A Day That Keeps Stretching On
Honestly, Mayo getting her hands on Mythic-grade gear before me wasn't a problem at all.
When it came to pure control within V-Live Company, Mayo and I were already at the top. Whoever equipped Mythic gear first barely made a difference.
Besides, all that emphasis on being "the first" had been something of a trap to begin with.
At this point, our company's total assets—including the fifty million Rena we'd loaned to O-Wang Company—came to roughly a hundred and eighty million Rena. Even if the price ceiling spiked once, we could comfortably afford two pieces of Mythic-grade equipment without breaking a sweat.
So what real difference did it make if Mayo got her Mythic gear an hour "ahead" of me? I'd be right behind her soon enough.
"Hehe! Mayo always believed in Big Sis Seo-a, geosida. Big Sis Seo-a is the true leader of V-Live Company, geosida."
"……."
Mayo, blissfully ignorant of any of that, was practically glowing at the thought of being the first in V-Live Company to own Mythic-grade gear.
Ugh. How is someone this naive supposed to survive in a world this cutthroat?
No choice, then. I'd just have to train her even harder until she finally grasped the cold realities of society…
"But Mayo, what are you doing here?"
"Hmm? Mayo just came to hang out at Do-zney Castle for a bit, geosida. Came to give them a piece of Mayo's mind for always playing boring ARAM, geosida."
"No, that's not what I mean. Why. Are. You. Playing. Around. Right. Now. Isn't this work hours?"
"……."
Mayo just blinked at me, completely floored by the sudden one-eighty in atmosphere.
I knew exactly the right medicine for moments like this.
"Tsk."
"I-I'm going, geosida! Mayo's heading straight to work, geosida!"
She scrambled off in a flurry.
A skill my senior at that godforsaken small company had used all the time, back before the regression. Just scrunch your face and make that little sound effect, and it worked every time.
Weakest link handled. Next target: O-Wang Company. I moved fast.
Since I'd started with Lethal Company, the plan was to keep sweeping counterclockwise and continue the search.
"Oh, Seo-a! Finally decided to play PUBG, huh."
"……."
Does this guy never get tired of it?
Unfortunately for him, I had zero intention of playing PUBG. Even in 2025 the game still held decent popularity, but on the streaming scene its vitality had completely flatlined. The never-ending cheat problem and the malicious streamer-sniping culture had worn down even the streamers who'd once mainlined it.
Which was why, after 2023, even Wang-ko himself would gradually shift toward other games more than PUBG. He was going to end up that way himself—and he wanted me to jump into the PUBG scene?
Not a chance.
"I'm looking for one of our staff. Have you seen her by any chance?"
I cut straight to business. Every second that ticked by meant more farming losses and construction losses piling up in real time, and the thought of it was already hard enough to bear.
Ugh. Convert all of that into money and the value is enormous…!
"Saw her earlier, yeah. Oh-ha! What're ya doin'. Come over here a sec."
"Hiya, Teacher Oh-ha!"
Ever since moving into Rena World, Oh-ha had been riding the absolute peak of her streaming career. Taking on the dual role of company president and Wang-ko's right hand at O-Wang Company had planted a whole crowd of O-Wang fans firmly in her corner. On top of that, she started streaming early—seven or eight in the morning—so her hours barely overlapped with Wang-ko's, letting her catch the full runoff from a major streamer's audience. Wang-ko's fans had essentially been using Oh-ha as their waiting room.
Thanks to that, she was casually pulling four to five thousand viewers every time she went live. Considering she'd spent years streaming to twenty or thirty people, it was a complete sea change.
Which probably explained why her voice was endlessly bright and her energy was sky-high.
"Seo-a, how long has it been? Come hang out more often. Huh? At this rate I'll forget what you look like."
"Ahaha, I've just been really busy. Next time we free up a day, let's do a Diamond CK, Teacher Oh-ha."
"You're not just saying that, right? I'm counting on it. For real."
"What? Diamond CK!? So V-Live's goin' up against us? I'm definitely joinin' that day."
"Well, everyone's been so busy lately that I can't really give you a firm date… ahaha."
Wang-ko's sudden declaration of participation made the whole thing feel like it was ballooning out of control. I'd only tossed it out as a courtesy. Who knew it'd turn into this.
Anyway—worries about later could wait until later. Right now, the immediate problem needed solving.
I asked Oh-ha the same question I'd put to Wang-ko, and she nodded and told me Subnitti was at the gym.
O-Wang Company and Subnitti. A surprisingly fresh combination. I'd fully expected Subnitti to head for Mu-yang Group, where her closest friend Ami-chan was.
"Yoo~ Our boss is here."
"Hup!"
"Too slow! You gotta space it out like this. And the jump shot!"
Inside the gym, Subnitti was waving leisurely from the spectator seats. Was this the composure of someone in her thirties? Unlike Mayo, who'd made a whole production the moment I appeared, Subnitti looked thoroughly unhurried.
The commotion around her caught my eye too. In what looked like an arena zone, Su-ppi and Parkna-nim were locked in a fierce one-on-one. Further back, Sexy Pig was teaching Seochaei how to use a shield.
As expected of O-Wang Company. Already prepping for the Arena this hard?
Mu-yang Group's approach probably wouldn't be much different. The runoff from a major streamer's fanbase was sweet, but that meant you had to deliver results that actually satisfied those fans.
"Seo-a, as you can see, I'm not just slacking off, okay? I did some live practice earlier and I'm gathering intel while I'm at it."
She sidled up with a wink—the seasoned ease of a thirty-something who knew better than to swim against the current.
"So you're just going to let it slide?"
"Hey! Not exactly. Just had a feeling A-yeon might be at Bad Potato Company, and Lucy might be at Mu-yang Group."
The way she casually fed me intel while playing it off made me laugh despite myself. Something about it reminded me of my own company-life self, back before the regression.
And just like that, without any real persuasion needed, Subnitti headed straight back to work on the Sky Island construction. I set off northeast toward my next target: Bad Potato Company.
Han A-yeon was just as easy as Subnitti. The second she ran into me she started trembling, insisting she hadn't meant anything by it—managing the conspiracy theories flooding the chat was honestly harder than dealing with her.
"……."
How does that have any credibility, you idiots.
Anyway, I soothed Han A-yeon and sent her back to the Sky Island too. Subnitti and A-yeon had probably just gotten swept along in the moment. The real ringleaders were almost certainly Miho and Mayo.
On the way to Mu-yang Group, the thought that I'd already gotten more than half of them back to work lightened my mood a little. Just Lucy and Miho left now?
Still—every once in a while, something like this wasn't so bad. Lately I'd been cooped up almost entirely on the Sky Island and in V-City. Getting to tour other companies for once, exchanging short conversations with other streamers, giving the viewers something fresh to look at…
Ah, of course, I am not signing up for this to happen a second time.
With a short sigh, I arrived at the Munastiris construction site. Whatever they were building, it was clearly massive—an enormous stretch of land was being leveled flat. Rim-ani and Dananyang had been out early, managing and supervising the work of the company's streamers.
I dropped down nearby for a moment and zoomed out on the map to find Lucy.
Mm, there she is.
Lucy's position was off on the outskirts by herself. With construction in full swing, hanging around in the middle of it would have felt awkward—that made sense.
But the nickname sitting right next to Lucy's on the map was the problem.
Why didn't I think of this?
Blueby was in Mu-yang Group.
"Oh, Seo-a. You're here?"
"Found you right away, just like you said. Seo-a must really like you."
"Ahaha."
They'd clearly been talking—standing close together, both of them waving toward me.
"……."
Lucy had come looking for her first, so I couldn't exactly say anything about it. I let out a quiet sigh, put on my best face, and joined the two of them.
I had a feeling today was going to be a long one.