I Want to Be a VTuber
Chapter 323: Light and Darkness (3)

"Hey, Hyeri."

"Snap out of it."

Kim Hyeri.

First-year student at Yeonhwa High School.

Some people in the next class gossip that she came to this school just to chase after a famous actress. But that wasn’t exactly the case for Kim Hyeri. That said, it would also be a lie to say that actress had no influence on her school choice whatsoever.

That actress had made such a huge impact that Yeonhwa High School's name had become the most well-known among the local schools.

More importantly, unlike other schools focused on arts and entertainment, Yeonhwa High was still a humanities-focused school.

It made convincing her parents way easier.

"There are so many talented kids trying to become actors."

"Our Hyeri is pretty, but making a living as an actress for life? That’s tough. Only a handful make it, a tiny fraction."

Every holiday, she had to hear those words on repeat.

Even so, talent or not, she at least had good luck.

One of her cousins worked as a TV producer, which gave her several chances to get involved in the industry.

And now, another opportunity had come her way.

"There's a production in the works called Moving Heaven. A supporting actress who was supposed to appear in episode 8 suddenly dropped out, and the spot is open. Want to take it?"

After Child’s Game, public interest in OTT dramas had skyrocketed.

More and more productions were scrambling to ride that wave, some even rushing into filming.

Among them, Moving Heaven had been particularly lucky.

It started filming just a little later than Child’s Game, meaning it was already in its final stretch.

"Would it be okay for someone like me, with no experience, to take the role? I mean, can I even get in...?"

"It’s fine, it’s fine. High school-age actors are rare. If they can’t find one, they’ll have to use an older actress instead. But since the role isn’t that significant, things are a bit tricky right now."

For once, being young worked in her favor.

Sure, they could have found an older actress, but the director believed that the freshness of a real teenager was something only an actor of the same age could bring to the role.

And so, through sheer luck, Hyeri landed a supporting role that would appear in just four episodes.

‘This is divine luck.’

Opportunities like this were hard to come by.

If she pulled this off, she could land even better roles in the future.

That would finally shut her parents up, and she could boast about it at school.

Even now, Hyeri already stood out among her classmates as someone pursuing acting at such a young age.

She was practically the leader of the so-called clique girls.

‘Ju Seoyeon? Sure, maybe her skills are better, but catching up to her isn’t impossible.’

In the end, this industry was all about results.

Even if someone was a better actor and highly praised, their projects didn’t always perform well.

Of course, Ju Seoyeon was an exception.

To be honest, Kim Hyeri couldn’t even wrap her head around how someone like her existed.

Debuted at ten, immediately labeled a child prodigy.

Then, after a ten-year hiatus, she made a spectacular comeback and dominated the entire nation for a year.

Two movies in one year that hit ten million viewers—a milestone that some actors never achieve even once in their lifetime.

And while she hadn’t starred as a lead yet, she’d pulled that off with supporting roles alone.

Kyungsung Lady was the biggest testament to her influence.

People on the internet even joked about it:

"Do we really count Kyungsung Lady as a ten-million movie? LOL"

"For a queer film to do that well, that’s god-tier."

"She got lucky as hell. There was literally nothing else to watch."

"It’s because of the OTT boom. Movies were getting pushed there for a while."

"Which is why Child’s Game blew up, right?"

"Honestly, without Ju Seoyeon, Kyungsung Lady would've only reached 6-7 million."

"And even that would have been amazing. The lead was basically a newbie in film."

"Lee Jiyeon? Thought her acting was fine at first, but the second half was actually solid."

"Ju Seoyeon literally did a circus act in Japan and carried this movie to ten million."

"Honestly, Kyungsung Lady owes everything to Japan."

The success of Kyungsung Lady was what cemented Ju Seoyeon’s name at the top.

Like the internet comments said, the movie hit ten million because of her.

Even Stella, who made a cameo appearance, only joined because of Seoyeon.

Seoyeon's popularity led to a Japanese documentary, which, in turn, was a huge hit.

Naturally, that success spilled over to Korea.

When a domestic movie does well overseas, people back home start thinking, Maybe I should check it out too.

And Kyungsung Lady was the biggest beneficiary of that mindset.

‘Amazing. Absolutely amazing. But if Moving Heaven becomes a hit...’

It could build her recognition to rival even those two ten-million movies.

Just look at the Child’s Game actors—

Overnight, their international fame skyrocketed.

Even actors who appeared for just ten minutes were getting commercial deals.

So Kim Hyeri’s confidence wasn’t entirely baseless.

She could already see herself dethroning Seoyeon and claiming the title of Queen of Yeonhwa High.

But then—

[Moving Heaven crashes to a historic failure.]

[Was Child’s Game just a fluke? Consecutive box-office flops for K-content.]

"I’m gonna die."

"Hey, Kim Hyeri!"

"I only had one chance!"

"There won’t be a second one."

"What the hell are you saying?!"

Hyeri blacked out.

All the effort she had poured into this drama—

Vanished into thin air.

****

The Half-Year Hell of K-Culture

That’s roughly what people were calling this period.

"Especially this past month—it’s been the worst stretch ever. Every single launched project has gone up in flames."

After Child’s Game became a massive hit, suddenly, every drama was being pushed onto OTT platforms.

Movies, too.

The entire entertainment industry was scrambling, desperate to sell even a fraction of their content to international audiences.

Of course, looking back, there were a few successful projects during these six months.

"But none of them even came close to Child’s Game."

It’s not like Child’s Game didn’t benefit other productions.

It absolutely did.

Some dramas that wouldn’t have even gotten a single mention before were now casually racking up millions of views.

Even foreign reviewers who never touched Korean dramas were suddenly flooding their channels with K-drama reviews.

But despite all that attention, no show managed to truly take off.

"So Moving Heaven bombed, huh?"

Seoyeon sat on a school bench, watching Kim Hyeri, who was half-conscious, sprawled out like a ghost.

She felt a bit bad for her.

Hyeri had been all full of herself before, but Seoyeon figured it was understandable.

She was young.

And for a teenage actress, not having some kind of ambition would actually be weirder.

...Though, she really shouldn’t have said those things out loud.

"Everyone’s struggling, huh?"

Her mind drifted to Min Ara, who she had met not long ago.

To be honest, Ara was in a far more precarious position than Hyeri.

Sure, she was in a web drama, but beyond that? There was no clear path forward.

Getting a role in a movie or mainstream drama was already a massive hurdle.

And even if she did land a job and the project did well, once or twice wouldn’t be enough.

Seoyeon had been in this industry long enough to see how things played out.

For a mixed-race actress, the barriers were even higher.

"Ju Seoyeon!!"

"!?"

While she was lost in thought, Hyeri suddenly shot up from the bench, sitting upright like a corpse reanimating.

And just at that moment, Seoyeon happened to be walking over with two cans of Zero Cola in her hands.

Their eyes met.

Hyeri’s dazed gaze wavered before she quickly averted her eyes downward.

"S-Sunbae, hello."

"Uh, yeah."

"I just... had a dream for a second."

Wait.

Did she fall asleep?

No... probably not.

"Just how much does she think about me...?"

The ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ realization was weirdly satisfying but also kind of unsettling.

The fact that her own name held this much weight—it was thrilling in one way, but in another, it felt like a heavy responsibility.

"Is this what it means to be a senior?"

Hyeri, on the other hand, was straight-up panicking.

It was a miracle she hadn’t blurted out a curse.

Not that she had any actual ill will toward Seoyeon.

It was just an instinctive reaction, like muscle memory.

With her drama flopping so hard, Seoyeon’s name had been circling in her head nonstop lately.

"You, uh... I saw your drama."

"It bombed."

"Still, compared to everything else coming out this month, I think it was actually decent."

Hyeri seemed to take that as nothing more than polite, empty words.

"I meant it, though."

Right now, Moving Heaven was a record-breaking disaster.

But once some time passed and international reviewers started putting out their takes, it would find some footing.

Not a miraculous recovery, but enough to keep it from being completely forgotten.

The only reason its numbers were in the gutter right now was because no reviews had gone up yet.

And considering the absolute graveyard that this month’s lineup had been, Moving Heaven was in the best position out of all of them.

The rest? Beyond saving.

"Honestly, the title is just awful."

What even was "Moving Heaven" supposed to mean?

How would international audiences interpret it?

To Korean ears, it sounded like something between Heaven in Motion and Shifting Paradise—vague and confusing.

This was exactly the kind of problem that came from Korea’s reckless overuse of borrowed English words.

"There’s no other actress your age who could’ve pulled off a performance like that."

"......."

Hyeri blinked, caught off guard.

For a second, she wondered if Seoyeon was messing with her.

"Didn’t you hit ten million viewers at my age?"

Even if a project she filmed right now was released, it was already too late to be counted as a hit this year.

Seoyeon had wrapped her projects way too fast—things didn’t normally move like that.

And compared to the praise Seoyeon had gotten at her age?

Hyeri was just another random high school actress.

The only difference was that she had technically debuted already.

"But still..."

Hyeri’s ambition burned anew.

She might have lost this round, but...

Maybe, if she played her cards right, she could get something out of Seoyeon.

More importantly—wasn’t Ju Seoyeon close with Jo Sehee?

Whether it was just a business relationship or a real one, she wasn’t sure.

"You can’t trust reality show images."

But considering they had worked on two projects back-to-back, they probably had some kind of bond.

And Hyeri?

Hyeri was a Jo Sehee fan.

If Seoyeon and Sehee really were friends, that meant there had to be an opportunity somewhere.

"I—I’ll do anything you say, Sunbae."

"...Huh?"

"I’ll even be a dog. If you tell me to bark, I’ll bark."

...What?

Seoyeon was stunned.

She had only come over to offer some encouragement and hand over a Zero Cola.

And now, somehow, she had ended up with a Chihuahua-like underclassman glued to her.

Looking into Hyeri’s blazing, determined eyes, she could tell—

She wasn’t joking.

It was obvious the drama’s failure had completely wrecked her.

But... a dog?

"This is definitely not because she likes me, right?"

Seoyeon wasn’t that naive.

Hyeri was clearly just hoping to latch onto her in hopes of picking up some scraps.

Well, at least she was honest about it.

"Seoyeon-sunbae!!"

Just as Hyeri looked ready to get on her knees, another student came running over.

A mixed-race girl, Min Ara—

And just from appearances alone, she easily outshined Hyeri.

"Don’t trust a word she says. She reeks of betrayal."

"...Excuse me?"

"My classmates told me all about her. She always acts like she’s better than everyone else. Serves her right that her drama flopped."

"You little—!"

Min Ara was a true devotee to Seoyeon.

And the moment she saw the opportunistic Chihuahua, she immediately went for the throat.

"Uh."

Seoyeon was a bit stunned.

She had always imagined this kind of senior-junior dynamic happening around her, but...

This wasn’t a fantasy.

It was real.

Watching her juniors fight for her attention (even if one of them had very clear ulterior motives), she felt...

Complicated.

"Still, it’s kinda nice."

At the end of the day, Seoyeon enjoyed the attention.

Hyeri was way too obvious about her motives, so she didn’t really care about her.

But Min Ara’s loyalty...

"So this is what people mean when they say ‘even admiration can be a burden.’"

She was starting to get it.

And as all this chaos unfolded—

The release date for Mine was drawing near.

One day before its premiere.

[Hey, is it okay if I come to your school tomorrow? I heard people are planning to watch it there.]

A message from Jo Sehee.

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