Shake It, Work Hard, Work Harder - 3
The world changes.
That had been one of the truths that had never changed since time immemorial. Even now, on a single planet drifting through the vast cosmos, everything living upon it was changing.
That sounded grand, but it was just a universal common sense everybody already knew without having to be told.
It was like some crusty old man seating a bunch of younger people down and lecturing them with smug authority. To speak of what everyone already knew as though it were the insight of a lifetime was just foolish.
That was why no one bothered to say the world had changed.
And yet the people who did say it were not trying to convey a truth.
-The world has changed!
They either hoped the world would change, or hoped it wouldn’t.
It was one or the other.
And today, the people saying the world had changed belonged to the first group.
The ones who wanted the world to change in a way that was “more fun.”
They were stationed in the VTuber community.
And the change wasn’t limited to the tiny streamers. VTubers created as company projects, the so-called corporate VTubers, were changing too.
Of course, it was a change brought on by Bigman.
*
Live now: Utya-tya! A huge friend is falling from the sky!
-Live viewers: 16,071
The purple-haired beauty, Haerin, smiled brightly. She was always bright, but today her energy felt like her brain had melted into mush.
“Utya! Utyaa! KWA-KWANG!”
Her eyes were fixed on the video playing beside the broadcast window. At first there was only a peaceful ruin and a blue sky, but then an ominous sound rang out.
Along with the noise of massive heavy machinery moving.
The silhouette of something huge emerged.
It was a demolition vehicle, the kind you’d see at a construction site.
Rumble, rumble...
The vehicle came to a brief stop.
“Utya!”
And then, at that very sound.
A giant slab of iron fell from the sky.
Whoosh!
It was as large as an adult man.
A steel wrecking ball used for crushing at construction sites. On it, the words Bigman were painted in huge white letters.
And then.
It.
Plunged downward at speed.
Whooooosh!
At last.
With a chilling impact, it smashed into the full-body mannequin standing on the ground.
KWAAAANG-!
The mannequin exploded into fragments.
Dust scattered across the floor, and shards of the mannequin flew into the air. The only piece that broke away cleanly, the head, went spinning off beyond the sky, twirling as it fell.
Before long, the head dropped.
Roll, roll...
Thud!
It was nothing but destruction.
But the viewers went wild over that simple, primal scene that scratched at their nerves. Every one of them, having lost the use of human language, screamed like monkeys discovering fire for the first time.
...
...
...
*
Live now: The Third Utdari Rebellion - Stop the grandpas from running wild
-Live viewers: 3,197
The blue maniac Doda was going berserk again today.
She was rolling around on the screen. She made one full turn, panted hard, and then, still in that state, kicked up into a handstand and flailed her legs.
Flail
Flail
“Aaah! Lost again! The Dodari have lost again!”
-Whoa, ten losses in a row lol
-lol the grandpa is insanely strong
-S-seriously, who plays a classic game that came out ten years ago?
-Wow, so fighting games and strategy games are really the pro leagues of office workers, huh lol
-The grandpa playing today was apparently a former pro too lol
Doda stared at the side screen and muttered in despair.
“Ha, this isn’t even deliberate feeding. Are we actually going to see a win today?”
-Maybe if it were a numbers game, but how the hell are you supposed to beat a former pro at a one-on-one fighting game lol
“Ah, at least try tickling him from the side.”
-Not easy....
The arcade broadcast screen for D-GAMERS.
Today’s theme game was a classic fighting masterpiece. And the villain standing on the left side of the fighting game screen was slaughtering the Dodari, one by one, through the hands of a fan of Clara.
-Arcade broadcast team: Stop slandering the Carrot grandpa who showed up today. The vibe inside is crazy warm lol
-Facts lol
-Just watching people play claw machines nearby is fun too lol
-Wow, why is the line this long;
-It pisses me off that only Seoul people get to enjoy this....
-I’ve already spent more than 30,000 won lol I’m losing my mind lol
-It’s hilarious hearing Doda’s stream in real time from the speaker next door
Doda snorted as she watched the arcade broadcast screen. Then, with a grunt, she pushed herself up from her seat.
“Fun? Good enough if it’s fun for you. Have fun and spend a lot of money while you’re at it. All the drinks in the blue box are free, so help yourselves.”
-Whoa, sneaky ad for the arcade lol
“It’s not a sneaky ad. It’s a front ad.”
-What are you even talking about lol
Doda didn’t answer. She just punched at the air and messed around all by herself in a distracted little frenzy.
“Shoo, shushushuk, shukshuk, shuk, shushuk....”
But in her head, she was coolly thinking about the next piece of content. It was her own ritual for sorting out her thoughts.
“Shuk, shushuk, shukshuk....”
Aki and the older sisters will have time next week, so should I do another collaboration with the arcade as the backdrop? Or should I bring in another machine and invite another expert....
Whatever it was.
I hope Bigman likes it too.
“Shuk....”
I’m.
Bigman’s first apostle.
“....”
Probably.
“....”
I should go see the boss after the stream ends.
He would know.
He might know Bigman’s intentions.
The Dodari were used to Doda’s scatterbrained behavior, so they didn’t react much. They just watched her with pleased eyes.
-Love seeing Doda’s mental state collapse....
The Dodari took pleasure in tormenting Doda.
It was a truly vicious fandom.
*
I turned off the computer that had been running the stream. Then I opened the rooftop room window and let some air in. Even in the middle of the day, a fairly cool breeze drifted inside.
Creak.
Beyond the window, Seoul spread out before me.
Under a blue sky,
the gray city twitched and stirred.
The middle of May in Seoul always looked fresh.
At this time of year, I used to hole up in my room and focus on getting qualified. Or else I’d completely give up and spend my time fooling around, running away.
“....”
Meeting A-Young by chance, and meeting Doctor Jang too... that all happened while I was half-giving up and running away.
But this time was different.
Many people,
and many things, had stayed behind.
I could do more than I had before.
So I didn’t run away.
For the event that would start soon,
I branded the name of the capitalist called Bigman into people’s minds.
I raised the atmosphere to just the right level.
Bigman as a system that supported VTubers in every possible way. And to let that system start moving in earnest, only one final piece remained.
The acquisition of RD.
“....”
If Team Leader Jeong Yu-ri gets swept up in the investment intel and has to turn her eyes outward, I should be able to take over RD quickly.
But....
Still no news.
“....”
Surely she didn’t throw everything out just because she was suspicious?
...Those were all carefully selected pieces of information. Some of the stocks can’t even be accessed unless you’re a corporate legal entity.
That thought was broken by a voice from outside.
-Boss! I’m here!
“!”
It was Dodam’s voice.
If she came all of a sudden like that, then she’s probably here to talk about Bigman....
I closed the window.
Creak─!
And left the rooftop room.
*
Jeong Yu-ri was standing in front of the washbasin in the company bathroom. She had turned on the faucet and was staring blankly at the falling water.
Whoooooosh....
“....”
She had made 300 million won.
By putting in 100 million won of her own assets.
A full threefold asset event.
On top of that, she had leaked the information through the company intranet and led the others into taking the bait in a group. She had even routed some of the Investment Strategy Team 2 funds so that a few profits could be shared as well.
Probably.
The expected total came to around 5 billion won.
She had made the company 5 billion won.
Money equivalent to an annual budget for a small or medium-sized company.
In a single day.
Everyone at the company was stunned.
All of them stared wide-eyed, waiting for Jeong Yu-ri to speak again. The same bastards who used to mock her as a parachute hire riding on connections.
Jeong Yu-ri could feel it.
This was it.
This signal.
The signal she had been aiming for all along.
The path to slowly reclaiming her grandfather’s company.
That path was opening.
“....”
What exactly is this list...?
Was it a letter sent by the devil?
Her head felt blank.
She had no real sense of reality. Sweat that smelled sour had been running from her hands for a while now, and her chest kept rising and falling in ragged breaths. Every time she exhaled, she stayed in a state of excitement close to pleasure.
“....”
Honestly.
It felt great.
That was not a good sign for an investor.
Did my central nervous system go bad...?
Jeong Yu-ri shut off the faucet.
Click.
“....”
Then she looked over the next investment target listed on the sheet she had hidden inside her clothes. Unlike the others, this one had been emphasized in special red lettering.
Warning: High-risk investment, and a mistake could damage your credit
“S Securities” private hedge market, guaranteed return 30x
*Warning: As of Thursday at 10:18 a.m., it must be checked in five-second intervals
*Warning: A hyper high-risk investment product accessible only through corporate accounts at the level of a midsized company or above. Per account, up to 1 billion won only....
*Warning: A legitimate pretext must be left in the form of an analysis report. Otherwise, suspicion of illegal speculation....
“....”
Warning
Warning
Warning
Warning
There were as many as ten warnings attached to a single item, one or two at a time. What was more, in Jeong Yu-ri’s eyes, this was a hyper high-risk investment that sat practically at the edge of the gray zone.
If she failed,
forget promotion, she might end up in prison.
It was, quite literally, a deal with the devil.
“....”
But.
If she succeeded.
It opened.
“I can... become an executive....”
Grandfather.
Our pitiful grandfather’s company.
“I’ll take it back.”
Jeong Yu-ri glared at the mirror.
Her eyes were bloodshot.
Her pupils shifted here and there, leaking a sinister aura.
She looked like a complete madwoman.
A madwoman who believed in some incomprehensible letter
and was ready to stake everything she had on it.
“....”
Even so.
One last time.
She would challenge it.
Thirty times 100 million won.