The Devil's Proposal
"Viewers, I am currently standing in front of the V-Live Company building, the site of the most vicious labor exploitation in Rena World history. According to additional tips that just came in, Lethal Company members also suffered horrific treatment in the underground mega-farm here. Squeak!"
"……."
First things first — I needed to get rid of that annoying mouse-reporter. Or rather, Jisuni.
All that racket was only making my already complicated thoughts even messier.
"Mouse Reporter, could you step over here for a moment?"
"Ah! Viewers, it appears the evil business owner is finally agreeing to an interview. The path of investigative journalism is never easy, but this Mouse Reporter stands here driven by a single will — to serve the public good and deliver transparent results. Please stay with me until the end. Squeak!"
Jisuni, one of Akatsuki's founding members.
She'd debuted late last year as a complete rookie under the full backing of mid-tier streamer Tte3, but her astonishing broadcast talent had already made her an indispensable comic-relief supporting character in Rena World.
Talent really does matter no matter what you're doing. Plenty of people stream for years and still stay bottom-tier nobodies until they quit.
Jisuni's growth had been so remarkable that her favorites count was already around 9,300 — nearly matching mine.
"President Seo, let me say this up front — bribes will not work on me. This Mouse Reporter stands here out of pure, faithful sense of duty alone!"
"……."
Had she completely been swallowed by her own concept?
Either way, our intentions aligned in this moment.
I had no intention of offering any bribes either.
I simply walked up quietly and whispered.
"How's your butt health, by the way?"
"……!"
Jisuni froze solid on the spot.
But she quickly recovered, forcing an awkward laugh and pretending she had no idea what I was talking about.
Heh. She must be shaking pretty hard right now.
It wasn't public knowledge yet, but Jisuni suffered from hemorrhoids.
In truth, hemorrhoids were one of the most common occupational diseases among streamers.
Sitting in a chair for endless hours, terrible eating habits, almost zero exercise — it was the perfect environment for that particular affliction.
When Jisuni's hemorrhoids had eventually come to light, people even joked that Akatsuki was a place where you couldn't become a high-ranking ninja without them.
Kkaenam-i had struggled with hemorrhoids for a while too, after all.
The viewers still hadn't caught on.
And Jisuni herself was still half-doubting.
She'd never mentioned it on stream, so she couldn't be sure whether I was actually talking about her hemorrhoids or not.
So I decided to lean into the fake fortune-teller act I'd picked up during my last twenty-four-hour outdoor stream when I visited Akatsuki.
I hadn't planned any grand scheme like this, but the setup had fallen into place so naturally that it'd be a waste not to use it.
"Mouse Reporter, you still don't remember? I've got a bit of an eye for people. You, reporter, seem to be suffering from a rather nasty condition."
"……!"
The intent landed perfectly.
Jisuni flinched, about to speak — then realized that "hemorrhoids" was an extremely embarrassing topic for a female streamer, and started fidgeting in place.
I swallowed a laugh and gestured toward her.
"Warm water helps a lot with that sort of thing. Even if it's a hassle, don't skip it."
"……."
"And I'm busy, so off you go."
"Understood!"
Forgetting the passionate reporter act she'd been putting on moments earlier, Jisuni fled in a panic.
I shrugged once as I scanned the confused chat from the viewers.
Phew. Annoying reporter handled.
Now I had to go find the runaway slaves… no, employees.
"Master, just give the order! I'll search hard with you!"
In the meantime, Na-ro-si had apparently found the items the other employees had stashed away, and reappeared in peak condition.
Perfect timing.
I needed Na-ro-si for something right now.
"……."
"Then just hold things down until I bring all the employees back. I'm counting on you."
Na-ro-si sat on the mini tractor, staring at me with a hollow expression.
Ahem. I feel a little guilty, but what choice do I have?
I refuse to accept farm losses!
For the sake of Na-ro-si, who was now stuck doing hard labor alone because of those traitors, this operation had to be swift and precise.
Ugh, think of how much money I could be making right now!
I spread my wings and flew up to the sky island first.
I zoomed out the map, but still no one was visible.
These little bastards were dead serious about this.
They'd probably hidden somewhere other than the sky island or V-City.
No choice. Start with the closest places.
Southeast led to Lethal Company's Do-zney Castle. Northwest led to Haenam Village, built by Akatsuki.
After a brief moment of thought, I decided to check Lethal Company first.
"Ah! It's Seo-a."
"Seol Pyo, long time no see."
Do-zney Castle, which I hadn't visited in a while, was still as magnificent as ever.
Seol Pyo-woo happened to be at the entrance and greeted me warmly.
She'd suffered through the aftermath of the sniping incident for a while, but she looked like she'd completely shaken it off now.
I wanted to catch up properly, but as a "pro" broadcaster, work came first.
I asked whether any of our company employees had stopped by.
"Mayo was hanging out inside earlier? She was being all snippy, going on about how ARAM is boring and why aren't we playing solo queue instead of ARAM."
"……."
That kid caused chaos even when she visited other companies.
I asked for a guide, and Seol Pyo-woo agreed readily.
"Oh! First time seeing the interior since completion. It really is…"
"Cool, right? Everyone worked hard on it."
It was a building worthy of the forty million Rena or more they'd borrowed from us to construct it.
Gleaming, polished quartz covered everything — ceiling, walls, floor — and the large wall surfaces displayed SD illustrations of Lethal Company streamers drawn by fans, hung as image frames.
"…is what Mayo thinks. So the truth is, Mayo is the real power and Seo-a unnie is just a figurehead, but Mayo is being generous and letting her keep the title, geosida."
"Is that true? It really doesn't look that way at all."
Following Seol Pyo-woo's lead toward the third floor, I spotted Mayo chatting with Ranchu.
The bizarre fabrication she was spinning was absurd, but at least I'd found her.
I slowly beckoned with my hand, signaling her to come over. Mayo's eyes met mine and she flinched hard.
After a moment of hesitation, Mayo went "Hmph!" with a snort and turned her head away, deliberately ignoring me.
Was this really just a middle-schooler's build, or had actual middle-school chunibyo syndrome kicked in?
"Mayo will fight to the end until labor conditions improve, geosida. This is the real deal, geosida."
Mayo was strongly declaring her will to resist to the bitter end.
How should I handle this kid?
Lean hard on my position as company head and crew leader?
I wasn't some mega-corp streamer — that kind of approach could easily backfire.
Objectively speaking, our company's labor conditions really were harsher than most other companies.
But from my perspective, there was no other way.
Without the trickle-down benefits of a big-corp streamer, the only reason V-Live Company had managed to build its current recognition and influence was because of everyone's effort and sacrifice.
No choice. This time I'll have to coax her gently…
Having settled on that approach, I strode straight toward Mayo.
The confident front from moments ago vanished instantly as she scrambled to hide behind Ranchu.
"You said you wanted better labor conditions, right? What exactly do you want?"
"M-Mayo wants a guaranteed two hours of solo queue a day, geosida. And Mayo wants to keep twenty percent of income as personal funds, geosida. Mayo wants to gear up with Mythic-grade equipment too, geosida."
Relatively reasonable demands, all things considered.
Other companies usually split public funds and personal funds around 7:3.
But if I matched that, our seven-person company would fall hopelessly behind outfits like O-Wang Company or the Mu-yang Group.
So I needed a different approach.
Conveniently, Mayo's list of demands had just handed me a solid solution.
"You're not a kid. You can't get everything you want. Eventually you have to choose one."
"Mayo is not a kid, geosida. Mayo is still nineteen, but once her birthday passes she'll get a national ID and…"
"Is that so? Then pick. You said yourself you're not a kid. If you're an adult, you should know how to give something up and make a choice."
What Mayo wanted was personal solo queue time and funds for Mythic-grade gear.
Honestly, from my position, I really didn't want to start handing out solo queue hours this early.
The more those individual activities piled up, the more V-Live Company's cohesion would start to crack.
So I flipped it and made the first offer.
"How about this, then. Hold off on solo queue a bit longer — I'll open it up once the Myeolmangjeon announcement drops. For now, focus on the Mythic-grade gear."
"M-Mayo doesn't really understand what you're saying, geosida. Mayo will keep faith with her comrades and never fall for the devil's whispers, geosida."
"No need to overthink it. I'm just trying to give Mayo an opportunity. The chance to be the first in our company to own Mythic-grade equipment."
Before I knew it, I'd stepped past Ranchu and leaned in close to Mayo, whispering in a sweet voice.
"I'll let Mayo get Mythic-grade gear even before me. First in V-Live Company history. How about it? That kind of condition? Mayo becomes the first Mythic-grade gear owner among all of us."
Mayo's eyes went round as saucers.