Octavio’s Panny Macquiao Spends a Grand Theft Auto Night Trying to Sell a Song for $100,000

HOLOLIVE — Octavio spent a five-hour roleplay stream on the DISTRICT V2 server of Grand Theft Auto (GTA) trying to sell a song as Panny Macquiao, a character who describes himself as a boxer turned senator turned singer. The track was his first, and the hook, “This fight is for you,” ran through the opening stretch of the stream as he listened to the demo and said he had made it the evening before.

Panny worked out a price on the spot. A voice pack, a short audio clip sold in the city, runs about 20 seconds, with a premium one at $10,000 and his own at $15,000; his track ran about a minute and a half, so he started at $150,000, then settled on $120,000, negotiable down to $100,000. He said he needed $35 million to free his wife and child, who are being held hostage in the story, which meant selling about 3,500 copies. Before going out to sell, he changed his outfit and haircut so that people in Los Santos would take him seriously.

“I’m not good with criticism, bro.” — Panny Macquiao, after a buyer was unhappy with his voice pack

The early sales were small. People at a trading card hall said they had spent their money on cards, and Panny sold two voice packs, at $10,000 and $15,000. One buyer was unhappy with the voice pack, and he took it hard: “I’m not good with criticism, bro.” At a masquerade held at the hospital, he sang the chorus for strangers, and a group told him he should have stayed a boxer. His first sale of the track came after he sang a snippet for another guest, who paid a $100,000 invoice. Because he had sent it through his employer, though, he kept only 30 percent. He then agreed to a 30 percent commission with a new acquaintance who offered to resell it.

The night turned toward boxing when Panny phoned the owner of an illegal fight ring called Punch Buddies, who goes by Happy. Happy offered about $2,000 per fight plus a bonus for a win and said he would be in touch after a tsunami due to hit the city. While waiting, Panny played his song and said he wanted to make a music video from a slideshow of fan art of the character. He later went to an afterparty at the Vanilla Unicorn, where staff said the lineup had two performers but that a slot for his music might open up.

Chat followed the sales pitch closely, calling the song a “35 MILLION DOLLAR SONG” when it played and joking that Panny should record a separate version of his voice pack for each listener.