

Even though she had exhausted her emotions all day worrying about Majiya, her desire to let Jia know that she was one of everyone’s precious people remained unchanged.

Even if the hidden camera had failed, they must not forget their main objective.

In the end, they all came together because they wanted to give Majiya the best “Happy Birthday!” of her life.

It was the first time Majiya, who usually hid at home on her birthday instead of showing it off, had come out like this.

Since Majiya had made a big decision to come this far, Maru also needed to solidify her resolve.

Wiping her watery eyes, Maru said.

“Yes. For now, let’s talk to Jia and then prepare again. We can’t give up here!!”

Late November is cold.

Even if the sky sparkles and pretends to fall into my heart, it’s still cold.

I was glad I packed hand warmers in my jumper because I didn’t know how long I’d be hiding.

Being small is quite an advantage at times like this.

Even though it’s an ordinary jumper, when I crouch down like this, my whole body is wrapped up, and the warmth from the hand warmers quickly heats me up.

I hope they come soon…

I searched for constellations in the sky. And found the same constellations again. What constellation was that again? I whistled for a moment.

Vroom.

The Boss’s car came up the hill with a heavy diesel engine sound.

The urgency in his driving was evident.

Normally, he would have driven smoothly, but he squeaked right away.

The six of them jumped out of the car and started running towards me in a hurry.

I, who had been hiding in the corner, immediately turned on the battery pack and activated the device connected to the battery and wires.

Four elongated, fan-like blades spun around a disc, making a whirring sound.

Soon, a thin line in the middle of the blades emitted light, projecting some text into the air.

It was a hologram projector.

It would make the stars in the sky seem trivial.

A magical device that would bring my stars down to earth.

[Please gather around the speaker.]

[It’s dangerous to get too close, so please watch from where the speaker is.]

The six people suddenly stopped in their tracks upon seeing the text that appeared in the air and picked up the brick-sized Bluetooth speaker sitting on a camping chair a little distance away.

The text changed shape.

[5]

Counting down from 5.

When it reached 1, familiar music began to flow from the Bluetooth speaker for the four first-year students.

[The Goddess of Rain, Aoyagi Rein]

“Holy shit. It’s my song.”

Rein muttered in surprise in her native language.

Soon, her 3D model for broadcasting projected into the air and began to dance.

It was the groovy dance she had shown in her anniversary song.

No one could take their eyes off the hologram.

As Rein danced, she transitioned seamlessly into a character with glamorous red hair.

[The Dragon Who Loved Humans, Akari Dora]

The music also changed to Dora’s original song, showcasing her refreshing unique tone.

“Wow…! Did you see that transition? It was insane, insane…!”

Dora danced and sang like a bird, swaying gracefully.

This too was a scene modeled after a music video.

She soon scattered into countless sparkles of light, then drew a small elf in the air.

[The Fighting Genius Elf, Midori Komari]

“… insane.”

The dance was ordinary. The singing was decent.

But when it came to gaming, Komari, overflowing with energy, became the archer she loved most and dashed across the battlefield.

Again, it was a scene from the music video.

Finally.

For a moment, the light disappeared, and in the darkness, an explosive vocal flowed from the speaker.

Suddenly, a beam of light fell from the sky, landing on the ground, igniting like a fountain of flames, then spreading hazily to summon a girl.

[The Singing Hedgehog, Nezumi Maru]

Holding a standing microphone with both hands, reminiscent of a genius singer who called for her mama.

A brief interlude.

Then, the virtual Maru sang as if pleading.

Wherever she stood, it was as if that place was the stage.

“……………….”

While Maru watched the video in silence, her character also vanished into thin air.

Four stars symbolizing each of them danced together, forming a diamond shape.

In the center was the congratulatory message I had prepared for the first-year students.

[Parallel Another, Happy 1st Anniversary!]

Sensitive Maru was already trembling, holding back tears.

After crying so much earlier, it seemed her tear ducts had recharged, and the kids were hugging her, causing a commotion.

… Hmm.

It wasn’t time to get emotional yet; the hologram video I had prepared wasn’t finished.

— Burp. Ah. Dragon roar. Whoa, I ripped it~.

The sudden burp startled Dora, and the latter half of the anniversary hologram began.

“… Wh-what? What?!”

— Well, dragons are supposed to do this much. It’s proof of good health! Hehe!

“Ahhh…!”

It was my favorite video of Dora’s dragon roar.

I had specially asked an MMD expert to create a 3D version.

— Huhhh. Hehe. Thank you. I really didn’t expect it to go this well…

— God damn! Defense meeting. What the parking delicious! Whoo!

— Ah! Rain Unni, shut up for a second!!

— Hey Maru. Shut up. Stop crying and eat some rice.

— Cough cough!

“…… No.”

“What the….”

Next up were Rain and Maru.

Maru was crying, saying she was happy to be able to eat such expensive food after debuting, while Rain was ruining the mood by teasing her from the side.

This was also a video of the two people I really liked.

MMD expert number two worked hard on this.

— You little shits. If you keep throwing things at me, huh? I’ll come to your house and throw your computer out the window! Huh?! Hey! Yaaah! Damn!

“Ah. Ah. Ah…!”

Finally, it was Komari.

I’ve seen many virtual YouTubers who curse well, but Komari was the first to do it so cutely with such a charming voice.

This was also a video I liked, and MMD expert number three worked hard on it.

After the members’ embarrassing moments, like “Ara Ara,” “Honey,” and “Pijjito,” which would make them die of shame, but which I really liked, passed by.

[FIN]

[Another, please take care of the next year too!]

After the closing remarks passed, the hologram projector slowly stopped spinning.

As everyone stared blankly into the air, they began to shout as if they had made a promise.

“Majiya!!!”

“Jia! Where!! I’ll KILLL YOU!!”

“Where are you, Unni? Come out quickly. I’m holding the speaker right now. Is this a brick?”

“Where are you, Jia? I really want to hug you…?”

It was a beautiful four-part harmony.

There’s no rule that congratulatory messages must be emotional.

I prepared this gift because crying on anniversaries isn’t my style, but it seemed everyone liked it, so I was relieved.

After all, I prefer being cheerful over crying.

However, if I get caught now, I might really get beaten up.

I needed to hide well for about five minutes until everyone calmed down…

“Majiya.”

Just as I had seen the Boss for six years, the Boss had also seen me for six years.

There were still many things we didn’t know about each other.

But it seemed the Boss now knew that I was hiding somewhere and watching when we were joking around.

Before I knew it, the Boss, who had grabbed my back, spoke in a low voice.

“Come out.”

Whoa.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

The next episode will be uploaded at 11:30!

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of GTA collaborations and broadcasts, so it’s a strange situation where I’m drawn back to GTA 5…