Chapter 98: Wow Watermelon (3)

I introduced Akane to everyone.

“This person is PaePae-nim, who started as a Spoon streamer but repented and now plays melee DPS characters.”

“Hello.”

“This person is MalrangMappak-nim, who loves soft-forehead maid characters more than anything in the world.”

“Moss, reporting for duty.”

“This person is BreadBread, who insists on liking older sister characters.”

“Lumen.”

“This person is ChocoFullBread-nim, one of the world’s three great mysteries because of their terrible coordination.”

“ChocoFullBread, reporting in!”

“And finally, this person is…”

I paused for a moment, thinking about the right way to explain, and asked.

“Akane-nim, do you like Korean culture?”

“Akane watched Korean dramas and enjoyed them.”

“Have you seen <Massacre> by any chance?”

“Yes.”

If she’s seen it, it’ll be easier to explain.

“Do you remember the murderer in <Massacre>?”

“Huh?”

“That’s right. The actor who played the murderer, Jo Jin-young.”

“Is he a real actor?”

“It’s Kim Inho, who looks like him.”

“Now that you mention it, he does look a little ambiguously like him to be the real person.”

“…Kim Inho.”

That was all the guys introduced. Now it was the girls’ turn.

“Akane-nim, this person is the apostle of purity, BunnyRun-nim.”

“Sis, your additional explanations have been a little weird since earlier.”

“This person is CrazyMadBeast Chae Narin-nim.”

“…Chae Narin.”

“This person is the genius stalker, Arina-nim.”

“I’ve been telling you, you’re the one who’s been chasing me, not the other way around?”

Akane tilted her head at my introductions.

“You’re introducing everyone by their nicknames, so are they your colleagues?”

“Yes. Most of them are streaming on the same platform as me. Kim Inho is also a game development colleague.”

“So it’s a streamer meetup!”

For some reason, Akane was fascinated.

It seemed like she was seeing a streamer meetup for the first time, but why, when she’s a streamer herself?

Come to think of it, Akane was famous for being an outsider.

It was understandable that she’d be fascinated.

This time, I introduced Akane to the group.

“This is Yukimura Akane. She’s a first-generation member of NovelLive and the current top streamer.”

“I’m Yukimura Akane. Nice to meet you.”

“And this person is…”

I glanced at Akane’s companion.

A woman with an overall indifferent expression was sitting behind Akane.

The woman spoke.

“Kurohina Maiya.”

Her stage name is Kurohina Mai.

If Akane was the pillar, founding member, and ace of NovelLive, then Mai was… that.

Someone who had done a lot, but when you asked what exactly she had done, it was hard to answer, but she had definitely helped the company.

So, many people remembered Mai as the top streamer’s friend.

She was actually the top streamer’s only friend, and she used that to create an image for herself, which benefited her a lot in terms of streaming.

Anyway.

Both Mai and Akane were quite pretty in real life.

They were both VTubers whose real faces hadn’t been revealed, so they had managed to hide it well.

Plus, they both had great figures. Wait, everyone here had great figures.

As expected of a generation with an oversupply of nutrients. Everyone’s physical development had reached its peak.

Perhaps sensing my gaze, BunnyRun opened her mouth.

“Sis?”

“Yes?”

“Why are you staring so intently at my chest?”

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t suspecting you were hiding cigarettes in there.”

BunnyRun had been acting like she was losing her mind lately, and I was just wondering if that was related to the size of her chest.

There was no special meaning to it.

I stood up from my seat.

“Shall we break the watermelon BreadBread bought?”

PaePae came under the parasol as if to catch his breath.

Then Moss, Lumen, ChocoFullBread, and Kim Inho sat down next to him.

PaePae asked, puzzled.

“Lumen, what are you doing here?”

“What about you?”

“I’m resting because I’m tired.”

“Me too.”

“SoftForehead, what about you?”

“I’m exhausted.”

Exhausted. If you only considered the context of the conversation, it meant he was tired from moving around too much, but PaePae knew that wasn’t it.

He was mentally exhausted. That’s what he meant.

PaePae looked at the women who were chatting boisterously a little further away.

Han Yurim, who had spread out a mat and was standing on it, split a watermelon in half as if she were twisting it with her hands.

…That’s not how you’re supposed to break a watermelon, is it? The thought flashed through his mind, but it was Han Yurim.

He had experienced too much to be surprised by such trivial things.

PaePae examined the faces of the women playing with Han Yurim one by one.

BunnyRun, Chae Narin, Arina, Akane, Mai.

To be honest, their levels were so high that just being near them would drain your energy.

Especially their looks.

It wasn’t for nothing that the men had gathered next to PaePae as if fleeing.

PaePae shifted his gaze to someone who shone especially brightly even among the beautiful women.

Hair made of pure gold, reflecting the summer sun, fluttered in the wind.

Clear, blue eyes that made the nearby Maeha Beach seem ‘mere’ illuminated the world.

On top of that, her skin was as white as snow, as if the UV rays were avoiding her, even in the brutal Okinawan weather.

“BunnyRun-nim, have some watermelon.”

…Even though she was holding a watermelon that she had personally smashed with her hands, her beauty was undiminished, which meant she was already beyond earthly beauty.

Seriously. It was an appearance that he couldn’t get used to no matter how many times he saw it.

“Should we leave them alone? Akane-ssi was being hit on earlier.”

“It’ll be okay because of Han Yurim.”

When people feel awe, they start to be careful about their behavior.

It was similar to handling something that looked expensive with care.

Because they felt like they would be at a disadvantage, like something would go wrong, their behavior naturally changed…

Han Yurim’s appearance gave off that kind of feeling.

An appearance that made you feel like something terrible would happen if you treated her carelessly.

The accident that Lumen was worried about wouldn’t happen.

“I guess so.”

Lumen nodded slightly, as if agreeing.

Then he continued.

“It’s not like she slammed the watermelon down to split it, she just picked it up and tore it apart with her bare hands, so it’ll probably be okay.”

“Is she even human?”

“She might not be. She doesn’t even sleep.”

Lumen muttered, recalling the time during the previous number one run when he had boldly said he would join her, only to run away.

PaePae nodded in agreement and then asked someone else.

“In-ho, how did you meet Han Yurim?”

“I met her at a part-time job.”

“A part-time job? Oh, at the movie theater?”

“Yes.”

Kim In-ho recalled when he had met Han Yurim.

A part-time worker with a beauty that made him feel sorry to even talk to her had come in and carefully taught him the job, but then she suddenly came out and said that she also liked ‘Kinoko Nasu’, which had flustered him.

Why would someone like that? Was it a joke? But as they talked, those worries disappeared and they had a fun otaku talk.

It was still amazing to think about.

An ultra-beautiful otaku girl. He couldn’t believe that such a thing could exist in reality.

“The fact that we both do game development overlapped too, so it was really amazing.”

“That makes sense. FullBread… we brought you along together, so we all know.”

“I was scouted!”

“SoftForehead, what about you?”

“Me? Don’t you know roughly?”

“Not that.”

PaePae knew about the incident between Moss, Rojo, and Han Yurim, but that wasn’t what he was curious about.

“I heard you knew each other from the Game Gallery. Tell me about that. I’m curious.”

“…Do you know that talking about community stuff with someone you know makes you feel really embarrassed?”

“What’s wrong with that? It’s not like we’re normal people.”

PaePae was someone who did ego-searching on various communities for streaming feedback.

Lumen was no different. As a professional gamer, he went to the Eternal World Gallery every day, and ChocoFullBread also did ego-searching on the VR Broadcasting Gallery as a streamer.

Kim In-ho? What else would an indie game developer be? He was a monster of attention who worked his butt off to get even a little bit of attention.

It would be more scary if those guys didn’t do ego-searching.

At PaePae’s words, Moss scratched his forehead and opened his mouth.

“Even if we knew each other, it was Han Yurim who unilaterally knew me. I don’t even know her nickname.”

“She didn’t tell you?”

“She said she only lurked.”

“Does that make sense?”

PaePae had rarely written posts on communities, but Han Yurim’s case was different.

What PaePae had done was lurk on ‘large communities’, and what Han Yurim had done was lurk on ‘game galleries’.

PaePae, who went around all sorts of communities for professional reasons, knew a lot about communities.

Game Gallery.

It was a small, friendly, chatty community.

In other words, to use an analogy, PaePae not writing posts on a community was like going to the gym and not talking, and Han Yurim not writing posts on a community was like going to a social gathering and not opening your mouth for seven years, but while the former was possible, did the latter make sense?

Going to a social gathering to get close to people and not talking to anyone, just watching? For over seven years?

It was physically impossible.

“So Han Yurim lied.”

“I think similarly. But doesn’t she deceive people but not lie?”

Deceive people but not lie. What did that mean?

It meant that even if she deliberately said things in a confusing way, what she said itself was all true.

“That’s why I’m saying this. I’m sure she spoke ambiguously to you too, right? Like, ‘I’m just lurking, so I don’t have a nickname,’ with ‘right now’ in parentheses before that.”

“I think that’s definitely how it was.”

Moss stroked his chin at PaePae’s words. It was very plausible.

“But even if that’s the case, is there a way to find out if she doesn’t say it herself?”

“Are there any suspicious people?”

“No.”

If she was as unique as Han Yurim, she would stand out even if she wrote posts with a floating IP, but Moss had no memory of seeing someone like Han Yurim while browsing the gallery.

PaePae muttered softly.

“Did she even create a persona…?”

“Are you sure she didn’t just not do it?”

“Lumen, you should run away if someone talks about business.”

Leaving the naive Lumen behind, PaePae pondered for a moment and then opened his mouth.

“Shall we find out?”

“How?”

“What do you mean how? Well.”

PaePae glanced at Han Yurim and moved his lips.

“We’ll subtly probe her. Then we might get a clue.”

“I’m going to run away.”

“Me too.”

“I’m going to run away too!”

“No. Why?”

When PaePae was taken aback, Moss replied.

“Why else? Of course, because I don’t want to get bitten by Han Yurim.”

“PaePae, you still haven’t learned enough?”

“I’m on Yurim noona’s side.”

“I’m just saying we’ll subtly probe her, okay? Han Yurim doesn’t even care about this kind of thing in the first place.”

“That’s right. My past is public information that anyone can access. If you investigate, I might wonder why you’re doing such a laborious thing, but I wouldn’t care.”

PaePae closed his mouth at the sudden voice.

He looked at where the voice was coming from. Then there was Han Yurim, expressionless but somehow cheerful.

Han Yurim said.

“Be careful. Lip-reading experts can guess everything you’re saying even if they’re far away, you know?”

“She’s a monster.”

“It’s natural to be curious about a super developer’s past. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Han Yurim handed a watermelon to PaePae, who couldn’t come to his senses, and asked.

“Do you want some watermelon?”

“No. I’m good.”

Okinawa trip, day 1.

End.