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

Going back a little, right before the game started.

Right after inviting Magia, Maru was buzzing with excitement.

"Hoo… Finally, we’re playing together…!"

She had been watching other members collab with Magia, waiting for the perfect chance to invite her, but the opportunity never seemed to come due to their completely different gaming preferences.

Maru’s favorite game, 64 Cubix, was all about mining, building, and automating block structures.
It took at least two to three days just to get used to playing it together, making it hard to invite someone casually.
Most of her other games were single-player puzzle games, making co-op gameplay even more difficult.

And then, the first-anniversary concert took over.
While other members saw their chance and grabbed Magia for collabs, Maru just watched and sighed.

At the core of it, though, it was Maru’s own fault.
She had been waiting for a "natural" moment instead of just asking directly.
She was the most mature of the members, someone who didn’t want to bother busy people, so she just kept pushing it back over and over again.

But then—the perfect news dropped.
Magia had taken another week off, making it two weeks in a row.

According to Kang Ji-ho, it was because Magia had been sick.
But since she had already recovered before the pre-festival event,
this week’s "sick leave" was just for extra rest and hospital checkups.

So the moment a spot opened in the I’m Wolf group collab,
Maru ran straight to Magia.

She thought she might get rejected.
But instead—

"Ah, sure. I’ll go. When does it start?"

An instant yes.

Maru had to force herself to lower her voice from excitement.

She immediately reported to Ronze, the host of the collab.

And while waiting, her mind ran wild with simulations of how they’d play together.

'If she struggles, I’ll DM her to help… If we both roll Werewolves, I’ll carry her to victory…'

And—
She planned to finally drop formal speech.

How long were they going to keep calling each other "nim" like they were strangers?
They had known each other for nearly a year already.

Granted, their only real interactions were during equipment setups, routine broadcast checkups, and late-night emergency fixes.
But still—they were the same age.
They could afford to be a little closer.

But since Maru valued natural conversations, she didn’t want to just force it like,
"From now on, let’s drop formalities!"

If she was going to say it,
she wanted to have a real bond first.

And the best scenario for that?
Rolling Werewolves together.

Only two out of twelve players were assigned the role,
making teamwork absolutely critical.

They could strategize together, support each other, and naturally build camaraderie.

But Maru’s dream shattered before the game even started.

[I watched the entire Parallel pre-festival stream from start to finish! I’m a huge fan of Gia-nim!]

[Thanks to her, I pulled off a surprise strategy in my tournament! That one win saved my team from getting eliminated in playoffs this year.]

Magia’s popularity exploded.

Sure, before Magia arrived, the conversation naturally flowed between Maru and Komari, leading to talks about the pre-festival event.
And naturally, Magia became a topic.

But Maru never expected it to be this intense.

Magia was a rare Pokémon, but she wasn’t even a streamer.
Shouldn’t they be a little more chill about it?

Instead, it was like everyone had a Pokéball in hand, chasing her down.
Everyone wanted a piece of the YouTube content pie.