Do You Have Anything Else to Say?
The criteria Yena had laid out for me basically boiled down to three things.
Interest in my stream.
Free time.
And an ordinary person of decent character and personality, with nothing unusual going on in their life.
Everything beyond that was mine to decide, so I layered my own additional criteria on top and began selecting the editors.
"First of all, my videos need to be about me."
It might sound like the words of someone overflowing with self-love, but NewTube was my NewTube to begin with, wasn't it?
If people came to see me and couldn't actually see me, that would be the real problem.
My stream should be about me.
Back in the day, I'd watched plenty of scoundrels who traded on the title of 'Saint,' babbling about how the saint was noble and the savior of all while quietly lining their own pockets.
People who flaunted my fame and my achievements as if they were their own.
That's why I can't stand people like that.
"Second, the videos shouldn't be too over-the-top."
Flashy effects are nice and all, but personally, when a video gets too cluttered, the essence gets buried.
People watch my videos not for the shiny effects, but because they came to see me—Lily.
Effects exist to support Lily. That's exactly the right amount.
"And lastly… someone diligent who meshes well with me."
The vast majority of the editor application videos had been of Yena's and my first meeting.
It had already spread everywhere it could spread, a video that did the rounds on NewTube constantly.
Sorry to say it, but any video edited around our first meeting started off with points docked before it even began.
Not that I expected anyone to pull off what that White… Autumn person had, editing a two-day-old video in a single day—but at the very least, if they'd edited one of my personal streams, or something from three or four days ago, they would have fared a little better.
No matter how beautifully something's edited, if it's the same video everyone else made, half of that beauty goes to waste.
As for compatibility—as long as someone wasn't completely off the rails, we could calibrate that over time.
Though if they crossed the line, I'd have to cut them loose.
"Thank you all for watching along with me. The accepted applicants have already received an email, so please check your inboxes."
A seven-hour-long broadcast dedicated to recruiting editors.
Six people had made the cut in total.
And of those, the final selection would be…
"Two. Only two of you may walk this road with me."
I planned to decide between those two through a private Discord call after the stream ended.
"Hmm… well, I have to talk with White Autumn over a call anyway, so let's decide then."
Of course, even saying that, unless something went seriously wrong, I intended to take her along.
"Holy sh—"
It wasn't over yet?
White Autumn dropped the drumstick from the neighborhood fried chicken she'd bought with what little remained in her bank account.
So the paper screening was done, but there was still a face-to-face interview (read: not really) to go.
If this kept up, today's chicken might end up becoming a last supper, and she could be doomed to survive on hardtack crackers for the foreseeable future.
"…So it's time to get serious for once, huh."
She picked the fallen drumstick back up and resumed tearing into it.
Earlier, she'd been bouncing off the walls with joy at getting selected—but the White Autumn who had eaten her chicken was a different White Autumn from the one before it.
The White Autumn of now was a god of negotiation, armed with the cold clarity of pure reason.
Could even the merciless Lily really turn away a chicken-fueled White Autumn?
"Absolutely not. Not if she's the Boss I know."
Mmm, mmm.
Chewing, White Autumn reread the email—'Congratulations. You have passed the second round of editor screening. The third round will consist of a brief conversation-based interview…'—and a smile bloomed across her face.
"All right, thank you for applying. Once every interview is finished, I'll send acceptance and rejection notices by email separately."
─Yes ma'am! Lily! I'm always rooting for you! Fighting!
The applicant bid farewell in a remarkably bright voice.
Unfortunately, it seemed the applicant just now wouldn't be coming with me.
Brightness and passion were all well and good, but compared to the others, her editing skills and available time fell short.
Her sample video was from the very day after my first meeting with Yena—the one where we caught the will-o'-wisps.
She clearly had plenty of editing experience, and the polished, formulaic result was decent enough to watch, but ironically, that formula was her small flaw.
It felt less like someone who watched my streams and more like someone who saw a contest open and decided to dip a toe in.
If I truly couldn't find anyone else, I'd keep her in mind.
"Next up is… ah, it's White Autumn."
My slave… no, my skilled and diligent applicant.
I'd liked her personally—even said outright that I'd pick her.
As long as she wasn't a weirdo, she was the one to take.
I sent a message to White Autumn, who was waiting in the queue: Are you available for a call right now?
Less than a second later, the call came through.
Ring.
─Hello!!! Boss!!!
"…? Yes. Hello. You're White Autumn, correct?"
She was incredibly chipper.
It caught me off guard, honestly.
After a moment of flickering, a round avatar with big, snow-white eyes lit up inside its circular frame.
The character appeared to be mid-scream, which suited the White Autumn image perfectly.
─That's me! I'm White Autumn! Your slave! I mean—your number one editor!
"…You haven't been drinking, have you?"
─No ma'am! I am dead serious. Seriousness at maximum capacity.
White Autumn went abruptly calm.
…Was I wrong to say I'd pick her?
─Phew. I'm sorry. I got a little carried away just now.
Pull yourself together, me.
…I could just barely make out those words leaking through the mic, and I did my best to ignore them.
"Right. First of all, I watched your video. You edited the one from two days ago and sent it in, I see."
A video from a full two days ago, no less.
Considering the contest opened and she sent it in by dawn the very next day, her editing time was barely a single day.
And it was eight minutes long on top of that—her effort was easily top-tier among all the applicants.
According to Yena, an eight-minute video takes about eight to ten hours to make…
Subtract eating and sleeping, and that meant she'd spent every waking hour editing, nothing else.
─Yes ma'am! I did work hard on it. Hahahat!
"……"
─But no problem at all, Boss. I can put out videos of this quality—no, better—on the regular.
"I see."
─Phew… Honestly, I want to call you unnie so badly, but I'm holding back.
Hmm…
"That's something you can consider once you've actually passed."
─…Yes?
"What? You're acting like you've already been picked, White Autumn, but you haven't been picked yet."
I was still in the process of choosing, and we hadn't signed anything.
Sure, I'd said I'd take her—but if she didn't mesh with me and insisted on doing whatever she pleased, I was fully prepared to cut her loose at any moment.
It had always been that way, ever since I gave up being the Saint.
─Uh…
Perhaps she'd finally grasped the gravity of the situation, because White Autumn's words dried up fast.
Maybe I should consider other people.
Her editing style and diligence were fine, but she was far too wild.
Not so uncontrollable that I couldn't rein her in—but there was no real need for me to put in the effort to try, was there?
Four more applicants were still waiting on second-round results.
And application emails were arriving even at this very moment.
─……
"Do you have anything else to say?"
No answer.
I waited a little longer, and just as I was about to leave the call—
─Heuh…
"?"
─Heueung…
"Did you have something to say?"
─Heuk… uhhh…
"I can't hear you. Speak up, please."
What on earth is she saying?
I cranked the volume from 100 to 200.
Now I'd hear her.
─Heueuuuuuuuu!!! I'm sorryyyeeeesss!!! It's just, sob, been so long, sob, since I've, sob, talked to a persooo-hic… huaaaaaa…
"Are you… crying?"
Out of nowhere?
She was thrashing around like a wild horse a second ago—where did all that energy go?
It was as if every one of her many, many words had been converted wholesale into tears, and the sound of sobbing filled the Discord call to its brim.
Whoa, that's loud.
Even after I dialed the volume back down to 100, she wept on and on like some poor soul who'd lost his home.
Down to 50…
─I'm, hic, sorry, Boss… no, Liiiiiilyyy…!!
"…Please calm down."
─Uwaaaaaaaaaa!!! I'm an idioooot…!! Heuk-euuh… Now I have to live on hardtack, hic! crackers, agaaaain……
"......."
It was the kind of night that made me miss Yena.
─Heueng…
"Feeling calmer now?"
─Y-yes…
After a full five minutes of unrestrained wailing, White Autumn finally stopped crying.
Honestly, around the three-minute mark I'd considered just leaving the call, but she was crying so hard it started to weigh on my conscience.
Winning my sympathy isn't exactly easy, you know.
If she'd just sniffled along, or faked the tears outright, I would've walked. But the crying I'd just heard was closer to the wail of someone who'd lost every last thing they had—their whole life, their whole livelihood.
Even the farmer whose entire fortune was vaporized by demons didn't cry like that.
Through the mic, I could hear her steadying her breath.
─I'm sorry. I got so full of myself. I got way too excited just because I was the one picked out of hundreds. I apologize.
This time her voice carried not a trace of playfulness—dead serious.
I answered in kind.
"Your manner of speaking was fine. It's not like I dislike it. I just need you not to treat this whole thing like a joke."
Editor or not, this was work built on an exchange of value and mutual trust.
If even one of the two parties treated the relationship as a game, the balance between us was bound to break.
─Yes ma'am. Understood!"
"Then let's talk business."
─Um…
"?"
—Would it… be okay… if I called you… Boss?
White Autumn spoke like a vassal petitioning her king.
One good cry, and she'd turned into a completely different person.
I smirked and answered.
"Whatever's comfortable for you."