If Making Money Looks Easy....?

[Author : Serkei]

[Title : Climbers Are Seriously Brutal]

Some Chinese guy brazenly set up shop on Floor 15.

The Climber Association said he had come to kill Wakamo as a follower of [The Collector].

The atmosphere was so damn brutal that I wondered if this was really okay.

If the head mod lost, wouldn't everything be taken by China?

But our Fox God...

"This is a little too brutal to upload. Sorry, believers."

She had to get to Floor 15, so she quickly smashed through Floor 14, then beat down the assassin too.

I thought she was going out for a walk.

-You're not the first person to come for my life. And you probably won't be the last.

-Instead of an honorable flank breakthrough, a despicable frontal breakthrough....!!

-An enemy who gives his name, greets you, and challenges you to single combat... Do we have to respect him despite that?

-It's hilarious that he attacked because he wanted the Imperial Sealㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴHe'd obviously want it.

ㄴDid you see the Association president clap back at the Chinese government's demand for it?

ㄴ"It's not state property. It's her own property."ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThe Fox God has more legitimacy than your governmentㅋㅋㅋ

-The head mod makes it sound cheap by saying she won a 1v1 death match where the loser deletes their character, but is this really okayㅋㅋ

ㄴ"Back in my day, this was everyday life."

ㄴShe actually fought in wars, so would she dodge a challenge to fight head-on?ㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴDid you come alone?

ㄴUh-huh~ I'm single.

-I heard all four limbs were smashed and all his teeth fell outㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴHe came to kill her, and she let him live. Isn't that mercy?

ㄴThis is the fist of mercy...!!

-"Death is liberation from life."

-We should have given him a machine gun, Collector....

[Author : ㅇㅇ]

[Title : So, Are You Upset That She Isn't Uploading the Video?]

It can't be helped. She was beating up a person.

You say she didn't kill the dwarf marksman? How is that the same as a human?

And she was showing a hidden technique to another Climber.

He might pick another fight later, so she can't use it.

More importantly, the head mod avenged our president.

I miss the Dragon of Japan... Are you watching from heaven...?

-TMI) He's alive and well.

-Virtual Live was too small for her.

-She still streams just fine. Tons of famous YouTubers come by, yeah.

ㄴWho comes?

ㄴ(Link address) Look and you'll know.

ㄴAaaagh!!!!

ㄴ(The red-pill meme)

-A broadcast with a suspiciously large number of voices I've heard somewhere before.

-Don't go in carelessly. You'll die.

-They even did a Tenga collab. If everyone had fun, that's what matters...

※※※

"The equipment recovered from the assassin..... is unfortunately unusable."

Manager Won Da-hye expressed her regret to Wakamo, who had been excitedly planning to give the equipment to Yu Ying so she could climb with it.

"The equipping conditions include being in a [Combat Class] and possessing [The Collector's Mark]. I suppose only his followers can use them."

"Ah.... What about the rings and necklaces?"

To be honest, I still didn't know all that much about Climbers. So when Wakamo asked out of genuine curiosity, Manager Won Da-hye nodded.

"Yes. Normally, they require various conditions, including a Class, certain stats, and other requirements. They consume Mana, and there is also a cooldown before they can be used again. Items provided by the Tower and items that are crafted have those things in common."

The Tower gathered information through Climbers and provided items accordingly. Cases without Class restrictions were generally limited to items one made for one's own use. Other than that, the requirements were so troublesome and the process so tedious that it was easier to simply give up.

"But Lady Wakamo, are you really sure you don't need any support?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Manager Won Da-hye understood that Wakamo trusted only her body and the sorcery she had learned herself, rather than relying on equipment or anything of the sort.

The reality, however, was that Wakamo's Class was 『VTuber』. Asking for equipment related to a VTuber Class would be strange. But even if they made general equipment usable by the [Non-Combat Class] category.... Would it actually help Wakamo?

On top of that, because she had a 『Legendary Class』, she did not even have the Class evolution that ordinary Climbers possessed, which changed their Class into a higher one as they climbed the Tower.

They said Legendary Classes might evolve into higher Classes too.

But what even was a VTuber's higher Class....? Even if one existed, Wakamo would refuse it.

It would be better to simply let people misunderstand her.

"If there's anything I really need, it's the hearts of the believers who love me?"

"You're unusual."

It was sad that she wanted to answer honestly but couldn't.

She had felt it before, too.... There were simply too many problems if people discovered her Class.

The fact that her body was made of Mana was a weakness, but if her Class were revealed, she might be attacked in other ways too.

For example, what if someone deleted Wakamo's channel, or directly attacked YouTube and blew up its servers, making her subscribers disappear?

Even Wakamo had no idea what kind of ruling would be triggered.... Considering that, wouldn't she need to broadcast on several platforms simultaneously?

"Well, shall we get started?"

Manager Won Da-hye prompted her as she moved on to the main subject.

The Climber Association and the government had agreed to handle the assassin who came from China. Manager Won Da-hye relayed that the Association president felt it would be a waste for Wakamo to spend even a moment on something like this in the first place.

Right, they had been discussing her future broadcasts and the current situation.

"First, there's the issue of securing regular viewers, casual viewers, and finally, new viewers.... Would you take a look at the graph I've prepared?"

What appeared on the screen was my channel.

Manager Won Da-hye looked at my videos interspersed among nearly 2,700 clips and tried to persuade me that the channels should be separated so newcomers who came to watch Wakamo could find her content quickly and conveniently, but—

I refuted that by saying they could just look at the playlists. Since I had no intention of abandoning my identity as a clipper, I asked her to let the issue go. In the first place, I wanted people to come to my channel and watch other VTubers even more than I wanted them to watch me.

"As you can see here, the videos uploaded to our channel have a high average view count. Some even have more views than subscribers. One video reached three million views, but the subscriber count isn't rising and has stagnated. We have many viewers: people who only come when they see a broadcast notice in the community and watch when she climbs the Tower, as well as people who come through the algorithm without bothering to subscribe. However, a considerable number of them aren't subscribed to Lady Wakamo."

Well.... Of course. Watching a broadcast and subscribing were separate matters. Why else would YouTubers say, "Please like and subscribe!"? Wakamo didn't even say things like that, so people probably watched her, felt satisfied, and left, or simply came back to binge-watch whenever they thought of her.

"On the other hand, as you can see, Yu Ying's channel is rising steeply. Many people say her pronunciation is difficult to understand, but they find it cute, and there's a gap moe between that and her appearance. She has also been studying Korean diligently in recent hand-cam streams. People love watching her come from overseas and learn things one by one at her own pace. They say it feels healing just to watch her. She's good at games, but they also like her because she seems kind by nature. There are many positive comments, such as simply, 'She's cute.'"

Her unclear pronunciation was a disadvantage for a broadcaster, but she had overcome it and won people over through her hard work and innate cuteness. The fact that she was a foreigner had also helped. She listened to Korean songs and did listening streams.... She had been doing more chatting streams than expected.

She really did have a talent for being a VTuber...!!

"First of all, you two have only been broadcasting for a short time, so I don't think you're suffering from a content rut yet. However, VTuber Wakamo may need to show a greater variety of things. Ideally, you should separate the clipper channel and the VTuber channel, though."

The manager's sharp remark hit way too close to home.

Right, a VTuber should have a separate channel that only uploaded her own videos.

New viewers were probably scattering instead of staying because of the bizarre structure of Wakamo's channel. But Wakamo could never let go because she held on to the vague hope that they might go to other VTubers instead.

Speaking of which, content....

She couldn't climb the Tower forever, so she had to consider it.

'The most radical option would probably be ASMR. A normal chatting stream would be good too. I can't sing, but I could play instruments.... I can draw, too. The various genres of games that are most representative. A VS World Cup would be good for drawing out viewers' reactions. Review streams. Or watching anime or movies together.... But viewer-participation streams would probably be the most effective. Besides that, filming trending challenges, making cover songs or original songs, hand-cams, exploring the fan cafe, and so on.... There are more things to do than I expected....'

She quickly analyzed what kinds of content a broadcaster called a VTuber could do and slowly listed them.

She always had to be careful.

It was good to chase what was popular, but—

If she did that, viewers who came in for it might complain when she did something else, asking why she wasn't doing that anymore or whether she could do it again.

She always had to assume that satisfying everyone was impossible.

Besides, VTubers had to be careful about many things. Wakamo already swore quite heavily, but she still hadn't made sexual jokes or other lewd remarks.

If she made even one dirty joke, it could leave a blemish on her image.

Of course, if used in moderation, it could liven up a broadcast like seasoning, but Wakamo wasn't confident that she could keep her viewers eating out of her hand.

The fiery VTubers who broadcast with completely uninhibited remarks could do so because they knew where to draw the line, and because viewers who liked that sort of thing had gathered around them.

Perverted VTubers attracted perverted viewers, while the viewers who watched pure and innocent VTubers differed even in the level of manners displayed in chat.

The ironic thing was that some viewers watched both kinds of VTubers.

'In the first place, the domestic market isn't that large.'

She pursued the dreams and romance of being a VTuber while acknowledging the practical realities.

'There are at most three streaming platforms in Korea.'

On domestic YouTube, P·Rave could confidently be called the top. They were real idols, distributed by a major corporation, released albums, and were talented enough to top the charts. They had a large fandom and incredible technical capabilities.

On the other internet broadcasting platform, Soopfrica TV, there were the Otherworld Idols. For them, VTubing was their main job and being idols was more of a hobby. Even so, they regularly held massive concerts in Korea. They were the kind of broadcasters who had accumulated years of experience, with their fans running things alongside them in a way that couldn't simply be observed and copied.

There was much to learn from how they held a concert and then let the idols themselves share their impressions, while consistently communicating with fans as idols and playing games and doing various content as VTubers.

Finally, Stellamis on the other platform, Pajijik, could be called Korea's Virtual Live. They established an RP and maintained their concept while putting on VTuber-like broadcasts, and they were expanding their influence as a group by collaborating not only within their own world but also with other broadcasters.

'I'm active on YouTube....'

This too was a decision she had reached after agonizing over it again and again.

Now that T-Witch had withdrawn from Korea, there was no domestic platform that could draw in as many overseas viewers as YouTube. To increase the number of believers, she had to target not only Korea's population but people overseas as well.

She needed content to win over those viewers!! Ultimately, broadcasters could never escape this problem!

Wakamo sighed as heat rose naturally into her head.

'Hngh... Knowing too much is actually the problem.'

She should watch other VTubers' broadcasts, learn from the pioneers who had gone ahead of her, and carefully review her content over and over so she wouldn't make mistakes.

How many VTubers had accidentally leaked something or retired and disappeared because of a slip of the tongue?

Even considering stability and other factors, many VTubers aspired to join companies that could provide corporate support. There were countless VTuber companies in Korea too, but just as often, being signed to a company became a shackle instead.

'I can only say that I'm really lucky.'

Even if they streamed diligently, modern platforms pushed streamers to the top based on viewer counts, making them difficult to find unless one deliberately searched. That was why some bosses worked hard to grow the market by bringing in many VTubers and holding tournaments.

'Connections are important for VTubers too. If I want to make some, I could approach them and participate.'

Collaborations were popular content too. Wakamo was fairly famous, so they would welcome her application to participate. In the first place, they tended to keep their requirements loose.

"[Nom nom, teeheeㅋㅋ Ah~ So this is that person? Yeah, yeah... Oh, kids. You think your hyung doesn't know?!]"

She imagined their reaction for a moment, but didn't think she would be rejected.

However, collaborations could also backfire.

For one thing, if Wakamo met other VTubers, she might tremble or rattle off words like an excited otaku, speaking at machine-gun speed. On top of that, during a tournament collaboration, she might go to another VTuber's broadcast or start clipping them.... She could act like a real beast and get criticized.

Wakamo knew that was obviously wrong, but she was certain she couldn't resist trolling by watching a VTuber broadcast during a VTuber collaboration.

'I can't do collaborations.'

Let's give up on collaborations completely!! I'd only be a nuisance!!

Unlike other VTubers, she didn't need to promote herself by going around communities!! She had been special from the start and had succeeded without putting in much effort!! If she became a nuisance on top of that, she might want to bite her tongue and die of shame!!

'As a VTuber, I'm basically a frog in a well.'

Just as she was groaning and wondering what on earth she should do for content,

Manager Won Da-hye, who was acting as Yu Ying's consultant, called Wakamo over, saying she had one more important thing to discuss.

"Lady Wakamo. There's one most important matter, and I need your opinion."

"....Huh? Oh, did you call me? Um.... What opinion?"

Wakamo's head was so full of worries about content and thoughts of VTubers that there was no room for anything else to enter. Her thoughts stopped at Manager Won Da-hye's next words.

"Since you're a VTuber too, shouldn't we think of a 『VTuber Group Name』 that includes Yu Ying?"

A group!

A VTuber group!!

Right─ Wakamo was the boss raising Yu Ying!! And she herself was a VTuber!!

In other words, two VTubers were living together under one roof, working hard and cheering each other on.

Then..... they had no choice but to come up with a name....?

Wakamo soon imagined a VTuber who had joined the company she created saying she had left because the company—or rather, the group—name was too embarrassing.

[Stats]

Mana : 523,678 -> 463,678.

"Gasp...!"

That was dangerous. She nearly died.

If she hadn't been a Climber, that one blow would have killed her instantly.

She didn't even have a heart, but it felt as though her heart were pounding. She wiped her forehead with her sleeve despite not sweating and took deep breaths. She even felt dizzy.

The damage was worse because she imagined a VTuber who had admired Wakamo for working so hard on her broadcasts and joined because she wanted to become like her.

Someday, someone might come to her saying they wanted to become a VTuber after watching her.... What if the group name were pathetic...?

[Stats]

Mana : 463,678 -> 403,782.

"Ababababa."

"P-Please calm down!! We're not naming a country or anything, are we??"

Manager Won Da-hye handed Wakamo some cold water and urged her to calm down. She hurriedly changed the subject.

"The studio issue has been resolved. You'll be able to do motion-capture streams there. In addition, we've received support for VR equipment sponsorship and related advertising."

"....Advertisements?"

"Yes, advertisements."

The VTubers created by Uwakgood had even filmed bank commercials themselves. Times had changed a lot. With the metaverse having arrived, it was no longer strange for VTubers to appear in advertisements. P·Rave had even filmed a cosmetics commercial!! They were VTubers!!

"Still, I'd prefer an advertisement that fits my concept...."

"Ah, the Climber Association wants to make an advertisement related to Climbers...."

"Isn't that more like an educational video than an advertisement?"

"Anyway, it's a request from a company, right?"

Manager Won Da-hye shrugged as if to say, That's what an advertisement is. Wakamo nodded as though she understood.

"Then how about doing today's broadcast at the studio? An endurance stream, I believe it's called? The building even has living quarters for that purpose. You could practically say the entire building is for Lady Wakamo."

"Instead of letting me use it alone, could it be shared so other VTubers could use it if they asked?...."

"They invested an enormous amount of money. Wouldn't that result in a loss?"

"I don't care at all!!!"

"Ah, yes...."

Manager Won Da-hye respected Wakamo's opinion, though she pointed out that labor costs and the like had to be considered each time they used it. Since she had prepared what Wakamo wanted.... it was now time for Wakamo to prove herself to the believers through her VTuber broadcast.

"Sing, dance, play instruments.... Maybe I should try ASMR too...."

"You'll need to promote the equipment too, you know? It's from a domestic company."

"So it's an advertising stream too.... There's a kitchen, so should I do a hand-cam cooking stream...?"

"That could advertise the camera too."

She was trembling... The pressure was insane.... She couldn't keep her legs still.

Becoming a VTuber without ever intending to be one was overwhelming...!!

When the manager said she would introduce Wakamo to the staff and even the PD, the corners of her eyes began twitching.

Then, before long, she found herself wondering, Wasn't Tower climbing no big deal?

Wasn't it just simple labor(?) where she beat up the monsters that appeared...?

"Yu Ying.... What if the broadcast is a disaster...?"

"B-Boss.... You get used to th-this kind of thing by doing it a lot...."

Yu Ying said nothing more.

You just had to get used to things while doing them.

If you did it often enough, you would naturally get used to it!!