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

After revealing the video, Mugeon kept his promise and continued with the Song World Cup. The broadcast maintained nearly 30,000 viewers for almost an hour, serving as an extremely effective promotion.

The steady reinforcement of Magia’s name, her ability to draw attention, the strategically timed teaser video, and the Song World Cup all seamlessly came together—almost as if planned. Even the foreign viewers in Mugeon’s audience seemed to be getting drawn in.

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Midday Heat Haze| Nezumi Maru Cover
Nezumi Maru | Subscribers: 197,000
Views: 520,000 | 1 week ago | #NezumiMaru #Parallel

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@ListenWhy Just now
MOVGUN brings me here

@tamatama-sang Just now

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The influx of new viewers led to a noticeable increase in views across both cover songs and original tracks.

Meanwhile, Z’s real-time search rankings were completely dominated by tags like Parallel First-Gen, Anniversary, and 3D.

Since 3D modeling opens up so many new possibilities, the audience was thrilled about what could come next.

A full-group concert?
A physical challenge-style collaboration stream?
The expansion potential was limitless.

Midnight—Two Hours After the In-House Match Ended.

By 12 AM, even Cheon Do-hee—who had just wrapped up a grueling 14-hour motion capture session for the first-gen members—had heard about the news.

“The PR team leader must’ve been watching the stream without sleeping.”

“Oh, really?”

“He said he sees Magia in a new light now. Apparently, he regrets not scouting her earlier, since he didn’t realize she was this talented.”

“And what did Team Leader Kang say?”

“I told him if he was that upset, he should become Operations Team Leader instead. I mean, technically, Magia’s part of my team, but I barely interfere anyway.”

Cheon Do-hee and Kang Ji-ho exchanged knowing laughs.

They were laughing, but both of them were on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion.

“As soon as the girls get out of their suits, we’re heading straight home. I’m wiped.”

“Agreed… I don’t know why we’re this exhausted when they’re the ones running around.”

“Well, they’re too caught up in the moment to notice, but watching is actually more mentally draining than participating. Seeing repeated mistakes, catching tiny imperfections—it wears you down.”

Both of them just wanted to go home and pass out.
Shower? That was tomorrow morning’s problem.

… At least, that was the plan, until the first-gen members—after filming for 14 hours—decided they wanted to go out for food.

“Let’s keep playing!!”
“Yeah, let’s go! Drinks and food!”

And they weren’t just whining about it—they clung to Magia like barnacles.

“But what about Magia? Magia? Magia? Magia?”
“You messed up, sis.”
“Idiot? Magia is three-time. Magia is five-time, do like this.”
“Leng, you forgot the number four. Do you even know how to count anymore?”
“Shut up.”
“You guys talk too much for people who haven’t even gamed with Magia. I helped with illustrations for her stream, you know~.”
“Oh? Are you trying to make us jealous? Do you want bloodshed?”
“Calm down, both of you…”

It made sense.

Every time they had breaks during solo shoots, all they could do was scroll on their phones.

And the biggest topic on their feeds? Magia’s broadcast.

Teaming up with Mugeon.
Crushing celestial-rank players.
Flawlessly wrapping up promotions.
Getting Mugeon to run a Parallel Song World Cup for 30,000+ viewers.

And this person had just been sitting quietly in the monitoring room all this time?

For the first-gen members, that was completely unacceptable.

They needed to drag her in, shower her with praise, and turn her into a praise onion.

Although… Magia had been making an effort to bond with the younger members lately.

Still, she wasn’t someone who enjoyed being the center of attention.

Unable to decide, Cheon Do-hee finally sent a message.

[Me: Magia.]
[Me: Are you awake?]

A reply came almost instantly.

[Magia: Nope.]
[Magia: I was grinding rank in Battle Call since I’m on track to hit Master tonight.]
[Magia: Why?]

[Me: We’re heading out for late-night food. The girls want to see you.]
[Me: You don’t have to come, but I wanted to check if you were interested.]
[Me: Come if you want.]
[Me: No pressure, don’t force yourself.]

[Magia: I’ll stay home.]

“…Of course. That’s the Magia standard.”

Honestly, this was better.

If Magia had actually come, they’d have felt guilty about dragging her out when she needed rest.

But now, she was choosing to stay home and relax.
That was perfect.

Bzzzzzt.

[Magia: But how are you planning to get the girls home later?]
[Magia: It’s probably going to be 2 or 3 AM by the time you’re done.]

Cheon Do-hee felt a lump in her throat.

Even after everything she went through today, she was still worried about how late the CEO would be getting home.

[Magia: You know there’s a stream tomorrow, right?]
[Magia: If you’re late, the café is literally going to be on fire.]

“……….”

[Me: Thanks for the reminder…]
[Magia: No problem, lol.]
[Magia: But if you cancel the stream because you’re tired, I’m setting the café on fire myself, lol.]

Damn troll.
So it was because she didn’t want to miss the stream?

Cheon Do-hee, feeling mischievous, started typing.

[Me: Why don’t you come and babysit the girls instead?]

[Magia: Oh.]
[Magia: That’s actually…]
[Magia: CEO, are you a genius?]

…She actually accepted?!

Now Cheon Do-hee felt like she was the bad guy for teasing her.

“I’ve known her for five years, and she still surprises me every time.”

[Me: Alright, I’ll send you the location when we get there.]
[Magia: Got it.]
[Magia: I’ll get ready to head out.]

Despite herself, a smile crept onto Cheon Do-hee’s face.

Where else in the world could you find an employee who’d drop everything and rush out at midnight to take care of a team of hyperactive first-gen VTubers?

‘I should double her bonus this month.’

Her salary was fixed, so bonuses were the only way to compensate for sudden overtime.

But at some point, she’d have to stop giving bonuses and just promote Magia outright.

If even the company was recognizing her contributions, then Magia had no more excuses to keep running away.

***

I arrived at the izakaya thirty minutes later by taxi.

But the entrance itself was already a challenge.

“Can I see your ID? You look way too young.”

I figured I looked fine when I was wearing my business suit, but in just a plain hoodie… I probably did look like a teenager.

With no choice, I handed over my ID.

Even after checking it, the staff still seemed skeptical but let me in anyway.
Honestly, I should be glad they even let me through.

After walking down the narrow hallway and finally reaching the last private room, I opened the door.

Huh?

“What the—? Where did everyone go? It’s just you here, Mari.”

Only one person remained.

Komari, with her round bob haircut, a knit sweater over a collared shirt, sat at the table, quietly sipping a Coke.

She greeted me with a nod and, being as polite as ever, explained the situation.

“Rain and Dora went to karaoke.”

“…Again? What about Maru and the CEO?”

“They’re throwing up. The CEO’s patting her back.”

Idols, ladies and gentlemen.
Getting wasted and throwing up after drinking. Real professional behavior.

Seriously, how many times have I told them to drink in moderation?

At times like this, I really appreciate Komari.

Sure, she can be a little too out there, bouncing between fourth and fifth dimensions, but she knows her limits when drinking and listens to the CEO better than anyone else.

Since it didn’t look like the CEO would be back anytime soon, I took a seat at an empty spot.

…And immediately, the atmosphere turned awkward.

Komari wasn’t much of a talker, and I wasn’t the type to start conversations, so silence settled over us instantly.

But that was fine.

I liked the quiet.

Streamers never stop talking when they’re on air, so at least now, they could rest their voices.

Even if she was drinking Coke, which was probably not great for her throat.

As we sat there, two small figures silently occupying the space, Komari was the first to break the silence.

“Jia-unni.”

Hearing the ‘unni’ made my skin crawl with secondhand embarrassment.

“What?”

“Would you… like to play a game with me next week?”

She sounded completely indifferent, but that was just Komari’s default tone.

She was already quiet, and her pitch barely fluctuated, so to people who didn’t know her, it might’ve seemed like she was mad or something.

…She was pretty cute, though.

You’re the only first-gen I can actually tolerate, huh?

I was pretty sure the CEO liked Komari the most, too.

Not that I ever asked.

“What game? Don’t tell me it’s Naore.”

“How did you know?”

“Because you’ve been playing Naore all week. Of course, it’s Naore.”

“…I didn’t play every day.”

“Really? Out of your 40-hour stream time, you spent 30 hours playing games, 28 of which were Naore. And you’re saying that’s not every day?”

“…….”

Komari stared at me, frowning in frustration.

But her idea of ‘angry’ was just puffing out her cheeks slightly and tilting her brows.

Her expression barely changed, which made it even funnier, and since her Live2D model mirrored it, the fans loved it.

So… Naore, huh?

A game I didn’t care about, had never played, and knew absolutely nothing about.

“I’ve never played it before. If you make a smurf account to play with me, people will talk.”

“That doesn’t matter. It’s not ranked.”

“I’ll just learn the game first.”

“Ugh. No, that’s no fun. The best part is when you know nothing.”

I grinned and asked,

“Ohhh. You wanna see me struggle because I don’t know how to play? That it?”

Immediately, Komari’s face went blank.

She was so easy to read, and that made teasing her even more fun.

Of course, this only worked before she started playing ranked.

Once Komari went into ranked mode, you had to leave her alone.
She radiated a dangerous aura.

“I’ll ask the CEO to teach me this weekend. We’re going to a PC café together.”

“…Fine.”

Komari huffed, let out a small scoff, and took another sip of her Coke.

Then, after swallowing, she suddenly went—

“Oh, right. I needed to tell you something.”

“What?”

“It’s about Pino. They want your company email.”

“…Pino?”

Pino—Komari’s ‘papa.’

A Live2D rigger who specialized in contract work for mobile game companies.

Until now, we hadn’t crossed paths because he mostly worked with the planning team.

But why did he need my email?

Komari quickly explained.

“Pino wants to mess with your model.”

Silence.

…I understood what she meant, but the wording.

Komari must’ve realized it too because she quickly avoided my gaze and muttered,@@novelbin@@

“…I mean. They want to handle your rigging. Your illustration…”