True Colors
An immigration screening content to introduce the transfers.
Similar formats had actually been around for quite a while. Big-name streamers had already run this kind of bit on air more than once. The only difference was that back then the people transferring were ordinary streamers — now they were virtual streamers.
Traditional content like this had a reliable flavor to it. Plenty of precedents already existed, so if you simply followed that path, you could at least hit the average.
But that wouldn't do. Something had to be different — otherwise it wouldn't make waves, and we couldn't proudly put it forward as our own content.
Blindly copying meant getting flamed for ripping off so-and-so's bit. You'd also lose any claim to originality, leaving you with nothing to say the next time some other streamer ran an immigration screening of their own.
So the immigration screening needed a twist of its own.
Which is why I went with it. A brand-new format: competition.
Would this structure land with the viewers? I still didn't know. You never knew a hand until you flipped every card. For now, I focused on keeping the show running smoothly.
"Listen carefully, you two. When a country takes immigrants, priority goes to high earners, intellectuals, and skilled professionals. Right? So what I'm asking is — what exactly do you two bring to the table?"
The moment their PPT self-introductions wrapped, I deliberately piled on the pressure. That was how you got good broadcast angles.
"Well, the figures look decent enough. D? E?"
"What!?"
"No, I just suddenly felt like memorizing the English alphabet…"
Miho's ad-libs were better than expected. Still, the real goal was to elevate Lucy more than Miho, so I kept the back-and-forth short and shifted the questions.
"Come to think of it, I never asked the most basic thing. Lucy, is there a reason you chose that nickname?"
"Hmm, when I was starting out, I fretted a lot over picking a good nickname. Honestly, I lacked confidence in myself and had a pretty negative streak, so I wanted to become someone brighter. Everyone's like that, right? You end up longing for the parts of yourself that feel missing… So I chose Lucy — Latin for light."
Thankfully, all that practice had paid off. She carried the conversation at length without stumbling, and her calm delivery let the full charm of her voice come through.
"Wow! Lucy, your voice is seriously amazing. Like, if you were lying in bed late at night on a call with your partner, this is exactly how it'd feel. Soft and low, seeping right into your ear… Ah! Bad example. If I use a call with a partner as the comparison, the viewers might have a hard time relating."
"Wh-what? What are you talking about! I'm single and married to streaming. Whoa! Suddenly I feel this massive sense of solidarity with the chat. We're all friends! Rolling around in the mountains and fields, roughhousing together~"
I'd nearly been steamrolled by the chat's vicious counterattack. I hastily changed the subject and passed the baton to Miho.
"I'd always been told I had a fox-like face, so when I started streaming it felt natural to make my character a gumiho. Then I transferred, and there were already too many people using gumiho…"
"Ah, so you went with Miho because of the name conflict?"
"Yeah. But after using Miho for a few days, the two-syllable sound just felt better, so I'm sticking with it."
"Mm, noted. Nickname Miho — a fox-like streamer who goes around bewitching men… Okay, memo complete!"
"I feel like there's some fabrication in there."
"Huh? Must be your imagination! Alright, let's move on to the first verification segment."
The PPT self-introductions were over. Now the real content began. The first verification corner I'd prepared was this:
"From this moment, you two have thirty seconds to think. Answer within that time. Three reasons Pangea TV is better than Rabbit TV! Go over the time limit and I'll assume you're Rabbit TV spies. Begin!"
A ruthless platform wedge. The viewers' dopamine exploded.
A platform, in and of itself, wielded formidable power. People craved a sense of belonging, and they poured considerable affection into wherever they belonged. Some even prioritized the platform over the streamers they actually watched.
That was how the derogatory term "platform dog" came about — and personally, I thought it fit rather well. That level of loyalty deserved recognition.
Which was why streamers were terrified of speaking carelessly about platforms. One wrong remark could become karmic debt, painting a target on your back for the platform dogs.
So both of them had voiced concerns when they first heard the segment explained. And I'd answered them without flinching.
If anything went wrong because of this, I'd take full responsibility.
Besides, in the future, Rabbit TV was a house destined to go up in flames and vanish. Knowing that, I could persuade the two of them with total confidence.
"I'll genuinely take the heat. If there's blowback, we just say it was all a script I wrote and they were reading off it."
That aggressive pitch finally won their agreement, and now we were here.
The two avatars locked sharp gazes on each other.
"Lucy!"
"Miho!"
"Lucy got it first. Go ahead. Starting the timer now. Tick-tock, tick-tock."
You couldn't give the same reasons, so snatching the first slot was an absolute advantage. Lucy, smiling at her rare victory, faltered slightly as the ticking pressed in.
"The first one is image quality. Rabbit TV currently offers 720p service, but Pangea TV is 1080p! I think everyone can agree that's a clear advantage."
"Good. And the second?"
"Uh, uh, the second is… Ah! Pangea TV's collab culture. On Rabbit TV, collab content itself is rare, and even when it exists, only streamers who already know each other get to join. On Pangea TV, I think the door is more open."
I'd given them the segment info in advance, but I'd made them prepare their own answers and hadn't censored a thing. Touch every part of a show and the reality drained out of it. That raw, living vitality you could only feel on a live broadcast — would the third reason deliver it?
"And last is because of the virtual idol audition Ssa-yo is hosting. I-I applied too? Everyone, please come cheer me on."
"Ah, right. For the record, I applied as well. Cheer for me before Lucy, please."
I'd held out a sliver of hope, but as expected, Lucy produced no jackpot. Generously graded, it was "fine," maybe.
I wasn't disappointed, though. After three long years, I knew all too well that talk was not Lucy's strong suit as a streamer.
What I'm counting on is something else anyway.
Lucy cleared the round without incident, and Miho's turn began naturally.
"Thirty seconds starting now. Go!"
"First reason Pangea TV is better than Rabbit TV? Because Miho streams on Pangea TV."
"…What?"
"Second, I got banned on Rabbit TV, so Pangea TV is all I've got anyway."
"……"
"And third. Actually, I'm a Pangea TV shareholder too. I was lurk-watching Seo-a's stream on the fourth and bought in on impulse — currently up about three percent? So I'm rooting for Pangea TV no matter what. Love you, Pangea TV! By the way, how much do you pay in dividends?"
I decided to stop thinking for a moment. Words that never made it through the filter in my head spilled straight out of my mouth.
"This one's a genuine lunatic."
Just what kind of battles had Blueby been fighting? Staring at Miho and her unimaginable brand of chaos energy, I briefly wondered whether Blueby's iron grip might have been justified after all.
If she was like this in a collab, what kind of things was she saying on her solo streams?
No. That's not right. No matter what, I can't start defending Blueby…
I snapped out of it and checked the chat's mood. If the reaction was bad, I'd have to lightly roast Miho and reset the narrative — but thankfully, that wasn't necessary.
"Ah, nothing major. Once for cussing out Chinese people on stream. And once when I was dancing in a bikini and a glitch made my top just… vanish…"
The chat was in a frenzy, and Miho — tension finally easing — looked a good deal more relaxed. That was the moment I started to get uneasy.
Had I just raised a tiger with my own two hands?
The content wasn't over yet.