Before long, the boss brought over Maru, who was in such a state it was hard to tell if he was a person or a soggy piece of seaweed, and sat him down in a chair.
Considering Maru’s stomach often acted up so badly he couldn’t stop vomiting, it was fortunate in a way that things stopped at this point.
…Ah, wait, there’s still some leftovers there.
While wiping away the remnants of Maru’s misery, I relayed what Komari had told me directly to the boss.
After keeping an eye on Maru for a while longer, the boss eventually sat down in an empty seat.
“So… you’re saying Pino wants to handle the rigging work?”
When Mari and I nodded together, the boss turned to Mari and asked,
“Did he formally send an email about this?”
“No. He just asked for Jiya’s email address.”
“Why Jiya’s email…? Could you tell Pino to include me in CC and send the email to the planning team?”
“Sure.”
Even though they were acquaintances, rigging was still outsourced work.
Since money was involved, proper documentation was essential.
It might seem a bit cold to insist on such formalities with someone you know, but that’s just how business works—details like these have to be managed.
“Anyway… shall we head out? Can you two help me get Maru into the car? After that, Jiya, can you take care of Mari?”
“Got it.”
Soon, Komari rushed over to soggy-seaweed Maru, struggling to lift one of his arms.
When the boss picked up the other arm, they managed to create a crooked sort of shoulder hold.
Even though the taller person tried to match the shorter one’s height by crouching, there was a limit, so the weight naturally leaned toward the smaller side.
“Jiya, help me!”
But there wasn’t a clear way for me to assist.
Before I shrank, I could have supported Maru myself and gotten him into the car, but unfortunately, that wasn’t an option now.
Should I stick to Komari’s side?
That would only make things harder for the two of us as we struggled to support him.
“The positioning is awkward, so I’ll cheer you on from here!”
The moment I said that, the boss gestured for me to come over.
In the end, we switched places.
The boss carried Maru on his back like a piggyback ride while Komari and I supported him from the sides in a bizarre formation.
With much difficulty, we finally made it to the parking lot.
Once Maru was dumped into the back seat of the boss’s sedan, the three of us let out simultaneous sighs.
Having worked the hardest, the boss stretched first, patting Mari and me on the back as he said,
“Take care getting home. And Jiya, great work with the promotions today. Let’s talk about work tomorrow.”
“Sure. Goodnight.”
With that, the boss and soggy-seaweed Maru left the scene, leaving just Komari and me.
I entered Komari’s home address into the app and called a taxi.
Normally, I would call one for both of us to head to my place together, but since it was late at night and the boss had asked, I decided to make sure Komari got home safely before calling a separate taxi for myself.
“Dora and Rain got back a while ago, so once I get you home, I can finally clock out.”
“Don’t make getting me home sound like a quest….”
“Well, it’s a quest for me since you’re heading home after playing around, but I’ve still got a job to finish.”
“….”
Komari’s bright, round eyes glinted under the streetlight as she stared at me for a while. Then her mouth took over.
“Um… how about you stay at my place until morning and rest before heading home?”
“Do I really need to?”
“Because it’s dangerous at night…”
To be honest, this was the first time Komari had ever said something like that to me.
I mean, isn’t she the smallest and most delicate of the first-gen members?
She used to take it for granted that I’d help her get home safely, and now here she was worrying about me.
You really do live to see all sorts of things—or rather, shrink to see them.
“Instead of worrying about me, how about you focus on getting ready for tomorrow’s stream? Not that you’d oversleep and upset your fans like Dora would, though.”
“Of course I wouldn’t—wait, that’s not the point. So, are you really going to leave right away?”
“Yeah. Why would I stay over?”
The only reason I stayed at Dora’s place was to help with her stream.
There’s no real reason for me to stay at one of our company idols’ houses now.
That just wouldn’t happen.
But Komari wasn’t giving up that easily.
Using the cleverness that earned her recognition from the boss as the “brains” of the first-gen members, she made me a proposal.
“It’s been about six months since you last checked my streaming equipment. Don’t you think it’s time for a tune-up?”
Unlike the others, who’ve had me over for unexpected issues in the past few months, Komari hasn’t called on me for almost half a year.
She’s the most tech-savvy among the first-gens, and she’s good at maintaining her gear, so problems don’t crop up often.
But she had a point half a year was a long time.
It might be a good idea to do a quick check.
And if I handled it now while I was already out, it could save me a late-night trip later on. That’s a win.
“Alright, I’ll check the equipment and then head home.”
“You’re not actually going to leave right after the check, are you?”
“Of course I am. Your parents are home, right? I don’t want to disturb them at this hour.”
Komari, who usually shows less than 50% of her emotions, now wore a face of 100% disbelief.
“They’re already asleep! It’s not like you’re going to yell for them to wake up and greet a guest. Besides, isn’t it already disruptive enough that you’d be checking the equipment at this hour?”
“Oh, I see. In that case, let’s do the check later. I’ll drop you off in front of your place and head home right after.”
“…Ugh, seriously?”
This time, her expression screamed 100% annoyance.
Her rare display of such a strong reaction was so amusing that I accidentally pushed things further than I should have, going off-script.
“What, do you have something tasty hidden at home? Pineapple pizza, maybe?”
“…?”
“Pineapple pizza’s my favorite, you know. Man, I wonder if there’s anywhere open at this hour. If I could get a pie, I bet I’d fall asleep just fine, even at someone else’s place.”
Komari blinked at me for a moment before opening her delivery app.
Soon, she found a 24-hour pizza joint and showed it to me with a triumphant expression.
Ah, Seoul—you never disappoint.
Who orders pizza at 1 a.m., though?
“Well, no helping it. You’re buying?”
“Sure.”
“Never mind, I’ll pay. This is a job for the Pineapple Pizza Evangelist.”
Komari groaned and muttered in an annoyed voice,
“Your taste in food is seriously the worst…”
* * *
Midori Komari @Midori_Komari – 1 minute ago
If D-staff bought pineapple pizza, would you eat it? Or not?
ᄂKomaring @komaring
Eww, that’s a no for me.
ᄂMarigold @mary_gold
As soon as Komari proudly posted on Z while riding in a taxi, mentions from her fans—known as the Leaves—flooded in.
Among them was Pino, who had earlier asked Komari about a rigging commission.
L PIN0 @pin0_live2d
Totally my vibe 🥰🥰🥰🥰
ᄂMidori Komari @Midori_Komari
👊👊👊👊👊
Cut it out.
L PIN0 @pin0_live2d
Don’t spoil me too much…
I might just melt…
“Seriously, such a lolicon”
Komari grumbled, setting the freshly delivered pineapple pizza on a foldable table.
“A lolicon?”
“Yeah, Pino. Total lolicon, right?”
“Oh, that’s kind of famous about them.”
“Exactly. That’s why they’re even trying to handle your rigging.”
Hearing that, Jiya thought back and realized her public model was indeed a bit… flat.
“But didn’t we outsource your rigging back then?”
“Yeah. I think we were struggling to find a good rigger, so the boss begged around until we got someone to take it on.”
And yet, that same person was now volunteering for rigging work?
“They must have some free time these days.”
“Nope. If you look at Z, all they ever post are things like, ‘I’m drowning in work, someone save me.’”
“Then why take on my rigging?”
“No idea. Maybe it was a perfect match for their preferences?”
Even if it was their taste, dropping their piled-up work just to take on something new was rare.
Could it be that Pino had some kind of near-death experience with a bad truck or something?
…If true, that would be tragic.
Of all the VTubers out there, why mine?
*
At the same time.
After arriving home and finishing her nighttime routine, Dohee lay on her bed and opened her email inbox on her phone.
If there were any business proposals inspired by Magia’s promotional campaign or Moogun’s Parallel Song World Cup today, she wanted to sort them out quickly to hold a planning team meeting first thing tomorrow.
“…It exploded?”
999+
A number she’d never see under normal circumstances was now stamped next to her inbox.
It was the dramatic reappearance of the notorious spam mail brigade that had been quiet for some time.
··· — — — — — — — — — — ···
Hello, Momo.
Sender | asd31141 <[email protected]>
Recipient | Momo <[email protected]>
Hello,
This is MongMong, a regular viewer of your broadcasts.
I’m writing to you today because there’s something I wanted to share regarding your streams.
I understand you’ve been busy lately, so it makes sense if you’ve been a bit less attentive to your broadcasts. As a business owner, it’s only natural that other responsibilities might take priority, and sometimes you might even handle streams a bit more casually.
However, if you’re going to take a more relaxed approach, wouldn’t it be a good idea to bring in someone to fill in for you? I’ve heard you have an employee, one whom you’ve personally trained, who’s very capable—possibly even more skilled in some areas than you. I hear they handle vocal impressions, rap, and other tasks exceptionally well. Don’t you think it’s a waste to let such a talented employee go unused?
It also seems like your average viewer count has been dropping recently. That employee might be able to help you turn things around.
I’m only saying this because I’ve been feeling concerned about the recent laxness in your approach.
Stay strong! I’m always rooting for you and enjoying your content.
Best regards,
MongMong
··· — — — — — — — — — — ···
…Emails like this had piled up to nearly a thousand.
It was disruption of work at its finest. But it wasn’t as if Dohee didn’t understand the psychology behind these people. Since addressing them on-stream often led to being ignored, or in worse cases, resulted in bans, email had become their only remaining outlet.
What could they do, really? Streamers especially Momo, as the boss couldn’t just close off external emails entirely. Knowing this, they resorted to such protests, all to demand the release of Maja.
But, so what?
What could they possibly achieve?
Maja had already expressed a clear desire to stay at the Demon Castle, under the leadership of the Demon Lord Momo.
Sifting through the inbox, Momo discarded most of the messages into the trash and saved only legitimate business inquiries to the favorites folder. Then, just in case, Momo switched to the dedicated business email to check for any updates from current partners.
And right away, a familiar username popped up.
“Pino?”
It was Pino, who had just told Komari earlier that they’d take on Maja’s rigging work.
··· — — — — — — — — — — ···
Hello, this is Pino
Sender | PIN0 <[email protected]>
Recipient | Cheon Dohee <[email protected]>
📎Attachments: workerD.cmo3, workerD.can3, runtime.zip, sample.mov
Hello,
It’s been a while since Komari’s new outfit project. I hope you’ve been doing well.
I’m reaching out because I happened to catch Employee D’s stream recently, and I couldn’t help but feel it was a shame to see them so stiff and static…
I received an illustration from Dora and decided to try a quick rigging job.
If you think it looks good, I’d be happy to proceed with the full project.
You can expect the same pricing as Komari’s previous work.
Thank you!
Best regards,
PIN0
Live2D Rigger
··· — — — — — — — — — — ···
Pino is a professional rigger who primarily works with corporations. In fact, their main client is the most successful subculture gaming company in Korea right now, ensuring they are always overloaded with projects.
Because of this, Pino rarely takes on external commissions and only occasionally posts their corporate-approved work on social media.
So the fact that someone like Pino voluntarily offered to take on an external project was already unusual.
Even more surprising was that they had started creating a sample without a signed contract.
This was nothing short of the sun rising in the west.
When Dohee quickly reviewed the attached sample, she was stunned.
Pino had described it as “just a little rigging,” but the quality far exceeded most full-priced rigging commissions on the market.
The rigging brought Maja’s character to life in a way that made her seem almost tangible. Her cheeks looked so soft and squishy that you couldn’t help but want to pinch them.
It was a perfect fit for Pino’s unique sense of style.
“This doesn’t look like ‘just a little’ work to me,” Dohee muttered.
Much like how Dora had claimed to have put “a little effort” into creating a stunning, high-quality character sheet, Pino seemed to have gone all-in here as well.
Dohee had no reason to refuse the offer. Despite Pino’s eccentric tastes, their talent was widely acknowledged in the industry.
And if the price was the same as Komari’s project, it was an extremely reasonable deal considering the quality of the work.
What puzzled Dohee, however, was why Pino, who had been so reluctant before—requiring endless persuasion and negotiation to finalize Komari’s contract—was now reaching out proactively.
Curious, Dohee sent a message:
[Dohee: I heard you’ve been super busy these days.]
[Dohee: I’m surprised you reached out first!]
It didn’t take long for a reply to arrive, and when Dohee saw it, her face reflexively scrunched up.
[PIN0: Free Employee D right noooowwwwww!!]
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