Chapter 101: Chapter 100

LUX.

An MCN ranked among the top five in South Korea, led by the well-known streamer Daramsquirrel, and the company responsible for the comprehensive management of Fantasy Horizon VTubers.

To cut to the chase, LUX was thriving.

The Fantasy Horizon VTubers had fully established themselves in the world of online streaming, and their success had spurred collaborations with external partners.

Initially a gamble for LUX, Fantasy Horizon was now on the verge of becoming a legitimate and lucrative revenue model.

The recent summons of the entire Fantasy Horizon team to the LUX headquarters was specifically for a meeting regarding the “Cover Song Project.”

Among the core elements of VTuber content, cover songs stood out as a key area.

With proper preparation and a polished final product, a well-received cover song could elevate the already successful Fantasy Horizon streams to even greater heights.

Several candidate songs were already selected.

A “special vocal trainer” was scheduled to attend the meeting, reaffirming its focus on the project.

However, if you thought the meeting was solely about the cover songs, you’d be mistaken.

“You should’ve texted before calling to let her know you were live.”

“Well, the first time I called, I did text her. But over time, she started answering in her broadcast tone even without a heads-up... I’m really sorry...”

And so, the cover song meeting was delayed.

The reason? A broadcast mishap during Cream’s stream a few days prior.

“If Ha-eun decides to make this an issue, it’ll become a problem.”

“Ha-eun’s contract was signed through her agency’s legal team. If ‘Actress Lee Ha-eun’s’ image is tarnished due to our negligence, her agency could hold us accountable.”

“C-could I get sued?”

“The chances aren’t zero. Though, knowing Ha-eun’s personality, I doubt it’ll go that far... Start with an apology.”

Manager Ji Hye-min, handling the matter, repeatedly emphasized the severity of the situation.

Across from her sat Jung Maria (Cream), head bowed, unsure how to proceed.

Maria was fully aware that the incident was her fault.

On the day it happened, she’d felt her heart drop, immediately banning all chat messages referencing Diah’s real voice, regardless of context.

But she hadn’t anticipated things spiraling to this extent.

Screech—

“...Hello.”

When Ha-eun stepped into the small meeting room where only Ji Hye-min and Maria had been, Maria’s already pale complexion turned ghostly white.

She knew she needed to apologize but couldn’t find the words. She just chewed nervously on her lip.

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Even Ji Hye-min, who had summoned Ha-eun, tread carefully as she asked Ha-eun about the broadcast mishap.

“A hoarse voice, huh? Personally, I don’t think it was that noticeable. What do you think, Ha-eun?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. These days, people can identify someone from just their hand movements...”

“...Fair point.”

Ha-eun had no way of knowing how or where her hoarse voice might be analyzed.

For all she knew, somewhere in the internet's depths, Diah’s true identity might already have been uncovered.

But she recognized that clinging to things outside her control would only cause her stress.

Rather than worrying about vague possibilities, she decided to focus on actionable steps in the present.

“Maria unnie.”

“Y-yes?”

“I bought a separate phone for streaming. Please use this number to contact me when I’m live.”

Ha-eun handed over her new streaming contact number to Maria.

After saving the number, Maria finally spoke up:

“Ha-eun... can I have your bank details? I’ll pay for the phone.”

Maria’s formal apology began in earnest, starting with reimbursing Ha-eun for the new phone.

Her guilt escalated into a full-blown emotional breakdown, culminating in tears.

Maria's overwhelming remorse caught Ha-eun off guard—it was far more intense than she had anticipated.

Ha-eun was self-aware enough to recognize her tendency to be indifferent toward incidents involving herself.

Still, this level of drama over a simple “Hello” felt excessive.

Ha-eun’s real concern wasn’t the mishap itself but Diah’s next broadcast—specifically, the inevitable chaos from viewers who’d briefly heard Diah’s real voice.

“They’re going to keep donating until she uses her real voice again. Should I post a warning in advance...?”

She had belatedly discovered that her Ocean Butterfly stream had peaked at over 10,000 concurrent viewers.

She’d also noticed the significant spike in Diah’s follower count and the buzz in online forums.

Interest in Diah was at an all-time high, whether she liked it or not.

‘...Looks like there’s no other way.’

It was clear that the next stream would be flooded with chat and donations about Diah’s real voice.

While excessive chat messages could be banned, turning away massive donations would likely have long-term consequences for the channel.

And so...

Ha-eun began crafting a strategy to address the situation head-on.

"Maria unnie."

"Yeah…?"

"Let’s do an IRL collaboration stream—on the official Fantasy Horizon channel."

"Yeah… huh? Wait, what did you just say?"

Diah decided to use the person indirectly responsible for revealing her real voice—Jung Maria—as the tank for her next stream.

After all, reactions to Diah's real voice would inevitably surface during her next broadcast.

Handling the flood of comments alone would be too much, so Ha-eun thought having someone to share the burden was essential.

She also predicted that Cream's upcoming stream would be inundated with chatter about Diah's voice.

While other members' channels might also see some spillover, it was clear that Diah's and Cream's streams would bear the brunt of the fallout.

All the more reason not to let Diah and Cream deal with the aftermath of the broadcast incident alone.

"During the collab, I might mess with you a bit. Is that okay?"

"Y-yeah! Go ahead and mess with me as much as you want!"

By turning Diah and Cream’s IRL collaboration into a shared broadcast, Ha-eun aimed to diffuse the overexcited audience's energy.

As the saying goes, “Two hands make light work.”

With stricter rules about comments and donations related to Diah’s real voice, viewers would likely tone down their behavior.

And since the collaboration would be on Fantasy Horizon’s official channel, Ha-eun felt they could afford to be more assertive with moderation.

"What do you think, boss?"

"As long as Ha-eun is okay with it, I don’t see any reason to oppose it."

Manager Ji Hye-min asked where and how the collaboration stream would take place.

After some consideration, Ha-eun replied:

"If unnie’s okay with it, we could stream from Maria unnie’s apartment. Otherwise, the company office works too."

Ha-eun asked whether the collaboration could happen at Jung Maria’s place or the LUX office.

Hye-min quickly suggested that the LUX office would be more convenient:

"If you stream from Maria’s apartment, it’ll be harder to manage if something unexpected happens."

"Ah, okay."

Maria, still feeling guilty, had no objections. Opposing Ha-eun’s suggestion was out of the question for her.

And so, the first IRL collaboration stream between Diah and Cream was decided.

The meeting ended with Maria still apologizing profusely, to the point that Ha-eun had to reassure her it was okay.

However, the day’s agenda wasn’t over just yet.@@novelbin@@

"Ha-eun, did everything go okay?"

"Yes, it’s all sorted."

Ha-eun and Maria joined the other Fantasy Horizon members in a different meeting room, where the redness around Maria’s eyes hadn’t entirely faded.

Once all the members were gathered, Hye-min entered the room, clapping her hands.

"Okay, okay. Let’s get to business first!"

The long-awaited meeting for the cover song project began.

"Our special vocal trainer, who’s been dominating the charts for four weeks straight and is receiving love calls from everywhere—give it up for them!"

As Hye-min finished her introduction, all eyes turned toward the meeting room door—except for one.

Screech.

Instead of the door opening, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor drew everyone's attention.

Sitting there was Ha-eun, now wearing dark sunglasses.

"From this moment on, I’ll be speaking informally. From now on, refer to me as ‘Instructor.’"

Ha-eun’s tone shifted dramatically, as she began establishing her authority.

Hye-min had explicitly told her to be tough and take no prisoners while training the members.

Even the introduction of Pinocchio, the vocal trainer, had been scripted by Hye-min herself.

"Do I really need the sunglasses?"

"Of course! It makes you look cooler. Like a secret agent—it’s so stylish!"

Ha-eun wasn’t entirely sure how sunglasses equated to charisma but decided to go along with it, given Hye-min’s satisfied expression.

What Ha-eun didn’t realize was that Hye-min’s motivation wasn’t purely professional.

The manager simply wanted an excuse to see Ha-eun in sunglasses.

That satisfied look?

It wasn’t for Pinocchio the vocal trainer but for D.A, a loyal fan of Daramsquirrel’s streams for over a decade.