The Invitation Arrives

On that day, an invitation arrived in front of Mazia. It was a lightning-fast unofficial collaboration between Parallel and Rapits. In a way, it was all thanks to Mazia. If she hadn’t mumbled “Rapits potion” on a broadcast watched by fifty thousand people, Do-hee wouldn’t have explained the situation to Iona, and there never would have been a joint raid party. But the person who had set this entire picture in motion didn’t turn on her stream on time the next day.

She must have told Wicker as well, because the Demon King Castle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opening ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been pushed back by two hours. Do-hee called, wondering if something had happened, but there was no answer. She had already broken the promised weekly forty hours of residency on the Wicker server long ago. The thought that Mazia might have collapsed or fallen ill again sent a jolt of fear through Do-hee. She had seemed to be taking better care of herself lately, and since Do-hee was usually asleep during the early morning hours when Mazia streamed, she had trusted her to manage on her own. But it turned out Mazia had simply failed to hit fifty-two hours at the company. When you added the time spent living on the Wicker Town server at home, last week’s total working hours had definitely exceeded fifty-two. So of course Do-hee was worried.

“Why isn’t she picking up…?”

Uneasy now, Do-hee immediately began preparing to head out. It was the weekend and she looked like a mess, but she couldn’t just leave a sick Mazia alone. Even while pulling on her long padding coat and tugging a hat over her head, her hands kept moving, firing off two messages.

She was going to head out whether she got a reply or not… until the answers came.

“What?”

Do-hee jumped in shock and jammed her feet into her sneakers. She was in such a hurry she nearly slipped right at the front door. But just as she was about to burst outside, the next messages made her explode with frustration instead.

“……”

Sudden irritation flared up and she called. This time Jia actually picked up.

“Do you want to die?! And wait, you delayed your login by two hours just to watch that?”

“……”

“Have I ever taken down a VOD…?”

Hearing that, a channel suddenly came to Do-hee’s mind—one that had essentially stopped activity three years ago. The channel name was “MoAemo.” The description said it was short for “Momo Aegyo Collection.” It had gathered every single bit of aegyo that had appeared in her streams for the past five years. The owner was so persistent that it even included moments so subtle only someone who watched every live stream would notice. People who found it would leave glowing comments, calling it a hidden gem you couldn’t find anywhere else.

“It’s you. You run MoAemo.”

“It’s definitely you. No one else would bother with that level of detail.”

“Confess and I’ll let you come over to my house on Christmas Eve.”

“Hey……”

She always felt like she was the one getting played, but this time Do-hee had set the trap. The only person not coming over on Christmas was Team Leader Kang, who had family obligations. Everyone else from the previous trip would be there. They could only play until late afternoon since they all had to stream in the evening, but the first-generation members would definitely enjoy it. They wanted to hang out with Jia more often but held back because her time was so limited.

But of course, Mazia was always one step ahead of Do-hee.

Mazia had sensed the trap perfectly and was already trying to slip away.

“Hey, hey. Why? We went on a trip together just fine.”

Even though she managed a normal social life, Mazia was an introvert at heart. Navigating the streets filled with people on a day like Christmas just to reach Do-hee’s house might really be too much.

“Then I’ll come pick you up. Wait at home.”

“Ah! That’s only because you said you wouldn’t come.”

In the end, even though Do-hee had set the trap, she was the one who got caught again. Mazia might say she wouldn’t come, but there was no way she would pass up an opportunity to visit the boss’s house. It didn’t come around often. It wasn’t as if she hated the first-generation members.

“…You’re really coming?”

But setting a trap for Mazia was, in a way, a challenge. Mazia could never accept a situation where the power dynamic was flipped like this. Especially not after hearing Do-hee’s aegyo just yesterday.

At the ridiculous voice imitation, Do-hee squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fist.

“You’re dead if you come to work tomorrow.”

Mazia muttered in a slightly trembling voice. Do-hee’s anger had been genuine just now.

A few days later, it was Friday, December 22nd. One day remained until the Wicker Town Season 2 server shutdown.

I tilted my head when I saw two joint songs between Parallel and Rapits on the program.

“We’re suddenly doing an unofficial collab, huh.”

“It’s not even unofficial. Rapits already gave the okay.”

“Then it’s official.”

“What, is it that surprising?”

It wasn’t like we had been tearing at each other’s hair and fighting over pie in some ugly brawl. Still, Rapits had never been purely friendly toward us. They had debuted slightly earlier than us as a follow-up to Vtuber KR, yet our side had grown faster thanks to the boss’s presence. That was probably why. After all, even though Iona had shot out of the gate and reached seven hundred thousand subscribers, she was still nowhere near the boss’s level. The trickle-down effect to the members wasn’t as strong as the boss’s influence, so they must have felt a sense of crisis.

The person who broke that subtle competitive tension and forged a friendly relationship was…

“All thanks to you.”

Me, apparently. I hadn’t even realized it. When the boss formed a joint raid with Rapits, I had simply thought, Guess things worked out between Maru and Serena~ That was all.

“I really didn’t do anything.”

“Well… strictly speaking that’s true, but you were the one who opened the door. If not for you, Iona and I would never have talked. Anyway, I discussed it with the finance director. As recognition for landing this collab, your bonus this month is four million won.”

Four million? That was more than my salary. I stared at the boss with wide eyes. She continued.

“Don’t think it’s a lot. The donations you earned on the official channel left over two thousand after Pazizik’s cut. This is only twenty percent of that, so just take it.”

“I should put it in a new savings account.”

“You’re just going to break it and spend it on donations again. Instead of saving it, just spend it freely for a month.”

“What would you even spend money on me for? I’ll save it and buy the new member goods when they come out.”

As I spoke, I tried to slip out of the boss’s office, but her hand grabbed the back of my neck and hauled me back.

“Wait! Hold on. I’m telling you there’s a place for that money. Don’t save it right away.”

“Where?”

The boss dragged me over to her desk and showed me a printed A4 sheet.

The invitation to the yearly end-of-year Pazizik party. It was only natural that the boss and the first-generation members were on the list since they had been partners for a while, but… my name was suddenly inserted right below the first-generation members. I’m not even a streamer. I’m not a VTuber or a partnership streamer.

“Isn’t this sent to the wrong person?”

“It came correctly addressed to you.”

“Why?”

“Why? Because the other side officially acknowledged your channel as an official channel. Since the official channel has partnership status, they probably just sent it.”

Just imagining it made my head hurt. As far as I knew, there were around three hundred Pazizik partnership streamers. Last year about two hundred and fifty had attended the party. And among those two hundred and fifty, roughly fifty were absolute giants. VTubers from Vtuber KR were obviously included. Pazizik’s veteran Keugaemang with his three million YouTube subscribers and the Makgeolli Crew. The former emperor of Battle Colosseum, now a comedian, MoovGun with 1.9 million, and his former pro gamer legion. The insane baseball manager Roofkr and his pack of mad dogs. Second-team pro gamer Ronze who was currently in the off-season, and so on. Just listing the monster names took up a fifth of the guest list. And I was supposed to attend? Why? I’m an office worker…

Unlike me, however, the boss seemed full of determination to take me to the party. She kept tugging at the collar of my blouse, which she still held, and said,

“You don’t have any clothes suitable for an official event besides that outfit, do you? Let’s go buy clothes the day after Christmas. I’ll tell Seung-yeon in advance and log it as a business trip.”

“I really think I shouldn’t go.”

“Why? The invitation came.”

“Maybe they made a mistake? I’m not a VTuber.”

“They invited you because you qualify as a broadcaster rather than a VTuber. You said you’re going to increase your streaming hours going forward, didn’t you?”

The words I had said to the boss two days ago weighed on my mind. I had suggested that whenever there was a large server or major content, it might be good if I operated the control room. Even though Wicker Town had received considerable attention, we had earned a whopping 27.49 million won in just two weeks. I was someone who lived and died by efficiency. There was no way I could let an opportunity like this pass. It was far more efficient than pouring the salary I worked hard to earn back into the company. The boss continued.

“Large servers open at least six times a year. You’re also going to keep doing monthly review broadcasts in between, right?”

“That’s true.”

“Then whether you want it or not, people are probably going to start recognizing you. And think about it. It’s obviously important for the kids to expand their connections, right? Wouldn’t it help if their manager also expanded her network?”

Originally, our members didn’t have much connection with Roofkr. We had played together during the I’m a Wolf collab, but the relationship had been somewhat distant. However, after the creditor-debtor relationship formed on the Wicker server, followed by the whole betrayal drama and situational acting at the Demon King Castle, I ended up having very natural conversations with him. So when I talked with Roofkr, the members could naturally join in. Sometimes I would introduce them, sometimes Roofkr would recognize them first. What this showed was clear: my network could definitely help the members grow.

These days when I looked at the chat, I often saw people who had come from MoovGun’s or Ronze’s streams. More and more viewers were choosing Parallel as their second option when their main streamers weren’t live. In other words, my connections directly benefited the members. It was me inheriting the role of connecting networks that the boss used to do.

“That makes sense.”

“Right? Then we should buy an outfit for the party, shouldn’t we?”

I felt like the flow of logic had suddenly hit a wall, but if the boss said so, then that was that. TPO—time, place, and occasion—applied everywhere, and the fact that I insisted on wearing a formal two-piece suit at the company was also to follow that principle. In that case, it seemed appropriate to leave it entirely to the boss, who had experience with parties and was more knowledgeable about women’s clothing than anyone, since she took coordination seriously.

When I nodded in agreement, the boss grinned.

“Then keep the 26th completely free?”

“The entire day? How many clothes are you planning to buy?”

The boss’s eyes were burning with excitement.

“It’s a party, after all. We can’t send our employee out dressed carelessly.”