I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work-Chapter 141

Nudge.

Originally, it was a word that meant a slight push or poke with the elbow.

However, as it evolved into an economic term, its meaning shifted slightly.

It now refers to a method of gently guiding choices without coercion.

A classic marketing strategy involves placing products naturally within a hesitant customer's line of sight and highlighting their advantages to encourage selection.

For public campaigns, an example would be the flies drawn on urinals to promote cleanliness.

When executed properly, this strategy can be highly effective.

Game packages provided for free to streamers are also a form of nudge marketing.

The probability might be low, but if a streamer, having received a free game, decides to give it a try and then gets completely engrossed in it for hours on stream—

The viewers watching that streamer would inevitably become intrigued and feel a strong urge to purchase the game.

"Huh? The more I watch, the more interesting it gets."

Of course, when this method is applied on a broad scale, the success rate drops, but the sheer volume of attempts makes up for it.

However, if it's targeting a single person, significant effort is required.

And when it comes to persuading someone as skeptical and difficult as Magia, even more effort is needed.

Depending on timing and psychological factors, what was intended as a simple suggestion could trigger resistance instead.

In other words, without employing psychology and statistics and spending a long time meticulously strategizing, achieving the goal would be impossible.

That was precisely why Team Leader Ra Seunghyun had worked through the entire weekend.

“Hmm... Team Leader. But do we really need to prepare this thoroughly?”

“Do you think I’d be doing this if it wasn’t necessary? You all go ahead and leave. I’m expecting another all-nighter today.”

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

“If you don’t leave now, when else will you get the chance for a clean exit? Go when I tell you to.”

“Understood. Then, see you tomorrow.”

The first thing Team Leader Ra Seunghyun considered was time and place.

A late hour, long past regular working hours.

And right in front of the elevator, where one could feel a sense of solidarity—"Oh, you're just now heading home too?"

***

6 PM.

While it's officially time for everyone to leave work, half of Parallel's employees don’t.

Who stays depends on how tasks are distributed at any given moment.

But there is always one name on the list—Magia.

Lately, with preparations for the second-generation talents’ debut, her work schedule has settled into an 8 AM to 6 PM routine.

But on Mondays, she always stays late at the office.

She spends that time discussing and reviewing summary reports on the previous and current week's streams with her junior, Seung-yeon.

She essentially piles all her responsibilities as a team leader onto Mondays.

How does Magia look while working?

Seung-yeon’s words paint a clear picture.

“She’s incredibly enthusiastic. She even makes decisions for the parts I struggle with in my reports on the spot. Honestly, I’d say she looks pretty cool then.

Meetings fly by like lightning, and by the time they're done, everything is neatly wrapped up.”

It might be exaggerated due to her admiration for her mentor, but the point stands.

Magia ensures the work gets done efficiently—

Because she wants to get home as soon as possible.

Why? To watch VTuber streams.

“Oh, when she gets home, she starts by watching the clip compilation I prepared for her. Then, she goes through each of the fourth-generation streams one by one.”

The "fourth-generation" here refers to the new batch of VTubers under VachuVachu KR, who debuted in early March.

Their launch was aggressively promoted beforehand, and they had the backing of first- to third-generation seniors, half of whom had already surpassed two million subscribers.

So, despite being only three months into their debut, they were already approaching 500,000 subscribers.

Compared to Parallel’s first-generation members, who took a year and a half to surpass 500,000, the difference was staggering.

Why was Magia so fixated on these fourth-generation VTubers?

Partly because they were newcomers, but more importantly, because she wanted to get a clear picture of the rookies from the top Korean VTuber company.

After all, in just a few months, Parallel’s second-generation talents would debut.

For benchmarking and differentiation, she had to thoroughly analyze the competition in advance.

If concepts or settings overlapped, it would be a hassle, so related reports were regularly submitted to the CEO.

Team Leader Ra Seunghyun knew about this because it was originally the Planning Team’s responsibility.

Some might wonder why the work was being done separately from both ends.

The answer lay in perspective.

The Planning Team had both VTuber fans and non-fans.

Even Ra Seunghyun himself only became a fan after joining the company, and his tastes were quite specific.

So outside of the streams he genuinely enjoyed, everything else felt like work to him.

Magia, on the other hand, was a lunatic who actively engaged with every single stream.

It might not seem like much, but that small difference made a significant impact on the reports.

That was why the dual-report system between the Planning Team and Magia remained in place.

With that mutual understanding in mind, Ra Seunghyun chose to subtly plant his suggestion through conversation with Magia.

After observing her routine, he saw that she was getting ready to leave.

The moment he heard the office’s front door open, he pressed the elevator button and waited.

As Magia stepped in beside him, she was the first to speak.

“Heading home?”

“You too? You’re working late today.”

“I got into the habit of staying on Mondays to help Seung-yeon.”

“Seung-yeon must be lucky. I’m always so busy I barely have time for my own team.”

Magia looked up at him and said,

“Yet, despite that, no one in the Planning Team has quit in years. Maybe you’re just saying that, but in reality, you manage things pretty well.”

“You’ve got a way with words. What are you trying to get out of flattering me? You want to transfer to my team?”

“No way....”

“Why do you sound so against the idea?”

Ra Seunghyun chuckled and got to the point.

“You’ve been leaving work earlier on other days except Monday. Is it because you got stuck in the CEO’s office after collapsing?”

Magia nodded.

“Well, it’s not like I’m just resting when I go home.”

“I mean, watching streams is part of our job, so technically, shouldn’t the hours we spend at home watching count as work?”

At that, Magia quickly turned her head to check if anyone was behind them before muttering,

“Please don’t say things like that in front of the CFO or the HR director. Otherwise, they’ll start monitoring what we do at home too.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve been less diligent with your work.”

“I have zero sympathy for someone who works just as much overtime as I do.”

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

The atmosphere was light.

Both of them had an unspoken understanding—they were people who worked themselves to exhaustion to achieve results.

“You’ve been watching VachuVachu’s fourth-generation streams at home, right?”

Magia blankly stared at Ra Seunghyun.

It was her silent way of asking how he knew.

“I’ve been watching them too. For benchmarking.”

“Oh.”

"Honestly, the team members can get by just watching streams at work, but for me, that’s not enough. I have to watch at home too, or I’d never keep up."

Ding. The elevator arrived.

Since it was well past quitting time, the elevator was empty as the two stepped inside.

As the doors closed, Magia spoke again.

"I agree. I practically live on YouTube and Pazijik all day, but I still wish there were 48 hours in a day."

"We're both completely obsessed with work. But honestly, I don’t think I can stop until we reach the top of the industry."

Hearing that, Magia let out a small chuckle.

"Exactly. There’s no way we can stop until we surpass VachuVachu."

"Oh? We actually see eye to eye? I couldn’t agree more. Until we take down that giant dinosaur, I won’t be able to sleep soundly at night."

Magia looked up at Ra Seunghyun, her gaze slightly concerned.

"I know how ambitious you are, Team Leader. But still, you’re getting older, and you should take care of your family—"

"You’re not taking a dig at me for being a single workaholic, are you?"

"Huh? Wait, you're not married?"

"You didn’t know? Then I’ll let that one slide."

Ra Seunghyun chuckled before continuing.

"Age doesn’t matter when it comes to work. Think about your favorite VTuber doing a 500K subscriber endurance stream—what do you call that?"

"An endurance °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° broadcast."

"Right. Now imagine they start it, but they don’t reach the goal and it drags on forever. How do you think that feels?"

"No one sleeps. Neither the streamer nor the viewers."

"Exactly, that’s what it’s like."

Ra Seunghyun took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I went to elite schools from elementary to university. I was always at the top of my class, constantly competing with another insufferable kid for first place. Even in college, I was told, ‘Why is a rich kid like you so desperate for scholarships?’ And yet I worked my ass off to get them. I joined Sangsang because it was the number one company in the country. And once I got in, I dedicated everything to making it number one in the industry, number one in revenue."

Magia knew bits and pieces of this.

But the one thing she never understood was why someone like her chose Parallel.

It was a secret only known to three people—the CEO, Ra Seunghyun, and the CFO, who handled HR before the new HR director joined.

So Magia never expected that mystery to be solved tonight.

"But after doing all that, I realized I wasn’t having fun anymore. It felt like nothing would change even if I went higher."

"...?"

"In technical terms, I hit a reality check. I love climbing to greater heights, but once I settled at the top and found stability, I got bored. And because the company was so damn big, even when my work was recognized, it never really felt like I had accomplished something. Of course, teamwork is important in any company, but still—I wanted to feel like I had personally made an impact."

They had stepped out of the elevator, but Magia didn’t immediately say her goodbyes and walk off like usual.

She was still absorbed in Ra Seunghyun’s words.

"You want to hear more? Should we move somewhere else?"

It was drizzling outside.

Even though it was late May, the air was oddly chilly—just the right weather for a warm drink.

"Sure. Let’s do that."

The conversation continued at a nearby café.

"I spent my time off thinking about what I should do next. What could give me that same rush of rising up again?"

"...And you decided Parallel was the partner you’d soar with?"

"Exactly. I was casually watching online streams and came across our CEO. I happened to get lucky and ended up in a counseling chat with her.

Then she said, ‘Someday, I’m going to start my own company.’

I didn’t know much about this industry, but I studied up and applied. And I got in."

"I see. That explains a lot."

"So my goal is simple—climb to the top and make us number one in the industry. I’ve lived my whole life like that, and anything less than first place doesn’t satisfy me."

Magia shrugged.

"Then you must be pretty happy these days. The company’s growth rate is impressive."

"It’s the most fun I’ve had in a while. Seeing those numbers spike gives me the biggest rush. It’s like watering green onions at home and watching them grow overnight."

"Mhm."

The atmosphere grew deeper.

A classic case of rapport forming.

Now was the perfect timing.

Ra Seunghyun leaned in slightly.

"But you know, I recently realized something."

"What is it?"

"Every time our metrics surged, there was a pattern. I had to analyze it to apply it to future plans and help us leap ahead. And?"

"And?"

"The common factor... was you."

"?"

"Don’t give me that look. I’m serious. Once is a coincidence. But when it happens three, four times, it’s no longer just luck."

Magia tilted her head slightly, still skeptical.

She couldn’t fully deny it, though.

No matter how much she doubted herself, people like Cheon Do-hee kept insisting that every single success was her doing.

It was starting to shake her confidence.

And besides, Ra Seunghyun was someone she had acknowledged as a marketing genius.

His achievements at Sangsang didn’t just disappear, and even in a completely different industry like Parallel, he was showing outstanding results.

"So, here’s my proposal. Would it be alright if I included you in collaboration planning for the members whenever an opportunity arises?"

Coming from him, the weight of those words was heavy.

And besides, Magia was always fine with anything that helped the company grow.

She had already been working behind the scenes to make sure the members shined.

Hadn’t she been actively participating in various broadcasts for that very reason?

So instead of asking, ‘Why me?’ she asked—

"How often?"

"Two to four times a month, depending on the situation."

"As long as I’m not the focus, anything’s fine. You know our idols are the face of the company, not me."

"I fully agree. The spotlight will always be on the first-generation members. But like with Wicker Town, sometimes there will be content where you need to participate with them. It’d be awkward to leave you out."

"That’s true."

"In those cases, we’ll find ways to make the members stand out more. You can suggest ideas freely, just like you always do. I’ll take full responsibility."

"Hmm."

A long hum, not an outright rejection.

Ra Seunghyun was now fairly certain he had succeeded in persuading her.

He delivered the final blow.

"I’m sure of one thing. If we, who’ve been busy with our own work, finally combine our strengths properly, we’ll take down VachuVachu even faster. What do you think?"

Magia hesitated briefly. Then, she nodded and extended her hand.

A handshake—her agreement.

"That’s all fine, but... we have to get the CEO’s approval first, right?"

***

That night.

Cheon Do-hee received a proposal from Movgun.

"You’re asking if we want to participate in the summer MCN tournament?"

[Not forcing you, just saying it’s an option. It’s an official event between Pazijik and the Battle Call developers, and pretty much every major MCN in the country is joining. VachuVachu and Lapits are confirmed too.]

"I know that. But we need to form two teams with our affiliated VTubers."

[You have exactly six people—You, the first-gen members, and Magia. That makes six, right?]

"I can join, sure. But Magia isn’t an affiliated VTuber."

[Oh, right. I counted her as one by accident. My bad. Guess that’s a no-go then. Shame, though.]

"...."

[But from what I heard, the rules don’t require participants to be debuting VTubers. They just need to be officially affiliated with the company. But you wouldn’t want to send her employment certificate to the organizers, right? That’d basically be handing over her personal info for no reason.]

"Exactly."

Movgun then made a suggestion.

And it hit exactly where Cheon Do-hee had been itching.

Visit freewёbnoνel.com for the best novel reading experience.

[Why not just add Magia to your official website’s talent page? Just slip her in at the bottom under staff. Wouldn’t that solve everything?]

It would officially confirm Magia as a company member while making it clear she wasn’t in the same category as the affiliated idols.

Before, they avoided doing something like that since it could fuel unnecessary conspiracy theories.

But at this point, Magia had already been involved in so many controversies that doing it now would actually help clear things up.

"That’s surprisingly a decent idea coming from you."

[Why does that not sound like a compliment...? Anyway, people have been speculating about Magia graduating or transferring to another agency. Wouldn’t this put all that to rest?]

"But this is only relevant if she actually agrees to participate in the tournament."

Cheon Do-hee was worried because Magia never liked joining anything on equal footing with the members.

Even for Wicker Town, it had taken a lot of persuasion.

And for the Combative tournament, she had only agreed because she was competing solo.

But a team tournament?

And on top of that, Movgun’s idea?

The persuasion was going to be a nightmare.

However, the next morning, when Magia came to the CEO’s office and heard the news—

She gave her answer without hesitation.

"Sure. I’ll join."