To put it simply, Seoyeon was sulking.

    A hidden camera prank was understandable. At the time, she was too confused to fully grasp it, but she’d seen similar pranks on Korean celebrities a few times.

    Still, even if it was filmed in an inn, she should have questioned why there were no staff members around. However, wasn’t it a bit too much to leave her completely ignored while she was being chased by a ghost?

    "I saw you, Sora. You were the one who shut the door the hardest when I was desperately running from the ghost."

    Seoyeon spoke curtly, clearly annoyed. Sora, who had fainted and woken up ten minutes later, felt a pang of injustice at Seoyeon’s words.

    ‘Desperately running? When did I even do that?’

    Thinking back, Sora vaguely remembered feeling like there was something following behind Seoyeon. The problem was that Seoyeon’s frantic crawling was so intense that she’d mostly forgotten about it.

    "S-so, why did you pick up the hatchet?" "Just in case a ghost attacked me, to protect myself." "...."

    Of course, the hatchet was just a prop made of sturdy plastic. But still, she had been banging it against the floor while chasing them. Sora wondered how she could even manage that, but she didn’t dare ask any further.

    Seoyeon was still huffing in indignation.

    ‘How could you just leave a cute girl desperately running for her life?’

    In fact, Sora wasn’t the only one. When they’d opened the door that was barely closing and started to run away, even the male actors who had been running with them saw it.

    Though, by that point, the ghost makeup on the actors had mostly come off, so it wasn’t as frightening.

    "I was so scared my legs gave out." "Ah, so that’s why." "I had to crawl with my arms to get away, didn’t I?"

    Normally, people can’t crawl that quickly with their arms. It’s probably something only Seoyeon could manage. Even after crawling so fast, she hadn’t even scraped her knees or legs.

    “The reactions were really something!”

    The day after the hidden camera filming ended, Nanjou Katsuo PD, who had watched everything unfold, sounded genuinely amazed.

    “To think she saw through our prank and turned it into her own hidden camera on us instead.” “Right? It was like she was reacting as if, ‘Since when did you think you were the only ones pulling a hidden camera prank on me?’” “Her ghostly acting to turn the tables on us was really top-notch. Absolutely incredible.”

    Listening to PD Nanjou’s praise, Seoyeon stood there blankly, unsure how to respond.

    ‘I have no idea what he’s talking about.’

    Despite watching a lot of anime, she thought she could understand Japanese decently, but hearing it straight from a native speaker was a different experience altogether. PD Nanjou supposedly knew some Korean too, so why couldn’t he just use that?

    Also, she couldn’t tell who was an actor and who was part of the crew.

    ‘Please translate this for me.’

    Seoyeon glanced at Sora with a look that practically screamed, “Hey, translation device, are you going to translate or what?” Taking the hint, Sora quickly translated PD Nanjou’s words for her.

    "Um, he said that your reaction to the hidden camera was really well done." "Really? Honestly, I don’t remember much because I was just running the whole time. Well, let him know the actors did an amazing job playing ghosts."

    If anyone were to tell Seoyeon that she had actually been the one performing a hidden camera prank or that she had acted as a ghost, she would undoubtedly sulk. So Sora decided to paraphrase Nanjou’s words carefully.

    In Seoyeon’s dreams, she was still just a cute girl running away in pure terror.

    "So, when will the hidden camera air?" "It should air in about three days. There’s not much to edit. We were going to add some other segments, but we’ll probably split this one into two episodes."

    Thanks to Sora’s translations, the conversation flowed naturally. Having a native speaker around really made things easier, Seoyeon thought.

    ‘Well, it sounds like the response was good, so that’s fine.’

    Still, she was impressed by the level of Japanese hidden camera pranks. In Korea, there are so many things you’re not allowed to do on variety shows these days that this type of prank wouldn’t even be possible.

    Japan may be a bit over-the-top, but the pure fun element of “entertainment shows” hadn’t faded there.

    ‘Although sometimes it’s a bit too much.’

    This hidden camera prank had certainly been a shocking experience.

    "Come to think of it, is this the only variety show I’ll be filming in Japan?"

    After parting ways with PD Nanjou, Seoyeon headed to the accommodation they had officially booked in Japan. She had heard they would be staying for about two weeks, so she didn’t expect to be playing around the whole time.

    "Huh? Didn’t you check the schedule, Seoyeon?" "I did, but some parts were vague."

    Technically, she’d heard they would only be filming one thing. But since they’d already done the hidden camera yesterday, didn’t that count as one?

    "That was newly added. The original plan was just an interview-based show." "Oh, I see." "And if there’s time, maybe one more filming session wouldn’t be bad?"

    The Japanese hotel was... well, it was just a hotel. Nothing particularly amazing.

    ‘Actually, I preferred the inn.’

    Lost in a daze, watching the two of them, Sato suddenly found the black-haired girl standing in front of her. The other woman behind her looked at her nervously.

    Seeing she had no items in hand, Sato figured she wasn’t there to check out. So, did she have something to ask?

    ‘Why?’

    Sato looked at her, curious.

    "...."

    The girl gazed at her silently, as if thinking about what to say.

    "Miss...?"

    Sato asked, puzzled. Just as she did, the girl’s sharp gaze locked onto her, with a strikingly beautiful, albeit slightly cold look.

    It was a beauty so intense it was almost frightening. Then, after a pause, the girl’s mouth slowly opened.

    “Hey, girl.” “?”

    Sato froze in place. What she said was... not quite what she had expected.

    Seoyeon was enjoying a happy sightseeing trip in Japan. She didn’t have to wake up early.

    Whenever she opened her eyes, she’d have a meal and go straight into Tokyo for sightseeing.

    "Uh, didn’t we go there yesterday?"

    The only thing that baffled Sora was Seoyeon’s insistence on certain places.

    ‘Why does she like Akihabara so much?’

    Seoyeon’s trip to Japan was oddly one-sided. The truth was, she wasn’t the type to enjoy landscapes or sightseeing.

    Everything she wanted was in Akihabara—anime, gacha games, and even virtual YouTubers.

    ‘Japan has a lot of second-hand stores.’

    There were things she couldn’t get in Korea. And she was amazed at how easily accessible adult content was.

    She’d gone in without thinking, only to run out screaming after seeing shelves full of adult doujinshi.

    Even for Seoyeon, running into that unprepared was a shock.

    ‘N-not that I have any tolerance for that.’

    But it stuck in her mind afterward. Maybe she’d sneak in alone when Sora wasn’t around.

    After two days of touring Akihabara, something else popped into her mind.

    ‘I haven’t gone to a Japanese convenience store yet!’

    Japanese convenience store food is famous, after all. Sure, Korean convenience store food quality had gone up, but Japanese convenience store food was supposedly still better.

    Seoyeon was interested.

    Besides, to her, visiting convenience stores was part of her “duties.” She’d always been one to go on convenience store tours back home.

    Of course, she’d visit Japan’s too. More than anything...

    ‘I heard they’re selling chocolates with a VTuber collaboration.’

    In Japanese convenience stores, you could sometimes find collaboration products with anime or VTubers. Seoyeon knew this already.

    So, after visiting the convenience store...

    “Next time, just let me do the talking.”

    Sora gave her that advice.

    ‘Japanese is hard.’

    Seoyeon had only been trying to speak as she’d heard in anime, and she’d only adjusted her tone a bit after PD Nanjou had told her she sounded like a “gyaru high schooler.”

    ‘They said not to use “kisama.”’

    She had only meant to say, “Excuse me, ma’am.” What else was she supposed to call a girl but a girl? Seoyeon genuinely wondered.

    Anyway.

    With her sightseeing tour in Japan ongoing, the following day, at six in the evening...

    Seoyeon’s first Japanese variety show aired.