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A large mirror filled one entire wall of the spacious practice room.

The bright gray floor had a moderately firm feel.

And right in the center, there was a small tripod.

“Hey, Haeun. Do you really have to wear a hat and a mask while filming?”

Haeun, with her face entirely covered by a stark white baseball cap and a black mask, replied, “I just want the judges to focus on my dance. It’s an audition where they don’t need to see my face anyway.”

This was a strategy that also considered her full tracking activities, one of the various content types for virtual YouTubers. Showcasing Haeun’s dancing skills was also about appealing to the potential of excelling in full tracking.

Thus, in Haeun’s audition video, she wanted only her dance lines to stand out.

For a virtual YouTuber, appearance was nothing more than a red pill or less.

However, over time, as I continued to work as Haeun’s manager, I had gotten close enough to drop the honorifics. Even I couldn’t comprehend why she was trying out for an unconventional audition like ‘Fantasy Realm.’

｢♩♩♩♪♬ ♩───｣

With just her eyes visible, I watched Haeun dance to the hit song of a famous idol group, my gaze filled with curiosity.

Despite that, she was completely unfazed, diligently following through the choreography she had practiced for quite a while—mainly in an empty lot when no one was around—with hardly any mistakes.

Even I, who had no knowledge of idol choreography, couldn’t find any flaws in her performance.

Could it be that her extensive experience in various sports since a young age had contributed to this?

‘… With a body like that, she really does look like an idol.’

After finishing every move of the choreography she had prepared for this moment.

“Hmmm… Do you think it’ll come out well, unnie?”

She wanted to hear my impression as the first person to witness her dance.

“It looks good enough to believe she’s an active idol. By the way, when did you practice the dance again?”

“In my spare time. Just a little here and there.”

I offered her a slightly exaggerated compliment.

Naturally, Haeun’s shoulders lifted a bit.

Of course, her expression remained unchanged, as stoic as ever.

But it somehow made her look even cuter with that flat expression.

Back when Haeun was younger, I just thought, ‘Wow, this kid is amazing!’

But after more than 10 long years of watching her grow, to me, Haeun felt more like a close little sister than a stellar idol.

Thus, I no longer treated her with the same formality.

“Well, I should send this video to your parents.”

“?!”

“They’re your parents, so what’s the problem? I think they’d both find it adorable.”

“No, but… even so…”

There were times when my lighthearted jokes would make Haeun fidget, just like now.

Every time it happened, Haeun’s reactions were quite entertaining too.

“I’m just joking~.”

“… I’m going to fire you.”

“?!!?!”

“I’m joking.”

However, it was the first time I’d been countered by Haeun today.

I barely managed to recover from my heart dropping in that instant and playfully pinched her cheeks with a hint of sincerity.

“You…! This is a power trip…!!”

There was a touch of moisture gathering in my eyes before I knew it.

At that moment, Haeun realized that her manager was, in fact, a glass cannon.

Knock, knock.

A knock echoed from beyond the practice room door.

In other words, it was time to clear out of the practice space.

So, after packing up the tripod that had been sitting on the floor, shortly after that, Haeun climbed into the familiar black van parked in the agency’s underground parking lot.

“Now, it’s time to meet the uncles.”

“Um…? Can’t I think about it a bit more?”

“I don’t think thinking alone will change much.”

As we headed towards Doubly’s studio, where I was always the one behind the wheel, I figured we might as well quickly wrap up the conversation with them.

Considering Doubly’s position, they couldn’t wait indefinitely for Haeun to make her decision for the new album.

That day, I resolved to just finish everything once I figured out their true feelings.

*

“… Do I need to prepare a drink? Or just juice?”

“Then they’d feel more pressured. Let’s just act like usual, be natural.”

It just so happened right after receiving a message from Haeun that they were about to arrive at the studio.

Igeon-yeol and Lee-jun, who were caught off-guard by Haeun’s eagerness to finish the discussion sooner than expected, hurriedly began preparing to welcome Haeun.

But the problem was they still had no clue how to convince Haeun.

In contrast to those two trying their best to greet Haeun as they usually would,

“Haeun, the demo recording file that the CEO showed you. I’d like to hear it too.”

Haeun’s eyes, expressions, and the atmosphere felt unusually unfamiliar, making everything feel very different from the usual camaraderie.

After playing the MP3 file that had already undergone some mixing as she requested a little earlier,

When Haeun began to listen silently to the song, just like Jeong-cheol did a few hours ago.

-Swallow.

Igeon-yeol and Lee-jun exchanged nervous glances, swallowing dryly as they discretely observed Haeun.

At the same time, they hoped that Haeun would like her voice.

More accurately, that she would like the sound of her voice when harmonized with Doubly’s.

No matter what, the best outcome would be to recruit Haeun as a featuring artist.

Of course, if she stubbornly refused, there would be nothing they could do about it, but…

“I’m sure it will be a great experience for you, Haeun. No, it will be an unforgettable one.”

“… What do you mean by that with such certainty?”

“Well, we’ve already experienced it ourselves.”

They wanted to persuade Haeun, pushing to check the fruits of over ten years of singing lessons while simultaneously giving her the biggest gift they could as Doubly.

Thanks to Haeun, countless things had changed.

Not only could they not ignore the quality of the songs that would result from Haeun’s featuring or the realization of her ideals as a musician, but before that, what they prioritized was the favor that Lee Haeun had bestowed upon Doubly.

‘Did I really say I’d treat Haeun to a meal?’

‘Well, a guy who forgets that he shouldn’t drive while drunk probably wouldn’t remember a promise made while tipsy.’

For whatever reason, it was undeniable that a few years ago, Haeun had forced Lee-jun to reach out, averting a crisis.

From Haeun’s perspective, it was nothing special—just wanting to keep Doubly active in music.

Yet for Doubly, Haeun was a true benefactor.

So, they wanted to repay this benefactor in every way possible.

And in Doubly’s eyes, the biggest way to repay Haeun was.

“I confidently state that countless people will fall in love with the voice of Lee Haeun.”

To gift Haeun the thrill and achievement of being recognized for the first time as a newcomer.

Strictly speaking, Haeun was already a renowned celebrity, but still a newbie with no debut as a singer.

Most importantly, if Haeun’s singing skills, cultivated over time, gained recognition from countless people who didn’t know her name or face, that would be a profound source of pride she’d scarcely experience in a lifetime.

“We want Haeun to succeed in singing as well. Truly.”

They asked once again for her to participate in songs crafted with her in mind from the lyric-writing and composing stages.

After that, a prolonged silence and stillness enveloped the studio.

Haeun’s expression was more serious than ever.

However, about ten minutes later, she suddenly stood up and headed into the recording room.

“…Both of you, put on some headphones.”

Without any further explanation, she cleared her throat and began to warm up.

Naturally, Igeon-yeol and Lee-jun both found it puzzling, but they followed Haeun’s instruction to put on the headphones.

And within seconds, the cute voice reached their ears, a sound they had never heard before.

｢If you keep saying bad things, I’ll kick you out─☆｣

“…How is it?”

“Um… how do you even respond to that?”

“Can you tell it’s my voice?”

Simultaneously, they shook their heads.

They quickly added that if they closed their eyes, they wouldn’t know who it was.

However, they were still baffled as to why Haeun was suddenly showcasing such a different voice.

So, they cautiously brought up the subject of featuring again, asking what Haeun thought.

And at that moment, when their eyes met Haeun’s beyond the recording room,

“I’ll do it.”

“…Oh? Really?!”

“I have a few conditions, though.”

She followed up with a conditional acceptance of Doubly’s featuring proposal.

And then came the conditions Haeun added.

“I’m going to participate under a pseudonym. So please don’t go around telling everyone I featured.”

“Um… I understand for now.”

“And, there’s one more thing.”

“?”

-Huh.

｢Please help me sing with this voice. I had planned to give a twist by singing in my real voice, but I can’t use it because of you guys.｣

To be honest, I couldn’t quite grasp what Haeun was saying.

Out of all, it was hardest to understand why she would ask for help to sing with a different voice when she had her beautiful original voice.

However, as long as Haeun could showcase her voice to the world, I had no issues with it.

None of the three, including Igeon-yeol and Lee-jun, voiced any difficulties with accepting Haeun’s conditions.

*

“You did a great job separating the first and second application emails.”

“Right? It’s convenient for staff and us too since those who applied jokingly will get filtered out in the first round.”

It was late spring when the diverse flowers began to wither.

As Ji Hye-min, the broadcaster known as Darumji, was reading the Fantasy Realm second application emails that had just closed yesterday, he noticed the cherry blossoms beginning to swirl in the spring breeze.

However, right next to Hye-min, Kwon Jeong, known as Kang Jeong, was also skimming through another batch of second application emails.

“Hey, sis. What’s up with this highlighted email?”

His inquiry was sparked by a notably different application form compared to others.

“That’s… I still don’t know if it’s genuine or a scam, but… A person I know well applied to Fantasy Realm this time, so I set their email aside to read last.”

I explained to Jeong about the email that had me particularly concerned.

Curiosity piqued, Jeong asked who the owner of the highlighted email was, but Hye-min replied,

“Hey, Dong-jin. Does it make sense that a preschooler was connected to New World TV back when I first started streaming?”

The response left Jeong puzzled, and he just tilted his head, unsure.

“Well, wasn’t that site only known to people back then? Plus, how would a preschooler even know about internet streaming?”

“Right? It’s weird, so it’s probably a scam…”

Such doubts were, in a way, understandable for Hye-min.

After all, the highlighted email’s owner, “Dia,” was still just 18 years old, a minor.

The viewer, <D.A>, who showed up in Hye-min’s broadcasts, had appeared a staggering 11 years ago.

Considering that New World TV was more underground than mainstream back then, it was hard to believe that a 7-year-old would be the same person as <D.A>.

Yet, the reason she felt inclined to pay attention was.

‘… Honestly, I didn’t think they would be this sincere.’

This was because the person had given a mysterious impression from the very first application, sending a lengthy email.

And this time, in the second application, they included a dance video and two singing recordings, displaying earnest dedication.

To be fair, she hadn’t even watched the dance video or the singing recordings yet.

But what if.

What if the In-depth viewer who had been watching her broadcasts for the longest time, <D.A>, was the same as Dia, the applicant showing the most sincerity for the Fantasy Realm project?

“I have to accept them no matter what. No, I’ll make them a part of Fantasy Realm, even if I have to beg.”

Even if it slightly compromised the audition’s fairness, she wanted to see <D.A> join the project.

<D.A> held significant meaning for Hye-min.

At the same time, they were the most enigmatic figure.

No contact information or any clue about <D.A> could be found anywhere.

While other broadcast managers typically at least had each other’s contact information and sometimes exchanged holiday gifts.

<D.A> appeared late in the evening, watching broadcasts for 2-3 hours before vanishing with no way to reach them.

The fact that there was a presence but no identity made Hye-min view <D.A> almost like a virtual YouTuber.

But not just any virtual YouTuber; her favorite one.

Thus, it was practically impossible for her not to be concerned about Dia, who shared the same nickname as <D.A>.

Currently, the only things Hye-min knew about Dia were that they were a female, 18 years old, and the desired virtual YouTuber nickname.