I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 171

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: These f@#king puffed-up bitches, seriously

— LOLLLLLLLLLL

— LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

— Hahahaahahaha

— Maru, come on LOL

— lmao

A raw, unfiltered reaction.

Magia and Ena's plan had landed perfectly.

They’d provoked both Momo and Maru at the same time, but it was Maru—whose patience threshold was notoriously low—who cracked first.

Even though they were all tangled up in awkward poses on a Twister mat.

There was no way Ena, who’d been waiting for this very moment, would miss Maru’s outburst in chat.

“Senpai, you’re scaring me. Everyone’s having fun, but you’re the only one getting way too serious.”

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: ???

— Why so serious?

— Eh?

— She's screwed

— She walked into that one lmao

— Oh no LOL

Magia casually threw in a jab of her own.

“Maru, I get that it’s a junior’s stream, but dropping slurs the moment you show up? Kinda harsh.”

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: asldkjfaldkjfadsflaksjd

— LMAO

— Maru / Controversy

— Said one thing and it totally backfired lol

— Maru, just drop out now LOL

— Total loss in the trade, huh?

Normally, Magia would’ve balanced things out between both sides—but today, she was firmly on Ena’s side.

Was it because she felt protective over the newly debuted second-gen babies, wanting to shield them with love?

Nope.

It’s simply because she knew the two of them far too well.

Maru and Ena had been best friends for years.

Maru had once dreamed of being a singer, Ena an idol—similar paths, and a shared love of outdoor activities made them click instantly.

Even when they told others, “I’m too tired to hang out today,” they’d still go grab a meal together if one of them called.

Plus, Maru was a first-gen senior who’d been streaming for a year and a half already.

She was a veteran—recognized as such by both the CEO and Magia.

So getting genuinely angry over some roleplay banter? No way.

And knowing that, Magia kept poking her to get her to show an even funnier side.

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Sorry for the slur

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: But seriously, can you two back off a little??????

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: You guys are waaaay too chummy...

“It’s just a game. Chill.”

“She’s right, senpai. It can’t be helped.”

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: heh heh heh

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Gia, if you come over tomorrow, I’m locking you in my soundproof booth

“Huh? You can’t do that. If Gia stops, then Parallel stops too.”

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Ena.

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Are you saying the CEO and all our hardworking staff mean nothing compared to her?

— Gasp

— Whoa

— What the

Ena, suddenly realizing she might’ve overstepped, backpedaled.

“No, I mean... I was exaggerating. You don’t have to put it like that....”

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Right? So I can lock her up tomorrow, yeah?

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: I’ll trap her in the room with only internet access and feed her pineapple pizza three times a day

“Senpai, if that’s the plan, I’ll just go lock her up myself tonight.”

— Damn LOL

— Genius, absolute genius

— Ena, are you a genius or what?

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: Hey!

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: There’s a limit to how much you can milk a setup!!

— LOLOLOLOLOL

— She basically gave her all the hints herself

— She’s spoon-feeding her the whole act lmao

— Tsk tsk, Maru, just take the L

It had gone back and forth for a while.

But the longer the exchange dragged on, the clearer the winner became.

And surprisingly, the one with the overwhelming lead was Ena—until Magia threw cold water on the whole thing.

“Sorry to cut in, but the CEO guaranteed I have the right to clock out and go home....”

And she said it while using Momo—who wasn’t even in the stream—as an excuse.

“If I get locked up, I’ll just use my CEO phone-a-friend card to escape.”

Suddenly, Momo scores one win out of nowhere.

It was as if Magia were saying neither Ena nor Maru could truly win this battle.

— Damn

— As expected of the CEO’s favorite

— The ones who told the old lady to leave better get banned

— Everyone agrees, she’s the cutest "30-year-old burden"

— Come onnn, she’s not even thirty

— “Burden” is kinda accurate though lol

But really, all Magia had done was rebalance the fight before it tipped too far in one direction.

Ena, in fact, showed no signs of backing down.

“Well... yeah. Maybe locking you up was a bit much. But you remember our bet, right? If I win, you’re sleeping over at my place.”

“That’s fine—it’s a bet. I’m just saying I don’t like being held against my will.”

Maru, too, picked up the pass from Mugeon and made her exit gracefully.

:: Mugeon has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: Honestly, Maru should stop worrying about locking her up and start figuring out how to beat Gia in a bet instead ::

— For real lmao

— Only way she’s staying the night is if you win

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: You two better keep it clean

— 🗡Nezumi Maru: I’ll be watching while brainstorming ideas

— LOLLLLL

— Marba

— Marba

— Take care now~

*

A temporary ceasefire in the war over Magia.

Do-hee, who’d been watching everything unfold, couldn’t help but chuckle.

“...They don’t even need my help. They’ve got it down.”

She’d been wondering if she’d have to jump into the chat herself if Magia hadn’t stepped in just now.

Even if Magia was doing a stream collab from Ena’s place...

If things skewed too far against Maru, it would kill the fun for the fans who rooted for the Maru-Gia pairing.

Parallel’s internal love triangle drama had to be viewed as a kind of harem rom-com, with Magia at the center.

To make it entertaining, every “heroine” had to maintain an equal-ish relationship with the protagonist.

Sure, sometimes one would pull ahead or fall behind, but nobody should ever get completely eliminated—or score a clean win.

In short, Magia had to keep standing at the center of the bit, constantly adjusting the balance between the three of them.

‘The provocation felt a little much at first, but she pulled it off, and now she’s spinning the fallout like a pro...’

Looking back, during that cooking showdown, the reason Cheon Do-hee had tried to make herself the center of the harem was exactly this.

She was the only one within Parallel who could steer the bit herself—that was her mix of confidence and responsibility.

But once Ena shifted the narrative with her choices, Magia naturally took over as the protagonist.

Do-hee didn’t like forcing a story against its flow, so she willingly handed Magia the reins.

She’d been watching, feeling a mix of hope and worry—

But Magia was unfolding the story so smoothly, it was like she was saying: don’t worry. I got this.

[ (🔴Live) Tangling with Gia ] 👪25,251

#Parallel #Nearby #Ena #Magia

‘It’s been two weeks since the cooking showdown, and we’re still getting numbers like this...’

Back then, the peak viewership hit 58,000—largely thanks to the hype surrounding the newly debuted second-gens.

If you factor that in, it means the anticipation around the roleplay centered on Magia is still about the same now as it was then.

Usually, content gets the most attention at the start, then slowly fades as the series goes on. But here?

People are still tuning in live, eager to see where the story goes next.

If you include all the latecomers catching up via forums and community posts, the total number’s even higher.

Will Magia betray Momo and choose someone else?

Will Maru and Ena succeed in challenging Momo?

And if that happens... how will Momo react?

There’s just too much to look forward to.

And naturally, all of this will trickle down to benefit the second-gens as well.

Anyone seriously invested will hang onto Ena’s every word—but Ena isn’t a solo act. She’s part of a group.

She regularly streams with her fellow debut-mates, and whenever they chat during those streams, today’s events inevitably come up.

Even if they’re not collabing, Miho or Orca might bring it up while interacting with fans on stream or browsing the fan café—and just like that, it becomes content. It spreads among fans and fuels the cycle.

Of course, Ena being good at playing along helps...

But the real reason she’s able to be this bold?

It all comes down to one thing: her belief that, even if she messes up, Magia will always find a way to smooth things over.

Responsibility.

That heavy word people rarely say out loud—Magia tosses it around constantly in front of her fellow Parallel members.

‘She’ll wrap it up somehow.’

Do-hee smiled to herself and moved to end the stream.

She had another work meeting in five minutes, after all.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Most of the team leads were still working overtime, herself included, and each of them was in the middle of a one-hour break (including dinner time).

“......”

But as always, actually turning off the stream was easier said than done.

[Hey! Stop poking me!]

[You keep using your body like a claw. That’s why I’m telling you to let go.]

[Never letting go. Magia can’t escape. You’re sleeping at my place!]

[Stop pushing me down with brute force...]

[Agh. Hrk. Khhh. Ahihihi!]

— Magia’s holding out strong LOL

— Just let Ena win already!!!!!

:: An anonymous user has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Look at the Ena x Gia shippers—won’t even let Magia clock out, jeez ::

:: An anonymous user has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Excuse me? Are you saying Ena’s some kind of evil villain trapping Magia at work?! ::

:: An anonymous user has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Like boss, like company, like talent. This whole team is a menace LOL ::

:: An anonymous user has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::

:: Hey now, Ena’s just exercising her sacred right, thank you very much ::

— Maru x Gia squad, assembleeeee

— Free Magia!!

— Can’t believe this chant is being used on Ena lol

— Free herrrrrrr

— No! Never letting go!!

— Protect Ena x Gia

— Why is the whole chat fighting proxy wars lmao

— What’s Momo even doing right now?!

This chaotic, all-in energy from the viewers only made the stream more addictive.

Even CEO Cheon Do-hee wasn’t immune.

She was dying to see what would happen next—

But of course, since it was Magia at the center, there was no guarantee of a next stream. At least Do-hee had a rough idea of Magia’s schedule.

The Slug Squad, Magia’s self-declared fanbase, had it worse.

They constantly pined for her streams, chanting her name across forums in collective longing.

“The Slug Squad’s just gonna keep growing, huh...”

But the Slug Squad would always suffer.

Because Magia never once wanted to become a VTuber herself.

Hoping for more only made it harder for them—but when it comes to oshi culture, it’s not like you can just choose to stop caring. It’s not that simple.

All Do-hee could do was make it easier for them to stay bound to Magia for as long as possible.

After all, the people Magia attracts are just slightly more refined versions of herself—

And those people? They hold serious sway in online communities.

That collective influence shapes trends.

And those trends keep the name “Parallel” echoing in people’s ears and minds.

‘I’ve made a VOD channel, there’s a dedicated Gia playlist on the official page... What else can I do...?’

Maybe merch?

What if they commemorated Magia’s growing harem with a group merch set that included her?

Magia was already a near-legendary free-use character in the doujin circles.

Because the official side wasn’t releasing anything, fans had no choice but to seek her out at fan events—

And the buzz in places like Z was already getting intense.

Especially the sets featuring Magia alongside first- or second-gen members.

Those were insanely popular.

The second-gens had only debuted a few days ago, but ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) already, tons of booths at next week’s doujin event were preparing to sell “second-gen + Magia” merch bundles.

Fans practically saw her as part of the second-gen lineup at this point—and the merch reflected that.

Even the previous hesitation in the doujin community about “Is it okay to make fan merch of a normal person?” was fading.

These days, the idea that “an office worker RP VTuber can exist too” was gaining traction.

And since Magia never told anyone to stop, the popular artist drawing the “Magia gets a debut” comic was already on chapter 25 of their hit series.

Honestly, that’s a potential moneymaker.

Wouldn’t it be a waste to just leave it alone?

But even the VOD channel and playlist were only made possible with Team Leader Ra Seunghyun’s help.

Now, Do-hee was racking her brain again.

How could she possibly convince Magia to let her face appear in official merch alongside the other members?

“Do I just drag her to the event myself...?”

They did live together, so it wasn’t impossible...

But even though Magia would do just about anything for Do-hee—

Dragging her out by force didn’t sit right.

Especially when the girl clearly wanted nothing more than to stay in and watch streams all weekend.

Trying to persuade her with words?

Not exactly a walk in the park.

“...Ah, look at me spacing out.”

Only one minute left until the meeting.

Do-hee decided to postpone her thoughts and quickly moved to shut down the Bbuzzijik app and get up.

That’s when Gia and Ena’s voices came through the speakers:

[I’m wiped out from the move...]

[You know, Gia? Letting go is the easier path.]

[No. Do you know what happens if I give up now?]

[What happens?]

[I become a traitor who ditches her oshi for some fresh-faced brat. I have to win to prove my purity.]

— Whoa

— So she’s been exploited for three years, huh...

— That’s not affection, that’s emotional violence LOL

— Do you like her or not, make up your mind LOL

Do-hee twitched a smile and muttered under her breath.

“This little...”

Here she was, worrying about how to gently persuade her—

How to be considerate...

And Magia just kept poking her like this on stream?

— 🗡Shirahoshi Momo: See you tomorrow :)

— She’s mad

— Yikes

— She’s pissed LOL

— Gasp

— The CEO is BIG mad

— Black Momo is going full Black Momo

— Ruuuunnnnnn