Chapter 59: Two Stars, One Song

Soyul carefully moved her arm.

As if by magic, the scenery before her eyes softly rotated.

Then, something sparkling appeared before Soyul’s eyes.

Looking closely, it was… a large fairy with a blue glow.

Its long, flowing robes scattered faintly shining stardust, as if containing the night sky.

A mysterious moon-shaped ornament shone above the fairy’s head.

Semi-transparent blue wings were attached to its back.

Its face was covered with a faintly glowing cloth, adding to the mystical atmosphere.

Needless to say, it was Jina’s creation.

She spent the same amount of time implementing the flight system as she did carving out this content solely for Soyul.

The fairy gracefully fluttered its wings, circling Soyul.

As if it had been waiting for Soyul.

‘Should I follow that fairy?’

Soyul, without hesitation, slowly flapped her wings, following the fairy.

Riding on the shapeless wind, she gently traversed the sky.

A sharp whoosh sound lingered in her ears.

There was no cool breeze brushing against her cheeks…

Even so, Soyul was completely immersed in the virtual reality flight.

She even forgot that she was wearing a VR device.

No, she wanted to forget.

Soyul followed the fairy, passing through narrow canyons and narrowly skimming over waterfalls.

The scenery that unfolded beneath her feet was…

Incredibly beautiful and realistic.

In the distance, the sunset scenery could be seen.

With the colorful sky as a backdrop, she picked up speed a little more, and a sparkling cityscape came into view.

And… the stars of the endless night sky appeared.

Soyul, as if dreaming, looked around with a dazed expression.

[Ah-]

Then, a clear and pure singing voice was heard from somewhere.

It was a warm and comforting voice, like a lullaby.

The fairy’s whispers carried on its wingbeats softly tickled Soyul’s ears.

As if possessed by something, Soyul swam through the sky, following the singing voice.

The singing voice seemed to lead Soyul to a wider world, to a higher place.

At some point, Soyul realized that she was crying.

Joy, freedom, and a sense of liberation.

They were tears of hope, which she had forgotten for a very long time.

‘I… I’m flying right now…!’

Soyul murmured in a trembling voice.

The girl who had lost both legs in reality and was confined to a wheelchair.

In virtual space, she gained two wings and enjoyed freedom.

Even if all of this was an illusion.

Soyul was happy.

How much time had passed?

The fairy that had been leading Soyul gradually lost its light at some point and slowly faded away.

As if saying a final farewell, it circled Soyul one last time… and then scattered and disappeared among the stars in the night sky.

Soyul, as if disappointed, stared blankly at the spot where the fairy had disappeared.

Then, slowly… she landed on the ground.

“Welcome back?”

“…Unnie.”

Soyul, in a trembling voice, called out to Jina, who was standing in front of her.

“Um… that…”

Soyul couldn’t easily continue speaking.

Her throat was tight, and her voice wouldn’t come out properly.

Painful memories and bitter emotions flooded in.

The accident.

The day that completely changed Soyul’s life.

As usual, she was in the car with her parents, going on a picnic.

But the car skidded on the rainy road and crashed into Soyul’s family… and Soyul lost her parents and the sensation in both of her legs all at once.

She lay in a hospital bed, endlessly shedding tears.

The sadness of being left alone.

Legs that couldn’t move.

An empty sensation…

Soyul felt like her body was an empty shell.

‘How pitiful…’

‘So unlucky…’

After being discharged from the hospital, what awaited Soyul were the cold gazes of the world.

Pity and compassion. And other things besides.

Soyul felt like people’s gazes were like sharp blades.

‘President Jung is also…’

‘So how will the management rights be handled in the future…’

The whispers that lingered in her ears tore Soyul’s heart to pieces.

Soyul became increasingly withdrawn.

But she tried to overcome it somehow.

She moved her wheelchair with her arms and went out into the world.

But the cold gazes and hypocritical questions from her peers.

Above all… the countless thresholds of the world that she couldn’t overcome while in a wheelchair plunged Soyul into despair once again.

Eventually, Soyul locked herself away.

To escape from the frustrating reality, she hid in her room, in her bed, and… in virtual reality.

Of course, even virtual reality didn’t become a perfect refuge for Soyul.

No matter how high-quality the avatar she controlled, the unavoidable sense of disconnect.

In the end, only the fact that the real reality doesn’t change.

Made Soyul even more miserable.

Soyul actually wanted to walk.

More than anyone else. Very desperately.

But at the same time… she was also afraid.

Leaving aside the pain of rehabilitation therapy.

What if she heard that she would never be able to walk again…

For such Soyul, the short flight that Jina gifted her was.

Like a ray of light.

“Hng, hng…!”

Wheelchair, a narrow and cramped room, people’s gazes.

Free from all of that, Soyul felt complete freedom for a moment.

In the end, it’s an illusion.

It’s just fake, Jina had said.

But it didn’t matter.

The dark blue sky with hazy clouds, and the sound of the wind lingering in her ears…

Everything was so vivid.

Soyul truly believed that she had flown in the sky.

And that freedom.

Gave Soyul a longing once again.

It reawakened the desire to ‘walk’ that she had forgotten for a long time.

“Ah, ah… Hngaaa…!”

The emotions she had been holding back for years.

The tear glands that had dried up since that day.

Thud- It burst.

Mina’s model burst into a dry cry.

Soyul shed a flood of hot tears, even for Mina’s sake.

With trembling hands, she covered her face with the VR device and cried endlessly.

Jina didn’t say anything.

She simply manipulated Jina to stand beside Mina and quietly patted her on the back.

As if an older sister comforting her younger sister.

As if a mother hugging her daughter…

Soyul stopped sobbing and slowly raised her head.

Mina’s eyelids were fluttering.

But the light in her eyes was clearer than ever before.

‘I still have a long way to go.’

Jina couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

She felt bitter about the fact that she couldn’t fully capture the moment a girl harbored a dream in her avatar.

“…It’s too much, Unnie.”

Soyul grumbled in a small voice.

There was a strange mixture of sadness and laughter in her grumbling.

“If I find out about something like this… how can I go back…”

Soyul continued in a trembling voice.

“Can I… can I walk again, Unnie?”

Jina looked at Soyul without saying anything.

Then, she slowly nodded her head.

There was no need to add any other words.

A gentle gaze and a silent nod.

That alone was enough.

Soyul clenched her fist and made a resolution.

Through the door called the sky that Jina had opened for her.

One step outside, into reality.

Into the world, she would go out and move forward.

Among the streamers who debuted on the Pasta platform last year, the two most popular streamers are mentioned first.

First of all, Han Ari.

Despite being an independent VTuber, she is a monstrous rookie who quickly gathered thousands of viewers.

Despite being independent, she gained explosive popularity at the same time as her debut, armed with HANA, a state-of-the-art 3D avatar.

The calming healing radio broadcasts were also popular, but…

Rather, the content of changing the avatar’s clothes at will with donations, or freely interacting with arbitrary 3D objects in the studio, was more of a hot topic.

This can only be seen on Han Ari’s broadcast.

The other one is Winter (Seo-ah).

Even though she debuted in the fourth quarter of last year, her live viewers already number in the tens of thousands.

She is by far the most outstanding presence among the Cosmo Live 3rd generation members who debuted together.

Spring, who recently held a piano concert, and Fall, who conducted VR fitness content, were also doing well, but…

There is still a bit of a gap between them and Winter, who showed off an amazing performance at the live concert she held at the same time as her debut.

Thus, the two stars who shone the brightest last year.

This year, they gathered in one place to emit even more brilliant light.

[Han Ari and Winter’s duet song premiere!]

The duet cover image of the two monstrous rookies, which had only been rumored, was uploaded to YouTube.

The video was intense from the start.

A stream of light poured out from the darkness, and black and white avatars slowly revealed themselves.

Han Ari and Winter were back to back, staring straight ahead with sad expressions.

As if they were destined not to be able to reach each other.

That precariousness came to life vividly under Jina’s touch.

Han Ari’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

Winter’s lips were tightly pressed together.

And… the watery sadness reflected in the eyes of the two ‘people’.

It was not an ordinary 3D model, but a living, breathing human emotion.

Along with the soft piano melody, Han Ari’s clear voice rang out.

The plaintive yet clear tone pierced the listener’s heart.

And then Winter’s part followed.

Her husky yet powerful voice created a subtle harmony with Han Ari’s tone, creating a contrasting effect.

The two people’s voices were desperately intertwined, like lovers who had longed for each other for a long time.

All the polar bears lost their beds.

In the intense dance part, the movements of the two avatars stood out even more.

Despite the fast and precise choreography, they boasted perfect synchronization without a single strand of hair or hem of clothing being disturbed.

It was enough to create the illusion of dancing on a real stage.

This is also God Jina’s grace.

Jina wasn’t satisfied with just this.

From the flashy lighting, the magnificent stage effects, to the three-dimensional camera work that freely utilizes the 3D space.

The video, touched by the hands of world-class experts, created the illusion of watching a well-made musical or a blockbuster movie.

Especially in the climax of the song.

The scene where the two avatars hold hands and fly into the sky was truly a masterpiece.

As if forgetting all the pain and sorrow of reality, and freely flying away…

It was like watching a beautiful fantasy movie.

The video received an explosive response.

In less than an hour of being released, the number of views exceeded hundreds of thousands.

It not only topped the trending videos chart, but also received thousands of comments.

-Crazy…

-Tore it up.

-No, Winter even made that kind of voice? LOL

-What is Han Ari, she sings so well? Has she always been singing?

-What’s the relationship between the two? Have they ever done content together? More than that

-Their mothers are the same LOL

-If you say that, what about the Soda small fries?

-Sororongdan group chorus?! This… zzizzi is getting magnificent.

-But their duet is a bit sudden LOL

-Who cares, as long as the song is good~

After such a stormy day passed.

The next day, at 8 p.m.

As usual, the notification that Han Ari had started broadcasting rang on the smartphones of many fans.