- They were filming a movie in front of my house yesterday.
That was a post uploaded on some community.
At first, most people dismissed it as nonsense and skipped over it, but a few photos and videos taken from outside a window caught people's attention.
- It's Dae-heon again, looks like another criminal role by the looks of it
- Watching the video, seems like he's the one chasing??
The video wasn't long.
10 seconds at most.
A man presumed to be actor Kim Dae-heon, and someone with a small build.
What caught people's attention was the smaller one.
- Ugh the video quality is absolute trash
- Change your phone
- Who's the person in the raincoat???
- Their legs are insanely fast lmaooo
It seemed to be a scene of actor Kim Dae-heon chasing the person in the raincoat.
What stood out was that extraordinary speed.
Especially the very first 10-second video, which showed the raincoat man(?) fleeing.
- Looks like frames got cut
- Suddenly disappeared, is this a ninja??
- Can't even see the face so why does Kim Dae-heon's face show
- fr lmaooo
It was to the point that people were talking about fast-forwarding and whatnot.
Comments began increasing one by one on that absurd NG scene.
- But wait, can you just upload something like this without permission?
With that post, it ended with deletion.
However.
The real deal came after that.
***
"Seo-yeon."
Seo-yeon blinked her eyes at Director Bae Jin-hwan's sudden call.
'Did I do something wrong again?'
Lately, she'd been called by the director and scolded quite often.
Of course, that wasn't limited to just Seo-yeon; the other actors were the same.
Rather, Seo-yeon's side hadn't been specifically criticized unless it involved physical acting.
Though to be fair, she hadn't had many filming sessions yet to begin with.
"Do you happen to use community sites?"
"Pardon?"
At those words, Seo-yeon momentarily opened and closed her mouth without a sound.
How should she answer this?
'I do use them...'
Actually, she should say 'of course I do.'
She often looked up information on VTuber communities, posted and wrote entries too.
She was quite active, in her own way.
Not just that, Seo-yeon roamed through all sorts of communities.
That was because.
'A VTuber must be familiar with memes.'
It was Seo-yeon's VTuber theory, emerging after a long time.
From around this point, community memes and various issues would change in an instant.
Even without diving deep into communities, keeping a steady eye on them made it easier to grasp the flow of trends.
Nowadays, taking just a year off meant you'd become outdated and out of touch—well, something like that.
"I don't use them much."
"Right? Well, Seo-yeon doesn't seem like someone who'd do internet stuff."
"..."
But there was such a thing as an actor's image.
Seo-yeon smiled awkwardly at Bae Jin-hwan's remark.
"Apparently, someone posted a video they took of our filming set on a specific movie community yesterday."
"Pardon?"
Is it okay to upload something like that?
Well, I guess they could upload it...
"It went down quickly after being posted. But this is just."
"Did something happen?"
"Look at this."
Seo-yeon looked at the iPad screen Bae Jin-hwan held out.
The screen showed some community site.
Incidentally, it was a site Seo-yeon used frequently too, so she almost flinched for a moment.
"This has been going around as Shorts lately."
The video was of the chase scene between Seo-yeon and actor Kim Dae-heon.
And not just any chase scene, but the very first take.
It was the part where Seo-yeon had disappeared in an instant.
"This became humor and is going around as memes. It's not just on this site."
"...Is that so?"
"Well, it's an NG scene anyway, so it's fine."
He looked at Seo-yeon while pondering for a moment.
Seo-yeon blinking her large eyes.
She really was a born celebrity, he thought.
Seeing how even a single scene like this caused an issue.
"Apparently people are asking who the yellow raincoat man is because of this."
Raincoat man.
I'm a woman.
'...'
Unintentionally thinking that, Seo-yeon flinched for no reason.
Why did she naturally think 'woman'?
Seo-yeon shook her head vigorously for no reason.
"Then what should I do?"
It didn't seem like Bae Jin-hwan would bring this up to Seo-yeon for no reason.
When she asked the reason.
"What to do? Nothing at all."
He said that with a grin.
"Especially you, Seo-yeon. You must absolutely never tell anyone about this identity."
"Pardon?"
"It became an issue like this. So, I thought this would be perfect to use for promotion."
The issue was still gradually spreading.
But if they kept feeding the bait, it would spread quickly.
In communities, a topic (話題) is like a fire (火災).
Like flames, once the flow is right, the fire spreads in an instant.
The production team of
"We said Seo-yeon is appearing in the movie, but we didn't mention what role. Right?"
"Yes. But it was already slightly mentioned in the articles..."
"That, keep it secret as much as possible going forward. Because of Seo-yeon's image, no one would think of her as a murderer. Ah, well, the articles aren't confirmed releases either, so we can bury them."
In a thriller movie like this, 'Who is the culprit?' is a very important theme.
Moreover, Seo-yeon's image was Princess Yeon-hwa.
The very incarnation of pure and delicate beauty.
For such Seo-yeon to be revealed as a murderer later would have twice the impact.
That was the production team's opinion, and Bae Jin-hwan agreed.
"Then... what about my promotion?"
"You have to do it. Of course, I'm planning to hide your role as much as possible."
Actually, it would be problematic if she didn't do promotion after agreeing to appear.
"As a convenience store part-timer."
"Pardon?"
"And, the script might be revised a bit. The scenario writer happened to come up with a better direction."
The script revision wasn't because of the community issue, apparently.
There would just be some scene modifications to reveal the culprit's identity more impactfully; the content itself hadn't changed, he said.
'A convenience store part-timer.'
Would people fall for that?
'Come to think of it, my entire career was Princess Yeon-hwa.'
In a way, it was a plausible role.
They created an issue and slipped into it.
It could be that they were trying to promote it with this kind of feel.
Making people think she's a heroine with a something-with-the-detective vibe.
"So, you mustn't tell anyone."
"Anyone?"
"The people who already know can't be helped. But please tell them to strictly keep it a secret too."
Seo-yeon nodded.
Currently, the only ones who knew Seo-yeon was appearing in the movie as a villain were her family and Lee Ji-yeon.
She would need to contact them today and ask them to keep their mouths shut.
"Then, let's work hard on today's filming too."
"Yes. I'll do my best."
Looking at Seo-yeon bowing politely, Bae Jin-hwan smiled with satisfaction.
She was truly an actor with proper attitude.
An actor who had gained popularity since childhood yet showed no hint of arrogance.
'...Of course, I'll have to see how long this attitude lasts.'
Bae Jin-hwan thought.
With this movie as the turning point, Seo-yeon's life would change completely.
***
[The phone cannot be answered right now, connecting to voicemail.]
"..."
I called several times, but it just kept ringing.
I tossed my phone aside and leaned back in my chair.
"Why isn't she picking up?"
I needed to tell her about this matter.
I crossed my arms and fretted over various things.
Most of it was about this acting.
The physical parts, like the chase scene, were no problem.
The problem was the character 'Cha Seo-ah' itself.
'A character who shares the same illness as me.'
Cha Seo-ah was me, abused by my parents.
So it was understandable that she became twisted and broken.
Humans originally feel disgust when seeing beings that resemble humans but are different.
The past me and Cha Seo-ah were existences standing on the borderline of that disgust.
Having human appearance, but not possessing the same emotions as humans.
It's similar yet different from psychopaths or sociopaths.
They were on the lacking side, but Cha Seo-ah and I had everything.
We just didn't know how to use or accept it.
So my understanding of the character Cha Seo-ah was nearly perfect.
However, just one thing.
'The motive for the crime.'
While acting with empathy for the broken Cha Seo-ah's emotions, that part bothered me.
Cha Seo-ah sees others who are happy unlike herself, and commits crimes spontaneously.
That was her first murder.
'Jealousy.'
Yes, jealousy.
People who were ordinary, unlike herself.
Unable to bear the happy appearances they displayed, she commits crimes.
The problem is I've never felt the emotion of jealousy.
At least not yet.
So that part alone was difficult to empathize with.
Cha Seo-ah was described as 'feeling a pain like a knife piercing the heart.'
'Jealousy, jealousy.'
Ugh, I tilted my head.
I could feign it.
After all, the appearance of being jealous was something easy to encounter.
I understood why they acted that way, but since I'd never felt it myself.
Even when I asked Mom or Dad.
"It's because Seo-yeon's heart is too generous. You easily yield what you like and don't have much greed, that's why."
Mom said that while hugging Seo-yeon tightly.
"Hmm, isn't it just because you live without any thoughts?"
Dad said that.
I really wanted to punch him just once.
"Mom's right."
It's because I'm too generous.
Whether it was the influence of my past life, my heart was born too broad.
How troubling.
What if I can't understand the emotion of jealousy like this?
While thinking that.
Vvvv~!
"Hm?"
At that moment, my phone vibrated.
Wondering what it was.
I rubbed my eyes looking at the videos that appeared on my phone.
No, what in the world is this?
'Is it real?'
Could it be someone with a similar name?
Somehow I became afraid to check the video.
What if I watched it, and it wasn't the Lamiel I knew, but someone else?
She might not even be a VTuber, just a normal YouTuber.
Such agonizing thoughts swirled in my head, but.
"...I still need to check."
I squeezed my eyes shut and pressed the new video.
Then, slowly opened one eye.
And.
"Hello, I'm the new VTuber Lamiel!"
A cheerful voice.
Blonde hair, wings on her back.
She had an angel-like appearance, but her race was Harpy.
The voice reaching my ears was also identical to the one I knew.
"The modeling..."
Just how much money did they pour onto this?
I recalled Lamiel's modeling from her corporate VTuber days in the past.
That was definitely good enough too, but the current one was on a whole different level.
It was almost unheard of for an individual to debut with this level of model quality.
"The facial expressions, the facial expressions are too incredible."
Just how expensive of equipment must they be using?
I thought that while feeling puzzled.
Did Ji-yeon prepare all of this alone?
Beyond simply having money, this required knowledge too.
Harboring such doubts, I finished watching Lamiel's first video.
The videos uploaded today seemed to be simple promotional content.
Seeing as they announced when the first stream would be.
'That's an unusual approach.'
Thinking that, the moment I pressed the second video.
"Let me introduce my friend!"
Lamiel said with a bright voice.
A friend?
With that question, a new character appeared beside Lamiel.
"She's the precious friend who brought me, who only used to sleep in the nest, here."
Lamiel said that and tightly hugged the character that appeared next.
The blue-haired witch character.
Seo-yeon realized.
That witch VTuber was the person who helped Lamiel upload the videos.
"...Who is that."
Just looking at them, the blue-haired witch character and Lamiel seemed very close.
No, a collab from the second video, is this normal?
"Oh come on, don't tease me."
At the witch playing a prank, and Lamiel responding like that.
"No, who are you!!"
A thousand fires surged in my heart.
That was one of the most intense emotional expressions in my entire life, easily counted on one hand.