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

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …

[Predicting Wicker Town Season 2]
Momo and Maru starting lineup.
Using a special invitation from donations to bring in Dora and Rain.
Another two invitations are used to bring in Komari.
Just as people start whining, “Can’t Magia join too? Is it because she’s not a streamer?” someone unexpected gets invited.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(Magia_AnotherLogo_Edited.jpg)

WELCOME
PARALLEL, 1st, ANOTHER
The Fifth Member
MAGIA DERI

[Comments]
— Parallel282: I can’t keep up with the trends in this gallery anymore…
— Parallel355: When does this turn into a Temple Run meme? LOL
— Parallel834: Wait, was it even possible to invite Magia?
ㄴ Parallel741: It’s not impossible since she has over 5,000 followers.
ㄴ Parallel242: ? That’s only for the official channel, though, LOL.
ㄴ Parallel095: If Magia only streams there, doesn’t that technically make it her channel? Asking seriously, lol.
ㄴ Parallel910: As long as you draw a special invitation, anyone can join.
ㄴ Parallel910: Even some lazy bum scratching his belly at home could get in with a special ticket, lmao.
ㄴ Parallel452: Wouldn’t Wicker put a stop to that, though?
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Still as Stubborn as Ever]
People have been telling her to debut, to start streaming, but she just ignores it all.
Even Wicker himself, the biggest donor of Fast Click, outright called Magia a streamer and invited her to the server.

And yet, she’ll just join and pull the same old line—
"I’m not a streamer, I’m just here to promote the members."
And then a bunch of lesser-known streamers will get absolutely annihilated in comparison.
I can already see it happening.

[Comments]
— Parallel006: Yeah, I’ve seen all of Wicker Town Season 2 already.
— Parallel754: If she knows this much, why doesn’t she just start streaming?
ㄴ Parallel533 (OP): Hoehhh, I dunno anything about that~~
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

… ─ — Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ — …
[One Thing’s for Sure—There’s Gonna Be Chaos]
A suspiciously large wave of “informed viewers” is gonna flood in,
complaining, “Why did they invite someone who isn’t even a streamer?! This is unfair!”
You can already tell Fast Click and Wicker Gallery are going to go up in flames.
The funny part? Wicker Town Season 1 already had a few non-streamer celebrities who just liked gaming.
There’s no way to block a special invitation—it’s completely fair game.

I can already picture the moral police swinging their hammers wildly at nothing.
If you’re looking forward to the spectacle, hit that upvote. LOL.
[Comments]
— Parallel841: Why are you still not posting this?
— Parallel005: Upvoted for wisdom.
— Parallel472: Damn it, Wicker Town hasn’t even started yet and I already got spoiled just from reading this thread.

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …
***
The next day, as expected, Maru was summoned to the office right after finishing her cover song recording.

This was every member’s worst nightmare.
If you got called in person instead of just a phone call, it meant the CEO was truly pissed.
“You really pulled a big one this time, Seok Ye-won.”
“I’m sorry…”

She didn’t even get to hear her stage name—only her real one.
Maru had been involved in plenty of leaks before, but this time, the CEO made it clear she wasn’t getting off easy.
Now, you might be wondering, why the hell am I here?
Well, since it all happened while she was teaching me about 64 Cubics, I couldn’t just let her take the fall alone.

The small motion studio on the ninth floor doubled as a disciplinary room whenever the CEO needed to scold someone.
And just as I saw the boss storming out of her office, I quickly followed.
… Since I was here, I might as well make myself useful.
“Boss, don’t be too harsh on Maru. I could’ve stopped her, but I didn’t see this coming—”

The CEO cut me off mid-sentence.
“Stay out of this, Magia. Unless you’re taking responsibility for it.”
“…. You’re not actually expecting me to fix anything, but you’re still mad.”

The sharp glare she shot back could’ve killed a man.
It was a warning—"I’m playing the strict boss right now, don’t interfere."
I shrank back, letting her keep up her act.
Still, thanks to my interruption, her anger didn’t last too long.

“Sigh. You really know how to get under my skin. Why’d you even follow me here?”
“If you get too worked up, you’ll get wrinkles. Can’t have that, right?”
“Hey! I’m not that old yet!”

Maru, who had been sulking, let out a small laugh.
She quickly corrected her expression, afraid of getting another scolding.
Still, it was obvious her mood had lightened.
The CEO sighed and ruffled Maru’s hair.

“There’s a bit of drama in the community about ‘special treatment,’ but don’t worry. Nobody can stop a special invitation.
Besides, Wicker himself approved of Magia joining. This kind of attention grab is actually a good start, especially since we’re launching alongside Lapitz.”
Maru, relieved, chuckled—until the CEO suddenly gripped her head.
“How do you always manage to do exactly what I expect? If I hadn’t seen this coming, you’d be stuck in an hour-long meeting with me right now.”

“I’m sorry…”
“Just be more careful about leaks from now on. And since you brought this up, you better make sure to pull a special invitation for Magia. This is about trust now.”
It’s funny how even a casual comment from a streamer can trigger a butterfly effect.
One careless remark could suddenly become an undeniable fact.

And in just 24 hours, the fandom had already decided I was officially part of the event.
If they didn’t manage to get me in now, there’d be an uproar.
“Yes. I’ll make sure to invite Gia. I’m really sorry, boss…”

A veteran player could grind their way to a general invitation by working hard in the server for a month.
But to qualify, they needed at least 15 streaming days and 2,000 followers.
Since I didn’t meet the requirements, a special invitation was the only way I could join.
The problem?

A special invitation cost at least 10 million won—and if you were unlucky, two to three times that much.
Even if the CEO or Maru managed to get one, using it on me wouldn’t be so simple.
The members’ fans were watching closely.
If the special invitations were meant for Dora and Rain, and then suddenly Magia joined too…
The mood would shift real fast.

In short, Maru needed to get two special invitations.
One for her fellow first-gen, and one for me.
This translation is the intellectual property of .
That meant at least 20 million won.
And since gacha had no ceiling, the final cost was completely unpredictable.

Maru, staring blankly, must’ve been running the math in her head—and it wasn’t looking good.
Wicker’s 64 Cubics server was a wonderland packed with fun features.
But it was also full of brutal gacha mechanics.
For Maru, who loved this game more than anything, having to spend all her time rolling for tickets instead of actually playing…
That was a cruel punishment.

So I did something I wouldn’t have before.
I walked with her to the first floor, stopping by a food stall to buy her some fish cakes.
Back in the day, I wouldn’t have cared.
But when you oshi someone, looking out for their well-being comes with the job.

Maru hesitated before following me, grinning despite her worries.
“Ugh… my big mouth…”
“It’ll work out somehow.”

“I really hope so…”
As the bus carried Maru home, I pulled up my banking app.
Hmmm.

One, two, three… seven, eight zeros.
This was originally a savings account meant for donating to the CEO.
… Well, money can always be saved again.
And half of the donation would go to the company anyway.

Let’s call it an advance payment.
***
From that day on, I kept the members’ streams running in the background while grinding 64 Cubics for four hours a day.

The priority was, of course, getting the funds for a special invitation. But if I wanted to support the members in the server, I needed to back it up with actual skill.
So, day after day, I practiced.
By the third day, I had already outpaced my first attempt with Maru, where we had stalled in the Iron Age. This time, I pushed through and reached the Diamond tier in just four hours—starting from scratch.

And it wasn’t just about getting some diamonds and stopping there.
I scoured the underground of the starting zone, Green World, and managed to collect four full diamond sets. Then, to advance to the next tech tree, I ventured into the Red World—a hellscape filled with lava and even deadlier monsters.
In between, I pestered Maru with questions and picked up enchanting. Boosting my mining speed and efficiency turned out to be key in speeding up progress.

Even dealing with basic survival got easier. Instead of constantly returning to the surface for food and water, I adapted—relying on Skull Water and Rotten Meat from monsters to sustain myself.
Sure, consuming Skull Water and Rotten Meat drained my health, but it never dropped below a sliver. As long as I dodged arrows, blocked attacks, killed enemies, and replenished my health with the same meat that had poisoned me, I could survive indefinitely underground.
It was a high-risk, high-reward strategy, but my mining efficiency skyrocketed.

At the very least, no one could call me a 64 Cubics noob anymore.
The Opening Day of the Wicker Server
Leaving the monitoring duties to Seung-yeon for the day, I settled into the private streaming booth on the ninth floor.

[Nezumi Maru / NEZUMI MARU]
Parallel 1st Gen, 🎙 Singing Hedgehog Nezumi Maru 🎶
🔴 Live: Feels Like Coming Home (Wicker Town Season 2)
👪 Viewers: 7,548
#64Cubics #Maru #Parallel

Since the Wicker Town starting lineup was limited to just twenty people, the audience turnout was unusually high.
Whether it was the limited slots or the usual wave of drifters who followed server openings, both Maru and the CEO were pulling in higher-than-normal viewership today.
— API sync when? API sync when? API sync when? API sync when? API sync when?
— I need to donate! Ahh! I need to donate! Ahh! I need to donate!
— My clouds are piling up, my dude.
— Sync! Sync! Sync! Sync! Sync! Sync! Sync!
— Wicker! Hurry up with the sync!

The chat was practically frothing at the mouth, waiting for their donations to be converted into in-game currency.
It was always like this in the first few minutes of a new season.
Maru was trying her best to calm them down by reading the tutorial, but there was only so much one person could do.

Thankfully, Wicker had put in extra effort to streamline the early-game experience this season.
Just ten minutes later, the API sync was ready.
[Whisper] Wicker: Maru, your API sync is complete.
[Whisper] Wicker: Have fun in Season 2! ^^b
[Whisper] Me: Thank you!!!
— IT'S TIME!
— LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
— Stuffing my coins into Maru's donation bowl right now!!

And just like that, the floodgates opened.
I entered 50,000 won into my preloaded donation screen.
Dropping the full 10 million at once would probably get me a smack on the head from the CEO, so I decided to split it into smaller amounts and mix up the donation messages to avoid suspicion.

The first one?
"Let's hit Rank #1 in Season 2 with a hidden class! Let's gooo!"
It sounded just like something a regular, long-time fan would send.

But while I was busy crafting the perfect donation strategy—
BA-BA-BAAM!
[SERVER ANNOUNCEMENT]
Maru has received 1,000,000 Clouds and has ASCENDED!

Out of nowhere, Maru was yeeted into the stratosphere.
She had just been hit with a 1-million-won donation—the server’s max donation limit per transaction—triggering the Ascension Event, which launched her straight into the sky.
[AAAAAAAAAAAH—!!]

[SERVER ANNOUNCEMENT]
The falling Maru had no wings…
[Global Chat]
— Movgun: LMAO congrats.
— Ronze: ㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊ
— Serena: Whoa, congrats Maru! ㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊㅊ
At first, it seemed like a typical high-roller moment.
Everyone just assumed some rich fan had arrived.

But then…
People saw who sent the donation.
:: Pino has donated 1,000,000 Clouds! ::
:: 1 ::

PINO.
The legendary procrastinator. The infamous Live2D rigger.
A.k.a. the guy who disappears when deadlines approach.

And now, for some reason, he was here.
— ???
— What the hell? Is this the real Pino?
— ?
— Why is Pino, of all people, stepping into the Big Spender’s domain?
If that had been the end of it, it would’ve just been a funny moment.

But then—
:: Pino has donated 1,000,000 Clouds! ::
:: 2 ::
:: Pino has donated 1,000,000 Clouds! ::
:: 3 ::

:: Pino has donated 1,000,000 Clouds! ::
:: 4 ::
Maru wasn’t just falling anymore.
She was permanently airborne.

Her screams were practically looping as she got launched higher and higher into the sky.
[No, Pino! Stop! How high am I going—?! KYAAAAAH!!]