It was just after Lee Joon had left the studio.
“Is there a specific style of song you personally prefer, Ha-eun?”
Still radiating warmth and enthusiasm toward Ha-eun, Hwang Ji-hyuk asked for her opinion on the style of song they should create for the Infinite Challenge Music Festival stage. In response, Ha-eun said that as long as it wasn’t overly cheerful, she would be fine with it.
‘Cute songs are a bit... not my thing.’
Ha-eun wanted to ensure that her public image as an entertainer and Diah’s VTuber persona didn’t overlap too much. After all, the image of “actress Lee Ha-eun” had always been far removed from anything overly cute.
She thought it would be better to maintain the weighty, serious aura she had cultivated as an actress and carry it over to her activities as a singer. However, since she wouldn’t be performing on stage alone for the Infinite Challenge Music Festival, this wasn’t solely her decision.
“Should we really proceed with just the two of us, even though we don’t know yet who my teammate will be?”
She asked if discussing the song style shouldn’t wait until they knew who her teammate would be. Ji-hyuk explained that this was just preliminary planning.
“It’s better to sketch out a few rough ideas now rather than starting completely from scratch later.”
Ji-hyuk had been preparing for this ever since he was first invited to appear on the Infinite Challenge Music Festival. After all, neither Ha-eun nor whichever regular Infinite Challenge member ended up on her team had any expertise in composing.
He believed it was better to establish a general direction and then make adjustments later as needed. And so, the brainstorming session between Ha-eun and Hwang Ji-hyuk began.
“The Infinite Challenge Music Festival tends to favor upbeat, lively songs. So, something too calm or serious might not work well.”
“Hmm... What about a J-pop-inspired style? Something with a bit of rhythm.”
“Oh, J-pop sounds great. Could you name one J-pop song you enjoy? I’ll try to pick up on the melody.”
The brainstorming session lasted about an hour and resulted in five or six rough melody sketches. After listening to them one last time, Ha-eun and Ji-hyuk parted ways, agreeing to meet again soon.
After leaving Ji-hyuk’s studio, Ha-eun headed to the LUX headquarters, specifically to the streaming room inside the building.
“Oh, welcome, Ha-eun! I just got here too.”
Jung Maria, who was sitting in her streaming chair preparing various things for the broadcast, greeted Ha-eun warmly. The look of determination on Maria’s face wasn’t just an illusion—it was clearly genuine.
‘She doesn’t seem nervous... but hmm.’
Today marked Diah’s first broadcast after the chaos surrounding her real voice reveal. It was also her first IRL collaboration stream. Postponing the broadcast any longer would have negatively impacted Diah’s reputation for consistency, so they needed to reassure the audience as soon as possible.
The Fantasy Horizon official channel’s stream was already live, showing the waiting screen.
Thanks to the collaboration stream announcement posted earlier on the fan cafe, a large number of viewers were already waiting, even though the broadcast hadn’t started yet. The announcement post had also garnered an overwhelming number of comments, which was both exciting and a bit daunting.
Title > Broadcast Announcement
With Cream (IRL Collaboration)
(No further explanation needed image)
(You’ve seen enough, no more details image)
ㄴ DiahS2 Hawaiian Pizza: Hero, warrior, come eat~
ㄴ DiahBehindShiroOni: Nope, it’ll be her goddess voice while playing with Cream like a favorite doll.
ㄴ DiahDakimakuraWishDay111: Both of you, get out.
The anticipation was blazing hot. This was a clear sign of the high level of excitement from Diah’s fans, affectionately called “Noelians,” for her next broadcast.
‘...Good thing we’re doing this collab.’
If Diah had streamed solo, she would’ve been overwhelmed by the sheer energy and expectations of the audience. Reassured by her earlier decision, Ha-eun let out a breath of relief.
“Unnie, are you done setting up?”
“Uh, yeah. Your setup was adjusted by the manager earlier.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll make sure to thank them later.”
Shortly after, the countdown to the start of the Diah & Cream IRL collaboration broadcast began. Ha-eun, who was busy fine-tuning the mic placement and virtual avatar sensitivity until the very last moment, suddenly turned and spoke in a completely different tone.
Jung Maria, sitting right next to her, flinched in surprise at Ha-eun’s abrupt change in voice tone. At the same time, the chat exploded with activity.
About a minute later, the donation notifications started flooding the stream alongside the chat. Fortunately, most of the donations were small, at the 1,000-won minimum amount, with mundane, harmless messages attached.
"Noona, please say 'loser' in your real voice. I beg you."
(This donation was skipped by the moderator.)
"They say you’re not a baby spirit but the Spirit Queen. Is that true?"
(This donation was skipped by the moderator.)
(This donation was skipped by the moderator.)
The sheer volume of these donations kept the Fantasy Horizon channel moderators working tirelessly. But as time passed and order was somewhat restored, the stream could finally proceed smoothly.
“For today’s stream, I’ve brought some really scary wizards with me. If any of you Noelians say something weird, you might get kidnapped to another world, so watch out~.”
“Even if you apologize later, I won’t forgive you. So be careful~ and stay cautious~.”
Just as the viewers were descending into chaos over the unexpected restrictions, Ha-eun seized the opportunity. She gently tapped Jung Maria, signaling her to start her segment.
After clearing her throat, Jung Maria finally began explaining the plan for the stream.
“For the first part of today’s stream, we’ll play Iron Fist. For the second part, we’ll do an Ideal Type World Cup. So, don’t get yourselves banned and make sure to have fun!”
Soon, the stream’s screen switched to the Iron Fist lobby. True to its reputation as the world’s most famous two-player fighting game, even the lobby exuded an intense, competitive atmosphere unique to the genre.
Still, just playing for fun without any stakes might be a little dull for the audience.
“How about this: the loser of each round gives the winner one wish ticket. What do you think, unnie?”
With that, they decided to bet "wish tickets" on the matches. Ha-eun wasted no time revealing what she planned to wish for if she won.
“A full playthrough stream of Biohazard: Big City. From start to finish—no breaks!”
“W-wait, what? All the way to the ending?!”
Without giving Cream any chance to protest, Ha-eun started the game immediately. Cream had no choice but to pick her character and dive into the match against Diah’s chosen fighter.
The match began with an intense standoff. Cream’s character, Hanata Takuo, a boxing champion, and Diah’s character, Experiment Subject: Tora, circled each other cautiously in the arena.
Takuo’s probing jab punches—his signature boxing move—
—were dodged by Tora, who opted for evasion instead of blocking. From that moment, things took a drastic turn.
“↓↘─! ↗↗⊛ Special Grapple Attack!”
Ha-eun’s lightning-fast combo inputs sent Takuo sprawling onto the arena floor.
Takuo’s punches continued to hit thin air as Tora repeatedly knocked him to the ground with grapple attacks. No matter how much Cream tried to mix in feints to escape the endless grapple combos, she couldn’t find a way out.
“→ →⊛! ↓→↘! Now for the Special Spinning Kick!”
Just as Takuo braced for another grapple, Tora’s foot came flying instead, landing a devastating axe kick.
The first round ended as a clean game, with Cream failing to land even a single hit. Watching her descend into panic at the thought of a Biohazard marathon stream was a spectacle in itself.
‘During the collab, I might mess with you a bit. Is that okay?’
‘Y-yeah! Mess with me as much as you want!’
In hindsight, this was far from “a bit.” It was pure domination, as if Cream was nothing more than a toy in Ha-eun’s hands, just as the viewers had described.
Cream glanced sideways at Ha-eun, whose cheerful smile seemed brighter than ever. For a moment, Cream thought she saw a pair of bright red horns sprouting from Ha-eun’s head.
It was probably an illusion, but it didn’t feel like one.
Ha-eun had never looked so cheerful before, yet to Cream, her expression could only be described as the very embodiment of madness.