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

…──— Parallel (VTuber) Gallery —──…

[Momo, why not just let Magia handle the quarterly segment?]

If Magia did it, it’d be hilarious.

Judging from how she talked today, she’s insanely strong at retrospective content.

She’s got a great memory, she mixes in spot-on impressions, and she shares stories we’ve never heard before—how can we not stay focused? Palsheungjwakah!

(If I stop here, I might get banned by Momo’s mods, so adding more ↓↓)

Momo’s version is fine too, but, you know…
Magia’s version would definitely be more fun to watch.

There are probably Wol-dungi who are too busy to watch everything, so wouldn’t it be better to make this content as engaging as possible?

I genuinely think this is a good suggestion, so consider it!

I know you’re lurking, so just approve it already.

(Upvotes: 546 / Downvotes: 332)

[Comments]
— Parallel745: Hold up, did this guy just say Momo’s boring?
　ㄴ Parallel383 (OP): That’s not what I meant, LOL.
　ㄴ Parallel383 (OP): Momo’s too busy to stream often anyway. Might as well let Magia, who’s good at it, handle it. That’s all I’m saying, LOL.
　ㄴ Parallel745: But isn’t Magia super busy too?
　ㄴ Parallel745: She barely even appears on streams because of work.
　ㄴ Parallel383 (OP): Not my problem. I just wanna watch her, LOL.
　ㄴ Parallel025: Yo, you too?
　ㄴ Parallel222: Sheds a tear, hits the upvote.

…──— ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

…──— Parallel (VTuber) Gallery —──…

[I’ve asked 3,859,219,230 times: What does "Magia" even mean?]

So, what is it?
Is it her real name?
A stage name?
What’s the meaning?

Someone answer before I lose my mind.

[Comments]
— Parallel200: It’s a name. Can’t you tell from the three letters?
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): Oh, got it. Thanks.
　ㄴ Parallel200: Can’t believe he actually bought that.
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): You son of a…

— Parallel557: It’s her stage name, LOL. MAGIA.
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): I don’t know English. What does it mean?
　ㄴ Parallel557: It means "magic."
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): Oh, got it, thanks thanks.
　ㄴ Parallel557: Can’t believe he actually bought that.
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): You little…!

— Parallel347: Why are there so many jackasses in this thread, LOL?
— Parallel722: Y’all are the worst, LOL.

— Parallel003: Funny how none of you calling them out are actually giving a real answer.
　ㄴ Parallel034 (OP): Then you tell me.
　ㄴ Parallel003: I don’t know either.

…──— ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

…──— Parallel (VTuber) Gallery —──…

[Momo doesn’t deserve to be CEO, LOL.]

Magia’s workload needs to be offloaded to someone else ASAP so she can focus on streaming.

She should be the face of Parallel.
Like, literally brand her as the face of Parallel.

Not saying Momo can’t be the face—
But since Momo’s busy, she should delegate that role to Magia.

(Already got reported over 50 times for this, spent forever explaining to the mods, so please stop spamming the report button.)

Placing the right people in the right positions—
That’s just basic leadership.

Why keep such a golden asset locked away?
All she has to do is set the stage, and Parallel practically promotes itself!!!

There’s no way they rigged and prepped all this just for today’s stream, right?

...Right?

I swear, I’m clenching my teeth right now.

(Absolutely not saying this because I want to donate directly to Magia.)
(But if she’s hosting solo content, she should get all the donations. Agreed?)

[Comments]
— Parallel834: Doesn’t matter, Momo’s never budging, lol.
— Parallel743: You’d probably need at least 100 million won to make Momo change her mind.
　ㄴ Parallel455: Where do you think 100 mil comes from? The ground? I swear I wanna slap someone, LOL.
　ㄴ Parallel993: Aka, LOL.
　ㄴ Parallel701: Murasaki, LOL.

…──— ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

Magia didn’t consider herself a streamer.

But she also didn’t think she lacked the ability to attract attention.

Anyone who spent years sniping Momo in games would know that.
Whenever she appeared on a stream, the chat exploded.
And whenever a clip featuring her went up on YouTube, it consistently got 1.5 times the usual views.

More importantly, she was a master of knowing her limits.
Since her first appearance on Momo’s stream, she had never gone overboard or ruined a broadcast.

That was why Gia used her own name as a brand to expand Momo’s reach beyond her streams.

While most people were thinking, “Maybe I should try streaming?”
She was out there stirring things up, aggressively pushing Momo’s content.

She went to fan forums.
She targeted VTuber viewers.
She tracked people with public DMs.
She found people who had been sniped by stream snipers.
She looked for Battle Colosseum players.

And then, she’d drop at least 100,000 won in donations at the right moment, along with a link to Momo’s clips.

If she cycled through about 500,000 to 1 million won in donations, the results showed up immediately in Momo’s next stream.

100 live viewers turned into 130.
200 turned into 250.
One time, 300 jumped straight to 500.

The day Momo hit 500 concurrent viewers, Gia still remembered what she had said at the end of the stream.

"Signalflame, you bastard. I know you’re watching. I can feel it. Please, for once, don’t snipe me this year... I’m so tired...."

Gia still wasn’t sure if Momo had meant it or if it was an invitation in disguise.

But from that day on, Gia doubled down—
More sniping, more promotion.

Because if you told a troublemaker to stop, they’d always do it more.

Thanks to that, the moment Momo hit 1,000 viewers, Gia got hit with a real-life Mokgora challenge and was forcibly recruited as a manager.

Even after she toned down her viral campaigns for fear of controversy, she never stopped sniping.

Did she think she had a stake in Momo’s 1.66 million subscribers?

"Thank you, ■■, I really wouldn’t have made it here without you."

Yeah, right.

"What are you talking about? You got here because you’re fucking awesome, CEO."

Even as Momo’s manager, Magia had always been a shadow.

She had only ever done what she wanted as a fan.
She had never once thought, Momo hit 1 million subs because of me.

Magia had started as just another stream sniper.
If Momo hadn’t played along, she would’ve faded into obscurity as just another random troll who ruined broadcasts.

But the person who turned a troll into a fan, who kept her coming back, who made her excited enough to spread Momo’s content everywhere—
That had always been Momo herself.

The chicken-or-egg debate? That didn’t exist here.
Momo was a tree that had stood strong and unchanging all this time, allowing Magia to perch on its branches, to rest, to give back whatever she could.

And now, in the short break after the main content had ended,
Left alone in the studio, Magia’s heart was pounding.

"I didn’t think this would actually work."

The response had exceeded expectations.

All she had done was her usual routine—roasting the CEO, grabbing attention, and channeling that attention into virality.

There had been a time when dropping a 100,000-won donation with a clip link would make some people visibly uncomfortable.

But now, everyone was listening to her.
Not just listening—they were agreeing with her.
They were admitting that first-gen’s streams were genuinely good.

The same people who had spent forever chanting "Employee-dee! Employee-dee!" were finally understanding her words, interpreting them the right way.

And that realization had just been confirmed by a post in the Employee-dee Gallery.

…──— Employee-dee Mini Gallery —──…

[ㅇㅇㄷ ㄷㅂ ㅍㄹㅈㅌ]

Time to gather our energy for a donation nuke.

Donation timing: Right before the stream ends.

Goal: Get Magia to say she’ll start appearing on streams regularly.

I’ll update in real-time, so drop your amounts in the comments.

⚠️ IMPORTANT ⚠️
Never let anyone know you're an Employee-dee oshi.
Always pretend to be a Parallel fan.

— "Today’s stream was fun!"
— "Please do another review stream!"
— "I’m looking forward to the second-gen debuts!"
— "Hope we get to see more of this kind of content!"
— "First-gen fighting!"

Stick to those kinds of comments. Got it?

Also, don’t make it too obvious.
Magia is surprisingly good at picking up on things.

[Comments]
— Employee-dee371: 50,000 won
— Employee-dee474: 100,000 won
— Employee-dee583: Can I donate just 5,000?
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): That’s fine. The amount isn’t the point.

— 🟧Employee-dee1: 1,000,000 won
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): Bro.
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): Are you planning to starve next month?
　ㄴ Employee-dee910: Magia is my light, my lifeblood—if she stops moving, so too will my heart cease to beat—Aaaaaaa I am but an Employee-dee, I cannot help but worship her!!
　ㄴ Employee-dee442: Pino, you gay ass mf…
　ㄴ Employee-dee311: Pino just got arrested on Employee-dee General, RIP.

　ㄴ 🟧Employee-dee1: Also, posted this in announcements.
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): Thanks, thanks.

— Employee-dee369: Ahem… I leave a humble offering of 10,000 won and a single rose, my lady… ^^/~{@
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): What a goddamn character, LOL.
　ㄴ Employee-dee003 (OP): But thanks anyway.

…──— ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

From the moment Magia first appeared on stream, her stance on donations had been unwavering.

"Fans should never focus on the shadow."

And in practice, she stuck to that principle flawlessly.

When Rain had asked for her help, Magia had jumped in.
And because of that, Rain had received over 4 million won in donations, skyrocketing her growth.

When she assisted Komari, she had completely ignored chat’s backseat gaming—
Partly because she had never played Naore before,
But mostly because only Komari’s guidance mattered.
If Komari did the coaching, the donations would go to her.

And now, this Employee-dee Gallery’s donation nuke was following the same logic.

Because of Magia’s consistent behavior—
Everyone was now preparing praise for first-gen instead of directly supporting her.

Sure, it was a slightly misguided way to summon Magia.
But at the end of the day, all their effort was being packaged as genuine support for first-gen.

For the first-gen members, who were probably nervous about the concert tomorrow,
Wouldn’t this be a huge morale boost?

…Would first-gen hate it if they found out the real reason?

Then they’d just have to make sure there was no evidence.
And Magia already had plenty of excuses to make that happen.

A little while later, as Do-hee returned from the bathroom, Gia spoke up immediately.

"CEO, do you remember the Employee-dee Gallery?"

"Hm? Yeah, I remember. Why?"

Gia pulled out her phone and showed her the site’s moderation logs.

…──— Post History —──…

[Employee-dee is so cute I wanna pet her while feeding her cookies.]
[Employee-dee is so cute I wanna pet her while feeding her candy.]
[Employee-dee is so cute I wanna pet her while feeding her jelly.]
[Employee-dee is so cute I wanna pet her while feeding her milk.]
…
…
…──— ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

Crystal clear.

"I'm pretty sure the mod running this place is Pino. I’m not totally certain yet, but if I am, could you contact him and tell him to shut it down?"

"Yeah, sure. That’s easy enough."

At the same time, Gia prepared to wrap up the stream.

The first step was informing Do-hee of the plan.
She liked plans—liked things unfolding according to plan.

And more than anything, Gia was just a guest adding her own spoon to Do-hee’s broadcast.
As someone squatting in this space, she had to get the stream owner’s approval.

"CEO. Also, this is about how I plan to end the stream today."

She pulled up a chat log on her phone, a conversation from about two minutes ago with the first-gen members.

[Parallel Operations Team - Magia]: You must be busy preparing for the concert.
[Parallel Operations Team - Magia]: But I got a little present for you, so come take a quick look.
[Maru]: What is it?
[Rain]: A present? I must see it. Just. Unbox. It. Now.
[Komari]: A present? It’s not pineapple pizza, is it?
[Dora]: Please don’t tell me…

"The girls are in the middle of practice, but they still checked their messages, huh?"

"Maybe all my help is finally paying off."

"Yeah… everything you’ve worked for is coming back to you. So? What’s the plan?"

Gia grinned and confidently laid it all out—
The inevitable donation train.
And how she’d use that momentum to wrap up the stream seamlessly.

After listening to the full plan, Do-hee absentmindedly rubbed her lips.

"Back during Mugeon’s civil war… and now this… You really have a sharp mind for this kind of stuff, huh?"

Gia giggled.

"All thanks to you, CEO."

And so, the pre-show reached its climax.

"I love all my Wol-dungi who joined us for tonight’s pre-show! Now, Gia, time for your closing remarks!"

"Please enjoy tomorrow’s concert. Thank you for having fun with us today."

Before Gia even finished speaking—
The donation barrage that had been predicted in Employee-dee Gallery began.

:: An anonymous donor has donated 50,000 Clouds! ::
:: RAIN, DORA, KOMARI, MARU, LET’S GOOOOOOOOOOO!!! ::

:: An anonymous donor has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Momo, thank you for bringing these four together in Parallel. ::

:: An anonymous donor has donated 5,000 Clouds! ::
:: Thank you! I’ll enjoy tomorrow’s concert! ::

:: An anonymous donor has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: Riding the nostalgia train makes me want to see the concert even more. ::

:: :: An anonymous donor has donated 100,000 Clouds! :: ::
:: I love you, Another! Let’s be eternal! ::

:: An anonymous donor has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: First-gen concert, fighting!!! ::

Even after repeatedly thanking everyone, the donations would not stop coming.
The chat was going wild, screaming, What the hell is this?! This is insane!!!

And caught in the wave, individuals started making their own personal donations.

For ten full minutes, the storm of donations raged on—
Until finally, just as the tide began to settle—
Pino dropped a bomb to end it all.

:: :: PIN0 has donated 1,000,000 Clouds! :: ::
:: There’s no way there are still Wol-dungi who haven’t bought a ticket for tomorrow, right?! ::

Do-hee glanced at Gia. Now?

Gia nodded. Now.

In the waiting room for the broadcast's talk code, the first-gen members were already watching.

[Maru]: This is crazy, this is insane, lol.
[Komari]: Holy… wow, wow…
[Rain]: Yoho~ My shoulders just wanna dance, dammit, I’m about to chu the dance.
[Dora]: Uwaaaaah, this is nuts, LOL.

Do-hee switched the screen to display the official concert illustration for first-gen.
Gia stopped reacting to donations and spoke into the mic.

"Everyone, thank you so much for your support. So many of you have sent donations to cheer on Another’s concert tomorrow.

"But… we feel like it wouldn’t be right for just us two to react to this 1 million donation."

Ding-dong. Ding-dong.

The four waiting members joined the voice chat all at once.
The carefully prepared group illustration of first-gen flashed onto the screen.

— Oh.
— Oh, what’s this?
— Huh?
— Whoa, LOL.
— I wasn’t expecting this at all, LMAO.
— Another! Another! Another! Another! Another! Another!
— They’re bringing them in here?! Holy shit, LOL.
— GAMDASAL, LOL.

"And so, we’ve brought in Another, who has been watching from behind the scenes!"

Seamlessly, Do-hee took over the closing speech.

"That being said, Gia and I will be stepping out now. Everyone, thank you so much for tonight!"

"Thank you! Now, Another! Please give your thanks to the fans who generously supported you!"

[Thank you! Thank you! Yeah! Thank you! Love you, babies!]
[Seriously, guys, thanks a ton.]
[Thank you all soooo much! YEEEAAAAH~!]
[THANK YOU!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOUUUU!!]

For the real first-gen fans who had donated along with Gia’s hardcore supporters, this was the best possible outcome.

But for Gia’s diehard fans, who had been hoping for her reaction and a promise for another stream—
This was an absolute disaster.

Some still held onto hope.
Maybe they just needed to wait a little longer.

— Wait, she already left?
— What the hell;
— She dipped so fast, LMAO.

But Gia’s frame had already disappeared.
And the chat, filled with people searching for her,
Was immediately drowned out by fans celebrating first-gen’s concert.

Do-hee, having also taken down her stream frame, switched off her mic and clicked her tongue.

"You were thinking about how to end the stream the entire time, weren’t you?"

"Well, that was my main reason for appearing today. I trusted you to cover for me if I messed up."

"Yeah, but still. You were talking to me while planning all this?"@@novelbin@@

Gia chuckled.

"If I can watch four streams at once, you think I can’t do this?"

"...You have ridiculous multitasking skills."

The pre-show had been a success,
And first-gen, buzzing with excitement, would handle the rest.

It had been a clean ending.
Gia had nothing more to do here.

But she didn’t stop there.

Because there was one thing she had realized from tonight’s donations.

Gia knew how internet culture worked.

Donations given with expectations were not true support.
That kind of donation was just control freak behavior.
And if the streamer didn’t respond the way they wanted, they had to accept that.

But—

She also knew that if you did acknowledge those expectations after they had already given up—

It shattered them.

And once a person’s expectations were shattered,
They never truly recovered.

If there was a literal gold mine sitting right there, why would you not dig it up?

If Parallel wanted to compete with VTuber Empire BachuuBachuu, they needed to earn more money.

And if that was the goal, Gia was willing to do whatever it took.
Even if it wasn’t an official CEO mandate.

"I realized something after tonight’s stream."

"Hm? What is it?"

"You know the monitoring reports I send you daily?"

"Yeah, of course."

"I was thinking of using those to put together a ‘Top 10 Best Content of the Month’ ranking. Now that Seung-yeon joined, we’ve got some workload relief. This could help the planning team with future content ideas."

Before Gia even finished, Do-hee clapped her hands.

"That’s a great idea! We could call it ‘Parallel’s Monthly Awards’ or something!"

"Yeah. And I’ll be the one hosting it."

"...Huh? You’ll be hosting?"

Do-hee, still mid-clap, froze.

"Wait. Hosting? Like… a live stream?"

"Yeah. Just support me like you did today. I’ll handle the materials."

"But… streaming is… don’t you think it’s a waste of time? Didn’t you say you’d rather watch streams?"

Gia smiled.

"Well, this is just rewatching streams and talking about them.
Not that different from watching streams, really."

And just like that, Gia took another step forward.