Chapter 161
It was a winter night, and heavy snow had been falling all day.
The news that Kariri would be streaming a collab with Chena made many people doubt their own ears.
No matter how popular Kariri was, she was still only a VTuber.
Nine hundred thousand VTube subscribers? An average of 500,000 views per video?
Compared to Chena bringing honor to the nation by topping Billboard’s main singles chart, the Hot 100, for three consecutive weeks, that was nothing.
Meanwhile, Chena’s music videos had racked up hundreds of millions of views.
It was too low-class to be dismissed as some new kind of trolling stunt.
What particularly irked the fans was that the target was an idol who was enjoying a surge of popularity in Korea as well.
Just as protests demanding punishment for the agency began to erupt, even more shocking news arrived.
[Hello. This is Entis Entertainment.
We would like to inform you about the future schedule of our artist, ‘Chena,’ Kim Saetbyeol.
Chena is currently on vacation after completing her world tour, and we have confirmed that she will be appearing on an internet broadcast due to a personal acquaintance.
Although this was not a schedule planned by our company, we have received her promise that she will maintain the proper stance of a public figure even on an internet broadcast, and we will do our utmost to ensure that nothing our fans are worried about occurs.]
* * *
“Uh... welcome, badger! Wow, Chena unnie...! It’s been so long, I’m so happy to see you... no, nice to see you, swallow!”
“Can I sit here? Ah, hello, everyone! It’s refreshing to meet you in a setting like this. I’m singer Chena.”
Yoonseul gazed at the genuine ‘celebrity’ sitting beside her, her eyes sparkling.
Until now, the only people who had appeared in front of a real-world camera at the start of one of her broadcasts were LK and Kim Wooju, during their collabs.
When word spread that her third guest was none other than Chena, tens of thousands—no, over 100,000 viewers in an instant—flocked to the broadcast. It didn’t take long for the first digit of the viewer count to change.
The chat lagged so badly that it even froze for a while.
“Yoonseul, you seem to be doing well these days. You’ve gotten prettier now that you’ve lost your baby fat.”
“Kyaaah! Uh... unnie, saying that with that face... that’s cheating! It’s totally unfair!”
“Really?”
Kariri blushed, not knowing what to do with Chena’s compliment.
Her beauty was so overwhelming that simply looking at her felt as if one’s soul might be sucked away.
Compared to that, the best anyone could say about Yoonseul was that she looked like an ordinarily cute idol, so Chena’s praise was an extraordinary honor to her.
“And you can’t call me by that name here.”
“Then what should I call you?”
“Kariri...! I am Kariri, king of the Savannah! K... kwaaaaang...!”
The chat was moving faster than ever, making it nearly impossible to read and host the broadcast at the same time.
But Kariri knew exactly what everyone wanted, so she quickly changed the subject.
“Th-then, shall we head into virtual reality right away?”
Apparently, it was too much to host the broadcast in her real-world appearance after all.
Kariri made the suggestion with earnest hope.
“We came all the way here, and you want to go into virtual reality?”
“But Saetbyeol unnie is pretty, so... ah... I think we could just make the avatar look exactly like her...!”
Because Chena was coming, Kariri had rented a top-of-the-line capsule in advance.
And apparently its performance did not disappoint, because it was able to reproduce Chena’s appearance perfectly in virtual reality.
Kariri’s broadcast-exclusive classic, ‘Cham Cham Cham Q&A.’
Whoever lost at Cham Cham Cham had to answer the other person’s question or perform a random punishment.
Kariri had prepared a large number of questions that skirted the line of propriety, and she couldn’t hide how proud she was.
“Cham cham cham! Aja, nice! Bring your head right here!”
“Wait, you suddenly got way too aggressive... Eek! What? Why did you hit me right away?”
“Ah, right! I got so excited that I forgot!”
As the segment continued, a great deal of information came to light.
What drew the most interest was the reason Chena had appeared on Kariri’s broadcast.
When the public learned that Kariri had shared a room with Chena during their trainee days, they couldn’t help looking on with fascination.
There were plenty of people who didn’t even know that Kariri had once been an idol trainee.
-Wow, 300,000 viewersㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Today is seriously legendary
-The power of a world star ㄷㄷㄷㄷ
With the broadcast simulcast on Twishy and VTube, roughly ten times as many viewers as usual had gathered.
The collab was especially meaningful to Yoonseul herself.
Chena was an idol who had already reached the pinnacle of the career Yoonseul had once dreamed of.
Even without trying, her energy was high, and the smile never left her lips.
“Oh, singing! Then Kariri gets ‘Wild Chrysanthemum’!”
“Wild Chrysanthemum again? Do you still only sing that one?”
“Don’t disregard a song honed tens of thousands of times with the spirit of a true master, hehe!”
Kariri adjusted several broadcast settings and activated the viewer-visibility mode.
Beyond the private room, a breathtaking sight unfolded: hundreds of thousands of people sitting with cheering light sticks in their hands.
Perhaps this was the future Seol Yoonseul might have been given if she hadn’t abandoned her idol dreams.
But Kariri shook her head and focused on singing. She wasn’t an idol; she was a VTuber.
She would show Korea’s greatest idol what Korea’s greatest VTuber could do.
“The memories I miss, the wistful feelings too.”
Chena silently listened until she finished the entire song.
When the cheers erupted at the end of the song, Kariri even shed a few tears and lowered her head.
“Hng. Thank you all so much! This time, would you like to sing, Chena unnie? Your new song this time—”
“No... not today.”
“Oh, really? Taking care of your voice is important...! Then shall we move on to the Pillow Time segment?”
Also known as a lying-down broadcast.
It was a segment that became a huge hit whenever idols did it.
Many of the things Kariri hosted had been inspired by content from outside sources like this.
It was hardly an ordinary sight for two beautiful girls to lie on one bed, gaze at each other, and listen to words drawn from the deepest parts of their hearts.
“Yoonseul... no, Kariri. I really can’t get used to that name, haha. Why did you quit being an idol halfway through? I thought you and I could debut together. You were pretty, sang well, danced well, and, more than anything, you worked harder than anyone else. No matter how I think about it, that was always you.”
“You see, Kariri realized she didn’t need to be an idol!”
“Hmm?”
“I didn’t actually want to become an idol. I just wanted to sing and dance in front of lots of people. I didn’t think I had to do that specifically as an idol.”
“I see...”
“But I’m a little jealous of you too, unnie! Singing in virtual reality is already this moving, so how much would my heart pound if I heard the cheers of real people?”
She had never gathered this many people before.
Did Chena live with this kind of thrill at every concert?
Chena had been listening intently with her eyes closed when she spoke in a gentle voice.
“Kariri. If anything, I’m truly jealous of you.”
“Huh? What about me?”
Chena gently stroked her cheek.
Kariri let out a small squeal at the ticklish sensation, but soon opened her eyes wide and focused on Chena’s words.
“You pioneered a place no one had even thought of visiting, and you’re living your life so freely and enjoyably. Maybe the name ‘idol’ was actually the word that suited you best... That’s what I think, anyway!”
“Come on, unnie! I told you, we’re only supposed to tell the truth here! This is a truth game!”
“Haha, did I get caught? Right, the person it suits best after me is you!”
“Of course! That’s just like you, Chena unnie!”
Kariri had a talent for bringing out her guests’ charms like this.
She enhanced the qualities they already had and found their unexpected charms to share with the world.
Kariri would be satisfied if she could show the public—who envied Chena for supposedly reaching stardom simply by finding good songs and a good agency—that Chena was actually such a thoughtful and charming person.
“I hope we can have another collab like this sometime.”
She indulged in a little private wish, but—
“It probably won’t happen.”
“You’ll be busy because of your schedule, right?”
“Yeah... So go out and enjoy your one life without regrets.”
“Yeah! I’ll remember that, Kariri! Until the day I reclaim the throne of the Savannah!”
[Just Chatting – Chena Is a God!]
[Streaming Time – 5:29:10]
[Viewers – 384927]
* * *
It was the day after the collab.
[At 4 a.m. today, singer Chena was found dead at her home in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The police and fire authorities stated that there were no external factors, such as a crime, and announced that they were continuing to investigate the exact cause of death while considering the possibility of suicide.]
* * *
News reports about the shocking incident that shook South Korea continued pouring out from early morning.
For some reason, the bereaved family stated that they could not release the suicide note Chena had left behind just yet.
They merely repeated, like a cuckoo, that it was Chena’s wish and asked everyone to trust them and wait just a little longer.
Following news of a singer’s sudden suicide, a wave of mourning spread throughout the world.
Chena’s suicide note was ultimately released to the public only after a month had passed, but all kinds of speculation had already run rampant before then.
Several netizens belatedly uncovered evidence that Chena had been suffering from severe depression for a long time, and all the blame turned toward her agency.
But public opinion did not always flow in only one direction.
Just as a river splits in two when it encounters a massive boulder, the next person in its path was Kariri.
-Your close unnie was depressed, and you didn’t even know?
-Did you say something to Chena after the broadcast? After all, Kariri was the last person she met.
-Did she have something on you or something?
-I’m rewatching the broadcast, and she keeps trying to act like she’s Chena’s equalㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-What even is a VTuber? Just looking at them makes me want to puke.
-I’ve never seen a normal person among those who watch that crapㅋ
-Exactly, disgusting;;
-Why did she have to meet someone like this at the endㅋㅋ;;
-Go die the same way.
-That’s how those bitches who act cute and suck money out of simps are.
-You killed her. Go turn yourself in.
Bam bam bam-
“Is Seol Yoonseul home? We’re from XXX! Could we have a quick interview?”
“I’m a reporter from XXX! Please spare us just a moment of your time, Ms. Seol Yoonseul!”
Reporters descended on Yoonseul’s home.
The girl kneeling in front of the entrance began tearing at her hair.
“No... I didn’t do it...”
[Ms. Seol Yoonseul!]
[Are you inside?]
[We’d like to ask whether Ms. Chena said anything to you personally!]
“I said I didn’t... haa... haa...”
Yoonseul’s gaze wavered anxiously.
Hot air traveled down her throat, but for some reason, she couldn’t breathe properly.
A vague fear that her violently pounding heart might stop functioning and burst,
a terror that her whole body would become paralyzed, leaving her unable to breathe as she died right there,
and the pressure of suffocation, as if her airway were blocked, tightened around her.
[It has been reported that the day before the incident, singer Chena appeared on the internet broadcast of Seol Yoonseul, who had once been a trainee at the same agency...]
On the television and internet sites, Seol Yoonseul’s face kept appearing everywhere.
Like this,
I never wanted to become famous like this.
Yoonseul’s body crawled weakly across the floor.
The cold wooden floor seemed to cool the burning heat in her body, but chills soon returned, rendering it useless.
[Recovery does not mean never experiencing panic; it means not being afraid of panic.]
It was the monster that had already destroyed Seol Yoonseul’s long-held dream once before.
And now that monster had reached out to Kariri as well.
Half sprawled on the floor, Yoonseul continued to sob at the top of her lungs.
Apparently, just as the doctor had said, she still wasn’t cured.
But how could a human being not be afraid of death?
-Guess that bitch who couldn’t even debut killed her out of jealousy. Poor Chena unnieㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-She looks fucking sly. Why did Chena even meet someone like that? This is ridiculous;;
-Her face is plastered everywhere now. How is she supposed to go outside?
-Why should we careㅋㅋㅋㅋ If she hated it, she shouldn’t have shown her face. She sucked up all the popularity and now—
The world was merciless to the girl.
The Savannah, which had been suffering from drought all this time, was struck by a massive flood, and even the invincible Emperor Kariri had no way to deal with the natural disaster.
In the face of society’s malicious gaze and vicious gossip, an individual was utterly powerless.