It was a relaxing coffee break, the first one she had enjoyed in a long time.
“Hello, everyone.”
She had met up with an old acquaintance to catch up on their lives.
“Today’s vlog is with a fellow member of Pogeol, a younger sister I adore!”
It was the day she was meeting Jinny, who had been the eldest member and leader back when they were active in a girl group. Seohyeonji smiled awkwardly while clutching her coffee with both hands.
-Jinny-hi! Short for Jinny-high.
-Is that really Seohyeonji?
-Wow, she’s so beautiful!
-This is a real-time stream without filters. Is that beauty for real?
“Um, Sister…?”
“Oh, this? It’s a vlog. Streaming your daily life is all the rage these days.”
She had heard of it. People had even recommended it to her before. However, as someone terrible with technology, she had never tried it herself.
‘How did I used to look at the camera?’
It wasn’t a professional camera, but just thinking about the countless viewers watching through that phone lens made her body stiffen instinctively.
‘Did I really stay away from broadcasting for that long?’
It felt like just yesterday that she was constantly getting “camera massages” to look her best. Now, she was quite accustomed to her work as a Hunter. Her Level had risen significantly, too. Ironically, she now felt more awkward standing in front of a camera.
“It’s just showing your personal daily life. There’s nothing to be awkward about. Just think of it as talking to a friend and showing them around.”
Seeing Seohyeonji’s reaction, Jinny gave a casual laugh, as if she had expected it.
-That’s right. Just think of us as friends and speak comfortably.
-Pretend we aren’t here.
-Seo-hi! Seo-hi! It means Seohyeonji-high, so why no reaction? Why aren’t you answering? Are you ignoring your fans?
Watching the chat scroll up at a frantic pace, Seohyeonji felt her head spin. She didn’t know whether to look at the phone or face the woman sitting right in front of her.
“No need to be so conscious of it. It’s been a long time since you appeared on a broadcast, anyway.”
“Yeah, I guess so?”
“When you don’t show up on screen, fans get curious about how you’re doing. Being a Hunter is great and all, but you’re going to return to the entertainment industry eventually, right?”
Seohyeonji took a sip of her coffee. As her friend said, she would have to return to the entertainment industry someday. To be honest, she had first entered the industry because she heard she could make a lot of money. And she did make a lot. Thanks to that, she had earned enough to buy several buildings for her clan.
Working as a girl group member was exhausting, but the feeling of breathing the same air as her fans was enjoyable. Similarly, being an actress was charming because she could become someone else. The satisfaction of immersing herself in a role and living that life was indescribable.
“No matter how successful you were, the longer you stay away, the more the fans forget you. Then, no one will come looking for you anymore.”
“I… suppose so?”
In this industry, people literally lived off the attention of others. An entertainer who failed to receive attention was quickly forgotten, making it difficult to make a comeback. That was why her agency had practically clung to her ankles, trying to stop her from leaving.
A vlog. You could simply show your face and communicate in real-time, or show glimpses of your daily life. Fans loved that alone.
‘Fans…’
It was a word she hadn’t muttered in a long while. She had a Fan Club waiting for her. Even if it was for the sake of her clan, leaving the entertainment world so unilaterally wasn’t polite to her fans.
“Oh my, the viewer count is high today! Is it because of Hyeonji?”
-Is it really Seohyeonji? Is it really Seohyeonji? Is it really Seohyeonji? Is it…
-Hyeonji Sister, ughhhhhh!
-Look at me! Look at me!
-Look at what? Look at your own reflection!
-Hyeonji-up! Hyeonji-up! Hyeonji-up!
Seohyeonji waved her hand with an awkward smile. The chat window flipped out instantly. After finishing coffee and a meal with the older girl she hadn’t seen in a while, Seohyeonji returned home. She showered and reapplied her basic makeup.
Originally, she planned to just go to sleep. But that feeling of communicating with her fans after such a long time felt both foreign and happy.
“Is this how I do it?”
Seohyeonji checked how to use the vlog app and turned it on. Soon, her face appeared on the phone screen. It felt like she was on a video call.
[Seohyeonji’s Communication Room has opened]
She felt nervous for some reason. It was just like the first time she sang in front of a camera. Viewers began to trickle in, one by one.
-Huh?
-It’s not clickbait?
“Ah, hello?”
Seohyeonji stuttered without realizing it. A wave of embarrassment washed over her.
-It’s real! Ohhhh, Sister!
-Is it real that she greeted us when there were only two viewers?
Suddenly, the number of viewers began to skyrocket.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, everyone?”
-I saw you on Jinny’s vlog earlier today.
The viewers responding to her words were cute. Seohyeonji giggled. Seeing that, the chat window flipped out once again.
“My house? Yes, this is the house I live in.”
-Wow, the house looks nice.
-Honestly, with Seohyeonji’s class, she must have made bank.
-I saw she donated money a while ago.
-Damn… She donates, she makes money, and she’s beautiful. A woman who has everything.
-She has everything, but she doesn’t have me.
-Is that Mr. Ham Pil-gyu, the thirty-second generation descendant of the Gangneung Ham Clan?
“Oh, my pajamas?”
Someone asked if she was wearing pajamas since it was bedtime. Lately, “no-makeup pajama broadcasts” were a trend among female celebrities.
“Of course I’m wearing pajamas. It’s time to sleep.”
At Seohyeonji’s words, the viewers showed an expectant reaction.
-Show us! Show us!
“It’s nothing special, though.”
Seohyeonji moved the gimbal stick further away. Soon, her pajamas were revealed to the camera.
-This is…!!!
-Sister, I don’t think this is it…
-How should I put this? This is just… too much…
-LOL, these are the pajamas a girl group member wears?
-This fashion is out of this world.
The chat reaction was strange. Seohyeonji tilted her head in confusion.
-Sister, do we really have to come all the way here to see military olive drab?
That day, “Seohyeonji military uniform” appeared on the trending search terms.
Although her taste was questioned, communicating with her fans gave her a fresh feeling. It felt like she had found a part of herself that had been dormant. Seohyeonji headed to the Guild in a good mood. She naturally turned her vlog on.
-Seo-hi!
-Sister, I’m curious about your work fashion.
“My work fashion? It’s nothing special.”
She was now used to answering the chat. Seohyeonji smiled and zoomed out the camera.
-Huh…?
-What in the world…
-Sister, is your stylist dead?
Seohyeonji was internally flustered by the cold reaction in the chat window.
‘Sister. If you have to go out, make sure you only wear this dress. Okay?’
The younger girl who acted as her fashion stylist always told her one thing: if she had to go out and couldn’t get advice, she should just wear a dress. To not think about anything else and just wear a dress.
Unfortunately, her stylist had gotten married and left for her honeymoon. Her dresses were all being washed and couldn’t be worn. Today’s work outfit was a batwing V-neck. It was a garment with a fit that emphasized femininity. The problem lay elsewhere.
-Harem pants! She’s wearing harem pants!
Seohyeonji personally preferred comfortable clothes. She was wearing baggy harem pants, and the people’s reaction was not good at all. She passed through the Hanul Guild lobby, greeting people as she entered the team’s training room.
-The desk employees are the worst. No one told her anything!
Someone chatted fiercely to defend Seohyeonji’s fashion. Seohyeonji entered the locker room.
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
-That’s fine. Let’s change together, Sister.
Seohyeonji laughed and ended the vlog. She turned it back on after she finished changing. The viewers let out a sigh of disappointment.
-But the training clothes look good on her.
-Is there actually anyone who can pull off those baggy pants?
The viewers’ eyes had been terrorized by her terrible fashion. Everyone reacted positively to the training gear Seohyeonji was wearing now.
‘Was it really that bad?’
Seohyeonji became dejected. She thought she had picked out a good outfit, but the reaction was too cold. To be honest, she had been dissed before by someone who said her face was top-tier but her fashion was bottom-tier. She didn’t understand it herself, though.
“Hello.”
“Sister, you’re here?”
-Who is that blonde hoodlum? I feel like he’s going to steal her away.
-That’s Kim Taeyang, a member of Hanul Team 3.
-Even his name sounds ominous.
“Sister, what’s that?”
“Oh, a vlog.”
“Aha. So you’re filming your daily life.”
Kim Taeyang was a young man in his early twenties, so he understood what she was doing immediately.
“A vlog? What’s that?”
Kim Inho, who was sitting nearby, was so exhausted from childcare despite his young age that he didn’t understand modern slang well. Taeyang explained it to him instead.
“Everyone, this is the team I’m in. Everyone is training hard here to become the best Hunters…”
“Help me! Oh, my God! My tofu has already been damaged…!”
-…?
-…!
-???
-!!!!
While Seohyeonji was speaking, the sorrowful cry of Lee Ja-rang could be heard from the other side.
“Hahaha, oh my. Why are you finished already? Today’s training is only just. Beginning. Now.”
“I am fine.”
“No, I am not fine.”
Jeong-guk, No-rae, and Ja-rang were on the ring, being subjected to sparring by Team Leader Lee Hyunbin.
-What did I just see?
-Shouldn’t we call 911?
-You idiot, it’s 112.
“Seoyeon?”
“Hero, please arise…!”
“I do not wish to arise. And the heroes aren’t us, but that guy over there…”
“Just let us rest already!”
“Waaaah!”
Their bodies were instantly healed and cleaned.
“Oh, look at that. You’re like new again.”
Team Leader Lee Hyunbin greeted the foreigners with a bright smile.
“Even if the external wounds are healed, the mental part is…”
“Tsk, tsk. Mental strength. That improves as you get hit. Seoyeon?”
“I’m making good money today.”
Lee Seoyeon said that and then used her Bless skill. A soldier who receives a blessing has their morale boosted, refuses to retreat in battle, and becomes extremely brave.
“I can do this all day.”
The soldiers—Jeong-guk, No-rae, and Ja-rang—who had just been complaining, suddenly lunged at Lee Hyunbin.
Thud! Crack! Bam!
Once again, only wailing and violence occupied the ring. Even though her Knights were being one-sidedly beaten in sparring, Lee Seoyeon nonchalantly ate—or rather, inhaled—snacks.
-Wow, that’s brutal.
-Delivery Man is freaking strong!
-He can handle a three-on-one as a baseline.
-You crazy bastards, is that ‘handling’ them? That’s a beating, isn’t it?
Seohyeonji momentarily contemplated whether she should turn off the broadcast. To her, this was daily life, but to the viewers, it might be a horror broadcast.
“I’ll start my training now, too.”
Seohyeonji said that as she stepped onto the treadmill. Training started with basic exercises. Even if it was usually boring and exhausting, it felt fun because she was with her viewers.
“Oh, Hyeonji.”
That was when the seed of misfortune approached.
-It’s the Delivery Maaaaan!
-I heard Delivery Man never appears on broadcasts.
-He did it once before.
-That was a documentary.
The viewers who saw the Delivery Man, Lee Hyunbin, on the stream started a storm in the chat out of excitement. Messages asking him to look at them or to say hello flooded in. However, Lee Hyunbin didn’t even glance at the chat.
“I’m going to change the training today.”
“Change it…?”
Seohyeonji blinked.
“Do you remember the battle from the other day?”
Seohyeonji recalled the battle with the Villains. At that time, Team Leader Lee Hyunbin had pointed out many flaws in Jeong-guk, No-rae, Ja-rang, and herself. After that, the three brothers had been put through hell. Seohyeonji swallowed hard without realizing it.
“Our Hyeonji needs to train hard, too.”
“No, it’s already very difficult right now…”
“Tsk, tsk. Just trust me. Only me.”
“Team Leader. I’m broadcasting right now…”
Team Leader Lee Hyunbin had waited all day for this—to put Seohyeonji through the ringer.
“Now, now, now. Let’s die together!”
“I—I said I don’t want to!”
“You say that, but you’ll do great. Shall we start by changing the running? What you’ve been doing is just walking. You should at least run, right?”
“It—it’s fast!”
“Now, cast your skills while running.”
Seohyeonji thought she had misheard. Running was already hard enough, and now he wanted her to manifest skills on top of it?
“Now, now, now, we’re starting. From today, I’ll make sure you’re born again as a true S-rank.”
Seohyeonji wanted to say that she didn’t need to be born as a true S-rank. However, the switch had already been flipped for Team Leader Lee Hyunbin, who possessed a true sadistic streak.
-Hyeonji Sister…
-Don’t bully our Hyeonji Sister!
“My, you’re doing well. See? You’re good at it when you try.”
-Wow, he’s malicious.
“Now, take these. Tsk, tsk. They aren’t heavy. Here, try lifting them. Right, oh, you’re doing great. Shall we try one more time? Right. Now, let’s do this ten times. Ten times, okay?”
The chat window instantly became a sea of tears. Their star was being pulverized.