Chapter 3: Community Great Flame War – 2

Aki composed her expression and sat down in the meeting room.

“…”

But her hands were trembling, and she couldn’t help the cold sweat pouring down.

Shiver…

No matter how much of a seasoned corporate VTuber she was, Aki was still just a young internet broadcaster in her early 20s.

She had no immunity to such situations.

Moreover, with billions of won and the company’s fate at stake, it was even more overwhelming.

So, she sat with her eyes tightly shut.

“Phew…”

The employees around her were in the same state.

Everyone had an anxious expression.

“…”

“…”

“…”

A new problem had arisen.

– Is this 1 billion won really money we can accept?

– But we need this money to proceed with the project…

– We have to settle the unpaid 3D modeling fees and lesson costs for our kids first. We can’t keep doing just chat broadcasts forever.

– But if this money is illegal, we’re all screwed.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The hours-long meeting was temporarily halted.

If they were involved in money laundering or illegal activities, the company, which was already like a candle in the wind, would be blown away in an instant.

It was an issue they absolutely had to address.

In the end, everyone could only wait helplessly.

In the cold silence.

While Park Youngsoo, the general manager, went out to call the legal team at Live Future, CEO Baek Socheol prayed with his hands together in front of his subordinates, “Please, please…”

3.4 billion won for the company.

2.5 billion won for the talent.

Compared to the initial figure of 10 billion won, it seemed ridiculously small.

But it was enough to restart the project, which had been halted due to payment issues.

No…

It wasn’t just enough—it was a miracle.

A miracle where wings sprouted from their backs just as they were about to fall off a cliff.

So, everyone prayed that this miracle would be real.

“…”

“…”

“…”

At that moment.

The door to the meeting room opened.

Creak—

“!”

“!”

“!”

It was General Manager Park Youngsoo who entered.

His disheveled hair and the cold sweat on his face clearly showed his tension.

He spoke.

“…First, the conclusion is that the payment will proceed normally.”

“?!”

“?!”

“?!”

CEO Baek Socheol’s eyes widened.

He raised his head and shouted.

“All 10 billion?! Ah, no, 9 billion after fees—!”

“Yes, they can’t disclose the source of the money in detail, but it’s confirmed to be legal personal assets, and there’s no tax evasion or illegal money flow involved.”

“Huh, huh… Did ‘Big Man’ say he won’t refund it?”

“The platform operations team confirmed again that he absolutely won’t refund it. In fact, Big Man stated that ‘if the platform doesn’t pay, we will take legal action.’ So, they’ve decided to upgrade Big Man’s membership to VIP and respect his wishes.”

Conclusion: It’s clean money. Big Man has no intention of refunding.

“!”

CEO Baek Socheol slumped into his seat like a deflated balloon. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“It’s done. We’re saved…”

The employees jumped up from their seats.

“Wow—!”

“Now, now we can continue our project?!”

“We can pay for the kids’ 3D modeling, lesson fees, and studio rentals… We can do it again, right?!”

CEO Baek Socheol weakly nodded.

Then, the cheers grew even louder.

In the midst of this hopeful atmosphere.

Aki let out a sigh of relief. 

She clenched her trembling hands. 

The blood that had completely drained from her hands returned.

Aki clenched and unclenched her tingling hands.

‘Thank goodness…’

“Phew…”

Cold sweat poured down her back.

She didn’t know the details, but anyway, the money would be paid normally.

She and the company would continue the project with that money.

A natural smile came to her face.

“Hehe, it’s all good…”

Aki laughed at her own petty psychology.

‘At first, I was dazed by the 10 billion, then disappointed when I heard the actual amount I’d receive was 2.5 billion, and now I’m happy again.’

At first, when she heard that the actual amount she’d receive was 2.5 billion, she was sharply disappointed. 

But when it seemed like she might not even get that, her heart froze.

Now, she felt fortunate that the money could come into her hands. 

At the same time, a small, petty anxiety crept into her heart: ‘Is it really okay to receive over 200 million won like this?’

‘I still can’t believe it…’

As Aki was pondering this,

Jo Eunbi, the PR team leader, shouted while looking at her phone. 

She had immediately checked the SNS and community reactions after the 10 billion won issue was resolved.

“Uh, uh?! Amazing?! CEO! It’s amazing!”

“Why?”

“Ne, news…! The news is out—!”

“Which channel—?!”

Baek Socheol hurriedly grabbed the TV remote in the corner of the meeting room.

Jo Eunbi shook her head and said.

“The live broadcast has already passed, but the recording is still available!”

“Turn it on!”

“J, just a moment! Let’s all watch it together on the tablet in my bag.”

Jo Eunbi brought her eco-bag and took out a spacious tablet. 

She opened the app for ‘Stream HighTube,’ a major American streaming site.

The employees and Aki gathered around it.

“Isn’t that it? ‘Internet Broadcaster’s 10 Billion Donation Causes Community Uproar,’ something like that?”

“Eunbi, turn up the volume a bit.”

“Just, just a moment!”

There was the recording of the news channel Jo Eunbi mentioned. 

As the video played, everyone held their breath and started listening.

– At noon today, an issue occurred that has set the entire internet abuzz. An anonymous user on a streaming site donated a whopping 10 billion won to an internet broadcaster.

The attached footage was completely blurred.

But it was clear at a glance that it was the Live Future site design. 

Similarly, a brief clip of Aki receiving the 10 billion won, also blurred, played.

[Ten billion, donation… Th, thank you…]

Aki paused for a moment when she saw that.

‘When I was broadcasting, I didn’t realize my pronunciation was that slurred…’

The announcer’s words continued.

– Netizens have been sharply divided over this incident, with negative opinions like ‘This is the pinnacle of capitalist vanity,’ ‘I hate seeing people flaunt money,’ and ‘It encourages unhealthy internet consumption psychology,’ as well as supportive opinions like ‘They’re quiet about famous influencers’ spending but strict about personal hobbies.’

The news concluded like this.

The channel itself didn’t make any particular evaluation of the incident. 

But under the guise of neutrality, it subtly emphasized the negative opinions of netizens, leaving room for interpretation.

As a result, the comment section of the article was a mess.

– There are idiots who throw 10 billion at VTubers lol

– If it’s 10 billion, shouldn’t she just get married? lol

– VTubers are so gross

– I don’t get how people find those panels cute

“…”

Just as Aki was about to look at that,

PR team leader Jo Eunbi hurriedly turned off the tablet screen.

CEO Baek Socheol muttered.

“This seems like it’ll have quite a promotional effect.”

“Yes, it’s already crazy. The news didn’t mention the streaming site or the broadcaster’s name, but everyone already knows through SNS.”

Manager and operations team leader Go Minyoung said.

“…I sent a quick message to the other broadcasters, and they said their viewer count suddenly jumped from 20 to 5,000. The chat is full of people asking what happened with the 10 billion…”

“!”

“I didn’t respond yet, but the broadcast eventually crashed due to connection issues.”

The CEO spoke decisively. 

Given that they were at a life-and-death crossroads, his attitude was extremely cautious.

“First, tell everyone to stop broadcasting and stay quiet until we discuss how to respond. And tell them not to say anything carelessly on communities or SNS.”

“Yes, I’ll contact them right away.”

Go Minyoung left the meeting room with the phone to her ear.

Aki was startled.

An inexplicable sense of guilt washed over her.

‘Everyone’s still broadcasting, and because of me…’

The CEO looked at Aki and said.

“A-young.”

“…Yes.”

“From now on, you need to steel yourself. Once the attention starts, whatever you say will be twisted and analyzed. But this is an opportunity. It’s rare to get a chance to show yourself like this to others.”

“!”

Then, PR team leader Jo Eunbi said.

“CEO, so what do we do now? Our company website is probably going to crash soon.”

“…”

“Do we proceed with the project as planned? Or…”

Jo Eunbi trailed off, but the other option she was suggesting was very clear.

– Abandon the 4-member idol group project and use the received funds to rebrand around Aki. Then wait for Big Man and the issue to come back.

The CEO and Aki fell silent.

Would they wait for Aki’s sugar daddy, ‘Big Man,’ again?

Or would they push forward with their original plan, standing on this one stroke of luck?

“…”

“…”

Aki could feel it.

At this very moment,

Her fate was being decided.

*

I was scratching my stomach while looking at stock charts on my computer.

“…”

Sleep had long since fled.

It was because I had received almost five confirmation calls asking if I really wouldn’t refund the donation.

‘Well… 10 billion won is a lot, so it’s understandable.’

I didn’t pay it much mind.

“…Should I have ramen by the Han River for dinner?”

Muttering to myself, I clicked on a few domestic stock listings and checked them. 

Then I added them to my watchlist.

It was a list of domestic stocks expected to surge in May.

Due to frequent repetitions,

I had practically memorized them by now.

“This one, this one, and this one will shoot up in the short term. This one will jump next week due to a scheme…”

I planned to maintain a minimal level of economic activity (?) to keep up my comfortable life as a wealthy bum.

Once this trade was done,

the 5.4 billion won I currently had would grow to 7.5 billion won.

‘…What should I do with the money this time? Grinding to 100 billion again seems a bit much.’

Scratch scratch.

“…”

I’m bored.

Isn’t something interesting going to happen?

“…”

– Asher oshayo!

Suddenly, a VTuber with slurred pronunciation came to mind.

I was curious.

‘I wonder what Aki-chan is up to?’

I casually opened the Live Future site. 

Then I browsed the ‘Idol Aspirant Aki-chan’ channel.

“…”

But her broadcast was off,

And all the broadcasts of the VTuber group ‘ABCD’ were off as well.

There were no notices or any significant reactions.

“…Hmm.”

I don’t know what it is,

Bbut she must be really struggling.

‘She’s more serious about the VTuber business than I thought.’

My interest in Aki grew.

*

The internet war that had raged during the day.

After the storm of grandparents fighting fiercely passed, what remained was rampant speculation and suspicion.

– I saw Big Man’s identity somewhere. He’s the building owner of a gold shop in Jongno. He owns over 10 buildings and has a huge fortune.

└Source?

└Idk?? I just saw it while walking around;

└That’s nonsense spread from a game community

-Isn’t Big Man a chaebol? He’s probably just a pervert who gets off on watching commoners squabble like this…

└A chaebol who gives money isn’t a pervert

└Then what is he?

└Obviously, he’s my master♡ A 10 billion won extreme donation means I’ll show my butt♡

└LOL 10 billion is enough to make you a doormat

└Get out of the way, bastards lol I’m the master’s doormat lol

Most of it was just curiosity-driven speculation. But many people also had a strong aversion to the incident itself.

「[General] Title: I’m a small-time VTuber with 200 subscribers, and I’m having a reality check…」

「F***, I endure 10 hours of crappy games just to get a 5,000 won Super Chat. Someone just babbles with slurred pronunciation and gets 10 billion? F***, is this a country? It’s f***ed up. I put all my equipment in the corner and cried for 3 hours…」

The reactions were mostly negative.

-Mom, this whining is too much

-Yikes…! I almost looked for the red pill…!

-LOL who told you to do it, idiot?

-Did someone hold a knife to your head and force you to be a VTuber? (Genuinely don’t know)」

Of course, there were a few sympathetic opinions.

-Honestly, the sense of deprivation is really strong

-It’s money that even people who fought through tens of thousands to one odds and joined big agencies can’t get… Of course, it’s a reality check

-They’re probably just planning to take the money and run

But.

The one curiosity everyone shared was:

– So what happens now?

– Who is Big Man, and what happens to the VTuber?

Big Man and the VTuber.

They hoped at least one of them would speak up.

And one of those curiosities was resolved…

Through a notice on the Aurora Prism Entertainment website the next day.

「Notice Regarding the Operation Direction of VTuber Idol Group Project ‘ABCD’ and ‘Idol Aspirant Aki-chan’ Channel」