The Crossroads
Two days had passed.
Friday, and then Saturday.
It wasn't that I hadn't streamed at all — I'd held a short hour-long chat session late at night, just enough to keep the fans from getting restless. Everything else was sacrificed for one purpose: total focus on the Wooga-dol second mission.
With that justification in hand, the viewers understood. They ribbed me about it, of course — how big of a production was I cooking up that I couldn't even stream properly? …That was a joke, right?
I'd originally planned to coast through the second mission without breaking a sweat. The reason I'd flipped my entire approach overnight came down to two things.
The first was to test Miho's capabilities.
Our team's VRC content was a debate show — pros versus cons. Miho had been agonizing over the topic for a while, so I casually dropped her a message on Discord. She looked a little startled when she read it, but after a brief moment of thought she made up her mind and landed on exactly the subject I'd been hoping for.
Perfect. Time to push her hard.
Miho became team leader almost naturally. Gold Kiwi had clearly wanted the role too, but Miho had contributed so much to the content and the topic itself — and with me actively backing her — he stepped aside on his own. Anyone looking at F Team could see I was the undisputed apex predator. Compared to the rest of the members, I had more dedicated fans and far higher name recognition.
I planted a quiet suggestion with Miho as well. Go on. Show me what you can do.
She was sharp, and her mind worked fast. Once I started boosting her, she took the reins of F Team and drove the work forward with impressive efficiency. The other members put in their fair share of effort too, determined to pull their own weight.
F Team was sailing with the wind at its back — but there was still one problem.
The debate topic Miho had proposed. There were more than a few angles that could get sensitive. From a pure broadcasting standpoint it was fine, but given that this was a virtual idol audition, certain aspects of it sat uncomfortably. The other members fretted about it and brought it up carefully, but I pushed hard to keep it.
Because that very "problem" was the second reason I'd changed course.
If I play this topic right, I might be able to sound out what Ssa-yo is really thinking.
Was he still running the same strategy he'd used before my regression? Or was there a chance he'd revised it? If I could gauge that, this second audition would become an enormous opportunity — the kind that could lock in my future position for the entire Wooga-dol project.
Right. Settle that first. If I want to look further ahead…
Sunday arrived in a hurry.
"Everyone, thank you for waiting so patiently. Were you all bored these past two days? I spent some long-overdue time with my family and got a solid half-day of rest. The rest of the time I was still busy — meetings and coordination with Pangea TV, checking the work from the people helping with the VRC builds."
"Right. Today I'll be touring each team's leader stream in person. Also, Jerry and Great Moon won't be participating in the second and third rounds of judging due to scheduling conflicts."
"Anyone spreading baseless rumors gets cut immediately. Please refrain from wild speculation. Now, we need to draw the order, so all team leaders, please join the Ssa-yo Discord room."
Ding, ding—!
Everyone must have been watching Ssa-yo's stream already, because they filed in almost instantly. Naturally, Miho checked in for our team.
"I'll call you in order starting from Team A. Ju-da, are you here?"
"Yes! Present."
"Team A presenting today — any issues?"
"None. We're fully ready."
"Great. Excellent. Next, Team B's ChubbyKitty?"
After confirming that every team from A through G was good to go, Ssa-yo launched a pinball program to determine the presentation order.
"Alright — here we have balls labeled A through G. The order they drop in is the order you present. And… beeeegin!"
The program spun with satisfying vigor. The first ball through the goal was Team E. Team B and Team A followed close behind. A fierce contest for fourth place ended with Team G edging out a win, Team C slipping through a hair's breadth later. That left only our Team F and Team D.
"Whew! We survived. Avoided last place."
One of the members clustered in the Discord room said it, and they were right — Team F had landed sixth. The honor of closing out the show went to Team D.
Ssa-yo tallied everything up and announced the final order.
E — B — A — G — C — F — D
"We'll start in ten minutes, so Team E, head over and get ready. If you finish prep early, the team leader can come grab me."
"Got it. Heading over now."
While Team E's leader Na Hae-ri vanished from the Discord room to prepare, Ssa-yo made small talk with each of the remaining team leaders, catching up briefly. What had motivated them to choose their particular VRC content? What elements were they hoping would stand out? He wasn't asking for nothing — these were questions designed to evaluate their broadcast instincts.
Then it was Miho's turn.
"Hmm. A pro-con debate, huh. Whose idea was this?"
"Mine. I proposed it."
"I see. So you've split into a for side and an against side. Which side is Seo-a on?"
"Seo-a is on the against side."
"Seo-a on against… Would it be possible to hear the debate topic in advance?"
"Ah, yes. The topic is…"
Miho was just about to answer — if only Team E's leader Na Hae-ri hadn't finished prepping and walked back into the Discord room right then.
"Ssa-yo, we're ready."
"Great. Then I'll head over to Na Hae-ri's stream right away."
The thread had been cut mid-sentence. A little disappointing. I'd wanted to watch Ssa-yo's expression change the moment he heard the debate topic. Then again, I'd get to see it naturally enough when our turn came around.
I watched Ssa-yo's stream at a leisurely pace, chatting with my teammates. I already knew the Wooga-dol second audition was a snoozefest, but the others were buzzing with anticipation — trading meaningless frets like, What if the other teams are so good we get completely overshadowed?
Given the debate topic we prepared, being overshadowed is the last thing we need to worry about.
"Hello, we are Team E! First up, team leader Na Hae-ri!"
"And I'm Muyo!"
"Park Na-na here."
"Seol Pyo-woo's here too."
"Im Pupu has entered the chat!"
Clustered around their team leader, the members of Team E gave short self-introductions. They exchanged greetings with Ssa-yo, did a quick catch-up, and confirmed who had handled which role while preparing the content.
"Looking good, looking good. Go ahead and start whenever you're ready."
Through the flood of cheering chat, Team E's VRC content began. Their concept was a skit — the most generic option available unless you had a map with special features. Before my regression, most teams in the second audition had gone the skit route too.
Which is another way of saying the skits were boring.
People got the wrong idea because popular VRC YouTube videos were full of skits, but it was never an easy format. Writing a genuinely funny script was the bare minimum — you also needed the acting chops to sell it. And could five small-time streamers really produce a high-quality skit in just two days? If they could, they wouldn't still be small-time. Talent like that would have already blown up on personal streams or racked up viral YouTube hits.
Still… there was a certain pure charm to it. Like watching a kids' talent show at a school festival. If only they could do something about the cringeworthy acting.
"Well done, Team E. Great work, everyone."
"Thank you!"
The other teams passed by with a similar flavor. Team C earned some praise, but it was still more of the same dish with a slightly different garnish. Everyone was operating at roughly the same level.
"Alright, Team F is up next. Heading over to Miho's stream."
And at last, our turn arrived. Before Ssa-yo came in, we rallied with the team, shouting out a round of fighting spirit. My mind, of course, was entirely elsewhere.
Will this content be enough to sound out Ssa-yo's true intentions?
If it worked, I could lock in my plans for the future right then and there.
This was a critical crossroads.