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

[Wow. I can't believe you accepted this. As a token of gratitude, I'll carry this match.]

Kim scoffed at the random teammate’s message. They clearly didn’t know much about the community or the infamous Signal Flare.

‘…With two double-barrels?’

The double-barrel shotgun was a beloved close-range weapon, but carrying two at once? That was rare.

Even if Crazy Shot had a shotgun damage bonus, this was still pushing it.

To make things worse, they only had 40 rounds of ammo. The rest of their inventory was stuffed entirely with throwables—excluding Molotovs.

Kim had been playing long enough to recognize what kind of strategy this player was aiming for.

Urban combat focus, eliminating distance gaps with smoke grenades when needed.

Not a conventional playstyle. There was a high chance of getting dragged into some reckless firefight just by sticking around.

Kim had a decision to make.

Trust the random teammate who just declared they’d carry or go solo.

The last remaining squadmate was a silent Chinese player, playing as Thief, a class specialized in disruption and annoyance tactics. Not the kind of person who’d back Kim up in a fight.

Unfortunately, Kim’s class was Support—a role that relied on teammates to maximize effectiveness.

With enough skill, a support-class player could go solo just fine.

But Kim had no desire to sweat through a high-intensity game this late at night.

Besides, while their playstyle was bizarre, that cute voice was oddly soothing. It took the edge off Kim’s growing frustration after a long streak of frustrating losses.

“I’ll back you up. Let’s see if you can really carry.”

[Oh, then I appreciate it.]

Kim locked in the decision.

Trust Final Academic Achievement: Chicken School Momo.

About fifteen minutes later, Kim realized they had made the right choice.

[Don’t come this way. I’ll clear this area. Cover Big Bro.]

“Understood, Chicken School.”

Despite the voice being as adorable as a little girl’s, the gameplay was straight-up macho.

As soon as an enemy was spotted, smoke went up. Crazy Shot’s ultimate—a speed-boosting pad—was dropped, and then—

Boom. Boom.

Even when they ended up in a reload standoff—since the double-barrel had the longest reload time of any primary weapon—Chicken School always pulled off a ridiculous save with their absurdly accurate sticky grenades.

Even if their own shield broke in the process, they always took at least two enemies down with them. Kim’s squad had no way of losing.

The final fight, in particular, left a lasting impression.

Chicken School singlehandedly annihilated the last surviving enemy squad with nothing but two double-barrels, smoke grenades, and sticky grenades.

— !! VICTORY !! —
KimGukgiMaster / Final Academic Achievement: Chicken School Momo / 糖糖葫芦葫芦

In the end, Kim’s squad won far more easily than expected.

And Chicken School? Not only were they cracked, but they had good manners too.

[Wow. Great support play, KimGukgiMaster. Are you on an alt account?]

“No, this is my main.”

[Lucky game, then. Thanks for the carry. Good work, everyone.]

Honestly, Kim was the lucky one.

They had played over twenty matches before meeting Chicken School, dealing with garbage teammates the whole time. They had been debating whether to just call it a night.

“…Chaotic, but fun.”

***

Cheon Do-hee loved Battle Colosseum.

Not in a casual way. She loved it so much that she dedicated at least one stream a week to the game.

She wasn’t particularly skilled—her ranked games were brutal—but through sheer persistence, she always clawed her way to at least Gold by the end of each season.

Naturally, she often browsed the Battle Colosseum forum for news.

And today, while eating breakfast, she noticed something strange—the forum was unusually active.

— Battle Colosseum Forum —
[Signal Flare, Signal Flare…]

(TinyKid.ntube)
I recorded a match yesterday. This has to be them, right?

Used to go by some name like FireworksSomething Kim Duk-bae before.

I swear it’s Signal Flare.
Matched into a game last night, ended up on a team with them.
Ran around wiping entire squads with dual double-barrels.
The moment the match started, they kept spamming “Hello” like fifty times, so I said hi back out of reflex.
Then they just carried the whole match, wrecked everyone, and left.

[Comments]
— BattleCol291: Hello Hello is unhinged LMAO
— BattleCol862: Why is their voice stupidly cute wtf
— BattleCol361: Somehow, the contrast makes it even cuter???
— BattleCol721 (OP): Bro, I have a little sister, and hearing that voice made me wanna die inside
— BattleCol634: MORE.
— BattleCol721 (OP): More what, you lunatic?
— BattleCol634: MORE!!!!!!!!!!
— BattleCol721 (OP): (confused emoji)

It was obviously Magia.

What the hell did she do this time?

She had gone into random matchmaking at dawn, spamming greetings at every player she met.

At this point, it was shocking that her identity as Signal Flare hadn’t been exposed already. This was textbook troll behavior.

And yet—

“…Why is everyone reacting positively?”

Cheon Do-hee scrolled down, half-expecting to find hate posts.

Instead, all the comments were full of admiration.

It didn’t take long to figure out why.

The moment someone responded to her greeting, she’d carry the match and exit in style.

There were already over ten clips floating around, and even a full match recording with live voice comms.

[Holy crap, the support play is insane. I think I just met Helen Keller.]

[Hey, Sniper, got any spare shield batteries? Just one, please.]

[That’s not a sniper. This is a sniper. Give me that rifle. You’re only shooting snipers now.]

Do-hee skimmed through a few more, picking out key moments.

It was ridiculous. Magia wasn’t just playing well—she was boosting team morale with pure voice energy.

“…She really knows how to talk.”

This was why Magia was a professional troll.

She never said anything outright problematic.

Momo had been the same way back when she was a troll.

She never used any words that could get her banned, but she still knew exactly how to push people’s buttons. Worse, she had a talent for skirting the line—getting just close enough to make someone snap without crossing into outright misconduct.

That was why Do-hee had confronted her in person. She knew that if she didn’t, she’d be getting trolled for the rest of her life.

“…How has no one figured out she’s our employee yet?”

Were they all just gritting their teeth and pretending not to notice?
Or was it really impossible to recognize her voice alone?

Since Battle Colosseum was Do-hee’s main content, many Momo Gallery regulars also lurked in the game’s forum. Yet somehow, no one had pieced together a definitive clue.

Maybe it was the sheer shock. Signal Flare is a woman? And her voice is this cute?
That revelation had apparently blown people’s minds so thoroughly that they’d forgotten all about Parallel Employee D-Rain—who had been the hottest topic in the Parallel and first-gen VTuber galleries just yesterday.

Of course, even if the discussion was buried for now, the truth would come out eventually.
And if it had to come out, it was better to reveal it all at once—during the upcoming collab.

Scandals weren’t most explosive when they hit all at once.
They were at their most devastating when they unraveled in multiple, interconnected stages.

Right now, all people knew was Signal Flare = a cute-voiced female troll.

But once the pieces clicked into place—Signal Flare = a woman = a troll = D-Rain—the impact would be insane.

If they addressed it during the collab, they could control the fallout in real time.
Otherwise, they’d be dealing with a drawn-out mess later.

Maybe that was why this whole situation was weighing on Do-hee’s mind.

She spent the entire morning debating before finally sending a message to Gia around lunchtime.

[Me: Gia, what ID are you using for the stream?]
[Magia: Main account.]

Unexpectedly, they were on the same page.

[Me: Why not use an alt?]
[Magia: I don’t want people speculating if I get caught using an alt.]
[Magia: I didn’t do anything wrong.]
[Magia: I feel like if I just reveal it now, people will get over it faster.]
[Magia: But I need your help.]
[Me: Oh…]
[Me: That’s actually pretty strategic.]

But Gia had only reached this decision after running a little social experiment of her own.

She had confirmed a slightly twisted truth—a cute troll could get away with nearly anything.

[Magia: By the way, I can mess around a bit, right? Like when I snipe your streams?]

But the more she fooled around, the more persistent people would become.

[Me: You don’t want to appear on stream too often, right?]
[Magia: No.]
[Me: Then keep it in check.]
[Magia: UwU.]

…UwU my ass.

…I’ll let it slide. Because she’s cute.

[Me: You’ve got me and Rain, remember?]
[Me: Just don’t cross the line.]

⚡ Crackle

[ AOYAGI RAIN / AOYAGI RAIN ]
@aoyagirain_parallel_vtuber | 166,000 Followers
Parallel First-Gen | Falling from the sky, it’s Aoyagi Rain ☂

🔴 (Live) A MASSIVE ONE JUST DROPPED 👪 15,227 viewers
#BattleColosseum #Momo #Parallel

One week later—on the day of the Battle Colosseum collab.

Rain’s streams usually averaged around 4,000 viewers, but today, over 15,000 people had tuned in.

The hype around Employee D-Rain had already been high.
And to top it off, the other first-gen members had all conveniently taken the day off to “watch the collab.”

It was a choice that could’ve cost them some of their personal audience.
But in reality, it was a tactic that CEO Do-hee had once taught them.

[Momo: Fans who watch one of you are highly likely to watch another.]
[Momo: You’re a group. Whenever something big happens, you’ll naturally be involved in each other’s content.]

[Momo: Even breaks can be used strategically.]
[Momo: Let’s say a huge collab happens, but you’re not in it. And let’s say you haven’t taken a break at all this month.]
[Momo: If you time your break for that exact day, a bunch of your audience will show up to the collab instead.]
[Momo: More visible viewers = bigger numbers = more new fans.
[Momo: Basically, it’s trickle-down viewership.]

And so, the first-gen members had all scheduled their appointments, errands, and personal commitments for this exact day.

A clear sign that even they saw D-Rain as the biggest buzz in Parallel right now.

[Oh, hell yeah! Droppin’ from the sky, comin’ to soak the dry land—it’s Aoyagi Rain!]

A full week’s worth of anticipation.
A hype train powered by every first-gen member.
And Momo’s strategically engineered viewership boost.

The sheer speed of chat messages made it clear just how many people were here.

— OH HELL YEAH
— ㅇㅎㅇ
— Leha
— Lehaaaaaaa
— ㅇㅎㅇ!
— D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN!
— Leha
— ㅇㅎㅇ
— ㅇㅎㅇ!

[A whole week. It’s been a long wait, huh?]

— LOOOOOOOONG WAIT
— I almost DIED holding my breath
— The puddles are bone dry

[Ahaha! Yeah, you’re on the verge of drying up, huh? Well then, let me introduce two guests who’ll bring the moisture back! First up, our CEO!]

The Battle Colosseum lobby. In the three-player waiting room, an empty slot was suddenly filled by the ID "momopeach."

"Hello, Puddles. It’s been a while."

— Moha
— Mh
— Boss Momo, hi
— She’s here~
— Has it been a month?

[Next! The guy you Puddles wouldn’t shut up about. He split his schedule to be here today. Employee, D, Lupin~!]

And at that moment—after a week of speculation—Magia finally made her reappearance.@@novelbin@@

[Hello, everyone. I’m Employee D from Parallel’s operations team. I played D-Rain in last week’s Find Rain event. Thanks for having me.]

— ㅇㄱㄱㄷ
— Employee D Lupin LMAO
— GOMU GOMU NO~~
— HELL YEAH
— ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
— DAMN, MOMO. WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE EMPLOYEES? THIS ONE’S AMAZING!
— SO CUTE
— THE GRAND EMPLOYEE, THE GOD EMPLOYEE, THE KING EMPLOYEE

At that moment, the chat was filled with nothing but warm welcomes for Magia.

But today’s stream had attracted a ton of MongMongs—Momo’s fans, who primarily followed Battle Colosseum.

The phrase Signal Flare started popping up a few times in chat.

And just as Do-hee had planned, it wasn’t long before a donation message rolled in.

:: An anonymous donor has contributed 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Wait… Employee D’s username…? ::

That was when everyone’s gaze shifted.

For the first time, they noticed the ID occupying the third player slot.

< 3p: Human Signal Flare Kim Fireworks >

One of the most infamous names in Battle Colosseum.
The notorious troll known for terrorizing Momo’s games.

And now, everyone could see it.

— ?
— ??
— Huh?
— Wait, what? My brain just short-circuited.
— ???
— SIGNAL FLARE…?
— BRO, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!