Dora quickly devoured two steaks, leaving the accompanying salad and vegetables untouched, and promptly stashed them in the refrigerator.
Only then did the peppermint tea I had bought earlier emerge from the freezer to soothe Dora’s throat.
“Ahh, it’s perfectly cold. I’m full, refreshed, and feeling great!”
I held out a pizza topped with vibrant, appetizing fruit slices to Dora and asked,
“Are you sure you won’t have even one slice?”
“I eat food, not bizarre concoctions. Hehe.”
“It’s actually really good.”
As I was busily chewing and swallowing my second slice of pizza, Dora, perhaps waiting for me to finish my slow meal, wandered over and sprawled on the plush cushion in the living room.
“Look at this, Jiya. I feel like my stomach’s about to burst.”
She patted her round, full stomach like a drum. Sprawled out so defenselessly, she looked every bit the fool satisfied from overeating.
But her height 171 cm is formidable. Compared to me, now 140 cm, the difference is more than an entire head.
She might be giggling foolishly with a full belly now, but Dora is a predator as dangerous as her “Red Dragon” broadcasting moniker suggests.
Why did the boss replace me with our highly paid team leader in the monitoring room?
Because if Dora gets hold of me, I won’t be able to escape her grip.
“Don’t lie down too much. You’ll fall asleep. Time to get ready for the broadcast.”
Dora sprang up and sat across from me, grinning widely.
“I’ll get ready when you’re done eating.”
“Running late again?”
“I’m not late! We still have 30 minutes until the broadcast starts!”
“You should prepare early to avoid equipment issues.”
“Ugh, the equipment doesn’t break because of a lack of preparation!”
She was huffing, but the way she kept licking her lips made it seem like there was something on her mind.
“If you have something to say, go ahead. If you need help, let me know. After I finish eating, of course.”
As if she’d been waiting for permission, Dora leaned over the table, propping her chest and elbows on it, and moved her face closer to mine.
“Can’t you join me for a horror game stream…?”
Her smug expression instantly turned pitiful, as if she might cry if I refused.
At least she didn’t suggest putting me on her lap like Komari does. Nor did she suddenly grab me in a panic.
It seemed she still felt a bit of distance between us, despite her friendly attitude.
But Dora is infamous as the “Hug Demon” among our first-gen group.
From tiny Komari to Maru and even Rain, no one escapes Dora’s enthusiastic hugs.
While she’s a bit more reserved in public, the stories from our group suggest she’s always glued to someone when visiting colleagues’ homes.
If she really saw me as a peer, she probably would’ve just scooped me up and dragged me into the soundproof booth by now.
This lingering distance between us isn’t bad, though.
After all, I’m here to work, not to make friends.
“I can stay with you, but I’m not sure how much help I’ll be for your broadcast.”
“That’s more than enough….”
Impressed once again by the boss’s foresight in assigning my tasks to the team leader, I agreed to Dora’s request.
I nodded in agreement.
“Alright. I’ll finish eating, and we’ll go together.”
“Yay!”
Dora, whose face had been pale just moments ago, nodded so quickly it was a blur. Blood returned to her cheeks, making her look like someone brought back from the brink.
“But, um, Jiya, are you okay? Komari doesn’t scare easily, so it was fine for her, but… this is a horror game, you know….”
The game we’d be playing today, Pandemic Village, was a survival horror game where players are equipped with weapons to fight enemies. The monsters jump out to startle you, but ultimately, they’re beatable foes.
Since I enjoy FPS games, I don’t consider survival horror to be truly scary.
I mean, I’ve got a gun?
I can kill the enemy?
If I can just shoot everything I see, what’s there to be scared of?
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her.
A little later, I borrowed a guest chair and sat next to Dora. Watching her prepare for the broadcast, I was impressed by how calmly she adjusted the settings on her screen.
She placed her iconic nameplate at the 5 o’clock position of the screen, and her meticulous setup process was unexpectedly captivating.
Even though I watch her streams daily, I’d never observed this behind-the-scenes preparation before.
While her streams occasionally ran into technical issues, the moment the broadcast started, her professionalism was always evident.
Interestingly, today’s setup included one extra piece of equipment: a drawing tablet. It looked like a small monitor usually stowed behind the left side of her main screen but was now front and center.
Dora, who had loved drawing even before her debut, had brought along an older secondhand model.
⚡Crackle⚡
[아카리 도라 / AKARI DORA]
@akaridora_parallel_vtuber | Followers: 261,000
A dragon curious about humans, Akari Dora, Parallel Gen 1! 🐲
[(🔴Live) Too Scared, So I Called a Friend] 👪 4,491 viewers
#Pandemic_Village #Parallel #ScaredyCat
Before long, the stream began.
As the intro music faded and the mic turned on, the first thing that appeared wasn’t a game—it was the blank canvas of a creative tool, Comic Pro.
– ?
– What’s going on?
– Dohay~
– Yonghay~ (Hello, Dragon!)
– What’s this all of a sudden, lol
Amid the viewers’ confusion at the sudden blank screen, Dora giggled and appeared in the lower-right corner of the screen.
When she began moving her pen, black lines started growing across the white canvas.
– Drawing right away?
– This is fresh.
– Yonghay!
Though her strokes seemed random at first, her experience shone through in the speed and quality of her work.
Before long, intersecting lines, filled colors, and other effects came together to reveal a small, adorable dragon with red skin and black horns: her fan character, a hatchling.
However, this wasn’t a typical hatchling. This one had long, flowing black hair that shouldn’t have been there and wore an employee badge around its neck. To top it off, its head looked unusually large, possibly on purpose.
It didn’t take long for viewers to realize who this exaggerated drawing was meant to represent, and soon, laughter filled the chat.
– Big-headed Dora, lololol
– Look at that silly thing, lol
– Lol, it’s so cute.
– LOL
Of course, half the viewers hadn’t caught on yet. The rest were debating: “Is it a female viewer? A female hatchling? Or maybe it’s supposed to represent someone?”
Dora cut out the drawing she’d made and placed it next to her character on the bottom left of the screen.
Immediately, a donation popped up:
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 clouds! ::
:: LOL, no clue who it is, lololol. ::
– LOL
– They’ve practically given it away, lol.
– ??
– It’s someone we had lunch with today~
“Hehe, I wonder who it could be,” Dora said, winking at me.
It was time for me to introduce myself, just as we’d planned. Clearing my throat briefly, I began:
“Hello, I’m Employee D. Actually, I’m not a guest. Dora often has equipment issues during her multiplayer streams, so I decided to show up early today and be on standby. Also, since she’s a bit scared, I thought I’d be like a protective totem nearby. Please don’t mind me and enjoy the stream!”
The reactions were all over the place:
– Wooaaaaahhhhhh!!!
– They’re hereeeee!
– Welcome, welcome!!!
– I’ve been waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting!!!
– ????
– Wait, what?
– Employee D is here?
– What the heck, lololol, Employee D is here?
– My day off tomorrow is now a win!
– Holy moly, lololol.
Those who’d suspected it beforehand felt vindicated and delighted.
Those who hadn’t were overjoyed, like they’d received a surprise gift.
The fact that an employee was on standby got overwhelmingly positive feedback from viewers.
They appreciated the proactive approach of addressing recurring issues during streams, and it seemed to boost trust in the company.
– Parallel’s really stepping up.
– True, lol, Dora’s multiplayer streams were always chaotic.
– “Dorel” (Dora + Parallel) for the win.
– This is proper management, lol.
Naturally, the praise directed at the company shifted to me, the visible representative on the stream.
The viewers seemed eager to compliment the company’s thoughtful planning—and conveniently, I was right there.
Another donation popped up:
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 clouds! ::
:: Just curious, Employee D, are you cute in real life? ::
– LOL
– Honestly, I’ve been wondering about that too.
— “It’s the voice that makes me curious, lol.”
Dora turned her head to look at me intently.
I thought she’d jump straight into describing my appearance, but instead, she seemed to be gauging my reaction.
I made a gesture with both palms up, signaling “do as you wish.”
It wasn’t my place to get involved. After all, in the grand scheme of the stream, I was no different from a ceiling light or one of the speakers standing in the corner.
How she used me didn’t matter.
Dora hummed in thought, then teased into the mic,
“Curious about that? I think I’ll keep it to myself, hehe.”
– “Are you a total child, sis?”
– “Ugh, so annoying.”
– “She’s not telling us!”
– “Yeah, well, we already know Employee D is cute anyway~.”
“Already know I’m cute? That just proves you don’t. You guys don’t even realize how cute your Rainy unnie is, do you?”
– “Nonsense, lol.”
– “What kind of ridiculous logic is that?”
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 clouds! ::
:: By that logic, why not say the boss is cute too? ::
– “Kawaii, sashimi-cutting overlord.”
– Lolololololololol
– “The boss being scary is common knowledge, lololol.”
Dora, no doubt, was a fool.
She often messed up her grammar, and at times acted so immature it was hard to believe she was over 20.
But strangely, when the stream was live, she turned into a pro.
Like just now—she could’ve shared the truth but instead chose to twist it, baiting viewers into playful debates.
This, I think, is the genius side of Dora that occasionally shines through.
Despite her usual scatterbrained demeanor, she becomes unshakeable once the stream starts.
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 clouds! ::
:: Just my theory, but Employee D is probably an ultra-kawaii anime girl. That’s why they’re hiding her! ::
“Yeah, keep guessing, but you’ll never see her~! She’s too precious, so only I get to see her~ hehe.”
– “Boo-hoo!”
– “Boo! Monopolies are illegal!”
Even this was just part of the stream performance.
If I were truly precious to her, huh, would I even be here in the first place?
Still, no matter what Dora said, the viewers seemed to naturally conclude that I was an adorable anime girl.
:: An anonymous donor has sent 1,000 clouds! ::
:: So is Employee D, who looks like Jemmarie, going to join multiplayer games and give us cute reactions too? ::
– “Aaaaah!”
– “Waaaa!”
– “Now that I’d pay to see.”
– “Ughhhhhh.”
– “I’d kinda like to hear her scream, lol.”
They were definitely trying to bait me in a way no Korean could resist.
But still this was Pandemic Village. Sure, there were guns, so it wasn’t that scary…
…Until, an hour later, I found myself face-to-face with true horror.
“AAAHHHH! What do I do? AHHHHH! DIE! DIIIIIEEE!”
– How many tries are we doing for the first boss? Yayayaya!
— Please, shoot after you look! LOL LOL LOL LOL
– Aim!!!!!!!! Just aim!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
– (Facepalm emoji) (Facepalm emoji) (Facepalm emoji) (Facepalm emoji)
(Red-faced emoji) (Red-faced emoji) (Red-faced emoji)
– Grinding teeth sound
I’ve never seen someone play a horror game like this in my entire life.
It was truly a rare sight you could only witness sitting next to Dora.
At first, I just thought they flipped the desk out of shock, causing some equipment issues.
But no—it turns out the biggest problem was that they weren’t even looking forward and just flailing their hands around!
On the stream, it looked like their aim was wildly shaking from fear,
but this person was so scared they weren’t even looking at the screen at all.
When a monster appeared, they’d immediately avert their gaze,
then blindly swing their aim all over the place while going bang, bang, bang, bang!
The most dangerous part was their hand on the mouse.
They kept recklessly moving too far and brushing precariously close to the cluster of streaming equipment.
Wait, hold on if you go there, the audio interface, uh-oh!