LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 147
After volunteering with Jang Seong-ho, Ha-eun’s schedule had about a week of free time.
Due to other actors’ schedules, the filming for <The Sunshine> and <The Veterans> had been slightly pushed back.
Since it was also the end of February, Ha-eun was preparing for the upcoming start of Narae’s school term.
In other words, she was getting ready to transition into the special status of being a ‘high school senior.’
“Already a high school senior? Time flies…”
To be honest, it wasn’t anything grand.
She just extended her study time a bit more between filming schedules.
“Last year, I could study at a cafe.”
But now, that would be too much.
Missing the sweet desserts from her regular cafe, Ha-eun eventually opened her workbook in her room instead.
Whether she liked it or not, if Ha-eun went to a cafe now, she wouldn’t be able to focus on studying at all.
Just like in her past life, the popularity of <The Sunshine>, which had just started airing, was steadily rising.
Because of this, Ha-eun couldn’t easily go out unless she used Joo Jung-yoon’s van.
“It’s good that the drama is doing well, but…”
There were far more people recognizing Ha-eun than she had expected.
The aftermath of <Infinite Challenge Music Festival> was definitely still lingering.
After briefly reminiscing about the people who asked for her autograph and photos, Ha-eun focused solely on studying for about three to four hours until lunchtime.
However, after having a simple lunch, just as she was about to sit back down at her desk and flip through her workbook again—
*Buzz buzz—*
[Min Da-yeon] – Hey
[Min Da-yeon] – Hey
[Min Da-yeon] – I’m bored
[Min Da-yeon] – Let’s play League.
A message from her friend, who had completely abandoned studying, flew into Ha-eun’s phone.
The problem was that this friend had somehow managed to pass the audition for Fantasy Land Season 2.
If Ha-eun made this evil friend, who would soon win a free pass to Dia, feel upset, who knows what might happen in the future.
And so, she had no choice but to turn on her computer.
“…Should I ask what she’s thinking?”
Since things had come to this, Ha-eun decided to subtly probe Da-yeon’s thoughts.
Of course, without revealing that she was Dia.
[Hello? Can you hear me?]
“Yeah, I can hear you.”
After joining Da-yeon’s Discord call with a newly created Discord account—
To be precise, after finishing one round of a normal League game—
“Da-yeon.”
[The jungler who never ganked should stay quiet.]
“I died before I could even go… No, that’s not it. I’m just curious why you’re suddenly into gaming. You weren’t interested in middle school.”
Ha-eun, with a tone of curiosity, asked Da-yeon why she had taken up gaming as a hobby.
The filter of shamelessness came after that.
“Is it because of someone named Dia?”
[Huh? What?]
“I looked it up on YouTube, and all I found were videos of someone gaming.”
About 10 seconds of silence followed.
Ha-eun could tell that Da-yeon on the other side of the headset was visibly flustered.
Ha-eun still thought Da-yeon didn’t know Dia’s true identity.
So, she believed there was no problem talking about Dia as if they were a stranger.
Of course, from Da-yeon’s perspective, there couldn’t be a more confusing statement.
She had no idea why Ha-eun was bringing up Dia and was completely baffled.
What Ha-eun really wanted to ask was conveyed to Da-yeon shortly after.
“So, are you into League these days? Not interested in other games?”
Ha-eun wanted to know in advance what kind of games Da-yeon would play in future collaborations with Dia.
That’s why, as Da-yeon’s friend Lee Ha-eun and not the VTuber Dia, she pretended to recommend various fun games.
“Back in the day, I saw someone playing Civilization and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and they looked fun.”
[I, I’m more into—]
“Ah, Rainbow Six is fun too. It’s a shooting game like Battle Island.”
Da-yeon also knew that Ha-eun had enjoyed various games during middle school.
So, Ha-eun thought it wasn’t strange at all for her, as someone who knew games well, to recommend them.
Ultimately, what Ha-eun wanted to find out was the name of the horror game Da-yeon was interested in.
After talking about various games for a while—
“Um, there are a lot of fun horror games too…”
[Horror games?]
“Yeah.”
[…Recommend me some scary ones.]
She threw out the bait.
Unsurprisingly, Da-yeon showed interest.
After that, Ha-eun started mentioning the names of popular horror games.
“How about Resident Evil: Metropolis?”
[How scary is it?]
“It’s not that scary, but the game’s story is really well-made—”
[Pass.]
*Click.*
*Tap tap.*
“There’s also a game called Backroom. It’s an escape game.”
[Is it scary?]
“It’s not scary at first, but once the ghosts start popping out, it gets really scary.”
[Hmm… Okay.]
Ha-eun sincerely recommended several horror games and let Da-yeon know which ones were scary.
She made a separate list of the games Da-yeon showed interest in.
In other words, she had significantly narrowed down the range of games Da-yeon could ask Dia to play.
The games Da-yeon was interested in were already saved in Ha-eun’s Steam wishlist.
“I’ll have to play these games in my spare time too.”
After Ha-eun’s successful fishing expedition disguised as game recommendations, Da-yeon returned to the League screen and tried to start a normal game with Ha-eun in duo.
However, because Ha-eun opened her mouth again—
[So, you’re worried those old folks might mistake you for a psycho?]
“Not exactly worried. Just that it could happen.”
They had to talk about what happened during the recent coal briquette volunteer work.
After all, Da-yeon had played the villainous Queen Yoon in <The Moonlight Split by Clouds>.
“Da-yeon, when you played Queen Yoon, did people around you say anything?”
[Not really.]
“Or did people’s perceptions of you change?”
[Hmm… Oh, after that scene where I slapped you, some kid called me ‘the bad noona who bullied Yeong-wol.’]
“…Is that kid still alive?”
[What do you mean?]
“Ah, nothing.”
At almost the same time, *click.*
Ha-eun deliberately changed the subject and pressed the game start button, and the League match began.
Ha-eun’s position this time was also jungler.
It was a position where she had to roam around the map and take care of all five team members, but—
“…I’ll end it on a good note this time.”
Unlike the first game where she mostly ignored Da-yeon in the top lane, this time she tried to take care of Da-yeon as much as possible.
She had to keep Da-yeon in a good mood so that she wouldn’t suffer later during collaborations between Dia and Da-yeon.
[Hey, hey! If you don’t come, I’ll die!]
“You won’t die. Don’t worry.”
And so, Ha-eun spent most of the game in Da-yeon’s top lane.
Whenever Da-yeon’s HP dropped below 50%, Ha-eun would stay around her to prevent her from dying.
However, since League is a game played by five people—
– Are you a top-jungle duo?
– Jungler, the enemy jungler is taking everything, can you come help? lol
– Set up shop in the top lane, you @#$%^&
(Ignoring ‘IfYouDon’tComeI’llDie’s chat)
(Ignoring ‘IfYouDon’tComeI’llDie’s emotes)
(Ignoring ‘IfYouDon’tComeI’llDie’s pings)
The other team members couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed in Ha-eun, the jungler.
They expressed their disappointment in chat, asking why Ha-eun was only staying in the top lane while the enemy jungler was constantly ganking.
Of course, they won the game.
After all, League was a game Ha-eun had once delved into so deeply that she had to restrain herself.
“It was because of the streamer League tournament back then, though.”
Losing in a game with beginners like Da-yeon was nearly impossible.
At least, Ha-eun believed so herself.
Fortunately, Da-yeon’s voice also sounded satisfied.
[See? When you only take care of me, the game becomes so easy.]
With a bright voice that sounded like she was claiming to have carried the game alone, Da-yeon pulled off the so-called ‘no words needed’ move.
Even just looking at the KDA, it was clear that Ha-eun’s Lee Sin had done everything from start to finish in that game.
But she made sure to hype up Da-yeon, saying that her Darius had destroyed the enemy Nexus.
“Da-yeon, you’ve got talent. Just keep doing what you’re doing.”
[I know.]
***
Three days after the online duo with Da-yeon, Ji Hye-min called Ha-eun, who was still dedicating her time to studying until Dia’s broadcast time.
[Hello?]
“Yes, unnie. What’s up?”
[Ah, it’s about Fantasy Land Season 2. We have a content idea.]
What Ji Hye-min told her over the phone was about a ‘Let’s Get Closer’ segment for the Fantasy Land Season 2 members.
It was a content idea to help the still-awkward Fantasy Land Season 2 members get closer to each other.
[If we do it like avatar speed dating, it’ll look good on YouTube.]
“So, we’ll be controlling the Fantasy Land Season 2 members?”
[Yeah. The seniors can ask questions on behalf of the Fantasy Land Season 2 members. Will you do it?]
To cut to the chase, Ha-eun of course accepted.
She had never once refused any offers related to Fantasy Land content.
Of course, Da-yeon, aka Hida, was excluded from Dia’s control targets.
Originally, the Fantasy Land Season 2 members wouldn’t know who was controlling whom, but just in case.
And so, a peculiar situation arose.
‘…Wait a second. If I think about it, this is anonymous.’
She could borrow the mouth of a Fantasy Land Season 2 member to talk to Da-yeon.
In other words, no matter what she said, Da-yeon wouldn’t know it was Ha-eun speaking.
Perhaps that’s why.
[Ah, hello!]
“Hi~! You’re Nael, right?”
Shortly after the call with Nael, the Fantasy Land Season 2 member who would be controlled by Dia today, began, Ha-eun asked Nael to repeat everything she said.
“I’ll make sure the YouTube angle is perfect, so just trust your senior!”
[Ah, yes!]
Not long after, the ‘Let’s Get Closer’ segment began.
They recorded it first, and it was scheduled to be uploaded to the official YouTube channel after the Fantasy Land Season 2 members’ official debut.
“Question for Hida~!”
[Question for Hida~!]
“Your avatar has a huge chest, but isn’t the gap between that and reality too big?”
[Your avatar has a huge ch… S-senior?!]
“Chest. Is. Too. Big. Compared. To. Reality. Right? Hurry up.”
From the very first question, it turned into Ha-eun’s revenge plot.
Even though Nael, who had actually met Hida—the famous actress Min Da-yeon—in person, was terrified to speak, Dia’s voice kept repeating the same sentence over and over.