I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 619

"…I guess I should be grateful that the outfit is more or less acceptable. But still, some things are kind of overwhelming. Especially the red collar and the buttons."

"Well, your hair and eyes are already so unusual. The AI in the fitting room picked it out, remember? It doesn't really look weird to me."

"Honestly, I'm not sure why Iris feels so uncomfortable going out. Maybe it’s because I’m used to being around someone who looks like her..."

"Used to it?"

"Yeah."

Early July, somewhere in Gangnam, Seoul.

Three women with unforgettable appearances walked together, and among them, the one on the far right, Iris, listened to Harmony’s comment with a blank expression, her eyes rolling in disbelief.

Sure, her hair color could be easily replicated with dye, but those transparent, red eyes—completely different from albino traits—where had she ever seen such features for them to feel ‘familiar’?

But just a few seconds later, Iris realized what Harmony was talking about.

Sharks.

"...Ah."

"The tail and such are a bit unique, but honestly, I don’t think it’s much different from Lorenatina, really. And that person... I can’t even imagine her being shy about how she looks."

"Anyone who can imagine that should probably become the greatest fantasy novelist of the century."

"Right?"

"…I can’t deny it."

Iris had seen many raw videos, either edited by someone else or ones she’d worked on herself.

In the countless videos on Eugene's YourSpace, Lorenatina’s presence was unmatched, and there was no video of hers with fewer than 10 million views.

It was because of this that they knew Lorenatina very well—she was the embodiment of 'my own way' and had the most solid sense of self of anyone they had met since birth.

She was like a rugby ball that could bounce anywhere, but at the same time, she was someone with an unshakable sense of self-discipline who never lost her composure no matter what situation she faced.

Well, of course, they knew it was impossible to compare Iris to Lorenatina directly.

But that didn’t mean persuasion was ineffective.

"Still, thanks to that comment, I feel a bit better. Last time, I was so flustered, I didn’t even know what was going on, but now, I’m just relieved to be with you guys."

"Right? There’s no one better at setting the mood than us, huh? Eugene would get bored without us."

"…"

"Come on, you’re supposed to agree with that!"

But despite those words, Iris’s cold gaze didn’t waver.

And it wasn’t surprising. More than half of the raw videos that had passed through their hands, edited by Harmony and Dice, were the ones where they were teasing Eugene.

They both seemed to know this fact as well, and without further excuses, they fell silent.

There was another reason why their voices lowered.

"There are a lot of people around, huh? Out of every ten people we pass, all ten are staring. It’s more uncomfortable than I thought, but... it’s a little better being with you guys."

"How did Eugene put up with these kinds of stares?"

"How could he put up with it? He's been through this before with Lorenatina. He probably wouldn’t care if people stared. It’s us who just changed our bodies recently who are the ones panicking."

"I want to argue, but I can’t, seriously."

People began to gather around them.

In a way, Harmony and the others seemed no different from celebrities appearing out of nowhere on the streets, but there was one key difference. No one took out their phones to take pictures or videos, nor did anyone hold out pens for autographs.

They simply continued to watch, sighing regretfully, before disappearing in the direction they were supposed to go.

It couldn’t be helped. The four of them—Harmony, Dice, Iris, and Eugene—were protected with the level of security comparable to the U.S. witness protection program, and it was strictly prohibited to take photos without consent.

"Ah, everyone’s hiding here. Come on, bring out your pens. I’ll give you an autograph, even if it’s nothing special. Do you recognize the person over there?"

"Ah, wait, that... I don’t exactly know them, but I’ve seen them before. Their video is blowing up on YourSpace right now."

"Wow, they’re going to be famous soon. Hurry up and get three autographs!"

They had an impeccable fan-service spirit.

Taking photos without consent was illegal, and approaching for an autograph was even more daunting than asking celebrities for one, but if someone made the first move, the story changed.

Soon, the people who had hesitated began to flood in, and Iris ended up getting involved in signing autographs too.

Before her physical transformation, Iris had been running a YourSpace channel with around 200,000 subscribers, so it wasn’t unusual for her to have a signature.

Of course, now she had around a million subscribers.

Having reached the EM-level, her physical strength was now light-years ahead of what it had been before.

With that came increased confidence.

And with her transformation into a manifestation, her outsider traits naturally corrected.

How long had it been since then?

"Iris! Iris! Iris!"

"Teacher! Please visit the Stella Universe headquarters at least once!"

"Dice! Harmony! Dice! Harmony! She's a goddess!"

"Did you drink the Bi-yam water and turn into a Bi-yam? I think you should contribute to the nationwide Bi-yamization!"

"Your autograph is so beautiful!"

"Woah, I think it’s time to run. Bye, everyone! We came here to wander around, so if you didn’t get an autograph, we’ll see you next time!"

The chaos greeted them.

But rather than being surrounded in a circle, the crowd was more of a C-shape, and escape routes were open. Moreover, as they were EM-level, they could escape easily with strength far superior to that of ordinary people.

And that’s exactly what happened. The "Triple Bi-yams" quickly ran to a luxury store they had contacted beforehand.

The destination was the second floor, and they could smell a familiar scent—one that Olivia frequently used—as they hurried inside.

However, there was one regrettable point: they were in Cheongdam-dong, and some people walking by had the financial means to shop here comfortably.

In other words, they couldn’t get to the VIP lounge on the second floor, but people were ready to pounce for autographs while using shopping as an excuse.

After some time passed, the atmosphere began to calm down, and soon they began to notice the items displayed around them.

Clothes, bags, wallets, and other goods, all designed in a striking mix of white, gray, and red, resembling the blood spilled between their eyes.

Even amidst such expensive items, Harmony and Dice, except for Iris, maintained confident expressions. Then, as if remembering something, they spoke.

"You know, I have Olivia’s phone number. Should I give her a call? I think she’s in Paris, so it should be around 8 AM there."

"Oh, good idea. But I’m not great at English… still, I’ll try."

"Olivia, huh... Ah."

"Iris, you should start familiarizing yourself too, right?"

"Yeah?"

My opinion!?

Of course, it was lightly ignored, and after a few beeps, Harmony and Dice didn’t really expect much. Unlike them, who were relaxing, Olivia was incredibly busy.

But after a while, they heard the voice.

• […Oh, I thought it was a strange number, but it’s the new younger ones. How nice. You managed to call me in the morning.]

• [Ah, hi. It’s been a while. How have you been?]

• [You’re doing well matching the English. Thanks. Lorenatina called you the new younger ones, huh? I’ll call you that too. Anyway, what’s the reason for the call from the new younger ones, while I’m in Paris?]

• [Well, actually, we’re here. Olivia’s store, in Korea. A new brand.]

• [Ah…]

Her English was a bit awkward, but Olivia laughed, saying that was enough.

Her speech was slower than usual as she continued.

• [I kind of figured this would happen, but it looks like you guys arrived before the younger one. Thank you for that. If you were in Paris, I’d at least treat you to a meal, but since I can’t, it’s unfortunate. I’ll be visiting the Expo in Korea this year, so I’ll see you then.]

• [Oh, you’re coming to the Expo!?]

• [Of course. Anyway, I’m having breakfast now, so if you’re okay with it, let’s talk later. Alright?]

• [Yeah. Thanks for the call, unnie!]

• [Unnie, huh? How old do you think I am… Ah, never mind. It’s a meaningless question.]

As the brief call ended, Olivia suddenly exclaimed as if realizing something.

• [Oh, by the way, when they heard you became manifested, Shark got all fired up. He’s planning to recruit all of you into the army, or something. Isn’t that right?]

• […What? Wait, what did you say?]

• [That’s all I know. Ask the younger one about the rest. Alright, bye bye.]

• [Wait, hold on! Wait—]

Click.

The conversation ended, and the expressions of the three became increasingly difficult to describe.

Having manifested, they no longer had any physical issues, and their combat experience remained intact. Probably no one could stand up to Shark.

Dice and Harmony felt a cold sweat run down their backs.

It was the moment their shark phobia struck.

"Ugh, it's been crazy... I feel like it's getting worse lately. Has the headquarters ever called us like this before?"

"Individually, I don’t know, but they've called me, Sonia, and Evelyn together almost three times now. The second time was just a few days ago."

"Considering the situation, it’s not surprising, but it feels so sudden."

Not in virtual reality, but somewhere in Seongsu-dong, Seoul.

Three women, all in their mid-20s, leisurely walked through the bright sunlight inside a tall building—the headquarters of the hologram idol group Stella Universe.

The subtle lavender scent in the air tickled their noses, and the beautiful, clean interior was a delight to the eyes.

Although they had explored the space before, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. The walls of the space had some rules written on them instead of pictures or illustrations.

One of them read:

• [Hologram idols from Stella Universe should not call each other by name when they meet another hologram idol in the building.]

It was a familiar phrase.

To make this possible, the company gave badges to the “people inside” rather than employees. Therefore, as they walked through the company, the three women had name tags with Sonia, Salus, and Evelyn on them.

It wasn’t easy to get used to, but at least inside the company, it was necessary. With that thought in mind, the three of them headed toward the company’s merchandise shop and café.

When they presented their employee IDs, they got a 50% discount, a perk available to them as quasi-employees.

As sweet drinks and snacks arrived one by one, someone again broke the silence.

"I hit 700k the other day."

"I’ve got 770k."

"I’ll hit 700k soon."

"...Wasn’t it just a few months ago we were averaging around 500k? What happened?"

"I guess we weren’t holding onto a lifeline, but more like a rocket’s tether."

Their tone was incredulous.

It was hard to believe. After all, seeing a subscriber count increase by 50k or 100k after a single collaboration wasn’t impossible, but it was still astonishing. The three of them knew that it was quite feasible.

However, experiencing it firsthand was an entirely different story—especially after the viewers saw 2 million subscribers when they broadcast with the two manifesters.

But there was something else they couldn’t ignore.

"…Actually, the rise isn’t even over, is it? I’m kind of starting to get scared."

"The seniors from the first class are averaging around 1.2 million, right? The second class is around 900k."

"If we keep this up, we might catch up to the seniors in the second class after one more collaboration."

"…But honestly, if we don’t manage to keep these new subscribers, won’t they just go back to the average? Most of these new subscribers came by chance, so they might leave quickly. We can just keep broadcasting however we want."

"Yeah, that’s true. We should be careful not to lose sight of our original goal though."

"That’s true, but even if our subscriber count grows dramatically, it won’t really benefit us much, will it?"

Just as they said.

There were advantages to debuting under the name "Stella Universe," but there were also disadvantages.

Even though the subscriber count grew, it didn’t directly translate into revenue, which was the first disadvantage. Of course, more subscribers meant more incentives, but that was a one-time benefit.

The three of them took the situation quite calmly and coldly and treated their discussion about Iris or Eugene in the same way.

"I hear other people are envious of us, but we were the first to reach out to Iris, who was struggling a few months ago. So, isn’t that fine?"

"Right, right. This is what you call 'buying in low.'"

"Do you even do stocks? They don’t have stock options here, do they?"

"I just bury my money in things I know, like the name. When it’s in my account, it eventually all goes to delivery apps. Honestly, being a little poor is better."

"…You really know how to live smartly."

The plates with the cake were empty, and the tea cups were bottomed out.

Sugar and chocolate were the essential ingredients of women, and following that principle, the three of them returned their dishes and started to get ready to go home.

Not paying much attention to the rather busy atmosphere inside, they walked down the corridor leading to the elevator.

"Ah, I really want to meet Eugene in real life…"

"I want to meet Iris."

"Well, I guess I kind of want to meet Iris too... Eugene’s daily activities have been pretty exposed already, so maybe it’s Iris I’d like to meet in real life."

"How about we invite her sometime? We can talk to her people and maybe have a tour someday."

"Then, when we do our next collab, let’s casually bring it up."

As their imaginations soared, the elevator soon came into view.

Now, all that was left was a simple task of returning their employee badges, which they had gotten just now, to the lobby staff, who were frantically making calls. The three of them quickly removed their pins and started walking toward the return point.

As they glanced around, the moment one of the staff made eye contact with them, it was like a lightbulb went off above their head.

"Excuse me, you’re the third-year students, right? Could you wait just a moment?"

"Eh? What’s going on all of a sudden?"

"To explain, it’s a bit complicated, but we couldn’t reach you. We heard you were here, and a visitor coming today wanted to meet all three of you. The information we got says the people coming today might be quite helpful to Stella Universe…"

"Oh, is this some kind of advertisement? Then that’s a different story."

Perhaps an advertiser had come to offer them something?

In that case, waiting for a moment would be nothing, so they all decided to put their badges back on and waited in front of the elevator.

At that moment, an elevator swiftly rose from the first floor. Could it be the people the lobby staff had mentioned?

With that thought, the three of them stood slightly away from the entrance, their expressions full of anticipation, waiting for the doors to open...

Ding!

"...Huh."

"W-What, what’s this?"

"Ah... Iris!?"

"...Uh, who are you?"

The Triple Bi-yams appeared from the elevator, each wearing temporary employee badges.

Of course, this wasn’t surprising, but the manifesters were incredibly fast, and it didn’t take long for the third-year students to realize it.