Milking the Red Pill
"Hey, you horny pig bastard."
Bam!! The CEO's massive bulk slams into the desk, grabbed by the collar. Office supplies scatter across the floor.
Seohee Shin, the one gripping his collar, spits out her words.
"You said you'd get us back. You were so damn confident when you were shoving it in me... What the hell now??"
The lawsuits had lost twice, Eunha Seong had bolted, Do Hamin was in detention for investigation, and the scandals showed no sign of dying down.
Seohee continued. "Figure it out somehow. Isn't that your specialty? Throw money at it, throw women at it, I don't care—just block those goddamn articles right now!!"
Bam!!
"Heh, heh heh..."
The CEO's hefty body crashes into the desk again. But for some reason, he smirks, glaring up at Seohee.
"You shouldn't be doing this to me."
"What?"
"You're the ones fucked, not me."
The company had already decided to cut Zenith loose. A hunting dog without teeth gets discarded—that's just how it goes.
Meanwhile, he was the head of BK Entertainment's idol division. Sure, he'd been sued alongside Eunha Seong by the company before... but 'She got lucky.'
Thanks to riding the right lines, his position was still secure.
The CEO sneered. "You didn't really think we could win, did you?"
"What...?"
"It wasn't a fight we could win. Hell, it wasn't even a fight worth trying."
There were limits to naivety. Realizing the CEO's betrayal too late, Seohee muttered in a trembling voice.
"You..."
She let go with a thud.
"Now you look halfway decent."
The CEO chuckled and pressed on. "Zenith without Eunha Seong? What money's that gonna make?"
"Ha. You bitch who lucked into promotion—"
Seohee snapped back, but he cut her off.
"Who the hell's gonna stan a whore and a druggie trying to come back? What idiot's sucking that up?"
"......"
It hit right where it hurt. Seohee clamped her mouth shut.
Soon, she opened it again, making excuses. "W-well, with Ayaka, we could..."
"Oh dear, what should we do?"
Ayaka suddenly chimed in, as if she'd been there the whole time. "I have zero intention of helping."
"Y-you bitch...!!"
Seohee's face flushed red with humiliation. The CEO, watching, added a sleazy comment.
"Why not spread your legs one more time? Who knows? Satisfy him, and maybe he'll let you back."
"Fuck you, asshole!"
Bam!!
Unable to hold back, she stormed out, slamming the door hard enough to break it.
Watching her go, the CEO turned to Ayaka. "Tch... What a dimwit."
"Just let her be. That runaway bitch'll fend for herself."
"True. She'll come crawling back soon enough."
All Seohee had left was her body. Like it or not, she had only one option.
"Mmm..."
Of course, Ayaka was different. She had her chaebol backing.
A scandal like this wouldn't faze her. She narrowed her eyes at the CEO.
"By the way, CEO."
"Uh, y-yeah...?"
"Heard the news?"
"News? What news?"
He asked back, and Ayaka shoved her phone screen in his face.
"Eunha Seong. She debuted as a VTuber."
A familiar face flashed briefly on the screen. The CEO blinked dumbly.
"...What?"
/You need to respect me./
The day after my debut stream ended, Latte unnie called. I answered in a curt tone.
"Ugh, what now."
/What now...? What now???/
"...W-what's got you like this."
/Don't you have a conscience? You really don't know??/
"......"
Of course, I could guess why she was calling. It had to be about that incident from my debut stream yesterday.
Internet communities had been buzzing about me non-stop since then.
The silver lining? My name hadn't hit the entertainment weeklies. Yet.
'Didn't expect her to call this late, though.'
Anyway, Latte unnie kept going.
/I told you not to touch the handcam angle when I set up the gear, didn't I?/
"Yeah..."
/I said installing the cam was risky and tried to stop you... But who insisted on it?/
"...Me."
I replied like a scolded puppy. She nagged on.
/And you couldn't hold it in, dropped the Red Pill.../
"......"
Death.
Even through the speaker, her voice felt like a massive fist looming over me. Sweating bullets, I made excuses.
"It's... a long-standing idol tradition. Or habit, anyway..."
/Habit my ass. How's spilling the Red Pill an idol habit?/
"Plus, it worked—viewers poured in. Kinda like a lucky break? Right?"
/.../
A long silence on the line. I checked if the call dropped, but it was still connected.
"Unnie...?"
I asked uneasily. Then.
/Aaaahhh──!!!!/
Latte unnie screamed.
The debut stream wrapped up successfully. Sure, whether a VTuber getting Red Pilled on debut counts as "successful" is debatable...
But objectively, I quashed the drama and proved my skills. Pretty damn successful.
/Success my ass... If that's success, Miku'd be a VTuber./
"Hey hey, unnie."
/Be grateful for your singing. Otherwise, you'd be done right there.../
"But it succeeded, yeah?"
/.../
Failure means hell, success means moon—same old story. I won the gamble, ending with 24k viewers steady.
For a rookie VTuber needing inflows, it was ideal.
Thanks to that, both my stream and NewTube channels were exploding.
Stream followers outpaced NewTube subs by 30k, though. Sucks a bit, since NewTube drives mainstream fame more.
Latte unnie went on.
/Back in my day, it took months of grinding to hit 100k followers.../
"Do I really need to? I'm not you..."
/Grown off controversy, and you're whining./
"Hey. Call it noise marketing."
Noise marketing and opinion-shaping are idol essentials. Might as well milk it dry.
'Damn right. Safe growth ain't what I need.'
My goal from the start: 2 million.
No slow fan-gathering with cutesy aegyo. Even risky methods—I'll use anything for growth.
As I thought that, Latte unnie said,
/Anyway, you okay?/
"With what."
/Your viewers. Mostly trolls from communities and the underbelly.../
"Y...eah."
She was right—my audience had issues.
Noise marketing pulls spectators, not fans. Dopamine chasers watching the neighbor's house burn.
I converted some with skills at the end, but most were still arson-loving trolls.
Tricky. I'm skilled as an idol, but just one person. Can't moderate 20k+ chats solo.
'Hiring a manager's iffy too...'
Unlike 7-year vet Latte unnie, I was a 2-day rookie. No diehards for unpaid modding, no one trustworthy but me.
Did she know that? She offered,
/Want help?/
"...Huh?"
I blurted dumbly at the unexpected question.
She asked with a sly smile,
/Who am I?/
"......"
Hated to admit it, but I had to.
Latte, Yeon Hana. 1 million NewTuber. 7-year streamer.
She might seem sloppy, but no one dismisses her creds here. Even rotten, she's premium—1M subs ain't pure luck.
The 1M NewTuber told me,
/I'm a pro at troll wrangling. Got managers too./
"...What do you want."
I didn't bite easy. She seems affectionate, but she's calculating.
Helping my debut wasn't just sisterly—likely sniffed profit.
And sure enough,
/Remember that 'favor' you promised?/
"Y...eah."
The blank check for her debut help. Mentioning it, she muttered with a smirk,
/Aaah. Didn't wanna use it here, but.../
"......"
/No choice. Hot potatoes are best eaten fresh./
Her proposal?
One I never saw coming.
/Wanna collab sometime?/
A collab with a 1M NewTuber.