chapter_0100

100 – Why a Humble Person is in a Precious Place (1)

100 – Why a Humble Person is in a Precious Place (1)

“Hello, our beloved Woldeungi who always love Parallel. And to those who have come from all over to watch today’s special Lunar New Year content, it’s truly a pleasure to meet you.

I am Shirahoshi Momo, the star shining high in the sky of Parallel, in charge of daily reactions!”

Clap, clap, clap.

After the Boss finished the introduction, I bowed my head in greeting as well.

“Hello. I am Majiya, the assistant in charge of daily reactions alongside the Boss. Nice to meet you.”

“Wow—!!”

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

— Tsk tsk

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk

— Waaa

— Jaha

— Pelha

— Tsk tsk tsk

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

— Moha

— Tsk tsk tsk

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

— Jaha

— Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk

In fact, once the number of viewers surpasses ten thousand, it becomes difficult to feel the population density through the chat window.

However, there is a way to check how many people have come and how many new viewers there are.

It’s the nicknames of the people that accumulate in the ban list.

In the usual calm broadcasts, not many people get banned.

This is because, aside from the scenes where dopamine spikes, the speed of the chat is relatively normal, allowing streamers to catch offenders immediately.

During such times, everyone tends to be cautious and self-regulate, so the ban list remains quiet as well…

But on a day like this, it’s different.

Many people can’t resist the explosive dopamine and get swept up in the atmosphere, leading to a chaotic outburst of random comments, resulting in quite a few getting banned.

Given the sheer volume of chat, many people make the same mistake and get beheaded for it.

Even if someone gets temporarily banned, their name eventually ends up on the accumulated list, serving as an indicator of how heated the broadcast was.

Of course, the longer this list gets, the more miserable the working managers will be.

Today, for some reason, the managers who were supposed to be off duty raised their hands to volunteer to work.

Not just one or two, but the entire team of resting managers.

When I told them they didn’t have to, they all expressed their gratitude, saying they wanted to work while watching the broadcast.

I promised to send them chicken gift cards after the broadcast.

You might wonder why I would spend money, but for us who can’t hire full-time employees, they are truly appreciated, and if relationships sour, it can lead to a lot of troublesome situations, so we prefer to manage things in advance.

After all, if a post titled “I was unfairly banned” appears in the cafe, and it turns out to be a genuine wrongful ban, the entire community would be set ablaze.

To prevent such incidents, frequent communication is necessary.

I would explain that before I was called the team leader, my most crucial task as the “general manager” was managing the entire team of managers.

Anyway, while chatting with the Boss about recent events, I also looked at the photos sent by the managers to decide whether to cut off the necks of those whose behavior was ambiguous.

As I immersed myself in work, the broadcast order passed by one by one.

“Now, let’s talk about the awards. Wow, Jia! This time there are a whopping six awards?”

“That’s right. Thanks to the sponsorship from Aurora and Ppajijik, the awards have become quite plentiful. There are two evaluation methods.

First, the votes from the viewers. This is tallied in two ways: skill score and fun score. The top two in skill score will receive the ‘Aurora Award,’ and the top two in fun score will receive the ‘Ppajijik Award.’”

“After deciding on those four people, finally, our Majiya and I will each select one person we like to award the ‘Parallel Award.’ Don’t worry, everyone, we won’t be picking Jia!”

“Please refer to the next page for detailed prizes.”

With that, the selection method for the awardees and prize information was concluded before the main content began.

Before long, it was time to introduce the participants.

After playing the preliminary judging video, the Boss and I exchanged comments based on the judging results.

“By the way, the preliminary judging was conducted by our Parallel’s original song and cover song producer.

Now, let’s meet Participant A!”

To ensure anonymity, all participants use uppercase letters as a means of identification instead of specific nicknames.

For reference, the letter assigned to me was F.

It was said to be derived from a flare, similar to a signal flare.

Since I was in the earlier order, my turn to be introduced came quite quickly.

The Boss paused after flipping the cue card to read the evaluation of Participant F.

He shot a glance my way.

The meaning was clear: ‘Is this you?’

We were also seeing the preliminary judging video for the first time.

If we watched it beforehand, there was a chance we could recognize who it was, so we delayed watching it as much as possible for a fair evaluation.

“Um… the next participant is F. Surprisingly, they say their voice is very similar to a Vtuber we know.”

— ???

— Eh?

— ?

“Which Vtuber it is, you’ll have to judge after watching the preliminary judging video.”

For the record, they did not sing trot.

If they had, it would have immediately reminded everyone of the recent Slow Train incident and given them away.

As the song began to play, the speed of the chat skyrocketed.

— ??

— Huh?

— Eh

— ????

— Momo?

–

Dohee immediately recognized that F was Majiya.

There was no one else who would pull such a prank.

While the video played, Cheon Dohee muted her microphone and asked, “You’re really surprising every time.”

What Majiya submitted for the preliminary judging was none other than Momo’s first original song.

Moreover, the impersonation skills were unbelievably good.

It wasn’t a rough recording done on a phone in a karaoke-like environment; it was recorded in a well-set-up company broadcasting studio, and the difference from the original was barely noticeable.

— Usually, it’s easier to confuse the original and the copy when the recording environment is poor.

To call it a simple prank would be an understatement; the quality was shockingly high.

As before, it seemed that most people wouldn’t be able to distinguish whether it was Momo or Majiya.

“You showed it roughly during D-Rain, right?”

“No, that was rap. Singing mixed with pitch is different.”

“Is that so? Anyway, it’s just someone imitating a good singer. If you’ve been imitating for five years, you should be able to do this much.”

“… Suddenly, I’m getting scared about the finals.”

When Dohee heard the singing of Slow Train, she thought that while it wasn’t exactly a script, it was a distinctive voice, and if they sang today, they would be immediately recognized.

Not at all.

At this level, no one would find out.

Majiya had participated in the content.

Cheon Dohee hadn’t said she wasn’t participating.

Moreover, having worked with a mischievous person like Majiya for five years, Dohee had unknowingly started to resemble Majiya’s mischievous side.

So, she welcomed this amusing situation.

Soon, the preliminary judging video ended.

Dohee raised the microphone volume and said, “Ah. I really don’t know who it is. Right? Starlit Sky~.”

As if that wasn’t enough, she even hummed briefly as if the recently played video was her own.

Soon, Majiya, who had only thoughts of deceiving the viewers, followed suit.

“True. The Boss didn’t say they wouldn’t wear it.”

— ???

— What is this?

— Is it Momo?

— Isn’t Majiya impersonating?

— Did Majiya sing this well…?

— I really don’t know, lol

— I want to believe this is Majiya

— F is Majiya F is Majiya

— Sounds like Momo, lol

— Who the heck is this

While some viewers consistently claimed that F was Majiya, it didn’t take long for that chat to gradually disappear.

Excluding the typical comedy acts, most of the people introduced afterward sang a song.

There were several who sang so well that it made one wonder if they were really viewers.

Among them, one person stood out the most: Participant L.

— Who the heck is this

— Hmmm, lol

— I know this voice…

Everyone speculated it was Lee Yura, the 2.5 million subscriber singer.

She was better at belting than Maru, and the song she chose was one that required a powerful delivery, so it became immediately apparent.

However, no one could be sure.

It was because of Participant F.

:: An anonymous sponsor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Isn’t this also an impersonation? ::

:: An anonymous sponsor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: I can’t be sure because of F, lol ::

Even F couldn’t tell if it was Majiya or Cheon Dohee.

And now, it was impossible to ascertain whether L was indeed Lee Yura.

The confusion peaked with the final participant, Z.

“Alright, we’re at the last one. We’ll be introducing Participant Z, who is said to express a warm healing voice with a powerful timbre. They were evaluated as not awkward but rather giving a mystical feeling. Let’s listen!”

As soon as the viewers heard it, they flooded the chat with hooks.

— Huh?

— What is this, why is it familiar

— Huh…?

— Hmmm

Even Majiya, who was enjoying the confusion among the people, slightly stiffened at this moment.

“What’s wrong?”

“Doesn’t this voice seem familiar?”

Cheon Dohee had listened to too many songs while selecting interviewees recently, so she couldn’t catch the feeling all at once.

“Hmm? I don’t know?”

But Majiya was different.

Due to the style of the song, it was confusing, but Majiya had definitely heard a voice like this recently.

The background of the video submitted by Participant Z for the preliminary judging was a coin karaoke.

Although the quality was poor due to the sound environment, there was still a unique fluttering feeling that could be felt.

As mentioned in the evaluation.

Even though the singing was powerful, it didn’t feel sharp, and the ends were rounded.

‘Who could it be…?’

However, Majiya could only wonder and couldn’t definitively say who it was.

Thus, with a question in her heart, Majiya completed the introductions of all the participants.

While Majiya and Cheon Dohee discussed the past participants, a Ppajijik staff member entered the Talk Code and randomly shuffled the order of the participants.

This was done for a completely blind evaluation by the viewers.

[Host: The first order is ready]

Thus, neither the viewers nor the hosts knew who would be first, and one participant stepped onto the stage.

From now on, they would have to listen to the song and evaluate it solely based on that.

“Here comes the first participant. Let’s see who it is; Jia, please introduce the song.”

“The song is Maru’s first single, Finally. This song is…”

Finally is Maru’s first original song, represented by the sound of a railroad crossing alarm in the introduction, and it is known for its high difficulty among the members’ original songs.

The sudden high notes that pop out after the low notes, of course.

The entire chorus is filled with high notes, making it a struggle for even those who can sing to handle the final chorus, which goes up a semitone.

In other words, the mood changes drastically depending on the part of the song, requiring considerable skill.

It’s natural for many mistakes to occur when singing live…

[The departing footsteps, the slowed clock hands, the end of today approaches…

As darkness settles on my shoulders, even the sound leaves my side…]

From the very start, it was very clean and smooth.

It felt like swallowing warm milk.

Even before the chorus had started, one could tell that this person was a professional.

Coincidentally, Majiya had an exceptional ability to distinguish and analyze the qualities of voices.

This ability had often been used in practicing impersonations and was also actively utilized when trying to uncover the past lives of reincarnated Vtubers.

After confirming that the microphone volume had been lowered, Majiya muttered, “This is Participant Z.”

“Oh, right, it’s Z. But we know this person, right? I’m not sure, but after hearing it twice, I’m getting a feeling.”

“That’s true, but…”

The problem was not just that it was Participant Z, but that she had figured out the identity of the person behind the alias Z.

The fact that they chose a song by her friend Maru.

And the evaluation that they should sing a healing song.

Putting it all together, the conclusion was…

“Z. This is Serena.”

A word from the author (Author’s Note)

Dun dun