Chapter 37: If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them – 2
by fnovelpia
June was slowly coming to an end on an ordinary weekday afternoon.
Over the past month,
Big Man’s antics had become an incomprehensible myth, settling into public consciousness as little more than a “chaebol totem watching ABCD broadcasts.”
People had given up trying to understand him, so they no longer paid him any mind.
-Anyway, has Big Man done anything since then?
-He hasn’t said a word on broadcasts.
-Probably just some crazy rich bastard with too much money to burn.
-Unless you’re an ABCD stan, there’s no reason to care…
-Yeah, we should just ignore him.
And so, the god who had vanished beyond the clouds…
Suddenly poked his head out in the most unexpected place.
After that, Big Man hopped around the streams of other Romantic Drive members, dropping massive donations left and right.
The amounts were so staggering that people from entirely different worlds were left in shock.
【‘Big Man’ has donated 1,000,000 Parkg!】
“Yep, another fulfilling day of growth! Thank you for the do— Huh?! A m-million?! Wha— what is this?! Big, Big…?!”
-?
-What the hell??
-LMAO first time seeing a 1M donation 😂 😂 😂 😂
-??
-😂 😂 😂 😂 Big Men 😂 😂 😂 😂
-Why is Big Man here…?
-Isn’t that the guy from the company downstairs?
-What the hell is going on…
A similar scene
played out simultaneously in another stream.
【‘Big Man’ has donated 1,000,000 Parjijik!】
“Thank you for the do— Huh? Big, uh… Uhh… Th-thank you…”
-Wha—?
-Is that the real Big Man??
-First time seeing Yulyul stumble over her words
-Hahaha?? A million?? What’s happening?
-Y’all getting a taste of Big Men~
-You’ve seen him drop 1B, why act surprised over 1M 😂 😂
-??
-Ugh, money cultists crawling out of the woodwork… Keep your insane cash-worshipping cult to yourselves…
No matter how you looked at it, Big Man was undeniably from that side— the opposing camp. Romantic Drive members, bound by company guidelines, couldn’t openly acknowledge him.
So, unlike usual, they were visibly flustered.
“Ah, haha! Thank you for the donation!”
“Thank you!”
Even as they spoke,
A single question clawed at their minds.
‘Are we allowed to talk about this?’
‘Should the company file a complaint?’
‘But he just donated…’
‘What can we even do about it?’
“…”
There was nothing they could do.
Because that side had no ulterior motives.
Everyone was stunned.
While ABCD’s fandom, drunk on the power of capital, was gradually numbed into blind worship of Big Man, a 1-million-won donation was still an unprecedented event in other streams.
And that was exactly what had just happened.
– What the fuck???
– What’s this?
– What the hell is going on?
‘Why is this guy…?’
Murmur, murmur…
Shock.
Anxiety.
Flustered.
Reading the room…
In the end, Big Man just sent a donation and didn’t say a word until the stream ended.
It was just one donation per member of Romantic Drive— nothing more.
Just a single visit.
That alone was terrifying.
‘What the hell is this bastard’s goal…?’
Though it was just one donation,
The quiet gaze of God was enough to excite ordinary people.
The entire community began burning up like farmers witnessing a solar eclipse.
Those who saw this as a positive sign cheered.
「[General] Title: Breaking News) Big Man’s flex is insane 😱 😱」
「He barged into Danhwi’s stream, dropped 100K, and dipped 😂 😂 😂 😂 Is he absorbing Romantic Drive now? 😂 😂 😂 😂 Are we about to taste the sweet Big Plan too?」
– Oh hell yeah 😂 😂 It was getting kinda boring lately.
– Fr, their signboard’s a big corp but they’re run like some shitty subsidiary.
– Are you guys stupid?
– LMAO sponsor collab 😂 😂 😂 😂
– Fuck. Hurry up and make the All-Star Box (ver. RD)!!!!
– Let us get our hands on a 50K won merch set too 😂 😂
– Herini, who was on a business trip to Japan, is so confused.
└ LMAOOO 😂 😂 😂
└ “Huh? The CEO… changed?”
└ Imagine Big Man sitting in the president’s office 😱 😱 😱
└ “Please act natural.”
└ Bro, these autistic-ass memes, wtf?
└ “Initiating Big Plan H.”
└ “Calm down. I’m just a natural disaster that rains money.”
└ Look at the immediate chain of replies 😂 😂 😂
└ LMAO 😂 😂 😂 How did these money-obsessed freaks hold back their Big Man literature for so long? 😂 😂 😂 😂
└ Ah 😂 😂 I’m a Daniel and a boomerang~
Even those who had been quietly supporting both Romantic Drive and ABCD began raising their heads.
In other communities, they were mocked with derogatory nicknames like “money spies” (money + spies), but now they sensed the shift in the air.
Heretics who had opened their hearts to the invasive species disrupting the VTuber market…
They could feel the change.
– Should we all start praising Big Man…?
– Guess we gotta Big Men…?
– Ngl, Beriri and Dodada are cute 🥰 Yaah
– We’re all one family now anyway 😂 😂
But not everyone was comfortable with this atmosphere.
「[General] Title: Mods, Fuck. Can we get some VTuber drama?」
「Why the hell is every post about Big Man? Even if Romantic Drive’s management looks like absolute dogshit lately, is Ark Network that much of a joke?」
This whole “praying to sell to private investors” thing is so goddamn stupid.
– Damn 😂 😂 😂 Spitting facts!
– Fr 😂 😂
– These money-spy bastards are going wild 😂 😂 😂
– So, weekly stream confirmed?
– Can’t stand these cringe-ass weebs freaking out;
– (Shitting out a shitpost in the weeb community)
This baseless controversy set the entire Romantic Drive community ablaze— until the self-proclaimed “guardians” stamped it out under the banner of “No Big Man mentions until an official announcement is made.”
「[Notice] Title: ***Big Man mentions prohibited above this line***」
「[Notice] Title: ***All Big Man copypasta will be purged from discussion threads***」
And yet…
Some whispered with hope, others with envy.
Holding this precious seed of chaos close, they prayed for a second wave of war to erupt once office workers clocked out.
After all, it was the first truly entertaining topic they’d had in ages.
The Romantic Drive fandom was exhausted from sheer stagnation.
– Lately there’s been nothing to talk about, and now they’re censoring us? Fuck
Corporate capital moved far too slowly to feed their dopamine cravings.
– Ngl, if the Big Man drama’s more fun than the actual stream, drop a like 😂 😂 😂
*
Aurora Prism Entertainment’s meeting room was also filled with a stunned atmosphere.
The meeting, which had been deep in discussion about the upcoming collaboration, had come to a sudden halt.
Everyone except for Choi Yeseo was on their phones, searching to find out what had happened.
The heated room had quickly turned silent.
“….”
“….”
“….”
The unexpected whim of a higher power.
CEO Baek Socheol clutched the appreciation plaque made during the 10 Billion Big Man incident and shouted.
He didn’t want to be stuck, once again, as a penniless outsider with nothing to his name.
“No! BigMan, don’t leave! Take our kids with y—!”
“….”
As the CEO’s trauma switch flipped,
Head of PR Jo Eunbi spoke with a cold stare.
“Sir, please calm down.”
“Do I look like I can calm down?!”
“Yeseo, who’s streaming right now, just contacted me. The moment she turned the stream on, a BigMan donation came through. The viewers don’t seem too bothered either.”
“R-Really?”
An unexpectedly optimistic vibe.
The fear of BigMan’s betrayal was outweighed by the depth of devotion he had shown.
“Logically speaking, someone who went as far as to set up a company just to help us wouldn’t suddenly change sides. He probably just went to check things out for a bit.”
“Right…? That’s what this is, right?”
“Yes, so let’s calm down and continue the meeting.”
“O-Okay….”
Baek Socheol set the plaque down and tried to speak with a solemn air.
“Ahem… Well, we had a bit of a sudden situation, but we’ve got work to do. Everyone, let’s settle down and resume the meeting.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
The one person who had gone off the rails was now back in the meeting.
There was a lot to say,
But no one said it out loud.
Still, they couldn’t hide it in their eyes.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Ignoring those piercing stares,
Baek Socheol kept a solemn expression.
“They’ve proposed that, ‘We want to proceed while fully respecting the ABCD brand. Contact us when you’re ready. Romantic Drive is only a guest’… which basically means they’re handing us the wheel.”
It was Kang Doda who added with clear displeasure,
“Feels like they’re just testing the waters. And it’s like they dumped all the production costs and content planning on us. Like they’ll just show up when it’s all ready, clap a bit, and that’s it. We won’t even have time to rehearse a script together.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Everyone around him stayed silent, as if in agreement.
Next to them, Kim Aeri also spoke up carefully.
She was holding a slim manual printed on stiff paper.
There weren’t many pages, but each was densely packed with tiny text.
Flap—
“And the guidelines are super strict too. If they’re going to lay down heavy no-go points like this just for their own sake… we’ll barely have any topics left to talk about. It’s going to be hard to even focus on our own fans.”
“….”
“….”
“….”
Honestly, this collab request felt like a double-edged sword.
If they were nobodies with no capital and no reach,
They would’ve begged just to get those girls to appear— even as voice-only guests.
Kang Dodam curled her lips and muttered,
“The Big Plan content is already packed— like, major-TV-station-level fun. It’s an all-out laugh fest, right? So what’s the point of dragging in established Vtubers just to walk on eggshells and bow like, ‘Welcome~ we’re honored~’?”
“Didn’t the Romantic Drive Gen 2 girls debut around the same time as us…?”
“Aeri unnie, come on. It’s kind of unfair to compare us now to them from last year.”
“Hmmm….”
Big Man had handed them a budget, saying “Do as you see fit.”
But he hadn’t ordered them to go through with the project no matter what.
He always respected the members’ choices.
“….”
“….”
“….”
Maybe it’s better…
To just decline it now?
That kind of uneasy silence settled in the room.
Then, the original lead for this Big Plan, Aki, quietly raised her hand.
She had been quietly deep in thought this whole time.
“Um… CEO?”
“Oh—oh! Ayoung, sorry about all this. You’re the star this week, but that sudden collab request threw everything off.”
“Huh? Hehe, it’s okay.”
Aki smiled gently.
“I just thought… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to do it together?”
“?”
“?”
“?”
Baek Socheol scratched his chin.
“Hm… is there a reason you think that way?”
“Well…”
Aki gave a soft chuckle.
“We’re all Vtubers too, right? I just thought— there’s no real reason to push away other VTubers who came from somewhere else. Just because their company’s different… doesn’t mean we need to treat them coldly. Actually, it feels more like they don’t know what to do.”
She spoke slowly, but clearly.
“…They’re our ‘guests,’ after all, right? So I think we should allow them to sit and watch on the stage we prepared.”
“….”
And then she said it, loud and clear:
“Strictly as guests.”
“!”
“We’ll show them what we were originally going to show— as the rightful hosts of the stage.”
They would invite the others onto the stage.
But they would not be overrun by them.
With that firm declaration,
The atmosphere in the meeting room changed instantly.
Baek Socheol smiled and said,
“Alright then. Let’s get ready— just like we originally planned.”
“Yes.”
Aki smiled.
“I think that’s what BigMan would want too.”
*
“….”
Yuri Jung, the team leader of Ark Network’s Production Division, let out a hollow laugh.
In her hand was a document from Big Plan that had arrived barely a day after their proposal.
[ABCDxR.D2 Collaboration Broadcast Content Proposal]
[Aurora Prism Entertainment]
On her end, she had spent the entire weekend frantically drafting the “Big Plan Risk Assessment Report” at lightning speed, running around until her feet were sore, just to submit the proposal in time.
‘They’re already handling everything in-house, and the content budget was approved long ago? How the hell did they prepare a broadcast in just a day…?’
“….”
Well then,
She had no choice but to check.
Just how were they operating—
‘To pull off this insane speed?’
Yuri Jung picked up the phone and called the Romantic Drive task force.
“Yes, I’ve confirmed it. Go ahead.”
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