Chapter 34: Selling Illusions, Part 4

Woo Seo-jin’s method for finding information about Min Ha-yoon was quite simple.

“A lot of people said they came from the Girls’ War gallery in the early days, so if there’s anything about cosplay, there must be something left in that gallery.”

He just diligently read the featured posts.

Since AGC was over two months ago, he set the date to December 2019 and checked each featured post from around that time.

Of course, most people wouldn’t go to such lengths to find out the ‘red pill’ about a streamer.

Many people suffered internal injuries and were shaken off like ants in the process.

But.

“I’m just looking because I’m curious, just curious… If she’s so confident about her face, there must be something…”

She had been subtly hinting at revealing her face, bit by bit.

“Besides, if she’s talking like that, she probably wants people to look it up…”

Thus, Woo Seo-jin rationalized his actions and began digging through AGC-related posts on the Girls’ War gallery.

“I wonder what she looks like…”

For him, the faces of no-cam female streamers were like lottery tickets.

It’s rare, but if a jackpot hits and a top-tier beauty emerges…

The feeling he gets then is truly exhilarating.

The thrill of discovering that the reality of a streamer communicating across two monitors is better than expected was like an addictive drug to him.

Woo Seo-jin, with wide eyes, continued to scroll down, reading through the featured posts uploaded after the heated December AGC.

“Huh?”

-Went to ‘Haru’ booth (+23)

Woo Seo-jin found a post.

The search results were so scarce that he was about to narrow down the search terms when he saw the word ‘Haru’ highlighted…

“If it’s a booth run by Haru…”

After all, Haru had often talked about the Surf event on her stream.

Swallowing hard, he clicked on the post, and after a brief loading period, he was greeted by…

“Uh…?”

A woman sitting on a black cloth-covered chair, hugging a gun, and next to her, a shy guy with glasses making a V-sign… No, the guy wasn’t important.

“This is Haru…?”

He had some idea since she openly showed confidence in her face, but he didn’t expect this level.

Of course, with the wig, lenses, and even tear tattoo stickers, it was impossible to know what her bare face looked like.

And her chest, compared to what he’d heard, was a bit lacking…

No, there was definitely something missing…

“Just how good is she in real life…?”

He was already starting to get excited about what Min Ha-yoon’s real appearance might be.

This was practically a confirmed lottery ticket.

“This is featured post material…!”

Convinced that this was an opportunity to stack up featured post cred, Woo Seo-jin immediately copied the photo of Min Ha-yoon in her cosplay outfit and headed to the minor gallery for small-time streamers.

#

Meanwhile.

Min Ha-yoon was…

“I think you need to push the emotions a bit more strongly here.”

“More strongly here?”

“Yes, this is the scene where Yena introduces the protagonist to alcohol for the first time. How should I put it, there should be a confident, ‘I know my alcohol’ vibe from a young professional. I think you need to act that out.”

“Hmm, I guess so…”

She was in the midst of recording the demo, exchanging dialogue with Park Ji-hye.

Right now, they were recording the part where the heroine Park Ji-hye is voicing, ‘Yena’, invites the protagonist to ‘Caffeine Holic’ and treats him for the first time.

This part marks the real beginning of the demo, so they can’t just gloss over it with mediocre acting.

The more these girls appear naive, the more delicious the climax becomes when they realize their love for the protagonist.

“Ah, then I know just the thing.”

And to complete Min Ha-yoon’s vision, Park Ji-hye delivered a stellar performance with a sly voice, and Min Ha-yoon, listening to her acting, gave an okay sign to the owner of Forest Sound who was next to her.

“I think we can use that version and process it to remove any noise.”

“Yes, yes.”

The owner nodded with a bored expression, seemingly used to this, and Min Ha-yoon also gave an okay sign to Park Ji-hye inside the recording booth. With this, they could proceed smoothly to the end.

About an hour later, after the demo recording for Ju Yena was finished.

Min Ha-yoon and Park Ji-hye lightly made eye contact and nodded, acknowledging each other’s hard work.

“Yes, once the sound post-processing is done, I’ll send you a detailed quote, so please check your messages. I’ll send the quote within two days.”

The owner of Forest Sound informed Min Ha-yoon about the recording studio rental fee and the upcoming sound post-processing costs.

Min Ha-yoon nodded in understanding and prepared to leave.

“Thank you so much for the past few weeks. This was the initial recording for the demo version, and when more of the story is added, I’ll ask you to record again.”

“Yes, of course. Professionals deliver as much as they’re paid!”

Park Ji-hye seemed particularly cheerful, and Min Ha-yoon was confident that she could continue working with Park Ji-hye as long as the money was right.

After all, a voice actor of Park Ji-hye’s caliber working for 500,000 to 600,000 won per hour wasn’t that expensive…

“Then, I’ll notify you as soon as the next schedule is set.”

“Yes, please contact me. See you next time.”

“Yes, see you next time.”

Min Ha-yoon was satisfied with Park Ji-hye’s future prospects.

Park Ji-hye was satisfied with the sweet income Min Ha-yoon guaranteed.

Both women had their needs met.

With their interests aligned, the two women promised to meet again, and Min Ha-yoon sent a brief message in the group chat: [Demo version recording complete].

The demo release was imminent.

The ideal scenario Min Ha-yoon envisioned was to use her live stream as the primary source of attention.

Some might question how many people would buy the game when her follower count was just over a thousand, but…

“As long as 50 or 100 people buy it, that’s enough.”

That would make it easier to rank high in the visual novel category on the funding site, and once backers were secured, more visual novel users would follow the viewers.

“Plus, if I occasionally upload SCGs or background illustrations on Pixiv to promote the work, and use some fluid alt accounts on the Girls’ War gallery…”

She could definitively attract third and fourth waves of users.

With the mindset of a revolutionary preparing for a major event, Min Ha-yoon sent a message to Do jin-ho.

“Are you ready to release the demo?”

-It’s scheduled to be released today at 6 PM as planned. The page reservation is set, and the funding will run for a month.

“I confirmed. Thanks for your hard work on the demo, and let’s keep it up until completion.”

-Yeah, go ahead.

She had received confirmation that the demo would be released as scheduled.

Now, Min Ha-yoon’s task was clear.

[LIVE] High School Girl’s Cosplay Stream [121]

She started the stream.

-Are you revealing your face?

“I don’t plan to reveal my face on stream, but I’ll do cosplay.”

-???

-What’s this now..

“Don’t you remember? I’m making a game.”

She approached the bewildered viewers with a gentle voice, showing her friendly side.

[1,000 won donation]

-Yeah, but what does that have to do with cosplay?

Then, she responded a bit curtly to a viewer asking for details.

“So I thought about it, and it would be good to reveal my face only to my true loyal fans, right? So I decided to make a cosplay book.”

-??? What’s that….

“Don’t you know what a cosplay book is? I’m going to make it as game merchandise. I’ll cosplay as the heroines from the game, so only those who really like me should come and buy it.”

And finally, she whispered softly into the microphone.

“Is this a loyalty test? It’s not like I don’t donate enough already.”

“If you hold back on donating for a week and buy the game, you’ll get to know my face, and I’ll even include my autograph. You’ll also get to play the game and get other merchandise. How can you not do this?”

[1,000 won donation]

-You’re so cunning………

“So you don’t want to know my face?”

To those who said they were fine with just donations, she tempted them by saying that if they held back a little, they could not only get the game but also see her face.

Game over.

-Ah, f*ck… Why is this so convincing.

-I don’t even do stuff, but this is driving me crazy……

-Can’t just no one buy it? Why do you guys get to know her face? What about broke people like me.

-Uh, I’ll buy it. Uh, I’ll buy it. I’ll definitely buy it.

‘Ah, business is easy.’

This was Min Ha-yoon’s theory gained from months of streaming…

At first, she declared she would give her viewers sexy illustrations, satisfy their lust, and raise them like livestock, but…

Honestly, now she wasn’t sure how it was different from the typical tactics of female streamers.

Since she started cosplay as a hobby, it seemed inevitable that her face would be exposed…

“Ah, but buying the cosplay book doesn’t guarantee an autograph.”

-What now….

“There’s a VVIP edition on the
site, and only those who buy that will get the autograph. It’s expensive but… It’s not just the autograph, unlike the regular cosplay book, there will be special VVIP-only photos, so it’s worth it, right?”

-Uh, no thanks. You think I’ll fall for a small-timer’s tactics?

“It’s fine if you don’t buy it, but then other viewers will know a side of me that you don’t. That’s all. You don’t have to buy it. You don’t have to.”

[1,000 won donation]

-You fcking b*tch!

“Ah, why are you cursing. It’s scary.”

So maybe she just openly milked her viewers.

Honestly, at first, she had no confidence in doing this, but since it was for money, the self-loathing wasn’t that great.

‘Let’s enjoy it!’

Imagining the soon-to-be-inflated bank account balance, Min Ha-yoon declared that she would purely enjoy this situation.