VR (Virtual Reality).
As the name suggests, it is a technology that allows the experience of a virtual reality as if it were real.
VR games utilizing VR technology also provide a greater sense of realism compared to regular games.
VR games give the feeling of being actually immersed in the game’s world.
“Is it because it’s expensive? It’s definitely good in performance…”
Ha Eun, who had just logged into the famous VR game <Beat Saber>, felt an immersion that exceeded her expectations.
One could say she was truly benefiting from having purchased a good VR device.
There was no lag at all in the VR visuals or sound.
Thanks to that, she could truly experience the virtual reality.
However, due to the recent donation message from Da-yeon related to a VR horror game.
– “VR horror games are the real deal”
– “Looking at the rules, there’s no horror game in the roulette”
– “Boss, die quietly”
– “Look at the avatar’s pupil shaking, lol”
She belatedly realized that the excellent realism of VR could work in a different sense.
“…Why are you being like this to me?”
She genuinely resented Da-yeon, who appeared on the broadcast screen.
The virtual world that unfolded before Ha Eun’s eyes could turn into a place like a haunted mansion where monsters could jump out, which sent a chill down her spine.
A horror game played with visuals and sounds that felt even more real than reality?
She was confident that she might faint during gameplay.
“I feel like there’s definitely going to be a broadcast accident.”
However, she couldn’t directly say anything to ekdus7.
After all, showing her fear of playing VR horror games would only backfire.
Thus, for now, she had no choice but to pretend not to see Da-yeon’s donation message.
Mentioning the existence of a VR horror game would bring no benefit whatsoever.
Not long after that, she immediately began playing Beat Saber.
“Hmm, I wonder which song would be good?”
– “Is there a horror game in addition to Beat Saber? (deleted message)”
– “Let’s go for the Angel’s Thesis, Diah”
– “Awaken, let’s go”
– “When are we installing the avatar mode?”
– “I think <Re:Zero> could also be fun”
– “Will you later do it with a 3D avatar?”
Beat Saber is what one would call a rhythm game.
Blocks called notes fly according to the rhythm of the song chosen by the player, and points are scored by cutting these blocks with swords in both hands.
To be honest, it looked fun.
Especially the part where you score points by cutting blocks with a sword was intriguing.
“It’s been a while since I’ve wielded a sword.”
Perhaps because of the memories of wielding a sword like a part of her body during the filming of <Moonlight Through the Clouds>.
Even though the accompaniment hadn’t started yet, her hands naturally moved.
In an instant, what unfolded was Yeom Wol’s sword dance.
The laser swords in both her hands traced soft curves, momentarily gliding through the air.
– “Oh lol”
– “What was that just now?”
– “The stance is coming out!”
– “The frame is so smooth”
Thus, in that moment when the chat sped up unexpectedly due to her surprisingly smooth movements.
– “Slick.”
「──♪」
「──♪」
「──♪──♪──♪」
Finally, with the beat sound that came, the Beat Saber map scenery began to slowly change.
Before long, a steep cliff scenery was unfolding.
Immediately afterward, a wind effect appeared around her, making it seem like a scene from a martial arts comic.
The influence of the bamboo forest on both sides of the cliff was considerable too.
And then, swoosh.
The sword held in Ha Eun’s right hand was momentarily raised towards the front.
At the same time, she murmured the famous line of a swordsman.
“Ah, this cool yet heavy sensation. It’s been a while─!”
– “Hahaha”
– “No way lol”
– “Swordmaster (1st generation)”
– “Diah, you’ve seen that comic too”
It was after this that the blocks that Ha Eun had to cut began to fly in.
After cleanly cutting the first block, she moved very flamboyantly.
Next came a multitude of sword strikes.
The swords in Ha Eun’s hands whipped through the colorful blocks like a fierce gale.
– “So flashy”
– “So showy, lol”
– “Why are you so good?”
– “Isn’t it your first time??”
– “The dual-wielding form is insane”
Thus, from above to below.
Sometimes straight from the side to the upper right.
At other times, following irregular forms that gradually changed into curves from diagonal angles.
“Hinokami Kagura─! …Cutting at an incredible speed!”
– “You know <Demon Slayer>, huh?”
– “What does cutting at an incredible speed mean?”
– “The buffering moment when I couldn’t think of the breathing name, what was that, lol”
– “The sword speed is from the Demon Slayer, not the Oni”
She kept cutting blocks of various types that flew in from beyond.
Perhaps because she swung her sword flamboyantly, the reactions from the viewers were mostly positive.
Finally, the last block appeared.
She slightly readjusted her stance to strike that red LED block flying towards Ha Eun.
– “Slick.”
The sword tip briefly lowered towards the ground.
In contrast, Diah’s avatar was focused straight ahead.
“Kaminari no Kyouku, Ichino Kata─.”
– “What?”
– “Hahahahahahaha”
– “What the heck is Kaminari?”
– “Wow, you’re excited, lol”
“─Hekireki Issen!!”
– “Swoosh!”
With the sound of cutting through the wind, the last block was shattered into two pieces.
As expected, the chat was flooded with ‘lol’.
A moment later, the score rating that popped up in the center of the broadcast screen was an A.
In response, Diah’s high-pitched voice was filled with delight.
“Those unruly Nolui are all going to be cut down with the sword~. Be careful~.”
– “Wow”
– “Suddenly establishing discipline for the Nolui, wow”
– “Now I need to go play the horror game (deleted message).”
– “I shouldn’t call it a stupid spirit XX, right?”
– “Every chance I get, I’m always beating the Nolui ㅠㅠㅠ”
The Beat Saber broadcast didn’t end until about an hour later.
It was because she had unconsciously realized that playing Beat Saber had some exercise benefits.
“Then, ha. See you later~. Bye-bye, you…!”
– “Diva”
– “Ah, today was full”
– “You can tell you’re out of breath”
– “Bye bye”
Thus, slightly out of breath, she pressed the button.
She simultaneously ended the Beat Saber game and the broadcast.
However, unlike usual, she couldn’t immediately exit the broadcast booth after ending the broadcast.
The reason being, the donation message from Da-yeon asking her to play a VR horror game a few hours ago still lingered in Ha Eun’s mind.
“…I feel like they will definitely make me do the horror game.”
If she did nothing and remained unprepared, she would surely face all kinds of struggles.
She didn’t think she could simply wait for Diah’s frequent pass to be used.
Thus, she ultimately logged into the VR horror game community.
She began looking through various popular posts to find out which VR horror game was the scariest.
“First, let’s exclude the 19+ rated games. Let’s also exclude those that would be awkward for broadcasting….”
For quite a while afterward, she continued searching for a VR horror game that Da-yeon would request from Diah.
Finally, she found one in the zombie apocalypse genre and completed the purchase.
A moment later, she took a deep breath.
“…Let’s just get a feel for today.”
And so, she slowly set the VR headset, which had been placed on the broadcasting desk, back onto her head.
Before long, she was confronted with a bizarre menu screen.
The background music was also chillingly eerie.
「𓂃𓂃𓂃♪𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃𓂃」
“…Ugh….”
However, she had to somehow get used to the atmosphere.
Therefore, in the days to come, she dedicated several consecutive days solely to training in VR horror games.
Of course, there were far more times when she hastily tore off the VR headset and trembled than there were when she wore it.
She felt the need to cover her mouth so that Na-yeon and Sung Yoon wouldn’t hear her screams.
The only thing Ha Eun hadn’t considered was one thing.
[Diah]
[Online 🟢]
“Uh? Diah is gaming?”
– “?”
– “It’s true.”
– “What game is he playing?”
– “If you’re going to game, you should stream it ㅡㅡ”
People who had added Diah’s ID could see what game Ha Eun was playing.
It was for this reason that Yuna, who was usually broadcasting general gameplay, attempted to call Diah.
However, in the end, the call with Diah didn’t last long.
This was because Diah’s mental state was literally falling apart.
[…The funny thing is, it is fun. It is fun but… it’s scary.]
“Ugh, yeah. Hang in there, Diah.”
Diah had also asked her not to reveal the name of the game he was playing, so she couldn’t disclose that.
She just said it was a game Diah personally wanted to play to her viewers.
“They keep saying to stream, stream, but how can a person keep on streaming? Sometimes, Diah needs to play alone and relieve stress too.”
– “Stress?”
– “Sounds like he was all teary.”
– “Is he actually relieving stress? lol”
– “The Nolui will freeze to death again today…”
At that moment, while Yuna was doing her utmost to defend Diah’s gameplay from the backlash.
Having played the VR horror game to its limits, Ha Eun took off the VR headset and immediately splashed her face with cold water.
The lingering resentment towards Da-yeon was still clear.
Of course, she would use Diah’s frequent pass purely for fun without any malice.
“…Just wait and see.”
She firmly resolved not to let the one who made her struggle get away with it.
If Da-yeon really became a second-generation member of the Phantom Academy, she was determined to assert all sorts of authority, as a proper senior.
This is why she prepared several secret accounts that no one knew about.
Just as Da-yeon hid behind the nickname ekdus7 and unilaterally tormented Diah in the past.
Ha Eun also wanted to throw Da-yeon off guard, hiding behind various anonymous nicknames.
*
Time passed, and it was now mid-February.
Preparations for the live stage of the group song “Illusion” for the first generation and procedures for recruiting the second generation were gradually wrapping up.
However, it wasn’t just the Phantom Academy matters that were nearing their end.
“The sunlight we faced that day was light yet heavy, and the long shadow clung to my ankle until the end.”
“How was it? The teaser turned out good, right?”
This was Kwon Jae-hyuk, the director, inquiring about Ha Eun’s feelings on the completed <The Sunshine> teaser.
In response, Ha Eun nodded, saying it seemed like a decent teaser.
Thus, the long journey of <The Sunshine> that had been going on for quite a while was also gradually reaching its end.
Strictly speaking, the latter part of the filming was still not over, but the key parts were nearly completed.
‘…Let’s do well until the end.’
Ha Eun, who had a memorable impression of <The Sunshine>, wanted to do her best until the very end.
She began to slowly settle her emotions in preparation for a shoot that would start in an hour.
However, because some worries related to Da-yeon still remained in Ha Eun’s subconscious.
She found herself wondering how long she could hide Diah’s red pills.
“Okay, get ready… Action!”
-Step.
｢…Tell me. Who exactly are you?｣
Ha Eun jolted a bit at the question from Hwang Tae-seong about Kim Jeong-hyun’s secretive activities as a volunteer.
Just like Ha Eun and Da-yeon, Kim Jeong-hyun and Hwang Tae-seong had also been friends for a long time.
The facial expressions they shared were extremely complicated, which made Ha Eun slightly uneasy.
The feeling of having her secret identity exposed by her best friend was a jumbled mix of emotions.
