"Seol, noona has to work now."
"Ugh…! Looking at me like that won’t change anything! C’mon, let’s go to the living room."
Making up her mind, Ha-eun scooped up Baek-seol in one swift motion.
Stepping out of the soundproof booth, she carried Baek-seol to the empty living room and gently placed her on the sofa.
Then, seeing Baek-seol still staring at her blankly, she tried to reassure her.
"Mom and Dad will be back soon. Just hang in there for a little while, okay?"
At the same time, Ha-eun took a step back from the sofa.
When Baek-seol showed no noticeable reaction, she slowly began retreating further, keeping eye contact the whole time.
Step by step, little by little—
Only after she was safely back in her room did she finally let out a sigh of relief.
Truthfully, she wanted to have Baek-seol with her while she streamed as Diah.
During the Go To High endurance stream, Baek-seol had quietly laid on her lap without causing any trouble.
But this time was different.
This wasn’t just a regular Diah solo stream—it was a massive Illusionary Realm collab with both the first and second generations involved.
Not to mention, she had to fully immerse herself in the role of an undercover cop.
She wouldn’t have the bandwidth to keep an eye on Baek-seol at the same time.
"Ugh, this hurts my heart…."
She worried about Baek-seol being alone in the living room, but there was no other way.
She could only hope that Baek-seol would hold out until Na-yeon and Seong-yoon got back.
Pushing aside her lingering worries, Ha-eun headed straight back to the soundproof booth.
After clearing her throat, she began setting up for the stream.
Click-clack. Click-clack.
[Officer, over here☆ (Minecraft Collab)]
As soon as she turned on her mic, chat messages flooded in.
Greeting her viewers as usual, Ha-eun clicked on the Minecraft icon.
Moments later, she logged into the Illusionary Realm collab server, where a city map built specifically for the Cops & Robbers event welcomed Diah’s avatar.
"Ooh, this place is huge~."
"Stash the jewels in advance? …Should we?"
Just as Diah and her Noeulis (fans) were scheming something shady—step step.
One of the mods, who was already in the server, approached Diah’s avatar.
[ What was that about the jewels? ]
"B-Baek-seol bar! I meant I wanted to eat a Baek-seol bar…! Right, Noeulis?"
Trying to play it off, Diah’s avatar made a run for it.
She loudly announced that she was just going to explore the map while waiting for the other members to arrive.
"I-I’ll see you later, manager—!"
Not long after, having successfully shaken off Sori’s avatar, Diah began roaming around the map.
Whether she was a cop or a robber, knowing the map would be key for any chases later.
Strictly speaking, Diah had already been assigned the role of the undercover cop,
but that information wouldn’t be revealed until the opening.
If they announced her role too early, trolls would jump into other streams and spoil the game, ruining the whole dynamic.
So for now, she wandered through the city map, checking out different areas.
And along the way, she kept encountering small parkour challenges.
"Hmm, can I make that jump or not?"
[ User ㅇㅇ has d 10,000 won! ]
: If you land this first try, I’ll 30,000 more.
"Alright, here I go!!"
[ LUX_Diah has fallen to her death. ]
"AAAH! MY 30,000 WON!"
"Wait, it wasn’t 30,000 won… it was 3 minutes?! Y-you wanna go?!"
As Diah continued fooling around on the map, more members gradually logged into the server.
Before she knew it, everyone had gathered.
Just as her avatar was attempting to climb onto the police station rooftop—woosh!
[ Oh! It’s Diah-sunbae! ]
She was suddenly teleported and found herself surrounded by familiar voices from the first-gen members and unfamiliar ones from the second-gen.
And then, she spotted someone standing idly in the distance—Hida’s avatar.
"If we ever do a big collab in the future, could you act as a bridge between everyone?"
As Ha-eun recalled Ji Hye-min’s voice from long ago, she controlled her keyboard and slowly crept toward Hida’s avatar.
Then, just as she reached right behind her—whack!
[ Ack! Who’s there?! ]
"Grandma! You’re under arrest for the crime of emotional distress!!"
[ Y-You hit me and then ran away?! ]
And just like that, a chaotic chase began between Diah and Hida, filled with teasing and playful taunts.
Before long, Diah’s antics had infected the other members, and within seconds, the entire starting area had descended into utter chaos.
A complete and total mess.
Technically, they hadn’t even officially started the collab yet, but things were already getting rowdy.
[ C-Cream…senpai! Catch that hit-and-run criminal! ]
[ Okay, Diah, get over here!! ]
"AAAH! A slime and a witch are both after me!!"
One thing was for sure—Diah’s little act had successfully broken the ice between Hida and the others.
As she kept hitting and running, a frustrated Hida eventually ended up asking the others for help catching Diah.
However, Daramji, the host of today’s Cops & Robbers collab, had just joined the server.
And from the host’s perspective, the sheer chaos before the game had even begun was simply unacceptable.
[ Alright, ENOUGH! QUIET DOWN, YOU MANIACS!! ]
[ LUX_Nael was struck by Daramgi’s Lightning!! ]
[ LUX_Mile was struck by Daramgi’s Lightning!! ]
[ LUX_Diah was struck by Daramgi’s Lightning!! ]
[ LUX_Yun was struck by Daramgi’s Lightning!! ]
And so, the host wiped out the entire Illusionary Realm squad in one fell swoop using an admin-exclusive item.
Ten avatars respawned all at once.
[ First-gen members, stand in the front. Second-gen members, get on the gold blocks! ]
[ Why do the first-gen members get the front?! I don’t wanna be in the front! I’m standing next to Ocean~. ]
[ LUX_Riah was struck by Daramgi’s Lightning!! ]
[ When I say listen, I mean LISTEN, Riah. ]
And just like that, everyone finally lined up properly in their designated spots.
With the Illusionary Realm members in formation, Daramji addressed the official channel’s viewers and kicked off the Cops & Robbers collab.
[ Alright, today we’re playing Cops & Robbers with the Illusionary Realm fam! First, let’s start introductions with the eldest, Mile! ]
[ Big sis, big sis~! ]
[ Clap clap clap clap~! ]
And so began the introduction relay.
Starting with Mile, the eldest of Illusionary Realm’s first generation, each member introduced themselves in turn, all the way down to Hida, the youngest of the second generation.
But since the official game hadn’t started yet, Ha-eun had planned to make sure Hida got plenty of attention.
[ ─and my goal is to have fun! Please take care of me~. ]
“Ah, Grandma! How’s your back today? It’s gonna give out if you run too much later~.”
[ W-Who are you calling Grandma?! ]
"You’re 600 years old, of course you’re a grandma! Oh, do you prefer Auntie instead?"
The moment Hida finished her introduction, Diah immediately jumped in.
As expected, Discord exploded with laughter, and chat was flooded with "ㅋㅋㅋㅋ" (Korean LOLs).
Naturally, this meant Daramji had to unleash another round of Lightning!!
Only after all the members were once again respawned did the stream finally get back on track.
[ Alright, now we’ll decide the Cops and Robbers! Please enter the brick house one by one! ]
One by one, starting with the first-gen members, they entered the brick house to determine their teams.
Then came Diah’s turn.
"AAAH! I’M FALLING!!"
The floor beneath Diah’s avatar vanished, sending her plummeting down.
Fortunately, the bottom was water, so she avoided fall damage.
[ Welcome, Agent Diah. You have been chosen for our Secret mission. ]
“Oh! A secret agent?!”
She feigned surprise at the sight of the hidden underground base and the voice echoing from its center.
After all, adding a little flair made the experience more fun for the viewers.
[ Your mission is to infiltrate the Diah Fan Club and take them down from the inside. Can you handle it? ]
After receiving her Undercover Cop badge from an admin, Diah was instantly teleported to the Thieves’ Hideout.
Soon, one by one, the "real" thieves began teleporting in.
Feigning innocence, she greeted one of them warmly.
[ KYAAAAA!! WE’RE ON THE SAME TEAM!!! ]
"Oh, uh… uh… W-We got this! Fighting~!"
The first person she ran into was none other than Nael.
And knowing that she would have to betray Nael later, Ha-eun felt a tiny pang of guilt.