Yena woke up early in the morning with one major dilemma.
“Umm…”
She was torn over whether she should go find Lily, who had been out of contact for a whopping 12 hours.
According to what she heard, after using an excessive amount of skills in the scream, Lily had gone quiet for about ten minutes, and then the broadcast with Deoen had completely cut off.
Since the broadcast was linked to Deoen, it was only natural that if Deoen shut down, the broadcast would too.
Of course, one could set things up so that the broadcast wouldn’t turn off even if Deoen did, but…
Lily didn’t do any broadcasting other than through her cam or Deoen, so she hadn’t set anything separately.
The already chaotic scream plunged into further confusion after Lily’s sudden shutdown, and Yena, as the manager of Lily’s channel, had received the most requests for confirmation from streamers and viewers alike.
‘The streamer with the closest relationship to Lily.’
She was the first to appear on Yena’s broadcast, built her recognition, and even cared enough to reject an offer from the Angel Guild, making it look like they had quite the connection from an outsider’s perspective.
In reality, it was unofficial, but they lived in the same apartment.
“Wow.”
But didn’t she just go through this four days ago?
Trying to welcome her of her own volition and getting scolded severely, leading to an abrupt farewell.
It was troubling that she suddenly wanted to find out the house address after everything that had happened.
Moreover, this whole mess had been triggered because Taebaek had openly tried to approach the situation.
Wouldn’t it be a bit off if Yena did something similar?
“Ugh… I’m really complicated here.”
Yena scratched her head, dressed in a black tracksuit with three white stripes, and stepped out the door.
Riding the elevator, she pressed the button for the 17th floor, following the lake she had heard about.
Originally, the house owner lady hadn’t even shared the lake address, but after hearing Lily had disappeared without a word, she let it slip.
Hmm…
She wasn’t receiving any messages, calls, or even Discord pings.
Now it was a genuine unknown if Lily was alive or dead.
There were no remaining options.
Standing in front of the firmly closed Apartment 1701, Yena swallowed hard.
‘Let’s go with the concept of going for a workout.’
She usually went out to exercise at this time, but given that many people were worried, she figured she’d swing by for a quick check.
She truly felt no emotions and was merely stopping by for a confirmation, after which she would go back to exercise.
“Alright! Perfect!”
Surely, Lady Lily would recognize this.
“What’s perfect about it?”
“Oh, honestly… it kind of makes sense…”
Huh?
A voice that should never have echoed from behind her suddenly rang out.
It was heard.
Lady Lily standing there with coffee and snacks.
Looking at that brand, it’s the famous cafe five minutes away from the apartment.
But why did you come out from behind?
I took the elevator alone, though?
Lily glanced at the confused Yena and quickly turned her head.
Ah.
There are two elevators.
“Um… um…”
“I don’t think you misunderstood back then…”
Lily was getting cold again.
This is a misunderstanding. A real misunderstanding!
“Ah, no! Lady Lily! Please listen to me!”
“What could possibly be misunderstood?”
The blue eyes glinting above the black mask.
If I don’t speak properly, I might get hit with that coffee.
Turning into a heinous criminal and a stalker who found out her home…
No. This is a bit much.
Yena felt a surge of emotion and raised her voice.
“No! Do you know how worried everyone was while you were missing, Lady Lily?!”
“…What?”
Good. It worked well.
“Lady Lily went missing after 8, and your team members, your manager, even the viewers were all looking for you like crazy!”
“Ah…”
“I was super worried too! You’re over here casually drinking coffee! Everyone was freaking out, thinking something happened to you…!”
Yena’s style of talking.
Blaming the opponent for my mistake.
It’s true that Yena wrongly found her house on her own.
But looking at the current situation, Lily was casually sipping coffee after disappearing without a word to anyone.
In contrast, Yena came here knowing she might be treated weirdly.
Ultimately, Yena’s actions came from a form of ‘goodwill.’
Lily paused for a moment and bowed her head.
“I’m sorry. I caused you concern by being selfish.”
Lily sincerely apologized.
That look was quite elegant, almost like a noble from the Empire.
Good!
Now Yena’s fault was completely gone.
Cough! Regaining her confidence, Yena scratched her head and asked.
“So… why couldn’t we reach you?”
“I used a major technique, and I was out of stamina and energy. I fell asleep right after that and woke up at 7.”
“Ah…”
“As soon as I woke up, I should have said something… I meant to check out the cafe too, but I took it too easy.”
“I thought I could just check it out and relax a bit.”
Some might be worried.
Lily said that and quickly walked past Yena to the door.
Yena hesitated.
“Uh… um… so, what now? No. Exercise… ha…”
“Want to come in?”
“Yes!”
Yes!
■
“Ooh…”
I stepped into Lady Lily’s house.
Since it’s the same apartment, the layout is the same, but the interiors differ from person to person.
I haven’t looked around completely yet, but it definitely doesn’t look like a place where a woman lives alone.
There are no dolls or cute decorations; it feels more masculine.
It seems she prefers a cleaner design.
Lily sat right in front of her computer and started typing.
“Just sit for a moment. I have to let you know I’m alive.”
“Oh, yes! Take your time!”
Yena sat down in the living room and sipped the snacks and coffee that Lily provided.
‘Wow, it’s super neat.’
Even though she hadn’t moved in long, there’s not a single piece of trash or dust anywhere.
It’s not like she cleaned up just because I was coming; it seems like she has this personality naturally…
A glance.
I looked at Lily who was working.
Without her mask, Lily looked just like Deoen.
It wasn’t just her face; her entire appearance matched.
‘No way.’
How can a person look like that?
She looked like someone popped out of a cartoon.
Even if we assume her blue hair is dyed, her looks could slap the faces of a few good-looking celebrities or models.
“Uh… can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
Lily answered while typing away.
“Weren’t you a character customization?”
During Deoen’s customization, there’s a feature that allows you to create a character identical to your real face.
In this case, it scans the user’s face, and that customization cannot be sold or shared.
It’s like creating a unique character in the game.
That’s why some people who are confident in their faces, like certain celebrities or models, use their own faces intentionally.
Lily paused for a moment and nodded.
“Similar, yes.”
“Wow… what about your hair? Did you just dye it like that? Or is it partial adjustment?”
“Secret.”
“Huh?”
“I’m an alien, so it’s a secret.”
Kuhuh. Lily chuckled and turned her head away.
Another alien joke, huh.
Looking at her face did boost my trust a bit, though.
“When are you planning to keep pulling that one?”
“That’s right.”
“Seriously, it’s true, but you don’t believe me.”
“Again, again.”
“Oh, do you know how the scream ended?”
“Of course, it ended with Lady Lily’s team winning, and while Lady Lily was offline for ten minutes, everyone went crazy. Black really let Taebaek have it.”
Yena continued explaining while munching on strawberry macarons.
“After that, they tried waking her up with potions and healing skills, but they couldn’t wake her, and the game just crashed, ending in a mess.”
“They didn’t wrap things up and just left, but the number of people blaming Lily is extremely small.”
“On the contrary, many people showed concern and worry about Lily’s disappearance.”
“I ended up pushing myself too hard.”
“Of course! To win, you have to pull out all the stops! I thought it was exhilarating! That thrill when you let it all go…”
Yena exaggeratedly spread her arms in response.
Her behavior wasn’t too different from how she usually is in Deoen.
“Anyway, don’t worry too much. Everyone was just worried about Lady Lily; they weren’t trying to blame her.”
“Speaking of which, you were really pushing me earlier.”
“…Ah! Isn’t this house nice?”
“Hehe.”
“Yes, it’s nice.”
■
After sending messages to editors and various places to let them know I’m doing well, I decided to start the broadcast a bit later than usual, around 8 PM.
There was a lot to prepare, after all.
Yena wanted to have lunch together, but after about 30 minutes of conversation, she headed out.
The reason was the issue of the few remaining ‘Lecture Hall Entry Passes.’
Perhaps she had forgotten, as she left home in a hurry with a pensive expression.
I wasn’t sure if a few hours would be enough since we hadn’t gotten anywhere after a week.
As soon as I connected to Deoen, I found hundreds of messages piled up.
Looks like everyone was really worried.
“Um?”
▶Leo
“I need to discuss some things about the mana stone. Do you have a moment?”
(…Please tell me nothing happened.)
“Leo. We need to get that mana stone too.”
With the moving issue and everything that happened during the scream, I couldn’t complete the mana stone tasks.
That’s probably why he reached out.
First, I should head to Leo’s marquis family.
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