NOVEL NEXT chapter 209
The ad I’d be doing got finalized the very next day.
There was already a backlog of pending sponsors, but it looked like the one with the most burning passion for promotion had been selected.
And the game they represented wasn’t some small-time project that needed desperate exposure, either.
“Mimax…?”
The CEO gave me a slightly apologetic look as she spoke.
“I really tried to find something easy… but this was the best of the bunch.”
“Doesn’t look easy at all.”
“Just hear me out. It might actually be manageable.”
The ad I was about to do was for none other than Mimax—the so-called beacon of hope in Korean subculture. Yes, that Mimax. The one Pino works with as a freelance Live2D rigger.
And the flagship title from Mimax, a global hit famous for its rich story?
Coral Blue.
“So you’re saying I just have to stream the main story while making it clear it’s a sponsored stream? What about the account?”
“They said they’d give you a super account.”
“I feel like users might really push back against this…”
Gamers don’t usually like streamers—especially not ones promoting their game.
They hate it when streamers jump in just to grab rewards without any long-term commitment.
And they really hate when streamers parade around with their own audiences, act like they know the game, and start voicing opinions.
So when ads start circling streamers, relevant communities often go on lockdown, banning all mention of them in advance.
It’s better to proactively suppress things than let them run wild and blow up the gallery later.
“They did bring that up. Mimax hasn’t really done many streamer promotions either. Just not worth the headache for them. But they said you might be an exception.”
Apparently, the reps said this was the kind of ad only Magia could do.
They’d heard Magia might be accepting ads, and immediately reached out.
And the reason? They said they’ve never seen anyone with as positive a public image in their game community as me.
“Me? I’ve never even played the game.”
“Well, apparently that game has a lot of fans who like petite-looking characters. And one of their most popular ones kind of looks like you.”
“Aha…”
“They didn’t say it was a perfect match or anything. Just that the reaction wasn’t negative when your name came up.”
“I mean, that’s something, I guess.”
I think I know who they mean.
Probably Aimu?
Short for AI-mutant. A girl destined to bring about the end of the world.
She appears super cute in the main story and ended up being adored by legions of hardcore anime fans.
Dark blue hair, bright blue eyes... up to that point, sure, it’s the same.
But my eyes are kind of droopy, and that character had those super sharp, sparkly eyes, didn’t she?
The CEO seemed to pick up on my skepticism and added,
“Yeah, it’s weird, right? But they said they can’t give details because it’d spoil the upcoming main story. Something about a different version? Alternate form? And that’s the one that apparently looks just like you.”
“You mean my faceplate, right?”
“There’s barely a difference between that and your real face.”
“Well… fair.”
“And apparently your voice sounds similar too. I listened to it—it really is close. Especially when you’re tired. So they figured if they were going to do a dub ad, you’d be perfect.”
And the reason the Mimax team was so obsessed with getting me to do voiceover?
Even though Coral Blue was a huge hit—
Its story still isn’t fully dubbed.
The devs at Mimax didn’t expect the game to blow up the way it did.
And when it launched, it was up against massive competitors, so they cut costs as much as possible. Aside from skill sounds, they scrapped all voice acting.
That left a main story filled only with scripts and effects.
Now, years later, it’s hard to even gather the cast for recording—mostly due to scheduling issues—so they’re only dubbing key parts of the main storyline.
So if I, someone who sounds like Aimu and has a decent fan image, could dub it—
They figured the playerbase would be pretty happy with that.
“And they said what really sealed the deal was your follower count exploding lately.”
“I wouldn’t say it’s that big a deal…”
“It is, though. We have a sense of your popularity, but outsiders need hard data to be convinced.”
“That makes sense. Though, I feel like they probably got some insight through Mr. Pino’s contact, right? He’s gone full Slug Squad crazy lately.”
“Apparently, unless it’s about rushing his work, Pino’s rep doesn’t really talk to him directly. Too exhausting.”
“Hah… weirdly relatable.”
Anyway, it was a huge opportunity.
The budget offered was nothing to scoff at.
And they’d apparently been waiting for half a year just to give me an ad.
All I had to do was dub part of the story.
Better that I take it—someone the fanbase is neutral on—than risk a member getting unexpected hate.
“Alright. What day is it scheduled for?”
“Friday. Two days from now. You don’t have anything else, right?”
“Then sure. That works.”
It’s technically the day before the RP server promotion stream kicks off.
But I didn’t think it would be a problem.
As long as nothing went wrong, it wouldn’t affect the next day’s stream.
Especially since I’m extra cautious with my wording during anything official. It’d be fine.
“Let them know I’ll do it. And send me the contact if you have it.”
“I’ll tell them first, then pass you their number.”
“Thanks.”
Two days left. I’d need to prepare pretty thoroughly.
Summarize everything in the story leading up to the new main scenario.
And figure out the character tones for the cast that’s going to appear.
If Aimu’s tone is already close to mine, it shouldn’t be hard to match her voice.
But if I don’t understand the previous storyline, no matter how much effort I put into the dub, it’ll come off fake to the players.
It’s just a one-day ad—why go this hard?
This translation is the intellectual property of .
Because even our girls had to build up a whole mountain of story to get where they are now.
Imagine some clueless newbie showing up and saying, “Didn’t they just get lucky or something?”
That kind of comment drives longtime fans insane.
They’d want to punch that person right in the mouth.
To us doing the ad, it might seem like nothing—
Just another job to cross off the list.
But to someone out there, that content might mean everything. A sacred space that should never be cheapened or tainted.
That’s why I always tell our girls: don’t phone it in when you’re doing an ad.
If there’s just no time to prepare, and it’s not a part of the game the fanbase is already mad about, then just show some genuine awe.
That alone gets you halfway there.
***
… ─ — Coral Blue Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Is this the one? The girl who looks like Aimu?]
She really does look similar.
Do they have the same mama?
Hmm, but giving an ad to someone who’s never played the game before is kinda…
[Comments]
— CoralBlue395: It’s not just the looks, the voice sounds similar too.
ㄴ CoralBlue094: For real?
ㄴ CoralBlue686: Not completely the same tho lol
— CoralBlue423: I mean, she’s better than most other streamers
ㄴ CoralBlue423: But if she starts talking crap without knowing anything about the game, I’ll flip
— CoralBlue112: Different mamas, but it’s a bit of a tangled family tree
ㄴ CoralBlue112: Aimu’s mama’s top student is Dora, a first-gen Parallel, and Dora is Magia’s mama
ㄴ CoralBlue475: So like… an aunt, I guess? lol
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …
… ─ — Coral Blue Gallery ─ ─ — …
[Just watch and decide, okay?]
[Posted by 🟦CoralBlue04]
They already announced it’s just a dub stream of the main story anyway.
If she says anything dumb, you can always call her out afterward.
[Comments]
— CoralBlue009: But they’re not blocking mentions this time?
ㄴ CoralBlue009: Things could go sideways again
ㄴ 🟦CoralBlue04: Honestly, even the mods are kinda curious about Magia’s dub
ㄴ 🟦CoralBlue04: If things start blowing up, we’ll shut it down then
ㄴ CoralBlue009: Aight
ㄴ CoralBlue009: If the mods say so, fair enough
— CoralBlue846: Is she actually any good tho?
ㄴ CoralBlue846: If those Slugs or whatever show up, this could turn into a disaster
ㄴ 🟦CoralBlue04: Just block the anons if it gets bad
… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …
Clearly, Mimax didn’t choose Magia for the ad without good reason.
The community response was actually pretty positive.
Some of the more level-headed gallery users even said watching Magia’s dub might be a good way to experience the story for the first time.
Of course, positive didn’t mean fully on her side.
Like the Coral Blue Gallery mod said—Magia’s voice does sound a lot like Aimu’s, so there was hope her dub would really enhance the story.
But if she didn’t understand the worldbuilding and said something stupid, they were fully ready to rage.
Like, “Knew it,” “Told you never to give ads to streamers,” that kind of outrage was just waiting to be unleashed.
In other words, Magia was sitting on a powder keg.
Even if she nailed it, the best she could expect was a “Not bad, I guess.”
She was basically stepping into a situation where a negative review was the default.
But she got paid, didn’t she?
If you get paid, you show up like a pro.
Half-assing a paid gig doesn’t even qualify you as an amateur. You shouldn’t have taken the money in the first place.
She had the RP server promo coming up anyway, and her channel was already pulling in people curious about Neo California.
Might as well use the ad to demonstrate what real RP looks like.
So—who is Aimu?
An AI. Artificial intelligence.
She wants to be human but was ultimately created to bring {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} about humanity’s destruction.
But she brushes that fate aside.
She lives like a normal student with friends she meets by chance.
She hides her inner darkness and puts on a bright, innocent front.
Coincidentally, Magia may act like a mischievous workaholic on the outside, but inside, she’s constantly overthinking.
Both of them—Aimu and Magia—are people with something buried beneath the surface.
That’s why they speak without emotion.
It’s the main reason people said Magia sounded like Aimu—her signature flat delivery.
So she dulled her tone a bit.
Mimicked the stiff, mechanical speech patterns unique to AI.
“I don’t want to. I like my friends. I’m going to adventure and play games with my friends. I won’t listen to the Chairman. The Chairman is a liar.”
Even in a scene where she should be bursting with emotion, her lines were calm, subdued.
That pent-up, aching tone came through—constrained, heartbreaking.
It became her trademark.
Back in the days when Do-hee was too busy to even suggest hanging out, Magia used to bottle everything up.
Waiting, hoping someday they’d have time.
Now they live in the same house—not that they do anything particularly affectionate—but they share a lot of time, and that frustration has mostly faded.
Still, Magia remembers what it was like.
She has no desire to go back.
“Why doesn’t the Chairman believe in me? I believed in the Chairman. I believed when the Chairman said I’d destroy this world. I believed when the Chairman said he’d fix my broken parts.”
With a voice already similar to Aimu, adding a layer of emotional restraint—
At that moment, Magia was Aimu.
A girl clashing with the student council, yearning to return to her friends.
Coral Blue players who’d tuned in out of curiosity sat there, breathless, caught in the emotion.
The Slugs grumbled that she was only putting in effort because it was a paid ad—
But as the story neared its climax, the chat exploded with screams.
— Dammit, Aimu!!!!!!!!!!!!
— Aimu, I love you!!!
— She’s just... THE BEST
— A tin can, and somehow more human than any of us…
:: Anonymous Donor has donated 1,000 Clouds! ::
:: Her words are cold, but inside she’s warm—just like Magia, lol ::
— ?
— Since when was Magia warm inside??
— You’ve got some nerve
— If anything, Aimu’s 200x better
— When has Magia ever cared about the Slugs?
In the chat’s comparison between Aimu and Magia, Aimu won decisively.
Most people still believed Magia didn’t care about them, and the overwhelming sentiment became: “Forget Magia—Aimu is GOAT.”
And what happened next?
Including a ton of Slugs, returning players and new viewers watching Magia’s stream flooded over to the Coral Blue Gallery.
They started asking veteran players for tips, saying they wanted to play the game because of Aimu.
It just so happened to be Aimu’s special pickup season.
Suddenly, the Coral Blue Gallery was swarming with activity.
In the past, any Coral Blue ad stream meant a flood of unrelated streamer chatter, derailing threads and pissing off the gallery.
But this time, those supposedly disruptive Slugs?
They weren’t talking about Magia at all.
They were obsessed with Aimu, deep in conversation about the new main story and how tragic her arc was.
Maybe it was a fleeting emotional wave.
But even if temporary, it was way better than chaos.
Even if they were newcomers, if they showed up saying, “Your game is amazing, the story’s amazing, the characters are amazing”—
Who could be mad about that? It felt good.
Usually fandoms that follow a streamer everywhere can be obnoxiously biased.
But in this case, they were full of unexpected respect.
So the next day—
Just as Magia was about to go live for her scheduled RP server promo stream, Do-hee, fresh off a rare Saturday meeting, said:
“Hey, after the RP promo, can you do one more ad?”
Advertisers were now lining up, wanting to work with Magia after seeing how thoroughly she prepared and how well the previous stream went.
And this one?
Do-hee had personally picked it out, thinking Magia would love it.
“Out of nowhere?”
“There’s one for a shop or restaurant inside the RP server. I figured since we’re doing it anyway, it’d be a good tie-in.”
“I mean, if it’s tied to the server, I don’t mind… What’s the game?”
At Do-hee’s answer, Magia couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
Because it was the most her game possible.
“Pizza Dream.”