Popularized by depressing TikTok slideshows, 'real' is used to express how something shown (from the slideshow, for example) is very present in their life, and has a personal effect on them.
Due to a large proportion of such slideshows to be about heartbreak, people commonly mention how real may be used as an acronym for 'Realise Everybody Always Leaves' despite not always being the case.
A: Hey, Look at this video
B: real