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LUX.

This is an MCN led by the renowned broadcaster, Darangi, who is ranked among the top five in South Korea.

It is a company responsible for the general care of the VTubers belonging to <Hollow Fantasy>.

To cut to the chase, these days, LUX has been enjoying a generally good atmosphere.

All of the Hollow Fantasy VTubers had settled well into the world of internet broadcasts, and thanks to this smooth sailing, various collaborations with the outside world were in progress.

From the company’s perspective, what was once a clear ‘challenge’ had now transformed into a viable profit model for Hollow Fantasy.

The gathering of all Hollow Fantasy members at the LUX headquarters after quite some time was also for a meeting related to the ‘Cover Song Project.’

After all, one of the indispensable aspects of VTuber content is cover songs.

If well-prepared and a high-quality product is released, it would certainly give wings to the already thriving Hollow Fantasy broadcasts.

Several candidate cover songs had already been prepared.

A ‘special vocal training instructor’ was also scheduled to attend the meeting, so it was indeed a gathering for discussing cover songs.

However.

Was it really an entirely cover song-related meeting from start to finish?

“I should have texted you beforehand that I was live on air.”

“Y-Yeah, I did leave a text the first time I called. For some reason, I started getting calls in broadcast tone without texting after a while… I’m sorry…”

That was not good either.

“This could be a problem if Haeun brings it up.”

As a result, the cover song-related meeting had to be pushed back a little from the scheduled time.

This was due to an unexpected broadcast accident that occurred on ‘Cream’ a few days prior.

“Haeun signed her contract through the law team of her agency. If our negligence causes any disturbance to ‘Actress Lee Haeun’s’ image, the agency can hold us accountable.”

“I… could be sued?!”

“It’s not completely zero percent, you know. No matter what, I doubt Haeun would go as far as suing… For now, let’s start with an apology.”

Throughout the conversation, Jihyemin kept making it clear that the recent broadcast incident was no trivial matter.

And in front of such Jihyemin, Jeongmaria was bowing her head, unable to find a way out.

She fully recognized that everything, from A to Z, was her fault.

Even on the day of the broadcast accident, she felt her heart drop and banned all chats related to Dia’s red medicine, regardless of the severity.

However, she honestly did not expect the situation to escalate this much.

“Creeeak.”

“…Hello.”

As soon as Haeun entered the small meeting room, which had so far only consisted of Jihyemin and Jeongmaria, her already poor complexion turned pale.

She knew she had to apologize to Haeun, but didn’t know what to say and just kept nervously biting her lips.

What followed was heavy silence.

Jihyemin, the one who called Haeun in, even treated her more cautiously than usual and asked about Haeun’s thoughts on the recent broadcast accident.

“Your voice sounded a bit choked. Initially, I don’t think it’s that noticeable, but what do you think, Haeun?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. It’s a world where people can identify you just by hand shape…”

“That’s… true.”

Haeun wasn’t sure how her choked-up voice would be analyzed, when, where, or how in detail.

Perhaps down in the depths of the internet, Dia’s red medicine had already been identified.

Though Haeun felt that fixating on something that was beyond her control would only make her suffer more.

Worrying about an uncertain future felt less productive than tackling what could be done right now, step by step.

“Um, Maria Unni.”

“Uh, yes!”

“I bought a new phone for the broadcasts. Please contact me with this number while I’m on air.”

Soon, Jeongmaria saved Haeun’s new contact information on her phone.

Finally, after receiving her phone back from Haeun, Jeongmaria finally opened her tightly shut mouth.

“Haeun, can you give me your bank account? I’ll send you the phone bill…”

She decided to first cover the cost of Haeun’s new phone.

Jeongmaria’s atonement for the broadcast accident began right after that.

Pretending to be a traitor who sold out her country, she ended up bursting into tears at the very end, making Haeun a bit flustered.

It was because Jeongmaria was apologizing much more than Haeun had anticipated.

Haeun was aware that she had a tendency to be a bit oblivious to matters related to herself.

Nevertheless, the weight of the situation felt a bit excessive, even for the four letters “Hello.”

What Haeun was truly worried about was Dia’s next broadcast.

More precisely, it was the chaos caused by the viewers who had heard Dia’s real voice, even if briefly.

“They’re definitely going to keep donating until we hear her real voice. Should I at least give a heads up…?”

Haeun had belatedly confirmed that the maximum viewership for the past ‘Butterfly on the Sea’ stream had surpassed five digits.

She also noted another surge in Dia’s follower count and the increasing noise in the community.

The level of interest in Dia had surged more than ever, something she couldn’t ignore even if she wanted to.

“…It seems there’s no choice but to do this.”

It was a given that the chat and donations related to Dia’s real voice would flood during her next broadcast.

While the overflow of chaotic chatting could be banned, if substantial donations were banned as well, it could definitely have a negative impact on future broadcasts.

Thus.

“Maria Unni.”

“Yeah…”

“Let’s have a real collab just once. Officially on the Hollow Fantasy channel.”

“Uh… Huh? What did you say?”

Jeongmaria was made the scapegoat for Dia’s real voice being exposed, and thus, became the tank for Dia’s next broadcast.

Regardless of anything, reactions regarding Dia’s real voice were bound to appear in Dia’s broadcast in one way or another.

Haeun thought she needed someone by her side to help manage the countless reactions that would be too much for her alone.

Certainly, chats related to Dia’s real voice would flood into Cream’s next broadcast as well.

While other members would get side-tracked, Haeun predicted that Dia’s and Cream’s broadcasts would become the loudest.

Therefore, she felt it would be better to share the burden of the excited audience rather than let Dia and Cream deal with the backlash from the incident alone.

“I might tease you a bit during the collab, is that okay?”

“Uh, yeah! Feel free to do so!”

Having a real collab broadcast with Dia and Cream seemed the best way to handle the viewers’ heightened spirits together with Cream.

After all, there’s a saying that says two heads are better than one.

Dealing strictly with the chats and donations related to Dia’s real voice would undoubtedly change people’s attitudes to be a bit more restrained.

Since it wasn’t just Dia’s and Cream’s personal broadcasts but the official Hollow Fantasy channel, she felt they could manage the broadcast a bit more firmly.

“What does the CEO think?”

“If Haeun is okay with it, I have no objection.”

Soon after, Jihyemin asked when, where, and how the collab broadcast would take place.

After a moment of contemplation, Haeun replied.

“Well, if Maria Unni is okay with it, we could do it at her place. Otherwise, I think we could do it at the company.”

She asked both Jeongmaria and Jihyemin if they could provide a location for the real collab.

Eventually, Jihyemin suggested that it would be more convenient to broadcast from the LUX headquarters.

“Broadcasting from Maria’s place might make it difficult to respond immediately in case of an accident.”

“Ah, yes.”

Just seconds after that, Jeongmaria, who had been watching Haeun and Jihyemin’s conversation, quickly agreed without any strong objections.

For someone who was still struggling with guilt towards Haeun, opposing her was not an option.

Thus, the meeting concluded with the decision for Dia and Cream’s first real collab.

In an unexpected twist, while Jeongmaria had been the one feeling guilty, Haeun was the one comforting her.

Still, she thought they’d done all they could for now.

However, since the day’s schedule was not fully over yet.

“Uh, Haeun? Did you finish talking… well?”

“Yes. It went well.”

They moved to a different meeting room, where other members of Hollow Fantasy were waiting for Haeun and Jeongmaria.

Just after Jeongmaria entered the meeting room, her eyes still slightly red.

As soon as all Hollow Fantasy members gathered in the meeting room.

“Alright, alright. Let’s start with the business discussion~.”

Jihyemin, who entered last into the meeting room, initiated the original purpose of why the Hollow Fantasy members were summoned to the LUX headquarters—the meeting about the cover song.

The identity of the special vocal training instructor for Hollow Fantasy’s first cover song began to be introduced.

“This incredible singer has topped the music charts for four consecutive weeks and is receiving love calls from everywhere, so please give them a round of applause~!”

As a result, every member of Hollow Fantasy turned their gaze towards the meeting room door, except for one person.

However, instead of the sound of someone entering through the meeting room’s glass door, they heard the scraping of a chair from right next to them.

Eventually, the one they met was Haeun, who had been wearing dark sunglasses for quite some time.

“From now on, I will speak to you all informally. Please call me ‘Instructor’ from now on.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted as Haeun started establishing what’s called ‘discipline.’

It was because Jihyemin, the one who invited the singer Pinocchio, had told them to teach rigorously without holding back.

Jihyemin had also written the introduction line for Pinocchio herself.

“Do I really have to wear sunglasses?”

“It’s necessary for the charisma. You’ll look all secret agent-like and cool.”

To be honest, right now, she wasn’t quite sure what was cool about it.

She merely thought that Jihyemin, who was smiling contentedly, looked not too strange.

The truth was, Haeun just wanted to see Haeun in sunglasses.

The satisfied gaze from earlier was not directed at singer Pinocchio but at D.A., the manager of Darangi’s broadcast.

She didn’t recognize that it was a gaze filled with affection from a devoted viewer who had watched Darangi’s broadcasts for over a decade.