chapter_0055

55 – Something… Something is Happening

55 – Something… Something is Happening

I was resting comfortably when I suddenly headed to the broadcasting room on the 9th floor. Soon after, the boss followed with a puzzled expression.

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

“Ah. It’s a support request from Maru.”

“Maru?”

“Yes. She wants to play ‘I Am Wolf’, but says they’re short on people right now.”

The boss tilted his head at the game name but didn’t say anything else.

“Alright, just don’t overdo it.”

So I waited in the small personal broadcasting room next to the small motion studio on the 9th floor, without preparing an avatar separately.

Ding, ding.

[Maru: By the way, Jia]

[Maru: Are you going to turn on your stream?]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: No]

[Maru: Huh]

[Maru: What a waste of your virtual avatar]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: I’m not a Virtual Youtuber though]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: And even if I turned it on, it would just draw unnecessary attention and split the viewers]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: It’s better not to turn it on]

[Maru: Ah]

[Maru: Hmm… How about just setting it up next to me then?]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: This game is individual play, you know]

The maximum number of players for “I Am Wolf” is 12, with roles broadly divided into werewolves (max 2), humans, and neutral factions.

So usually it’s impossible to be on the same team.

If you consider the possibilities, the only ways to form a team are to both become werewolves, or to be paired as lovers among the humans.

Maru seemed to understand what I meant soon and looked disappointed.

[Maru: Can’t I still set you up next to me though?]

Of course, she didn’t seem to give up.

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: Try to convince me with a rational reason why I should set it up]

[Maru: We can attract more viewers]

That’s way too capitalistic an intention.

… But, not bad.

No matter how much they say it’s a job of selling joy and happiness to fans.

In the end, they’re people too and can’t completely ignore thoughts of money.

Maru is one of the vocal powerhouses of the first generation along with Dora, so she gets a ton of cover requests.

She pays for all of that out of her own pocket, and can’t even monetize due to copyright issues.

In other words, she needs a lot of channel subscribers and steady donations to be able to release cover songs.

Also, all content except for group content directly planned and provided by the company is produced at her own expense.

Anyway, money money money.

Even Virtual Youtubers cry and laugh because of money since they live in modern Korea.

You think that’s too pessimistic?

Do idols dig the ground to make money?

I’m not sure if this comparison is right, but it’s easy to think of them as clerics who cast heals and buffs for money.

People work, get comfort from Virtual Youtubers, pay money in return for the buffs, and Virtual Youtubers use that money to share more happiness.

It’s like a positive infinite cycle.

Anyway, I need to work hard as a shadow to help that cycle keep turning well today too.

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: Alright]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: Send me the link to enter V-Studio]

[Maru: Yay!!!]

I put on the motion capture equipment that looks like a belt and net inside the helmet, and first checked if my avatar was moving properly.

If the status was normal, I would enter through the link Maru gave me and start syncing.

I turned on Maru’s stream next to me on mute to check if it was being broadcast without issues.

— ?

— What’s this

— What

— No way lol

— Ahhh you should’ve said something before appearing lol

— Gasp

— No cuckoo no no no

— Let’s keep this to ourselves

The viewers reacted first as my avatar suddenly appeared and shook its body around.

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: I told you to introduce the guest before showing the avatar]

[Maru: Oops]

[Maru: Sorry, I got too excited lol]

[Maru: I’ll introduce you right away!]

Soon Maru placed me right next to her and shouted energetically.

[Everyone! Guess who’s here!]

— We can already see who it is lol

— Oh my lol

— Murasaki

— Aka

— Ao get out

OTNXSU9XcTFURXdtd0tweHpoait4akVEQVJoTmMrTm16VjVSWTNEeEJiVDNFTVlSeDZKRTg3eGY5QnpVb0VJdA

[Ahem. I filled the last spot with none other than Deputy Majiya, but I don’t hear any praise.]

— Oh good job

— Well done~

— Yeah good job

— We’re only praising you this once

— When you do it well…

[Hey what kind of praise is this. Can’t you do it properly?]

:: Anonymous donor has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Hey Dong, shut up and hurry with the introduction ::

:: Anonymous donor has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: Maru, turn down the volume before our ears burst and use this to buy coffee with Jia ::

[Wow thanks! I’ll enjoy it! Ten thousand Clouds round and round~.]

Maru means “round” in Japanese. That’s why her nickname is Dong.

She also gets called Gong Maru, Won Maru, etc. with different surnames each time.

Sometimes she even becomes Cheon Maru using the boss’s surname Cheon.

Soon Maru passed the turn to me, so I started with a brief self-introduction.

“Hello. Somehow I’m meeting you again after a few days.”

— Maha

— Jiha

— Aha

— What’s with the unity of these guys lol

— The dark Majiya clan, scary

“I came as a substitute again today. I’ll do my best not to get in Maru’s way.”

[It’s okay. I’m terrible at this game anyway.]

“But you must have played it a lot more than me.”

[Huh? Is this Jia’s first time playing this game?]

“I’ve watched it a lot, but it’s my first time actually playing.”

[Wow. You’re a total newbie. Should I explain it to you?]

“No, the explanation is fine. I know the rules roughly.”

It’s different from Naore.

That game has over 100 released characters and too many items to memorize, but “I Am Wolf” is relatively simple in comparison.

The three role categories.

And the detailed roles that branch out from there add up to about 30.

That much is easy enough to memorize.

And since this “I Am Wolf” collab tends to produce a lot of memorable scenes, I’ve given high scores in post-broadcast reports many times.

I guess since various broadcasters participate and their intentions intersect, the baseline for entertainment is inherently high.

In other words, even if I play poorly and die repeatedly, it shouldn’t affect the overall flow much.

If I die early, it’ll be funny in its own way, and it’s better for me to die than for the streamer to die early and not be able to do much.

But if I’m lucky enough to survive for a while, I should practice taking the lead in conversations.

Until then, I’ll blend in and take time to observe what kind of people everyone is.

Half the collab members are Virtual Youtubers so I know their faces, but I should look into the rest to avoid mistakes later.

It’s good to recognize them first and give a good impression of Parallel.

Repeat after me: Look, listen, shut up.

It works anywhere, whether in social life, galleries, or collabs.

[Oh right, I just realized Jia hasn’t been invited to the Ppajijik streamer Talk Code, have you?]

“Ah. That’s right. Come to think of it, can I join?”

[That’s right. The invitation criteria here is a minimum of 1,000 followers. I’ll ask Ronze who organized today’s collab and get back to you!]

What, Ronze was the one leading today’s collab?

That’s unexpected.

The boss sitting next to me also tilted his head when he heard that.

Ronze is a second-tier pro gamer for Night of Legend.

Of course, he’s closer to Komari’s side than Maru.

I remember Komari went around asking for advice everywhere when she wanted to escape Emerald rank before, and she happened to connect with him and got a lot of tips.

It seems he’s playing various games now that this year’s tournaments are over and it’s the off-season…

But he invited Maru instead of Komari?

Strange, isn’t it.

Fortunately, my and the boss’s confusion was quickly resolved.

Ronze must have sweet-talked the server admin well, as I was given temporary access rights.

When I entered the Ppajijik streamer Talk Code through the invitation link and looked at the collab tab, I saw a familiar nickname.

[Komari(Parallel): Wait what]

[Komari(Parallel): Jia unnie what’s this]

[Maru(Parallel): I invited her :)]

[Komari(Parallel): Ugh I should’ve invited her first…]

It seemed Ronze invited Komari first, Komari invited Maru, and Maru filled the last spot with me.

This kind of multi-level (?) invitation is common even in large server collabs, so it wasn’t that surprising.

Soon Ronze appeared and greeted me.

[Ronze(Pro Gamer): Hello Majiya]

[Ronze(Pro Gamer): The server permissions will last until 12pm tomorrow, but you can leave earlier after the collab ends if you want]

[Parallel Operations Team Majiya: I see. Thank you for letting me know]

[Ronze(Pro Gamer): Can you change your nickname to match the rules for now?]

[Komari(Parallel): Just make it Majiya(Parallel) unnie]

[Maru(Parallel): Oh is this a cutting in line party?]

[Komari(Parallel): 😜]

I changed my server nickname as he asked and waited in the collab waiting room for a while.

Soon I stepped into a space filled with 11 streamers.

[Wow the last member is here!]

[Finally you’re here.]

[Hello.]

[At last you’ve arrived…!]

[Hello!]

Greetings poured out in all sorts of voices.

I’ve participated in many broadcasts before, but this was the first time the sound was so multi-faceted and complex.

For a moment, I felt quite awkward being surrounded by a crowd of people welcoming me.

But the surprising events didn’t end there.

[Wait a minute. Could it be Employee D?]

During Mugeon’s civil war, there were 24 collab members, but most of them weren’t very interested in me.

I was just one of the malicious simps targeting Momo at the time.

But perhaps due to the influence of the recent concert and eve, there was someone who recognized me as soon as they saw my nickname.

“Hello Serena. I enjoyed watching Infinite Jump recently.”

[Oh my, you watched that? Thank you. I watched the Parallel eve broadcast from start to finish too. I’m a fan of Jia!]

This broadcaster with the nickname Serena even claimed to be my fan.

She’s a mid-tier YouTuber with about 130,000 subscribers.

My thought process completely stopped for a moment.

I’ve never experienced this kind of flow of conversation before.

Fortunately, since I’m naturally specialized in quick comebacks, words flew out on their own as if ad-libbing.

“I’m sorry but I’m not a broadcaster, so I don’t think the term ‘fan’ is appropriate.”

[Oh. Is that so. Then should I say it like this? I really like Employee D. The eve was so fun.]

This.

Wait.

Um.

… How should I respond?

It was the first time I was at such a loss for words since stepping into the Virtual Youtuber industry.

I wanted to say something, but the words were flying around randomly, colliding with each other without combining properly.

Since I couldn’t form sentences, all I could do was babble.

“Uh. Um… Uh…”

Komari, who was listening, spoke up.

[… Did Jia unnie break down?]