chapter_0050

50 – Mazia

50 – Mazia

The call from the Boss came about an hour later.

It was past 11 PM, but since I had been sleeping during the day recently, I was wide awake.

Perhaps that’s why I could clearly sense the slight trembling in the Boss’s voice.

[Um… I didn’t wake you up, did I?]

It’s the first time I’ve seen the Boss being so cautious with me.

Why is he acting so worried?

Forgetting the Team Leader’s instructions to respond weakly, emotion naturally fills my voice.

“I slept a lot during the day, so I can’t sleep now.”

[How are you feeling? Are you okay?]

“Yes. I’m fine.”

[… Right, of course. You did look okay when I saw you. Your complexion had improved too.]

Perhaps thanks to that, the Boss’s anxious mode quickly ended.

Maybe it’s because he’s not the type to become passive just from worrying.

[I’m not good at beating around the bush, so I’ll get straight to the point.]

But the main point comes out right away,

[First, I’m sorry. We worked hard together, but I unilaterally told you not to do it. I said it was for your health, but yeah, I didn’t realize it ended up denying your efforts. I’m really sorry.

… And about promoting you, hiring a junior for you and all that. It was all because I wanted you to stay with the company for a long time. You know what I mean, right? It’s absolutely not to prevent you from working, okay?]

The desperation felt in his words that seemed to go on and on evokes a sense of guilt.

While knowing the Boss was trying to isolate me from work out of concern, I had been prioritizing my desire for the Boss’s success and pushing myself unnecessarily.

… At this rate, I’m making the Boss suffer too much because of me.

‘This is so different from before.’

When I collapsed before, it was just “I’ll handle it well,” “Okay, handle it well,” “Don’t make me worry,” that was about it.

But now the Boss looks like he’s about to fall ill himself the moment I collapse.

Since I only wanted to help the Boss and participate in the eve festival, this situation is a bit bewildering.

‘If I get sick, he’ll be like this all the time…’

It’s fine for the Boss to treat me like a friend and hang out with me.

However, I don’t think special treatment like receiving nursing care should continue.

After all, I’m just one of the 1.6 million subscribers who was lucky enough to be chosen.

I’m a Mong Mong who works hard on behalf of the other Mong Mongs who weren’t chosen, just receiving more attention than others in return for my labor.

I need to compromise a bit here with my belief that it’s okay to sacrifice my body for the company.

“I’m sorry too. After all, I collapsed because I didn’t take care of my health.”

[…..]

“So, about that, we’ll have some free time after the eve festival and concert are over, right? Since Seungyeon will be there too, can I take the whole next week off?”

It took almost 30 seconds for the Boss to speak again.

[… You want to take time off?]

Since I had exchanged all 3 years’ worth of vacation days for money, the Boss seemed puzzled by this decision.

“Yes. I want to rest and go to the hospital. To properly check my physical condition.”

[… ‘Check’ makes it sound like fixing a robot. There’s a perfectly good word ‘examination’.]

“An examination is also just getting tests done to fix your body.”

[Well, that’s true, but…]

“Anyway, you’ll approve my time off, right? In exchange, I really want to participate in the eve festival. I promise I won’t overdo it, so please allow me.”

The Boss’s voice is still trembling, but I don’t sense the anxiety from earlier.

[Of course. But in return, I’ll pick you up every morning, so come to the office like this week.]

“Ugh. Do I have to sleep in the Boss’s office again?”

[If you had eaten properly, I wouldn’t have to say this…]

Taking time off but making me come to work.

This company is truly the blackest of the black.

But if staying in the Boss’s office for a while will put him at ease, I guess I have no choice.

The Boss will have free time then anyway, so he’ll probably work me hard for a week.

Yeah, I should practice a bit in advance.

Water! Snacks!

–

As soon as the call ended, Cheon Do-hee let out a big sigh.

“Haa… I thought my heart was going to drop.”

I was startled when they said there was a risk of being fired.

From talking directly, it seems Team Leader Kang was overreacting.

Of course, it could have been a serious situation…

“—In exchange, I really want to participate in the eve festival. I promise I won’t overdo it, so please allow me.”

Do-hee felt relieved when Jia brought up work before he could even mention it.

It meant she still had motivation to work.

‘Right… If there’s something Jia wants to do, it doesn’t make sense for me to stop her as I please.’

She may be a top-tier internet broadcaster, but as a businessperson, she’s still a novice.

The company has somehow managed to sail smoothly for 3 years without major issues that could shake it, but it’s not just because of Do-hee’s good leadership.

It was fine because of the employees who reliably covered their areas perfectly. And because of Majiya, the gray area killer.

… That’s why he made this mistake. Because he’s still a novice as a CEO.

He had known Majiya for 5 years, was close to her, and thought of her as a friend.

So he naturally said “take some time off work” out of concern for his friend’s health.

A CEO shouldn’t do that.

It startles the employee.

What’s going on? Am I not needed anymore? Are they telling me to quit?

In other words, the direction was completely wrong from the start.

Instead of ordering Majiya to rest, he should have eliminated all of the company’s concerns.

That was the only way for Majiya, who worries about the company day and night, to rest comfortably.

‘It’s fortunate I at least hired Seungyeon in time…’

It seemed he would need to accelerate staffing for a while.

The 2nd generation selection starts after the concert ends the day after tomorrow, but if he doesn’t prepare in advance, the gray area killer Majiya might collapse again by eagerly swallowing up all the leftover work with a “Yahoo! Extra work!”

He must not forget that the reason Jia stayed here alone even though all her family went abroad was because of Momo and Parallel.

For Jia not to overwork herself, Cheon Do-hee must become an even more perfect CEO.

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Breaking: Employee D appears at today’s eve festival]

————— View on Z ——————

Parallel Parallel official KR☑ @Parallel_official_kr – 1 minute ago

✨ANOTHER, 1st Anniversary Eve Festival

2024.11.11(SAT) 6PM – Hosted by: Shirahoshi Momo with Employee D

Join us for special gifts on the Parallel official channel!

——————————

Yes, that’s what it says.

[Comments]

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiUTRNUEJ6RjhwSDlxcExRQ2kzc3V4dw

— Parallel843: Oh

— Parallel028: Oh

— Parallel435: Oh

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[???: Stop asking Employee D when they’re going to debut]

???: There are no debut plans

Lies automatically come out every time they open their mouth

What lie are you planning to tell now, CEO Mo?

[Comments]

— Parallel784: Employee D isn’t debuting, they say~

— Parallel135: If they don’t do a debut stream, it’s not a debut~

— Parallel030: Anyway, they haven’t debuted~

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Did they even do rigging for Employee D’s avatar?]

This is just my speculation but

Momo’s avatar is already rigged

And they’re bringing an unrigged avatar to an ultra big big big event like the 1st gen’s 1st anniversary eve festival on an official broadcast?

As Momo who’s obsessed with perfection, this is unacceptable

And below is something someone recently discovered and posted on the Parallel gallery but got buried

————— View on Z ——————

PIN0☑ @pin0_live2d – 4 days ago

whenisitcomingoutIfinishedtheworkandsentitIworkedharderthanusualwhenisitcomingoutIfinishedtheworkandsentitIworkedharderthanusualwhenisitcomingoutIfinishedtheworkandsentitIworkedharderthanusualwhenisitcomingoutIfinishedtheworkandsentitIworkedharderthanusualwhenisitcomingoutIfinishedtheworkandsentitIworkedharderthanusual

——————————

It seems Pino (Komari’s papa) recently worked on a Live2D?

I’m 99% certain this is Employee D’s avatar

This guy rarely posts on Z these days because he’s busy working

But if you look at his posts, they’re all on days Employee D appeared on stream

And it’s all related talk

Though I’m not sure if you can call this “talk”

He just writes repetitive phrases like some kind of spell

His Halloween post was legendary

————— View on Z ——————

PIN0☑ @pin0_live2d – 11 days ago

employeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapplepizzadeliciousemployeeDfeedingmepineapple

——————————

How is this something a sane person would write?

I think Pino gay is a simp who’s all in on the Employee D coin

[Comments]

— Parallel335: There’s… a possibility!

— Parallel831: It seemed like nothing when I saw bits and pieces, but when you put it all together it actually looks plausible

— Parallel472: Doesn’t Pino gay need to go to a mental hospital?

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[From now on I’m shutting down Employee D debut rumors]

[Author: 🟦Parallel02]

Employee D is absolutely not debuting

I know this as a 6-year Momo simp

Even if a rigged avatar is revealed as the previous post said, they’ll just gloss over it

When her real friend Taro debuted, Momo sent out notices weeks in advance, promoted everywhere, and kept dropping hints on her streams beforehand

Why? Because that’s how you attract a big initial influx of viewers to lay the groundwork

That’s how you keep growing steadily

She sets up a solid foundation for debuting members

But the fact that there’s no separate notice shows she has zero intention of debuting Employee D ??????????

Why would they debut Employee D now during the 1st gen’s 1st anniversary anyway ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

It’s like you guys are some kind of incinerator that immediately burns up and flares up as soon as someone throws in a piece of firewood

I was going to stay quiet but

The way this gallery is going is so f- ridiculous that I had to write this ha

(Upvotes 344 / Downvotes 252)

[Comments]

— Parallel241: Hey hey hey

— Parallel740: Relax relax

— Parallel674: You like control so much, are you a controller?

— Parallel845: If this is true, you better be a lifelong fan ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

— Parallel335: Honestly the forced rumors are f- brainless, need to be shut down

— Parallel241: It’s because people keep spreading rumors making it seem like she’ll debut ㅋㅋㅋ

– Parallel474: The ones getting swayed have issues with their brains too ㅋ

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

And so, the next day.

The day of the eve festival.

I couldn’t help but marvel at seeing my avatar moving.

After all, it’s an avatar that had been abandoned once.

Though the fire went out when I realized this avatar was mine, seeing it move still gave me a special feeling.

I immediately decided to make GIFs of just the visuals without the voice after the broadcast ends.

Such cute things must be saved.

“How did Pino-nim complete this in just 5 days?”

“I don’t know either. He must have been desperate.”

Apparently he worked through the nights to try to get released two days early as a special favor.

Isn’t the quality even better than the 1st gen?

It seems the lolicon sensor responded properly thanks to Dora reflecting reality when creating the character sheet.

“Just activate the expressions you want to use, and turn off the rest. You know how to use it, right?”

“Yes. I’ve played around with it when setting up the kids’ broadcasts, so I know.”

“Good. It’s convenient that I don’t have to teach you that separately.”

With that, the Boss’s avatar was placed at 7 o’clock on the screen, and mine at 5 o’clock.

Set up the screen in the middle, make the chat window flat below it, and broadcast preparation is complete— Actually, the Boss had done it all yesterday so there wasn’t much for me to touch.

“If you feel burdened or tired, just let me know anytime. Even if you go to rest in the middle, I can wrap things up on my own. Okay?”

“Yes.”

“So. Are you mentally prepared?”

“Mental preparation?”

“In a way, this is your first proper broadcast.”

“I’m not particularly nervous.”

“Well, alright then…”

The Boss fiddled with the nameplate to place in front of us sitting side by side on the screen and asked.

“Will you come out like this for the 2nd gen’s 1st anniversary too?”

“Yes. If you allow it, Boss.”

“Then do you want to decide on an activity name while we’re at it? It feels weird to keep calling you Employee D, Employee D.”

“What, does it matter? It’s accurate that I’m an employee.”

“That’s true. But if we keep calling you employee, employee, people might take you lightly. I think it would be good to have some kind of activity name.”

Looking at my avatar in the screen that nods along with my movements, goes “ah”, and casts a shadow on its face as if in contempt, it does look like a VTuber.

However, I’m not a VTuber, but a VTuber’s shadow.

I don’t particularly need a cool setting that people would find interesting. Or a plausible name.

Those would only make me look more like a VTuber.

Therefore, my identity in the world of Parallel is,

“Let’s just go with Majiya.”

Majiya, assistant manager. That’s enough.