I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work - Chapter 149
… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Breaking News] If the current trend continues, Majia’s channel subscribers…
Oh, you’re here!
Just take a look at the numbers before you go.
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Parallel Behind
@parallel_official_behind · 20,114 Subscribers · 47 Videos
This is a full video channel excluding official announcements from Parallel.
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[Comments]
— Parallel096: Already? That’s super fast ㄷㄷ
— Parallel342: I can’t believe the Bachu Bachu streamers would subscribe.
— Parallel486: That’s because their YouTube live is the main thing, and Kiri’s stuff is like our country’s edited videos. So I thought maybe it’s similar?
— Parallel663: What’s going on? That’s some reasonable logic for an MSA.
— Parallel486: You’re a j*rk.
— Parallel851: Who knows, maybe Taro thanked her for taking care of his daughter and subscribed.
— Parallel851: They have known each other for a while, yeah ㅇㅇ
— Parallel682: Knew each other? That’s ancient history!
— Parallel682: They haven’t even mentioned each other recently.
— Parallel955: Honestly, given Taro’s status, if they were really friends, he should help boost the subscriber count.
— Parallel955: If you’re gonna do it, go big or go home.
— Parallel046: We may be small, but it’s still competition ㅋㅋㅋ…
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… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …
[But suddenly, President Mo is feeling neglected.]
There are still many Kiri enthusiasts around,
If they catch all of them and run the channel,
Parallel’s good, Woldu’s good,
Majia’s good, Sludge’s good.
Isn’t that hitting a bullseye?
[Comments]
— Parallel259: It’s a fact that Momo being neglected is written in the history books of Goguryeo…
— Parallel601: But these days, I’ve been thinking it might not be entirely Momo’s fault.
— Parallel601: Maybe Majia just can’t stand seeing Sludge getting too cozy.
— Parallel589: I’ll definitely not do what you want.
— Parallel482: Oh, nasty disruptive j*rk.
— Parallel864: If that’s the case, then don’t even create a behind-the-scenes channel at all!
— Parallel090: That was supposed to be made for Majia’s personal channel anyway ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
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Monday.
News of the first generation students making their original songs hit the company like a hurricane, and despite everyone hating Mondays, the atmosphere at Parallel Headquarters felt like a festival.
For just today, everyone had turned into that crazy person who loves Mondays.
Majia headed to the President’s office to relay the news about this Friday’s intensive training curriculum for the second generation students, plus Saturday and Sunday’s MCN competition, and how things will get busy afterward with Fan_C recordings.
The team leaders, who were previously popping champagne like wild, suddenly calmed down.
Once they returned to their seats, Cheon Dohui spoke up.
“Made it? My golden nugget.”
“When did I ever call you that?”
“When might I have? The Woldu folks said it. A staff who has a massage chair in the office can’t be anything but golden. There goes your point!”
“Wow. Blaming the fans.”
“Anyway, I heard from producer Nahyeon Gon that starting next week, you’re gonna be busy with Fan_C activities for about three months?”
“Yup. That’s why I came to tell you as soon as I clocked in.”
Majia nodded and approached Dohui’s desk.
Due to the cluttered filing cabinet, Dohui had to stand up just to see Majia’s face.
Dohui got up to lock eyes and have a chat.
“I already informed Team Leader Ra Seunghyeon, so help out as much as you can until you can handle it. Put Fan_C work first, got it?”
“I’ll manage both with room to spare, so don’t worry about that.”
“Sure, sure. With the intensive training for the second generation over, that’s one less worry.”
Dohui stared blankly at Majia.
Seeing that intense gaze, Majia muttered.
“Don’t judge me for ordering a massage chair just yet.”
“Wow~ Thanks to Jia, we’re getting a massage chair in the office~.”
In any case, reaching 10,000 subscribers was a cakewalk, ending in Dohui’s victory.
They quickly surpassed the initial target of 10,000 subscribers.
Dohui even hinted they could set the bar at 20,000, which they barely managed to cross.
Though a wildly complex situation involving just Majia and Natsuki Luna transpired, it ultimately led to a continuous conversation between the two, and Majia’s hyper-carry with Movgun was refreshing. Skipping the middle steps, Majia and Luna ended up having meals together.
As that storyline managed to morph into lively banter on Luna’s streams…
The relationship between them advanced rapidly, leading some fans to create couple names like Lunajia and Ziaruna despite the corporate rivalries.
As time passed, while subscriber growth mellowed out a bit, it continued to rise steadily.
Additionally, the significance of this 20,000 mark was substantial.
Doing a rough calculation, typically, if you multiply the number of subscribers of a re-watch channel by 5, you get the approximate number of subscribers for the actual YouTube channel.
In other words, though it technically doesn’t exist, the estimation for Majia’s edited videos on YouTube would be around 100,000.
Delving more into specifics, it could be higher or lower, but…
100,000. That number had great meaning.
On YouTube, hitting 100,000 comes with a silver play button, a reward akin to a trophy.
Usually, it’s described as “entering the intermediate business level” at this juncture.
It signifies acknowledgment of stepping onto the successful path as a creator beyond merely achieving a numerical goal.
The industry atmosphere felt similar.
Channels with tens of thousands of subscribers can join MCNs without a hitch, while those crossing the 100,000 threshold aren’t rejected unless they’re having social issues.
MCNs actively pursue those with future potential.
It seems even editors are aware of this.
Potential candidates for Being Dongbu (the editing team named after a streamer, if Majia were involved, it would be Madongbu) showed strong intentions to apply.
Similar expectations were directed toward Majia.
The emails from Dohui’s work aptly reflected this.
There was an influx of requests asking about opening a personal channel for Majia.
Since the talk show with Movgun, such emails flooded in all week.
Most came with their portfolios, and they were pretty familiar Kiri channel types.
Since Majia lacked a personal channel and hadn’t imposed limits on Kiri, their scale was quite considerable.
The largest channel had such good video quality that leaving it unattended as is felt wasteful.
It made sense to formalize a partnership where both sides could benefit.
The editors would evolve from simple fans to fully-fledged paid professionals.
And the company, growing its channels, would receive numerous benefits.
There wasn’t much Majia would have to manage directly afterward.
Depending on the streamer being managed, it varies, but considering Majia’s busy nature, merely reviewing the final edits before passing them would suffice.
“Just in case I’m asking, you wouldn’t dislike having a personal channel for your edited videos, would you?”
“Why not?”
“Because there’s an increasing number of Kiri enthusiasts emerging who think it’s a shame to leave them alone. By the way, I heard you’re increasing your broadcasting activities. You made a deal with Team Leader Ra Seunghyeon, right?”
“That’s true.”
“If you boost your frequency, the volume of videos will also increase, and nicely edited videos can attract viewers to our kids’ channels.”
Majia tilted her head.
Dohui found that adorably cute and instinctively reached out to ruffle her hair.
“Why are you? You’ve been entangled quite often with other streamers, right? So, it’s safe to say a fair amount of people know you, not just the Parallel fandom…”
“Probably?”
“I skimmed through videos you appeared in and compared the views of those edited with different ones. There’s definitely a difference. Some folks are likely going around searching just for Majia’s edited videos.”
“So, what you’re saying is to ensure I’m not just helping others but rather to set up an editing team focusing solely on me for the sake of Parallel, right?”
“…Usually, you play dumb and ignore it, but today you’re quick on the uptake?”
“Well, before we even got to the subscriber bet for the behind-the-scenes channel, I thought no one would turn up just to see me on YouTube. With evidence proving I was wrong, I have to acknowledge that.”
To be honest, since there was no reason not to be excited about fans filtering in not just from Parallel but from the broader community, it was thrilling for Majia.
Separate from live broadcasts, YouTube channels with edited videos consistently attracted new viewers. After all, Majia had been working hard to support the influx of first-generation students.
As Dohui explained, Majia wouldn’t have additional tasks piling up.
She’d simply keep doing what she’s always done while agreeing to Dohui’s recent proposal.
…But still, as a Parallel employee, having a personal channel was a bit strange.
It made it feel like she was somehow outside Parallel’s VTuber realm.
“Still, having a personal channel feels a bit off.”
Dohui wasn’t ignorant of Majia’s thoughts and had prepared a counter-offer in case she turned it down.
“How about purely managing the editing team, then?”
“Where will the edited videos go?”
“Of course, on the official channel. We’ll create a separate playlist.”
Majia wrinkled her brow.
She had just split the behind-the-scenes channel to remove the re-watch videos related to her, and now they’re suggesting making a playlist on the official channel! That just didn’t compute.
But there were reasons why Dohui was suggesting this.
“First, just hear me out.”
“Yes, go on.”
“Were you there when we were in Wicker Town?”
“Yeah.”
“There have been plenty of other contents with the kids, no?”
“Feels like there are… not too little, at least.”
“You’ll continue working with Team Leader Ra, right?”
“Of course.”
“Exactly. So it should be official. The perspective may be yours, but ultimately the members and I will feature in those group videos, allowing fans to enjoy special views of the whole crew. Get it? The playlist will feel like ‘The Perspective of Assistant Majia.’ ”
Majia was the kind of employee who would normally agree when the President suggested something to her.
Nevertheless, she wasn’t the type to overlook doubts.
“…Didn’t you earlier imply I wouldn’t edit any external activities?”
Fortunately, Dohui was savvy enough to know this sort of question would come up and had a response ready.
“That’s gonna need a separate playlist. Something like ‘Majia Assistant Goes Out’. No matter how you slice it, it’s still you promoting the company.”
Competitions, collaborations with Kkaemang, digs with Bajubi, even the recent Movgun talk show.
When looking closely, they indeed qualified as promotional activities.
Moreover, this method would allow for well-edited videos to attract traffic while being able to rebut claims from those arguing ‘you’re not a VTuber!’
It felt a bit like hiding behind an official shield, but when has Majia not stood behind the official curtain with the first-gen?
After all, all her promotional efforts had involved lighting up the situation and turning the attention back to “It wasn’t me, it was her!”
“But you know? Your thoughts always come first in this.
When Fan_C activities kick into high gear, there’ll be fans trickling in from there. And if the kids start pushing out more songs, there’s definitely added traffic coming in.
The company isn’t going to collapse without your editing videos.”
Right after hearing that, Majia shook her head.
“No, I will.”
“Really?”
“Yes. As long as you help coordinate the editing team. I’m not an expert in video editing, and I probably won’t have much time to worry about it.”
“I told you earlier. All you need to do is look over the final edits and pick out what to cut. I already received plenty of support emails, so I’ll handle it all.”
Majia gave Dohui a steady stare with semi-closed eyes.
“Looks like you have a lot of time these days, huh?” was the underlying pressure.
“President, have you prepared everything for the MCN competition?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m aiming for at least a ranking to leverage some promotional benefits.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
The squads were composed of Majia/Maru/Dora and Momo/Rain/Komari.
While Majia was in the mix, honestly, considering team balance, Momo’s squad had the upper hand.
“But honestly, shouldn’t you be a bit worried? I can’t carry Maru and Dora. I’d seriously be lost against those competitors. There are plenty of platinum and diamond players, and some even used to be pros.”
“I’m fine. If worse comes to worst, I’ll just use ya as a disposable shield.”
“Every time you say that, I doubt if you truly like VTubers…”
“Well, it’s not like it kills us. I can revive those knocked out.”
“Isn’t that just cruel harassment?”
Majia stared at Dohui, indicating that the one most impacted knew the best.
“It’s love.”
* * *
As all the prominent MCNs were participating,
the <MCN Tournament - Battle Coliseum Section> stirred tremendous interest even before its commencement.
With Bajiz and the Battle Coliseum developers officially sponsoring, the prize pool started at 20 million Won—quite a hefty sum among streamer competitions.
However, just one day before the tournament,
unexpected sponsors, quite a few at that, stepped in, raising the stakes even higher.
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[🥔Nutube] – Community
Movgun | 2.04 Million Subscribers
On June 16 (Saturday) to 17 (Sunday), we’ve decided to increase the prize money for the MCN tournament.
– Original: Total 20 Million Won -→ Changed: Total 50 Million Won
Furthermore, a special individual prize will be awarded to the tournament’s MVP with the details as follows.
– New: <BCK> award, 10 Million Won personal prize, and a one-day experience opportunity with a pro player from the desired BCK team.
– Selection method: Choose six pro gamers to participate in co-watching content through voting.
We express our sincere gratitude to Battle Coliseum Champions Korea (BCK) and all pro teams who agreed to support the tournament.
We have made the final decision to increase the prize pool for the MCN Tournament, which will be held from June 16 (SAT) to 17 (SUN). (UTC+9:00)
…
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With the summer international tournaments of the pro leagues all wrapping up for the season,
right before transitioning into the fall-winter season, it seems there had been some tight negotiations as BCK (Battle Coliseum Champions Korea) teamed up with the teams to directly sponsor the MCN tournament.
If it were merely an MCN tournament, it would only draw the attention of internet broadcast enthusiasts.
To those who primarily watch pro league broadcasts, this event might just drift by unnoticed.
But if popular pro gamers are co-watching?
That changes the narrative.
People who initially didn’t care would be curious about how their favored pro gamers evaluate the streamers’ matches.
Proving the host’s assumptions right, names of streamers began to rise and fall in the Battle Coliseum gallery, a rare sight.
Among the plethora of streamers mentioned, a certain VTuber—or rather, a working individual—began to catch everyone’s eye.
… ─ — Battle Coliseum Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Majia vs. Second-string Pro Gamer]
Who will win?
[Comments]
— Baekol904: The balance is trash, it’s definitely the second string.
— Baekol068: Nah? Movgun acknowledged that you could trade blows with pro gamers—at least when using smoke shots.
— Baekol865: Come on! Do I really have to dissect this point by point?
— Baekol090: But if it’s second string, that should be manageable?
— Baekol211: ↑ Your delusions are showing.
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[Oh great, are we heading into another signal flare peak?]
Next competition is in July. It’s heartbreaking.
[Comments]
— Baekol893: This time, it won’t end in a peak, I bet.
— Baekol005 (author): Why?
— Baekol893: Because of Movgun—the “B-” crowd will explode if they win the pros, and this place will turn into a secondary tier for them ㅇㅇ
— Baekol005 (author): You seem to know this kid pretty well; you must be a teacher.
— Baekol893: ㅎㅎ Caught me.
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