Hiring New Managers

"Oh, and your Partner Streamer application went through."

"Partner streamer?"

"Yes."

Once a streamer maintains a certain level of broadcast hours, a regular streaming schedule, and average viewership, they become eligible to apply for Partner Streamer status.

Becoming a partner unlocks mid-roll ad revenue, subscription perks, and a whole range of other benefits—honestly, unless you were planning to jump ship to another platform or multistream, there was absolutely no reason not to do it.

"Wait, didn't I already qualify for that a while ago?"

I'd hit the average viewer count long ago; it was only the first two requirements, which took time to accumulate from the very start of the channel, that had held things up.

Wasn't it over forty thousand by then?

By my current standards that was less than half, but even back then it hadn't been a small number—nothing that could even be compared to the baseline of 75 average viewers.

Because of that, Twitch had been quietly granting me partner-tier benefits since literally my second day of streaming.

"Now you finally get the title, though. It's better to actually hold the status than just receive the perks for nothing, right?"

"Hmm. Fair enough."

"Also... we could really use another manager, Boss. The viewer count's gotten way too big."

Apple Flavor said it with a slightly tired lilt in his voice.

Come to think of it, the audience had more than doubled since I first hired them.

It wasn't a matter of going from a thousand to two thousand, or ten thousand to twenty thousand—no, it had ballooned from sixty thousand to a hundred and twenty thousand.

Even with chat set to slow mode, two people covering a hundred thousand-plus viewers was asking a lot.

And on top of that, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠both of my current managers were juggling editing work at the same time.

"I had been thinking about it, actually. All right, I'll hire someone right away."

Now, who do I pick...

As Lilytube grew at a breakneck pace, my editors' workload had become absolutely crushing.

But my Twitch livestreams had grown right along with it.

In the end, keeping both running meant I needed more hands.

"Whoa... I get to be Lily's manager...?"

"Looking forward to working with you!"

And so I brought on two more people to focus on manager duties rather than editing.

Applications had been piling up for ages—I'd already received hundreds of emails back when I first hired—so all I had to do was choose.

I half expected they'd be too busy by now, but both accepted without a moment's hesitation, as if they'd been waiting all along.

"Jjoa, you can make thumbnails too?"

"Yep~ I was actually the thumbnail artist for Paprice's channel for a while!"

My first new hire was Jjoa, who had handled thumbnails for a Newtuber with over two million subscribers.

Apple Flavor had been doing the thumbnails until now, but that was never his specialty—he'd only taken it over because there was nobody else to do it.

Editors can all use Photoshop to a basic degree, after all.

But with Jjoa's thumbnail skills clearly a cut above the editors', there was no reason to settle for "competent."

Besides, thumbnail work ate up far less time than editing.

"You have manager experience too, I see."

"Yep! A whole year, up until three months ago~"

"Why'd you quit?"

"Ah... I was, um, off finding myself back then. I stayed away from the industry for a while, and then I started watching your streams, Lily."

She let out a bright little laugh.

I've recruited someone even weirder than White Autumn.

Anyway, Jjoa was hired.

"And Hyuji... you're a ranker?"

As a person, he seemed perfectly ordinary, and he had actual manager experience under his belt too.

But what caught my eye wasn't his real-world résumé—it was a very different set of credentials.

Ranked 907th in rated PvP.

A CC-focused Magician whos down opponents with debuffs and buffs.

Except there was a catch...

"I'm an Alchemist. A production class."

Production classes typically boast superb crafting ability but pathetic combat capability, so most people use them for healing or making money.

A normal Alchemist would just brew potions and buy and sell them, nothing more—but...

Hyuji had turned Potion Crafting, the core skill of his class, into a weapon.

"Potions take a long time to craft, you see. I had time to kill during every batch, so I ended up watching your streams a lot."

"You could've done other things with that time, though. Like going out to gather materials yourself."

"Ah. I do gather some myself, but honestly, I just love watching other people play."

Apparently he bought his materials separately from the auction house or the Magicians' City, even though it cost extra time and money.

But given how a fully 3rd-Advancement Alchemist's Potion Crafting worked, as long as you weren't paying extortionate prices for materials, it was profit no matter how you acquired them.

People say a production class that reaches 3rd Advancement can live comfortably for the rest of their life just sitting on their hands.

"Of course, actually getting a production class to 3rd Advancement is basically impossible."

"Why?"

"Your level won't go up. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Not without hunting."

Crafting did grant experience, but only up to level 40.

After that, you had to level through hunting or major quests like continental quests—and production classes had essentially zero combat ability.

After all, no matter how furiously a level 40 blacksmith swung his hammer, his attack power would still be lower than a level 10 swordsman's.

And grinding low-level monsters was out of the question thanks to the per-level experience penalty.

"But I managed it, thanks to my trait. Mine's called Potion Overload."

"Overload?"

"Every potion I drink takes effect at double potency, but I lose health afterward as a delayed cost. Oh, and they stack."

"They stack..."

Certainly, with multiple enhanced potions layered on top of each other, you'd become absurdly powerful in an instant—numbers high enough to stop being a "production class" altogether.

But that kind of excessive abuse ravaged the body and mind alike.

Amplifying mana far beyond your limits wrecks your body, and eventually you build up resistance to healing magic, making treatment impossible without a genuine miracle like divine magic.

...Except not, actually.

Deoen wasn't reality.

It was a virtual world, so the pain was comparatively mild, and even if you died you resurrected with a perfectly intact body.

Seen that way, it was a trait with nothing but upside and zero drawback.

Somehow it reminded me of those infuriating Celestials and Demons.

"That's obnoxious."

"...Excuse me?"

Pfft.

"Just kidding."

Editors hired, Twitch and Lilytube both running smoothly.

It felt like time to finally get to the things I'd been putting off.

"Let's see... first up, Newdlebak."

The dungeon Yena and I had been about to charge into, the one that nearly cost us a ship worth tens of millions of won.

Meeting Nerindia had left us with nothing but a repair bill and a fizzled plan, but we'd moved houses since, and I had no major commitments for a while—so it seemed fine to pick it back up.

It'd be nice to take down the boss while we were at it, too.

My current level was 57.

I could raise it as much as I liked before the boss fight, but more than half of the required bosses were still unaccounted for—and I'd made a point of carving out time to hunt them.

I'd really rather just smash out a World Boss and be done with it.

Clearing this quest would unlock a "?" once I reached my 3rd Advancement.

A literal question mark—but I had a pretty good guess as to what it was.

Divinity.

My curse, and at the same time the very force that had kept me alive.

If I reclaimed it, I would gain power beyond all comparison to what I had now.

It really was strong, though.

Rankers were formidable, but I couldn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠imagine losing to them.

I'd faced countless masters over the years, and no matter how many times I was beaten down and left half-dead, the one who ultimately survived was always me.

If there was one problem, it was the Mythic-grade equipment they carried.

I'd only seen one piece, so I couldn't be certain, but it possessed abilities comparable to the innate powers of the Celestials and Demons.

Our raw strength might not even be in the same league, but the weight of those abilities was substantial in its own right.

Not that I could afford to burn Sacred Fire every time...

"I need to finish this before the Mock Siege Battle."

To face single-digit rankers wielding Mythic-grade items, I would need Divinity unlocked at minimum.

First goal: hunt down those bosses, and fast.

Beyond the seas of the vast continent ruled by the Empire.

One of the uncharted lands unveiled in the 3rd Anniversary update, rumored far and wide to hide countless rewards and treasures.

And the Blue Forest Plateau was one of those very places.

Before a dungeon no one had ever set foot in, two challengers took their first steps.

"Hellooo, boys~!"

"Today's stream is Newdlebak! You all know who our guest is, right?"

Yena kicked things off with her usual boundless energy.

Truly, the more I looked at her, the brighter she seemed.

"Ahem. None of that, please. Don't cross the line."

Yena let her managers rein the chat in to a reasonable degree, then turned her head.

My own stream was running too, and my freshly hired managers were handling things beautifully.

Good call hiring them.

After a short ten-minute waiting period, Yena and I finished preparing to head in.

"Lily?"

"Yes. Ready when you are."

"Great. Let's strip this place down to the bones."

Yena and I gazed out over a space filled to the brim with blue leaves.

Even now, a breeze of cool, crisp mana washed over the both of us.