Ch.165160 – Nephew

Yoonseul emerged from the capsule late at night.

She collapsed onto her bed, too exhausted to even check the community.

‘That was fun…’

How long had it been since she felt this sense of liberation?

She still couldn’t speak properly as much as she wanted to, which sometimes led to self-blame.

However, Adella and Name didn’t make a big deal of it, patiently waiting for her to finish her thoughts even when she stuttered.

They were all such good friends.

[“I think that’s enough. It’s not like you did anything wrong, sis.”]

Name seemed to be as mature and intelligent as the rumors suggested.

But Yoonseul felt too ashamed for not living up to her expectations, sinking deeper into the quagmire of depression.

She couldn’t agree with the statement that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“No matter how I look at it, Chena died because of me…”

With trembling hands, she unfolded the suicide note given to her by the bereaved family.

It was a part that hadn’t been released to the public, specifically for her.

[“Finally, Yoonseul, to be honest, I’ve always hoped you wouldn’t succeed.

I cursed you countless times for cowardly running away from the agency alone.

But when I met you after so long, you were shining so brightly, unlike what I expected, which made me feel ashamed and small for badmouthing you behind your back.

Thank you for meeting me. You’ve turned even an anti-fan like me into a fan, so you’ll be able to do well with anything in the future. I hope you live happily enough for my share too.”]

Perhaps the feelings Chena had toward her were similar to what Yoonseul felt toward Name and Adella.

A star that shines too brightly silences all the stars around it.

And to Yoonseul, Name and Adella were such beings.

The reason she made Kariri’s speech pattern similar to Adella’s was because she had tried to imitate her behavior while watching World of Arsheria Nightmare Story.

More than anything, she envied the tender relationship between the two girls who cherished each other.

‘Why was I born into this kind of family…’

Yoonseul shook her head vigorously. It was better not to even start such negative thoughts.

After all, she had entered the competition with determination to make changes for herself.

Conversations with others went more smoothly than expected, and her condition seemed to be gradually improving.

That’s why she even proposed a collaboration stream with Name to overcome her trauma, but panic attacks were not easily predictable.

“Just until the competition… just hold on until the competition…”

She was determined to do her best, not wanting to burden her teammates.

“And after that…”

Yoonseul couldn’t easily come up with an answer.

The first impulsive thought was still to give up everything and commit suicide like Chena.

* * *

“You’re going to the hospital on sports day? Why?”

“Like I said earlier, it’s for a health checkup.”

“Why does it have to be today of all days, on sports day!”

“The sports day was postponed for a week because of the rain. It just happened to coincide with my pre-scheduled health checkup.”

“Can’t you skip it? Hmph…”

The sports day scheduled for mid-May was canceled due to an unexpected rainy season.

So it was postponed for a week, which unfortunately coincided with the health checkup appointment I had made months ago.

No matter how hard I tried to explain this, the kids wouldn’t listen.

“There will be sports days next year and the year after that too. There are so many other fun events besides sports day.”

What was supposed to be a quick morning visit to school to submit an absence note was being delayed by the kids’ protests.

“That’s right, Yuna. Stop bothering Name and let’s go help the teacher.”

“Sigh… I’ve been waiting for today… hnnng…”

“Yoon Si-hoo, take good care of Yuna. If she gets hurt today, you’ll answer to me tomorrow, got it?”

“Why me…?”

I gave the absence note to Teacher Jackie and received her well-wishes to be careful.

It wasn’t far anyway, just walking distance from the academy.

These days, I’ve been stuck in the home-school-home-school routine, so even a slight deviation from my usual path makes everything look fresh.

Could this be what the news calls serious VR addiction?

There were constant news reports about increasing cases of patients falling into depression due to excessive immersion in VR worlds, creating a disconnect with reality.

I guess that doesn’t apply to me since I use an avatar that looks exactly like me.

Flutter-

I submitted my personal information form to the hospital and waited.

Then followed a series of tedious examinations. The full course was merciless.

I got a CT scan, lay inside a mana resonance machine that made me curious about its principles, and had blood drawn. Thankfully, it was red.

“Look at those cute little shoes squeaking!”

“I wish I had a granddaughter like her.”

“Ah! We’ll send the results by email! Good job today!”

The nurses saw me off with peek-a-boo expressions. Am I a baby?

With all the fuss they were making, I hurried home before attracting more stares.

While walking, I continued reading information about Kariri.

What Yoonseul kept dwelling on was the “Idol Chena Death Case.”

It was a tragic incident where she took her own life due to an overwhelming schedule and mistreatment by her agency.

I remember at that time, billboards and news were all covered with content mourning Chena.

The reason her suicide note was released late was because her family wanted to expose the agency that had forced her into sexual favors during her trainee days.

And fierce legal battles were still ongoing.

The Seoul Mayor implicated in the charges resigned after admitting to bribery, but still strongly denied any physical contact with minors.

What a complicated and dirty world.

Before getting lost further in the Treewiki maze, I returned to the main point.

Kariri’s connection to her was that they had streamed together the day before her death, and additionally, they had been trainees at the same agency.

When Yoonseul left the agency to become a VTuber, Chena debuted at eighteen in a four-member idol group called “Envy.”

After mediocre results, Chena’s solo song became a worldwide hit, which led the agency to continue promoting her.

[Chena April 2049 World Tour Schedule.jpg]

Looking at the schedule compiled by a fan, I couldn’t help but nod at how murderous it was.

Doing this without rest for over two years would be too much for a young person to handle.

[Kariri/Controversies and Incidents

2.15. Related to Idol Chena’s Death]

The information in this section only listed signs of Chena’s suicidal tendencies.

Her lack of enthusiasm, mentioning chest pain during broadcasts, refusing Kariri’s song suggestions, and commenting that she wanted to become like a “wild chrysanthemum” in one of Kariri’s songs.

‘This is ridiculous. How could Yoonseul have known from this?’

I was particularly angry reading the speculative section suggesting that Kariri might have encouraged Chena’s suicidal thoughts during her heart-to-heart streaming segment.

All of these things must have pushed Kariri to the edge.

Just as I was starting to question the value of streaming, I received a call from Professor Cheon.

[Name, are you still outside? Did the health checkup go well?]

“Yes, I’m almost home. They said I’ll receive the results by email later.”

[Then please come home quickly. We need to talk, just the two of us.]

“Oh, you’re home now? I’ll be right there.”

I thought he had left early for work this morning, so why is he home at this hour?

I hope he’s not showing early signs of dementia. Out of concern, I decided to buy him a bag of walnut pastries on the way.

Definitely not because I wanted to eat them myself.

When I got home, it was just before two o’clock.

The timing was quite awkward—if I had finished a little earlier, I could have gone to watch the sports day.

It seems I’ll have to postpone my academy sports day experience until next year. I wonder if our class won?

“I’m home.”

He really is home?

Professor Cheon’s black dress shoes were neatly placed in the shoe rack.

“I bought walnut pastries on the way. Not sure if you’ll like them.”

There was no response. He must be in the master bedroom.

I deliberately turned around to take off my shoes, using optimal movements to avoid bending my waist.

After making sure my small shoes were neatly parked between the other shoes, I firmly closed the sliding door.

“You’re back?”

I could already see Professor Cheon’s back from the entrance.

“Oh, you were in the kitchen? You didn’t answer because you were busy—”

There was another man sitting across from Professor Cheon.

The person awkwardly raising his hand in greeting was someone I knew very well.

“Haha… hi…”

“Cheon Se-min?”

What are you doing here?

* * *

“Cheon Se-min is your nephew?”

Oh no, my accent came out too strong and might have sounded like cursing, so I repeated more clearly.

“Your nephew?”

Se-min jumped up with a flustered look and answered.

“Y-yes! This is my great-uncle!”

“I called him here.”

Why?

What a coincidence.

I was so surprised that I couldn’t speak properly.

I knew Professor Cheon had an estranged younger brother, but honestly, I had no reason to be curious about his family details.

But suddenly having Cheon Se-min claim to be his nephew was quite shocking.

Professor Cheon silently handed me a letter.

[Seoul Major Crimes Investigation Office

File No. 2051-00628

To: Cheon Se-min, No Name

Subject: Notification of Reinvestigation Request Results]

“What is this?”

I could sense the restrained emotion in his voice.

I looked toward Se-min, who shook his head with an uncomfortable expression.

He mouthed something like ‘I didn’t say anything.’

“I’d like Name to hear it directly.”

Today is going to be a very long day.