Was it because she had been soaking in the warm onsen for so long?
Even as she stepped out of the hot spring, water dripping down her body, and headed straight for the shower room next to it.
Even after finishing her shower, changing into fresh clothes, and drying each other’s still-wet hair with Da-yeon.
Her entire body felt languid.
A natural wave of drowsiness swept over her.
With her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, it was inevitable that she would seek out the bed.
However, the room had twin beds.
In other words, unlike the hotel room they had stayed in before, which had two single beds.
The ryokan room they were staying in now had only one double bed.
“...What should we do, Da-yeon?”
“Sleeping on the floor... would be kind of bad, right?”
“Yeah, it’d be too hard. We’d probably wake up sore.”
“Well, I guess we have no choice, then.”
In the end, they lay down in the same bed.
Either way, the fact remained that two people had to share one bed.
Sleeping next to people who were bound to return from the izakaya completely drunk was, to be honest, not exactly appealing.
Besides, Da-yeon wasn’t close enough to anyone else, except Ha-eun, to be comfortable sharing a bed yet.
If there was any silver lining, it was that the bed’s blanket was huge.
Without fighting over it, Ha-eun and Da-yeon lay down and soon drifted off to sleep.
The problem, however, was Ha-eun’s sleeping habit.
Ha-eun had a habit of hugging something while sleeping.
That was the reason why there was a big-sized teddy bear on Ha-eun’s bed at home.
And it was also the reason Ha-eun’s hands had unconsciously pulled Da-yeon into her embrace like a stuffed toy.
The distance Da-yeon had carefully kept when lying down was now completely meaningless.
Feeling a sense of suffocation, Da-yeon tried to wriggle free from Ha-eun’s arms in her sleep.
The problem was that her slow, sleepy movements were no match for Ha-eun’s grip.
And so, in the end, she had no choice but to remain locked in Ha-eun’s embrace as she slept.
Even if she woke up, she still wouldn’t be able to shake off Ha-eun’s arms.
Time passed like that.
“The unnis are back!”
“Huh...? What the, why’s it so quiet?”
The moment their roommates, who had been out drinking at the izakaya, returned.
They were puzzled by the unusually silent room and started looking for the two who had stayed behind.
And when they soon discovered the two fast asleep in bed—
“They really are best friends, huh.”
“Would they wake up if I took a picture?”
“They look just like babies .”
Quiet murmurs of admiration escaped as they took in Ha-eun and Da-yeon’s cozy scene.
And soon enough, a picture of them clinging tightly to each other was uploaded to the Illusionary Realm’s group chat.
Of course, when Da-yeon woke up a few hours later and saw the picture in the chat, her drowsiness instantly vanished.
Regret and embarrassment hit her all at once.
But, for some reason, the usually early-rising Ha-eun was still sound asleep.
And she was hugging Da-yeon’s neck and chest so tightly it was nearly suffocating.
“Hey, hey...! Move...!”
“You crazy girl. Why are you so strong?”
“...I’m seriously losing my mind here....”
Struggling desperately to escape from Ha-eun’s grip, Da-yeon eventually reached her limit and slumped in exhaustion.
There was just no way to pry Ha-eun’s hands off her.
In the end, she only managed to free herself after sending an SOS to Mile in the other bedroom.
Only when Mile gently lifted Ha-eun’s arms did she manage to squirm her way out.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Barely escaping from Ha-eun, Da-yeon headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower.
By the time she returned, freshly washed, Ha-eun had finally woken up. If nothing else, at least that was a relief.
“Hurry up and wash. It’s almost nine.”
Since the ryokan’s last breakfast service ended at nine, Ha-eun, remembering that, hurriedly got up.
After all, the traditional Japanese breakfast at a ryokan was something that absolutely had to be tasted.
“The fish is good, but the rice is amazing.”
“That rice is actually just instant rice, Ha-eun.”
“Pfft, look at Ha-eun getting all flustered.”
Still unable to fully dry her hair, Ha-eun savored the traditional Japanese breakfast, including miso soup, before changing from her comfortable indoor wear into her outdoor outfit. With that, she stepped outside the ryokan to enjoy the last day of the trip.
The first stop was Mount Moiwa Observatory.
She boarded the ropeway, which was called a cable car in Korea, and ascended to the mountain’s peak.
‘The rooftops are all white. Must be because of the snow.’
Beyond the full-length glass windows of the observatory, the vast cityscape of Sapporo stretched out before her.
The wide expanse of buildings wasn’t all that different from those in Korea.
The more noticeable difference was in the souvenir shop.
“There’s so much stuff.”
“Oh, they even sell socks. That’s amazing.”
Clothing with adorable characters and hiragana written on them.
Postcards featuring Sapporo’s nightscape.
A variety of snacks lined up in rows.
Like the rest of her travel companions, Ha-eun wandered through the souvenir shop, browsing the items as if she were shopping.
Of course, like most tourists, the act of looking around itself held meaning, but the real reason was for her upcoming trip recap stream.
“Do you think Noeulis would plushie?”
“...I don’t think it really matters what plushie it is. It’s coming from you.”
Just like her previous trip, Ha-eun planned to bring back some reasonably priced souvenirs and hold a small giveaway event.
That’s why she was showing various plushies in the shop to Da-yeon, who was once a Noeuli herself.
After sifting through cute plushies of rabbits and hamsters for a while,
only when it was time to leave the observatory did she finally pick out about six plushies and purchase them.
Not long after, they boarded the ropeway again.
Once they descended the mountain, they had a quick lunch at a nearby ramen shop.
But now, it was time to head to the airport.
“Hye-min unnie, can I stop by the convenience store real quick?”
Before boarding their flight back to Korea, she wanted to take one last look at the unique items available in Japanese convenience stores.
As expected, Da-yeon and Nael trailed closely behind her.
Not that it was a problem.
It seemed like both Da-yeon and Nael had things they wanted to buy.
However, as they stood in front of the collaboration merchandise section—
more precisely, when they were looking at products from the famous Japanese VTuber group, Prism Live—
“Hm... I wonder if we’ll ever be able to do something .”
“Why are you even envious of this? You literally shot a Naikayon ad.”
Ha-eun’s thoughts slipped out as she imagined what a Diah collaboration product might look like.
Da-yeon, puzzled by Ha-eun’s reaction, tilted her head.
‘Is it because she hasn’t done a food commercial before?’
Since Ha-eun ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) had already done plenty of advertisements, Da-yeon couldn’t understand why she’d be jealous of these collaboration products.
Rather than envy, she could just accept one of the offers that were surely pouring into her agency.
There were probably countless companies eager to collaborate with Ha-eun.
If she wanted, they could easily release products featuring her face.
“Does it have to be Diah?”
“It’s different. Completely.”
Although Da-yeon had been studying the VTuber industry, she still didn’t fully grasp what exactly Ha-eun wanted.
But unlike Da-yeon, someone else did.
“If it’s Ha-eun, she could totally surpass Prism Live or anyone else!”
Since Nael was a die-hard fan of both Ha-eun and Diah,
she immediately cheered Ha-eun on, declaring that it was only a matter of time before Diah overtook Prism Live.
Hearing that, Ha-eun could only let out an awkward smile.
“It’s time to make a move, Prism Live! Diah-senpai is coming for you!”
“G-Geez, Ji-hye, you’re way too loud.”
After hurriedly calming down the fired-up Nael,
they brought their convenience store baskets, now filled with various products, to the register and checked out.
As Ha-eun left the store, she quickened her pace slightly.
Part of the reason was that there were other customers inside the store.
Of course, since they were speaking in Korean, those people likely wouldn’t understand, but just in case, she made her exit quickly.
Soon, the three of them—Ha-eun, Da-yeon, and Nael—made their way back toward the ramen shop.
And watching their retreating figures for a moment—
❮...Are they aspiring VTubers?❯
A woman who was about the same height as Ha-eun.
After turning her gaze back to the collaboration product that Ha-eun had been holding earlier,
she silently fell into thought.
Shortly after, she picked up the Lucid VTuber merchandise that Ha-eun had been looking at.
The product featured a familiar face—so familiar, in fact, that she had several of them at home.
But at the same time—
❮Eh, Yume, what are you doing?❯
A smaller woman with a playful expression approached and teased her.
Flinching at the unexpected comment, the woman quickly put down the collaboration product she had been holding.
Of course, the mischievous gaze in front of her didn’t miss a thing.
❮Yume, are you a narcissist by any chance?❯
❮I mean, with how amazing our Lucid is, I wouldn’t blame you~. It’s fine, really!❯
The small woman giggled as she whispered, causing a faint blush to creep up the woman’s ears.
She was just... a little surprised that those Koreans had taken an interest in her collaboration product. That was all.
However, there was one thing.
The faces she had just seen seemed less like aspiring VTubers and more like actors or idols.
❮We... might need to stay on guard.❯
❮There might be some formidable people across the sea.❯
A quiet chuckle escaped her lips, carrying a faint weight.
The faces she had just seen were enough to make her feel uneasy.