I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 144

A day or two later, Mugeon reached out again to share some news.

The persistence of contacting me through different numbers after I blocked the main one is impressive.

When I kept ignoring him, I finally got a call from the CEO.

[Pick up Mugeon's call... he's been whining at me again.]

I suppose I’ll just answer next time.

It feels like I’m just giving Mugeon and the CEO an excuse to talk.

[Anyway, Mugeon asked me to tell you. Taro's recording schedule suddenly changed, so someone else will appear on the talk show.]

“Figured as much.”

[Did you expect it?]

“No matter how much momentum he has, how could they get Bachubachu’s top star out in a week? I thought the chances were less than 10%. But Taro’s still going to show up for the MCN Battle, right?”

[That’s been confirmed. If I'm too busy with CEO stuff, I understand. Taro’s probably genuinely busy with idol activities. It’s not uncommon for things to fall apart in the planning stages.]

“True.”

[When you're busy, just clear your schedule and focus on what’s most important. It’s good to hustle, but you need to take care of your health.]

“Yeah.”

[Right. Anyway, I’ll let you know who’s appearing as soon as I hear. And unlock Mugeon’s block. At least until the MCN Battle is over.]

“If you say so, CEO.”

Honestly, even though the participant changed, our strategy wouldn’t change much. However, there was one big difference.

It was the bet with the CEO.

“But doesn’t this make the bet way more favorable for me?”

[The bet about the Behind Channel subscribers?]

“Yeah. If someone other than Taro appears, the subscriber boost won’t be as big.”

I had mentioned this before. Big companies’ subscribers rarely disperse to other streams. If they do, they only check it out for a bit out of curiosity.

Especially this trend is more pronounced with corporate VTubers, and especially with Bachubachu. Once someone’s hooked, it’s like a honey trap that’s hard to escape.

Even if a streamer goes viral for some scandal or controversy, they might switch to another idol in Bachubachu but won’t completely stop following Bachubachu.

So, even if they collab, the chance of viewers moving over to our side is low. If the guest for the talk show scheduled during the bet isn’t even Taro, then the influx will be even smaller.

Could Mugeon’s viewers come over?

No, they already came over if they were going to.

Moreover, full video channels are only checked when needed. Plus, due to copyright issues, some parts get cut out, so it’s better to watch the official replays on sites like Pazzijik rather than subscribing to a YouTube full video channel.

So, a channel that only has my replays hitting 10,000 subscribers? I thought it was unlikely.

That’s why I told the CEO that it’s not looking good for me now.

[Hmm? I don’t think so.]

But the CEO was still confident.

She sent me a screenshot to explain why.

—————————————————

Parallel Behind

@parallel_official_behind · 3,902 subscribers · 45 videos

The full video channel excluding official Parallel announcements.

—————————————————

In just two days?

“4,000?”

I had always thought the regulars in the Magia Mini Gallery, who were always in the Paggall and Baggall forums, calling my name and demanding I debut, would be the only ones.

And since they’re pretty vicious, I thought they’d be just making up lies and there would definitely be some false numbers mixed in.

I don’t want to admit it, but I think I failed to objectify things here.

[Why? Is it more than you expected?]

As the CEO said, there were more slug viewers than expected.

I had tried to scrape them off, but if they’re still sticking around, they must be a bit crazy.

I know the CEO’s choice of Oshii is unavoidable, but still... Huh? I should’ve focused and dodged the 8-ton truck, right? If I didn’t, this situation wouldn’t have happened.

[Anyway, look at how many subscribers there are already. That’s why I’m telling you that before the MCN Battle starts, you’ll definitely hit 10,000. My gut feeling says so.]

But if it’s just 4,000 in the first two days, hitting 10,000 is going to be a close call. There’s still no issue continuing the bet, though.

“Well, we’ll see.”

[Yeah, yeah. Anyway, get ready for the stream. If you’re planning to prepare some lines or anything, bring them over for review.]

“This time, I’ll do it alone.”

[Why?]

“If I show you, you’ll probably sneakily change the lines to something more suitable for you.”

[Hey. Do you think I’d be so petty? Seriously, you really don’t trust me with Oshii—]

“I’ll hang up. I’m busy.”

[Wait, wait! I still have work stuff to tell you. If you get a call from an unknown number this week or next, pick it up. It’s from CAT. They’ve called four times already, but you didn’t answer, so they contacted me.]

“Oh. Wasn’t that Mugeon calling from a different number?”

The CEO sighed and mumbled.

[You really hate Mugeon sometimes.]

“Still, thanks to him, the shorts were a huge hit, and now he’s even going to appear on the talk show.”

[Yeah, yeah...]

***

The next day, the bet became even more unfavorable for me.

[CEO: Natsuki Luna confirmed.]

[CEO: I think we can raise the bet condition to 20,000 subscribers.]

[CEO: Want me to change it?] [CEO: If you don’t decide now, I won’t change it~]

The CEO seemed really confident, and there was a reason for that.

The new opponent was a bulldozer with maxed-out friendliness, someone who business strategies couldn’t work on.

Natsuki Luna.

She had debuted a few months ago as a fourth-generation Bachubachu member.

Like us, she had focused on her personal streams during the first few months, so this month’s collaborations and competitions were essentially her first.

Many tried to dig into her past life, but couldn’t figure it out. The assumption was that she was a complete newcomer. But just last week, during her first {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} collaboration with senior members, she showed an incredible level of friendliness and already had a “mom.”

You might wonder, “What do you mean by mom?” It’s a somewhat rare but common pairing in the VTuber world, where one is childlike and the other is very mature, creating a fake mother-daughter dynamic.

And the mom in this case was Taro. A guaranteed future star and the princess of Bachubachu.

Now that she had Taro backing her, Natsuki Luna’s external activities were bound to be successful, as she was already good at making connections.

In other words, with Luna as the first external collaborator, whether I liked it or not, I would be swept along by Luna’s popularity.

[CEO: By the way, you don’t need to do business with her.]

[CEO: With her, if you do business, it’ll only hurt us.]

The CEO said there was no need for business with Luna because no matter how much we tried to keep things professional, we couldn’t block her overwhelming friendliness. If we were cold toward her, it would only cause trouble.

It’s a simple principle when you think about it. Luna’s viewers are probably just as much of a bulldozer. If we act cold toward them, they’re not going to like it.

They’d probably think something like, “How can she treat our Luna like that?” If that kind of backlash didn’t happen, I’d be surprised.

Anyway, the CEO’s suggestion to raise the subscriber count to 20,000 was the result of taking all these things into account. The Behind Channel subscribers had already reached 8,700 today, so my defeat was almost certain, but...

[I: I don’t need it.]

I didn’t change the bet conditions.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

[CEO: Still holding out?]

[CEO: I’ll take a nice massage chair if you lose!]

If I lose, I lose. There’s nothing uglier than changing the conditions of a bet just because I think I’m going to lose. At least in front of Oshii, I want to maintain my pride.

More than that, at this point, I started to worry about something else.

Whether I could handle Luna’s overwhelming friendliness.

That concern became a reality the day before our scheduled talk show, when I received a DM from Natsuki Luna through the CEO.

[Natsuki Luna: Hello, Magia Manager!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’m Natsuki Luna, a fourth-generation Bachubachu member!!]

[Natsuki Luna: We’re going to stream together tomorrow, right?]

[Natsuki Luna: Since you’ve been streaming for a few months longer than me, I wanted to greet you first!!]

As I read this, I couldn’t help but think:

She’s over the top, but she’s a good kid...

If Maru, who tends to rush without any hesitation, had been like this without any pause or doubt, it probably would’ve felt exactly like this.

And she’s calling me a senior. I know she calls every VTuber a senior, but there was no need for her to say it to me.

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Hello, Luna! I’ve been watching your streams.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: I look forward to tomorrow’s broadcast!]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Oh, and I’m not a VTuber, so please don’t call me a senior.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: People might misunderstand.]

[Natsuki Luna: No!!]

[Natsuki Luna: You’re definitely a senior!!]

[Natsuki Luna: Your cute appearance!]

[Natsuki Luna: Your great work in Wicker Town!]

[Natsuki Luna: Super carry in the Matching Tournament!]

[Natsuki Luna: You even have voice acting skills that make Jangsanbeom look like a joke!]

[Natsuki Luna: You’re a senior I really want to learn from after leaving the company!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’m so happy to be broadcasting with a senior like you!]

[Natsuki Luna: By the way, when Taro couldn’t make it, I insisted on going instead!!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’m really looking forward to it!!]

Can you believe that all of this came within a minute?

There’s a good way to check whether someone like this can be stopped with words or not.

It’s by throwing in a firm and cold response.

If the reaction is still hot, then you know they’re not normal.

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Yep.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Looking forward to tomorrow!]

Luna’s reaction was more than I expected.

[Natsuki Luna: Yes!!!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’ve been practicing Battle Call a lot so I won’t hold you back!!!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow!!!]

Her energy exploded.

This was the first time I was facing someone like this on a stream, and I was a little thrown off.

And I realized: I’ve never faced someone like this before.

Everyone I had streamed with before had been gentle or adjusted to match my pace.

Now, Luna, raised as the youngest in Bachubachu and showered with cuteness, was truly a force of nature.

I understand now why her symbol emoji is a dog (🐶). With this much power, no matter how thick the iron door is, it’s bound to get broken down.

First, I had to calm down.

And handle it calmly.

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If you show fear in front of excited dogs, they’ll only go wilder.

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Don’t overdo it.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: The talk is the main focus tomorrow, so feel free to just chat.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: I’ll carry the conversation for you.]

[Natsuki Luna: Kyaaah!] [Natsuki Luna: The god of Battle Call is now in Parallel, and using the name Human Signal Rocket Kim Fireworks!]

[Natsuki Luna: Daeji the Queen, Godji the Goddess]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: Hmm.]

[Natsuki Luna: Oh no, was that too much?]

[Natsuki Luna: If you feel burdened, just let me know anytime!!]

[Natsuki Luna: I’ll calm down!!]

And I tried my best to make sure she wouldn’t shrink just because she was looking at me.

With her fanbase being so big, her power to fuel conspiracy theories was also strong.

If Luna felt down more than usual, there’d be a whole uproar from her viewers, asking if Mugeon or I had said something to upset her before the stream.

At times like this, even though it wasn’t my forte, I decided to match her energy.

I’d be the master of upping the ante, going beyond business, into the realm of brain-powered absurdity.

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: No.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: It’s perfect.]

[Parallel Operations Team Magia: That’s the essence of Bachubachu, ‘Natsuki Luna.’]

But just like how trying to act like a villain in front of a true villain can provoke them,

It seemed my words felt like a challenge to Luna.

[Natsuki Luna: Ah!]

[Natsuki Luna: I was worried you might feel burdened, so I was getting ready to calm down.]

[Natsuki Luna: But if you’re going to act like that, I’ll treat you 200% like today tomorrow!]

Damn it.

If there’s 100%, you should’ve said it earlier.