I was resting comfortably when, out of nowhere, I had to head to the broadcasting studio on the ninth floor. Not long after, Momo followed behind with a puzzled expression.
"What's going on all of a sudden?"
"Ah, Maru asked for backup."
"Maru?"
"Yeah. She's about to play I’m Wolf, but they’re short on people right now."
Momo tilted her head slightly upon hearing the ga’s na but didn’t say much.
"Alright, just don’t overdo it."
So I waited in a small personal streaming room next to the motion capture studio on the ninth floor, without any extra setup.
Ding. Ding.
[Maru: By the way, Gia]
[Maru: Are you going to stream?]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: No]
[Maru: Eh?]
[Maru: What a waste of your virtual model]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: I’m not a VTuber, though]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: And even if I did, it would just split the viewers and draw unnecessary attention]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: It’s better not to]
[Maru: Ah]
[Maru: Hmm… then what if I just place your model next to ?]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: This is a solo ga]
I’m Wolf allows up to 12 players, with roles divided into three main categories: werewolves (maximum of two), humans, and a neutral faction.
Which ans, in most cases, teaming up is impossible.
The only ways to be on the sa side are if both players get assigned as werewolves or if they end up as lovers within the human faction.
Maru seed to realize that and sounded disappointed.
[Maru: But can’t I still place your model next to ?]
She clearly wasn’t giving up.
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Convince with a reasonable argunt]
[Maru: It'll help attract new viewers]
Ah, pure capitalism at work.
… But it’s not a bad idea.
Even though VTubers make their living by bringing joy and entertainnt to their fans, they’re still people. They can’t ignore financial concerns entirely.
Maru and Dora are considered the twin vocal pillars of the first-generation talents, and they get tons of cover song requests.
But they have to pay for all of it out of pocket, and due to copyright issues, they can’t monetize those covers.
aning, they need a steady stream of subscribers and donations just to keep releasing songs.
On top of that, unless it's a company-produced group project, all other content is also self-funded.
In short, money, money, money.
Even VTubers live in modern-day Korea, where finances can make or break them.
You think I’m being too cynical?
What, you think idols survive by digging up cash from the ground?
To put it another way, think of them like clerics in an RPG—casting buffs and heals for money.
People work, they turn to VTubers for comfort, they pay for that comfort, and in turn, VTubers use that money to create even more happiness.
A positive feedback loop, if you will.
And as one of the unseen forces keeping that loop running smoothly, I had to do my part.
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Alright]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Send the V-Studio access link]
[Maru: YES!!!]
After securing the belt inside my helt and adjusting the sh-like motion capture gear on my head, I checked if my model was tracking properly.
Once everything was in order, I clicked the link Maru sent and started syncing up.
I had to make sure the stream broadcasted smoothly, so I opened Maru’s stream on mute to monitor it.
— ?
— What?
— Huh?
— Wait, lol
— Hey, say sothing before you just pop in, lmao
— Whoa
— Not the cuckoo entrance
— Keep it a secret, just for us
As soon as my model appeared on screen and started moving around, the viewers reacted instantly.
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: You were supposed to introduce the guest before showing my model]
[Maru: Oh, right]
[Maru: Sorry, got too excited, lol]
[Maru: Let introduce them properly!]
Maru placed my model right next to hers and enthusiastically announced:
[Alright, everyone! Guess who’s here!]
— We can literally see them already, what’s the point of guessing, lol
— Lmao
— Murasaki
— Aka
— Ugh, not this again
[Ahem. I personally filled the last slot with none other than Deputy Manager Magia, and yet I hear no praise?]
— Wow, good job
— Yes, yes~
— Fine, well done
— We’ll complint you this one ti
— See? You can do things right…
[Hey, what kind of half-hearted complints are these? Can’t you be more enthusiastic?!]
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: Hey, Dong, shut up and just do the intro already ::
:: An anonymous donor has sent 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Maru, your voice is blowing out my ears. Lower the volu and use this to buy coffee with Gia-nim ::
[Wow, thanks! I’ll enjoy it! Ten-thousand Clouds, round and round~.]
Maru ans “circle” in Japanese, so her nickna is Dong.
She also gets called Kongmaru, Wonmaru, and even Cheonmaru when people jokingly attach Momo’s last na to hers.
Once Maru finished, she passed the spotlight to .
I gave a simple introduction.
"Hello, everyone. Looks like I’m back again after a few days."
— Maha
— Gia
— Aha
— Why are y’all so coordinated, lol
— The Shadow Magia Cult, omg
"I’m just here as a fill-in again today. I’ll do my best not to get in the way of Maru-nim."
[It’s fine. I suck at this ga anyway.]
"Still, you’ve played it more than I have, right?"
[Huh? Wait, Gia, is this your first ti playing?]
"I’ve watched plenty, but yeah, this is my first ti actually playing."
[No way. You’re a total newbie. Do you need to explain the ga?]
"Nah, I’m good. I already know most of the rules."
This wasn’t like Naore.
That ga had over a hundred playable characters and way too many items to morize, so I had given up trying.
But I’m Wolf was relatively simple.
Three main role categories.
And within those, a total of about thirty sub-roles.
That much was easy enough to morize.
And since I’m Wolf collabs always produced iconic monts, I had reviewed plenty of them in post-stream reports.
With so many different strears participating, all with their own agendas clashing, the baseline entertainnt value was always high.
Which ant, even if I died early, it wouldn’t ruin the stream.
In fact, it’d be funnier if I got taken out quickly.
Better than an actual strear who needed screen ti.
Of course, if I did manage to survive, I’d take it as an opportunity to practice leading conversations.
For now, I’d just observe.
Half the participants were VTubers I already knew, but the others…
It’d be good to familiarize myself with them.
That way, I wouldn’t make mistakes later.
And if I recognized them first, it’d leave a good impression of Parallel.
"Repeat after : Keep your mouth shut and just watch.
It works in any situation—at work, on forums, in collabs, anywhere."
[Oh, right! Now that I think about it, Gia-nim, you’ve never been invited to the Static Buzz Strear Talkcord, right?]
"Ah, that’s true. Now that you ntion it, can I join?"
[Hmm, well, the invite requirent is a minimum of 1,000 followers. I’ll ask Ronze, the one organizing today’s collab, and get back to you!]
Wait, Ronze is today’s collab host?
That’s unexpected.
Momo, sitting next to , also tilted her head at the ntion of his na.
Ronze was a Knight of Legend second-division pro gar.
Naturally, he was much closer to Komari than to Maru.
I rembered how Komari had once gone around asking for advice on escaping Erald rank, and by chance, she had connected with Ronze, who had given her plenty of tips.
Since the tournant season had ended, he seed to be playing a variety of gas during his break…
But he invited Maru instead of Komari?
That was strange.
Luckily, Momo and I didn’t have to stay confused for long.
Apparently, Ronze had chard the server admin enough to get a temporary access pass.
Following the invite link, I entered Static Buzz Strear Talkcord and checked the collab channel, where I imdiately spotted so familiar nas.
[Komari (Parallel): Wait, what the heck]
[Komari (Parallel): Why is Gia-unnie here?]
[Maru (Parallel): I invited her, hehe]
[Komari (Parallel): Damn it, I should've invited her first…]
So Ronze had invited Komari first, Komari had invited Maru, and Maru had used the last available slot to drag in.
This kind of "multi-tiered invite system" wasn’t uncommon in large-scale server collabs, so it wasn’t surprising.
Soon, Ronze himself appeared to greet .
[Ronze (Pro Gar): Hello, Magia-nim.]
[Ronze (Pro Gar): Your server access will last until noon tomorrow, but you’re free to leave as soon as the collab ends.]
[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Understood. Thanks for letting know.]
[Ronze (Pro Gar): Also, could you adjust your nickna to match the server rules?]
[Komari (Parallel): Just set it to Magia (Parallel), unnie.]
[Maru (Parallel): Oh, are we forming a speedrunning gang?]
[Komari (Parallel): 😜]
Following his request, I updated my nickna and waited in the collab lobby.
Before long, I found myself in a voice channel filled with eleven other strears.
[Whoa, the final mber has arrived!]
[Hey, you’re finally here.]
[Hello!]
[The mont we've been waiting for…!]
[Welco!]
A chorus of greetings hit all at once.
I’d been in plenty of collabs before, but I had never experienced a soundscape this chaotic.
For a mont, I felt awkward, as if I had walked into a crowd all welcoming at once.
But that wasn’t the most shocking part.
[Wait a sec… No way. Are you that Staff-D-nim?]
During Mugeon’s in-house match, we had twenty-four players in the collab, but most of them didn’t pay much attention to .
Back then, I was just another toxic sniper targeting Momo, one among many.
But thanks to the recent Parallel concert and pre-festival event, soone recognized imdiately just from my userna.
"Hello, Serena-nim. I really enjoyed your Infinite Jump streams recently."
[Whoa, you watched that? Thank you! I actually watched the entire Parallel pre-festival stream from start to finish! I’m a huge fan of Gia-nim!]
…Wait.
What?
Hold on.
A fan? Of ?
Serena, a mid-tier YouTuber with 130,000 subscribers, was claiming to be my fan?
For a brief mont, my brain completely froze.
I had never encountered this kind of situation before.
Fortunately, my natural instincts for witty cobacks kicked in, and my mouth moved before my brain could catch up.
"Sorry, but I’m not a content creator, so calling yourself my fan feels a bit… off."
[Oh. I see… Then should I say it like this? I really like you, Staff-D-nim! The pre-festival stream was so much fun!]
This was…
Wait.
Uhh.
…What was I supposed to say to that?
Ever since stepping into the VTuber industry, this was the first ti I had been left completely speechless.
I wanted to say sothing, but the words in my mind scattered and crashed into each other like a jumbled ss.
Without a proper sentence forming, the only thing I could do was mumble incomprehensibly.
"Uh. Uhm. Err… Uh……."
Hearing this, Komari chid in with an amused remark.
[…Gia-unnie just broke, didn’t she?]
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