I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 148

So, still half-asleep, Magia swiped her screen and brought the phone to her ear.

“Yes... This is Magiaaa...”

The voice on the other end was that of a composed middle-aged man.

[Looks like I woke you up. My apologies. I’ll call back later.]

Click. The call ended.

Even as the call disconnected, Magia had kept her eyes closed. But now, they snapped open, and she quickly sat up to check the caller ID.

It was Producer Na Hyun-gon.

“...That was the producer.”

Magia immediately rushed to the fridge, grabbed a 500ml bottle of water from the pile, and gulped it down.

After refreshing her mouth and throat, she called Na Hyun-gon back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you to call on a Sunday, so I let my guard down.”

[No, if anything, I should be the one apologizing for calling on a Sunday.]

That... was a fair point.

But why was he calling on a Sunday of all days?

Did that mean it was something urgent?

“So, it’s something urgent, right? Please go ahead. I’m listening.”

[Thank you for understanding. Then, let’s start by discussing the current project.]

As expected, the first topic was Parallel and CAT’s first collaboration.

The first-generation talents’ latest song.

[As for ‘Finish Line,’ it has already proven itself more than enough. We were considering pushing a secondary promotion through our idols, but honestly, it performed so well that we don’t even need to. In fact, our idols might even use it for short-form promotions instead.]

“Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”

[It’s not generosity—it’s just the truth. The numbers speak for themselves. And this success is now turning into solid data to persuade the board.]

“So, you mean the next song is already greenlit?”

[You could say the green light is on. I’ll also be discussing it separately with President Cheon tomorrow.]

“Then... this time, could we finally get original songs for each member...?”

The moment she said it, Magia held her breath.

Had she gotten ahead of herself?

But Na Hyun-gon’s response was beyond her expectations.

[To further solidify our partnership with Parallel, we’re considering producing one song per member—four songs in total—all at the same time.]

For most VTubers, releasing multiple original songs in succession was rare, except for their debut or anniversary.

It wasn’t just about the money.

Finding the right partners to create songs that suited each member was an exhausting task in itself.

But if CAT was the one producing them this time—

And if it was Allmight Productions, who had already successfully launched Iyura—

Then they were definitely reliable partners to keep working with.

Inside Magia’s mind, fireworks erupted.

Not small firecrackers from a neighborhood store—

This was a full-blown Yeouido Fireworks Festival.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

[No, wait, counting Fan_C’s song as well, that would make it at least six songs.]

Of course, at that moment, she felt like she’d gotten caught up in the fireworks herself.

“My own personal song? Wasn’t the duet with Iyura supposed to come first?”

[That’s actually the next topic I wanted to discuss.]

What followed was directly related to the person Magia had met the day before.

[Some time ago, we had a scheduling issue with the duet song with Iyura, so we reached out to you through her manager.]

“Yes, I remember. You mentioned you’d call separately about the revised plan.”

[Under normal circumstances, that would have been the reason for today’s call. Since the duet is no longer happening, I was going to propose a plan to boost your recognition through a solo cover song and an original track instead.]

Magia tilted her head and asked.

“So... does that mean the plan has changed again?”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

[Yes. A lot changed in just one day. The project got scrapped twice, but we can’t just throw something together at the last minute. Fan_C is someone we’re committed to developing as a utaite, after all.]

“Ah, I see...”

[So I wanted to briefly explain the situation and ask if you could wait just a little longer. We need more time to prepare.]

A lot had happened at CAT in the past three months.

Their original plan was to proceed based on the results of the first-generation talents’ new song.

Plan A was to kick things off with a duet between Fan_C and Eula. But after Iyura dropped out, that plan had already fallen apart.

Fortunately, CAT wasn’t a small company, so they kept searching for alternatives...

But they couldn’t find an utaite who could match Iyura’s impact while also showing genuine interest in the rookie Fan_C.

After all, Fan_C had only one video uploaded on her personal YouTube channel.

And even that wasn’t an original upload—it was basically just a reposted link to the first-generation talents’ song.

Her subscriber count was about 5,000.

Meanwhile, Parallel Behind, which had gained traction from the collab with Natsuki Luna the previous day, had already surpassed 10,000.

This was the result of Magia deliberately staying in the shadows.

But even in a situation where most agencies would # Nоvеlight # have given up, CAT still managed to come up with an alternative.

That was Plan B—

A bold and persistent long-term strategy that relied on pushing forward with Fan_C’s pure talent, using CAT’s industry weight to back her up, despite her small YouTube presence.

But viewership and popularity were like glider flights.

If you launched from a high place, you could soar far and long.

But if you launched from flat ground, you’d crash almost immediately.

CAT had the weight to build a tower in an instant and launch from the top.

However, even such a rushed construction required money.

Marketing costs.

They could go all in with an aggressive investment,

but Fan_C was a highly experimental project.

If they went overboard and the results were poor, the backlash would be just as severe.

Naturally, they had to consider all angles and find ways to reduce investment costs,

which meant discussions about the project dragged on longer than expected.

And now that it seemed like things would be delayed even further,

CAT had no choice but to reach out to Magia with an apology.

... But then, something unexpected happened.

The duet project with Iyura—

which had been postponed indefinitely due to personal circumstances—

was suddenly locked in for September at her request.

Because of that, Na Hyun-gon had managed to establish Plan C in less than a day.

Like Plan B, it would still start with Magia’s solo and cover songs,

launching from flat ground.

But then, they would follow up with the duet with Iyura,

creating a ripple effect and pushing the earlier-released songs up the charts.

Even just comparing the estimated costs to achieve the same results in Plan B and C,

Plan C was overwhelmingly better.

For Na Hyun-gon, who had no choice but to prioritize business profitability,

there was no way he wouldn’t be grateful to Magia for making Plan C possible.

"I’ll take a break from utaite activities for a while, but I’ll finish my project with Fan_C first."

Iyura’s confirmation and the establishment of Plan C

were ultimately thanks to Magia.

[But really, we were only able to reach this point because of you, Jia.]

“Uh... huh?”

[The fact that Ms. Iyura hasn’t completely stopped her activities—that was a major factor.]

Magia was puzzled.

But this was just an extension of what she had discussed with Iyura over dinner yesterday.

Iyura had contacted CAT, finalized her schedule, and caused a butterfly effect.

For CAT, the delay in Fan_C’s project was already a problem.

But the uncertainty of Iyura’s affiliation was an even greater risk.

To make matters worse, a certain rumor had been spreading among industry insiders.

People were saying that Iyura had secretly debuted as a fourth-generation member of Bachubachu.

It was nothing more than unverified gossip.

But the fact that Bachubachu had partnered with SB Entertainment,

CAT’s eternal rival,

only fueled speculation that she was preparing to leave.

For three months, Allmight Productions had been in a constant state of anxiety.

But now, with Iyura clarifying that she wasn’t completely stopping her activities,

for CAT, it must have felt like a blockage had finally been cleared.

[So, thanks to you, we’ll be increasing our investment in Fan_C. We can’t afford to leave expensive talent sitting idle while Iyura is on break.]

“Ah. So that’s why I’ll be singing more than two songs...”

[Yes. This is separate from Parallel’s first-generation project. You’ll be doing at least two songs. Possibly multiple songs at the same time.]

“Oh... that much?”

[Plans could still change, of course. But for now, expect to stack up tracks leading into September, culminating in the duet with Iyura.]

“Got it. You’ll go over the details with me again later, right?”

[Of course.]

Magia had only been casually probing Luna out of curiosity,

but somehow, she had stumbled onto a goldmine.

But hey, a good thing was a good thing.

CAT was now taking the lead in producing individual original songs for the members.

That alone was enough to leave Magia’s mind overwhelmed.

She was unexpectedly getting even more involved in CAT’s music projects.

But in the long run, wouldn’t this also help the other members?

The only real concern was managing her schedule.

“Oh, by the way, how much busier am I about to get?”

[Well, let’s talk after the MCN tournament wraps up. When do you finish preparing the second-generation debut?]

Magia had been coordinating the second-generation members for weeks,

and next week would be the final round of preparations.

After that, they would each set up their own streaming environments and start the official countdown to debut.

“Well... it just worked out this way, but next week—the day of the MCN tournament—

that’s actually the last day of my packed schedule.”

[That’s lucky. You’re a busy person, so it’s rare for the timing to align so perfectly.]

It really felt like she was sailing forward with the wind at her back.

“All thanks to you, Producer, for managing everything so well.”

[You do realize that too much humility can be a flaw, right?]

Magia chuckled.

“I just do my best, that’s all.”

***

As Parallel and CAT smoothly rode the wave of progress,

there was one person who couldn’t feel at ease.

Magia had agreed to let it slide, but—

that didn’t mean the incident could be completely ignored.

Even in Bachubachu, they had been repeatedly told since pre-debut:

If something happens, don’t hesitate—just report it first.

So naturally, addressing this situation properly was the right thing to do.

Of course, if she had been a complete rookie,

she might have been too scared to even call the management team,

maybe even breaking down in tears on her own.

But luckily, Iyura had been an utaite for a long time.

New n𝙤vel chapters are published on novelbuddy.cσ๓.

She had the experience to take a step back and consult a reliable ally first before reporting anything.

[Got it.]

The short response might have sounded cold,

but that was just how Taro was outside of streams.

He poured all his energy into his broadcasts,

but in his daily life, he was like a device on power-saving mode.

Even now, after saying just that one sentence,

Iyura could tell he had gone deep into thought.

Bachubachu and SB’s Taro.

CAT’s Iyura.

Even though they had worked for rival companies for a long time,

great talents recognized each other.

They had occasionally collaborated,

building up a personal bond along the way.

... But the response that came next was completely unexpected.

[If the one who found out was Jia, then don’t worry about it. Just focus on your streams and tournament prep.]

Iyura was caught off guard.

“Huh? I don’t need to report it to the management team...?”

Taro, speaking softly as if to reassure her, murmured:

[Leave the rest to me.]