Crack.
70K-subscriber YouTuber Heo Taegyun instinctively turned his head toward the sound.
Sothing strange had just happened near the conference room door.
'What was that?'
It sounded like sothing breaking.
The employee he had been speaking with also looked toward the door, equally puzzled.
"Hold on a second."
Since he was the closest, Taegyun figured he should be the one to check.
'We were just having a good conversation, too.'
The Raywill Gas employee handling today's ad discussion had been surprisingly easy to talk to.
They had been going over how the ad would be fild, how the promotion would work, and—most importantly—who else would be participating.
Which led to the topic of Ramiel.
A 200K-subscriber VTuber.
VTubers weren’t exactly unfamiliar anymore, but was one really significant enough to be included in this ad?
Taegyun wasn't sure.
And more than that—
Unlike him, sitting comfortably in Eternity Camp's top-tier ranks, this VTuber's actual gaplay skills were completely unknown.
Considering that they were also bringing in a celebrity, it would have been ideal if all participants had at least so experience with the ga.
After all, Eternity Camp was a team-based ga.
Covering for one inexperienced teammate was tough enough—
But covering for two? That was a nightmare.
"Huh?"
Taegyun grabbed the U-shaped door handle and tried to push it down—
But it wouldn’t budge.
"Huh? H-Hey, what the—?!"
Before he could react, he suddenly found himself lying face-down on the floor—
Still holding the doorknob.
!!
Silence.
Taegyun blinked in a daze.
He hadn't even let go of the doorknob yet.
Watching this unfold, Raywill Gas' Marketing Team 1 Leader, Manager Hwang, would later recall the incident as follows:
"It all happened in an instant."
The words alone seed to make him sweat, as he repeatedly wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
"He just... whoosh—his body twisted and bam—he was down."
It looked almost as if—
An elite judo master had effortlessly thrown a person over their shoulder.
"You know how they say a top-tier judo master can toss soone just by grabbing their sleeve?"
They say that an elite judo master—
Only needs two fingers.
A simple grip on soone’s sleeve is enough to send them flying.
And what had just happened?
Was exactly that.
"He thought he was grabbing the doorknob, but in reality—
"He was the one being grabbed!!"
A contradiction that defied human logic.
An event that transcended common sense.
The absolute pinnacle of technique and raw power—
That was what Manager Hwang claid he had witnessed.
anwhile, across from him, Raywill Gas' Planning Team Leader, Joo Youngbin, simply nodded.
"You're really taking your sweet ti explaining why you're taking a half-day off this afternoon."
"......"
If you’re feeling sick, just say you’re feeling sick.
But Manager Hwang had no words to respond.
When Seoyeon finally entered the room, she had the exact sa reaction as Youngbin.
"......What are you doing?"
From her perspective, Taegyun was sprawled on the floor in an incredibly awkward position—
Still clutching the doorknob.
Looking back, it was a pretty ridiculous scene.
'W-Wait, that’s... Ju Seoyeon?!'
Taegyun froze, still gripping the detached doorknob in shock.
Manager Hwang had told him that the celebrity joining the stream today would also be attending the eting.
Even when Hwang had said, "You’re going to love this. It’s soone big,"—
Taegyun had assud it was just so mid-tier idol.
But instead—
The actress who had completely dominated the industry last year was standing right in front of him.
There’s a saying:
Not all celebrities are the sa.
And the gap between idols and actors is massive.
Even the prettiest idols can look plain when standing next to a true actress.
Taegyun had always thought that was an exaggeration.
But at this mont—
He had to admit—
He understood.
He had t plenty of celebrities in person before.
Even so well-known idols.
But none of them had ever shocked him like this.
Because Ju Seoyeon was different.
Her beauty was so overwhelming—
That it made his brain go blank for a mont.
"Are you just going to stay down there?"
It was only when she spoke that he realized—
He was still lying on the floor.
'W-What the hell am I doing?!'
Scrambling to his feet, Taegyun hurriedly bowed and sat back in his chair.
The chair he had been comfortably sitting in just monts ago now felt impossibly stiff.
It felt like he had wandered into the wrong room.
And it wasn’t just because of how insanely pretty Seoyeon was.
It was because—
She was looking at him with an uncomfortably cold gaze.
'Why, though?'
What had he even done?
'...If I saw soone open a door and then imdiately fall flat on their face, I guess I’d stare at them weirdly too.'
Taegyun still had no idea what had just happened to him.
Was he out of shape?
Had his legs just given out randomly?
He kept overthinking it—
But in the end, he would never learn the truth.
'Whew, he didn’t notice.'
Seoyeon glanced down at the snapped doorknob still in her hand.
She had ended up gripping the tal rod inside and forcefully twisting it to open the door.
She had felt that it was a bit stiff—
But she hadn’t realized that soone had actually been holding onto it from the other side.
'I’ll have to ask Dad to fix it later.'
At the very least, she was relieved that Youngbin was a team leader at Raywill Gas.
That ant—
No one was going to make a fuss about the broken door.
But anyway.
Seoyeon shifted her gaze to Heo Taegyun, who was now awkwardly seated in the eting room.
To be honest—
She wasn’t feeling great about this.
Because he—
Had insulted Ramiel.
'I an... I get it.'
It was understandable.
It wasn’t like he had gone too far with his words.
That’s why she decided to let it slide.
Not that she had been that angry to begin with—
But it wasn’t like she could just run up and punch him, either.
After what had happened with Pyo Jiwoo, Seoyeon had been making a conscious effort to control her temper.
"The last participant will be [N O V E L I G H T] joining remotely."
Once Seoyeon and Taegyun had taken their seats, the promotional eting finally began.
Seoyeon and Taegyun sat side by side across from Manager Hwang.
A laptop was placed on the table in front of them—
Its cara positioned directly at Hwang, as if preparing for a video call.
'Wait, is Ramiel... even free right now?'
Could she even attend the eting?
Seoyeon briefly wondered.
anwhile, Kyungsung Lady had just barely crossed 10 million viewers—
With only five days left before its screening period ended.
A real cliffhanger finish.
If the movie hadn’t been given an extended run, it might have fallen just short.
But regardless—
10 million was 10 million.
On top of that, it had also grossed nearly 7 million in Japan—
An absolutely massive success.
Which was why Jiyeon was currently overseas.
With Kyungsung Lady premiering internationally, Jiyeon was traveling to promote the film.
Seoyeon, on the other hand, had never played a lead role in a movie—
So she had never had to do international promotion.
She had been busy promoting dramas, though.
And for Kyungsung Lady, the promotions weren’t just focused on Korea—
They were going worldwide.
"Wait... so she’s joining via video call?"
"Yes. She insisted on attending the eting no matter what."
Manager Hwang cleared his throat and glanced at Seoyeon.
Such perfect posture.
And her face—stunning beyond words.
'If only my daughter was even half like that...'
Of course, he wasn’t talking about looks.
Just look at that posture.
She looked like soone who must have been top of her class.
Manager Hwang checked his ssages and turned on the laptop.
A familiar 3D avatar appeared on the screen.
The sight left Heo Taegyun with an indescribable feeling.
It was surreal, to say the least.
'I assud the person would actually show up, since it’s a eting.'
But apparently, there wasn’t even a chance to see her real face.
Was she really that insecure about her appearance?
Or maybe, as an internet personality, she considered showing her face in front of a strear like him to be a dangerous choice.
Either way, Taegyun was surprised that Raywill Gas had allowed this arrangent.
Maybe ga companies were just more lenient about these things.
「Hello, this is Ramiel.」
A clear, composed voice.
The kind of voice that simply put people at ease.
Even Taegyun, who had been harboring so annoyance, had to admit—
'She’s got a nice voice.'
"Hello, I’m Ju Seoyeon."
Before anyone else could respond, Seoyeon was the first to reply.
Seeing her reaction through the cara, Ramiel—Ji Yeon—felt a little puzzled.
'Did she really have to greet like that?'
She figured it was just because there were other people in the eting, so she answered politely as well.
「It’s truly a pleasure to et you, Ju Seoyeon. I’m a fan of yours.」
Ramiel spoke with a bright smile, maintaining a composed deanor.
Even in the presence of a celebrity, she remained remarkably calm—
Which surprised Taegyun.
He had expected her to be more excitable.
'But for Ju Seoyeon, wouldn’t that feel a bit underwhelming?'
Wouldn't she be disappointed by such a lukewarm response?
Curious, he turned to look at Seoyeon—
Drip.
"?"
A single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ah, sorry. I just... got overwheld for a mont."
"...What?"
"So this is what a fan feels like... I should treat my fans better from now on."
"??"
Including her past life—
She had spent over a decade passionately following Ramiel.
And this was the first ti she had the chance to actually speak to her.
The overwhelming emotion made her eyes glisten with tears.
'What the hell? This is scary.'
From Jiyeon’s perspective behind the cara, it was downright unsettling.
I an—she knows who I am, right?
She knows I’m Jiyeon.
And yet, Seoyeon was acting like Ramiel and Jiyeon were completely different people.
"Ahem. Well, let’s get started on discussing the promotional stream."
Manager Hwang awkwardly redirected the conversation.
Seoyeon’s intensely emotional gaze toward Ramiel was getting a little overwhelming.
"I already spoke briefly with strear Heo Taegyun. For now, if you could share your thoughts on the concept and structure of the broadcast, that would be great."
The promotional stream was planned to run for two hours.
A separate comrcial was also being considered, but celebrity comrcials weren’t always effective, so they were still undecided on that.
For now, this eting was strictly about organizing the live promotional broadcast.
"Simply playing the ga isn’t very engaging."
Having spent years streaming, Taegyun carefully began to share his thoughts.
Seoyeon was still entirely focused on Ramiel, while Ramiel, being on video chat, maintained an attentive posture.
"It’s best if each participant has a set role or persona for the stream. The easiest dynamic to set up is having one person play the ‘attacker’ and the other the ‘victim.’ Oh, not anything extre, just so playful teasing to spice things up."
This wasn’t about outright bullying—
But having soone to take the hits made for better entertainnt.
Of course, if it went too far, it could be a problem—
But as long as they kept it lighthearted, it would work.
There were other possible formats, but this was what Taegyun was most comfortable with.
"Usually, we’d decide who’s the ‘strong player’ and who’s the ‘weak one.’ Depending on how we fra it, the whole vibe of the stream changes."
Of course—
Taegyun had no intention of playing the weak role.
So he subtly shifted his focus toward Ramiel.
That had been his initial plan when discussing things with the team lead.
He hadn’t expected Seoyeon to be such a die-hard fan of Ramiel, which threw him off a bit—
But he had to push forward.
After all, he had no idea how skilled this VTuber was.
So, if they positioned her as the weaker player, the dynamic would work fine.
'Of course, the weaker role usually gets a slightly negative image.'
But she was just a VTuber.
Unlike him, she wasn’t showing her real face on stream.
She had a degree of protection.
'And I’ll handle the heavy lifting anyway.'
As for Seoyeon—
Even if she did nothing, he’d figure out a way to carry.
So, he couldn’t afford to be the one getting teased.
It was a bit of an excuse, but—
If the person carrying the ga kept getting ridiculed, it could backfire.
Viewers would start thinking:
"Why are you mocking the one actually doing all the work?"
If the other two were at least decent, it could be played off as a joke—
But since he wasn’t sure of their skill levels, this was the safest plan.
「Then maybe I should take that role. I’m only Platinum, so my skills aren’t that high yet.」
"Platinum?"
Wait—
That’s higher than he expected.
Platinum wasn’t particularly high in Eternity Camp, but still—
Taegyun had assud she had zero experience with the ga.
This was a surprise.
'Well, this isn’t bad, then.'
As he nodded to himself—
He suddenly felt a presence beside him.
Currently, in the eting room, Taegyun and Seoyeon were sitting side by side.
And now—
"......"
The face that had just been filled with joy and admiration—
Had gone completely blank.
A pair of ice-cold, crimson eyes were locked onto him.
The mont he saw them, Taegyun’s breath hitched.
'What should I do with this guy?'
Should she just gut him?
A rage far beyond what she had felt during the ShineMoon incident.
An unfathomable fury that even Low himself had never reached.
Seoyeon’s mind was boiling with rage.
"A-Ah. Actually, maybe I should take the weak role! I’m great at being the one who gets beaten up!"
Just as Seoyeon’s mind was filled with grueso thoughts about Taegyun’s skull bouncing around like a pinball—
His sudden statent snapped her back to reality.
But—
If he beca the designated punching bag, wouldn’t he co off as unlikeable?
She didn’t care much about herself—
But she couldn’t let this affect Ramiel’s image.
That was unacceptable.
"I think it’d be better if Taegyun blad instead."
"Huh?"
"That makes the most sense, doesn’t it?"
"Wait, hold on—"
Taegyun was stunned.
So she wanted him to be the one mocking her on stream?
Even jokingly teasing a popular actress was dangerous—
But criticizing Ju Seoyeon on air?
A ten-million-viewer actress.
Soone who had just amassed a massive fanbase last year.
He could already imagine the backlash.
"......Do you not want to?"
"No! I think that’s a fantastic idea!"
Taegyun quickly surrendered.
The most important thing—
Was getting through this stream in one piece.
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