“I just arrived, yes. I got to the hotel a little while ago.”
Right now, I had just arrived at the hotel and was making a greeting call. Who was I calling? My editor, Yusia.
She was like a worried grandmother, making me promise to call as soon as I got here.
Remembering that, I called right after I unpacked my luggage.
– “But I can’t help but worry.”
“I’m not some lost child, what’s there to worry about…?”
– “But boss, you’re hopeless with directions…”
Ouch.
I had to admire Yusia’s insight on this one. I actually was hopeless with directions.
Even after arriving in the States, I lacked the confidence to find my way, so I followed Welli Grandmother’s guidance to Sampson’s restaurant.
This had been the case during my previous editor interview too. I was well aware that I tended to get lost more than others.
– “Why didn’t you just call as soon as you got here?”
“The time difference is quite something, you know.”
The match where Brutal was competing was taking place in California, so here I was, in a hotel right in the middle of California. Meanwhile, Yusia was in Seoul.
The time difference between California and Seoul is a whopping 16 hours.
Even if I wanted to call during the daytime when I just arrived, it would be the early morning over there, making it impolite to call. The sun has to set here before it rises there.
“Calling someone who’s sleeping and waking them up is the most inconsiderate thing.”
– “I’m editing anyway, so it wouldn’t matter.”
“Excuse me?”
– “Oh…”
What did she just say?
Yusia sounded like she realized she blurted something she shouldn’t have.
“Do you have editing left? That can’t be true.”
Since I flew over to the States, I had naturally given both my editors, Yusia and Kim Jae-jun, some time off.
It wasn’t just a way to let them rest after overworking them; there was also the reason that I didn’t have anything to edit right now.
All the live broadcast footage had already been fully uploaded to VTube.
When you think about it, this was actually quite a bizarre situation. Usually, if you check other streamers’ VTube channels, you’ll find that most of them struggle to keep up with their live broadcasts.
For example, today is August 29th, but on VTube, you might see the footage from August 17th being uploaded.
It was a situation caused by not being able to process the flood of edited content coming through the live broadcast in a timely manner.
In fact, my Vtuber channel didn’t employ many staff either, so it would have been normal for similar problems to arise and for the videos to be delayed.
However, due to the efforts of the editing demon Yusia and the editing slave Kim Jae-jun, the videos managed to stay on track.
In fact, they were even progressing faster than the live broadcast, to the point where editors were complaining of having no work.
Indeed, this was yet another proof that I had made a splendid hiring choice with these two. Looking back, even if it felt like a stretch at the time, the decision to rotate through two edits was paying off now.
– Well, it’s true we work hard on editing, but it’s also because the boss is slacking off on the live broadcasts –
“…Anyway.”
I lightly cut off Yusia’s teasing remark and asked again.
“So, what were you editing? I’m pretty sure I told you to take a break.”
– Ugh…
Stand up straight, Yusia. What on earth were you making?
In an instant, a bad thought flickered through my mind.
What if, just what if Yusia had other intentions? What if she was editing videos for someone else’s Vtuber channel instead of mine?
It wasn’t completely out of the question. Even if that were the case, I wouldn’t have anything to say about it.
After all, my position as an editor was not a public office, and there was no rule against side gigs.
Even if the editing demon Yusia had grander ambitions and started reaching out to edit other people’s Vtuber channels, what could I say?
– No way!
“A, no way?”
– How could I edit videos for someone else other than the boss!
I cautiously voiced that speculation, only to be met with a very fierce reaction.
Given that kind of response, it seemed she wasn’t lying. Thank goodness.
“Well, that’s good. I’m not going to say anything, but I almost felt a bit hurt.”
– Boss, you should really consider not bringing in any other staff!
So, Yusia thinks we shouldn’t hire additional staff. That’s quite different from our editing slave Kim Jae-jun’s opinion, though.
Under Yusia’s command, he was often overworked and would occasionally approach me as if seeking personal counseling, subtly hinting that we needed more editors.
Kawa had subtly been requesting more editors.
Every day, V-tube was growing, and while performance bonuses were nice, at this rate, he felt like he’d wither away.
“Kim Jae-jun is so lazy. Seriously, if the Boss picked you, you should at least try hard! Always complaining about how tough it is, or saying your back hurts…”
Well, from my perspective, it seemed like Kim Jae-jun was normal and Yusia was the odd one.
People often said “workaholic,” right? That title perfectly suited Yusia.
Even now, which worker in the world gets time off and still keeps working?
A normal worker would lounge around as soon as they got a vacation, just like Kim Jae-jun.
Just a few hours ago, his niece Si Hyun had messaged him, asking if he’d become an unemployed uncle.
“Anyway, what were you editing? It’s not someone else’s video, it’s mine, right? There’s no editing source!”
To be precise, there were sources, just not any recent ones.
If he dug deep into the past, he could edit an old live broadcast that couldn’t even be found in replays.
But considering how busy he was already, squeezing out videos from ancient sources was brutally tough, and he, the editing slave Kim Jae-jun, had lamented about it before. So usually, he wouldn’t bother digging into old sources for making videos.
“Uh…”
“It’s okay, just tell me. What were you making?”
– “An old drunken rambling vlog mad movie…”
“Oh dear, really?”
What even was a vlog mad movie? Hearing it, I could kind of guess what kind of video it was and who the target audience might be.
What I found unfortunate wasn’t the fact that he made such a video.
“Giving you a vacation, and you can’t even take a break.”
– “I’m sorry…”
“If that’s the case, I should have gone to America with you. I came alone so I could relax without you.”
It’s tough to relax when your higher-ups are staring at you. So even though I deliberately cleared out, he still worked hard.
– “…Should I book a flight right now?”
“This time, let’s just let it go. We can go together next time. I need to keep Yusia right next to me so I can force her to take a break.”
– “Hehe…”
Dealing with the editing demon was incredibly complicated. But what could I do? I got it, so I had to take responsibility.
“For now, I’m calling it a night. I have to head out tomorrow morning.”
With those words, I ended the call with Yusia.
*
“Welcome to California Hall, where the ACS League game is taking place! It’s way bigger than I expected! You guys see this, right?”
[OMG, the chat is blowing up!]
[Kayak fans are over the moon! LOL]
[Kayak is here! LOL Kayak is here! LOL Kayak is here! LOL]
[It really is huge, huh? LOL]
[Can’t see because of the Teacher’s chest.]
[Seriously, why would you even say that?]
[Ugh, you little brat.]
[It is pretty big….]
[What’s with the weird tone? This person isn’t normally like this.]
[Probably editing a VTube video to upload it too.]
[What’s up, C-Tube fans?]
Bright and early, I hustled my way to the destination.
Today’s match in California Hall features Brutal.
It’s well-known in the area, and even though it’s being used for the Abyss games today, it often hosts musicals, operas, and theater performances.
Having grabbed some footage for VTube in front of that majestic building, I felt accomplished.
“This has been a fruitful broadcast, right?”
[Huh?]
[It’s only been 30 minutes since the broadcast started?]
[Sis, I just got here! :'(]
“So, this means no live broadcast since I got my VTube footage, right?”
[You bad girl.]
“Well, I need to head inside soon, but I can’t be broadcasting once I’m in there, you know it’s not allowed inside.”
Well, normally that wouldn’t be an issue, but today’s different.
It’s the league’s opening match, and to avoid chaos among the rushing staff and disrupting the players’ focus, personal broadcasts are prohibited inside.
Photography is also only allowed at designated photo zones inside.
[LOL, Kayak went to see the handsome 17-year-old alpha male Brutal!]
[So bitter… Stream again tonight after heading back to the hotel.]
[Not a chance! LOL, right after Brutal’s game, it’s time for after-party plans!]
[There are some kids here trying to plant bad ideas in the chat; can we get some bans?]
[The broadcast host is everyone’s girl…]
With all those viewers trying to hold me back, I finally stepped into the hall.
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