I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work - Chapter 150

The day before the tournament, I was momentarily baffled by the suddenly inflated scale of the event.

As soon as the president got wind of it, he contacted me directly to say:

“[Movgun says Taro might have had a hand in it from behind the scenes.]”

I paused to think about the Taro I know, then responded, “Taro wouldn’t stoop to that kind of cowardly trick! Are we sure it’s not an impersonator?”

“[It’s not about dirty tricks… I mean he assisted in growing the scale of the tournament.]”

“It sounds suspicious when you say he had a hand in it….”

Taro happens to be a 3.5 million VTuber and a well-connected figure in the scene.

The president isn’t one to fall behind either; in the offline world, Taro has an even bigger reputation.

While the president prioritizes personal matters and scheduling, Taro, on the other hand, always puts others’ schedules first. Except on the days he’s catering to his fans, he’s always pulling in external gigs.

Of course, he does show some discernment about whether the opportunities are worth his time. He’s not just a pure-hearted fool helping with anything and everything.

That’s why he often gets roped into roles like event management, hosting, hype-building, and so on.

Thanks to a reputation built over several years, Taro has become a known constant; there are formulas in the industry that treat his appearances as events that must succeed.

Games are “the ones Taro finds fun.”

Events are “the ones Taro enjoyed.”

Food is “the food Taro loves,” and so on.

Naturally, he’s like a walking billboard, and for subcultures, he’s kind of like a massive 3D billboard dropped in high-traffic areas.

So, it’s no wonder that, as the president mentioned, BCK and professional teams have jumped in as sponsors thanks to her influence.

However…

I’m guessing this wasn’t all for the greater good.

She is, after all, part of Bachu Bachu.

Even though she’s a second generation, she’s practically the queen of the KR branch.

In the end, this is all about paving the way for her underlings.

Especially considering that five of the six participants from Bachu Bachu for this tournament are newly debuted fourth generations, it’s safe to say they’re inflating the audience to feed the views and subscriptions of the youngest members.

“Well, it’s to give more support to the Bachu Bachu fourth gens, right?”

“[True, but the streamer lineup was already solid enough that the focus was guaranteed. There really was no need to add more sponsors…]”

“If you’re curious, you could just ask directly.”

The president shook her head, saying no, and gave me a look that translated to ‘you know, if we contact them personally, it might look like we’re just trying to hitch a ride.’

… Well, that’s exactly the problem, which is why I’ve been holding back on contacting them this whole time.

It isn’t absolutely necessary to find out, so we decided to let it slide quietly.

What’s more important is thinking about how we can ride this wave to success.

The tournament has grown bigger? Then we should think about how to benefit from it.

“Well, a good thing is a good thing. Our first-gen’s new song is getting a boost in views, so if we perform well at this tournament, it could help us appeal as a singing idol group to the pro gamer fandom, right?”

“[True! Even those who don’t watch streams or VTubers listen to music. If people start saying, ‘Oh, are these the folks who sang that song?’ then we’ve got half the battle won.]”

And to maximize this benefit, we absolutely had to place in the rankings.

We had to elbow our way through the countless competitors from various MCNs participating in this tournament.

However, there were numerous stakes tied to placements, so everyone was handpicking the members for the competition carefully.

Bachu Bachu has carpet-bombed with the fourth generations, while Rapiutsu, who isn’t drastically different from us in numbers, and the smaller MCNs are mostly loaded with Platinum and Diamond-tier streamers.

Even the Diamonds they have aren’t your average Diamonds.

They’re former pros, pro trainees, second-string talents—real heavyweights.

And we, the president’s team and I, had to beat all those guys?

I’m a Diamond (master), Dora’s Iron, Maru’s Bronze.

The president’s a Gold (still sitting in Platinum for three years), Rain’s Gold, and Komari’s Gold.

It’s not easy, but it’s doable.

Plus, with the thrill of wanting to challenge and defeat a strong team, my heart’s racing just like it did when I was going up against Movgun.

* * *

On the first day of the two-day MCN championship, including Movgun’s official broadcast:

A whopping total of 250,000 viewers tuned in from the start, predicting the event’s huge popularity.

[Movgun]

[🔴Live – MCN Championship – Battle Coliseum (Day 1)] 👪70,445

As is typical for every streamer tournament, it kicked off by calling each team on voice through Tokcode, checking in, and discussing their ambitions for the tournament.

The difference from your ordinary pro league?

While performance matters, each streamer’s appeal is also important—a thoughtful nod to the broadcasters.

However, curiously, there seemed to be one specific person mentioned far too often during this pre-interview.

“So, what are Rapiutsu’s goals for this tournament, Iona?”

[I’d like to score higher than the team with Majia as a replacement.]

“Oh, here we go again! Why do you say that?”

[The lingering grudge from the Demon Castle in Wicker Town… It’s still deeply etched in my heart. This time, I want to settle it!]

“Come on, it’s been months since Wicker Town ended. This isn’t the UFC, you know?”

[Of course not. I just want to repay the favor for what happened on air. I haven’t had a chance until now.]

With a total of fifteen MCNs participating, each with two squads, that means thirty squads in all.

The tournament was filled to its nine-player roster, with teams that were mentioning Majia more frequently in the Battle Coliseum forums.

Even by the time Rapiutsu was lined up for her thirteenth random interview, more than half of the participating teams had mentioned Majia at least once.

Notably, one MCN chomping at the bit for victory openly predicted Majia’s squad as a strong contender for the win.

With that much chatter about Majia, it seemed strange not to mention it, so after wrapping up the interview with Rapiutsu, Movgun bantered with the BCK official caster who had come to provide commentary for the day.

“By the way, do you know Majia’s stand-in?”

“Sure. I found out while preparing for today’s broadcast. This player is quite a well-known figure!”

“Right! In the context of Battle Coliseum, he’s highly regarded. Well, I might have helped with that recognition a bit.”

“I also found out that Majia really dislikes you, Movgun. Could that be due to this ‘self-praising’ behavior?”

“Uh, you really didn’t have to dig that deep…. Ahem. Anyway, there’s been quite a topic bubbling in the community lately regarding this Majia player…”

Majia vs. pro gamer second-stringers.

Who would win in a showdown?

Countless individuals engaged in verbal battles based on their reasons, but ultimately, they reached no conclusion.

Sure, if they sat down together, it’d favor Majia.

The closer the two were, the more likely Majia would have the upper hand.

Could Majia even land a chair shot in real life?

Could the pro gamer, on the flip side, get so mad as to deliver a chair shot?

“Wait, if they did land a chair shot, wouldn’t that be a disqualification?” and so forth.

As the discussion started to spiral into absurdity, the consensus among the community became…

“The result is that you won’t know until you try.” If this tournament selects a final MVP, they’ll get a chance to experience being a pro gamer for a day, so they’ll have to test it live. “So go win already, and amp it up.”

“I’ve seen the videos, and I’ve got to say I was impressed watching you get taken down, even you, who conquered the world back in the day.”

“Of all days to see that embarrassing moment….”

“Plus, I used to commentate your matches back when you were in your prime, and it makes me a bit reluctant to feel old…”

“Wait, did you just call me old, sir… er, caster?!”

— Hahahaha

— That’s not fair, old man.

— You’re not even in your 30s yet and getting called old, lol.

— You flopped so hard back then~ haha!

“The thing is, while Majia is skillful individually, I’m not so sure about her teamwork. I always say that winning 1v1 doesn’t mean you’re the absolute best in a team game.”

“Right. There’s a reason why 1v1 is only used in events.”

“With smoke and shotguns, you can somewhat measure up to pro gamers; that seemed to be the crux of the argument. But surely, in that match, didn’t Movgun’s shot support and the support’s appropriate care come into play?”

“Hmm, I agree. They couldn’t help but keep an eye on their comrades behind them, which ultimately gave Majia a fair shot. You could argue it that way.”

— True, that’s an interesting analysis.

— Expert commentary really hits different.

— Even the pro gamers seem to agree on this, haha!

— In the end, no one knows how a 1v1 would go down?

“Well, like the chat says. In a 1v1, Majia might take out a pro gamer. That’s the only conclusion we can draw, right?”

“Exactly. Nobody knows. For all we know, it could be a ‘super crack.’ Charging in with smoke and shotguns. Maybe pro gamers could handle it with practice, but I doubt you’d find anyone as tenacious as Majia.”

Had it ended there, it probably would’ve wrapped up like usual, with the community debating whether Majia or the pro gamers were stronger.

But we mustn’t forget: the six first-string pro gamers invited to today’s tournament were also watching the stream from their respective accommodations.

Some players genuinely wanted to learn if Majia was as good as everyone claimed and would be willing to challenge him directly.

“I’m curious. But hasn’t he never once mentioned being a fan? If he gets the MVP, I’d love for him to pick our team!”

Others didn’t see the point in a 1v1 showdown but were keen on doing a duo squad match with him.

“That’d definitely be fun coupling up with him for duos. ‘Why not just play with your older brothers?’ you ask? Come on, you can’t compare a duo with an idol to just playing with the boys, can you? … Wait, he’s not an idol? Really? Just an office worker?”

One player, quite knowledgeable about subcultures, was deep-diving into Majia’s persona as a VTuber.

“Office worker RP is totally doable. Denying being a VTuber is part of the RP too. But trying to fight against that is meaningless. After all, he’s the one streaming, right? So he is a VTuber. Do you really need a debut broadcast to be a VTuber? I hear he has a substantial fan base too? Slugs are involved, am I right?”

And they all had one shared sentiment about Majia’s skills.

“From what I’ve seen in the videos, he wouldn’t be a total pushover against us. But his aggressive style seems a bit excessive. I get the feeling he might suffer from that. In the pro scene, it wouldn’t be ideal. But he’s not bad.”

“Hasn’t he ever hit Master? Let’s see… Seriously, there aren’t that many games here. It’s hard to call him ‘permanently stuck’ at Diamond. He’s got a job after all, right? Does he have more than just this one account? Combined, it’s ten times that? Then, I don’t know what to say.”

These expectations subtly reflected in the audience’s reactions.

In the end, viewers seemed to convey this sentiment:

“I haven’t seen anything yet, but I’m picking Majia as my MVP candidate.”

“MVP candidate already? Hmm… For Majia, assuming he wins.”

“If he manages to win while dragging two heavy sandbags, then that’s definitely MVP material.”

As a result, among the six invited pros watching together,

each of the fifteen MCN representatives cast a vote in the preliminary MVP predictions:

[1st place: Majia’s Stand-in] [16 votes]

Majia dominantly seized first place, claiming 16 out of 21 total votes!