[Me: MugeonIsAWell-KnownMomoAnti]

    [Boss: Hey.]

    [Me: Haha, just kidding~]

    [Boss: Take this seriously.]

    [Boss: This isn’t something you should treat lightly.]

    [Me: Ugh.]

    [Me: Are you threatening me?]

    The sudden turn of events had clearly made the boss uneasy.

    So, I tacked on a more official reason—promoting the first-gen anniversary song—to ease her concerns.

    But honestly, I had another reason for wanting to meet Mugeon.

    Finally, I get to see him.

    I am, first and foremost, a true broth fan of Boss Momo.

    A fossil, a living archive, someone who has been watching her streams for six whole years.

    Which meant I clearly remembered how, after I got too busy with work and half-quit being a stream sniper, Mugeon and the boss started getting all chummy in their games.

    Sure, Mugeon’s former pro status had given Momo another major popularity boost.

    I understood that.

    It made sense from a business standpoint.

    That’s just how streaming worked.

    But still—

    Even so—

    Wasn’t he being way too familiar with her?

    Magia and Do-hee hadn’t even exchanged casual insults with each other yet.

    They weren’t that close.

    And yet, this guy—

    "You’ll never get out of Gold if you keep playing like that."

    "You say you want to rank up, but your attitude is trash."

    Excuse me?

    That kind of thing—

    That’s my line.

    I’m the only one allowed to talk shit about the boss.

    I was there from the very beginning.

    Subscriber ID-wise, I’m literally number 369.

    Meanwhile, this newbie rolled in at 692,333—he’s a baby.

    And yet he had the audacity to disrespect his elders?

    I had always planned to put him in his place.

    Yes, he was a former pro.

    Yes, even two years into retirement, he was still holding his ground in high Master rank.

    And yes, I’d never ranked higher than Diamond as a mere stream sniper.

    But.

    I was sure I could at least land a single kill on him in a match.

    Smoke grenades.

    Double barrels.

    Close-range chaos.

    That’s my specialty.

    Even a pro would struggle to react in time if I got in their face.

    The moment he hesitated, I’d take him down.

    And then?

    I’d laugh and call him a washed-up scrub.

    Washed-up Mugeon! Beneath Signal Flare, Mugeon!

    ...Oops.

    I got a little too excited.

    Anyway, first, I needed to finish the task the boss had given me.

    Whenever it came to Mugeon, I just—

    [Me: I decided.]

    [Me: Parallel1stGenNewSong1105CheckItOut]

    [Boss: ?]

    [Boss: Where’s the ‘Release’ part?]

    [Me: It didn’t fit, lol.]

    [Boss: (Facepalm emoji)]

    ***

    I dug up one of my mostly inactive alt accounts and changed its username to “1stGen1YearSongNov05”.

    I didn’t include Parallel in the name.

    For one, the 12-character limit was already maxed out.

    For another, everyone would know it was me the moment I appeared anyway.

    So far, everything was going according to plan.

    That was, until Dora showed up with unexpected news just three days later.

    [Dora: Boss, I sent over the rough character sheet. Take a look~]

    “Oh, I see the email. Hang on.”

    She called it rough, but it was practically finished—just a few more details away from completion.

    At most, it needed another day or two of work.

    “...Did you even sleep?”

    [Dora: Sleep? I got at least four hours a day.]

    “Four hours is nothing. And even if you did sleep, this is insanely fast.”

    Dora snorted, sounding smug.

    [I dunno, inspiration just hit me. Like, boom! I got all these ideas and couldn’t stop drawing! That’s how creativity works, y’know? It’s like a lightbulb moment, and then shshshshsh—art happens.]

    Her explanation was all over the place, but the meaning was clear.

    But lately, she had been coming in earlier and earlier.

    And, as usual, the moment she arrived, she made a beeline for the coffee machine before heading to Do-hee’s office.

    “Boss. Morning coffee.”

    All because she was still giddy about their upcoming PC cafe? visit.

    She grinned ear to ear as if she had just won a jackpot.

    “I already had lunch, you know.”

    “But I just woke up, so it’s morning for me.”

    “...Fair enough.”

    Do-hee took the coffee and sipped it.

    Same strength as always. Same warmth.

    Just hot enough to drink without burning her tongue.

    Smiling slightly, Do-hee asked, “Hey, if you were to pick your own replacement, what kind of person would you want?”

    Magia tilted her head.

    “A replacement? Out of nowhere?”

    “You’re getting busier. Isn’t it time we hire someone under you?”

    “Huh? But I’m fine as is.”

    She said that—

    But she was working from 3 PM to midnight, then monitoring streams at home until 5 or 6 AM.

    On top of that, she was helping the talents, making occasional stream appearances, and handling all sorts of internal tasks.

    If that wasn’t overwork, then what was?

    It wasn’t just watching streams.

    She compiled detailed reports—donation trends, viewer count fluctuations, popular discussion topics, upcoming plans, everything.

    Every night, she sent out massive Word documents filled with analysis before finally going to bed.

    If her workload doubled, she’d have to give up gaming.

    She’d have to give up her secret late-night VTuber marathons.

    And with the second-gen talents debuting soon, she’d be monitoring eight streams at once.

    She wasn’t a spider.

    Or an AI.

    “You do realize that when we start recruiting second-gen in December, you’ll be handling them too, right? Four members turning into eight means twice the work.”

    “Well, yeah, but can’t we just figure it out then?”

    “If businesses worked like that, everyone would be running one. You have to plan ahead so things don’t fall apart later.”

    “The HR manager already approved adding another position. Just think about the kind of person you’d want to work under you. That way, we can evaluate candidates properly.”

    Magia didn’t seem fully convinced.

    Even when Do-hee stared at her expectantly, she only pouted.

    “...Nope. You need to have your ideal junior written up by tomorrow.”

    “Tch. You’re giving me a deadline out of nowhere?”

    “No complaints. One A4 page, 16-point font, in full detail. Got it?”

    “Ugggh, fiiiiine.”

    Grumbling, Magia left the office.

    It felt a little forceful, but there was no other choice.

    If someone like Magia collapsed from overwork, her recovery would take way longer than the average person.

    And the fallout?

    The Operations Team Leader and Do-hee would have a nightmare trying to cover for her.

    Whoever took over her tasks would probably panic.

    "You expect me to do all of this alone?!"

    ***

    The Next Morning

    Momo received an email.

    Sender: Magia

    Attached was a single-page document filled with tiny, packed text.

    “The Junior Employee I Want”

    Must have enough passion to watch every live stream of every member daily.Must be capable of watching all streams simultaneously.Following from the above: Multitasking is extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely important.Must be familiar with every slang term and meme used in all the members’ streams, as well as industry-specific language from both Crunchy Static and Savannah.Must have full knowledge of all broadcasting equipment and how to troubleshoot common issues (sound cards, audio interfaces, capture boards, motion capture equipment...).Must be an expert at PC assembly and repair (bonus points for deep understanding of CPUs, motherboards, RAM, GPUs, etc.).Must have complete proficiency in all streaming software used by members.Must have troll experience.Must have played at least 200 games on Steam and at least 20 online games for more than a month each.Must be female. (Important.)

    ...

    ...

    ...

    At first glance, it almost looked like a silent protest demanding a salary raise.

    But it wasn’t.

    Her salary had been frozen at 2.5 million won for three years—because she had outright refused an increase.

    "I’m already grateful to be getting this much just for watching streams," she had said.

    So, this document wasn’t a complaint.

    It was a request to hire someone who could do her job exactly as she did.

    But honestly, if there were two Magias in the world, Do-hee would’ve hired the second one ages ago.

    “...‘Troll experience is a must’? What the hell...?”

    There was no choice.

    Do-hee immediately sent her a message.

    [Me: Miss Magia.]

    [Me: You’re not supposed to list all your own tasks.]

    [Me: Just write what you actually need help with.]

    [Me: I’ll give you until tomorrow. Try again.]