Chapter 33

1 Out of 10

In the few days since the exposé stream, the status of the name Lilith on the internet had completely changed.

Just a short while ago, she had been treated as a public enemy across the internet amid talk of slave contracts and abuse.

Yet after enduring the unfair public shaming to the very end without ever breaking character, an insider from the perpetrators’ side stepped forward on her own and revealed the truth.

It was truly a reversal straight out of a drama. People went wild for the story, and the name Lilith instantly became the hottest three syllables on the Korean internet.

The princess who had been sweating bullets dealing with vampire hunters pouring in from every corner of the internet now stood at the center of attention for an entirely different reason.

Clips from Lilith’s past streams began circulating again across all kinds of communities. From the early days when she became famous for the moaning clip, to the sleepy stream, the identity incident, and even the clone joke.

Things that had once been consumed as nothing more than funny incidents were now being reexamined with comments like, “Turns out she was no ordinary person.”

Once attention started gathering, its momentum became impossible to control.

And when things reached this point, there was always one group that inevitably came flocking in.

Streamers.

Right now, Lilith herself was a massive bundle of publicity. There was no way people in the industry would want to miss the chance to ride that wave of attention, even if they could get involved with her just once.

From that day onward, all kinds of collaboration offers began pouring in for Lilith.

Some would appear directly in Lilith’s chat while she was streaming and openly propose a collab.

Of course, there were also people who sent 5,700-character-long emails like that Starlight Media person Yoon Dohyun, or was it Yuk Dohyun.

But those emails, packed with as much care as fine-dining cuisine, simply piled up in an inbox that was never opened.

Shin Yua, who never touched her inbox in her life, would never know, but some of them were painfully embarrassing.

-I said some harsh things back then because I didn’t really understand what was happening. I sincerely apologize with my head bowed. Actually, I’ve been a fan of Lilith from the beginning. So, if you happen to have time, maybe we could do a collab together...

The people who had eagerly swallowed Seira’s group’s bait and torn into Lilith and the adults behind her(?) were now apologizing as easily as flipping over their palms, only to casually tack on a collaboration request at the end. Was this an apology, or a sales pitch?

And so, in the span of one week, Lilith received no fewer than ten collaboration offers. And that was after filtering out only the relatively normal ones.

Of course, the person who received all ten was not Lilith herself.

Username: OurHouseMaid, Han Sejin.

As always, quietly managing all of this fell to her.

— — —

“Is this all of them?”

“Yes. I deleted all the ridiculous ones.”

“Ooh...”

Lying on my stomach on the bed, I glanced over the list Ms. Sejin had organized and printed out.

What, are collaboration offers delivery boxes now? Why do they keep piling up every single day?

All I do is turn on my stream at night and play with my subjects. I have no idea what these people even want to do with me so badly.

“Such is the weariness of one who is popular. Is that not so, Ms. Sejin?”

“Don’t use that way of speaking outside the stream.”

“Ahem.”

Indeed. The vampire princess’s dignity only works inside the stream screen in this house. Sob sob sob.

“But what do these people even want to do with me so badly? All I do on stream is play games and chat. I can’t even do mukbang because of the model.”

“That’s because you’re the hottest topic right now, Miss. At times like this, people benefit just from standing next to someone famous.”

“Hmm. So they want to stick a spoon into someone else’s publicity. Kind of shameless.”

“That’s how everyone grows. It isn’t always a bad thing. You also did that with that NewTuber last time...”

“Ah, right. The kind old maid—.”

“I told you not to call her that.”

For me, this kind of thing was only bothersome, but from Ms. Sejin’s perspective, maybe all of it could be calculated into something worthwhile.

Several days had passed since that whole disaster, but unlike the noisy outside world, my daily life had not really changed.

During the day, I still followed the schedule Grandfather had arranged, and at night, I streamed.

Out of all those activities, the one I liked most lately was definitely horseback riding.

In the meantime, I had gone to the riding center two more times. I was getting fairly used to sitting on a horse now, and more than anything, I enjoyed seeing Ms. Seorin.

Ms. Seorin had become noticeably brighter.

That faint dark shadow I had glimpsed when I first met her—before the exposé stream—had completely disappeared.

Every time she saw me, she smiled brightly enough that it even made me feel good.

“Now then, Lili-chan. Shall we go a little faster today?”

“Yup! But if it’s too fast, it’s scary.”

“It’s okay. I’m right beside you.”

After getting her to speak casually, it definitely felt like we had grown closer. Rather than riding instructor and member, she felt more like an unnie I simply knew.

At first, she had been so awkward that she barely managed to speak casually, but now it had become fairly natural. It was still cute how polite speech sometimes tried to slip out by habit, making her stop herself.

“Lili-chan, your posture is good. Relax your shoulders.”

“Like this?”

“Yeah, good job.”

“Hehehe.”

When I rode while chatting about pointless things with Ms. Seorin like that, I could forget all the noisy things happening in the world.

Ah, of course the kind old maid had contacted me too. She said she had watched Ms. Seorin’s exposé stream and was really glad everything had somehow worked out.

Her voice was even watery. An adult bawling like that. For an old maid, she has a surprisingly delicate side when you get to know her.

And Woojin.

That familiar who boasted muscles made of stone came running to our house the moment the exposé stream ended.

“Hey, hey. How did things work out like this? I was watching live and got chills.”

“Oppa, were you surprised too?”

“Surprised doesn’t even cover it. And the person who exposed everything was your riding instructor? The world is seriously small, I’m telling you.”

“Well, somehow things just turned out that way.”

“No, this is the kind of plot people would call contrived even if it came out in a novel, so how does it happen in real life?”

“Seriously.”

“But you’re really okay, right? You must’ve had a rough time mentally. The chat was like that for weeks.”

Woojin subtly changed his expression as he asked.

“I’m fine. Stuff like that doesn’t really shake me.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I slept well too. Eight hours. I used to sleep seven, but I increased it a bit.”

“You slept more than me. Then why aren’t you getting any taller?”

“Eek. I’m going to grow from now on.”

“Anyway, I’m glad everything worked out. I was seriously worried about you.”

“Worried, my ass. Oppa, just focus on your practice. You might fail that draft thing or whatever.”

“Hey. If someone worries about you, at least accept it nicely. And I’m a first-year student, you know?”

“Baby.”

“...You’re one to talk.”

Anyway, the noisy incidents were gradually being wrapped up one by one.

Of course, there was still the matter of crushing those fabricators, but I already had the broad outline of how to deal with that.

Legal action takes a long time by nature.

But that waiting is nothing more than seasoning that will make revenge taste sweeter. Heheheheheh.

The problem that needed handling right now was these ten collaboration offers. Whether I rejected or accepted them, I still had to process them.

“All right, shall we go through them one by one? Let’s see...”

Ms. Sejin unfolded the list.

“First, this person is out.”

“Why?”

“They had a major controversy two years ago over gambling-related streams. Things are quiet now, but if you get involved, the trouble could spread to you too.”

“Gambling?”

“Apparently they ran gambling content aimed at viewers in some online game. Something called Rune something M.”

“Ahh.”

Th-That, that game. That infamous game.

Ms. Sejin continued swiping through the tablet and reciting the results of the background checks on the streamers who had requested collaborations.

“What about this person?”

“There are some personality controversies...”

“Personality?”

“There are stories from several places saying they abused their staff. With someone like this, you never know how they might suddenly change on stream.”

“This person?”

“Their stream concept is a bit provocative. It doesn’t fit your image, Miss.”

“Then this person.”

“They only recently came back after taking time off because hidden advertising was exposed five months ago.”

“What about this unnie? She looks really nice.”

“People who look nice are the most dangerous.”

“...Isn’t that a bit prejudiced?”

“Experience. Actually, this person has a menhera issue.”

When I asked for sources, she had TriWiki, plus documents I had no idea where she had gotten. At this point, does she know how many hairs are on their heads too? Even the National Intelligence Service would cry.

“This person.”

“This person... I just don’t like them.”

“What kind of reason is that?”

“My intuition says no.”

“Intuition...”

“Women have intuition. You’ll get it too once you’re a few years older, Miss.”

“Eek. No way.”

By the end, it included even Ms. Sejin’s personal tastes and intuition. At this point, it felt less like choosing a collaboration partner and more like interviewing someone to become my son-in-law.

And so, nine people were eliminated.

Only one person remained.

Honestly, by this point, I was starting to get curious. Who in the world had survived Ms. Sejin’s strict screening all the way to the end? Were they some kind of saint?

“I think this person would be acceptable.”

I looked down at the final name left on the list.

“But who is Gomtaengi?”