NOVEL WEB chapter 71
Choi Young-ro, a man who had never used a fixed nickname in Pazijik Gallery, was the type who couldn’t settle down anywhere for long.
When watching streams, he just hopped between whatever seemed interesting at the moment.
He had never truly become a fan of anyone or supported a particular creator.
VTubers?
Yeah, he knew they existed. Oh, they move. Kinda like a game character. That’s neat.
He figured they just used an avatar instead of a webcam and left it at that.
ㄴ Pazijik493: Damn, they’re consistent. Might check them out tomorrow.
So when he left that comment, it was out of nothing more than sheer curiosity.
Who was Magia?
Why was their name suddenly popping up all over Pazijik Gallery?
But apparently, she didn’t have a personal channel.
She streamed through an official channel, and the title of the stream was—of all things—"Command & Operations Room."
Having worked in an actual operations center before, Young-ro felt a weird sense of military PTSD just reading that.
Still, he decided to check out who this person was.
VTuber? Well, that much was obvious from the moving model.
But all VTubers had some sort of character setting—for example, Momo's lore was that she was a celestial being from a distant star who came to Earth out of curiosity.
First Impressions
First, the design.
It was modern, sleek.
But it was oddly unbalanced—a young face dressed in a business suit, something that practically screamed “office lady.”
[Thank you for the 10,000 Clouds. I’ll recharge with Wicker Bread and get back to work.]
[Thank you for the 100,000 Clouds. I’ve unlocked a mining speed enchantment. Thanks for funding Parallel’s operations.]
[Thank you for the 50,000 Clouds. The mining efficiency buff is a huge help. Much appreciated.]
However, the flat, businesslike tone in which she spoke completely neutralized that visual mismatch.
Even the faint dark circles under her character’s lower eyelids contributed to the aesthetic.
Her slightly droopy, sleepy-looking eyes reinforced the overall impression.
After watching for five minutes, Young-ro felt it.
The vibe of an overworked corporate drone—
Yet somehow, despite the cute character design, the overall tone wasn’t entirely bleak.
["Die. Die."]
["Headshot. Skull cracked."]
["Oh. Diamonds."]
["Inventory’s full. Gotta go up."]
["Huaaahm…"] (yawn)
The way she mumbled to herself had a strangely pleasant rhythm.
Unlike the intentionally stiff, professional tone she used for donations, this was natural, almost soothing.
No matter how appealing a VTuber’s model was, a flat personality wouldn’t hold an audience.
But this mix of contrasts—serious yet unintentionally relaxing—made Young-ro stick around.
However, calling this a fun stream would’ve been… a stretch.
— How long are you gonna mine for?!
— Gia, my eyes are literally shutting…
— Manager, I’m going to bed first.
— See you in the morning…
— Ugh, the corporate slaves have to sleep now. ㅠㅠ
— Sucks for the working folks, lol. I’m unemployed, so I can just watch all night.
— Wait, so we’re literally just watching mining?
— Guess so?
Aside from donation alerts, there was barely any interaction between the streamer and chat.
If Magia wasn’t talking and was fully focused on mining, the viewers just chatted among themselves.
It was the textbook definition of a "small, quiet stream"—the kind where the audience and streamer basically existed in separate worlds.
The only reason it wasn’t obvious was that there were enough people talking to each other to mask it.
Young-ro watched for another ten minutes, but even considering the late-night time slot (2 AM), the stream was too quiet.
Even in low-energy streams, there was usually some kind of rhythm.
But here, whenever Magia wasn’t talking, all that remained was the repetitive thunk thunk thunk of a pickaxe against stone.
At times, it felt less like watching a streamer and more like monitoring an AI program while logging its activity.
(🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Command Room, Day 1 👪3,052 Viewers
#64Cubics #Parallel
At first, a temporary boost from Gallery discussions had stabilized viewership at around 4,000.
But over time, it gradually declined, now down to 3,000.
At one point, when Momo ended her stream, around 3,000 of her viewers briefly flooded in—
Only for most of them to immediately bail after realizing the stream was just endless mining.
“…Guess I’ll give it another thirty minutes.”
Still, Young-ro was pretty laid-back for a casual viewer.
He figured maybe there’d be another big chaotic moment, like the all-out brawl earlier.
So he got up to reheat some leftover fried chicken from dinner.
That was when the chat suddenly exploded.
A server-wide announcement had just been sent by Wicker.
[Server] A player has reached 50% completion for the first-ever Hidden Achievement. As a result, a hint has been provided.
[Server] Zombie Play, Combat.
Most streamers had no idea what this meant.
But anyone watching Magia’s stream?
They immediately knew.
— NO FREAKING WAY LMAO
— First hidden achievement on the server?!
This translation is the intellectual property of .
When Young-ro returned with his reheated chicken, he was confused by the sudden flood of messages.
“What the hell? What happened?”
Magia, of course, didn’t react at all.
So the only way to figure it out was to scroll through the endless chat logs.
— This HAS to be Magia, right?
— Zombie play and combat? Come on, it’s OBVIOUS.
— Yeah, it totally fits lmao.
— She’s basically been half-dead underground the whole time.
— Someone count how many mobs she’s killed. Maybe it unlocks at 500 kills?
— She’s already at 250?
— Yeah, she’s literally been living underground since the server launched.
— Of course the Undead Slayer is actually undead.
Meanwhile, server-wide chat was just as chaotic.
[Server-Wide] Movgun: Who the hell is it?!
[Server-Wide] Ronze: Bro, it’s me.
[Server-Wide] Movgun: Bullshit.
[Server-Wide] Kamik: It’s me.
[Server-Wide] Lupko: It’s me, actually.
[Server-Wide] Movgun: Y’all just want me to share my dungeon location, huh?
[Server-Wide] Maru: And that’s why Movgun is the fastest mind-reader here.
[Server-Wide] Movgun: Not happening. LOL.
Young-ro quickly pieced everything together.
Someone was on the verge of unlocking a Hidden Achievement.
The server had preemptively announced it, giving the player a heads-up and allowing others to prepare for whatever hidden class might come with it.
Most players had no clue who it was.
But Magia’s chat was going insane.
And Young-ro, who had been watching, already knew.
The insane workaholic who had spent two hours at 1 HP, surviving on rotten zombie meat and bone water just to keep mining?
No one else could have triggered that achievement.
“The people who left the stream must be kicking themselves right now.”
For a Hidden Class to be unlocked on Day One?
That was insane.
Everyone knew Hidden Classes had major effects on server economy and rankings.
And now, Young-ro was genuinely excited.
“Things just got interesting.”
Meanwhile, Magia, oblivious to it all, just kept digging.
— No spoilers, guys.
— Seriously.
— If you post spoilers, I will personally hunt you down.
— Tomorrow, this is gonna blow up.
As the audience buzzed with anticipation, Young-ro decided to keep the stream open.
Even those who had planned to leave started keeping Magia’s stream in a side window—
Not watching closely, but just enough to stay updated in real time.
And as the news spread, the declining viewer count started rising again.
Four Hours Later.
[When the server closes at six, the Command Room will also shut down. It will reopen daily when the server comes back online, so look forward to tomorrow's performances from the boss, Maru, Dora (who joined late today), and Rain and Komari, who will be joining soon. Thank you all for today.]
— Good work today.
— Jaba Jaba~
— Jaba~
— Damn, I thought we'd see the Hidden achievement today.
— At this pace, it might show up tomorrow.
— Still, today's session was fun lol.
— How the hell do you already have 150,000 WK?
— Probably because she’s just earning without any losses.
— At this rate, another invite will be available tomorrow. Nice.
(🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Command Room, Day 1 👪 3,652 Viewers
Right before the stream ended, the viewer count had climbed to 3,652.
It wasn’t a straight-line growth, but it was clear that more people were tuning in for Magia.
***
The Next Morning – Cheon Do-hee’s Office
Cheon Do-hee, the CEO of Parallel, heard about last night's events after arriving at work.
Team Leader Oh Seok-jae from the Marketing Department looked giddy, as if he had just struck gold.
"I thought about it overnight. Gia’s stream—why don’t we fully embrace the 'Command Room' theme?"
"You mean… just displaying the members' screens?"
"No, no. There are people coming specifically for Gia’s stream—we can't push them aside.
Instead, we tweak the frame layout so that the boss and the other members' streams appear in a structured multi-view.
Think of it like shorts or TikTok layouts—the main event will be displayed at the center top, and Gia’s screen will sit just below it.
The four side screens can showcase the members' perspectives, allowing real-time reactions from multiple angles.
That way, Gia can still focus on laboring away without losing her relevance in the stream.
And since Gia’s great at picking engaging content, she can actively choose which members to highlight in the top portion."
"Hmm…"
"She can display up to six screens at once, making it easier to direct traffic toward our talents.
And with the stream name already being 'Command Room', it aligns perfectly with the branding."
Do-hee nodded in agreement.
Magia had already spent three years working with split-screen setups.
She wouldn't need much guidance—just a direction, and she’d figure out the most efficient configuration herself.
"The stream ended with 3,500 viewers…"
And 700 people had stayed watching until six in the morning—on top of those who were purely there for Magia.
Considering she was likely going to keep grinding underground for now, Oh Seok-jae’s proposal made sense.
Splitting the official channel layout into multiple feeds would allow some of Magia’s audience to funnel into the members' streams.
Right now, most people were watching her out of curiosity rather than entertainment.
5:00 PM – Magia’s Arrival
Do-hee had planned to explain the new layout proposal to Magia after she arrived at work.
But before she even got the chance—
"Boss, I have an idea."
Magia walked in and proposed the exact same thing.
Do-hee let out a small laugh.
"You actually thought of this yourself?"
"The viewer count was dropping at first, but then it started rising again.
I figured if we showcase other members' screens, it'll help with marketing."
“…Weren’t you busy mining?”
"I was. But I still kept an eye on chat and Maru’s stream.
I couldn’t fully focus like usual, but I monitored everything."
Do-hee clicked her tongue in amusement.
"Alright. When the Command Room goes live today, set it up that way.
For now, it'll be me, Maru, and Dora, right?"
"No, Rain’s joining too."
"Rain?"
"Yeah. I made 150,000 WK yesterday.
I already told Rain to get ready—we can invite her today."
"You make money insanely fast. How much mining are you even doing…?"
"I am a manual labor expert."
"Fine. Rain will handle her own scheduling. If you have any questions about marketing, ask Team Leader Oh while he's free."
"I already talked to him on the way here."
So typical of Magia.
She always had to stick her nose into every corner of the company.
"Alright, get ready for the stream. Good work today."
"Nyeeeng."
8:00 PM – The New Layout
Arriving two hours late to the Command Room stream, Young-ro immediately let out a laugh at the screen layout.
"…This is literally a command room now."
And he wasn’t the only one.
— What the hell is this…
— LMAO
— This multi-view is INSANE
— Wait, if more members join, will it be split into six screens?!
— Four screens are already overwhelming LOL
Previously, Magia’s screen had just been tucked into a corner.
But tonight, her screen was fully divided into multiple feeds, making it impossible to watch casually.
If someone was already dedicated to another streamer, they might have chosen to leave.
But for people like Young-ro, who were hooked on the Hidden Achievement mystery, this was a dilemma.
Do I watch the Command Room?
Or do I find another stream?
…I really want to see the Hidden Class reveal.
But watching the stream live would let him write the fastest community post—and that could be the difference between his post hitting trending or not.
In the end, Young-ro chose to stay.
Might as well watch today—who knows when this will happen again?
And at that moment, Magia enlarged a specific stream—a clue to viewers that it was worth watching.
[ "Stop. STOP! Guys, pleaaase! Waaah! This is scary! Zombies are scary! Hwaaaah!" ]
It was Dora, screaming as a horde of zombies chased her down.
Magia mumbled under her breath.
["Are 64Cubics zombies really that scary? Dora’s basically playing a horror game alone."]
— Nah, not really lol
— Not at all
— They’re just annoying as hell.
— Exactly. The damn groaning noises are the worst.
:: Anonymous has donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: Tbh, sometimes when they pop out from behind, they’re legit terrifying. ::
["Thank you for the 10,000 Clouds. Yeah, I can see how jump scares might get to some people."]
— But Magia doesn’t get scared, right?
— Nah, she has a weapon. That makes all the difference.
— Honestly, I’d be scared too…
Young-ro immediately noticed the difference from yesterday’s stream.
"…She’s talking a lot more today."
Yesterday, she had only muttered occasionally, mostly when she found diamonds or ran into monsters.
But today, she was actively chatting—her speech rate was at least twice as high.
To new viewers, this might be confusing,
But anyone who had seen Magia’s old review streams would recognize this mode immediately.
She was treating this like a reaction commentary stream—
She had done this before when reviewing VTuber clips, but now she was reacting to the other members' broadcasts in real time.
Because of this, people who had wandered in for the Hidden Achievement rumors were sticking around, captivated by the chaotic multi-view layout and Magia’s constant commentary.
And then—
(🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Command Room, Day 2 👪 4,001 Viewers
Finally, at 9:00 PM, during prime time, Magia’s viewers surpassed 4,000—
And at that exact moment, a long-awaited server-wide announcement popped up.
[System] Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Survive at 25% HP or lower while killing 500 monsters.
[Server] Magia has achieved the first Hidden Achievement!
— IT’S HEREEEEE
— OMG WTF
— THIS IS INSANE
— DID IT FINALLY DROP?!
— LFGGGG SERVER-FIRST HIDDEN ACHIEVEMENT
— MAGIA! MAGIA! MAGIA!
👪 5,722
👪 8,451
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(🔴Live) Wicker Town Season 2 - Parallel Command Room, Day 2 👪 18,823 Viewers