Now That I Have Become a Woman, I Am a Vtuber - Chapter 139

It had been two days since we released “Tranquil Lake.”
Yesterday was such a blur that I can hardly remember any of it.

[“Uh, Miro, are you okay?”]
My manager’s question only made me chuckle dryly.
“Well…”

The red pill was spilled.
And it happened in an instant.
Honestly, I had braced myself for this, but I didn’t expect it to be revealed so quickly.

“It’s not a big deal.”
I said that as I scrolled through the trending posts on the community boards.
Because I didn’t stream yesterday, there were posts begging me to go live immediately, mentions about my feature in Wonderland, and chatter about my song’s performance.

Speaking of which, song performance…

[“Still, the song is doing well, isn’t it?”]
“Yes, thankfully.”

The reason there’s a hint of amusement in my manager’s voice right now is precisely because of the song’s performance.
38th on the real-time charts.
Seeing that number made me laugh again.
Isn’t this a better rank than anything I’ve done as part of Celestial Realm?

Why did this happen? You could say it’s thanks to Hyunsoo.
As soon as he found out my secret, he immediately promoted it on social media, saying it was a song he’d made.
That alone attracted attention from people who know Hyunsoo, and they started sharing it in their stories or reposting it, ensuring effective promotion.

Even after Hyunsoo’s initial push, word-of-mouth kept the momentum going, and the song continued to grow.
This really shows how powerful celebrity influence can be.
Not to mention, the music video is performing well on YouTube, too.

[“It’s good that the results are better than expected.”]
“That’s true.”
More than just better than expected—it’s surreal.

[“So you’ll be watching the year-end live together?”]
“Yes, with the members.”

Since this is meaningful for all of us, we decided to gather and watch it together.
Yesterday, Anna invited everyone to her house to watch it as a group.

[“It’s great that the Celestial Realm members are so close.”]
“Well, we don’t really have a reason not to be.”
What would we even fight about?
Being grouped together as Celestial Realm kind of gives us a sense of camaraderie.

[“In any case, since you’ve all worked hard on this, enjoy watching it together.”]
“Thanks. Manager, are you working today as well?”
[“Of course. Days like today require even more effort.”]
“You’re working hard. Take care.”
[“Got it.”]

After finishing my call with my workaholic manager, I got ready to head out.
Thankfully, Anna’s house isn’t far.
It’s close enough that I can come back and stream after the year-end live ends.
Since I didn’t go live yesterday, I should definitely do it today.

As usual, I met up with Maho first, and then we headed to Anna’s house together.

“Is this the place?”
“It looks like it on the map.”

As someone who’s transitioned from being a rookie to earning money as a musical actress, Anna lives in a nice apartment in downtown Seoul. At first glance, the building looked high-end.
Now that I think about it, why did Anna quit being a musical actress to become a VTuber?
Even though I’ve known the members for a while, there are still things I don’t know about them.

“What are you doing? Let’s go in.”
“Oh, right.”

Maho and I entered the apartment, took the elevator, and arrived at the floor Anna had mentioned.

Ding-dong.

Anna answered the door almost immediately.
“Oh, you’re here? Everyone else is already inside. Come in.”
“Ah, um, I couldn’t come empty-handed, so…”
“Oh, thanks!”

After handing her the drinks I brought, I stepped inside and saw the living room.

“Wow, this place is amazing.”
“Right? I cleaned up since you guys were coming over.”

Anna has always been interested in investments and planning for her future, and her home reflected that meticulousness.

But more importantly…

“Whoa.”
“What’s this?”

What caught my eye was the enormous TV in the living room.
How many inches is that? It practically took up an entire wall.

As Maho and I stared at the TV in awe, Anna shrugged proudly.
“Cool, right? I saved up to buy it~”
No wonder she was confident about inviting us to watch.
With a TV like that, anything would be worth watching.

“Alright, sit down on the couch.”
“On the couch?”

The other members were already seated cozily on the couch, but adding Maho and me would make things pretty cramped.

“What’s this? You don’t want to sit with us?”
“Suhyun’s gotten too big for her britches, huh? Ignoring her seniors now?”
“Whoa, with accusations like that, this junior knows her place!”

Faced with their teasing, I reluctantly squeezed onto the couch, letting Maho sit first because of her size.

Even then, it was still cramped.

“Should we order something?”
“Chicken?”
“Chicken again?”
“This is the perfect time for chicken.”

Anna opened a delivery app as she said that, clearly set on chicken.
Apparently, she doesn’t order takeout often because she’s careful about her diet, so she was going all-in today.

“I’m fine with chicken.”
“Right? Suhyun gets it.”
“There’s beer, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then we’re good.”

While waiting for the food, we chatted on the packed couch.
I was quietly looking for a chance to escape the tight space when Maho showed me her phone.

“Hey, Suhyun, someone else posted your song on Instagram.”
“My song?”
“Yeah, look.”

The post was by Lee Hyunjun, who’d simply uploaded a photo with my song playing in the background.

It reminded me of the chaos my Bluebird account caused for a second, but I quickly dismissed it.
Celebrity shoutouts for songs aren’t uncommon.

“Well, Hyunsoo and he are friends, so it’s not surprising.”
“Wow, do you think you’ll crack the top 10 at this rate?”
“No way.”

Sliding off the couch, I finally escaped the cramped spot.

“Your song’s really good, though.”
“Right? I was surprised by how great it is!”

But even as I stepped away, the members kept talking about me.
I had already explained everything yesterday after the photos of me started circulating in the community, and they made a huge fuss about it.
Now, they were shifting to complimenting the song itself.

“Your skills have improved so fast it’s intimidating.”
“Yeah, and the featuring—wow. I’ve been jealous of you before, but this time, I nearly flipped.”

All this praise was making me blush.
I don’t mind attention, but getting this much from the members face-to-face was overwhelming.

“So, what made you decide to release an original song? Spill the story.”
“Yeah, you didn’t explain yesterday.”

An original song?
Honestly, there’s not much of a backstory.

“I’d been nagging Hyunsoo for a song for a while, and he finally gave me one.”
“Wait, he just gave it to you?”
“Yeah, he said it would suit me.”

At that, the members’ expressions became oddly suspicious.
What are they imagining now?

“It’s not like that! He’s a high schooler. Do you want to get arrested?”
“Isn’t he turning 18 tomorrow?”
“Still underage!”

Also, they haven’t met Hyunsoo, so they don’t know.
He’s practically married to music.

“What about the music video? How’d that happen?”
“I asked the manager for help.”
“And they just did it?”
“No, I told them I couldn’t possibly direct it myself. They practically panicked and made it for me.”

The members looked at me with a mix of disbelief and awe.

“You’re something else.”
“Seriously, you’re in a league of your own.”
“You’re only realizing this now? Call me The Great Miro from now on.”
“Ugh, no thanks.”

Wow, they drew the line so fast.

“Anyway, the live should be starting soon. When’s the chicken coming?”
“Hang on. The app says it’s almost here.”

Just as Anna said, the chicken arrived quickly.
I thought it might take longer because of the holiday rush, but it was surprisingly fast.

We set up the chicken and beer on the table in front of the couch and turned on the TV.

“Alright, switching to the channel now.”
There was only one minute left.

As everyone, including me, felt a mix of excitement and nerves, Anna calmly navigated YouTube on her TV.
When she entered Celestial Realm’s channel, the live waiting room appeared.

“W-wait, there are 30,000 people waiting?”
“Whoa.”

Even before the live started, 30,000 people were in the waiting room.
If more viewers joined after it began, it might even hit 100,000.

It seemed like the buzz had been successfully generated.

“Looks like Suhyun pulled in a lot of attention…”
“Damn it, Suhyun! I have no choice but to worship you.”
“Big Suhyun.”
“Is it you again…”

Only these members would throw out internet slang like this in real life.
I hope they’re not like this outside. Please.

Just as the joking calmed down, the live stream officially began.
The waiting screen disappeared, and the long-awaited year-end live performance started.