[Title]: eting a Certain Strear
Before getting into the story, I won’t reveal who it is since it might get deleted.
Let’s just call them J, a strear who loves traveling and plays Silia Online a lot.
This happened a few days ago (details omitted).
At first, I wasn’t sure, but the more I listened, the more familiar the voice sounded, and I realized it was J.
If I’d known, I would’ve brought so paper or sothing. Damn.
I decided to at least ask for a picture, so I approached, but there was soone else next to them.
At first, I thought it was their boyfriend and almost panicked, but then I rembered that J’s cousin had appeared on their stream not long ago.
(Photo of Kana looking back.jpg)
(Screenshot from Joanie’s stream.jpg)
They’ve never stood side by side on stream, so it’s hard to compare directly, but don’t their builds look pretty similar?
Also, J ntioned living together for a while, so it’s not strange for them to go out together.
But that’s not the important part.
(Close-up of Kana looking back.jpg)
Do you see their eyes?
In broad daylight, they’d probably look purple or pink, but they definitely don’t have the typical Korean eye color.
I think they might be a foreigner.
If J hasn’t ntioned this until now because they live abroad, it makes sense.
It’s a sha I couldn’t see their face because of the mask, though.
Still, it seems they live nearby, so I’m thinking of wandering around for a while in hopes of running into them again.
How can anyone resist? They’re the ultimate beauty—frail-looking, foreigner vibes, everything!
[Comnts]
—Huh.
—Isn’t this just pure imagination?
—This guy wrote a whole essay of nonsense.
ㄴ(OP): “Why is this nonsense??”
ㄴ “If it’s not nonsense, then what is it??”
—”You didn’t even get a clear picture, video, or anything.”
ㄴ “You’re claiming it’s J, so why should we believe you? Lol.”
ㄴ (OP): “Then don’t believe . Why are you picking a fight?”
—”What’s the point of calling them J?”
ㄴ (OP): “To avoid keyword searches.”
—”Fake.”
—”Isn’t this a cri?”
ㄴ “Seriously; taking secret photos and openly declaring stalking? What gives this guy so much confidence?”
ㄴ (OP): “I used a VPN~ You can’t catch .”
ㄴ “This dude thinks VPNs make you invincible. Lol.”
ㄴ (Bye, kid.)
—”Wow, secretly filming a stranger and proudly posting it? What a genius.”
ㄴ “Ah… just chef’s kiss ‘a brilliant mind’.”
ㄴ “Don’t you understand why the stream VOD was taken down?”
ㄴ (OP): “Other people also recorded it. Why are you only coming at ??”
ㄴ “You’re the only one dumb enough to proudly post about it.”
—”This is why n are treated like criminals.”
ㄴ (OP): “I never said I was a guy, though?”
ㄴ “Assuming he’s a guy just proves you’re a man-hater. Lol.”
—Still, am I the only one who finds the eye color familiar?
ㄴ “It does feel like I’ve seen it sowhere before.”
ㄴ “For real, sa here.”
—”Upvote.”
***
“People who stream need to be cautious.”
That was Da-eun’s thought.
The internet is fast and relentless; if you let your guard down even for a mont, you’ll get swept away.
It’s normal for a viral to be outdated within a week or for a beloved influencer to fall from grace overnight.
A single word can make you famous, but a single word can also ruin everything.
To avoid falling behind in such a fast-moving world, it was necessary to stay attuned to the flow of trends.
Though Shin Da-eun didn’t find much enjoynt in community activities, she regularly kept an eye on them for that reason.
She often encouraged her managers and editors to monitor trends as well.
As soone who followed trends and sotis even led them, Da-eun was able to respond quickly to an unexpected ssage from one of her editors.
[Editor 1: Boss, have you seen this???]
[Joanie: Huh?]
[Joanie: Seen what??]
[Editor 1: (link)]
Da-eun frowned at the cryptic ssage, only to be t with a link instead of an explanation.
“…It’s not phishing, right?”
The world these days was dangerous enough, with countless cases of impersonation. If scamrs could pretend to be family mbers, they could just as easily fake a ssenger nickna.
[Editor 3: Boss, don’t fall for it! I clicked the link, and money started disappearing from my account!!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Editor 1: ???]
[Editor 1: (shocked emoji)]
[Editor 1: No, seriously.]
[Editor 3: Scamr alert!]
[Editor 1: (completely stunned emoji)]
Watching another editor interrupt the conversation to argue about the link eased Da-eun’s suspicion.
“What is it they want to see?”
Since this wasn’t the first ti she’d received a link without context, Da-eun clicked on it casually. But her previously calm expression hardened imdiately.
The link led to a post on an online community.
It began with the headline claiming soone had encountered Joanie.
Although it didn’t explicitly ntion the na “Joanie,” the content left no room for doubt.
Skipping past the trivial and uninteresting details, Da-eun’s gaze landed on a photo.
A dark, nightti street.
Instead of streetlights illuminating the area, a sliver of moonlight pierced through the clouds, faintly lighting the scene.
At first glance, it was unclear what the photo was trying to capture. Two figures were walking down the dark street.
Though the lack of movent in the still photo made it feel less vivid, there was an unshakable sense of urgency.
‘That day.’
As soon as Da-eun saw the photo, a mory flashed through her mind.
It was from the day she had gone out to dinner with her parents and Kana.
On her way back ho, Da-eun had crossed paths with a man.
Judging people based on appearances wasn’t ideal, but his awkward posture and unsettling deanor had made her wary.
‘It must’ve been that guy who took this photo.’
“When did he even take it?”
She hadn’t heard a shutter sound or anything of the sort.
Not only had the man taken a photo without her knowledge, but now he had written about it on a community site. This only confird Da-eun’s suspicion that her initial impression wasn’t wrong.
The post didn’t end there.
☆
The author not only referenced previous streams that Da-eun had asked people not to ntion but also posted overlapping shots from episodes where Kana appeared, comparing them.
Although Da-eun had never expected everyone to respect her wishes, she couldn’t have imagined soone would write such a detailed post so brazenly.
“They’re saying the body types look similar?”
How could they not be?
They were the sa person.
Unless Kana had sohow grown significantly over the past few days—an impossibility, considering that Da-eun knew her height hadn’t changed even by a milliter over the weeks.
‘An adult-sized Kana would be kind of cute in its own way, but… I just can’t picture it.’
“Ah.”
As Da-eun stared intently at the photo, a short sigh escaped her lips.
Distracted by the ntion of a “cousin,” she had overlooked sothing more critical.
The photo, zood in excessively, showed a pair of pink eyes.
Though the dim lighting made them appear sowhat dull, to Da-eun, who knew the person behind those eyes, they were unmistakably pink.
“She wasn’t wearing sunglasses…”
Then again, how many people wear sunglasses at night?
Da-eun recalled Kana grumbling about her sunglasses sliding down her nose and feeling uncomfortable.
If she had known this would happen, she would’ve bought sunglasses that fit her face better.
In Silia Online, Kana always wore a mask, and on Earth, she rarely went outside, so Da-eun had put it off—sothing she now regretted.
At least the hat and hood had concealed her hair, sparing them from further exposure.
“Hmm…”
The rest of the post didn’t sit well with her, either.
Contrary to what the author assud, the location where she encountered the man wasn’t particularly close to her ho. But if he decided to expand his area of activity, there was a chance of running into him again.
“Haah…”
Da-eun put down her phone after skimming through the comnts with a serious expression.
While so agreed with the post, the majority of the comnts were criticizing the author.
The author’s replies to those criticisms were oddly defiant.
With just that photo, people could guess “the girl who appeared on a stream with her cousin” but not definitively identify her as “Kana.”
The photo could have been edited, and there was no evidence linking the person next to the girl to Joanie.
Believing that a ga NPC had sohow co to life was a leap few were willing to take.
“What should I do?”
Da-eun bit her thumbnail.
Responding carelessly would only confirm that she was the person in the photo.
Yet ignoring it felt wrong, given the malicious intent behind the post.
If it were just idle nonsense from the community, she could easily dismiss it. But knowing the truth made it difficult to overlook.
As she agonized over the matter, her phone vibrated.
[Editor 1: Boss???]
[Editor 1: What should we do?]
Curiously, the editor didn’t ask if the story was true or how this happened.
Instead, they simply asked what action to take.
It seed they had brought the post to her attention not out of doubt but to seek guidance on how to handle it.
Seeing the calm and direct nature of the question helped steady Da-eun’s nerves.
[Joanie: Hold on.]
[Joanie: Don’t take any action for now. I’ll consult soone else.]
[Joanie: Managers, if anyone ntions this during the next stream, please block them imdiately.]
[Editor 1: Got it.]
[Editor 3: Understood.]
[Manager 1: Confird.]
[Editor 1: But who are you consulting?]
[Joanie: Who else?]
The editor’s cautious inquiry made her smile faintly.
Da-eun replied and then made a call.
[Joanie: Of course, my lawyer.]
Because it was ti to figure out how to deal with this.
—
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