The light sticks waving in the chat window didn't stop for a good while even after the short rap ended.
Lane, today's star who had been watching it all, was utterly floored.
'Holy shit.'
They'd known each other for almost a year now.
But she'd never shown anything like this before, which made the shock hit even harder.
Impersonations? She'd always said she watched the members' streams every day, but she'd never done it in front of them.
Singing? Even at 1st Gen after-parties or collabs when they all hit the karaoke joint, she always sat in the back just shaking a tambourine.
Magia had been assigned by President Momo from the start of debut prep with the explicit instruction to "use her however you want," so there was a solid internal bond of trust. But this was way too different from the image she'd shown so far.
'Why the hell had she been hiding it all this time? To surprise us?'
A cute but kinda creepy little kid.
But thanks to her always dropping straight facts that hammered the 1st Gen into shape, she'd earned the nickname Gia Bomba.
You might wonder how a person's name could mean "nuclear bomb," but her words were short and to the point, emotionlessly nailing the facts every time. Even though she used proper honorifics, it felt like getting punched in the face.
Of course, since she zeroed in on mistakes without any fluff and moved on, she never actually got under the members' skin.
Anyway, despite her cute and lovable appearance, she wasn't the type of character you wanted to pat on the head.
She was just President Momo's loyal subordinate and confidante.
A pesky little brat who only listened to the boss.
And that Gia Bomba had this shocking talent.
Without any warning, just out of nowhere.
So naturally, Lane—who had already debuted as a singer once in the States—started suspecting this might be part of some noise marketing ploy.
'President, no way. Is Gia debuting too...?'
If she was just a temp office worker filling in for Dora, she didn't need to be this good, honestly.
Of course, with the stream in full swing, Lane couldn't just zone out. She could ask after it all wrapped up.
"Damn, C Rain. You killed it! Nice kick! But I can do it just as good. Let's go for real—bring it! Let's go!"
It might be a tough one for the Puddles, but there were definitely some flaws in Magia's rap.
She'd mimicked the way long-time Stateside folks slur slang and abbreviations at high speed pretty well, but the subtle result was different from Lane's.
That said, it was a difference only a hip-hop nut like Lane would notice. And wasn't Lane deliberately playing "not herself" today to hype up the vibe?
In other words, if Lane nailed Gia's part exactly the same?
It'd create a devilish dilemma that even the diehard true-Rain fan Chairman couldn't solve.
*
… ─ Parallel (VTuber) Gallery ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …
[This is messing me up lololol]
Feels like Lenny's rapping at the same tempo from both sides, threatening me to pick one.
Who am I supposed to choose ffs
Pick wrong and I'll get flamed every time I sponsor from now on!!!!
[Replies]
— Parallel458: No way she's not a real rapper? Impossible otherwise
ㄴ Parallel611: That's impossible too lol
ㄴ Parallel611: Why would an active rapper watch Lenny
ㄴ Parallel185: She's gay for Lenny, known in K-hiphop circles
ㄴ Parallel415: Just look at Kwak Ki-cheol featuring on her track
ㄴ Parallel571: Isn't she the undisputed top in our K-hiphop? lol
— Parallel321: Why's this dude doing pizza fetch defense war in hell lololol
ㄴ Parallel511: Fr lol good luck
— Parallel369: AI voice comparison says it's D
ㄴ BigLump (OP): ok thx
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …
Chairman—aka BigLump—kept dragging it out pretending to agonize, so I checked what he was up to. Turns out he was banking on the gallery's collective brainpower.
So I gave him the answer to be helpful.
After all, I'm just a stand-in who sounds a lot like Lane—I'm no protagonist.
Better if both viewers and Lane end up happy, so picking the right one makes sense.
Of course, my evil instincts leaned toward winning myself, torturing the viewers and giving Lane ammo to troll them...
But after five years of socialization under the President's hand, I'd become a good person who picks the no-harm option.
— Hurry up and pick alreadyyyyyyy
— Think about the asses waiting behind you
— Our asses are drying up back hereeeee
— Pick alreadyyyyyyy
[Ughhhhhhh... The answer is!]
No way he'd get it wrong when I straight-up told him the answer?
I leaned back in my chair, relaxed.
[C, C is the real Rain!]
But the second I heard Chairman's answer, I shot up like a spring.
My linked C Rain avatar sprang up too.
"No, you little..."
Even with the President's socialization curbing my swearing, that was close.
Good thing I'd muted the mic just in time.
But this guy... even when I tell him the answer.
[Rain: Pretend I'm Gia go go go]
[Rain: I'll reveal the truth]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Got it]
At least Lane seemed cool with it, which was a relief.
She was even leaning into ruthlessly toying with Chairman, which fit her stream vibe perfectly.
Her chats turned into idol-level swear-fests whenever she got bored, so her viewer love was pretty hardcore.
Anyway, since Lane wanted me to play her, I praised Chairman first.
"As expected. Ah, Phillip. I knew I could count on you, BigLump. Knew you'd find me."
[Woo! That's it! Knew it!]
Chairman let out cheers of joy nonstop.
He'd be living as ShitLump for the next six months... G-good luck.
I silently prayed for him inside and waited for the real Lane.
[But, answer is D. I am Rain. C Rain is fake. Phake.]
[...For real? No way.]
[You got it wrong. Goddamn shit Chairman.]
— Lmaoooooooooooo
— Yeah fake's fake lolol
— Oh dish her?
— BigLump's dignity?
— I dig it
— How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?How'd you miss this?
— Damn I'd have nailed it
Flustered Chairman sputtered excuses.
[No, seriously. That English issue just now. I said D. Not C, D. Pronunciation wasn't clear.]
[Our Puddles talk so funnily.]
:: Anonymous Sponsor donated 10,000 Clouds! ::
:: I am ::
:: Anonymous Sponsor donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: From now on sponsor 10x...
— Ok ok, problem customer please exit
— Won't go far...
— ShitLump forever
But he couldn't stop the flow kicking him out of voice chat.
Soon he was wailing bloody tears in Lane's talk code chat.
[BigLump: UwAAAAAAAAAA]
[BigLump: Sorryyyyyyyyyyyyy]
I'd worried if Lane was actually pissed.
But nah, she was loving it, grinning ear to ear.
Kinda like "YouTube algorithm locked in, donations secured" face.
[God, seriously disappointing. Too much. Right, Puddles?]
— Fr lol
— Fr lmao
— Sponsor ranking normalized
— This too must be Lenny's grace...
* * *
I wondered how many Puddles would pass this brutal test.
But by content end, about half of the twenty had snagged pizza.
Gia's repertoire ran dry, leading to slip-ups that let some lucky breakthroughs happen.
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Sorry]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: I messed up a lot]
[Momo: Nah you did amazing]
[Momo: Huge for the kids already]
[Komari: Unnie I was shook]
[Maru: Gia-unnie, can you do our impersonations later too?]
[Maru: (sparkly eyes con)]
[Momo: Gia practiced a week for this]
[Momo: Let her rest now]
[Maru: (wailing con)]
Viewers started at 5K but hit 15K right before end.
50% over the 10K target...
Parallel was already calling it a massive content win internally.
And proving it, as stream wrapped, eyes turned to the identities of the actors who shone.
Like satisfying that hype, Lane introduced them from B Rain onward.
[So, introducing today's helpers one by one. Last A was meh, B is our cute Komari~.]
[It was so hard....]
[Growth-type actor, right? Getting better bit by bit. Anyway thx lil Mari!]
— Tsk tsk tsk
— Good job Mari lolol
— Smelled all forest-fresh, loved it~
[Next C, the loudmouth we heard all day, Maru~.]
[Puddles really wanna die? My voice is loud, sure, but how loud can it be?!]
— No but fr it was huge lolol
— My fave Roundie couldn't even lift her head from shame
— Your voice hurt most Maru...
[Roundies, come to my stream later.]
[All visiting Roundies, follow Maru to the Truth Room~. ]
— Go away lol
— Nooo don't wanna uwahhh
— I'll be a Puddle starting today
Finally.
The D everyone was dying to know.
[Last! Today's real. Perfect. Amazing. Astonished. Perfect copy was our D....]
But for staff protection, Gia's intro had to be minimized.
And they'd agreed on this pre-stream.
[D is... actually a regular Parallel staffer whose real name and voice can't be revealed! So no matter how curious, can't help it. King Ban shield. Got it?]
— ???
— ??
— Nah this ain't it
— Forever alone
— Just say hi ffs nooooo
— Parallel free D Rainnnn
But introducing Gia as planned sparked massive backlash.
Watching Cheon Do-hee pouted and muttered.
"...Just as expected."
From the moment Gia showed off way more than expected, this was inevitable.
She'd properly scratched viewers' itch for juicy stimulus.
Hiding too much now would just fan the flames.
Leaving it would screw Lane with tomorrow's afterparty stream.
But a full proper intro could spark useless rumors.
Like forcing a debut on overworked Gia.
[Momo: Gia]
[Momo: Just a quick greeting]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Ok]
Husky-voiced Lane's opposite—her cute voice—would pack a punch.
But this drew a hard line: don't cross it.
We love the attention, but today only.
That vibe.
But one thing Cheon Do-hee didn't predict: Magia's unchanging conviction.
Even appearing on stream, her role was just to make 1st Gen shine.
[Hello Puddles. This is Ops Team A, who played Rain today.]
— ??
— Modulator still on
— Way she talks confirms Korean lolol
— Soft basic tone makes it funnier lolol how'd she do that earlier lolol
— Show real voice plsssss
So Magia kept the voice modulator on, burying herself under Lane's tone.
[I'm Rain's shadow, so don't be curious about my voice. If you had fun today, that's enough. Please keep loving our 1st Gen Anothers and our Rain going forward.]
Finishing, Gia even dropped her avatar off-screen.
Drawing a firm line: my role ends here.
But people want more what they're told not to do.
Human instinct to dig unknown truths, right?
So Magia's words lit a massive fire in viewers' hearts.
— ???
— She really dipped??
— No lol
— Pisses me off?
— Gotta burn?
— Event over lololol
— Puddle drying up
— Puddle evaporating~
— Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?Ridiculous?
— (splat con) (splat con) (splat con)