In the end, due to the argument between Komari and Maru (?), the trial ended inconclusively, and before the next trial, yet another person lost their life to my fangs.
Roar, scary, isn’t it?
Werewolves tear people apart.
As a result, only the three of us remained me, Komari, and Maru.
The two people who had just been at each other’s throats in the trial, accusing each other of being the werewolf, were once again facing off.
Normally, I would have been cornered, and the game would have ended in the humans’ victory.
But thanks to using the Silent One’s ability to its fullest, I was already out of the spotlight.
[I’m telling you, the moment you see the result later, the first word out of your mouth is gonna be ‘holy shit.’]
[Whether I believe it or not, it’s all up to Jiya unnie in the end. Unnie, Maru unnie is the werewolf. Trust me. We even did a collab stream together.]
[Hey! I’m literally on the stream right now too!!]
[Oh? Then since this is already my second collab, that means Jiya unnie and I are closer, right?]
[Ugh, Mari, seriously. Wow! Today… Wow. I mean! Ugh. Wow!]
-LOLOLOLLLLL
-LMAOOOOO
– Ah, I can’t stop laughing, LOLOL
– I’m gonna die from laughing too much, someone save me
Watching the situation unfold exactly as I intended, an old concern I had forgotten about suddenly resurfaced.
I had been debating whether to proceed with my monthly review content, and this way of conversing might just be the breakthrough I needed.
Back when I was helping Ronze, I had simply gone with the flow.
But once he was confirmed as the werewolf and became fully occupied with the trial, I was left alone.
I had to survive somehow.
I used every means available to prove my innocence.
As a result, I managed to use the Silent One’s ability and voice mimicry to take on Maru’s persona…
But in any case, I succeeded.
I led the conversation in the broadcast just as I wanted.
“A persona, huh…”
I’ve always found it difficult to be the first to speak up.
And doing so on a broadcast is even harder.
To me, that act itself feels like public speaking.
It’s like standing in front of a crowd and declaring, “This is what I think!”
But maybe people aren’t so different from me.
Whenever someone speaks, they often preface it with, “My friend said this,” as if holding up a shield.
I think it’s because they’re afraid of the backlash that might come from expressing their own thoughts.
And review broadcasts are an even trickier form of public speaking.
It’s like representing Parallel and saying, “This was really fun this month!”
For a mere subordinate receiving a paycheck from the company to speak freely on a review program?
And worse, my words could be misinterpreted as Parallel’s or even the CEO’s opinion?
If the CEO were present, they could correct any misunderstandings or set clear boundaries.
But doing it alone? That’s a terrifying thought.
The promotion I did during the Silent Civil War was technically official too.
But simply playing a game and showing a video clip can’t be compared to leading content on Parallel’s official channel.
Since it’s an official channel, people’s expectations are naturally higher.
…But if I avoid difficult tasks just because they’re hard, would I have been able to support the CEO in so many ways until now?
I never expected to get an idea while playing a game.
But in the end, all I need is a shift in perspective.
If I don’t like initiating a topic.
If it’s hard for me to assert my opinion to people.
Then I can just let the viewers bring it up… right?
Just like how Maru used her voice to deceive Komari,
I can draw out a discussion from the viewers something like ’I found this scene really fun!’
Through chat, donation messages, forum reviews.
Basically, using all the thoughts and expressions shared by the viewers as the core of my review content.
That way, even if I don’t have someone next to me, I can respond as if a conversation is already happening.
I suddenly felt grateful that the Parallel fanbase is so solid.
No matter where I go on the internet, Woldung fans always have something to say, opinions, thoughts…..
So all I need to do is observe, pick things up, and put them out there.
“Today’s discussion topic is this!”
There will definitely be people who enjoy this approach.
Wouldn’t it feel good to see a random comment you posted ages ago suddenly pop up on a stream as a shoutout?
Some people donate just to hear the streamer say their username, after all.
Mentioning them would probably make them happy.
A rare case, but in my experience, even when the boss got mad and yelled, Shinotan, you bastard!, I felt good about it.
“Guess I got lucky.”
I didn’t even plan for it—I just happened to have never played with Maru before, so I naturally ended up joining the collab.
At first, everyone came at me so aggressively that I felt overwhelmed,
But in the end, I got a great result out of it.
I should take better care of them during next week’s trip.
More than anything, I feel bad for tricking them so hard today…
Even now, the argument between the two hasn’t stopped, filling up the entire five minutes of trial time.
[Komari: I really didn’t expect this from you!! I’m not talking to you anymore!!]
[Maru: Wait, you’re not actually mad because of the game, right?]
[Komari: Mad? Who’s mad?! I just mean I won’t talk to you until this round is over! I’m not someone who only knows how to stubbornly deny things like you!!]
[Maru: Sure~ But I already know that once the results are out, you’ll just go ‘Oh no~ I got caught~’ and laugh. Why? Because you’re the werewolf.]
It might be exaggerated for the sake of the stream,
But even in everyday conversations, they often butt heads over T vs. F issues,
And sometimes they genuinely argue, so it seemed like the right time to step in.
“You two, let’s calm down. I’ve made my decision.”
“Goodbye, Maru.”
Komari burst out laughing, but that joy didn’t last long.
[Komari: See, Jiya? I knew you’d trust me! Maru was the werewolf—]
Maru’s character was thrown into the bottomless village well.
A piercing scream echoed from the female character.
For a brief moment, the screen went dark.
Then, the game’s results appeared.
{{ The Werewolves Have Led the Village to Ruin!! }}
{{ Werewolves: Ronze (Predator), Magia (Silencer) }}
A werewolf victory.
The moment the truth was revealed, the sound in the stream exploded.
[Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.]
[No way, that was insane. Whoa!!]
[Komari overthought this way too much and lost.]
[Magia! I believed in you!! The werewolves always win!!]
[I was literally holding my breath watching this. Wow.]
[No, but Magia, that was insane!! What was that voice impression…? It was way too accurate!]
– Kyaaaaaaa!!
– Legendary LOL
– This is the greatest Silencer play of all time LOL
– This is what a Silencer is!! This is Magia!!!
As the people who had died earlier and the viewers kept chattering about my play, the conversation naturally shifted to Komari and Maru’s turn.
[Wait…what. No, this is crazy. Jiya, what the heck…? Weren’t you a newbie?! I totally fell for it…! When did you even prepare the voice modulation?!]
I hadn’t actually prepared anything. I was just lucky that the in-game mic’s natural distortion helped create the effect.
I was about to explain, but Maru cut in before I could.
[Hey!! I told you from the beginning!! Seriously. Komari, seriously!! Ugh!!]
[I mean… let’s be real, wasn’t it your fault for being so bad at convincing people…?]
[Oh, so now it’s my fault? I kept shouting that I was right, but you didn’t even pretend to listen!!]
[And since when does yelling automatically make you right? You have to use logic to convince people!]
[Boo, how pathetic! So pathetic, Komari! Boooo!!]
* * *
After that, I took on various roles, but it wasn’t easy to create as much impact as when I played the wolf (Silent One).
People had become more suspicious, so they would immediately accuse me, saying, “Isn’t Jiya the Silent One again?” The number of times I got lynched increased accordingly.
Well, I didn’t really mind.
I had achieved what I wanted, and spending the remaining time supporting the others and fading into a supporting role wasn’t a bad outcome.
I felt quite satisfied with the collaboration stream, so I personally thanked Ronze right after the broadcast ended.
“Thanks for accepting the invitation, Ronze. I had a lot of fun.”
[Oh, not at all! Thanks to you coming on, I got some really solid YouTube content. Honestly, I feel like I’ve earned my entire allowance for the month just from this.]
“Come on, it’s not that big of a deal…”
I laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of my head.
[Anyway, if we get another chance, please come on again. I’ll be super busy once the tournament starts, but until then, I think I’ll be doing a lot more collabs like this. You could also share some Parallel stories while you’re at it. I’m really into it, but honestly, people have been super curious about it lately.]
As a fellow fan who loves Parallel, I took notes on the key points from what Ronze said.
If people were this curious, it meant the amount of information shared in official announcements wasn’t enough.
Since I had a job, I couldn’t always stay in sync with the viewers on this kind of stuff, so I had to gather as much information as possible in moments like these.
“I’ll keep that in mind. I’ll talk to the boss about it when I get back. Anything else you’d like to share? I know you watch a lot of our streams, so is there anything you feel is lacking or something you’d like to see more of? I’d love to hear your thoughts.”
[Hmm… Something is lacking… Hmm… Not really these days. From the first-anniversary song release to the 3D showcase, pre-event, and concert—everything’s been packed so full that I kind of feel like I need a break.]
“Ah, I figured as much. I feel pretty drained myself.”
[Yeah, yeah. But I bet this will only last for a few weeks, right? With the second-generation auditions coming up, I’m sure everyone will bounce back soon and start asking, ‘Why aren’t you doing this? Why aren’t you doing that?’ again.]
I completely agreed.
I was also expecting people’s cooldown period to last about two weeks.
Specifically, right after the first-anniversary trip the others were taking next week.
Once that was over, they’d have to get back to grinding.
Now that we had 3D avatars, there were so many more things we could do.
It seemed like Ronze was looking forward to more than just that…
[Aren’t you going to do Naore again? If you come up with any weird builds, show them on stream sometime. If they’re good, I might just sneak them into the tournament.]
“I’m not sure if I’ll play anything other than Apolla, but since you mentioned it, I’ll keep it in mind.”
[Thanks.]
With that, the call ended.
I immediately left the Ppajijik broadcaster group chat, which I had only joined for the collab.
Stretching with a groan, I checked the clock at 10 p.m.
I couldn’t help that work ran late, but at least I had fun.
I figured I’d head downstairs to help Seungyeon with some work, then grab some fish cakes on the way home.
Just as I was shutting down my streaming PC.
Bzzzzzt.
—Incoming call: Maru—
A second call from Maru, who had invited me to the collab today.
Figuring it must be urgent, I picked up right away.
[S-sniff… Hic… Hhhhk…]
Emergency.
A massive flood had hit Maru City.