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

Seung-yeon, who had been hoping for a pineapple-topped shaved ice for dessert, was instead greeted with a delivery of...

“Well? It looks delicious, doesn’t it?”

It was a pineapple pizza with warm pineapple chunks on top.

The yellow fruit on top of the cheese seemed particularly conspicuous today.

‘Ahhh…’

Seung-yeon loves pineapple. She enjoys fresh pineapple, and it’s a great dessert accompaniment. As long as it’s sweet and tangy, she’s fine with it.

But there’s one thing—warm pineapple, especially the kind cooked on pizza, is the worst thing ever for Seung-yeon.

How could anyone eat pineapple hot? People say it becomes sweeter and loses its sourness and bitterness when cooked, but...

Seung-yeon would understand if the pineapple was grilled and served as a side with meat. But pineapple on pizza? It’s like deliberately putting construction-site yellow paint over a beautiful painting and asking, “Looks good, doesn’t it?”

‘Please, if I reincarnate, send me to a time before pineapple pizza was even invented... So I can smack the person who created it...!’

She squeezed her eyes shut, briefly imagining a meta-world scenario, then quickly gathered herself and answered Magia’s question.

“Ma… Ma… Ma…”

But the words wouldn’t come out.

No matter that she was speaking to her senior, someone she personally liked, and that she had to make up for the earlier mistake, could she really say that pineapple pizza was "delicious"?

It was a thought she could never voice, not as someone who loved pineapple. It would be blasphemy to the many dishes pineapple could be used for.

But what could she do? Her senior was looking at her with such a happy expression, hoping she’d enjoy it.

“Ma… Ma… Magia Part Leader, I’ll eat it well!!”

At last, Magia picked up a slice of pizza and began nibbling from the edge.

It was supposed to be a cute sight, like a hamster nibbling on a huge piece of cheese, which should’ve made Seung-yeon’s appetite grow.

But the soft bread, tangy tomato paste, savory cheese, and sweet pineapple on top—this strange mix clouded Seung-yeon’s mind, and she couldn’t bring herself to bite into it.

But wasn’t this a loyalty test? Her university seniors used to pull these kinds of pranks too.

Since she liked pineapple pizza, sometimes they’d eat it together, asking subtly, “Are you really following me?”

‘Just close your eyes and eat it.’

Seung-yeon knew well that Magia was a kind person. How many people would take care of someone who showed up for an interview at 2 AM?

So, even if Magia liked dishes like pho with extra spice or mint chocolate, Seung-yeon could understand.

Simply working in the same office with Magia already felt like smooth sailing in Seung-yeon’s life.

And what was more, it was Seung-yeon who threw the fish-shaped bread on the ground and attacked first. She had to take her punishment like a grown-up.

So, with a deep breath, Seung-yeon opened her mouth wide, ready to bite the sharp part of the pizza, but then…

A small hand swiftly snatched the pizza away and placed it back on the greasy pizza box.

“If you don’t like something, just say so. Don’t eat it just because I told you to.”

“Oh, no! It’s not that! I never said I didn’t like it!”

“Your expression and actions are too honest. You’re giving it away.”

Seung-yeon turned her eyes away, but she couldn’t escape Magia’s sharp gaze.

“I’m sorry. I thought if you liked pineapple, you’d like pineapple pizza too. If you don’t like it, don’t force yourself to eat it. Let’s order something else. Anything is fine.”

“Uh, well… But you bought it for me, Part Leader…”

“Quickly.”

Magia’s tone was the most serious Seung-yeon had ever heard, and her face looked different than usual.

She was genuinely upset.

“Ah, yes!”

Seung-yeon hurriedly grabbed her phone from Magia and began searching for something else to order, but her mind wasn’t at ease.

She should’ve just eaten it without hesitating.

It felt like her relationship with her senior was slowly going off track...

‘She’s the type who can’t say she doesn’t like something, huh?’

Is it because she’s new to the workforce?

Thinking about it, when I first joined the company, I don’t think I ever refused to help anyone either.

The president was very clear about saying, “This is your job,” “Only do this when you’re not busy,” so I rarely had to step outside my work scope. If I did, I’d come back with tasks.

But Seung-yeon, on the other hand, is doing work she’s never done before, in an environment she’s never been in.

So, I think it’s my job to make sure she can be straightforward about what she likes or dislikes.@@novelbin@@

If she doesn’t like something, she should be able to say it, especially now that she’s working alongside me.

A little while later, Seung-yeon came back with the burger set she ordered and bowed slightly before sitting down.

“I’m sorry. I’ve caused trouble…”

“Let’s eat. You need to eat to get the energy for work.”

“Yes, yes.”

At this point, the Halloween special for the first-generation broadcast was still going on with the four of them chatting, so there was plenty of time for lunch.

When doing a group broadcast, as long as the sync is set, you barely have to worry about managing the four screens at once.

Workload reduced by 75%, and people doubled. It felt like the work pressure was only one-eighth of what it used to be.

So, when there’s downtime like this, why not eat and chat?

Seung-yeon’s expression as she took a big bite of her burger was bright, unlike the one she had earlier when she was struggling with the pineapple pizza.

“You look completely different from earlier.”

“Gulp.”

“From now on, if you don’t like something, don’t hesitate and just say it. We’ll be working together for a long time, so it’s better to know each other’s preferences and avoid awkwardness.”

Seung-yeon chugged some cola and sighed deeply before speaking to me.

“Yes... You’re right.”

“You don’t need to be so formal. Let’s keep it easy. We’re only one year apart.”

“Huh? How can you say that?! You’re the Part Leader!”

“Oh, so you want to keep a distance from me? I get it. That’s fine.”

“No, no, no, no, no! That’s not it!”

Seung-yeon, realizing her voice had gotten louder, quickly lowered her gaze but then poured out her true feelings.

“I’m a fan of Parallel too, you know? Of course, I’m happy to work with Employee D! Half of the fans right now are dying to meet Employee D. Now, I get to see you every day... Um... I mean, it’s weird to say ‘fan.’ Anyway, I’ve been supporting you. Your streams have been so fun lately. I really wanted to meet you... Ugh.”

Even though I didn’t reveal that I was Employee D, it seemed like everyone figured it out from my voice.

But unlike the other candidates who proudly talked about seeing Employee D after the interview, Seung-yeon didn’t mention the president’s appearance once in her post-interview review.

She had already deeply ingrained the unwritten rule in the VTuber industry about protecting their identity, and she cared more about the company than personal recognition.

She was the kind of junior I had hoped for: respectful, yet full of care for Parallel.

So, I really wanted to take good care of her. Finding someone like her again wouldn’t be easy.

“If you feel that way, we need to make things even more comfortable between us. Even though I’m your senior, we’ll still be working together. If I’m busy, you can take some of my tasks. If you’re busy, I’ll take some of yours.”

“Oh. Ah…”

“Besides, we’re the same age, right?”

In the Parallel World, "Wol-Dungi" refers to the entire Parallel fandom. It means that whether it's you or me, or a "Hakooshi" (a fan who loves the entire group, usually because they have a favorite but still enjoys the whole group), we're all in this together and should be friends who enjoy fandom as one. It was meant to show camaraderie.

I noticed her discomfort through the slightly furrowed expression she had all this time. But now, Seung-yeon's face was finally relaxing.

"Wol-Dungi... that's right."

"After the stream, you can call me whatever you want, like 'part manager' or something. But at least while we're watching the stream together, think of me as a friend. You know how when we watched the first-generation collab on TalkCode, and we laughed saying things like 'That's so funny, it's crazy' and shared stuff like that? That's what we're doing in real life. Simple, right?"

Seung-yeon flashed a grin, the first smile I’d seen from her since she carelessly tossed the fish-shaped bread onto the cold floor earlier.

"Yes, yup!"

She turned up the volume on the headset hanging around her neck and leaned back in her chair. Seung-yeon also relaxed, tilting her back slightly, trying to sneak a look at me.

At that moment, the first-generation collab was wrapping up their communication stream and getting ready to start their main content.

[ (🔴Live) Candy Do Time] 👪9,142

Today's collab content was Trick or Treat.

It was a common birthday event, technically known as "Dotumachi," a content where streamers open voice channels, wait for guests, and those guests (usually other VTubers from the same company) leave messages or gifts. The streamer then thanks them briefly and continues the stream.

In a way, it was also a chance for the first-generation members to show off their network built over time.

The guests bring all sorts of things—candy pictures, photos, or simple gifts they prepared themselves. Each person brings something different, making it a lively exchange of chatter in a short time.

"Who do you think will be the first to show up?"

I asked, watching Seung-yeon intently chew on a hamburger, as though talking to a friend while watching the stream.

She swallowed the last bite of food before replying.

"I think... Mugeon?"

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Well, recently, he's been quite busy. And adding Maru's original song to his Mad Movie was a bit of a surprise too. Plus, it's just about dinner time..."

"Right. He'll probably show up to greet everyone and then go back to his own stream."

Just as we finished the conversation, the notification sound for TalkCode rang out.

Just as the big data predicted, Mugeon appeared.

[Hello. I wasn’t exactly waiting to rush in, but I happened to have some free time and came to drop off some candy. I'm looking forward to the new song in five days. Fighting!]

The others were busy thanking him—thanking him for the World Cup, for allowing promotional content during the civil war, and so on.

After a brief exchange of recent updates, Mugeon left a message:

[I watched Komari's stream recently. I was worried about the fans' teeth, so I prepared something.]

What was it? A nighttime teeth grinding prevention mouthguard.

Komari’s voice, filled with surprise, was priceless.

[Wow... Thank you...]

— ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ — Dae Mugeon looking out for our teeth health ㅋㅋ — Normalizing teeth grinding ㄷㄷ — First candy and it's already unconventional ㅋㅋㅋ

The "Candy List" on the top right corner of the stream was updated.

After Mugeon left, others who had collaborated with him in the past started popping in, and soon members’ moms and dads began appearing one by one.

By the time about twenty people had shown up, the broadcast paused for a while as the guests came and went.

It was around 8 p.m., and it seemed like everyone was getting ready to start their own streams.

It would’ve been nice if the boss could come in at this moment to fill the gap, but they were swamped with planning and promotional meetings related to the 1st anniversary event and couldn’t attend. Looking at the conference room, everyone was frantically writing and erasing things on the whiteboard.

The first-generation members were busy filling the sound, but as the gaps grew longer, the excitement for the content naturally started to drop. It was time to throw more fuel on the fire.

I quickly swapped my monitoring headset for earbuds and connected to TalkCode on my phone.

"I’m just going to help out with the others’ broadcasts for a bit, so you stay and watch the stream."

"Ah, sure."

Ding dong.

As soon as my nickname appeared in the waiting room, I was immediately pulled up to the broadcast channel.

Dora, who had been watching, quickly brought me up.

The members greeted me noisily.

[What? D? What’s going on?] [It's Staff-D!] [Are you from the other side?] [Hi!]

— What? — Glad I tuned in today ㅋㅋ — I knew something would happen, upvote for those who were already watching ㅋㅋ

"Hello. Happy Halloween. It was quiet for a moment, so I thought it’d be a good time to pop in and say hi."

Usually, when someone enters, the person closest to them takes the lead in the conversation. In my case, that seemed to be Dora.

It felt like a privilege, like being treated specially due to being the mama (illustrator).

As soon as Dora started talking, she was trying to keep me on the stream.

[Staff-D, you can just stay here with us. Let’s get candy together, heh heh.]

But no way.

I hadn't discussed this beforehand, and I was in the middle of handing over work, so I had to decline.

"I came to give candy, so let me just give it and leave."

[Really? What are you going to give?]

I had already planned on treating everyone for a celebration today.

"Pizza gift certificates."

The members gasped, and Komari was the first to catch on.

[No way, really?]

Rain was still clueless, and after a brief pause, Dora and Maru reacted.

[No way... Is it the pizza I’m thinking of?] [No, it’s not that one, is it?]

Without answering, I sent a bundle of gift certificates to the open chat.

As soon as Dora saw them, she sighed deeply.

[Staff-D, you know that the viewers will eat this, right?]

"The viewers will get to learn about new food experiences. It’s a happy thing."

Komari roared like a beast.

[You evil! Giving us this as candy? Worse than a demon!]

"This is my favorite food, though. It would make me a little sad if you said that."

— ?? What is this? — If it’s pizza, I can’t eat it if there’s no one to give it to. — What’s all this fuss about? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Curious viewers began asking for the gift reveal, and the “Candy List” updated again with a screenshot of the gift certificate (excluding the barcode).

‘Candy List’

• …
• (MAJAPIZZA) Hawaiian Pineapple, Cola 1.5L x20
• …

It was the current hot item at MajaPizza, a hit product that came with double the amount of pineapple compared to the regular Hawaiian pizza.

The reactions were heated, and the chat went wild.

[That’s just horrible...] [Need to rethink eating with Staff-D now.] [Why doesn’t Rain like it though? She lived in the US.] [Nope! Don’t ever mention that again. Americans instantly cut out Hawaiian pizza!]

— Guahhh — This is insane, 20 of them — Haha, I never expected to hit a pizza landmine — Actually, Hawaiian pizza is better than people think

The atmosphere, which had been silent, suddenly became lively.

Just as a guest entered the waiting room, I decided to make my exit.

"Anyway, I’m leaving now. I hope the viewers enjoy their warm pizza and have a happy Halloween."

Seung-yeon was completely shocked.

"‘The viewers are going to experience a whole new level of gourmet food. It’s a happy thing.’" "‘This is my favorite food. It would make me sad if you said that.’" "‘Anyway, I’m leaving now. I hope the viewers enjoy their warm pizza and have a happy Halloween.’"

I didn’t know if Magia realized it, but her sudden appearance to liven up the stream was completely different from the Magia I’d seen before.

The way she spoke with such a serene expression and that carefree smile—she looked so happy and content, and it was clear to me. Watching her made Seung-yeon feel as if she was becoming lighter too.

Momo had thought that Staff-D would be avoiding the stream because of being uncomfortable, but judging from what I just saw, it seemed like Magia truly enjoyed being the center of attention when everyone was looking for her.

When Magia put her earbuds back in their charging case, Seung-yeon instinctively clapped, like someone witnessing a fantastic performance.

"Wow, this is the skill of the seasoned Parallel manager, huh? Speaking in front of ten thousand people, weren't you nervous?"

Magia casually answered.

"I’ve had over 30,000 viewers when Mugeon did the civil war broadcast."

"Wow... That’s amazing. You’re so cool. Maybe you’ll even be the host for events later? Our first anniversary event is coming up, right?"

But Magia was someone who adapted easily to any situation. She loved to mess around, predicting how others would react.

So her leading the stream? That was far from Magia's usual style.

"Eh, I don’t think that’s going to happen."