This Kind of Broadcast Might Not Be So Bad

I never saw myself as a real streamer, but I never thought I lacked the talent to capture people’s attention, either. That much became obvious after years of sniping for Momo. Whenever I appeared on her stream, the chat would explode. Clips of me on YouTube would pull in about one-and-a-half times the usual views. On top of that, I had an almost supernatural sense for where the line was. From the moment I first showed up on Momo’s broadcast, I had never gone full brain-rot or ruined a stream.

That was why I used my name value to help Momo outside her streams as well. While normal people were still thinking, “Maybe I should try streaming,” I was already running around stirring up viral moments. I visited galleries, VTuber watchers, people with their direct messages open, habitual snipers, Battle Colosseum players—anyone I could find—and dropped Momo clips at the perfect moment alongside donations of at least a hundred thousand won.

After cycling fifty to a hundred million won in sponsorships like that, the number of live viewers on Momo’s next stream would jump noticeably. A hundred would become a hundred thirty. Two hundred would become two fifty. One day it even leaped from three hundred straight to five hundred. I still clearly remember what Momo said right before the stream ended on the day she first hit five hundred live viewers.

Whether she genuinely wanted me to stop or whether it was an ironic invitation aimed at the worst offenders, even I still wasn’t sure. But from that day on I sniped even harder—and promoted her even more. After all, the worst fans are the ones who do the opposite of what they’re told.

Thanks to that, the moment she crossed a thousand live viewers I was immediately dragged into reality, branded a manager, and forcibly conscripted. Later, worried it might cause controversy, I stopped the viral campaigns, but I never stopped sniping. So do I believe I hold some share of the credit for Momo reaching 1.66 million subscribers now?

Of course not.

“Thank you, ■■. I really got here because of you.”

“What are you talking about? You got here because you’re insanely good, boss.”

Even when I was Momo’s manager I remained a shadow. I only did what I wanted to do as a fan. I had never once thought I was the reason she became a million-subscriber YouTuber. From the beginning I was nothing more than a sniping viewer who happened to get noticed. If Momo hadn’t accepted me, I would have disappeared as just another unlucky anonymous user who ruined streams. The person who turned that user into a fan, made them keep coming back, and excitedly spread her videos everywhere was ultimately Momo herself. The chicken-and-egg debate? It couldn’t exist. Because the tree called Momo stood tall in that same spot through every season, I could land on its branches to rest and even give it nutrients.

That was why, during the short break after the main content ended, I felt my heart pounding for no reason while I was left alone in the broadcast room.

‘I didn’t expect it to actually work this well.’

The reaction had exceeded expectations. I had simply done what I always did—teased the boss to draw attention, then poured that attention straight into viral clips. It was completely different from the past, when even a hundred-thousand-won donation with a direct message would make some people visibly uncomfortable. Now everyone was listening to my stories and empathizing at the same time. They were acknowledging that the first-generation members’ streams were fun!

The guys who used to chant “Staff! Staff!” every day had finally started listening to me properly and interpreting my intentions correctly. The clearest proof was the post I had just checked in the StaffD gallery.

Ever since my first appearance I had been eerily consistent about donations. I told fans never to pay attention to the shadow. A shadow is merely a natural phenomenon created behind an object receiving light. What you should be watching is the VTuber standing in the spotlight.

When Rain asked for help, the donations that exceeded four million won became the catalyst for her explosive growth. When I went to help Komari I had gritted my teeth and ignored every single piece of advice—partly because it was my first time playing Come Here, but mostly because any advice that wasn’t from Komari herself would reduce the donations she received.

The same principle applied to this Genki Dama donation drive in the StaffD gallery. Thanks to my consistent behavior over the years, everyone was preparing praise for the first-generation members instead of me. Even if that praise was a slightly twisted desire to summon me, it was still a naturally wrapped message of support for the first gen. Wouldn’t it be a huge help to the first-generation girls who were probably nervous preparing for tomorrow’s concert?

What if the first gen found out the truth and got upset? Simple. I’d just erase the evidence before then. I already had more than enough excuses to do so.

I immediately brought it up to Do-hee when she returned from the bathroom a little later.

“Boss, do you remember the StaffD gallery?”

“Yeah, I remember. Why?”

What I showed her next was the list of posts made by the gallery’s owner.

It was transparent. “I’m pretty sure the owner is Mr. Pino. I’m not completely certain yet, but if I become sure later, could you contact him and tell him to shut the gallery down?”

“Sure. That’s not hard.”

At the same time I prepared to wrap up today’s broadcast. Telling Do-hee about the plan was the first step. She liked plans. She liked it when things went according to plan. Above all, I was the one who had stuck my spoon into her broadcast. When you’re freeloading, getting the owner’s permission is mandatory.

“Boss, this is about how we’ll close the stream today.”

What appeared on my phone was the chat log I had exchanged with the first-generation members about two minutes earlier.

“They’re in the middle of practice but they still checked right away.”

“Maybe all the help I’ve given them is finally paying off.”

“I guess so. Everything you worked for is coming back to you. So? What are you planning to do with the kids?”

I confidently explained the plan. The inevitable incoming donation train, and how I would use that train to end the stream naturally. After hearing the whole thing, Do-hee stroked her lip and muttered.

“You pulled the same thing during MoovGun’s civil war… You’re seriously good at this kind of scheming.”

I giggled. “It’s all thanks to you, boss.”

And so the eve festival raced toward its finale.

“I love every Parafan who spent the eve festival with us today! Now, Miss Jia, you should give the closing greeting too.”

“Please take good care of tomorrow’s concert as well. Thank you for enjoying yourselves.”

The moment I finished speaking, the donation barrage that had been teased in the StaffD gallery began.

Even after thanking them over and over, the donations kept coming. The chat was in chaos, spamming “This is insane” and “What the hell is going on?” Some people even joined the mood and sent their own personal donations. After about ten minutes of continuous sponsorships, when the frenzy finally slowed, Pino’s donation crashed down like the grand finale.

Do-hee shot me a look asking if now was the time. I nodded. At some point the four first-generation members had entered the waiting room of the talk-code broadcast and were watching while on standby.

Do-hee put up the prepared first-generation concert illustration. I stopped reacting to donations, brought the mic close, and spoke.

“Everyone, thank you so much for the donations. A lot of you have shown your support for Another’s concert tomorrow. At this point it doesn’t feel right for just the two of us to handle a million-won reaction, so—”

Beep, beep. The four people who had been waiting rushed into the voice channel. The prepared group illustration of the first generation popped up with perfect timing.

The chat exploded.

“So we’ve brought in the Another members who have been watching the stream from earlier!”

Do-hee smoothly delivered the closing remark. “Then Miss Jia and I will step back here. Everyone, thank you so much for today!”

“Thank you! Now, Another everyone! Please give your thanks to the fans who sent donations without holding back!”

[Thank you! Thank you! Yeah! Thank you! Thank you, babies!]

[We’re really grateful, guys.]

[Thank you so muuuch! Yeeeeah~!]

[Thank you!! Thank you!! Thank youuuu!!]

For the real first-gen fans who had been swept up in the Mazia fan club’s donation storm and donated alongside them, it was an overwhelmingly happy situation. But for the Mazia fan club that had been hoping for her reactions and a promise of the next stream, it was the worst possible development.

A few still didn’t know. They clung to a thread of hope that they just had to wait a little longer.

My avatar had already disappeared from the screen. The chat looking for the vanished Mazia was soon buried under messages of congratulations and anticipation for the first generation.

Do-hee, who had also taken her avatar down following me, turned off her mic and stuck her tongue out.

“You were thinking about how to end the stream the entire time again, weren’t you?”

“That was the main reason I appeared today. I trusted that you would fix things immediately if I made a mistake.”

“Still. You were thinking about that while talking to me?”

I laughed with the kids. “I was watching four streams at the same time. There’s no way I wouldn’t have thought of it.”

“Your multitasking is almost scary…”

The eve festival had been a success, and the excited first-generation members would handle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the closing beautifully. It was already a clean finish, so there seemed to be nothing left for me to do. However, I didn’t stop there. Because through the donations that had poured in today, I had realized one thing.

As a fellow internet broadcaster, I knew it well. Donations given in expectation of something in return are basically from the worst fans. It is also true that even if the streamer doesn’t react, viewers have to understand and move on. But I also know that when a reward comes after you’ve given up, it cracks your skull open. And that a cracked skull doesn’t heal easily.

When there’s clearly a jar that produces gold if you just leave it alone, why on earth would you close the lid?

To move closer to the VTuber empire of Vchubavchuba, Parallel needed to earn more money. For that, I was willing to do anything. Even if the boss hadn’t ordered it.

“After doing today’s broadcast, something I want to do came to me.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“You know those broadcast monitoring reports I send you every day?”

“Mhm. I do.”

“Based on those, could I compile something like ‘This Month’s Top 10 Best Content’ every month? Seung-yeon has joined us now so the workload has decreased. Making it would probably help the planning team come up with the next content, too.”

The moment the boss heard it she clapped her hands.

“That sounds good. We could upload it as a video called ‘This Month’s Parallel Award’ or something.”

“Yes. I’ll host it.”

“Ah, you’ll be the host…”

Even though quite some time had passed since she clapped, the boss kept her hands together as she asked.

“Host it? Live?”

“Yes. It should be fine if you support me the same way you did today. I’ll prepare all the materials.”

“Wait. It’s a live broadcast?”

“Today was a live broadcast too, wasn’t it? I did prepare a script, but more than half of it was ad-libbed.”

“Well… that’s true, but. You. Broadcasting. Isn’t it… a waste of time? Didn’t you say you have to watch streams during that time?”

The thought of watching streams during the time I would be streaming had never occurred to me while I was talking over old broadcasts.

“This is just reacting to broadcast ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scenes—wait, that wording’s a bit off. Anyway, it’s talking while rewatching them. It doesn’t feel that different from watching streams.”

“Really? No pressure? Nothing mentally exhausting? No sore throat from talking so much…?”

Just like I had done for Momo in the past, I enjoyed elevating the VTubers belonging to Parallel. Enough that I was willing to cut a little of my time watching other streams.

“Not at all. Today was just fun the entire time I was talking.”