Frequent shifts between day and night ss up your sleep schedule.
For example, instead of sleeping for a full eight hours, you start splitting it into two four-hour segnts, or you take naps that last four hours instead of just one.
“Mm.”
So, even if I fell asleep at four in the morning, waking up at seven like this wasn’t anything unusual.
I fumbled around, reaching for my phone—whether it was under the blanket or sowhere outside of it.
Even if I buried myself back under the covers, nothing wakes up better than scrolling through online communities half-asleep.
More importantly, since the CEO had all but given up on keeping up with industry discussions in those communities, if I didn’t check, we’d definitely miss things.
In a way, I was technically working the mont I opened my eyes—but if I counted this as work hours, the accounting director would yell at , so I just pretended not to notice.
I skimd through the top posts from the night, and, interestingly, Bazubi’s na ca up a lot.
Not just in the Parallel Gallery, but even in the Pazijik Gallery—three posts had made it to the trending section overnight.
It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing that it wasn’t about our own mbers.
It might sound a bit cold, but the fact that Bazubi, who had been buried in obscurity, had gained this much recognition overnight was entirely thanks to yesterday’s stream.
And by using that stream as a reference, we could think about how to apply similar strategies for our own mbers.
Most reactions treated Bazubi like a hidden gem that had finally been discovered.
Even now, with the stream long over, Bazubi’s follower count was still rising.
There was no major backlash, and she had managed to grab hold of the audience’s attention through sheer presence.
That said, the excitent from yesterday’s stream was already causing so side effects.
For the first ti in a while, I had done a stream purely for soone else—no intention of promoting Parallel’s first-gen or anything like that.
But of all days, it just so happened that today was the announcent day for the first-gen’s new song with CAT.
And, of course, conspiracy theories had already begun to spread.
... ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery / Trending Posts ─ — ...
(Notice) [Please refrain from speculating about Magia, the F contestant, or Fan_C]
★[Sothing feels off]
★[■■■=■■■■=■■]
★[I said from the start that this collab was suspicious]
★[??? : Damn, that's cold]
★[To the guy saying Bazubi’s collab timing is weird]
★[But isn’t this kinda strange?]
... ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ...
I clicked on the most recent trending post, and... yeah, so people were really going off the deep end.
... ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ — ...
[Sothing feels off]
(Proof I'm not just trolling_Parallel4mbers_1year_sub.jpg)
I’ve been worried about this since people started pressuring her to debut.
If I were her, honestly, if I was good at singing, I’d rather sign with a huge agency and beco a Utaite than deal with the stress of being a VTuber.
VTubers already have way too much on their plates.
And now they’re pushing soone who’s already drowning in company work to debut on top of that?
If it were , I’d say screw it, quit, and go be a Utaite instead.
Also, isn’t it weird how the first-gen collabs have been drying up lately?
This is making really nervous.
(Upvotes: 775 / Downvotes: 527)
[Comnts]
— Parallel189: So you’re saying Magia’s been pretending to be all “we’re friends” up front while secretly planning to bail?
ㄴ Parallel771: NO!!!!!!
ㄴ Parallel251: Stop crying, please.
— Parallel834: Why would soone on the fence about debuting in second-gen suddenly ditch Parallel? Lmao.
ㄴ Parallel581: Was that ever confird?
ㄴ Parallel581: At the end of the day, all we saw was that she was putting out a song with CAT. So people are still too brain-rotted to get it lol.
... ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ...
The reason I had created a separate alias was simple—I didn’t want to be an unnecessary extra in the perfect four-mber lineup, and I wanted people to focus on Parallel’s first-gen, not .
So how the hell did things end up like this?
The problem was that this post—clearly written by a hardcore fan—wasn’t entirely illogical.
For one, becoming a VTuber does co with way more work compared to being a Utaite.
A Utaite only needs to focus on recording songs, preparing for concerts, and fan engagent.
Most of the business side—like advertising—gets handled by the agency.
VTubers, on the other hand, have to do all of that plus daily streams, collabs, and even take on responsibilities for brand deals.
Sure, the agency helps with managing sponsorships, but the VTuber has to co up with ideas for how to execute them.
And on top of that, managing their YouTube channel is entirely on them.
There are production teams, yeah, but the VTuber themselves is essentially the team leader.
At this point, it should be clear why I keep saying that if I beca a full-ti VTuber, I’d never have ti to watch streams.
There literally isn’t ti.
And if you don’t genuinely enjoy interacting with viewers, you’ll burn out fast and quit.
That’s just how the industry works—both for corporate VTubers and independent strears who operate at a near-corporate level.
That said, the whole “She got sick of being forced to debut, so she’s bailing to beco a Utaite” theory was sowhat reasonable.
But trying to twist my lack of first-gen collabs into so kind of internal drama?
That was just reaching.
Well, at the end of the day, it all ca down to an information gap.
I had told people I was busy with second-gen debut prep, but I never showed it.
So anxious fans were bound to jump to conclusions.
The good news was that rumors about internal conflicts were always bound to pop up—and they were also very easy to shut down.
A full-force collab, one that oozed "real" camaraderie, was all it took.
Nothing dispelled drama faster than an over-the-top, affectionate group stream.
Still, it didn’t feel urgent enough to rush.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
I figured I’d just text the CEO about it once my day off was over, but...
[CEO: Call when you wake up.]
Huh.
So, for once, the CEO had caught onto the situation before I did.
Looked like we were about to have that conversation.
Leaving Bazubi sound asleep, I quietly slipped out onto the balcony.
It was rush hour. One by one, the cars were pulling out of the parking lot below.
“This is Magia.”
[...Why are you up so early? Go back to sleep.]
“Shouldn’t I be saying that to you? I know you were up past three last night.”
[Yeah, well, unlike so people who took a day off, I actually have to be at the office for the song release today.]
“I know. I said it on purpose.”
[Do you want to die? Look at you, all giddy from playing princess with Bazubi. You looked like you were having so much fun.]
“I was handling things, thank you very much.”
I chuckled.
“Anyway, you saw the community reactions, right? I think we need a first-gen collab soon. What do you think?”
[I expected so kind of overblown take. And it’s not exactly hard to fix, so don’t stress over it.]
“When have I ever stressed over stuff like this? I’ve stared into the abyss way too many tis for this to faze .”
[Yeah, yeah. But still—if anything ever gets overwhelming, just say the word. I an, if I don’t look out for you, who will?]
“Team Leader Kang?”
[Yeah, besides and Team Leader Kang, who else is going to look after you?]
“Seung-yeon?”
[...Cut it out, will you?]
“Anyway, about the collab. We should do one, but when? I know the mbers’ schedules are packed with ads and external collabs after the new song release.”
The CEO thought for a mont before speaking.
[How about you host next week’s collab instead of ?]
New corporate VTubers usually avoid collabs for the first few months so they can build their own connection with fans.
Our first-gen mbers also stread solo for their first three months before finally doing their first four-person group collab.
That debut collab was called "We’re Really Close!"
It was a simple concept: first-gen mbers answered questions and shared stories about each other.
The first ti, it was a bit awkward, but now that the initial tension was gone, it beca a chance to bring up stories they never got to tell and share fun behind-the-scenes monts with fans.
Of course, rather than just being wholeso, the collab often turned into playful bickering, with everyone poking at each other’s weak spots.
That’s why soone always had to be there to make sure no one crossed the line or let their emotions get hurt.
Viewers enjoyed it like a lighthearted WWE match, but if things suddenly turned into an actual UFC fight, it could get awkward fast.
That’s why the CEO had hosted the collab last year and was planning to do it again for the new song release.
“Are you sure it’s okay for to do it?”
[You’ve already proven yourself, so it’s fine. Plus, if you’re hosting, won’t the mbers try to ss with you? I think that’s the best way to show how close you all really are.]
“If they ss with , I’m not going to react in a funny way.”
[That is funny.]
“?”
[It’s really funny. I an, I can’t say my perspective is exactly the sa as the fans, but watching the others desperately try to take you down? That’s entertainnt. You get what I an?]
Was ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) it, though?
I hesitated, and the CEO continued.
[Think about when you were targeting . Watching struggle to escape your bullying—wasn’t that funny?]
“...Ah.”
[See? Sa idea. No need to explain further, right?]
“Yes, I get it now. You really are the best, boss.”
[...You don’t have to flatter when we’re talking about stuff like this.]
“You’re the greatest, boss.”
[I swear, you’re impossible.]
Still, I wasn’t entirely thrilled about taking over as the host.
Not because of the collab itself, but because of what it ant long-term.
[Once you do it once, everyone’s going to want you to keep doing it.]
“Why would they? You’re still here.”
[They’ve already seen host for over a year. It’s about ti they got tired of it.
Besides, like I said, your hosting style is totally different from mine. I’m the type to pamper and dote on them, while you actually fight back. That’s way more entertaining to watch.]
More than that, the CEO had a point.
Since I had joked about possibly becoming a second-gen mber during April Fools’, I was now seen as a more internal figure within the company.
That ant that if I hosted, it wouldn’t feel like so corporate presence interfering—it would feel like a VTuber talking to fellow VTubers.
[Honestly, I’ve never liked the idea of the company getting too involved in their collabs. It breaks imrsion.]
“I an, you’re both the CEO and a VTuber, so doesn’t that make it fine?”
[Yeah, but the way they act around is totally different. The mont they treat like their boss, the illusion is gone.
But you? You talk casually with them now. Your model setup is the sa as theirs.
And you’ve already teased that you share a similar concept. It all works.]
To sum it up, if the audience ended up loving the dynamic, I’d inevitably beco the default host for every future collab.
“That’s going to make even busier.”
[If it gets to be too much, just say the word. We can always hire more people.]
“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind.”
[Anyway. That should be enough to clear things up.]
The CEO let out a small sigh before casually asking,
[Since you’re doing the collab, how about grabbing a al with the mbers beforehand? We’ll do the rehearsal the day before, obviously, but you haven’t seen them in a while. It’d be good to have a little extra to talk about on stream.]
“I’ve been keeping up with their streams, even just through summaries. Is it really necessary?”
If it was just a al, that was fine.
But to , this was still work.
I tried to wriggle my way out of it, but the CEO wasn’t having it.
[Everyone knows you’re a dedicated fan of the mbers. But this ti, you need to show a friendship dynamic. That ans you need so real, casual conversations to pull from—sothing unrelated to work.]
It made sense.
Talking about work with colleagues was a given.
But if we wanted to kill the drama and prove we were close, we needed interactions outside of work.
[You do know they’ve been avoiding using the free collab passes you gave them, right?]
Right.
During our first anniversary trip, I had given every first-gen mber a free-use pass to invite onto their streams whenever they wanted.
And yet, months had passed, and not a single one of them had used it.
Either they were still hesitant around , or there was so other reason.
“...Now that I think about it, none of them have invited at all.”
[They made a silent agreent not to bother you too much. It’s been two months already.
They know how busy you are, so they’ve been holding back. Go break the ice a little. That way, the collab will feel even more natural.]
“I gave those passes so they could use them, though...”
The CEO clicked her tongue.
[You seriously don’t realize how chaotic your schedule looks to other people, do you?]
“I don’t feel that busy.”
[That’s because you’re a machine. To them, you look like a workaholic.
No one wants to be the one to bother you when you seem that swamped.]
I scratched the back of my neck, mumbling.
“...It’s not that bad...”
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