In the group chat where the Parallel members gathered, conversations usually buzzed whenever there wasn't a stream going on.
It was basically the company group chat, so it made sense.
Topics ranged from collab streams and content ideas to "What game's been fun lately?" or "Any dinner recs for tonight?"
But in cases like today, with a group collab, everyone was too focused on their streams to chat much—leaving Dohee, who was just watching, or the occasional important one-liner as the only activity.
"Oh, hell yeah, Puddles! Droppin' the Rain from the sky. Here to soak that parched earth nice and drenchin' today!"
But when Magia's utterly ridiculous impression—backed by voice modulation—aired on stream, the group chat exploded immediately.
[Komari: What?]
[Komari: Is that Jiah noona?]
[Komari: Rey unnie isn't doing a one-woman two-role thing, right?]
[Maru: ?]
[Maru: Whoa, I thought that was Leng unnie talking]
[Maru: Is that really Jiah nim???]
[Maru: Jiah nim, what!!!]
Rain was so shocked she lost her words, so Dohee quickly fired off feedback.
[Momo: Rain, snap out of it and keep the stream going]
Only then did Rain realize her mistake, scanning the chat and launching into improv.
"Whew~ Pretty shocked, huh? I've got my secret weapon—er, ace in the hole. My copycat prep. So go ahead and get hyped!"
Even with the quick recovery, the fluster was unavoidable.
Dohee had given her a heads-up before the stream started, but she hadn't expected a doppelganger-level mimic.
Sure, it was with the help of voice modulation software. In other words, stripping away the adjusted tone, the inflection, ad-libs—everything was spot-on identical.
Viewers felt the same, flooding the chat with playful messages.
— Wait, the last actor's identity is unknown lololol who's that lolol
— Where'd you scout another freak like this, Momo... I mean Rain
— A Rain's the fake, right?
— You can tell A is fake just by looking lol
— Everyone in the room's gone deaf;
— D's the real one? For real idk
— It's A
— No, they said A was hosting from the start!!!!!
But Rain was now an eight-month veteran streamer.
She didn't get swept up in the chat's divided bickering.
If anything, Jiah nailing her impression was a huge win.
From here, if she played Jiah as the "real" one, the reveal would hit even harder, right?
This could turn a smash hit into a mega-hit.
The fun of [Find Rain] came not just from the actors trying to mimic Rain but constantly slipping up, but also from the participants getting totally fooled and their stunned reactions.
Rain worked her mouth and hands in tandem.
"Hey hey. Everyone, chill. Calm down. You can tell I'm the real deal. A Rain's the real one. How don't you get it? I'm so disappointed."
[Rain: Jiah]
[Rain: Pretend to be real go go go]
But Jiah, who was supposed to play the key role, didn't respond.
Finally, Momo, who'd been watching, poked in with a word.
[Momo: Jiah, sync up with Rain]
As if she'd been waiting, Jiah jumped in.
[What the. Gonna go nuts. A, ease up. No matter how hard you try, the Puddles ain't fooled. It's me. D's real.]
Hearing that, Rain was floored.
She was used to them listening only to the boss and cherry-picking everyone else's words.
But she hadn't expected Jiah to nail even the old mispronunciation of "Puddles."
As an American-Korean, it was tough for her to say, so she'd only done it for the first week or so.
And she'd even matched the hand gestures from that line.
The swagger made her look just like a hometown friend Rain had known for years.
'This isn't mimicry. It's a full copy.'
*
[Momo: Jiah, sync up with Rain]
I'd been holding back, wondering if it was right for a non-VTuber like me—who'd never done a stream like this—to butt in. But the boss's blunt wisdom hit like a dart.
Still, I didn't think I'd done wrong.
It was the mindset every Parallel employee should have—and my own conviction.
Recalling cases from本土 Vtubers or Yorupasa where staff showed their egos, got slapped down, and slunk away, I knew staff had to stay staff.
— Private Message —
[Momo: Seems like Rain's trying to match you closely]
[Momo: So when Rain throws shade]
[Momo: Wait, shade sounds weird]
[Momo: When Rain signals to react, jump in right away, got it?]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Yes]
[Momo: Was gonna use you for comedy but you're killing it lol]
[Momo: Rain's legit flustered lololol]
[Parallel Ops Team Magia: Thanks to the modulation, probably]
But when the stream genius boss says do it, you do it.
There's a reason they say 1st Gen members gain subs even in their sleep if they listen to her.
So, like a good obedient employee, I'd do as told and boost Rain's subs and fans.
She'd been hitting a slight plateau lately anyway.
Maybe today would be the turning point.
'Means I'm doing great. Time to fool 'em harder?'
Bring it, Puddles.
Let's see who loves Rain more.
That's why I'd practiced songs and raps so thoroughly.
* * *
The first Puddle appeared in the group chat.
[Ahh, hello everyone.]
The Puddles recognized the nickname and started murmuring.
It was the true Rain stan chairman who'd never lost #1 on Rain stream donos—and a big spender who rotated through all Parallel streams, always topping the rankings.
Rain was thrilled he'd shown up first and had high expectations.
[Puddle. You confident? Start right away?]
But the chairman, bearing everyone's hopes, was seriously tense right now.
He hadn't caught the difference between real Rain and Jiah during the actors' intros earlier.
[No clue who, but there's a voice mimic master... Kinda worried, but gotta try.]
[OK let's go!]
Anyway, the Rain hunt began.
A Rain struck first.
"Yay! Hello! It's A Rain."
The chairman pondered briefly, then spoke.
"Fake. Out."
"No, no! It's me! I'm Rain!"
"Rain unnie doesn't use that much English lately. Komari, out."
— lololololol
— A, get out
— Marie, you reek of full-time stench lol
Her true identity: 1st Gen Midori Komari.
As she got shot down, B Rain followed up.
"Yay. B Rain. Missed you, Puddle! How've you been? You okay?"
"Your pronunciation's too Korean. Out."
"No no! It's true Rain! You can't believe it?!"
"B and V mix-up shows it's not Rain. And you don't roll your tongue like that. Out. Maru nim, tone it down—my ears hurt from the yelling."
"Yaaak!!"
— Out
— Turned down volume cuz too loud and now muted
— But yeah, seems too easy for the chairman?
— Easy peasy~
1st Gen Nezumi Maru eliminated in quick succession.
Less than two minutes to weed out two.
Boss Dohee, watching, couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.
"Thought they did pretty well..."
With comet-like Magia bursting in, her 1st Gen peers—who she'd thought were solid—had devolved into comic relief.
The plan was for Magia to be the blatantly bad one for laughs.
But this flow wasn't bad.
Voice mimicry was relative; if someone dominated, others naturally became the punchline.
Roles shifted, but the momentum was perfect.
Viewers were eating it up.
Puddles were randomly selected, but snagging Rain's chairman first amped the vibe.
Even he, who sniffed out bad mimics easily, couldn't tell?
This was huge.
— But now the real deal starts
— Fr lol
— Honestly easy so far lolol
— Let's gooooo
Next up: Magia as C Rain.
Would the chairman nail it and snag the pizza?
Everyone on stream waited for C Rain to speak...
"Puddle, I forgot your game name. What was it? Squirrel something shooting? Can you tell me? The stream I promised before."
Silence fell over the stream.
Just like during her intro.
— This is def the real one I swear
— For real??
— No way this is mimicry
— Is the voice mod that good or is the mimic insane lolol
For reference, Dohee was watching as a regular viewer now, with no idea which Rain was real.
But considering she often collabs with the kids when bored, this chaos was also proof of Jiah's mimic skills.
Thrilling stuff.
When D Rain spoke next, the stream descended into total pandemonium.
"Puddle, C Rain's obviously fake. Don't fall for it. I'm the real one. So tell me the name."
— This one's real too??
— ??
— Voice is too even
— Whoa... territory expansion
But what made Jiah truly amazing was how voice mimics usually diverged the more you talked—no matter how good.
Maybe from bingeing streams, collecting data, practicing, and organizing it well.
"Hey D! Cut the baby talk. Puddle won't pick you anyway."
"You got something to say? C's obsessed? Ease up."
Mistakes were weirdly few.
It was just two Rains.
In the end, Rain's chairman could only mutter "Well, damn!" repeatedly as the two Rains argued over who was real.
Where'd they find this person?
He could only marvel at boss Dohee's scouting skills.
Finally giving up, he raised one hand first.
"Can't do it. I'll use the song chance."
:: Anonymous donor sent 5,000 Clouds! ::
:: Giving up pizza for this? ::
"No, I really can't tell."
— If King Puddle gives up, how are we supposed to lolol
— Fr can't tell lolololol
— Just pick both?
— Pizza forfeited?
Using the chance meant a short song of choice, but pizza downgraded to Mama Burger set.
But who cared about prizes now?
The #1 donator, Rain's top fan, couldn't find the real one?
Sure, failure made for good YouTube fodder.
But the self-proclaimed #1 Rain stan couldn't fail here.
"Short original song rap part, please. I'll judge."
— Ooh
— Sharp call lolol
— Chairman class
— Yeah, rap'll tell for sure lolol
— Go time~
Rain's original song, released two months post-debut, was a powerhouse with her signature English rap over killer high notes—pure K-pop with cheese sprinkle seasoning.
No one could copy it easily.
The rap especially: blisteringly fast, slang and abbreviations everywhere. Without memorizing lyrics perfectly, mistakes were inevitable.
Even Rain had flubbed during recording, so fakes had to slip. Everyone thought so.
"Ahem. Let's get it. One, two, three, four."
But the Puddles were dead wrong.
The woman playing C Rain, Magia, didn't just watch Korean VTuber streams.
This Rain maniac VPN'd for her monthly Japanese or English streams to snipe global fans.
How much pronunciation practice to avoid getting caught as non-foreign?
She never dreamed it'd pay off now.
"Voices in the shadows, we're risin' loud,
No more silence, we're standin' proud."
Explosive machine-gun rap.
Viewers mistook it for Rain's, waving glowsticks.
Ears and brains overrode: had to be Rain's.
— Kyaaaaaaa
— Wooooah insane
— (Glowstick con)(Glowstick con)(Glowstick con)(Glowstick con)
— C it is?
— (Bangdeng con)(Bangdeng con)(Bangdeng con)(Bangdeng con)
— Kyaaaaaaa
— Nat'l hip-hop top goddess Rain gg
— Korean hip-hop dieeee
Just four seconds, but the afterglow lingered.
Dohee, watching, gaped.
"No way, Magia. What the hell are you...?!"
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