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

The glowsticks in the chat didn’t stop shaking, even after the short rap had ended.

Rain, today’s main star, was completely speechless.

‘Holy.’

They had known each other for almost a year now.

And yet, Magia had never shown this side of herself before.

Impressions? She always claimed to watch the members’ streams religiously, but she had never once demonstrated her skills in front of them.

Singing? Even when the first-gen members went out for drinks or hit up a karaoke room after collabs, she always sat in the back, tapping a tambourine.

From the moment Momo assigned Magia to her as a manager, telling her to treat her casually, Rain had built up a certain level of familiarity with her. But this was just way too different from the image Magia had presented until now.

‘Why the hell was she hiding this? Just to shock us?’

A tiny gremlin—adorable yet unsettling.

But since she had a habit of dropping hard truths on the first-gen members with pinpoint accuracy, she had earned the nickname Gia Bomb.

How did someone’s name end up sounding like a nuclear weapon? Well, Magia’s words were always blunt, direct, and emotionless, to the point where even though she technically used polite speech, it still felt like she was punching you in the face.

Of course, she never tacked on unnecessary criticism—she only pointed out clear mistakes. So, the members had never actually been hurt by her words.

Still, despite her cute and lovable exterior, she wasn’t exactly the kind of character you’d want to ruffle her hair and dote on.

She was simply Momo’s loyal subordinate. A devoted follower who only listened to the CEO.

An annoying little brat who followed orders to a T.

And now, this Gia Bomb had just casually dropped a talent explosion.

Without any prior warning.

Since Rain had already debuted as a singer once in the U.S., it was only natural for her to start wondering if this was some kind of noise marketing scheme.

‘Wait… CEO… don’t tell me. Are you planning to debut Gia too…?’

If she was just here to substitute for Dora and do the bare minimum, she had absolutely no reason to be this good.

Of course, Rain couldn’t just stand around dumbfounded in the middle of a broadcast—she could always ask after the stream ended.

“I mean, damn, C-Rain! That was insane! Nice kick! But c’mon, let me show you how it’s really done! Let’s go!”

This might be tough for the Puddles, but there was definitely room for improvement in Magia’s rap.

She had imitated the fast, mumbled style of slang-heavy American rap incredibly well, but there was a subtle difference in the way Rain delivered it.

But that was something only a hip-hop-obsessed Rain would be able to tell apart. And besides, right now, she was playing along—pretending not to be herself.

Which meant… if Rain rapped the exact same part Magia just did?

Even Chairman Puddle, the ultimate Rain loyalist, wouldn’t be able to tell them apart.

*

— [Parallel (VTuber) Gallery] —

[I'm losing my damn mind, lmao]

Bro, Rain is rapping on both sides at the same tempo, and I’m being held hostage.

Who the hell am I supposed to pick?

If I get this wrong, I’m gonna get roasted every time I donate!!!

[Comments]

— Parallel458: There's no way she's not a real rapper. That’s the only explanation.
ㄴ Parallel611: That doesn’t make sense either, lmao.
ㄴ Parallel611: Why would a real rapper be watching Rain?

ㄴ Parallel185: Bro, Rain’s got some respect in K-hip-hop.
ㄴ Parallel415: Even Kwak Ki-chul did a feature with her.
ㄴ Parallel571: Ain't she lowkey the top dog in K-hip-hop? Damn.

— Parallel321: Why is this dude fighting for his life in a pizza guessing game? LMAO
ㄴ Parallel511: FR, lmao, stay strong, man.

— Parallel369: Ran an AI voice comparison. It’s D.
ㄴ BigPuddle (OP): Got it, thanks.

Chairman Puddle, aka BigPuddle, kept dragging out his answer like he was seriously struggling. Turns out, he was banking on the collective intelligence of the Parallel Gallery for help.

So, to be nice, I fed him the right answer.

After all, I was just an extra who happened to sound like Rain—the real star of the show was her.

It was best for both the audience and Rain if he got the answer right.

Of course, my inner gremlin instincts told me it’d be way funnier if I won, forcing the viewers into existential despair while giving Rain more ammo to troll them with…

But thanks to five years of socialization under Momo’s watchful eye, I had become a good person who made choices that hurt no one.

— HURRY UP AND PICK!!!
— THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!!!
— THE PUDDLES ARE GONNA DRY UP AND DIE AT THIS RATE!!!
— JUST PICK ALREADY!!!!!

[Uhhhh… THE CORRECT ANSWER IS—!]

There was no way he’d get it wrong, right? I literally told him.

I leaned back in my chair, fully relaxed.

[C, C is the real Rain!]

The moment I heard his answer, I sprang up like a spring-loaded trap.

So did C-Rain, since we were synced.

“…You son of a—”

Thanks to my CEO-mandated training, I had learned to hold back swearing.

But this was dangerously close.

Good thing I kept my mic on push-to-mute.

I mean, seriously, this dumbass… I literally gave him the right answer…

[Rain: Gia, act like you're me.]
[Rain: I’ll do the reveal.]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Got it.]

At least Rain seemed to be having fun.@@novelbin@@

In fact, she was fully leaning into the trolling, planning to absolutely crush Chairman Puddle.

This fit perfectly with her usual stream vibes. Sometimes, her chat got so chaotic that people started wondering if she was really an idol.

Anyway, since she wanted me to play along, I hyped up Chairman Puddle.

“See? I knew it, BigP! I trusted you! You really saw through everything and picked the real me.”

[YES! LET’S GOOO!!! I KNEW IT!!!]

He was celebrating like crazy.

Man… he’s about to spend the next six months getting roasted for this.

I gave him a moment of silent condolences before waiting for Rain to drop the hammer.

[But, the answer is D. I am Rain. C-Rain is fake. A fraud.]

[...What? No way.]

[You got it wrong, goddamn it, Chairman Dumbass.]

— LMAO LMAO LMAO
— IT WAS A FAKE OF A FAKE
— A DISASTER UNFOLDING IN REAL TIME
— BIGPUDDLE GETS HUMILIATED LIVE
— Bro, just log out
— How the hell did you get this wrong?

Chairman Puddle, completely flustered, scrambled to defend himself.

[Wait. No. Listen. English issue. I meant to say D. Not C. My pronunciation wasn’t perfect.]

[Man, your excuses are real fun to listen to.]

:: Anonymous has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Get out. ::

:: Anonymous has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: From now on, your donations are 10x higher. ::

— Security, please escort this man out
— He's not gonna recover from this one
— BIGPUDDLE GETS WASHED LIVE

No amount of arguing could stop the inevitable.

He was kicked from Rain’s voice chat within seconds.

[BigPuddle: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA]
[BigPuddle: I’M SORRYYYYYYYYYY]

For a moment, I worried Rain might actually be genuinely pissed.

But no.

She was having the time of her life.

Her expression screamed ‘YouTube highlight reel secured. Superchat jackpot incoming.’

[Aww, what a disappointment. So tragic. Right, Puddles?]

— LMAO
— RAIN’S JUST BUILT DIFFERENT
— LET THE HARVEST BEGIN

***

I wondered just how many Puddles would manage to pass this brutal trial.

By the time the stream reached its closing moments, about half of the twenty contestants had successfully won their pizzas.

Some managed to slip past the pizza defense line simply because my repertoire of songs was running dry, and I started making small mistakes.

[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Sorry.]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: I messed up a lot.]
[Momo: No, seriously, you did great.]
[Momo: Just pulling this off among the members is impressive.]
[Komari: Unnie, I was shocked for real.]
[Maru: Magia, can you do our impressions next time?]
[Maru: (Big Sparkly Eyes Emoji)]
[Momo: Magia practiced this for a whole week.]
[Momo: Let’s give her a break now.]
[Maru: (Wailing Emoji)]

When the stream first started, we had 5,000 viewers. By the end? 15,000.

That was 50% beyond the expected 10,000 mark.

From Parallel’s perspective, this was already a massive content success.

And as if to prove it, by the time the stream ended, all eyes were on the mystery actors who had made the content shine.

As if to reward their curiosity, Rain began introducing the cast one by one, starting with B-Rain.

[Alright, let’s introduce today’s guest actors one by one. A was me. And B was our cute little Komari~.]

[That… was exhausting….]

[A true growth arc actor, huh? Getting better and better. Anyway, thank you, Komari!]

— 👏👏👏👏👏
— Good job, Mari, lol
— Smelled like a forest, so refreshing~

[And next, C—our resident loudspeaker, Maru!]

[Puddles, do you all have a death wish?! My voice isn’t that loud, okay?!]

— Bro, it’s actually loud, what do you want us to do? LOL
— Watching this with my Maru plushie, but even it’s too ashamed to look up
— Maru, my ears are still ringing...

[Alright, Dungles, come to my stream later.]

[Every single Dungle here, follow Maru into the Room of Truth~.]

— Go in peace
— NOOOO I DON’T WANT TO GO AAAAAA
— Okay, I’m officially a Puddle from now on

And then, finally.

The moment everyone had been waiting for.

D’s reveal.

[And last! The one who was truly perfect. Amazing. Astonishing. Pulled off an absolute copy. Our D is—]

But for staff protection reasons, Magia’s introduction had to be kept to a minimum.

This was something they had already agreed on before the stream.

[D is… actually just a regular Parallel staff member! So even if you’re curious, too bad. We gotta shield our normies, you get it?]

— ???
— ??
— Wait, what?
— This is bull
— You’re just gonna leave it at that?
— At least let them say something!!!
— RELEASE D-RAIN!!!

As expected, the backlash was immediate.

Watching from the sidelines, Cheon Do-hee pouted.

“… Just as expected.”

Honestly, ever since Magia had shocked everyone with her hidden talents, this outcome was inevitable.

She had lit a fire in the viewers’ curiosity—and once that happens, it doesn’t die out easily.

If they shut it down too hard, it would only fuel speculation.

And if they left it alone, Rain would have to deal with the fallout during tomorrow’s post-stream hangout.

But if they fully acknowledged Magia, unnecessary rumors would start swirling.

And knowing the internet, it wouldn’t take long before people started demanding her VTuber debut.

[Momo: Magia.]
[Momo: Just say a quick hello.]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Understood.]

Magia’s naturally soft-spoken voice was the polar opposite of Rain’s husky one, which would only make the impact stronger.

But this was also her way of drawing a line in the sand.

A polite but firm “Your curiosity is appreciated, but this is a one-time thing.”

Yet, if there was one thing Cheon Do-hee hadn’t anticipated, it was Magia’s unshakable mindset.

Even if she was on stream, she firmly believed her role was to highlight the first-gen members—not herself.

[Hello, Puddles. I’m Parallel Ops Team Staff A, who got to be Rain for a day.]

— ??
— Wait, the voice changer is still on??
— Sounds way too soft-spoken, lol
— How did she pull that off earlier???
— Please just let us hear your real voice, I’m begging 😭😭😭

And so, Magia made her choice.

She didn’t turn off the voice changer.

Instead, she let Rain’s voice mask her own, erasing herself from the scene.

[I’m just Rain’s shadow, so there’s no need to be curious about my voice. If you all had fun today, that’s enough for me. Please continue supporting our first-gen Another, and of course, our Rain.]

The moment she finished speaking, she dropped her avatar off-screen.

A clear “this is where my role ends” statement.

But.

Telling people not to be curious only makes them more curious.

Uncovering the unknown is human instinct.

Which meant Magia’s words didn’t put out the fire.

They poured gasoline on it.

— ???
— She really left???
— Wait.
— Kingbait detected.
— We’re burning this place down, right?
— This is so messed up, LOL
— The Puddles are drying up.
— Puddles evaporate mode activated.
— NO BUT SERIOUSLY?! NO BUT SERIOUSLY?! NO BUT SERIOUSLY?!
— (Flop Over Emote) (Flop Over Emote) (Flop Over Emote)

Yeah…

This wasn’t dying down anytime soon.