"Z. This is Serena."
The certainty in Magia’s voice made Dohee frown in confusion.
"Serena? Why would she apply for this?"
"Good question."
"No, but seriously, you don’t know? You were literally hanging out with her last week."
"Oh. Right."
"...."
There weren’t any restrictions barring VTubers from other agencies from participating.
It wasn’t impossible that Serena had joined just for fun—maybe because she was close with Maru, or because a famous Utaite like Iyura was also in the lineup.
And since Pazijik had the participant list, they must have deliberately kept quiet to avoid causing issues if Parallel caught on.
But lately, sothing had been... off about the atmosphere between Magia and Serena.
It was subtle, but Dohee’s protective instincts had been on high alert.
No matter how much of a joke it was, forcing Gia to say "Master’s heart, moe moe kyun~♡" had crossed a line.
And Magia had just laughed it off, as if she enjoyed it.
"Speaking of which, exactly how close are you with Serena now?"
"Close enough to grab coffee after a company dinner and complain about work together?"
"?"
Dohee shot her a sharp look.
"Would it kill you to let know these things in advance?"
"She asked to # Nоvеlight # pretend I never heard anything. If soone asks that nicely, I’m not going to go around blabbing, am I?"
"...Fair enough."
Magia wasn’t the type to badmouth Parallel, which ant Serena must have been the one venting.
And if Magia had absentmindedly agreed with her, Serena could have easily misinterpreted it as "Is she trying to recruit to Parallel?"
Dohee trusted Gia.
But this was the first ti Magia had been involved in an external event, let alone one featuring a VTuber from a rival agency.
So, she had to ask.
"You didn’t tell Serena to co to Parallel, did you?"
"Not at all."
Magia’s answer was instant, her face unreadable.
aning, she hadn’t made any mistakes.
But Serena had vented about her agency to a rival VTuber manager, then showed up unannounced to a Parallel event.
Dohee had been running a VTuber agency for three years now.
She knew what this ant.
‘She’s thinking about switching agencies...’
If Serena wanted to leave Lapits, there was nothing Parallel could do to stop her.
Right now, her career was thriving, especially after her growth in Wicker Town.
If she was still willing to abandon all that, it ant her decision was already made.
Even if Parallel tried to fra it as an amicable departure, fans would still accuse her of betraying their trust.
In the end, it would be Serena herself who bore the consequences.
And if she was serious about switching agencies, she wouldn’t imdiately jump from Lapits to Parallel.
Following the precedent set by other VTubers, she’d probably spend a few months as an indie first, then make her move.
...Unless she already had a backup plan and just did whatever she wanted.
As for her reason for leaving?
It could be anything.
But dissatisfaction with her current agency was probably at the heart of it.
For a while, that dissatisfaction and her sense of responsibility toward her fans must have been evenly balanced.
Until a certain variable tipped the scale.
‘Was it Gia...?’
Most fans of idols and VTubers didn’t really care what happened to anyone except their oshi.
At best, they kept track of other mbers from the sa generation or group.
But once agencies changed, it beca none of their business.
Magia, though, was different.
She helped whoever she liked, competition be damned.
If soone needed support, she gave it, simple as that.
‘The Sun and the North Wind... Was this what she was talking about?’
When the wind blew harshly, the traveler clutched their coat tighter.
But when the sun shone brightly, they took it off themselves.
Magia had ntioned that fable recently.
And now, Lapits was falling apart—not because Parallel forced anything, but simply because Magia had looked after the VTubers she liked.
‘Yeah... No VTuber would hate being cared for by Gia.’
Parallel’s first-gen talents had initially kept their distance from her.
Her blunt speech and tendency to push people away had made her hard to approach.
But now?
Now, they counted down the days to their next collab with her.
Magia wasn’t just a support behind the scenes anymore.
She was a cheat code.
Content, collaborations, stream engagent—she was an undeniable force in every aspect of the industry.
To the point where, when they surveyed second-gen applicants, over half had ntioned Magia in their applications.
Alongside the usual "I’m a fan of CEO Momo" or "I admire the first-gen mbers,"
they saw "I want to join because I want Assistant Manager Magia’s support."
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
Magia had beco the face of Parallel.
And not just internally.
Her influence was strong enough to sway VTubers from rival agencies.
But even so...
Today was Parallel’s grand event.
The second a Lapits VTuber showed up, it would beco a headache for both sides.
Dohee had reached the logical conclusion that Serena was planning to leave,
but the public, who didn’t know the full story, would only see chaos and scandal.
‘And the viewers have already noticed sothing’s up...’
aning, even if people suspected Serena’s identity, the best thing they could do was not acknowledge it officially.
Dohee sighed.
"You rember how we’re each supposed to pick soone for the Parallel Award?"
"The Parallel Award?"
"Yeah. Try not to pick Serena."
But Magia looked at her like she’d just asked the dumbest question in the world.
"Because Lapits might complain?"
She idly tapped her phone.
As if to say, I have the receipts. What’s the problem?
If Lapits accused them of tampering or poaching,
if they claid that Magia had secretly lured Serena over,
Parallel would have hard evidence to the contrary.
anwhile, Lapits would only have suspicions.
Even if Yeon Sung-mook and Lapits' CEO were working together, there was nothing they could legally do to stop Parallel.
And Magia, frankly, didn’t care about any of that.
She just wanted to give Serena the award.
"Forget all that," she said. "Just listen."
Dohee finally focused on the song playing.
Serena had reached the climax.
Her voice soared, rich and powerful—so srizing that the audience had forgotten to even wave their glow sticks.
[Like the final breath for tomorrow,
I close my eyes and let you go—!]
— Wow
— Holy shit
— She killed it
— KYAAA WTF
— Who is this?!
— No way this is just a viewer...
— I’m gonna marry this woman
— I feel cleansed...
Serena’s signature healing waves were unmistakably present in her voice.
But she had also incorporated a significant amount of Maru’s deeply resonant singing technique.
Because of that, her voice blended seamlessly with the pre-recorded backing vocals from Maru—almost as if this were an illegal duet, perfectly synchronized.
"I’ve practiced vocal mimicry before, even if just briefly, and to reach this level? You have to listen a lot and practice a lot."
Magia knew this better than anyone.
She had spent years as a devoted fan and had dabbled in vocal impressions herself.
This performance was a testant to Serena’s respect for Maru—it was stunning because of that admiration.
In fact, rather than the Parallel Award that Magia and Dohee were supposed to personally select, Serena could very well win on rit alone and take ho the Aurora Award.
"If I don’t hear anything better than this, I’m definitely giving the award to Serena. This goes beyond skill—it’s love."
And yet, Magia’s thoughts were almost entirely in sync with Dohee’s.
Dohee had poured her heart into producing Maru’s debut single album.
How could she not appreciate the way Serena had sung it so beautifully?
"Even if you don’t give her an award, the viewers will pick her themselves.
And if she is getting an award, then you’re not the one giving it—I am."
This was a situation that could lead to annoying inter-company disputes.
But that was Dohee’s problem to deal with as CEO.
As a staff mber, Magia had already done her job—she had given Dohee the necessary evidence and let her make the call.
"You know why I always tell you to warn about stuff like this?
Because I don’t want to dump responsibility on you as a staff mber."
Magia blinked, montarily surprised, before breaking into a small grin.
"If only you were this reliable in Battle Colosseum."
"Hey."
***
30 Minutes Later, Lapits CEO’s Office.
Yeon Sung-mook stood in front of the CEO, delivering an impassioned speech.
"This is definitely tampering."
He presented a post from the Lapits community forum titled ‘Serena Joins Illegal Duet EU’ as evidence, citing her close relationship with Magia as undeniable proof.
"We have evidence—"
"You have nothing but suspicions," the CEO cut in, sighing. "Do you seriously think an anonymous forum post counts as proof?"
"But based on my experience, this is—"
"You’re a team leader, and your experience is all you have? No hard evidence?"
Yeon Sung-mook fell silent. The CEO pressed further.
"What did you discuss with Magia at the Pazijik year-end party?"
"Well, since we’re both in operations, we talked about industry trends—"
"Are you sure?"
The CEO’s gaze sharpened.
It was the look of soone who already knew the truth.
"I know what was said. Be honest."
"I’m not lying! We talked about industry trends—"
"My staff in the operations team already told everything. You offered her a debut contract, didn’t you?"
"...."
"I heard you even bragged about getting promoted to the executive track and told her to ‘ditch that sinking ship.’ Care to explain?"
Yeon Sung-mook clenched his fists.
But he had no one to bla but himself.
His fantasies of a career boost after recruiting Magia had slipped out while he was drunk.
And because Magia hadn’t imdiately rejected the idea, he’d convinced himself it was possible.
Had he thought about actually asking her? No.
He assud that stalling was to his advantage and that Lapits’ parent company, Virdess, was bigger than Parallel.
A frog in a well.
He had put too much faith in Virdess and his father, the CEO, and now, here he was.
"What reason would Magia have to join us? Do you even know who her oshi is?"
"...."
"You’ve been in this field for two years, and you still don’t get how this industry works?
No wonder you thought poaching a competitor’s staff was a good idea."
During the Pazijik year-end party, industry executives had been watching Magia from afar.
Everyone knew it was her.
But no one had approached her.
Because the second anyone made a move, the industry would imdiately start whispering:
"So-and-so company has their eyes on her."
No one wanted that kind of rumor attached to them.
But then Yeon Sung-mook had openly approached her.
The entire MCN and agency circuit had heard about it.
The CEO had nearly been labeled ‘the executive who doesn’t respect industry etiquette’ at an important business eting—without even realizing it.
Lapits and Parallel’s rivalry was already well-known.
"Team Leader Yeon, what’s the first thing we do before contract etings?"
"We... record audio."
"Magia may look young, but she works in the sa field as you."
"...."
"Do you really think she wouldn’t have recorded your conversation?"
"Well, it was a rushed situation, so maybe..."
"Did she record it or not? Can you say for certain?"
"...."
"What do you think happens if she plays that recording?"
The company would never take the risk.
The only person with their neck on the line was Yeon Sung-mook.
Even if he was a nepotism hire from the parent company, the CEO wouldn’t let him drag the company down.
"You’ve been spending all your ti watching Parallel’s streams lately.
Are you the one thinking of switching jobs?
Or is this so childish revenge plan against your father for ‘demoting’ you to Lapits?"
"N-No! I was just monitoring the competition! I never—"
"You spend your entire workday on your phone, tracking their viewer trics. Is that also research?
So, tell . What’s your brilliant plan based on all this ‘monitoring’?"
"... The mbers... haven’t been very cooperative."
"And have you given them a reason to follow you?
Also, why do I have to hear about infighting between our operations team and our VTubers from soone outside the company?"
"...Excuse ?"
"Chief A&R Producer at Cat Entertainnt inford .
He said we’re failing to manage our mbers properly."
A&R—Artists & Repertoire.
The departnt responsible for talent scouting, production, and overall artist managent.
A Chief A&R Producer was the head of all associated labels.
In a regular company, that would be the equivalent of a Chief Operating Officer (COO) or CAO.
And Cat Entertainnt was one of the two powerhouses dominating the Korean entertainnt industry, alongside SB Entertainnt.
For soone that high-ranking to personally call them out—
"Wait. Are you saying Serena told them?"
"And what if she did?
What are you going to do about it? Retaliate?"
"N-No! Absolutely not!"
"Then don’t even dream about it if you don’t want to be permanently blacklisted from this industry."
The CEO’s cold stare was a warning.
"And by next month, I expect a full report on every issue in the operations team.
If you don’t fix it, I’ll send you back to Virdess.
And I don’t care if that ans you end up cleaning bathrooms there."
"U-Uncle! Please, anything but that—!"
"How many tis do I have to tell you? Don’t call that at work."
For the first ti, the CEO openly showed hostility.
"I gave you the benefit of the doubt because we’re family.
But not anymore.
And I assu you agree with , Team Leader Yeon?"
"...I beg for your rcy."
Yeon Sung-mook lowered his head, fists trembling with frustration.
The CEO delivered his final warning.
"If even a single Lapits mber announces their departure within the next month—
Then it’s over for you.
Consider yourself warned."
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