I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work - Chapter 140

There are four computers in the company broadcast room.

Typically, it’s rare for even one of them to be in action.

Usually, the members use them for brief announcements when they come to the company for work, or when Cheon Dohui is so busy she actually *lives* at the office, just to turn on the broadcast.

However, recently Majia has been frequently using the computers, and today she’s even using two at once!

One is the computer currently broadcasting.

The other had already entered a party, but it’s for Majia’s secondary account, which looks non-existent thanks to the ghost player mode.

If you’re confused about how this works, just imagine having two computers on: one for running tasks and the other for broadcasting.

So, when Majia heroically finishes the Jangsanbeom operation and returns, all people see is just Majia “re-joining after finishing her busy work.”

Majia’s main account had actually just left the lobby and came back in.

[Magia has joined the game]

As soon as the message popped up, the members who were floating in space like cosmic trash because they failed to meet their performances eagerly clicked to start a new game at the same time.

Gathered in the newly launched spaceship are five people.

Four of them surrounded Majia and launched a collaborative monologue.

“Jia!!!!”

“Jia! Why are you just now showing up?!”

“Jia!! We’re dead. Already dead. Is this game really a horror game?”

“Boohoo! But it’s so funny…!!”

Jia pretended to know nothing.

“I’m sorry. Something came up, and I had to take care of that. I might step away again later, but wait, did you all get wiped out? I thought I’d at least see a middle planet level by now.”

Hearing that, Komari, who had an instinctive suspicion, asked,

“Sis, you added more mods without telling us, right? Spill it, what is it?”

“Mods? No, what I told you was all there is.”

“Don’t lie! The Jangsanbeom we encountered last game couldn’t have appeared without a mod…!!”

— For real

— I’m scared ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

— Is it really not a mod?

— Come on, haha, it’s got to be a mod lol

But even if Majia secretly used mods, as long as she didn’t reveal it, no one would find out.

If the members wanted to know the truth, they shouldn’t have provoked Majia, saying the game was easy.

“I really don’t know. I just got back from work.”

Uncertain but something definitely started, and it was highly likely to be one of Majia’s pranks now.

Instead of waiting for Majia’s uncertain answers, the members decided it would be better to brace themselves and make the best of the remaining broadcast.

Once she starts fully putting on her mask, they won’t be able to distinguish what’s true or false anyhow.

Even trashit, who helped with the mod setting, couldn’t tell which voice was Majia’s and which was the members’ in the current situation.

In other streamers’ collaborations, if a doppelganger shows up, everyone panics, shouting “It’s Jangsanbeom!” But in Parallel’s case, they’d have to shout “It’s Majia!”

There were numerous suspicious points, but Komari decided to back off for now.

“Ha… There’s definitely something going on…”

Continuing to suspect someone who just came to collaborate in the middle of their busy schedule would disrupt the flow of the broadcast.

And they were the ones who pushed it, provoking her.

“For now, let’s get back to it. With Jia here, if all five of us go at it, we can reach the middle planet in no time.”

* * *

But since they became quite accustomed to the lower planet, everyone felt no pressure in starting again.

The timid Dora and Maru were swinging their weapons much more bravely than before!

However, one unusual current began to flow among the members.

After the Super Jangsanbeom appeared, they started to question everything everyone said, one by one.

“Who are you?”

“Who else could it be? It’s me!”

“Why are you speaking Korean better than usual, Rain?”

“What the. Cut it out! No time!”

No matter how tightly they grouped together, when they picked up items and explored the surroundings, they would inevitably break apart briefly.

Every time they got back together, they wasted time repeating identity checks.

“Stop it and let’s hurry to the next room. We need to rack up points now.”

“They say the worst person is the one who pretends to mediate during a fight…”

“No, but why did you bring that up right now, Dora?”

“That was really smart, Dora! Are you sure you’re not fake?”

“No, no…!”

— What are they doing lol

— Total chaos haha

— Classic familiar everyday another scene lol

— The doppelganger hasn’t even appeared yet, but they’re already turning against each other lol

But this was a pattern not seen in today’s broadcast.

One of the things people had hoped for as new entertainment!

Before they got wiped out, the members who had been cheering each other on suddenly clashed— it couldn’t possibly be boring.

Meanwhile, Rain’s chronic landmine deaths and Dora’s slips kept happening on their own.

There was even an incident where Maru thought Komari was a doppelganger and beat her to d*ath.

Since the Super Jangsanbeom didn’t pop out again, the chances of members self-destroying due to suspicion instead increased, creating a much more entertaining broadcast.

In the end, the first-generation trainees acknowledged that they hadn’t made any money and got fired, showing a renewed spirit, leading the fans to rally their support once more.

Having properly kicked off the first week, they successfully rescued a fan character, achieving a middle planet license in just a week this time.

“Finally got it, Hatchling!”

— Mamaaan

— We survived

— Get us out of this hellish place

— We’re never doing this again!

— Middle planet, let’s go!

Despite the hard work that landed them on the middle planet, the common opinion among members was to experience as much as they could before they died.

“Eventually, if monsters show up that we don’t know, we’ll get wiped out anyway. So let’s try to witness as much as we can. Then we’ll know how to deal with them.”

That way they wouldn’t d*e pointless deaths when they returned to the middle planet.

Of course, they realized that separating to witness more wouldn’t solve anything in the lower lands, so this time they decided to split into two parties for efficiency and survival.

— What’s the point of agonizing over this if we’re going to d*e anyway

— For real lol

— Ironically, the harder we prepare, the more I’m looking forward to dying haha

— Get hollowed out, get hollowed out

— Boombox Springhead Jangsanbeom, let’s go!!!

However, the fate of having pointless deaths was inescapable for the members.

Despite the first-generation trainees’ desire to survive as long as possible in the middle planet, the goddess of fate seemed to have heard the viewers’ wishes and sent them the most dangerous creature in the middle planet.

Maru and Rain, who had teamed up for an adventure, encountered today’s key monster.

The Boombox.

— It’s here

— It’s come

— That b*stard is back haha

The Boombox is a game destroyer, a newbie slaughterer.

It’s invulnerable to physical damage, so no matter how much you hit it with a steel pipe or shovel, it won’t d*e. And if you try to run away, it’ll follow you to the ends of the Earth and explode with you.

There’s only one way to deal with it.

Keep a distance so it can’t recognize the player and stop playing music.

And once it starts playing, you have to run outside the ruins to survive.

If you stay inside, it will explode no matter where you are!

Now that they knew such a creature existed, facing it for the first time made them unsure of how far was a safe distance.

Especially since Maru was overconfident, having attempted to beat down most of the monsters they had already met, right?

Its appearance wasn’t creepy like a spider. Just a cassette player with arms and legs, so she approached it without a second thought and hit it with a shovel.

— Haha

— We’re done for

— Byeee haha

As the chorus of Parallel’s 1st-anniversary song <One Others> immediately played, everyone who had already been snickering at Maru’s newbie behavior burst out laughing.

[Running to find the light——]

— Is this it? lol

— Hahahaha

— Wait, what? I thought they did something crazy with mods and instead, they just put their song as a funeral march, those crazy Parallel folks haha

It’s rare for a monster that explodes while playing a song to use a song they worked hard to create themselves!

Most companies avoid such situations due to superstitions about jinxing themselves.

But when Parallel openly displayed their intention to make everyone laugh, it was absurd yet undeniably funny.

Furthermore, while they should have been fleeing, Rain started belting out her part like the pro she is.

“Let me find the light!”

[To the dreams hidden in the dark]

“We will rise, we will shine!”

“Sis, this isn’t the time to sing?!”

— What are you doing haha

— Just run lol

— With professionalism in a situation like this haha

— Here she goes again haha

It’s a wonderful dedication to sing whenever one’s song comes on, but the person leading was the monster, a bomb that could go off at any moment!

However, because it was Rain who had been enjoying the game to her heart’s content, her action was perceived not as trolling but as a funny blunder.

That blunder turned into an art piece when Rain, who was circling near the Boombox, stepped on a landmine and exploded.

“Sis, there’s a landmine there!”

“Oops sh—….”

Boom!!

Whoever said jokes repeat themselves?

Wasn’t it just a moment ago that Rain mindlessly dashed around and stepped on a landmine to explode?

This time, it wasn’t just mindless darting; she got blown up because she was too busy singing to look at her feet.

— Hahahahahahh

— Hahahahaha

— Hahahahaha

— Oh my god haha

When Rain exploded, the Boombox’s aggro switched over to Maru.

“Uh? Me? Me? Is it following me? Oh cr*p.”

Maru started running for her life.

Soon, her screams of “Help me!” while running caught the ears of the other three.

“Run! Run, run!”

But guess who’s behind Maru?

“What? What? ……Ah, Boombox!”

“What, what, should we run?”

“If you stand still, you’ll blow up! Run, sis!”

But in their path, there was a narrow metal bridge with no railings.

Today, Dora had slipped to her d*ath whenever they encountered this spot while running away…

“Eekkkkk———……”

And sure enough, she slipped to her d*ath again.

— You’ve got to be kidding me hahahahaha

— Oh my god hahahahahaha

— You fools hahahaha

— I just spit my food out haha

— As if they’re following some choreography in reverse haha

By this time, the remaining three had scattered.

Maru, who had created this mess by mindlessly hitting the Boombox, lost her way and found herself in a dead end. Thus, there was no plot progression here at all.

Perhaps realizing she couldn’t survive?

Cornered, Maru sang the last line of the chorus as if she had given up on life.

“I will complete our story———!!”

Soon, with a massive explosion, the ruins trembled.

Bang——!!!

— Hahaha

— Hahahahaha

— What a relief

— Hahahahaha

— Oh god haha

*

From Majia’s introduction to the chaos caused by the Boombox,

Cheon Dohui, who had been watching the flow the whole time, nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Nice and clean.”

The progression of content was incredibly smooth.

It felt like a stock graph steadily rising, despite taking little adjustments here and there.

Tutorial, zero earnings, 0 won.

The first actual match, getting complacent and thinking the game was easy, only to get knocked down right in front of the middle planet by Majia’s interference, back to Basic Village.

In the second game, they swiftly obtained their middle planet license, showing once more that they had grown… but through mutual suspicion and conflicting situations, they reached a high level of engagement…

In this way, the arrival in the middle planet, which they had anticipated, played out exactly as expected.

‘It was great for Jia to intervene at this point.’

It wouldn’t have been a big deal if they had just gone through without forcing Majia’s entry.

But they wouldn’t have made the viewers realize the value of the “middle planet license.”

Those who were experiencing the black warning for the first time on today’s stream might not know, but those who had seen a few broadcasts surely would.

Especially this insane scene just now would not have been nearly as entertaining if they had arrived at the middle planet smoothly.

The timing of Majia swooping in and the members who were craving for screen time resulted in the best outcome.

Whether for shorts or edited videos, it was a perfect fit.

And as today’s case, in the president’s office where Cheon Dohui and Team Leader Ra Seunghyeon gathered to watch the broadcast, they reached a definite conclusion.

“I can see clearly why Majia is the cheat code for collaborations. She knows well when the broadcast gets dull, and she actively steps in to fill that gap.”

“Right? I’ve been thinking that for a while, but I needed about half a year to see if it was luck or pure skill.”

“Seems like it was a suitable period. I think the kid is talented and has great instinct, but I’m worried she might rely too much on her improvisational abilities. But now I think I’ve seen enough. I think we can stop worrying.”

“That means from now on, we can safely involve Jia in any broadcast, including collaborations with the members, right?”

“Absolutely. I’m sure she’ll be a great help.”

Team Leader Ra Seunghyeon continued.

“The four first-generation trainees are doing enough on their own, you know? For only being in the industry for a year and a half, their adaptation has been unrealistically fast.

But if our kids are perfectly done meat, then Majia acts as the last pepper, entirely removing any slight unpleasant smell that might offend some. There’s no reason not to use her.”

“Hmm.”

“Majia does manage the members well. But ordinary management should be assigned to people like Seungyeon, while we should make her the control tower for live broadcasts.

I didn’t realize it before since I was ignorant…. But to be honest, it feels like a waste for such talent to be assigned to trivial tasks.”

Majia does broadcasts for VTubers.

And her thoughts always create unexpected visuals, producing remarkable results.

Who else returned with a hit from a collaboration with Bajubi that everyone least expected? That was Majia!

Having been in the marketing team of a big corporation for ten years, Team Leader Ra Seunghyeon knew.

It’s a luxury to expect to do only what you want in the company.

And capable people should be remunerated for their value in money and be expected to utilize that ability for the company.

“So, I think after this broadcast ends, we should definitely decide on Majia’s position based on the short-form promotions that will be taking place.”

“I understand, but I’m against increasing Jia’s share any further.”

“President, this is a company. And you know we’re already short-handed here, right?”

“…Hmm.”

“And you know talents like Jia are precious.”

“Yes.”

“However, most of the tasks that Jia originally did can be done by someone else. I get that there aren’t many people like Seungyeon, but we found her, didn’t we? There’s no need for Jia to handle the preparations for the second generation’s debut. It’s a replaceable task.”

“Right. I agree.”

“I know you treasure Majia, President. I also get that you’re worried because she once overdid it and almost collapsed.

But, this is a company. In blunt terms, even if you care about her work-life balance, you need to put her in the role that fits best. With adequate compensation, I think Jia will reconsider.”

But Cheon Dohui had avoided assigning broadcast-related tasks to Majia, knowing all of this.

“I understand where Team Leader Ra is coming from. But there are two problems.

First, Jia likes watching streams, but she doesn’t like doing them. As you said, we can’t provide sufficient compensation.”

“Are you saying we can’t raise Majia’s salary enough?”

“No. Even if we raise it, it won’t mean anything. She’s not someone you can motivate with money.”

“…Ah, she’s the type who doesn’t care about money. That makes sense.”

“That’s why I purposely don’t involve her in streams unless she wants to. She’ll do well if you ask her, but she doesn’t want due compensation, and she ends up overdoing it without considering her own stamina.”

However, Ra Seunghyeon wasn’t ready to back down easily.

Parallel benefits the more Majia’s presence becomes apparent.

Similar discussions had arisen every time team leaders met, yet they had all deferred, thinking Cheon Dohui, the CEO and Majia’s direct superior, would break the ice first….

But no matter how long they waited, there was no sign of a proper discussion.

If they left it as is, they’d be missing out on more than one opportunity, so Ra Seunghyeon stepped up as the representative of the team leaders.

Plus, Ra Seunghyeon had always shone through as the top performer at the corporation’s marketing team.

When it came to persuading people, he was an expert among experts.

“If I can win over Majia’s heart, would you permit it then?”

“Absolutely no forcing or undue persuasion.”

“I won’t do that at all. People like Majia, if you push them, they’ll go the other way instead.”

As Cheon Dohui slowly nodded her head, Ra Seunghyeon confidently continued.

“In situations like this, nudge is the solution.”