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

… ─ — Staff-D Mini Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Debut Probability: 100%]

Didn't you notice that when Staff-D showed up just now, no one even realized it?

(Hmm... Con)

They weren't called in by anyone. They just showed up because they wanted to be on the stream?

(Aha, Con)

So, this means that Neiyan is about to debut?

Exactly.

[Comments] — Staff-D835: Don't believe it too much, it's all planned, haha — Staff-D093: Yeah, they probably told us before coming in, lol ㄴ Staff-D734 (Original Post): But even if it was planned, why would they plan it? ㄴ Staff-D734 (Original Post): Wasn't it to get all the attention on Staff-D, like "Wow, it's the fantastic Pokémon"? ㄴ Staff-D540: That makes sense, right?

— Staff-D202: This person is really persistent, haha ㄴ Staff-D734 (Original Post): When Wondi-chan debuts, you better remember it was because of me, lol ㄴ Staff-D202: If they don't run away because of you, that’ll be a win.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

At the moment Magia shook up the Halloween Dotumachi, the first part of the final meeting regarding the first-generation anniversary event at Parallel was wrapping up.

Parallel A Conference Room.

From November 5th to 14th, there were preparations for events tied to the 1st anniversary for the first-generation members.

"Alright, let’s take a break and have dinner, then we’ll continue." "Thanks for your hard work!"

"And where's the boss?" "Ah, I’ll just grab some gimbap. I’ve got too much to think about right now." "Oh, I’ll bring you coffee when I come back."

So, the meeting was to resume after dinner.

The events were tightly packed within a short period, and everything had to flow organically from start to finish, so the planning team was busier than ever.

November 5th, Sunday: First-generation anniversary new song release. November 7th, Tuesday to November 10th, Friday: Sequential 3D showcases by the four first-generation members. November 11th, Saturday: Parallel's pre-anniversary event hosted by Cheon Do-hee. And on the much-awaited November 12th: The first online group concert for the first-generation members in 3D models.

With the new song, 3D showcases, and concert all coming one after the other, it would be a week-long dopamine party for the fans.

Of course, for the company, that week would be nothing short of hellish.

Fortunately, aside from the pre-anniversary event on November 11th, almost everything was nearly complete.

The pre-anniversary event's most important element was the material to watch with the audience. The presentation Another 1 Year created by the planning team had received perfect scores in internal evaluations.

Since it was based on the broadcast reports that Gia had evaluated daily, there weren’t any major issues.

The remaining piece was commentary during the actual broadcast. That meant that as long as Do-hee’s hosting went perfectly, everything would be smooth.

There were no doubts about her capabilities. She had already proven herself as the leader in the VTuber industry with her subscriber count, viewer ratings, and broadcast metrics. Every three months, she ran Review Another, an in-depth look back at the first-generation members’ progress, achieving significant results in terms of viewership retention, search volume, and new fan acquisition.

But there was one issue that continued to appear every time she did the quarterly reviews.

“It's fun, but something about it feels subtly different from what we expected?”

It wasn’t a major issue in the overall business, but...

Momo, being a broadcaster first, always wanted to find reasons to fix even the smallest discomforts like that.

She had improved with every broadcast, and now the majority of the feedback was positive, but that lingering issue was still there, and it was bothering her.

‘For now, it’s a matter of timing.’

With only two weeks left until the pre-anniversary event, Momo figured there wouldn’t be a sudden solution to it.

And so, today as well, Do-hee made her choice, leaning toward business concerns over her broadcast instincts.

In the time it took to worry, the best course of action was to focus on ensuring the anniversary event would go off without a hitch.

11 p.m.

"Good job, everyone!" "Let’s do a cheer!" "Alright, Boss too!"

"One, two, three, fighting!" "Let’s go~!"

The marathon meeting that had seemed like it would never end was finally over.

The planning and promotion teams had spent the last bit of energy debating endlessly over ad placement and promotion timing, but in the end, they were satisfied with how it was all coming together. Everyone left the meeting room with relieved expressions.

Some people were already getting ready to grab a drink after such a long day.

However, even after the meeting was over, Do-hee’s worries about going on air didn’t disappear. She was editing the script, her forehead resting on her hand, and she wasn’t in the mood for the festive atmosphere.

"Everyone. You know this is just the beginning, right? The real party can wait until everything’s finished, and for now, let’s finish up quickly and go rest, okay?"

The planning team leader and the publicity team leader, who had been preparing for a celebratory dinner, awkwardly stepped away first. They were probably trying to leave unnoticed after they realized it wasn’t the right moment.

Thanks to them, the younger staff members were relieved.

The team members nodded in thanks as they left, heads bowed.

After Do-hee turned off the lights and exited the meeting room, the office was quieter than usual, with only one corner still buzzing with activity.

Thinking the team leaders might be planning another celebratory gathering, Do-hee peeked over, but no, that wasn’t the case.

In the long rectangular office, near the main entrance, Magia and Seungyeon were watching streams on several monitors.

‘Looks like the Halloween broadcast is going well,’ Do-hee thought.

Yesterday, it was chaos, with parts not fitting, awkward moments, and constant corrections. Emails with requests like, “Please fix this, Illustrator,” and "Help needed," had made the atmosphere feel like a battlefield.

Thankfully, today there hadn’t been any big issues. If there had been, Magia would’ve been the first to run to the meeting room.

Curious, Do-hee walked over to the partition, leaned her arms on top of it, and rested her chin on her hands.

The two were adjusting their headsets, making sure the ears weren’t covered, as they chatted earnestly.

"Doesn’t that conversation just now remind you of the Mari-Dora pairing?"

"From six months ago, when we were doing the Black Company stuff?"

"Yeah, yeah! Even when monsters appeared, Komari was totally unfazed, and Dora screamed. It was exactly like when they opened that surprise box just now. 'Eek! Mari! Hold me! Help! Help!'"

"And thinking back, the Mama-Ri meme started then, too. That’s when Mari first used her 'real voice.'"

"Oh, right! She hated it so much, but the reactions were so good, so she kept donating and pulling it out...”

"That's really evil."

"Ugh... When I heard the team leader’s voice, I felt kinda weird. Why does it feel like I'm being praised?"

They were getting along, but having two mischievous ones chatting together made the conversation pretty funny.

"I personally wish we could see Mama-Ri more often. Do you remember when we were playing Fallen Soul?"

"When we walked into the hole without noticing and fell?"

"Oh, yes! That was it! That moment right there! She yelled so loudly, and it was so different from her usual tone. I replayed it like 200 times."

"Didn’t she do something similar during Rubber Duck House? She said some stuff in her real voice for a pretty long time."

"I didn’t watch it because I was preparing for my interview..."

"Ah, did you mute that part on the replay?"@@novelbin@@

"Yeah! I’m sure there were chicken legs when I put it in the fridge, but when I took it out to reheat, it felt like the legs were just... gone!!"

"Oh no. Can you recreate how it felt?"

"... Huh? You can recreate it? I thought you only knew how to do Rain’s voice impressions?"

"It’s hard to make it perfect, but I can do something close. You’ll have to filter the sound for your ears, though."

"Wow. Are you a genius, Part Manager? I’ll definitely listen."

Magia cleared her throat and started speaking with a relaxed posture, almost like letting out a sigh.

"I feel like I’m losing my mind... I can already see the lane phase in front of me. I can see the turret. The illusion of getting kills on the opposing laner... Ah, I can’t. Just one game. No, let’s make it just until 2 a.m. since it’s already 1 a.m... I’m sure the boss would forgive me."

Seungyeon, with her eyes closed as she savored the impression, shouted out.

"Wow. I can hear it! I found the lost chicken legs!"

The scene that had unfolded so carelessly before them had sparked a significant ripple in Cheon Do-hee’s heart.

Do-hee’s perspective of watching Komari’s Rubber Duck House stream was slightly different from that of Gia and Seungyeon. While Seungyeon was simply enjoying the moment, Do-hee's thoughts lingered on the moment Komari’s roleplay mask had shattered during the Yeongdo baptism.

‘It’s all about the difference in how people accept things...’

Even when watching the same scene, people’s evaluations can differ. Take Rain, for example, who got upset over a wrong Korean patch and started swearing. If Momo and the viewers were watching that together, Momo would likely have said, "Stop cursing, be more polite."

It’s probably because the first-generation members feel like idols under Momo’s management. Watching them, Momo would naturally offer guidance on how to behave, suggesting what should be done and what to avoid.

But what about Magia?

She’d be laughing at it, then pull out her phone and send donations.

"Wow, your swear words are so catchy, you're fucking good at ssang-york!"

The reason the monitoring work, once handled by the planning team, had shifted to Magia was because she had the ability to watch broadcasts not only as an employee but from the perspective of a viewer.

The idea of simply supporting the company’s VTubers? That kind of reasoning didn’t exist for Magia. Her reports were always closer to "viewer impressions" than anything else.

What was fun, what didn’t work, what should be repeated, and what should never happen again—her reviews were direct, honest, and reflected the opinions of a viewer among many others.

So when viewers gave feedback that Do-hee’s first-generation quarter review was fun but didn’t meet their expectations, that feedback was all about the perspective of the viewer.

‘Could Gia’s presence make it feel different during the pre-anniversary event?’

But asking Gia, who had never done a broadcast on her own, to "go ahead and host the pre-anniversary event" felt too heavy a request.

So if Gia were to be involved in the broadcast, it would naturally be a two-person setup. Do-hee would be the host, and Magia would act as the viewer, helping to guide the audience’s engagement.

It would be like a game caster and analyst working together.

‘Gia can just react from the audience’s perspective.’

Of course, for that to happen, Gia’s Live2D model had to be revealed.

Broadcasts with only one character moving felt incomplete, and leaving Momo’s model still felt like the preparations were unfinished.

But when the focus needed to be on the first-generation members...

Would fans see the release of Magia’s Live2D as her debut?

That’s a huge risk.

The planning team would likely have negative feedback on that idea.

‘But maybe Gia...’

Magia had already shown her impressive skills during the Battle Colosseum.

At the time, all eyes had been on Magia, and with a bit of magic, she had passed the spotlight onto the first-generation members before exiting. That moment was still talked about in the publicity team meetings.

Because of that, a flood of ad proposals came in, and the anniversary song teaser video had surpassed 300,000 views.

It might sound like a small thing, but the teaser’s views were three times higher than usual, in just a week, with an engagement level far surpassing any previous videos.

So, if Magia were to be the center of attention on the stream, would the audience’s focus shift back to the first-generation members the next day, right before the concert?

More importantly, Do-hee was by her side. If Gia got into any trouble, Do-hee could easily handle it.

‘For now, the most important thing is whether she’s okay with it.’

If she’s okay with it, we’ll go ahead.

"Hey, if you’re free on the 11th, could you help me with my stream?"

When I handed over the monitoring task to Seungyeon and went to the boss’s office, I was met with an unexpected proposal.

Help with her broadcast?

A boss who was so proud of her own stream she practically oozed confidence was asking me for help?

"Are you feeling sick or something?"

"... What’s with that sudden question?"

"You’ve always hated anyone interfering with your broadcast. That’s why I’m surprised you’re asking me for help."

At the time I said it, the boss looked nervous, but then burst out laughing.

"Oh. You’re worried I’m asking because I’m sick and won’t do the stream?"

"Please, don’t make me the crazy person who can’t watch your broadcast."

"... Hmm. So you really are worried about that?"

"Yeah, I was worried you might skip the stream."

"This is real."

I was joking a bit since things were starting to get serious.

If I could just relax and handle it, I wouldn’t have to keep checking for approval.

"What exactly do you need help with?"

"Well, on the 11th, we’re having the pre-anniversary event, right? I thought it would be nice if we co-hosted it."

No matter how difficult the task was, if it was a request from Oshi, I would always go all out. It wasn’t about pressure, it was more about feeling happy to be of help.

But even with that mindset, this time, I was a bit nervous.

After all, this wasn’t just anyone’s stream—it was the boss’s.

"Wouldn’t my presence just ruin your stream, boss?"

"If it’s too much, you can refuse. I’m really just suggesting it, not giving an order."

"It’s not about being uncomfortable, but it’s just... I feel like I’ll leave an ugly mark if I show up on your stream."

"... You’re saying that, even though you’ve been calling people out during Battle Colosseum?"

"I didn’t call out—I just aimed at you—"

"Hey."

It may have seemed like a joke, but there was truth to it.

If calling someone out on stream was like setting them up for a big reveal, this proposal was about sitting side by side and broadcasting together.

The first-generation members were a step above me, so it was easier to approach them. But the boss was on a whole different level.

It was a position where modesty should have been unnecessary.

But still...

After becoming smaller, I sometimes felt like I wasn’t trusted by others, and that feeling lingered. But if the boss trusted me enough to entrust such an important task, how could I refuse?

"I’ll do it as you suggested, boss. What should I do? Should I agree with you, add something, or reinterpret?"

I shrugged my shoulders and said to the slightly surprised boss.

"I’ll do whatever you want."