Hobbyist VTuber Chapter 166

The fact that Ha-eun’s role as Lee Ye-seo was that of a villain was sothing Da-yeon had already known.

She also knew that Ye-seo was a psychopath killer with no qualms about taking lives.

However, Da-yeon had never seen Ha-eun's performance as a villain before. Moreover, the chilling aura that Lee Ye-seo possessed far exceeded Da-yeon’s expectations.

"Hmm..."

Screeeech─!

"Should I strangle her with my hands next ti? Or should I cause a car accident like last ti? I’m not sure…"

‘...Is that really Ha-eun?’

Without realizing it, Da-yeon held her breath as she watched Ha-eun strangle the already-lifeless Song Min-hwa.

The shock Da-yeon felt was imnse.

For Da-yeon, Ha-eun was the most familiar person in the world.

Having been close since elentary school, Da-yeon had long been accustod to Ha-eun's acting, where she skillfully controlled her emotions.

Thud thud!

"Yes, Ye-seo. What the hell happened...? No, no, first call 119!"

"It’s too late, oppa. She’s already dead."

"...Damn..."

"But at least she didn’t leave any fingerprints. So handling it will be easier."

But now, what Da-yeon faced was an unfamiliar type of acting she had never seen before.

She had never doubted Ha-eun’s exceptional acting skills, but...

‘She definitely cried... but she doesn’t look sad at all.’

Unlike the past performances where she could clearly understand the emotions, this ti, Da-yeon couldn’t figure out what emotion Ha-eun was trying to convey.

The emotional depth was so faint, and the way Ha-eun expressed it was also different.

Everything about Ha-eun was familiar to Da-yeon, which made the character of Lee Ye-seo seem even more foreign.

Ha-eun, today, was showing Da-yeon only the aspects of herself that Da-yeon hadn’t known before.

"Alright, cut! That’s a wrap~!"

It was for this reason that Da-yeon began to observe Ha-eun more carefully than before.

The Ha-eun she knew wasn’t the Ha-eun she was seeing now.

"............"

Ha-eun's eyes were quietly closed.

Her slow, steady breathing showed no signs of wavering.

As Ha-eun clung to that strange emotional state for the next scene, she seed like a single rose.

If one approached her only looking at her beautiful appearance, they would miss the thorns that could cause harm.

Da-yeon, who had just witnessed Ha-eun’s thorns monts ago, couldn’t help but hesitate to approach her. She was a dangerous person.

Yet, to those who hadn’t yet faced those sharp thorns, she was simply a beautiful flower.

It was for this reason that soone who didn’t know Lee Ye-seo’s true nature referred to Ha-eun as "Miss."

"Cold guy... No, should I say cold woman? Don’t you think that’s the vibe she gives off?"

"...What? When did you get here?"

"An hour ago."

After complinting Da-yeon on the coffee, Yoon Seung-jae shifted his gaze back to Ha-eun.

At nearly the sa ti, Yoon Seung-jae muttered sothing under his breath.

"If I smile like that in front of soone like her, I’m just going to feel awkward. Well, I guess it’ll work out sohow."

Da-yeon thought those words were probably related to the upcoming scene between Ha-eun and Yoon Seung-jae.

However, since Da-yeon didn’t know the details of Veterans, she couldn’t be sure.

"Weren’t you supposed to be playing a cop? Why are you smiling in front of a killer like that?"

She began to ask more questions about Yoon Seung-jae’s role as Kang Chan-seong and his relationship with Lee Ye-seo.

The response she got was a weightless answer: “If you’re curious, it’s 500 won.”

Looking at Seung-jae with a disbelieving gaze, Da-yeon gave up on trying to get more answers.

“I’ll just ask the person who’s supposed to know.”

"You know, seeing is believing. You’ll get more imrsed if you see it yourself rather than hearing it from ."

"Anyone can say that..."

Even so, Da-yeon didn’t outright disagree with Seung-jae’s statent.

Nevertheless, Da-yeon didn’t say that Yoon Seung-jae’s words were wrong.

After all, in a movie like Veterans, the audience had to understand everything solely through the scenes captured on cara, with no prior explanation.

That’s why Da-yeon silently observed the next shoot, which was set in a different location from the previous one, and marked the final scene of the day.

The upcoming scene would feature Lee Ye-seo, once again portrayed by Ha-eun, acting out another side of her character.

On this day, Da-yeon wished Ha-eun would more clearly show what kind of person Lee Ye-seo really was.

If she could fully grasp the character of Lee Ye-seo, Da-yeon felt she would be able to separate Ha-eun from Ye-seo when viewing them on screen.

"Alright, Scene #55, cafe. Let’s begin."

And so it began.

"Well, after eting with Lee Ye-seo, Min-hwa lost contact. Do you have any way of getting in touch with her?"

"Ah, contact? Min-hwa and I…"

The acting began, but it didn’t feel like acting at all.

***

"I haven't contacted her separately."

"Oh... then, may I ask what kind of conversation you had when you t with Min-hwa?"

To Yoon Seung-jae's character, Kang Chan-seong, Lee Ye-seo was nothing more than a witness in the case of Song Min-hwa's disappearance.

At present, Lee Ye-seo was not a suspect in Kang Chan-seong’s eyes.

Thus, his attitude toward Ye-seo was neither overtly hostile nor overly formal, but more like a polite curiosity.

After all, to solve the case of Min-hwa’s disappearance, they needed Ye-seo’s cooperation.

"Are you asking about the conversation I had with Min-hwa?"

"Yes. Did Min-hwa ntion where she was planning to go next? Any hint of that?"

"Well, actually, Min-hwa and I had a bit of an argunt... so I didn’t really talk much about it. It’s... awkward."

As if on cue, from Lee Ye-seo’s pocket, a small recorder appeared and was placed before Kang Chan-seong.

The voice of Song Min-hwa was soon heard from the device.

However, the contents were mostly insults directed at Lee Ye-seo.

"As you just heard, we weren’t exactly on good terms. The reason I t Min-hwa was because of this recording."

"Oh..."

Kang Chan-seong quickly realized that Lee Ye-seo was not close enough to Min-hwa to have discussed her whereabouts.

A sense of disappointnt slowly began to creep onto Kang Chan-seong’s face as he realized he had wasted his ti.

But Lee Ye-seo, as though putting together a puzzle, began to shape a small, calculated smile.

In an instant, the faint smile that was 'created' faced Kang Chan-seong.

The strange discomfort was palpable.

Having already witnessed what Lee Ye-seo was capable of, Da-yeon could clearly feel a chill coming from that carefully crafted smile.

It was a smile devoid of any emotion.

Though the corners of her mouth and her eyes might have suggested a smile, her gaze was hollow, empty.

It wasn’t even a glare.

It was just... indifferent.

"Why... are you looking at like that? Did I get sothing on my face?"

"No, I was just wondering what it’s like to be a police officer. Personally, I’m curious about sothing."

She watched.

With her twisted moral compass, Lee Ye-seo asured the life before her.

And yet, there was no awkwardness in that subtle smile.

"Wait, was that a confession?"

"Hmm... I don’t think it’s the kind of confession you’re thinking of."

For Kang Chan-seong, eting Lee Ye-seo for the first ti, it was easy to be deceived.

On the other hand, Da-yeon, who knew Lee Ye-seo's true nature, felt a spine-chilling dread at seeing Kang Chan-seong’s lack of awareness.

Then—

-Smile.

"I’ll make sure to tell you if I hear from Min-hwa."

"Ah, yes. I’d really appreciate that."

The chilling feeling that ca from the serial killer’s face, unchanged, as she deceived the police officer.

A subtle difference, whether or not one had seen the truth, caused the reactions of Kang Chan-seong and Da-yeon to diverge sharply.

Crucially, in that mont, Lee Ye-seo appeared like any other ordinary person.

There was nothing in her deanor that seed out of the ordinary.

If Da-yeon hadn’t recognized Lee Ye-seo’s true identity, she wouldn’t have felt the fear that was creeping in.

But this very fact, the knowledge Da-yeon had, generated an even deeper sense of fear, pulling her further into the scene.

Could it be that even Kang Chan-seong, the police officer, would be in danger?

No, knowing Ye-seo, she might really kill even a police officer.

The ominous feeling that naturally erged in Da-yeon’s mind was, in the end, not wrong.

Just a few seconds later, the faint smile disappeared from Lee Ye-seo’s face as she watched Kang Chan-seong disappear into the distance.

With the cold, detached eyes of a snake, she turned her gaze to her new prey—this ti, the police officer.

With that, the cara cut as Lee Ye-seo’s detached gaze slowly shifted toward Kang Chan-seong’s business card.

That marked the end of today’s shoot.

Afterward, Ha-eun naturally made her way to the makeup room.

She changed back into the clothes she had worn earlier, and from there on, things felt no different from any usual filming day.

However—

-Swish.

"Here."

"...Are you giving this to ?"

"Well, who else would I give it to?"

It was because one of the slices of cake Kim Jin-su, Da-yeon’s manager, had brought was handed over to Ha-eun.

Da-yeon then added a half-hearted explanation that she had bought it for Ha-eun, as well as for herself, but it didn’t sound all that convincing.

"Did Da-yeon eat sothing weird?"

"...It's not like that."

Ha-eun couldn’t help but find Da-yeon’s recent actions—starting with the coffee truck, then the cao appearance, and now this cake—a little strange.

She was acting completely differently from her usual self.

Yet for so reason, Da-yeon couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with Ha-eun, and that made Ha-eun suddenly realize sothing.

Thinking back, Ha-eun had probably put more effort into her acting than usual, knowing Da-yeon was watching her.

It seed Da-yeon was actually a bit scared of Ha-eun, who had delivered such a chilling performance.

Otherwise, there’d be no reason for Da-yeon to offer snacks like slices of cake to her.

Of course, Ha-eun didn’t voice this thought aloud.

Even if she asked Da-yeon directly whether she was scared of her acting, Da-yeon would likely deny it.

"Hmm, it's good."

In any case, there was nothing like a sweet treat after a tough performance.

Ha-eun casually chatted with Da-yeon, enjoying the cake, until Ju Jung-yoon ca to pick her up.

Ti passed, and after Ha-eun and Da-yeon got into their respective cars with their managers, and after each of them had dinner at ho—

-Ding.

[ Diah's broadcast has started. ]

[ Invincible Idol☆ ]

"...Hmm..."

The two of them sat at their computers for different reasons, but now, they were eting again under the different nas of virtual strear and viewer.

What surprised Da-yeon was that Diah’s avatar wasn’t just a static 2D image—it was a fully animated 3D avatar.

‘...Didn’t they say the VR headset was broken? When did they get a new one?’

While Da-yeon was still processing the unexpected appearance of the 3D avatar, the sound effect of a transformation played, and Diah’s outfit shifted to sothing much hipper.

"Idol appearance─!"

Gone was the pure white off-shoulder dress, replaced by a cropped top and a short skirt.

And to top it off, Diah now sported a backward baseball cap and light sunglasses.

At that exact mont, a popular idol song started playing.

Almost imdiately, Diah’s avatar began to dance to the choreography she had fild earlier for a Touhou support video.

Why are they so good at dancing??

The outfit suits them so well.

When did they even practice this? LOL

A 600-year-old grandma with rusty joints can’t pull this off... I shouldn’t say that, right?

It didn’t even cross Da-yeon’s mind that this was the sa person who had brutally murdered her classmate just hours before.

In fact, there was nothing in Diah’s carefree, cheerful smile as she danced to the music that even remotely resembled Lee Ye-seo.

But no matter what, Da-yeon was the only one who had seen through Diah’s innocence-shattering "red pill."

And so, a chuckle escaped her lips.

"...What on earth is this person’s real identity?"