I May Be a Virtual Youtuber, but I Still Go to Work

Mugeon ended up pinned under the collapsed building, rendered completely immobile, and the police became the laughingstock of the day.

Some citizens, who usually enjoyed causing minor crimes and fleeing around the server, went so far as to treat Darami like a hero, even using their social media accounts as loudspeakers to spread tales of her exploits.
Naturally, the atmosphere among the upper ranks of the police remained absolutely miserable until the server shut down for the day.
Since this wasn't a roleplay death event, the setting was adjusted to say that the police commissioner survived thanks to the hospital director’s exceptional skills.

But for Mugeon, the situation was simply unacceptable.
“What a disgrace…!”
I mean, he could have shot and killed her on sight if he could just catch her.

But Darami kept slipping out of his line of sight with sly tricks, driving him to the brink of madness.
Had he known this would happen, he would've never agreed to help Darami when she said she was catching a scammer that day—another bitter regret.
"Double the bounty. No, triple it!"

"I-I understand you’re angry, Commissioner, but if we do that, the bounty will be way too high…."
"I’ll cover it, whether it’s two thousand or three thousand! Just raise it!"
"Ah, y-yes, sir!"

And just like that, the news exploded across the entire Thunder Special City, thanks to Miho, who was waiting in front of the police station.
—
⚡Thunder——————————
TCB Fire Fox Reporter☑ @Fire_fox
Darami's bounty is setting a new all-time record…!!
Previous: 10 million won → Now: 30 million won / MUST ALIVE
We need the active cooperation of all citizens!!
—————————————————
ㄴ It's Darai, bro
　The Commissioner is really pissed off lmao

ㄴ Daraiking Daragod
　They can't catch her so they're just raising the bounty like trash lolol
—————————————————
—
With a bounty of 30 million won, even if it got split among several people, it was still worth the effort, and before long, specialized groups dedicated to hunting Darami began to form.

Even the mafia, while running their own businesses, sent some of their members off to join the bounty hunt.
Naturally, this led to the creation of large organized teams, and soon enough, an alliance between Eastern and Western mafia factions formed as well.
It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the entire social current of Thunder Special City was now revolving around Darami.
Broadcasters, no matter what, always chased after hot topics.

And for the first week, the undisputed main character was Darami.
… ─ — Pazijik Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Thunder City] Day 7 Summary

Darami (Red Hood)
Blew up eight buildings just today.
And somehow only targeted abandoned properties, relentlessly harassing the police.
Darami herself is more about flashy bravado, but the brainpower from Magia and the physical strength from Park Inyeong are just insane lolol 
Even when police helicopters are deployed, they often can’t even begin a pursuit—it’s that bad.

Those who watched yesterday already know, when the police tried to monitor Dochi Construction tightly and block the distribution of demolition explosives, Darami just knocked down a neighboring building and stole the explosives anyway, ffs lololol
These three might be problem children, ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) but they're honestly the strongest rn.
Dochi Construction
Their headquarters collapsed, and Maru, the company president, was bawling his eyes out.
But a bunch of small fry (hakko) streamers, who had been eyeing the opportunity, pumped money into the company and got absorbed as employees.

Maybe because they’re facing Parallel, none of the hakko are going crazy trying to show off.
They're blending in like they’re playing house—it’s kinda wholesome.
Mafia
Newly formed mafia groups:
East 3 (Mama Mafia), boss Jubi (solo, Bajubi)
West 3 (Muscle Mania), boss Kim Muscle (Titanium, Wanggu)

They split into East/West alliances, dispatching members from each side to hunt Darami and claim the bounty.
But honestly, East >>> West in terms of strength, so if anyone wins, it’ll probably be the East side.
The formation of Mama Mafia was hilarious though—I’ll cover that separately.

[Comments]
— Pazijik990: Why no mention of the businesses?
ㄴ Pazijik101 (OP): No major changes really.
ㄴ Pazijik990: Didn't the mafia make alliances and stuff?
ㄴ Pazijik101 (OP): True, but it’s not affecting the big picture much rn.
ㄴ Pazijik101 (OP): Honestly, for the first week, just talking about Darami and Red Hood is enough lol.
— Pazijik571: Darami seriously hit the jackpot getting noticed by Magia lol
ㄴ Pazijik571: She used to barely pull 50 viewers, and now she hits 4,000 minimum every time she goes live lol
ㄴ Pazijik101 (OP): Right place, right time, dude.
ㄴ Pazijik086: Honestly yeah, it’s like playing with a favorite toy, but most of the haggler streamers here must be hella jealous of Darami.
ㄴ Pazijik752: For real lol
ㄴ Pazijik253: I was just chilling on the server and then Magia crashed into me lol
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

—
And thanks to Red Hood’s rise to power, the unexpected biggest beneficiaries turned out to be—the mafia.
In Thunder Special City, there were two weapon dealers, one each in the East and West.

The mafia used these dealers for large-scale arms trafficking.
While regular citizens could only roll for S-tier gachas limitedly each day for cosmetics and vehicles, the mafia could roll S-tier weapon gachas through arms trafficking.
However, the arms trafficking missions were pretty tough — either full-on firefights against NPCs or stealth operations resembling spy games.

And if the police had even slightly increased surveillance, arms trafficking would’ve been a nightmare to pull off.
After all, it was still early days on the server and even the mafia didn’t have a lot of firearms stocked yet.
But then…

Darami started pulling all the police aggro, scattering their forces like crazy.
She even provoked the police commissioner so much that now even civilians were joining the bounty hunt.
No way the mafia would miss out on that golden opportunity.

They threw every available resource into arms trafficking, gleefully buying up weapons and upgrading their arsenal.
By Day 7, except for the two newly formed organizations, the other four mafia groups had successfully amassed considerable firepower.
The server admins had originally predicted that mafia groups would start openly clashing with the police once they were armed with S~A tier weapons around Week 2.

But that situation arrived a few days ahead of schedule.
Thankfully, the mafia were too busy forming business partnerships and building income streams, so no full-scale clashes broke out on Day 8, the final day of the first week.
But for the police, it was a full-blown emergency.

"Chiefs of the East and West Divisions, to the Commissioner’s Office, please."
Before Day 8 ended, Mugeon called an emergency meeting with the top brass.
The first item on the agenda: police reinforcements.

"First, I’ll discuss with the Mayor about boosting our forces. Let’s push the timeline up."
Originally, S-tier police weaponry was supposed to roll out once mafia growth hit critical mass in Week 2, but it was clear they needed to adjust that timeline.
Even the server staff agreed, so it was practically guaranteed to be implemented right after Week 2 started.

The bigger issue was how to crack down on the ongoing arms trafficking.
You had to catch them red-handed in the act to confiscate illegal weapons or penalize the mafia.
But thanks to all the time wasted chasing Darami, they hadn't even been able to touch the arms dealing operations.

Still, Mugeon had an idea.
"Chiefs, would you trust me on this one?"
Darami and Red Hood were heavily reliant on stolen demolition explosives.

By roughly calculating the amount they had stolen and used so far, they were nearly running out of explosives.
If the mafia had succeeded in arms trafficking, some of them would likely have stockpiled a good amount of explosives.
It's just a possibility, but explosives could only be brought in through arms trafficking.

"For the peace of Thunder Special City, let’s use the strategy of using one to strike another."
"Using… one to strike another?"
"We leak a rumor on SNS saying a specific mafia group has a stockpile of explosives. Then Red Hood will either steal it, smash in their doors, or negotiate for it—she’ll definitely do something."

"Ahh."
"If Red Hood and the mafia make a deal, we catch them mid-transaction and hammer them. If not, and they fight each other, we can just sit back with popcorn and enjoy the show." 
It really was a brilliant idea.

But the West Chief still looked uncomfortable.
"Still… isn't it a little problematic for the police, the supposed protectors of the people, to spread fake information?"
"It’s an undercover operation. Trap tactics. If we get bogged down worrying about that stuff, we’ll never be able to protect Thunder Special City."

"Let’s go with the Commissioner’s plan for now, West Chief. If it becomes an issue, we’ll apologize and promise to do better."
Given that unless the utterly hopeless duo and the other weak units suddenly awakened and cleaned up all the criminals, they had no other choice anyway.
After some hesitation, the West Chief also nodded.

"…Alright, fine. Let’s do it."
***
Just as the police had guessed, Red Hood’s stockpile of explosives was indeed almost depleted.

—
⚡Thunder——————————
TCB Fire Fox Reporter☑ @Fire_fox
There are currently rumors that a powerful mafia group in Thunder Special City is stockpiling bombs with the intention of supplying them to the wanted criminal Darami.
Fire Fox Reporter has investigated the rumor!
(Interview.mkv)
—————————————————
—

Since the rumor was spread through Miho’s (Fire Fox’s) account—the biggest SNS account in the city—Magia caught wind of it almost immediately.
She had already humiliated the police once.
And she'd been thinking it was about time to make sure the mafia realized too: we’re above you.

The operation was drawn up in an instant, and a Red Hood meeting was called.
"Let’s hit the Shooting Club."
"I’m down for anything!"

While Pino agreed instantly, Darami frowned.
The Shooting Club was currently the strongest mafia group in Thunder Special City.
It had DingSam, a former pro who regularly held tournaments, and Kamik, who had fought alongside Magia during the Combative Tournament with Team Youngun.

"Can we even pull it off? We barely have any weapons."
"I’ve got one handgun, and so does Pino-unnie. What’s the problem?"
"They're probably armed with machine guns."

Magia chuckled.
"Doesn’t matter. In a firefight, whoever gets shot in the head first loses! Not that you’d understand, boss, since you can’t even shoot properly."
"…Shut up."

"Anyway, you’re going to negotiate with the Shooting Club, boss."
"Negotiate? Didn’t you just say we’re hitting them?"
"We pretend to negotiate and rob them behind their backs. How long are you gonna act like a rookie? You gotta keep up!"

"…Huh? If the three of us walk in together, they’ll be watching all of us. Or do you have a way to sneak into their hideout?"
Magia simply pointed at the bike parked behind Pino.
"Pino-unnie and I are going to fly."

The physics engine of Neo California wasn’t exactly flawless.
Considering how she’d just recently smashed a helicopter mid-flight with building debris, it wasn’t surprising.
If strong enough physical force was applied upwards, objects could fly along completely unrealistic trajectories.

The same applied to vehicles.
With the right terrain—like a jump ramp—a lightweight bike could be launched over even the tallest walls, making it a valid infiltration method.
"So boss, just buy time. Negotiate as long as you can, even if they ask for an impossible amount of money. You’re good at bluffing, right? That’s your specialty! Heehee."

"Ugh…"
"What’s this, getting cold feet? You were all cocky in the videos you posted on SNS yesterday. Are you one of those types who only gets brave when the camera’s rolling?"
"N-no. It’s just... what if the mafia shoot me on sight?"

Magia giggled.
"That’ll never happen. Have they ever done that in all the chase scenes so far?"
"…They haven’t."

"Exactly. Thunder Special City folks never shoot first. If they shoot, they lose the chance for ‘dialogue’!"
"Dialogue?"
Darami still didn’t quite get it.

Magia sighed and leaned in to whisper right into her ear.
"Forget what I’m about to say in 10 seconds. We’re about to peek beyond the fourth wall."
"Oh, god, what kind of middle school edge-lord—"

"It’s because everyone’s a streamer. Why would they waste a golden WWE (scripted drama) clip opportunity by shooting right away?"
"Ah."
Exactly ten seconds later.

Magia repeated what she said, and Darami slapped her forehead and shouted.
"Thunder Special City folks never shoot first! If they shoot, they lose the chance for ‘dialogue’!"
"Hah, Tia. Don’t insult my genius brain. I already understood all that."

— lololololololol
— Seriously lololol
— It’s so funny how you can tell she’s a streaming rookie in moments like this lol
— fr lol
— At least the bluffing is on point lol
— “Genius brain” lmfao, what did you learn that from, Tia? lol
Anyway.
Right now, Darami was a superstar in Thunder Special City.

The mafia wouldn’t just try to claim the bounty immediately.
They’d definitely try to milk a WWE scene out of it first.
They were confident that they’d win in a straight fight anyway.

Magia and Tia would use that opening to raid the warehouse, grab explosives or weapons, and escape with Darami.
Darami asked,
"Okay, grabbing the explosives sounds fine. But after that—how are you gonna get me out?"

"From that point on, it’s up to you, boss."
"…?"
"You don’t expect us to clean up after you forever, do you? A boss has to act like a boss."

"Hey. If I get caught, I’m ratting all of you out to the cops, you know?"
"We already said we'd blow up the police station before you could. And even if you betray us, we don’t care. We’ll just find a new boss."
— Damn, she really said "there are plenty of toys to replace you."
— Magia / Controversy
— Yeah, this one's gonna stir some controversy lol
— Honestly though she's not wrong lol
— There are plenty of people who’d kill to take Darami’s role lol

Magia said with a cold smile.
"Anyway, this is a test. To see if you really have what it takes to lead us."
"Grghh…"

"It won’t be that hard! By the time you need to make your getaway, everyone’s attention will already be focused somewhere else."
"What, you planning to blow up the Shooting Club’s hideout? That would start a full-blown war, you know?"
By "war," Darami meant UFC.

The police were neutral and didn’t own any private property.
But mafia buildings and supplies were all private property.
Even stealing explosives already reeked of UFC.

Blowing up a building would be a full declaration of war.
Magia giggled.
"Why would I blow anything up? Heehee. There are plenty of ways to cause a scene without blowing stuff up. And you know, boss—Pino-unnie and I can’t afford to be seen. We can’t draw attention to our side."

"Then?"
"We’ll call the police."
Darami tilted her head in confusion.

Magia smiled and said,
"We’ll play them against each other. Heehee."