chapter_0033

33 – Mom, I think you’ve been too complacent lately

33 – Mom, I think you’ve been too complacent lately

Not long after, the Boss brought Maru, who was in a state that was hard to tell if he was a person or seaweed, and sat him down properly in a chair.

Since Maru sometimes vomits continuously when his stomach is upset, it’s fortunate that he stopped at this level.

… Oh, there’s some residue left over there.

As I wiped away the painful remnants that Maru had vomited, I conveyed to the Boss the story I had heard from Komari.

After that, the Boss observed Maru for a while before sitting in an empty seat.

“So… Pino said he wanted to take on the rigging work?”

As Maru and I nodded together, the Boss asked Mari.

“Did he send a formal email?”

“No. He just asked for Jia’s email.”

“Why Jia’s email… Can you tell Pino to CC me and send an email to the planning team?”

“Sure.”

Even though we know each other, rigging is an outsourced job.

Since money is involved, it seems that solid proof is necessary.

Even though he’s a friend, it seems that someone in business has to pay attention to such details.

“Anyway… Shall we get going? You two help me get Maru into the car. Jia, after that, take care of Mari.”

“Okay.”

Soon, Komari rushed over to Maru, who had turned into seaweed, and struggled to lift one of his arms.

Eventually, the Boss lifted the other arm, completing the awkward shoulder hold.

Even when crouching down to match the height from the larger side, there’s a limit, so naturally, the weight shifted towards the smaller person.

“J-Jia, help me.”

But there didn’t seem to be a proper way to help.

If it were before I shrank, I could have easily supported him alone to get him into the car, but unfortunately, that’s impossible now.

Should I stick to Komari’s side?

Even so, it would be harder for the two of us to bump into each other and support him.

“It’s a tricky position, so I’ll cheer from here.”

As soon as I said that, the Boss gestured for me to come over.

In the end, the Boss and I switched places.

The Boss carried Mari on his back like a backpack, and Komari and I awkwardly lifted and supported Maru as we moved to the parking lot.

After tossing Maru into the back seat of the Boss’s sedan, the three of us sighed as if we had made a pact.

The one who suffered the most, the Boss, was the first to stretch and patted my and Mari’s backs, saying,

“Be careful going in. Jia, you worked hard promoting today too. Let’s talk about work tomorrow.”

“Okay, take care.”

Once Maru, now seaweed, and the Boss left, it was just me and Komari left.

I entered Komari’s home address into the app and called a taxi.

In a normal case, we would call a taxi to go to my house together.

But since it was late at night and it was a request from the Boss, it wouldn’t be too late to call a taxi to my house after seeing Komari enter her home.

“Dora and Rain went in a little while ago, so if I just drop you off, I can go home too.”

“Don’t make going home sound like a quest…”

“You guys are just going home after playing, but for me, it’s a quest.”

“……”

The bright eyes reflecting the streetlight stared at me for a while before passing the role to her lips.

“Um, how about you rest at my house until morning?”

“Do you have to?”

“It’s dangerous at night…”

In fact, it was the first time I had heard such words from Komari.

After all, isn’t she the smallest and most fragile among the first generation?

The girl who used to take it for granted that I would help her home is now worrying about me.

What a long life I’ve lived, or rather, what a short stature I have to witness this.

“Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about preparing for tomorrow’s broadcast. Well, Komari, you won’t be late and make the Leaves angry like Dora.”

“Of course… or rather, so. Are you really going to go right away?”

“Of course. There’s no reason for me to go and sleep there.”

I stayed for the broadcast back when it was Dora’s time.

What reason do I have to sleep at the idol’s house from our company without a proper reason?

Such a thing cannot happen.

However, Komari was not easily deterred.

Using her intelligence as the brain of the first generation, recognized by the Boss, she proposed a deal to me.

“It’s been almost half a year since you last set up the broadcast equipment. Isn’t it about time for a check?”

While others had called me due to unwanted incidents in the last few months, it had been almost half a year since Komari last called me.

As described, she is one of the most knowledgeable about computers among the first generation, and since she manages them well, the frequency of issues is relatively low.

But as she said, half a year is quite a long time.

It would be good to check it at least once.

Now that I’m already outside, preparing for it would reduce the chances of having to go out by taxi at night in the future.

That’s a benefit.

“Then I’ll check the equipment and head home.”

“You’re not going to check and leave right away, are you?”

“Yep. Komari’s parents are home too. I don’t want to be a nuisance at this hour.”

The girl who usually doesn’t show even 50% of her emotions had a face full of 100% disbelief this time.

“No, they’re all sleeping anyway… It’s not like you’re going to shout ‘Open the door for guests’ or anything. And isn’t being a nuisance the moment you step in to check the equipment?”

“Oh, right. Then let’s just do the check later. I’ll drop you off in front of your house and head home right away.”

“… Ah, damn.”

This time it was 100% annoyance.

Seeing such a rare intense reaction was amusing, and even though I was supposed to stop at the fourth stanza, I ended up going off on a tangent without realizing it.

“Did you hide something delicious at home? Maybe pineapple pizza?”

“……?”

“My favorite is pineapple pizza. Is there anywhere that sells pizza at this hour? If I could devour a pizza, I’d probably fall asleep even in someone else’s house.”

Komari blinked for a moment before pulling up the delivery app.

Soon, she eagerly rummaged through the pizza tab and found a 24-hour pizza place that delivers even at this hour, showing it to me.

This is Seoul for you.

Where else can you find a service like this for someone eating pizza at 1 AM?

“Well, it can’t be helped. Are you treating, Komari?”

“Yes.”

I chuckled and muttered.

“Forget it. I’ll buy it. The pineapple pizza evangelist should use their power at times like this.”

Komari grumbled in an annoyed voice.

“Your food preferences are really the worst…”

Midori Komari☑ @Midori_Komari – 1 minute ago

Do the Leaves eat pineapple pizza if Employee D buys it? Yes? No?

– Komaring @komaring

Ew, that’s a bit…

– Marigold @mary_gold

Um.

As Komari proudly posted on Z from the taxi, the mentions from her fans, the Leaves, who were still awake, flooded in.

Among them was Pino, who had inquired about rigging to Komari earlier.

– PIN0 @pin0_live2d

Totally my taste 🥰🥰🥰🥰

– Midori Komari☑ @Midori_Komari

👊👊👊👊👊

Ah, please.

– PIN0 @pin0_live2d

Don’t go overboard with your kindness…

It’ll melt away…

“Anyway, this lolicon.”

As the pineapple pizza arrived and was set up on the folding table, Jia tilted her head.

“Lolicon?”

“Pino. He’s totally a lolicon.”

“Ah, his taste is well-known.”

“Right. That’s why he’s trying to take on Jia’s rigging too.”

After hearing that, Jia thought back and realized that her own rigging was quite flat.

“By the way, when you took on my rigging, didn’t we outsource it?”

“That’s right. He probably had to beg the Boss to take it on because there weren’t any good riggers at that time.”

It was surprising that the same person was now volunteering to take on the rigging.

“Looks like he’s free these days.”

“No. If you look at Z, he’s always posting about how busy he is and asking for help.”

“Then why is my rigging…”

“I don’t know. Maybe it struck his fancy?”

No matter how much it struck his fancy, that’s still strange.

There are very few people who would take on new work while their current workload is piling up.

Could it be that Pino got hit by a bad truck?

… If that’s true, it’s quite unfortunate.

There are many other virtual YouTubers, yet he chose my rigging.

–

At the same time.

Having arrived home and finished getting ready for bed, Dohee lay down and opened her email inbox on her phone.

She was hoping to quickly organize any business proposals that might have come in after watching Majiya’s promotion and Mugeon’s Parallel Song World Cup, so she could hold a planning team meeting tomorrow.

“… Did it explode?”

999+

A number that she would never normally see was displayed next to her inbox.

It was the grand appearance of the malicious email group that had been quiet for a while.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

Hello, Momo

From: asd31141 asd31141@goggles.com

To: Momo momo_official@parallel.com

Hello, Momo.

I’m Mong Mong, and I’m really enjoying your broadcasts.

I’m writing this email because I have something to discuss regarding your broadcasts.

I understand that you’ve been busy lately, so it’s understandable that your broadcasts have been a bit lackluster.

As a Boss, it’s okay to be a bit careless with your broadcasts.

But if you’re going to be careless, shouldn’t you at least have a substitute?

I’ve heard that there’s an employee who’s been brainwashed by your diligent work.

I think it’s a waste to keep teasing an employee who can do better at Battle Calls, rap, and impressions than you.

I’ve been noticing that your viewer ratings have been dropping lately.

That employee might be able to help a bit.

I’m worried that you seem to be getting too complacent.

Hang in there.

I’m always watching your broadcasts.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… This email was just one of a thousand.

There has never been such an interruption to work.

But Dohee understood the psychology of these guys.

When they’re ignored on broadcasts, they can even get banned, so what else can they do but resort to email?

Streamers, especially Momo as the Boss, can’t completely close off external emails, so they protest like this.

They want Majiya to be released.

But then, what can they do?

Majiya wants to stay in the Demon King’s Castle led by the Demon King Momo.

After rummaging through her inbox for a while and sending most to the trash, she bookmarked only the legitimate business inquiries.

Then, she checked her separate work email to see if there were any contacts from existing clients, and immediately saw a familiar nickname.

“It’s Pino.”

It was Pino, who had said through Komari that he wanted to take on Majiya’s rigging.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

Hello, Momo, this is Pino

From: PIN0 pin0_live2d@goggles.com

To: Cheon Dohee dh.sky@parallel.com

📎Attachment: workerD.cmo3, workerD.can3, runtime.zip, sample.mov

Hello.

It’s been a while since I last contacted you after Komari’s New Outfit.

I’m reaching out because I was really disappointed to see Employee D’s broadcast being so stagnant…

I got an illustration from Dora and did a little rigging,

If you think it’s okay, I’d like to formally take on the work.

You can think of the outsourcing rate as the same as Komari’s.

Thank you.

PIN0

Live2D rigger

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

Pino is a professional rigger who works with companies.

In fact, the game company he collaborates with is currently the most successful subculture game company in Korea, so he always has plenty of work.

That’s why he doesn’t usually take on separate outsourcing jobs, and he only occasionally posts approved works on his SNS.

It’s surprising that someone like him would volunteer to take on outsourcing.

Is he already creating work before even signing a contract?

This is truly something that would happen only if the sun rose in the west.

Moreover, I roughly checked the work he created.

He said it was just a little, but the quality was already better than the cheap rigging outsourcing results.

Majiya’s avatar was alive and soft enough to make one want to pinch its cheeks.

It was truly a result that perfectly matched his unique taste.

“How is this just a little?”

Just like how Dora said, “It took a bit of effort,” and created a high-quality character sheet, this person was also in almost full sincerity mode.

For Dohee, there was no reason to refuse the proposal.

Even though his taste is quite peculiar, he is a recognized expert in the industry for his skills.

And if it’s the same price as with Komari, the cost is also very reasonable compared to the quality of the work.

However, wasn’t it the case that they had to beg and coax to finally complete the outsourcing contract with Komari?

This time, one couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted him to send the email first.

[Me: Pino]

[Me: I heard you’ve been really busy lately]

[Me: I was surprised that you made the first proposal]

Not long after, when a reply came back, Dohee instinctively frowned.

[PIN0: Release Employee D!!!!!!!!!!]

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Pino Pino!