Chapter 16: KongKong Town

About a week after Ms. K joined our new MCN…

“Waaah. Human, the house got bigger.”

“…Indeed. With this much space, continuing broadcasts should no longer be an issue.”

Thanks to her generous donation, we were able to move out of our cramped one-room apartment into a spacious new office.

Luckily, our previous lease was about to end soon, and there happened to be the perfect listing nearby.

“…You didn’t pull any strings, did you? Like, preparing a bugged room in advance or something.”

“Didn’t you choose the room yourself, Haru? And besides, with me around, would I even need bugs?”

“Mm… That’s true.”

At first, I suspected the organization Ms. K belonged to had done something behind the scenes, but it really did seem like a fortunate coincidence.

“Heave-ho.”

“You brought that again?”

“What do you mean, that? How rude. This precious creature has a name—Clakstath Gagoyle Gyushuraxis.”

For the record, K and I carried all the moving boxes ourselves.

That pathetic foreign being has been obsessed with the octopus in the fish tank ever since we started raising it about a week ago.

“I swear I’ll just slather it in red chili paste…”

“Eek! Not the chili paste!”

As I muttered under my breath with a scowl, Shia—who somehow picked up on it—rushed across the room clutching the fish tank in her arms.

It seems the octopus mukbang she saw during the Yeongdo screening left her slightly traumatized.

If she ever turns on me and tries to devour me later, I might really have to go for the chili paste.

“With this much space, we should consider soundproofing the whole place.”

“Huh? Do we really need a space that big?”

“What are you talking about now?”

“…?”

As I pondered the idea, I suddenly realized we kept talking past each other and tilted my head slightly.

“Are you really only planning to bring in a single generation of talents?”

“Oh.”

“Before we go further—how exactly are you planning to operate this MCN going forward?”

It was only after hearing her follow-up that I realized what K was really asking.

“Are you planning to focus solely on Project Abyss as a curated group? Or do you also intend to accept independent VTubers?”

To be honest, I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Up until recently, we couldn’t even secure a single affiliated VTuber, and after getting Shia, my entire focus had just been to push Project Abyss as hard as I could.

But if things keep going well… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to dream a little bigger?

‘…I would like that.’

Still, one thing held me back.

‘I don’t even know if my body can hold out until then…’

“Human.”

Just as I was deep in thought, wearing a grim expression, Shia—finally separating from the octopus tank—walked over and spoke.

“You should dream big, shouldn’t you?”

“…Huh?”

“Once you set your sights on something, aim to rise as high as possible.”

I braced for another one of her usual strange comments, but surprisingly, she said something quite normal.

“If you lack that kind of resolve… then perhaps I chose the wrong contractor.”

“……”

“Hm? Why so quiet? Don’t tell me you plan to disappoint me?”

If I hesitate even after hearing that from someone who was just bonding with an octopus a minute ago, that would be truly shameful.

Alright. 

I already decided I wouldn’t have regrets. 

Then let’s climb as high as possible with the time I’ve got left.

“Judging by your expression, you’ve made your decision. In that case, I’ll help you scout independent VTubers as well.”

“Well, I’d be grateful for that…”

But one thing still nagged at me—this entire line of discussion was started by none other than K herself.

Of course, right now she’s part of our MCN, but considering her true affiliation, it’s only natural that she’d be wary of our growth.

But now she’s openly declaring that she’ll do everything she can to help our MCN grow.

What is this? 

Is this another form of deception? 

Or does she have some hidden agenda? 

Or maybe—could there be some benefit in helping us grow?

“…I just have one question.”

“What is it?”

“If I take on extra work, will my salary increase accordingly?”

Still staring at K with a skeptical look, I found myself momentarily speechless at the quiet question she tossed my way.

‘…She must really be strapped for cash.’

Come to think of it, her face did look a bit more gaunt than it did a few days ago.

“Have you been skipping meals these past few days?”

“…I’m on a diet.”

“You don’t really look like you need to diet, though.”

Hearing that, K stared at me for a moment before asking,

“Do you really mean that?”

“Eh? Well, I mean…”

“…Thank you.”

As I watched her pinch her lower belly a few times, I turned my head toward Shia, who had been raiding the fridge since earlier.

“Waaaahhh!”

‘The one who really needs to go on a diet is over there.’

Seeing Shia shove an entire ice cream bag into her mouth—the one I’d stocked in the freezer for our housewarming—I couldn’t help but have such a wicked thought.

Shia herself hadn’t exactly gained weight, but her tentacles had definitely gotten chunkier over the past few days. Maybe it was time to start looking after her health?

‘Anyway, about recruiting more VTubers…’

Now that we had a new goal, it was probably time to start scaling up our MCN.

And for that, consistent streaming is the key. 

Shia only debuted about a week ago.

Right now, she’s averaging about 2,000 to 3,000 viewers per stream. 

That’s an amazing feat for a newly debuted VTuber from a brand-new MCN, but still far below the big-name VTubers.

And it’s unclear whether those numbers will even hold. 

Right now, Project Abyss is a massive hot topic, riding the halo effect from my own channel, Haruhanjang.

To put it bluntly, there’s a bit of a bubble—like real estate.

So if we want to maintain or grow our viewership even after that halo effect fades, we need to prove our skills through future streams.

“Hmmm…”

Honestly, the best option right now would be collabs.

The issue is that Shia and K haven’t built strong fanbases yet since they just debuted.

We’d probably need at least a month before we could do collabs without disrupting fan dynamics. 

But I want to grow quickly.

‘Isn’t there some kind of golden opportunity…?’

But no matter how hard I thought about it, nothing came to mind. 

I was just about to consult our eternal assistant, Chat-GPT, and pulled out my phone.

“…Hm?”

And right then, a notification popped up in my inbox at the perfect timing.

“Oh?”

Without thinking, I tapped the notification and opened the email—only to find a grin forming on my face.

[Invitation to KongKong Town Season 2]

[Hello, Haruhanjang channel owner! KongKong Town is a large-scale Minecraft server exclusively for virtual streamers, where various VTubers create content together….]

“I can’t pass up an opportunity like this…”

A large-scale server for VTuber collabs. In this kind of environment, there’s less risk of being overwhelmed by a specific fandom, and it’s great for gaining new viewers.

Plus, KongKong Town’s Season 1 was insanely popular, so this is the perfect opportunity for us as we aim to scale up fast.

[If you agree to participate, please press the button below….]

Just as I was scrolling down, deep in thought—

“Human! What are you looking at so intently?”

“…Ah, well…”

“Hey! Let me see that.”

Having finished all the ice cream, Shia was now gnawing on a frozen chicken breast from the freezer with her tentacles when she suddenly snatched my smartphone.

“Hey, wait a sec…”

“Hm? What’s this? A button?”

Before I could stop her, she tapped the image file attached to the email with one of her tentacles.

Zzzzzzzzzng….

Suddenly, a vibrating hum filled the air in the office.

“W-What the…?”

And then, Shia’s body was surrounded by light—and in the blink of an eye, she vanished from sight.

“…….”

A short silence followed.

“What… just happened…”

“…Don’t tell me… Was that really the invitation to the KongKong Town server?”

“Well, yeah…”

“If that’s true, then we’ve got a big problem!”

In that frozen moment, I listened to K—whose face had gone completely pale—and my mind went totally blank.

“KongKong Town is a real world that exists in another dimension!”

“What?”

“The VTubers in that world are in danger! We don’t have time to stand around—we have to contact the management right now…!”

Wait, what the hell is she talking about now!?