I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work - Chapter 95

“Yes. I originally intended to debut as an idol under Buddis.”

Magia was taken aback by this nonchalant revelation.

“Um… I’m a Parallel employee.”

“Everyone who’s in the know already knows that Buddis idol trainees are being turned into VTubers under Rapitz, anyway. And you asked, Magia.”

“Rumors are different from confirmed truths.”

“What’s the big deal? You’re tight-lipped, Magia.”

Where did this trust come from?

…Come to think of it, Magia was a manager at a VTuber company.

People in this line of work have to be tight-lipped.

One slip of the tongue could set off a chain reaction.

Plus, she had helped out a bit during the tournament, so that probably played a role too.

Of course, it was still a mistake in Magia’s book.

Maru and Serena were both talkative and bad at hiding things, so they tended to cause similar kinds of trouble.

The way they tried to fix things was also similar, which was amusing.

“Or, how about I buy you coffee, and you pretend you didn’t hear anything?”

It’s better to offer something in return than to just let it slide, to build trust.

Magia nodded and led the way.

“Okay. We’ll call it even.”

*    *    *

It was late, almost midnight, so not many cafes were open.

They wandered aimlessly until they finally found one that stayed open until 2 AM and settled in.

After receiving their cappuccinos and herbal tea, they rubbed their cold hands and sipped in silence for a moment.

Then Serena picked up where they had left off.

“Honestly, I’m a little jealous of Maru.”

“Mmm.”

“If I’d known, I would have debuted under Parallel too-.”

“Pfft.”

Serena was doing most of the talking, so I was just going to have some coffee.

But I almost spat out the coffee I had in my mouth onto my clothes.

Luckily, I was wearing a black shirt, so it wouldn’t have been noticeable.

I swallowed the coffee and froze, and Serena burst out laughing, waving her hands.

“Hahaha! The atmosphere is too serious. Relax, I’m just kidding. And it’s not like Rapitz and Buddis are, like, totally awful or anything.”

“Yeah. Well. I’m sure they’re not.”

“I can’t let this go on. Let’s have a piece of cake too?”

“Sure.”

I awkwardly nibbled on the piece of cake provided as a reward for my silence, staring at Serena.

What should I say?

It felt like I was listening to the serious family problems of a friend I wasn’t that close to, so I didn’t know what to say.

Say the wrong thing in a situation like this, and you’re toast.

Fortunately, Serena’s next words weren’t all that serious.

“Anyway, to continue what I was saying. It’s just that I get a little frustrated with the people and the treatment. I’m close to Maru, so I keep comparing myself, I guess. 

The company isn’t terrible, but it’s not great either. It’s not like there’s no support, but it’s kind of… half-assed. They’re too busy taking care of the main idol group.”

I thought I understood what she meant.

The relationship between the company and the talent can’t always be good.

Even if it seems like they’re always on good terms, there are often things that both sides are holding back.

The company thinks, ‘We’ve done so much for you, what more do you want?’

And the idol thinks, ‘What kind of company can’t even do this simple thing?’

If communication breaks down and there are people in the middle who are distorting things, it can explode into a huge scandal.

The team leader tells me about it whenever he has time. The entertainment industry is really tough. Of course, it varies from company to company, and the team leader was quite worried when he first came to our company.

Since Rapitz is a group that spun off from the entertainment agency Buddis, is the atmosphere similar to the companies the team leader has experienced?

I didn’t want to badmouth another company, so I tried to be positive…

But Serena’s complaints seemed endless.

“Still, you’re trending and doing well these days. That’s a relief.”

“That’s mostly thanks to you, Magia, not us.”

“Um…”

“We barely got any support during our Wicker Town event. Iona had to persuade them for hours to get them to put in 10 million won in sponsorship. She said that if things continued like this, we’d fall too far behind Parallel in terms of recognition.”

“Really?”

“And then, as soon as they heard that Rapitz was a hit and Parallel was a flop, they freaked out and put in another 10 million won. That was legendary. They’re only fast when it comes to that. They could have used that money to make new outfits.”

Were they really a group of struggling girls?

“We made a few mistakes with the Parallel thing too. We didn’t mean to.”

“Right? I thought so. It’s not like Parallel started it or anything. The operations team leader was just making a fuss.”

“Haha…”

“Still. It’s been really fun lately. Thanks to you, Magia, all our members are in a good mood. Remember the year-end party?”

“Yes. I still remember being surrounded and spun around…”

“We weren’t spinning you around! We were just protecting you. Hmph. It’s no use protecting you, I guess.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyway, everyone likes you. Iona seemed a little suspicious, but I think she changed her mind after Wicker Town. I don’t think anyone expected that we’d get viral marketing thanks to an employee of a rival company.”

“I didn’t expect the results to turn out that way either…”

“My dad even said you were amazing.”

Wow, she got the approval of Serena’s father.

I don’t know what that means.

“Frankly, if you were in the operations team leader’s position instead of that loudmouth, Rapitz would have caught up with BacyuBacyu KR.” BacyuBacyu KR’s first generation has had over a million subscribers for a long time now.

Isn’t that too much praise?

Iona, who’s doing the best, is hovering around 700,000, so there’s a gap of about 300,000. There’s no way that gap can be closed so easily. 

“Anyway. I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear anything you said here… But can I ask you one thing?”

“Yes.”

“Does the operations team leader not help with your broadcasts?”

“He doesn’t. He just tells us to do this or do that. And when I go to the company to ask him something, he’s always just looking at his phone.”

“Hmm.”

“If I were the president, I’d fire someone like that right away and hire someone like you, Magia. From an employer’s perspective, there’s no one like you. You’re hardworking and capable.”

That sounds like the work ethic of someone who got the job through nepotism.

Is there something going on with the president?

At the very least, they should try to have the qualifications for the position.

‘There are a lot of people who just sit in their positions without being qualified…’

I never thought we’d be having this kind of conversation.

In conclusion, Serena seemed to be jealous of me for working hard for our members.

But I have a lot of worries these days too.

I wish the members’ workload would increase in proportion to my efforts, but it keeps coming to me.

“The problem is that too much of the work I get falls to me. I want to somehow pass it on to the members, but it’s not working out.”

Serena tilted her head.

“Isn’t that a good thing? If that happens, then Momo and Magia are opening up the floodgates from both sides.

Well, for example, Maru might not get a lot directly. But there’s a world of difference between having a channel open and not having one.

If there’s a channel open, there’s at least a chance that water will flow in. If you just sit still, there’s no chance.”

The worries I’d had since the year-end party vanished with Serena’s words.

I shouldn’t be complaining about the fact that the work was only coming to me.

Serena was right.

If I grow the official channel, that channel could become another president.

If there are two presidents, then naturally there will be more trickle-down.

I was so focused on building connections and feeding the kids that I didn’t realize something so obvious.

Is she a healing VTuber after all?

I thought she was just complaining, but she’s surprisingly good at counseling.

Anyway, thanks to Serena, I’ve made up my mind.

I’ll run the Situation Room and Fantasia as promised with the president, but I won’t worry about the fact that the work is only coming to me.

If the president allows it, I’ll do it all.

…Except for Combative, if possible.

‘I might have to increase my broadcast time.’

Seungyeon seems to be doing a good job, but there’s still a lot I haven’t taught her.

Like telling her to create three more alt accounts instead of the old one she used while working at the company…

For now, we’ll have to make do with the people we have until the second generation comes in.

I have to adjust my work hours, do operations team work, and broadcast.

I always think that it would be nice if there were 48 hours in a day.

I wonder if I can get my Situation Room broadcasts counted as overtime.

If I say it’s volunteer work out of fandom, will the president reject it for sure?

Serena asked as I rested my chin on my hand, lost in thought.

“By the way, are you really not going to participate in our team’s after-party broadcast?”

“Ah. That.”

“Since you were the tournament MVP, I’d like you to come. I think people would want that too…”

We talked about it at the dinner earlier, but the idea was to play a game together on Thursday, before the Naore Gae-Mo Tournament auction that’s happening this Friday.

Usually, when people who have met by chance and worked on a content together for a long time, they don’t just have a dinner and end it, but they also do an after-party* broadcast to show the fans additional fun and closeness.

*After-party: A term derived from automotive terminology, meaning to release the undiminished heat from a tournament or other event through an additional collaboration.

Serena was supposed to decide on the content, and we were supposed to avoid Combative.

I wonder what it is.

“What are you going to do? Have you decided on a game?”

Serena smiled and showed me a video.

A brawl between cute, jelly-like animal characters grabbing each other by the collar.

A fighting game that’s a subtle mix of physics, strategy, and luck, with 2:2:2 team battles also possible.

It was.

I was busy because I was worried that Youngun might insist on doing Combative by mobilizing Kamik.

This would be good for healing.

“If you suddenly change the game to Combative on the day of, I’m going to run away.”

“If he tries to change it, I’ll smash Youngun’s head in.”

She’s a sophisticated intellectual when she’s shooting and ordering.

But she’s still a healing VTuber.

…It’s funny to hear someone like that say they’re going to smash someone’s head in with a gentle face.

*    *    *

The next day, in the president’s office.

“A collaboration?”

Magia reported to Dohee right away.

Other VTubers would have just notified her, but Magia was an employee.

She had said she would consult with the president about everything, so it was right to get permission first.

“Yes. They said they want to do an after-party broadcast.”

“Ah, right. Now that the tournament’s over, you have to do one. You’re doing it tomorrow?”

“Yes. The Gae-Mo Tournament auction is the day after that. They said it would be good to do it before Director Yoo-Dong moves.”

“Okay, okay. Do whatever you want.”

“And, um. After the second generation selection is over, can we hire another junior employee when the timing is right? Someone to work with Seungyeon.”

“Hmm. Really?”

“I realized after the tournament that building connections in the broadcasting world isn’t as easy as I thought. It’s not like you just do one collaboration and it’s over. You have to keep doing after-party broadcasts like this…

Right now, Seungyeon and I can somehow manage, but if the second generation comes in, we’ll definitely need one more person.”

Cheon Dohee was a little taken aback.

Even though it was for the kids, the Combative tournament itself must have been quite stressful for her.

It felt like she suddenly became more interested in broadcasting after the tournament.

‘She definitely made a lot of money on the Wicker server.’

It’s crazy that she’s happy to see that it’s going into the company’s pocket instead of her own, but…

It was a miracle that someone who said she preferred watching broadcasts to doing them was participating so enthusiastically in broadcasting and related content.

But at this point, Dohee was even more curious about Magia’s thoughts.

Dohee knew very well how loyal she was to the company.

Why did she pretend not to notice the offer from Yeon Seong-muk?

“Okay. I’ll prepare so I can post the announcement right away if you say so. … But, are you perhaps preparing to change jobs?”

Dohee’s eyes stared intently at Magia.

It was a silent signal of, ‘You’re hiding something, aren’t you? Answer me quickly.’

At that moment, Magia realized that the secret she had been hiding had been exposed.

She chuckled and said, “Ah. Since I’ve been caught, I guess I’ll have to go for an interview at Rapitz.”

Cheon Dohee immediately pinched Magia’s cheeks and said.

If you’re going to lie, at least tell a believable one.

“Someone who’s hiring people to increase the workload is going to change jobs? Really?”

“Oww, oww. Ouch, it hurts.”

Magia hurriedly rummaged through her wallet and sent a business card and an audio recording file to Dohee’s DingTalk.

“Ouch, it hurts. How long have you known I was hiding something?”

“I knew right away at the year-end party.”

“Hmm. Still, I’m glad I didn’t say anything. It must have cooled down just right by now.”

“Could you not talk about people like they’re hot pots?”

“But if I had told you that day, you would have contacted Rapitz right away and argued with them.”

“I’m not that much of a fighting cock….”

“I know the Gwanro-dong sashimi master from a few years ago, so I was cautious.”

Magia giggled.

“Anyway, I have my own plans, so please don’t contact them first.”

“What plans? What are you trying to do again?”

Magia had a history of shouting about Rapitz potions in Wicker Town not too long ago.

Dohee couldn’t help but feel uneasy about what she was up to this time.

But Magia just smiled as if to say not to worry.

“Do you know the fable of the North Wind and the Sun?”

“The one where they don’t take off their clothes when the wind blows, but they do when the sun is shining?”

“Take off their clothes? How can a VTuber say such a lewd thing so casually….”

“Hey….”

“Just kidding. Anyway, I’m just going to try to get a little hotter.”

It’s not like Magia is trying to do anything grand.

She’s just going to take care of her members and other VTubers she likes, just like she’s always done.

She’s always been steadfast in her position, so she’s the sun.

Not the North Wind, who is constantly struggling.

However, Cheon Dohee seemed to have misunderstood her intentions a little.

“You’re not planning on setting the bulletin boards on fire, are you…?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Don’t forget that you promised to discuss everything with me, okay? You have to tell me before you cause any trouble?”

“Ah, I won’t cause any trouble.”