Labor Improvements
I sent Lucy back first and briefly interrogated Blueby.
The way she shrugged her shoulders as if she were completely innocent was incredibly infuriating.
"……."
It was a solid argument. I couldn't refute it.
In the end, all I could do was ask her to have the sense to dodge out of the way in advance if something like this ever happened again.
I ignored Blueby's Discord message and left.
Truthfully, on a rational level, I already knew. If you looked purely at broadcasting talent, Lucy wasn't that remarkable a streamer.
But did success as a streamer really require massive viewership, monthly Candy earnings on par with a corporate salary, and name recognition that most people would know?
I wanted to push back on that idea. Even without mainstream popularity, someone could still be a viewer's favorite — a precious streamer who meant the world to them.
The fact that the rebellion had been put down so smoothly was only natural. Our company's working conditions might have been harsh, but as the leader, I was delivering results to match. If the work had been brutal and the results pathetic, the company would have been flipped upside down long ago. Even if the streamers themselves didn't move, the fandom would lose its energy and the casual viewers would drift away.
It feels a bit embarrassing to toot my own horn, but holding your own among these popular companies is never easy.
Not just the viewers — the streamers themselves recognized that ability of mine, which was why they kept enduring and working through this brutal schedule. The better the company did, the larger the supporting fandom would grow, and that would eventually trickle down to them. That was the faith they held onto.
The problem we had right now, though…
…was the severe concentration of the company fandom. Roughly seventy to eighty percent of it was piled onto me alone. It was a natural phenomenon, really. I was always the one driving the board, so of course the casual viewers would flood into my stream.
But that wasn't right. Compared to the effort the company staff were pouring in, it felt like they were only getting about half the compensation they deserved. For now everyone was still pushing through with a can-do spirit, but eventually their energy would drain. Who could keep giving their all without fair reward?
I had already been thinking about this part, actually.
Honestly, running things the way Wang-ko does is the right answer. That's how company staff get their trickle-down.
The boss starts streaming around seven or eight in the evening, while the staff go live early in the morning. That way the company fandom naturally disperses to the employees to some degree.
But we never managed that. Part of it was that our fandom just wasn't big enough yet — and part of it was my own personal greed…
Pangea TV's stock price climbing through January had been so sweet that I wanted to squeeze out even a little more income. And I'd been a bit complacent, thinking I could start looking after the staff's trickle-down from mid-February.
About a week ago, was it? The one who pointed that out to me was Miho. Being the oldest in the crew, and with Lucy and Mayo the type to stew over difficult conversations rather than bring them up, she had stepped forward as the representative.
Ah — of course, she raised it through a private message. If talk like that circulated publicly, it could wound my leadership.
Miho's attitude had been thoroughly polite, even a little hesitant and deferential, which only made me feel more guilty. So I opened up and had an honest conversation with her. And somewhere in that talk, I realized something without meaning to.
Maybe the Blueby from before my regression… hadn't been so different from the "me" of now. I couldn't say we were identical, but I couldn't deny that I had been monopolizing the lion's share within the crew.
"Isn't there any way we could cut the work hours even a little? Then everyone could wander the server on their own, find their own streaming angles — or put more energy into their personal broadcasts."
"……."
Miho's critique had been spot-on. So I reflected, and immediately revised the plan. Move the trickle-down timeline up. Still, for the sake of the bigger picture, we had to keep running the current system at least through the Arena content, no matter how hard it was.
Even so, I consulted with Miho and cooked up today's little scheme. Ah — of course, I hadn't known about the "running away" plan. That had been entirely Miho and the staff's idea. I'd expected a simple strike. I never imagined they'd call in Jwideagi the reporter. Just how starved the staff were for content, I suppose.
Every day it's either building or mining. Can't blame them.
They say the more successful you become, the more you should stay humble and look after the people below you. I felt like I'd learned a lot from this whole affair.
Alright. Time to bring this to a close.
Finally, with Miho — whom I met at Akatsuki — we ran through the scripted WWE match exactly as planned. Miho carefully laying out the grievances the staff had been bottling up, and me listening with genuine seriousness. The chat exploded into a free-for-all of arguments almost instantly. The prevailing opinion was that company growth came first and that I'd done well — but casual viewers only wanted their dopamine hit. The individual hardships of streamers barely registered with them. Not exactly public opinion worth taking seriously.
Regardless, right there on the spot, I made a promise. Once we got through this Arena cleanly, I would give the staff improved working conditions and better benefits. The viewers snarked that it was crocodile tears to stop the strike, but I meant every word. The staff couldn't keep sacrificing forever.
"Then I'll trust you'll honor the current contract, Boss."
"Hey now! Are you doubting the boss's word? That's exactly why I called Jwideagi the reporter here."
"Alright, alright, let's get a photo. Hold the contract up nice and clear in the middle, everyone say kimchi — click click!"
I returned to V-City with Miho, and together with everyone we took a verification shot with the contract front and center. This was a declaration of resolve — that we would walk a path clearly different from Blueby's. With Jwideagi on the case, word of today's events would spread to every corner of Rena World.
"Contract or no contract, the promise that Mayo gets the company's first Mythic-grade gear has to be kept, geosida."
"……."
Ugh. This little brat.
Still, it had been a good opportunity. Because no one had spoken up until now, I had barely known how much fatigue had piled up, or what kinds of difficulties they were dealing with. With the company still riding high, it must have been hard to be the first to say they were struggling. If your words led to a schedule adjustment and the company's performance dropped afterward? Guilt would be the least of it — an angry fandom wouldn't sit still. If they had more clout, they might have had the confidence, but our company was full of small-time streamers. Expecting that kind of boldness was unrealistic.
Still, thank god Miho unnie stepped up. From now on we agreed to communicate more about this kind of thing.
I never thought we could run all the way to the end with this small a roster anyway. Just win the first Arena. That had been the big picture I'd drawn from the start. We'd written contracts and made various promises, but the big picture itself remained unchanged.
Once we claim the honor of being the first company to win the Arena, we can ease off Rena World to some degree. And in doing so, naturally yield the trickle-down to the staff.
Boss monster raid content would show up near the end of the server, but by then the heat around Rena World would already have cooled considerably. The major streamers' login rates would have dropped a lot too.
And I have to think about Myeolmangjeon as well. There's plenty to do after Rena World.
Preparing for the future wasn't something you started when it was already at your doorstep — you had to begin well ahead of time. The future of the Pangea TV virtual scene. And the path our V-Live crew needed to take.
Rena World 2 is going to need more thought. And the MacaoTalk server after that…
Endless worries piled up until my head was a mess. At times like this, the best medicine was to just move your body, simple and stupid.
"Per the contract, none of you have completed today's work hours, so expect additional overtime until midnight."
"Ah, she's a demon. Mayo thought today was supposed to be a free pass, geosida."
"Master, I'll stay and work until dawn if I have to."
"Lucy, please just go home early."
"This is discrimination! Discrimination, geosida!"
Another noisy day at V-Live Company.
