Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Climbers Are Fucking Brutal
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[Author: Serkei]
[Title: Climbers are really fucking brutal]
Some Chinese dude boldly staking his claim on the 15th floor.
Climber Association says he's a [Collector] follower here to kill Wakamo.
The vibe was so goddamn savage I was like, is this okay?
If the boss loses, the whole floor goes to the Chinese.
But our Fox God?
"A bit too brutal to upload. Sorry, believers."
Had to hit the 14th floor quick to smash it and head up to 15, took out the assassin too.
I thought she was just out for a stroll.
-You're not the first to come kill me. And you won't be the last.
-Going for a sneaky frontal assault instead of a fair side charge...!!
-Challenging me to a duel after giving your name and greetings... You're the enemy, but do I have to respect that?
-Funny as hell going for the imperial seal lololol
ㄴOf course he's coveting it.
ㄴSaw the Association President clap back at the Chinese government demanding it?
ㄴ"It's not state property, it's hers" lololol
ㄴFox God has more legitimacy than your government lolol
-Boss blocked a 1v1, crit-killed him, and he's bragging cheap like he won, is that right? lolol
ㄴ"Back in my day, this was daily life."
ㄴRolled through real wars, you think he'd dodge a duel request? lololol
ㄴYou came alone?
ㄴYeah~ I'm a singleton.
-All four limbs shattered, teeth all gone lololol
ㄴCame to kill her and she spared him, isn't that mercy?
ㄴThis is the Fist of Mercy...!!
-"Death is liberation from life."
-Should've handed him a machine gun, Collector....
[Author: Anonymous]
[Title: So you're mad she didn't upload the video?]
Can't be helped. It's beating up a person.
Didn't she kill the dwarf gunner? That's not the same as a person.
Plus, showing hidden skills against a climber.
Can't use 'em if more assholes come later.
More importantly, the boss avenged our President.
We miss you, Japan's dragon... Watching from above, right...?
-TMI) She's not dead, she's doing fine.
-Virtual Live was too small for her.
-Killing it on stream, big famous nutubers showing up ㅇㅇ
ㄴWho's coming?
ㄴYou'll know if you check (link)
ㄴKRAAAAK!!!!
ㄴ(red pill meme)
-Suspiciously familiar voices on a stream packed with 'em.
-Don't jump in blind, you'll die.
-Did a Tenga collab too, as long as it's fun...
※※※
"The gear recovered from the assassin... Regrettably, it's all unusable."
Manager Won Da-hye expressed her regret to Wakamo, who had been excitedly planning to give it to Yu Ying to help her climb.
"The equip requirements include [Combat Job] and possessing the [Collector's Brand]. Probably only for followers."
"Ah.... Rings or necklaces too?"
Honestly, Wakamo still didn't know much about climbers. So with genuine curiosity, she asked, and Manager Won Da-hye nodded.
"Yes, usually they need job classes, stats, and all sorts of conditions. They consume mana and have cooldowns for reuse. Whether it's tower drops or crafted items, they share that in common."
The tower gathered info through climbers and provided items accordingly. Items without job restrictions were rare, mostly for personal use if you crafted them yourself. Otherwise, it was easier to just give up—they were that picky and tedious.
"But Wakamo, do you really not need any support?"
"Nope, I'm good."
Manager Won Da-hye took it to mean Wakamo relied only on her body and self-taught spells, not gear.
But reality was, Wakamo's job 『VTuber』 was the issue. Asking for VTuber-related job gear would be weird. Even generic [Non-Combat Job] gear... would it help Wakamo?
Already a 『Legendary Class』, she didn't get class evolutions like normal climbers upgrading on tower ascents.
Legendary classes might evolve too, but...
What would be VTuber's upper class...? Even if it existed, Wakamo would refuse.
Better to let the misunderstanding stand.
"If I need anything, it's the love from my believers?"
"You're one of a kind."
Sad she couldn't be honest.
She'd felt it before... Getting her job exposed would cause too many problems.
Her body being made of mana was a weakness, but revealing her job could open other attack vectors.
For example, deleting Wakamo's channel, or hitting the Nutube company directly to blow up servers, erasing subscribers?
Wakamo didn't know what ruling would trigger, but... maybe multi-platform streaming everywhere?
"Anyway, shall we get started?"
Manager Won Da-hye broached the main topic.
The assassin from China? Climber Association and government would handle it. Association President even said via her it was a waste for Wakamo to spend time on such things.
Right, now they were discussing future streams and the current situation.
"First off, securing fixed viewers, floating viewers, and new inflows... Mind looking at the graphs I prepared?"
The screen showed my channel.
Manager Won Da-hye, seeing the nearly 2,700 clips mixed with my videos, tried convincing me to split channels so new fans could easily watch Wakamo stuff.
But playlists cover that, I argued. As a clipper, I wouldn't ditch my identity, so skip this. Plus, I wanted visitors to my channel to check other VTubers anyway.
"See here. Views on our channel uploads are solidly high on average. Even higher than subs sometimes. We hit 3 million views on some. But subs are stagnant. Folks come for announcements via community only for tower climbs, or algorithm brings 'em in without subbing. Tons of viewers, but most aren't subbed to Wakamo."
Yeah... Makes sense. Watching and subbing are separate. Why do Nutubes beg for subs and recs? Wakamo doesn't even ask, so they watch, enjoy, leave—or binge when they remember.
"Meanwhile, Yu Ying's on a steep rise, as you see. Complaints about hard-to-understand pronunciation, but that's cute, gap moe from her looks, plus recent handcam Korean study vids. Foreigner learning step-by-step is adorable. Healing just watching. Good at games, seems innately kind. Just cute, etc... Lots of rave reviews."
Sloppy speech is a streamer flaw, but she overcame with effort and natural charm. Bonus: being foreign. Korean song reactions too... More comms streams than expected.
Talent for VTubing for sure...!!
"Anyway, you two are still early in streaming, so not content fatigue yet. But maybe Wakamo the VTuber needs more variety. Best would be splitting clipper and VTuber channels though."
Manager's sharp insight hurts.
Yeah, VTubers need dedicated channels for their vids.
My channel's weird setup scatters newbies. But hoping they go to other VTubers, Wakamo couldn't let go.
Content, huh...
Can't climb forever, gotta consider.
'Most shocking? ASMR. Safe chats good too. Can't sing but instruments... Drawing. Genre games. VS World Cup for reactions. Reviews. Anime/movie watches. But viewer participation streams best... Trends, covers/originals, handcams, fan cafe tours... More options than I thought...'
Quickly listed VTuber content possibilities.
Always cautious.
Chasing trends fine, but switching might piss off "Why not this?" "Do that instead?" New layers unhappy.
Can't please everyone, always.
VTubers extra careful. Wakamo swears plenty, but no sex drips.
Dropping ero bait once stains image.
Mildly? Spice. But Wakamo lacked confidence juggling viewers masterfully.
Bold no-holds-barred VTubers draw fans who like it, lines kept.
Pervert VTubers get perv fans; pure ones have mannerly chats.
Irony: viewers watching both exist.
'Domestic market ain't that big anyway.'
Chasing VTuber dream with real eyes.
'Korean platforms max 3.'
Nutube: P·Rave undisputed top. Real idols, corp-backed, albums, charts, skills, fandom, tech all top-tier.
AfreecaTV forest: Otherworld idols. VTubing main, idol side gig. Domestic mega-concerts regular. Veteran streamers and fans, unique know-how.
Hear concert recaps from idols direct, constant fan idol comms + VTuber games/content. Much to learn.
Twitch-like Pajijik: Stellamis, Korea's Virtual Live. RP concepts held, group worldbuilding + collabs expanding influence.
'I'm on Nutube...'
Hard decision after agonies.
T-Position pulled out domestically. No platform pulls overseas viewers like Nutube. Grow believers beyond Korea, target world.
Need content to hook 'em!! Streamers forever suffer this!
Head heating up, Wakamo sighed.
'Haa... Knowing too much is the problem.'
Study pioneer VTubers, review content meticulously to avoid mistakes.
How many retired from leaks or slip-ups?
Stability etc. makes corp support appealing. Tons of Korean VTuber corps, but corps become shackles often.
'I'm lucky as hell.'
Stream hard, but platforms bury without numbers unless searched. Some Presidents host tourneys to grow market with many VTubers.
'VTubers need connections. If I want, join those.'
Collabs hot content. Wakamo semi-famous, welcome. Loose entry anyway.
"[Nom nom, tehe lang lol Ah~ That's her? Yes yes... Whew, kids. Think bro wouldn't know?!!]"
Imagined reaction, but no rejection.
Collabs poison too though.
Meet other VTuber, might otaku-shake, machine-gun talk. Tourney collab but raid their streams/clips? Beast mode, get flak.
Knows it's wrong, but sure she'd troll-watch VTubers mid-collab.
'Can't collab.'
Drop collabs clean!! Just be polite!!
No promo needed via communities!! Started special, success sans effort!! Don't be nuisance or bite tongue die!!
'Anyway, as VTuber I'm a frog in a well.'
Groaning over content when...
Manager consulting Yu Ying called Wakamo.
"Wakamo, need your input on the most important part."
"....Huh? Oh, called me. What... input?"
Head full of content/VTuber woes, no room, froze at her words.
"Since you're a VTuber too, including Yu Ying, shouldn't we think of a 『VTuber Group Name』?"
Group!
VTuber group!!
Right—Wakamo's President raising Yu Ying!! And she's VTuber!!
Two VTubers under one roof, cheering each other!!
So... name inevitable...?
Wakamo imagined VTuber she inspired joining her company... then quitting over lame group name.
[Stats]
Mana: 523,678 -> 463,678.
"Gasp...!"
Dangerous, nearly died.
Not climber, that blow instant death.
No heart, but pounding. No sweat, wiped forehead with sleeve, deep breaths. Dizzy too.
Imagining inspired VTuber fanboying her streams joining... extra damage.
Someday fans might come "Wanna be VTuber like you!"... Lame name...?
[Stats]
Mana: 463,678 -> 403,782.
"Ababababa"
"C-Calm down!! It's not like naming a country?!"
Manager Won handed ice water, urged calm, switched topics quick.
"Studio issue resolved. Can do motion capture streams there. Plus ads and VR gear sponsorships incoming."
"....Ads?"
"Yes, ads."
Uwakbot VTubers did bank ads. Times changed. Metaverse era, VTubers in ads normal. P·Rave even cosmetics!! VTubers!!
"Still... ads fitting my concept nice..."
"Oh, Climber Association wants climber-related ad vid..."
"Isn't that training vid, not ad?"
"Anyway, corp request?"
Eh, ad it is. Manager shrugged. Wakamo nodded, sure.
"Then, stream from studio today? Endurance stream? Residential area prepped too. Whole building for Wakamo basically."
"Don't make it Wakamo-only, let other VTubers use as shared...?"
"Huge investment. That'd lose money?"
"I don't care at all!!!"
"Ah, yes..."
She respected Wakamo's view each time, factoring labor costs. She'd prepped what Wakamo wanted... Now Wakamo prove to believers via VTuber streams.
"Sing, dance, instruments.... ASMR too...."
"Promo gear too? Domestic company."
"Ad stream兼任... Kitchen there, handcam cooking...?"
"Camera ad too."
Nervous... Heavy pressure... Legs won't stay still.
Became VTuber sans planning, burdensome...!!
Eyes twitched hearing intros to staff, PD.
Then, tower climbing ain't shit? Doubt hit.
Just beat monsters, simple labor(?), right...?
"Yu Ying.... What if stream flops...?"
"Ttakdapnim.... Ilyeon geo mani ha dabomyeo neu yeoyo.."
Yu Ying said no more.
Gotta do it till used to.
Practice makes natural!!