NOVPUB[Ji Hye-min] - Is something wrong?
[Ji Hye-min] - Are you feeling unwell??
[Ji Hye-min] - Did you drink by any chance?
Messages arrived the moment the call ended.
Ha-eun stared at Ji Hye-min’s heartfelt concern written in those texts, her eyes still dazed, before slowly typing back.
[Lee Ha-eun] - I didn’t drink.
[Lee Ha-eun] - I think I’m feeling the autumn blues.
[Lee Ha-eun] - Please forget about the call just now.
[Ji Hye-min] - (A suspicious-looking squirrel emoji)
[Ji Hye-min] - Something smells fishy...
More messages followed soon after.
Ha-eun hesitated for a moment before simply closing her phone.
Only after that did she begin drying her damp hair with a towel.
But even after brushing the moisture off the ends of her long hair—
Even after changing into the fresh, fluffy clothes she had stored in the bathroom basket—
She still felt melancholic.
‘Why am I like this, seriously...?’
After finishing drying her hair with a hairdryer and applying skincare lotion, Ha-eun headed straight for Baeksulhwa in the living room.
Then, holding Baeksulhwa gently in her arms, she trudged back to her room and flopped onto the bed.
“...Haah...”
She let out a faint sigh, the soft embrace of the mattress doing little to ease her gloomy mood.
At the same time, Baeksulhwa curled up as usual, settling into Ha-eun’s arms like always.
Everything around her remained the same.
The long pillow.
The oversized teddy bear she usually hugged to sleep.
The crisp white blanket.
The only thing different was her mood.
‘...It is around that time...’
On a whim, she tried to count the cycle of her hormonal changes, but quickly shook her head.
It was true that the time was approaching, but no matter how she thought about it, this didn’t seem to be the cause.
She wasn’t particularly affected by such things in the first place.
So, she thought again.
And again.
Trying to pinpoint the exact reason for this lingering sadness.
Trying to understand the source of this unfamiliar loneliness she was experiencing for the first time.
‘Getting rejected by Maria, watching their collab, them not answering my call...’
Ha-eun had a habit of retracing recent events whenever she felt a new emotion.
Finding the cause of the new feeling.
Revisiting the moment when the unfamiliar emotion first surfaced.
Pondering over the consequences of experiencing such a foreign sentiment.
Strictly speaking, this wasn’t the first time she had analyzed an unknown emotion in this way.
However, every time she organized her thoughts about an emotion, she couldn’t help but completely immerse herself in it.
“...Seol-ah...
...Noona feels lonely...”
In the end, she succumbed to a deep, gnawing loneliness.
Her cold head registered this new entry into her emotional vocabulary, while her aching chest turned her voice sorrowful.
Her mind and heart were in complete disarray.
Perhaps that was why—
“Ha-eun, it’s time to get up~.”
“...Yeah...”
Her thoughts spiraled endlessly, feeding into one another, making her unable to sleep for the first time in a long while.
She tried to understand why those close to her had made her feel this way,
but at the same time, she couldn’t shake off the hurt,
making it impossible to close her eyes.
The only silver lining was that today was the weekend.
Apart from her scheduled stream in the evening, she had no other obligations, so sleeping late didn’t have any consequences.
So, after a belated breakfast,
after taking Baeksulhwa for a delayed walk,
she spent the rest of her time studying, as usual.
“...Did I do something to upset them...?”
Yet, even as she worked through her problem sets, the melancholy refused to fade.
That vague, unidentifiable emotion still lingered.
Maybe that was why she decided to start her stream earlier than usual.
After all, being Diah always made her happy.
—Click-click.
—Taptaptap.
[Feeling down, so I bought bread.]
She figured chatting with Noeulis would help chase away this gloomy mood.
After all, she had been sulking all on her own, which had only made her feel lonelier.
Soon, over ten thousand Noeulis gathered in the stream.
Even though she had started earlier than scheduled, her viewers had assembled in an instant.
That realization alone made Ha-eun feel relieved.
So what if Cream and Nael had fun in their collab together?
Diah had all these people with her.
Even as she still felt slighted by those who had ignored her messages,
that thought alone made her feel a little better.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight
With that, she engaged in lively conversation with her chat, preparing to start today’s stream content—Iron Fist gameplay.
—Ding-ding.
—Ding-ding.
[Editor-nim (3)]
“...Huh?”
Several messages popped up from her YouTube channel’s editor.
Her voice carried a hint of curiosity as she glanced at her phone.
And upon checking the messages, a small gasp escaped her lips.
[Editor-nim] - Diah’s channel is about to hit 500K!
[Editor-nim] - What do you think about a live stream for the milestone, boss?
[Diah] - (Otter emoji rushing to action)
Her subscriber count had nearly reached half a million.
The unexpected good news lifted her mood instantly, and Ha-eun swiftly switched the stream layout.
Soon, the live view of Diah’s YouTube channel’s subscriber count appeared on screen.
[Diah Diah]
[499,981]
“Tada~! Less than 20 subs to go until 500K─!”
Ha-eun prepared her thank-you speech for the milestone.
If she hit 500K live, then seamlessly transitioned into Iron Fist, it would make for a clean and smooth stream.
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,994 ▲]
“Oh, just six more to go!”
At that moment, when the countdown to 500K was well underway, Ha-eun still couldn't hide her excitement.
She had no doubt that the first digit would soon change from a 4 to a 5.
And yet—
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,984 ▼]
“...Huh?”
The subscriber count, which had been steadily increasing, suddenly began to drop.
Even then, she thought it was just a temporary fluctuation.
That if she waited a little longer, the numbers would rise again.
That she would still be able to reach the milestone of 500K.
But—
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,975 ▼]
For some reason, Diah’s subscriber count continued to decline as time went on.
And then came Noeulis' mischievous comments.
It felt as if her heart had just plummeted.
Of course, subscriber counts fluctuated all the time—it was normal for them to go up and down.
But seeing them drop in real-time, watching the numbers fall one by one before her very eyes—
Her pupils trembled slightly as a ridiculous thought took hold—
As if the disappearing subscribers were actual Noeulis, turning their backs on her and walking away.
The thrill she had felt at the thought of reaching 500K had long since vanished.
“M-Mm sorry. I don’t know why, but whatever it is, I’m sorry...!”
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,983 ▲]
“...Phew....”
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,991 ▲]
“We’re back! We’re so close now—”
—Ding.
[Diah Diah]
[499,987 ▼]
“AAAAH! WHY IS IT DROPPING AGAIN?!”
And then—when she finally saw the count drop by over a hundred subscribers from where it originally was—
[Diah Diah]
[499,887 ▼]
“...You guys too...? Why are you doing this...?”
She had gotten so lost in the ridiculous mental image of tiny SD Noeulis running away from her in droves.
“Why...why are you suddenly unsubscribing...? Fine! Just go! I... I see how it is. The love is gone, huh? It’s all frozen over... completely ice cold... How could you...”
“I just wanted to celebrate together... Our channel hitting 500K... To say thank you, and that I’d keep doing my best... But fine, whatever. Goodbye. Bye-bye. If you want to leave, what can I do...?”
Diah’s virtual avatar slowly faded off-screen.
Only her quiet, muttering voice remained.
“...You all said I was the only one for you... But it was all lies... What, you're tired of me now? That’s just cruel...”
The number of viewers kept climbing.
Donations started pouring in.
Beyond confused, Ha-eun eventually just closed the subscriber count tracker.
Then, after pulling her virtual avatar back on screen—now with an unmistakably sulky expression—she sighed and started the Iron Fist viewer participation segment, voice subdued.
“Drop your usernames... I’ll send invites...”
At least the Noeulis’ enthusiasm for playing Iron Fist hadn’t wavered.
That was... something, at least.
But the moment she effortlessly KO’d a viewer with her absurdly fast reflexes, someone in chat typed—
[How could you hit your boyfriend like that?]
And for some reason, Diah’s avatar—whose expression had darkened earlier—spoke up.
“Then hit me back.”
It wasn’t her usual playful response—‘You hit first, so it’s self-defense!’—but something entirely different.
[MorningSquid] - ?
[MorningSquid] - ...Hit you with what?
“You’re my boyfriend, right? Then tell me how I feel right now.”
[MorningSquid] - ??? 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
“No way... You don’t know your girlfriend’s feelings? What kind of boyfriend are you?!”
—Click-click.
—Taptaptap.
<Diah has invited User ‘SaveUpAndGoBankrupt’ to the match.>
One of the chat usernames was suddenly pulled into Iron Fist’s waiting room.
And then, Diah’s voice came through the mic.
“Only the Noeuli who guesses my feelings correctly will be spared. ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) If you get it wrong—you’re a fake boyfriend, and you’re done.”
Still sporting a grumpy avatar, Diah flashed both players' profiles on screen.
Her mouse hovered over the kick button.
“You have two minutes. If you don’t answer in time, you’re both getting booted.”
Meanwhile, the two unfortunate Noeulis desperately scrambled to type.
[SaveUpAndGoBankrupt] - ...You want cotton candy?
“Wrong!”
[MorningSquid] - “You’re trash at this game.”
“Wrong, wrong!! Twenty seconds left!”
[SaveUpAndGoBankrupt] - WAIT
[SaveUpAndGoBankrupt] - HOLD ON;;
When the timer hit zero and still no correct answer appeared, Ha-eun sighed and prepared to execute her promised punishment.
“You fake boyfriends! Die—!! ...Wait, actually, I’ll give you one last chance.”
Diah’s avatar—now expressionless—glared at the two trembling Noeulis.
They had two options.
Accept execution, or—
Drag another Noeuli into their mess.
“Choose. Death or drag someone down with you?”
Faced with her icy tone, they hesitated—then, together, they typed.
[SaveUpAndGoBankrupt] - ...Drag someone down.
[MorningSquid] - Same.
And so, Diah’s cursor moved to the chat.
<Diah has invited User ‘LostAndNowStranded’ to the match.>
A new victim had been chosen.
The Iron Fist chat immediately filled with anguished wails.
“You get one extra minute. Now, figure out your girlfriend’s feelings, you useless boyfriends.”
The mic captured Diah’s voice—cold, unrelenting.
And almost instantly, a new question popped up in chat.
[LostAndNowStranded] - ...Can I also use the drag-down chance?
Diah’s avatar slowly nodded.
And thus, the cycle of despair began.
