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

There were tons of messages calling me cute in the chat.

I mean,
I won’t deny it.

But hearing it out loud from over seven thousand people
made me feel a little self-conscious.

I am cute,
but…

Am I allowed to hear this?

…Well.

I do admit it every time I look in the mirror.

And in today's world,
looks are assets.

But right now,
I'm just a Parallel staff member here to do damage control.

So I cut to the chase.

“You all keep looking for me instead of Rain during Rain’s stream,
so honestly, I was thinking about calling you out.”

— GASP
— Uh-oh, she’s onto us.
— Shit…

“But if you just wanted an excuse to donate to Rain,
then, fine.

I’ll acknowledge that.

Do we have a Validation Committee in here?”

Chat hesitated for a moment,
as if waiting for someone else to take the lead.

Then, one by one—

— ㅇㅈ (Confirmed.)
— We admit it.
— Acknowledged.
— Super acknowledged.
— Certified.

“Okay, then.
You admit it, right?

So now that you've used me as an excuse,
you don’t need me anymore, do you?

I’ll be going now.”

I left the call without a second of hesitation.

At the same time,
I signaled Rain to wrap things up.

— Wha—
— Wait, WAIT!!
— WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS?!
— She’s totally enjoying this.
— Haa… My soft mochi employee…
— FREE D-RAIN! FREE HER NOW!
— Wait, she’s ACTUALLY leaving??
— SHE'S REALLY GONE.

The chat was exploding,
but Rain just calmly clicked "Mission Complete."

It was already agreed upon.

I’d show my face today,
but next time,
I’d properly appear on a stream.

And with that,
the tower of donations that the viewers had painstakingly built up
(mostly thanks to Chairman Puddle)

all went straight into Rain’s pocket.

4 million won.

Rain sounded happier than she had in weeks.

["Wow, seriously.
The moisture that Puddles have gathered for me today is delicious.

You even came up with an excuse just to donate.

I'll work even harder and be even more unhinged from now on.

Thank you! Thank you!"]

It was only then
that the Puddles realized the mission had ended
and started losing their minds.

— YOU.
— YOU DID NOT JUST COMPLETE THAT.
— CAN YOU HANDLE THE CONSEQUENCES?!
— THIEF!!!
— Someone stole my donation!! 😭😭😭
— Oh no… but we still have the "Refund" and "Fire" options, don't we?
— DON’T JOKE LIKE THAT…
— DON’T JOKE LIKE THAT…
— DON’T JOKE LIKE THAT…
— DON’T JOKE LIKE THAT…

:: Anonymous has donated 1,000 won. ::
:: "That must be hard to digest. Why don’t you spit it back out?" ::

["No, no.

Spitting out food is a bad habit.

Bigma said so during our last collab."]

Rain turned on her echo effect
and started setting the mood for a 100,000-won donation reaction.

The chat exploded.

— YOU’RE KIDDING, RIGHT??

As more and more rage-filled emotes flooded the chat,
Rain finally lowered the background music
and dropped the bombshell.

["You know what?

Next week, I'll be streaming with D-Rain."]

— ??
— ???!
— JXJXJXJX???
— DON’T LIE TO ME.
— **You should’ve said that earlier.

["That’s so I could see your true colors first.

Just like right now."]

Honestly,
she could’ve revealed that I’d be joining next week sooner.

But clearly,
Rain had planned this all along.

She waited until the mission was complete,
acted like she was thrilled to get the money,
and then dropped the announcement

just to set the chat on fire.

This girl.

She spent a year getting bullied by toxic Western viewers,

and now she had become the bully.

["So before I do my 1-million-won reaction,
why don’t we review the chat logs first?

Oh, you must be so scared.
So nervous.

Worried that you won’t get to see my legendary reaction.

You're trembling in fear, aren’t you?"]

And just like that,
the chat erupted into desperate confessions.

Donations rained down like a torrential storm.

:: Anonymous has donated 11,111 won. ::
:: GOD RAIN. ::

:: Anonymous has donated 11,111 won. ::
:: If there’s a goddess in this world, it’s you, Rain. ::

:: Anonymous has donated 11,111 won. ::
:: THE National Hip-Hop GOAT RAIN. ::@@novelbin@@

:: Anonymous has donated 11,111 won. ::
:: I BELIEVED IN YOU, DAMN IT. I BELIEVED IN YOU, DAMN IT. ::

Just watching this made my spine tingle.

I’ve been in their shoes before.

I've been the one
getting my old toxic messages dug up
and publicly exposed by the CEO.

But in the end,

the best kind of toxic viewer
is the kind who’s ready to take a hit in return.

After all,
a truly entertaining stream is like a wrestling match.

Both sides have to throw and take hits
for it to be hilarious.

If there were a Toxic Viewer Academy,
and I were a guest lecturer,

this is what I’d tell my students:

"A true toxic viewer helps the streamer’s content thrive.
They don’t hesitate to sacrifice themselves for premium YouTube clips."

In other words,

all those panicked donations
were the mark of a true first-tier toxic viewer.

…As for the ones who actually crossed the line
with personal insults or slurs?

Yeah.

They belong behind bars.

***

Since I had already promised to stream with Rain, there weren’t any real problems in the other 1st-gen members’ broadcasts that evening.

Everything was business as usual—
before their main content started, most of them were doing chatting streams,
laughing and joking about what happened in yesterday’s Find Rain event.

Of course, D-Rain—a.k.a. me—got brought up a lot…

But if people were that curious,
they could just rewatch Rain’s stream,
check her official channel,
or look up clipped videos.

There was no need for them to go around spamming about me in other 1st-gen members’ chats.

Anyone lacking that much social awareness was getting warned by the managers.

Still, just in case, I kept an eye on things.

Sure enough, there were quite a few people fishing for information in Komari’s and Maru’s chats.

Probably because both of them had accidentally leaked stuff before.

They must’ve been hoping they’d slip up again
and spill more details about me by accident.

But Komari and Maru seemed determined to prove they’d grown
and handled it well.

["Leaves, you can’t do that.
You’ll make the staff uncomfortable."]

["You’re talking about another girl while I’m right here?!
Ugh… Maru is so sad!!
I’m gonna turn into charcoal!!"]

Dora, true to her nickname Dori (rock),
just sat there, rock-solid, and didn’t react much.

Rain, since she already had a collab planned with me,
was just sharing some random old stories.

["The staff member?
What are you guys gonna do once you know? Hehe."]

["Good person.
For real.
Today too, Miga was whining so hard about it.
Like, almost as bad as when I first came to Korea.
Kept going, 'Foreigner needs help…'"]

Even the CEO’s stream, which I thought would get the most heat, was pretty quiet.

Then again,
she’s so good at handling viewers that it wasn’t that surprising.

["You’re curious?
Then should I put up a mission for my stream too?

Hmm.

How about this—

If it reaches the same amount as our staff’s annual salary,
I’ll bring them in.

What do you think?"]

— She’s at it again…
— SOMEONE GET THIS GREEDY MONEY DEMON UNDER CONTROL.
— She wasn’t even this bad when she was a small indie.
— Come on, guys, she’s a CEO. She needs those funds. LOL

No matter how I looked at it,
everyone was trying to protect me in their own way.

It almost felt like I’d suddenly become the company’s youngest sibling.

Like I debuted as a junior member alongside the 1st-gen.

They always treated me as an important employee before,
but it was never this intense.

Did my cute appearance make their maternal instincts kick into overdrive?

…Not that I blame them.

I mean,
even I can’t resist when I get ready for work and end up squishing my own cheeks for a bit.

And today,
I even got a seat on the subway.

I usually stand for 30 minutes on my way to work,
but suddenly, this tall guy stepped aside and said,
“Here, take a seat.”

When he asked if I was a vlogger,
it seemed like his intentions weren’t completely pure,

but hey—
I still got a seat.

Compared to the times when elderly passengers used to glare at me until I gave up my spot,
it felt like I was living in a whole different world.

But honestly,
nothing made me happier today than chatting casually with the CEO.

[CEO-nim: I’m having dinner with Rain tomorrow.]
[CEO-nim: You know that, right?]
[Me: I know.]

[CEO-nim: Have you thought about what you’ll do for the collab?]
[Me: Not yet.]

She used to forcefully praise me as a 'competent employee who always does what she’s told',

but now,
she was treating me like a friend.

I couldn’t help but smile.

[CEO-nim: Then how about Battle Coliseum?]
[CEO-nim: It’s been a while since I collabed with Rain too.]
[CEO-nim: The three of us can just queue together.]
[Me: Boring.]

[CEO-nim: ??]
[CEO-nim: What? You love playing Battle Coliseum.]

[Me: If there’s more people, I have to actually play seriously.]
[Me: Then I can’t mess with you.]

[CEO-nim: Hey.]

[CEO-nim: Can’t we just play casually?]
[Me: If it’s just you, I can play around a bit.]
[Me: But if Rain joins, it’s impossible.]
[Me: Trust me.]

[CEO-nim: …Yeah, she does have a habit of dying in hilariously stupid ways…]
[CEO-nim: Still, I think Battle Coliseum is the best option.]

After working with the CEO for so long,
I could tell what she was thinking.

Basically,

“You’re going to struggle with viewer interaction anyway,
so we’ll fill the sound while you play.

That was the plan.

[Me: Let’s do Battle Coliseum.]
[Me: If I talk too much, I might slip up.]
[Me: So yeah, I think you’re right.]

[CEO-nim: Alright, then.]
[CEO-nim: We’ll finalize the details over dinner with Rain tomorrow.]

[Me: Okay.]

After sending that last message,
I found myself fidgeting with my keyboard.

…Did I just type "넹" instead of "넵"?

Did I really use a softer tone instead of my usual firm response?

No way.

Am I…
adapting to my own cuteness?

I’ve always kept a strict, professional image at work.

Always wore suits.
Always upheld company rules.
Always spoke properly in front of the CEO.

But now,
I was… slipping?

Was my small body making my brain follow suit?

[CEO-nim: Hahahahaha.]
[CEO-nim: Alright, see you tomorrow.]
[CEO-nim: I’m heading to my stream now.]
[CEO-nim: Don’t go overboard with your toxic missions.]

[Me: LOL]

The weird part?

The CEO’s tone was different too.

She usually only types one "ㅎ" when she laughs,
but just now,
she used four.

Does she actually prefer "넹" over "넵"?

[CEO-nim: Stop laughing and answer me.]
[Me: No.]
[CEO-nim: Answer.]
[Me: No.]
[CEO-nim: Hey.]
[Me: Neng.]
[CEO-nim: Took you long enough.]

Even after deliberately messing with her,
she wasn’t annoyed.

“…Hmmm.”

An idea popped into my head.

Does being cute mean I can get away with being toxic?

There was only one way to find out.

I was definitely running an experiment after work.

***

After 2 AM, every game turns into a madhouse.

Of course, some players aren’t complete lunatics—
they’re just office workers using their vacation days
to stay up all night and enjoy games they don’t usually have time for.

But to those people,
past 2 AM is hell itself—
a lawless battlefield where only the strongest survive.

[Hello, first attempt. Hello, second attempt.
Hello, third attempt. Hello, fourth attempt.
Hello, fifth attempt…]

Kim, a humble office worker,
was suddenly hit with the realization of doom—

His random teammate,
“My Highest Level of Education is Chicken School Momo,”
wasn’t just some random troll.

She was a full-blown psychopath
roaming the 2 AM war zone.

Still,
her voice was weirdly cute,
and her diction was so clear
that he started wondering—

“…Is she a streamer?”

[Hello, twenty-fifth attempt.
Hello, twenty-sixth attempt.
Hello, twenty-seventh attempt…]

…She wasn’t stopping.

At this rate,
she was going to keep saying “Hello”
until the match ended.

With a deep sigh,
Kim rummaged through his desk drawer,
pulled out his neglected mic,
and finally gave in.

"…Hello."

Just like that—
at attempt forty-two—
she stopped.

A short pause.

Then—

[Wow. You actually responded.
As a token of my appreciation,
I’ll carry this game.]

Kim,
who wasn’t familiar with online communities
or the infamous Sniper King Shinotan,
let out a small scoff.

‘…With two double-barrel shotguns?’