Chapter 106: The Day the Illusion Shattered

I looked down at the stadium.

The surroundings were covered in particles.

The world after a winner was decided was always this chaotic.

Even though everything was over, the stands were still packed.

Even the fans of the losing team stayed to watch the champions.

That’s how much the winner of this tournament deserved their title.

ECK Summer Champions. Zenith Dragons.

Finals MVP.

Lumen.

The interviewer handed the microphone to Bbangbbang, who was standing there blankly.

Bbangbbang said a few words. It was mostly about being thankful to the fans who had supported them all this time.

This series had been extremely dramatic. Loss, loss, win, win, win. A classic reverse sweep.

I recalled Bbangbbang from earlier.

After two losses, standing at the edge of a cliff with nowhere else to fall back, she had blankly looked my way, took a deep breath, and put on the VR headset.

I had whispered to Paepae.

“The threat that I’d call him Nongnong if she didn’t win must have worked. Thanks to that, when she was at a critical moment, she looked at me, remembered the threat, and went on to crush the game solo.”

“Good job.”

Paepae let out a hollow laugh, as if dumbfounded. Moss also let out a small chuckle.

In the end, we moved around together. Even though we had agreed to go separately to avoid drawing attention.

The reason was…

Because I had taken off my sunglasses and hat.

“You should’ve just denied it. Why admit it so easily?”

“But the one who got the correct answer deserves a reward. It’s the rule of the game.”

“Good job.”

Even though she had won, Bbangbbang didn’t cry. I thought she’d at least shed a few tears, but surprisingly, she didn’t.

[We won’t settle with just this championship. We’ll do our best in the upcoming World Championship too. Thank you.]

With Bbangbbang’s closing remarks, the tournament ended.

“I told you we’d win.”

“Be careful. In clichés, when a player who was never a champion suddenly wins, they tend to lose strength and skills afterwards.”

“I’m just getting started, so that can’t happen.”

After greeting us briefly, Bbangbbang disappeared to join the team dinner.

“Should we head back too?”

At Moss’s words, we all scattered.

Moss and Paepae, who had brought their cars, went back to them.

Bunnyrun, who had car but didn’t bring it because it was too much hassle, as well as Chae Narin , who didn’t have car, came with me.

“Alright, Nuna. I’m heading out.”

As Yuseong stepped on the accelerator, the car started moving.

I admired the city nightscape for a while, then spoke slowly.

“The weather’s nice. How about we go on a trip? How about Jeju Island?”

“At this hour?”

“So it’s the evening that’s the problem. Then let’s just go abroad. How about Hawaii? I’ll cover the expenses.”

“I’m tired, unnie.”

“…I have school tomorrow.”

“I have school too!”

Rejected.

Unbelievable.

When I slumped down, Bunnyrun asked curiously.

“Unnie, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”

“The weather’s nice.”

“The weather’s not even that great, and more importantly, it’s a weeknight. Isn’t this way too random? Did something happen?”

Well, something did happen.

I calmly explained the situation.

“You know, when I get home, I have to turn on the stream.”

“Of course. You just said ‘Hello’ and ran off earlier.”

“That’s the problem.”

Why was streaming at home a problem?

Because…

“If I don’t reveal my identity after becoming a super top developer, the only other option left is to do a countdown reveal at a giant concert hall. But I haven’t managed to rent a giant concert hall yet. Should I go rent one now?”

“Just go home and turn on the stream quietly.”

“Then how about Plan H? I can set off fireworks at home while turning it on.”

“No.”

“Then Plan–”

“No.”

Understood.

The origin of the ‘Red Pill’ goes back to The Matrix.

The two choices offered by Morpheus to Neo: the blue pill and the red pill.

Among them, the ‘red pill,’ representing the truth, is used differently in the VTuber world.

It refers to the real face behind the VTuber.

The debate over Han Yurim’s real face had been an ongoing topic.

Uncovering secrets is human instinct. Humans are built to speculate.

I can confidently say that the modern-day popularity of VTubers owes a lot to this red pill phenomenon.

Digging for the red pill was just that entertaining.

<SB For real, is this really her real face?>

No, right?

–You have to still love her even after seeing this to be a true fan.

–Anyone who’d drop off because of this would’ve left eventually anyway.

Of course, just like the red pill in The Matrix, the truth often stings and hurts.

And VTuber viewers weren’t oblivious to that. With all the big data piled up, it’d be weirder if they didn’t know.

Yet they still dug for the red pill.

Hoping to find the ‘blue pill’ someday.

Han Yurim was no exception to this flow.

<Is there any red pill on Han Yurim?>

oo?

–(mysterious link)

NGS

NN you piece of sh*t

<Han Yurim, was she just a normal person before this?>

Usually, if someone has had a previous life as a different streamer, tons of red pills get left behind, but hers were clean.

–Looks like this is her first account ever.

In the VTuber world, ‘previous life’ refers to switching avatars and accounts and starting anew.

During that process, a lot of personal info usually leaks.

During their small-time days, hungry for fame, many would dabble in cam streams as a one-off event.

The archives from those streams would resurface even after they became big.

It was practically a law.

<Han Yurim doesn’t even use social media?>

She’s a VTuber, but she’s already revealed her real name and background.

Normally, everything would be dug up within a day, but it’s strange that nothing’s surfaced.

–Looks like she never even used social media.

–Born in Donghae, real name Han Yurim. With this much info, she should’ve been found easily, but the fact that no one has means she never did.

Social media was also the place where the red pill got exposed the most.

Photos posted by themselves, or by friends—then discovered by trackers.

Some hardcore VTuber fans even memorized who their favorites were close with, checked all the acquaintances’ socials, and did it daily like a job.

• This person. I heard they’re friends with my oshi, but on the day my oshi suddenly took a break from streaming and went out somewhere, this kind of photo popped up?

• (Emoji of a frog holding up a magnifying glass) That’s the vibe. But Han Yurim managed to slip away from these stalker-like hands. It was honestly incredible. Is Han Yurim normally famous? She was extremely famous, and as a result… there were quite a few fans who were a little creepy too. Even so, not a single thing about her had leaked out. It was like she was one of those people from school who never showed up, had no friends, no social media accounts, and never went outside. So people half gave up on trying to find Han Yurim’s “red pill.”

  <Reasonable theory: Han Yurim looks like a pig in real life>

(A compilation video of Han Yurim constantly eating high-calorie foods during her streams)

• Never goes out but eats desserts all day? Anyone would know what someone like that probably looks like even without having a little sister at home, right? No no no no no no

• Why bring up a little sister?

• Are you an only child? L Loo LLL So instead, they started guessing. Like I said, the “red pill” was too juicy of a topic. You couldn’t just give up because there were no clues. <What if Han Yurim is actually pretty?> She seems really confident and sure of herself. Could you be like that if your BMI was over 30?

• If she were pretty, would she even be a VTuber lol

• Seriously, if you had a pretty face, would you even bother VTubing? It’s like playing a game without using your ultimate skill. Anyway, in this way, Han Yurim’s “red pill” theory kept simmering like embers that wouldn’t die out. Then one day…

(A clip of Han Yurim being interviewed by Sliced Mackerel, where a TTS voice says, “f*ck, it’s Han Yurim,” and she calmly replies “Hello” before running off without looking back)

?????? -? -?? -What the heck was that? Someone had dropped a nuke without warning onto the embers.

Right after that post went up, a hush fell over the VR Streaming Gallery. Because every single user had rushed off to rewatch Sliced Mackerel’s interview.

And it wasn’t just the VR Streaming Gallery. It spread to the VTuber Gallery, the Gaming Gallery, the PC Streaming Gallery, the V-TV board, the Mirinae board, and more.

For about a full minute, not a single post appeared anywhere across all the communities.

<Is it really Han Yurim?> No way. Seriously? <They’re saying it’s Han Yurim?> Does that even make sense? Then, like a dam breaking, posts started flooding in.

<Is that edited?>, <If you wanna know why camera filters are such scams, go see real-life female streamers lol>, <It’s not even her own stream, she just popped into someone else’s interview, so there’s no way it’s edited>

Lmao Everything. <Yo, did Han Yurim even enter the cosplay competition held that day?> (Captured photos from regular people’s SNS accounts showing the ECK cosplay competition)

I can’t even believe my own eyes. Is this real life?

• Normal people posted these. No filters, no edits.

• Those were taken with regular smartphone cameras. No filters at all. How is this possible? <Han Yurim doesn’t even look like she’s wearing makeup?> How can someone look like that without makeup? Chaos. Destruction. A strange mix of joy and confusion. Every single community lost its mind.

<Bro, this is insane lol> So this is why Thierry’s original author accepted it?

She’s a freaking monster, seriously.

• If you used yourself as the model for a character, what can anyone say…

• Just imagining Shiroame’s reaction makes me laugh. I bet Han Yurim sent her a picture of herself, and Shiroame was like, “What the hell is this?!” lol

<Who even is Han Yurim?> What kind of VTuber looks exactly like their own avatar?

• Is this…really a VTuber?

• But honestly, is there any real difference between this and just turning on a webcam? lolololol

All the questions and controversies surrounding Han Yurim that had started with Shiroame’s shot were now resolved with the truth.

All the scattered hints came together like pieces of a puzzle. And once they fit together, things that had been invisible suddenly became clear.

<So that’s why Bunnyrun was acting so chill back then?> (A clip of Bunnyrun collabing with Han Yurim in Donghae)

Because Han Yurim didn’t care if her face got revealed?

• Even Gajunsik thought it was weird. There’s no way he’d allow risky stuff like AR filters if she were hiding her looks. <Wait! Then what about this game?> (A link to Kim Inho’s <Mirage of Silver> store page)

Was it not about Thierry after all, but actually about romancing Han Yurim?

• Ohohoho

• Come here, lolololol

People across multiple communities started digging into Han Yurim’s surroundings.

Until the night fell, until the ECK winner was decided, until it was almost time to leave for work.

[Han Yurim’s broadcast has started.] Until the one person who could put a period at the end of all this appeared.

000 000 (Emoji of opening a door)

The moment Han Yurim started her stream, the chat went completely berserk.

It was still in emote-only mode, so the best they could do was spam “fire,” but even that was enough to crash the chat server.

Then, the background music started playing on stream. It was an OST very familiar to Han Yurim’s viewers.

The OST of <Cosmic Apsuari>. That mysterious and ever-so-slightly unsettling music began to flow from the stream.

Four minutes and thirty seconds later, the emote-only chat was switched back to normal chat. And the donations started flooding in.

<<User XX donated 1,000 won>> Han Yurim, explain yourself!!!!!

The demand for an explanation was exactly the same as when Shiroame had first called her out—but now, it carried a different weight.

It was more condensed, packed with deeper meaning.

“Aah.”

Han Yurim did a mic check. Her clear and pure voice echoed through the stream. And at the same time—

Click. A button was pressed, and the broadcast screen changed. From a black screen to a live camera feed. In other words, a face cam.

Han Yurim appeared on the screen, looking directly into the camera.

For a moment, the viewers were too stunned to even think. Then Han Yurim opened her mouth.

“I told you, I’m using a cam and I’m a VTuber too.”

How were we supposed to know that’s what you meant, you crazy woman?!