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

Cheon Do-hee had taught me how to play.

But… she wasn’t exactly an expert.

And the thing about Apolla was—she was infamous for breeding absolute degenerates.

Her character design was cute, so new players picked her up often.
And every single time, those new players ended up feeding their asses off.

The problem?

The rank bracket that took in the most new players was Bronze, the most densely populated tier in the game.

Thus, Apolla earned herself another nickname: Dukbae Bug.

And climbing to higher tiers didn’t change this phenomenon much.

In fact, in Naore’s Korean pro league, NaChamps, her pick rate had been sitting at a proud 0% for two years straight.

There were just too many superior alternatives.
Other champions did what she did, but better.
And there were plenty of counters that shut her down hard.

So pros ignored her, and anyone following the high-tier meta considered her a complete dumpster pick.

Of course, that didn’t mean no one played Apolla.

Anyone who played a Siege-class champion had one goal in mind:
"I don’t care if my team wins or loses—I’m breaking towers, I’m breaking the Nexus, and I’m ending this game by backdooring if I have to."

So there were always streamers who leaned into the madness.
"Watch me sprint to the enemy base with Apolla and win!"—that kind of content was out there.

And if the one playing Apolla was a certified Dukbae Lunatic who had held his own against pros in Battle Colosseum?

Now that was a different story.

[Midori Komari / MIDORI KOMARI]

@midorikomari_parallel_vtuber | 191,000 followers
1st-gen Parallel member, the strongest elf, Midori Komari! 🎮

🔴 (Live) Even a Pro in Battle Col Can’t Escape Dukbae Hell in Another World?! 👪 11,332 viewers
#KnightOfLegend #Komari #Apolla #Parallel

And that’s how an unexpected crowd showed up.

Midori Komari☑ @Midori_Komari - 15 minutes ago
Got a guest today.

Midori Komari☑ @Midori_Komari - 14 minutes ago
🔫🔫

↳ @suckleaf
"Two guns? Double Dukbae? Staff-D?"

↳ @sooyeomcha282
"Holy shit, are you a genius?"

↳ @korokoro002
"THE STAFF D"

Sure, she’d posted a teaser on Z before the stream started.

But even then, the numbers were beyond expectation.

This was the kind of viewership they only reached when all four members of Parallel were streaming together at peak hours.

And yet, the numbers just kept rising.

"LMAO WHAT IS THAT TIER"
"???
"Is this actually an isekai plot?"
"AKSKDKFKFK IRON????????"
"Did NOT see this coming LOL"

Even in Mugeon’s private matches, I had made a name for myself with my sharp shooting skills.

And yet.

Iron.

Sure, Naore was a TPS Hero Shooter AOS.
Sure, it was a completely different genre.
Sure, I had never played these champions before.

But still.

Iron.
Not even Bronze.

"Wow, suddenly I feel spiritually connected to Staff-D."
"Same?"
"Chat’s getting crowded. We need to ban the no-rankers."
"Bugs shouldn’t even be allowed to donate with a message, fr."
"What about Bronze?"
"Honestly, if you’re not at least Platinum, shut up."
"Why is this chat filled with Challenger wannabes?"
"If you’re not in Emerald like Komari, GTFO."

Iron was the bottom 10% of the ranked player base.

Which meant 90% of the player base sat above it.

Of course they’d show up out of sheer curiosity.

Some had been dual-watching other Parallel streams.

And then came the nomadic Naore viewers, who chased big audiences.
Then Naore forums picked up the news.

🔴 (Live) Even a Pro in Battle Col Can’t Escape Dukbae Hell in Another World?! 👪 13,400 viewers

The game hadn’t even started yet.

It was still just the chatting segment.

And considering how Naore was the most played game in the country, the chat was about as messy as expected.

"WHEN START WHEN START WHEN START WHEN START"
"FIZZ BUZZ ZAP CRACK BOOM BANG BZZT"
"HURRY UP AAAAAAAA"
"WHEN GAME START 1X WHEN GAME START 2X WHEN GAME START 3X WHEN GAME START 4X WHEN GAME START 5X WHEN GAME START 6X"
"START THE RANKED MATCH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
"WE GOING IN LET’S GOOOOO"
"Wow, Staff-D playing Naore is truly a mystical event."
"START GAME START GAME START GAME"
"ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK ATTACK"
"CYBER ATTACK"
"RANDOM GAME STAFF-D LIKES, RANDOM GAME, GAME START! DOUBLE DUKBAE DOUBLE DUKBAE DOUBLE DUKBAE DOUBLE DUKBAE DOUBLE DUKBAE DOUBLE DUKBAE AHAHAHAHA"

Ah yes. The #1 game in market share.

Naturally, its trolls were also top-tier.

I could practically hear the managers screaming.

Trying to pick out actual bannable offenses in this flood of spam was like sifting through a sand dune to find a single piece of shit.

"Guys. Spam is fine, but please make sure to read the chat rules before you type."

Parallel streams didn’t have rules against spam.

And since most spam happened before content started, things usually calmed down when the game queue screen appeared.

"Did every single Naore gremlin in existence show up?"
"Was Komari’s chat always like this?"
"Komari, what kind of wars have you been fighting?"

While I waited in the game queue, Komari grabbed the mic and began explaining the content.

"Today’s content is… Backseat Endurance!"

"Shouldn’t that be for the Na-ssems?"
"LMAO true."
"Wait, we don’t have to hold back, right?"

"It’s not for you guys. I have to hold back. From backseating."

"OHHHH"
"AHA."
"Oh, I get it now."

First-time viewers didn’t quite get it yet.

But the regulars knew.

There were hundreds of clips of ranked-mode Komari losing her shit floating around.

They knew how hard it was going to be for an Emerald-tier player to hold back while watching the lowest of the low fumble through Naore.

:: Anonymous donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: Wait, she’s just holding back? That sounds boring. ::@@novelbin@@

"Of course there’s more to it."

Komari played a teaser.

It was a trailer for Rubber Duck House—the game I had shown her earlier.

"If I fail to hold back and say anything, I have to play this game for an hour."

The chat took a moment to process this.

So.

Every time Komari backseated, she had to watch rubber ducks for one whole hour.

And the person who had to endure this… was the same Komari who couldn’t help but spew venom every time she saw bad gameplay in ranked?

:: Anonymous donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: Oh god. We’re gonna be watching ducks for 24 hours straight. ::

"NOOOOOO"
"THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING"
"SAY PSYCH RIGHT NOW"

"It’s real. I promised Staff-D."

And I rang the table bell I had brought.

Ding.

"Whenever I decide something counts as backseating, I’ll ring the bell."

At that moment, every single person in the chat realized—

Today… was going to be hell.

***

And so, Magia’s first ranked Naore match in Iron tier began.

For Komari and the Leafies, things actually seemed fine at first.

— Huh, she’s actually laning pretty well.
— Wait, she’s good?
— Her trades are clean, too.
— She’s barely missing any demolition stacks…

That was true…

Until level 6.

Has anyone here ever seen what happens when Magia gets her Adaptive Skill?

Not even Komari had experienced it.

- Level up! -
[You have learned Adaptive Skill III - Fallen Angel’s Black Cloud!]

The moment her Adaptive Skill was ready, Magia rushed forward.

— ?
— What?
— Where’s she going?

Apolla ignored her lane opponent and ran straight ahead.

Boom.

A black cloud spread across the ground, covering about the width of a parking space right in front of the enemy turret.

“…Oh my fuc— mmph.”

Komari caught herself before she could curse.

Because, from a tactical standpoint, that was basically suicide.

Sure, the cloud looked big.
But Naore had an insane number of wide-area skills.

And Magia’s opponent? Lightning.

Auto attacks that hit in AoE.
A long, rectangular chain-lightning combat skill.
An ultimate that covered a massive area in electromagnetic waves.

Even with her eyes closed, Lightning could just throw out attacks and hit something.
It was that easy.

— Why is she using Skill 3…
— Newbie moment;
— My god, I want to backseat so bad.
— HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HOLD BACK?!

:: Anonymous donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Apolla should only use Adaptive 1 or 2. 3 is complete garbage. Never, ever pick it. ::

But against all expectations—

— ?
— Huh?

Clang, clang!

Clang, clang!

— …Excuse me?
— What the hell?

Magia was actually stacking demolition points.

She weaved in and out of the smoke screen, using vision play to dodge enemy skills at the last second.

She slipped outside the cloud right before Lightning’s attacks landed—always just at the edge of the opponent’s field of view.

If her opponent were a high-tier player, it wouldn’t have worked.

But this was Iron.

By the time the enemy heard the stack notification, they realized Apolla was already gone.

Which was crazy, considering Naore was a TPS, not an FPS—meaning enemies had a wide field of vision.

Over and over again.

A mad movie of smoke screen plays unfolded before them.

Then, as the cloud dispersed—

Parking!

The 10-stack notification rang out.

Apolla entered an invulnerable state.

Lightning panicked and retreated from the turret, trying to escape the incoming explosion.

Dark, massive angel wings spread wide behind Apolla.
Her halo gleamed as the energy surged into her twin barrels—

Pew.

———BOOOOOOM!!

First Destroy!
{{BackstabWoundIsDukbae’sShame >> Outer Turret (Bottom)}}

The turret exploded in a deafening blast.

Everyone watching was stunned.

— Uh…
— Uh…
— Huh…
— Why is she good?
— I have never seen this before.
— Is this an Iron-only strat???

There had been a few people who tried similar tactics in higher tiers.

But there, skillshot accuracy was way better.

Naturally, Fallen Angel’s Black Cloud got branded as garbage and was completely abandoned.

No one had bothered testing it further.

So even in Komari’s chat—filled with Na-ssems—people were completely fascinated.

Even Komari herself.

“…I don’t know what the hell just happened, but whatever. Now, as long as she escapes through the alley, this is a huge win—"

But before she could finish, Apolla turned around.

She casually walked toward Lightning, and in all seriousness, typed:

[All] BackstabWoundIsDukbae’sShame: Kill me.
[All] BackstabWoundIsDukbae’sShame: I wish to die with honor.

— LMAOOOOOOO
— ???
— WHAT ARE YOU DOING??

Komari finally noticed that Magia’s HP was low.

But she still had plenty of escape options.
It was way too early to just give up.

She couldn’t hold back.

"Wait, no. You could’ve run—"

Ding!

Magia rang the Backseat Bell.

“I just wanna go home. I already got the turret gold. Running away and dying anyway would just be a waste of effort.”

"Uuuuugh."

— Holy shit, LOL.
— Classic Dukbae player: recalls by dying.
— This is peak Dukbae gameplay.

Komari gritted her teeth while the audience burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, the team chat reacted.

[Team] DogThatBarksAtLunatics: (Thumbs up emoji)
[Team] CanWePleaseGetToBronze: Yo, what is top doing?
[Team] CanWePleaseGetToBronze: Nice as hell.

Even her teammates were impressed by her fast demolition.

After all, even if you weren’t the one breaking the turret, everyone got a gold bonus.

The problem…

Came after she respawned.

— ?
— Wait, why is she suddenly rotating?

At first, Magia lingered in lane like normal.

But the moment her Adaptive Skill cooldown reset—

She sprinted to mid.

People thought maybe she was going to help another lane.
Maybe get some kills.

But no.

She hadn’t switched to Adaptive Skill I for dueling.

And then—

{{BackstabWoundIsDukbae’sShame >> Outer Turret (Mid)}}

Another black cloud.

Same exact tempo.

She destroyed the mid turret.

[Team] DogThatBarksAtLunatics: BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK!!!! GRRRRRRR!!!
[Team] DogThatBarksAtLunatics: WOOF WOOF WOOF LMAO!!!
[Team] CanWePleaseGetToBronze: You f*ing**
[Team] CanWePleaseGetToBronze has left the game.

The team atmosphere collapsed.

In Naore, if you invaded someone else’s lane for no reason in the first 10 minutes, it was a major Geneva Convention violation.

Especially in low ranks.

Whether it was stealing demolition stacks or breaking a turret, it wasn’t allowed.
People would rage-quit over it.

Komari couldn’t hold back.

"Wait, no—ARE YOU INSANE?! In Silver-Gold ranks, if you take a tower before 10 minutes, people will—"

Ding!

Magia rang the bell.

Then said, completely serious,

"So that’s why they all keep leaving mid-game."

She actually had a reason for doing this.

"If I’m playing a Siege-class champion, isn’t it normal to just break towers, farm gold, and open up the enemy base? My teammates still get gold. I thought this was common sense."

"The normal turret gold is 500, but if someone else breaks it, you only get 200 instead."

"So what? That’s just one kill’s worth of gold."

Magia’s mindset actually made sense in high-tier games.

There would always be people complaining, but top players adapted their strategies on the fly.

But in Iron?

No way.

If you didn’t follow the rules, people rage-quit and threw the match.

Komari groaned and asked,

"Wait, so in all your ranked games, no one ever told you this? I refuse to believe even Iron players wouldn’t say something."

Magia let out a sheepish chuckle.

"Oh, no, they told me."

Then she added, completely deadpan,

"But why the hell would I trust an Iron player?"