Not That Big of a Deal (3)

I paused mid-step on my way to see Keugaemang and immediately called the boss to explain the situation.

“You think so?”

She was saying the exact same thing Roofkr had told me. In truth, whenever I watched these tournaments, I always found myself hoping for new faces to show up and shake things up rather than seeing the same old names over and over.

…Though I had never once imagined that the protagonist of that story might end up being me.

Anyway, with Roofkr, the boss, and myself all in agreement, the verdict was unanimous. Me entering the tournament would be nothing but a net positive for Parallel.

The boss was hyping me up way too much, so I cut in with a modest reply.

“It just sort of happened. I got lucky.”

“Yes.”

After ending the call, I relayed the results to Roofkr. He twisted his already long and somewhat plain face into a huge grin and burst out laughing.

“See? Having the boss as your big sis means she knows how to see the big picture. I knew she’d be totally on board.”

I tilted my head slightly and said, “Shall we finish this conversation after I meet with Keugaemang? You’re entering the tournament too, right?”

“What? The tournament? Nah, I’m not competing. I’m just setting up the bridge for you.”

“Huh?”

“Look, I actually wanted to take a break this time, so I told the organizers I’d sit it out. They asked me to bring in a replacement, so I asked you. Heh, I’m such a lucky guy. Who would’ve thought Mazia would actually take the bait?”

“Wait, that’s completely different from what you said earlier—”

“Anyway, since you’re going in my place, I’ll make sure to mention Parallel’s World Cup every chance I get. I’ll hype the expectations through the roof, so you’d better deliver. Got it?”

What the hell? I felt like I’d just been scammed. Still, it wasn’t exactly a bad deal for me either, so I decided to let it slide. If a video featuring our kids’ World Cup went up on a YouTube channel that combined Roofkr’s and the Mad Dogs crew’s subscribers—totaling three million—it would be massive promotion.

If anyone accused him of taking a bribe, he could just say he traded the spot he was originally supposed to take with me and slip away clean. In short, Roofkr had played his cards perfectly. The rumor ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that he barked like a crazy dog on stream but turned into a calculating, glasses-wearing honors student the moment the broadcast ended might actually be true.

So, how did the conversation with Keugaemang go? Honestly, things moved so fast I barely kept up, but I’ll try to organize it in chronological order.

First, the moment I arrived, I was hit with a whole bowlful of praise from Keugaemang.

“Yahaha! Wait, is that really you, Mazia? Is this the real deal?”

“Hello, Keugaemang. I’m Mazia, assistant manager at Parallel. I never dreamed I’d get the chance to greet you like this. Here’s my business card.”

“Whoa, hahaha. This is insane. Nice to meet you. I thought you were deliberately using a cute character, but you’re actually just a tiny, adorable person.”

“You’re too kind.”

Not long after we started talking, the topic naturally shifted to baseball. Thanks to the baseball knowledge I’d looked up beforehand, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠managed to build some rapport.

“It’s the off-season right now, so there aren’t any games. You must be bored out of your mind.”

“Whoa, you actually know that? People who don’t follow baseball have no idea how bored I’ve been lately.”

“I watched some of your recent streams. You were just sighing the whole time about there being no games.”

“Hahaha! That’s right, that’s right. Every single day. Aigo. Those bastards. They should at least play winter league so guys like me have something to watch. But nooo, they’re taking a break so the games stop too~ That’s what they did.”

“I can relate. I’m still a huge fan of our boss, you know.”

“Oh, Momo. She did that cute aegyo thing really well this time.”

“Ugh… Anyway, our boss has been so busy she doesn’t stream much. Because of that, there’s nothing to watch and I’m dying.”

“Wow. A fellow comrade. A comrade with nothing to watch.”

“Still, I’m better off than you. Even when the boss rests, we have the other members. But when winter comes, everyone in your crew rests, right? Even Major League Baseball doesn’t take a break, does it?”

“Damn. Now you’re scolding me too. You’ve got quite the tongue on you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Yahaha!”

After that, we naturally moved on to talking about streaming and the games he played. That’s when I learned that, coincidentally, Keugaemang was also participating in this Mat-at Daehoe. Since it was both of our first times playing Combative, our vibes matched surprisingly well.

About ten minutes later, we had reached the point where we were saying things like this.

“Just call me Uncle! Uncle!”

“Come on, we only started talking properly today.”

“Aish! It’s fine. I feel burdened when people call me oppa or hyung, so whenever I meet someone about ten years younger than me, I tell them to call me Uncle. Call me Uncle.”

“Yes, Uncle Keugaemang.”

“This might sound rude, but my kids were all as pretty as you when they were three or four years old. Now they’ve grown up and won’t even talk to their dad. They’re such sharp-tongued daughters. I’m so~ sad.”

“That’s just how it is with grown daughters. I’ll play the niece for you from time to time.”

“Really? When do you want to come on my stream?”

“Ah. I’m a VTuber company employee, so revealing my face is a bit…”

“I know, I know. Let’s watch a baseball game together while you wear that mask. How about it?”

“Then how about the 2025 season opener? Oh, but you’ll be watching with the Makgeolli crew then, so maybe it’ll be difficult?”

“Hey. Forget the Makgeolli crew. I’ll set the date, and if they want to join they can. I’ll make the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠appointment with Assistant Manager Ma first. Deal?”

“If you’re inviting me, it’s obviously a deal. I’ll have to tell the boss, though.”

“Okay! No take-backs when the time comes? It’s the fourth or fifth week of March, so keep that in mind, yeah?”

“Yep.”

After that, I even provided fire support for the joint Baseball Manager 25 stream he had promised with Roofkr. Only then did the Makgeolli Crew finally arrive.

The funny part was that we had already formed a rapport. The moment any of the Makgeolli members said something, Keugaemang would jump in with a comment, immediately starting to tease his own crew.

“What the hell? Where did you bring this kid from?”

“You little shit. Did you eat manners with your rice? Is it polite to call someone a kid right to their face?”

“Ahem. Sorry. You just look so young.”

“Uncle, it’s fine. Calm down. Hello, it’s nice to meet you, HobbangKing, Baekgeunchu, and Dingsam for the first time.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you. But you look exactly like your photos!”

“It’s not a photo, you idiot. It’s the character.”

“No, look, hyung. She really does look like the photo.”

“Are your eyes broken? She does look similar, but the real thing is way better.”

“Aigo. I’m ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sorry, Assistant Manager Ma. I was rude.”

“No, no, it’s okay.”

In the end, I got so embarrassed I had to excuse myself and leave first. The Makgeolli Crew uncles had such incredible friendliness. Even though I was meeting them all for the first time today, it felt like reuniting with hyungs I had known for years.

When I returned to the party entrance to find the boss again, Roofkr looked at my exhausted state and said,

“Whoa. You already look like a rag.”

“I’m tired… I don’t really like crowded places to begin with.”

“You still managed to come all the way here.”

“I guess so…”

It had truly been a dizzying day. Team Leader Yeon Seong-muk from Rapits had suddenly offered me a debut. Roofkr had pushed me to enter the Combative tournament. I had even secured a future collab promise with Keugaemang. Still, I had gained a lot of things that would help the company, so it was good.

The fact that my conversation with Yeon Seong-muk had been cleanly recorded on my phone even though it was in my pocket was definitely a silver lining. I always told my acquaintances who were getting jobs that if they were going to be a corporate worker, they should definitely set a hotkey so that voice recording could be activated with just the side button. Sooner or later, a day like today would come when they absolutely needed it.

Of course, my exhausting day didn’t end there.

“Whoa. Is that really Mazia?”

“Mazia… wow.”

When I went to find the boss, all eight of our members and the Rapits members were gathered there. Why were they all clustered together instead of mingling with other people? A wave of anxiety hit me and I tried to run away immediately, but it was no use. Rain, who was wearing leather pants, quickly stood up and grabbed me, pulling me straight into the circle of twelve people.

I was screwed. This primitive ritual had begun again. And this time, even Rapits had joined in.

If the commotion had ended there, it would have been fine… but most of Rapits’ first generation had originally been trainees that Birdess planned to debut as idols. They had switched their route to subculture because they were familiar with it, and they all had that face-influencer vibe. The second generation seemed to have followed the same route, so they were all stunningly beautiful too.

Our kids? No need to even mention them. One of the things the boss paid the most attention to when selecting members was self-management, so they all had good baseline looks, great figures, and perfect styling.

Thirteen people like that were gathered in one place, and I was stuck right in the middle of them. How could the people around us not stare?

“Is that really Mazia? She came here?”

“Look, she looks exactly like her avatar.”

“What the hell. Amazing.”

“Why, who is that person?”

“The Demon King from Wicker Town.”

“Ah, that. The crazy evil Demon King?! Holy shit.”

Quite a few people had taken notice of me when I had crossed the banquet hall with Roofkr earlier. Probably because no matter where you looked, there wasn’t anyone else as small as me. Iona’s claim that people would recognize me the moment they saw me had been forcibly proven true by a huge crowd of people.

And the people who proved that fact took turns rushing toward us. It was only thanks to Parallel and Rapits working together to create a double-layered protective barrier around me that I didn’t die from the sheer pressure. It felt like I was Corporal Mabai, desperately holding the line inside the walls of Roze while giants swarmed from all directions.

The boss’s incredibly wide network actually worked against us here. When one group left, another arrived. When that group left, yet another new group appeared. After frantically greeting and handing out business cards to about a hundred people, I was completely drained and had no choice but to collapse onto a sofa.

“Unnie, are you okay? Hey, excuse me.”

“What do we do, boss? Jia’s dead.”

The boss, who had already made several laps around the banquet hall while leaving me there, clicked her tongue.

“Want to go home first? You look really tired.”

“…No. I’ll rest a bit and get up again.”

The boss squatted down and whispered right in front of my face as I lay on my side.

“You already secured an appearance in the Mat-at Daehoe and a collab promise with Keugaemang. What more are you trying to do?”

She flicked her middle finger in a perfect arc and tapped my forehead.

“Ow.”

“You’ve already exceeded expectations, so rest. If someone who seems worth talking to comes by, get up and greet them.”

I didn’t even have the energy to answer, so I just nodded. Ugh, I’m so drained. As expected, places with this many people really don’t suit me.

But even though I had poured every last drop of energy I had into helping the company, why did it still feel like it wasn’t enough?

‘Is it because of that…?’

I had secured work, but every single one of the streams would feature me as the main participant. No, this stuff was supposed to go to the kids. Why did it keep coming to me instead?

Both Roofkr and Keugaemang were big names, so I couldn’t just hand them over to the members. This was the stage where trust was most important.

‘I’ve at least opened the door. All I can do now is hope the flow continues toward the members.’

When I left with a hundred business cards today, I had wondered if it was too many. Not at all. It had been cutting it close. There were apparently around three hundred attendees, a bit more than previous years. That meant nearly one-third of them had seen my face and taken a card.

Among them were streamers I didn’t know, industry professionals, and people I had never seen before. I handed them out since they asked, but so many people had swarmed me that I couldn’t even keep track of who was who.

‘I wonder what percentage of them will actually contact me…’

All I could do was pray. Please let the boss and the first generation succeed as much as I’ve worked…

“Jia~ Squish squish~”

“Unnie, touching Jia’s cheeks is seriously addictive.”

But when I tried to focus on praying, the members kept bothering me by touching my face and hair. Maybe because I was so exhausted, I reacted irritably without thinking.

“Stop it!”

I shot upright with wide, fierce eyes and snapped at them. The members flinched and backed away. Maru, who had been closest, looked at me nervously and said,

“S-sorry. We bothered you while you were resting…”

It had been a while since I had openly pushed the members away like this, so they all looked shocked. Oops.

It wasn’t just my imagination that the old version of me suddenly came to mind in this moment. Our relationship used to be like this. If I was even a little nice to them, they would ignore everyone else’s gazes and cling to me without hesitation.

I hated the rumors that would spread, so I drew a firm line by speaking strictly. The wall between me and the members had formed through that repeated process.

But just imagine a beloved idol squealing and running toward a dark, adult man. Even if most people wouldn’t mind, someone would definitely go dark and try to kill him, right?

You might think that’s overthinking, but after three years as a VTuber manager, it becomes a perfectly natural thought. There was a reason I only started approaching the members after I became smaller.

…Still, I didn’t need to get that angry just now.

I looked at Maru, who was watching me carefully, and said, “It’s fine starting tomorrow, but not today. If you touch me any more, I’ll really get mad.”

The members grinned and, as if they had planned it, all flicked my forehead in turn. As expected of Vtubers the boss had chosen—they always had to add one more verse. Tomorrow when the boss starts streaming, I’ll have to pay her back with a hundred thousand-won punches.