Bankruptcy Paradise

"So. Does that make money?"

A skinny man in a suit said. The CEO, Giwoo Park. The real owner of BK Entertainment. He squinted his distinctive narrow eyes unpleasantly and continued to Kim Young-ho, the division head.

"Let's cut to the chase. You know the idol division's sales have been dropping lately, right?"

"Th-that's... because you fired Eunha Seong..."

"Eunha Seong. Yes, I know. That Zenith was basically running on her alone."

The Zenith mess was a painful loss for him too. But that didn't mean he wanted to gut the golden goose.

However...

"No matter how good a hunting dog is, you can't just let it bite its master."

Eunha Seong wasn't the type of person who could be controlled. And Giwoo Park had an extreme hatred for anything that escaped his control.

That was why Zenith's dissolution was inevitable. It was just a matter of timing based on necessity.

The ticket revenue siphoned to side companies became funds for the IPO prep, and scooping up the dropped stocks from the split listing solidified his control.

Knowing that, Division Head Kim Young-ho cautiously objected in a hesitant voice.

"B-but... if we do that, our division's sales..."

"That's why I've been patient and waiting this long."

"......"

A cold, piercing tone. The division head's face paled.

Giwoo Park wagged a finger and said,

"You need to show results. I don't expect you to match Eunha Seong's performance. But at least half... no, a quarter of that. You have to show me something, right?"

"I-I'll fix it..."

Despite the division head's apology, he pressed on.

"Touching the new media kids... well, fine. It was an externally acquired group to begin with, and womanizing is common in this industry anyway. But..."

Thud.

A bundle of papers tossed onto the desk. At the top of the documents: 'On-Off Line Integrated Management Introduction Plan'.

"Now you're saying take over the new media division entirely?"

"......"

"And... a streamer server? What the hell is this? The business model isn't even clear, and there's zero business viability. It's just child's play."

The division head clamped his mouth shut. In truth, aside from his inferiority complex toward Eunha Seong, there was no reason to push this plan.

Giwoo Park sighed.

"Haa... Fine. A division head wouldn't propose something this reckless without reason."

"You mean..."

"I'll give it to you. The new media division."

"......!"

At the long-awaited good news, the division head inwardly cheered. But Giwoo Park continued coldly.

"This is your last chance. Show me something."

A week after the TRPG collab stream.

NewTube subscribers had broken 500k.

"Holy what."

No... what the hell?? What's going on??

Can subscribers really grow this fast in just a week? Even if they can, like last time, consecutive explosions like this...

"...Now that I think about it, it's not that surprising anymore."

It was shocking enough to make anyone else freak out, but after a couple times, it wasn't anything special now.

Anyway. The reason for the sudden subscriber surge was simple.

The NewTube video from last week's TRPG collab had hit the algorithm jackpot.

"This is all thanks to the great Pudding-nim..."

No, now shorts weren't enough—he was casually pulling millions of views on long-form too? At this rate, even I might start developing some faith...

As expected from the S-rank editor I scouted.

Not content with dominating shorts, now going after long-form territory.

I immediately DMed Pudding.

A lukewarm reaction for someone who'd soloed the 500k Gold Button.

I tossed in a playful joke in a dramatic tone.

Of course, I had no intention of actually demanding a settlement. It wasn't like I was broke or anything. And he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't really done anything wrong to me.

"Ah, ahh, no...!! Th-this isn't like those dirty pics or anything..."

Really none...? Now that I think about it, there might be one...

"Tsk... anyway."

That brief 'employee welfare' time ended quickly. I closed the DM window and turned back to my computer screen.

Compared to NewTube, followers on Jijijik—the streaming platform—weren't budging much.

But it wasn't a big issue. Most of the fame came from NewTube anyway. And live viewer counts were plenty.

"If anything, too many."

I might need to hire a new chat manager soon. I couldn't keep relying on Latte-unnie forever.

Streams were stabilizing now; time for me to go independent.

"I hate getting nagged by her to move out."

Enough about streaming. Hitting 500k was big, but something even more important had come up.

"Angel."

The troll who appeared on my stream, donated about 2 million won, and dipped. Also, Korea's most famous VTuber.

And just a few days ago, she'd suddenly announced opening a streamer server.

A server by capitalism, for capitalism, of capitalism. The Minecraft server "Bankruptcy Paradise" is finally open!

Event Schedule: April 3rd ~ April 18th (2 PM ~ 2 AM)

Participants: Streamers and invited guests

...... (View details)

"Bankruptcy Paradise."

The name rang a bell. Probably modeled after some famous past Minecraft NewTuber's content.

The server mechanics were similar too. Make money by any means necessary—that was it.

The rules were simple. Money is power; bankruptcy makes you a slave.

Aside from the forced taxes, it perfectly mirrored an industry I knew all too well. Reading them even triggered a bit of PTSD.

"Looks fun?"

Separate from that, it definitely seemed entertaining. The rules were all dopamine machines.

And most appealing: backed by a major corp VTuber's capital.

These big servers were money pits. Without solid funding, they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠couldn't even run properly.

"Not for nothing is she a 2M VTuber."

I could see why everyone was buzzing about Angel's server.

Just getting in guaranteed hype.

...Though whether I could participate was another story.

These events usually used an 'invite-only' system.

Like needing an invite from existing participants or applying to admins for approval.

And Bankruptcy Paradise was the former.

Invite first-wave participants, have them invite second-wave, and so on—like a pyramid scheme to endlessly grow numbers.

"I'm definitely not invited."

I was sure because the first-wave invites were all done. Otherwise, Latte-unnie would've bragged about hers on a call.

"Feel the class difference?? This is what a 1M VTuber is, you 300k scrub!!"

"It's 400k now."

"...What?"

"About to hit 500k."

"......"

Of course, mentioning subs killed her mood instantly. But I had to endure her nagging about freeloading for a while.

Telling her about 500k would probably get more nagging.

...Anyway.

"Should I call Latte-unnie and ask her to invite me? The game tourney's probably over."

She's a bit stingy, but she wouldn't lord it over me for this.

Buy her meat next time we meet, and she'd grumble but hand over the invite.

"Or... Noa-nim?"

Asking her felt a tad burdensome. She already had three people to invite.

Probably her TRPG crew first. But if I asked, she'd squeeze me in eventually—good as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a backup.

"Call Latte-unnie first."

Decision made, I grabbed my phone to dial her.

And right then—

Ding-dong—!

A sudden DM notification.

I paused the call and checked. There, a familiar name popped up soon enough.

"......?"

Angel. A message from the server host herself.