Chapter 28
Lee Geon-yeong groggily woke up.
It was noon.
When he drew the curtains, bright sunlight streamed into the dark room.
Out of habit, he grabbed his phone with no new messages and went into iTube.
Scrolled down, found nothing to watch, and turned it off.
Then he opened iTube again.
Scrolled down.
With no interesting thumbnails, he turned it off once more.
“Ugh.”
He fiddled with his phone like that on the bed for about ten minutes, then moved to his desk.
He turned on the computer that had been in sleep mode and launched Travel.
His ID was PublicToiletBrickExtortionKing.
He always put on the stream he watched around this time and went to hydrate himself.
Gulp, gulp.
“Hmm. Food... I’ll skip it.”
Lee Geon-yeong decided not to eat lunch.
Even though it was actually breakfast rather than lunch.
He had no appetite.
Cooking was a hassle too.
After washing up and roughly cleaning the house, he returned to his room and closed the door.
Then he sat in front of the computer.
‘I can’t keep living like this.’
It had already been two years.
Of living like a recluse.
He used to be reasonably extroverted, sociable, and had quite a few friends.
But from his second year of high school, he was bullied at the academy he attended for art school entrance exams, lost his confidence, gave up on the college entrance exam and the tests, and ran away.
After that.
He hated meeting his friends.
He felt too shabby, and meeting people would expose that appearance.
Being inside his room was comfortable.
Maybe it unexpectedly suited him quite well.
Watching streams and surfing the internet, the day somehow flew by in an instant, and the sky grew dark.
Naturally, since he had woken up late, but the night sky that had chased away the sunlight made him even more depressed.
Lee Geon-yeong prepared dinner.
Just taking out a few frozen dumplings and popping them into the air fryer was all.
‘Lucky I have no appetite. Heh heh.’
Tomorrow, a day just like today would probably repeat.
He felt sorry to his parents who sent him living expenses.
Parents who silently supported him even after their son failed entrance exams, failed retaking them.
But he hadn’t failed.
He hadn’t even attempted them.
Because he was afraid of failure.
“Haaaaah.”
Lee Geon-yeong let out a deep sigh.
“I’m trash.”
He didn’t waste money.
Since he stayed in his room from the start, once this lifestyle stretched past a few months, there was nothing to spend money on except minimal living expenses.
But he was wasting something far more important than money: time.
He knew it too.
“I want to change......”
Truly.
He felt so pathetic he wanted to die.
But he had no strength to change.
Just then, the streamer’s voice came from the computer.
[I’m currently looking for an editor, and if any of you viewers want to edit my videos, from my gameplay footage...]
He was saying he was looking for an editor.
The streamer who spoke was Jin Seo-jun.
A streamer who’d been streaming for less than a week.
Thinking that some people, not long after starting, just soared to success and built iTubes, the feeling was both strange and envious.
The streamer was his polar opposite.
Outstanding talent and a slightly obnoxious, confidence-filled personality.
‘I used to be like that too.’
But the talent he’d mistakenly believed he had as a child vanished like an illusion as he grew up. All that remained was a failed, hiding reclusive loner.
[Alright then, for real, Tva!]
The stream turned off.
Like a newbie streamer who hadn’t set an offline screen, a dark screen appeared.
His face was reflected on the monitor.
He stared blankly at the eyes reflected on the monitor before murmuring.
“An editor. Should I... give it a try?”
Was it that he needed something, anything, to challenge?
As if possessed, he began browsing the internet and learning about video editing.
During the time he would normally have spent browsing Travel looking for other streams.
* * *
The next day, he edited the video again.
“This goes like this, shortcut keys......”
A sense of improvement, learning something new.
A feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time.
The corners of his mouth lifted.
It was fun. It felt like he gained some usefulness.
“Here, do it like this. ......Is there another way to add effects? I should look it up.”
The whole day passed while editing.
It felt like time flew by even faster than before, but the flow of time didn’t feel empty today.
And it seemed like he had a bit of talent too.
Lee Geon-yeong wanted to escape this shit-hole self and truly get work done.
The editing work even seemed to suit his aptitude.
‘Now that I’ve uploaded the video, if I write the email......’
It will be fine.
His hand, which had been on the mouse, let go.
Lee Geon-yeong’s eyes wavered for a moment.
Then he closed the email window, grabbed his phone, jumped onto the bed, and opened iTube.
‘I did a lot today, so I’ll do it tomorrow.’
Humming like that, he returned to his usual routine.
And the next day, he postponed sending the email.
And the next day too.
The day after that was the same.
Before he knew it, five days had passed since he’d pushed thoughts of video editing out of his head.
He uninstalled the editing program and thought.
‘It wasn’t going to work anyway, so whatever......’
Negative thoughts rationalized his escape.
Would a video made after learning for just one day really be accepted?
Nope.
Then why send it if it won’t work anyway?
It’s meaningless.
Giving up is comfortable.
* * *
[Today, I’m going to catch the Queen.]
The streaming turned on.
“Hello, everyone.”
- hi2
- Seoha
- Seoha
Over the past week, the viewer count hadn’t risen but rather dropped.
It was an outcome Taewoo, Movie Soft, and Seo-jun had all predicted.
Some viewers from back then had come to see Seo-jun himself, but many had also come to see his skills.
Nevertheless, there was a reason Seo-jun had accepted Movie Soft’s offer.
‘Concrete layer.’
It refers to a viewer base that watches a streamer out of personal fondness, regardless of the content.
Seo-jun had, if shallowly, solidified this concrete layer over the past week.
After all, he couldn’t always just hunt dominators in the game.
And the drop wasn’t as large as he’d thought.
‘When I caught the Magic Tower Lord, it was 3,000.’
The previous day’s stream had been 2,300.
A much higher number than expected.
- Queen is a pushover scrub lololol just try me
- The original Musou is different, I tell ya
- How is the streamer the original? It’s not like Dawn of the Assassins only has this series
- If you’re good, you’re the original yup. Even a soup place is called original if it’s tasty
- for real lol
[‘RiggedDice’ has donated 10,000 won!]
[Seoha! I’m thinking of starting Dawn of the Assassins after watching Seo-jun, what do you think?]
“Ah, thank you for the 10,000 won donation. This game is fun. And completely easy. You can just follow me.”
Though the payment hadn’t come in yet, Movie Soft was a sponsor.
So he threw in a bit of flattery.
- lololololol don’t listen to that
- If you buy it to do Musou, you’ll regret it 100% lol but buying it is recommended.
- The streamer is a devil
- Please buy Dawn of the Assassins
- I remember a few days ago when he said he’d do a guide stream and just trolled and showboated the whole time
Was that not it?
Whatever works.
“Well. That’s how it is.”
Seo-jun was in the lobby now.
“Before I start the game, I have something to say.”
Seo-jun had found out through viewer search that BrickExtortionKing was present.
- What is it?
- Major announcement?
- It’s not something like he secretly had a girlfriend, right d d
- He’s going to donate all the money he’s earned so far. That must’ve been a tough decision, and we respect and support that decision.
Ignoring the chat flowing by in a stream of consciousness, Seo-jun opened a window.
It was the application video BrickExtortionKing had uploaded to iTube!
“BrickExtortionKing-nim, who is watching the stream right now? Is this you?”
- How can an ID be public lol restroom lol brick lol extortion king lololol
- lololololol
- Would there really be two people in the world with a nickname like that?
- Why is everyone’s nickname like this here.
“I left a comment on the video and also contacted you through your Travel ID, but you didn’t seem to see it. I have something to say, so please check your messages.”
The quality of the video Seo-jun had seen the previous day was exactly to his liking.
It wasn’t because it used special effects well or included unique editing techniques.
The reason was sense and neatness.
Indeed, as expected of a viewer who had watched every live stream, BrickExtortionKing had precisely picked out the video’s fun points without missing any and polished them neatly.
“I don’t know why you didn’t send the email, but I’d like to have a serious conversation.”
- Oh! Is he looking for an editor?
- Play the video
- But why did you make it public and not private lolol
- I want to see it.
“The video? You all go watch it yourselves.”
Seo-jun said that with the aim of at least boosting the video views.
- The intro is freaking hilarious
- lololololol
- Heading there right now
[Application video for streamer Seo-jun-nim’s editor position.
Hello! Hyungnim! I’ve never formally learned editing, but I’m confident I’ll work hard!
Since all I have is time. haha I’m unemployed.
Also, this is my first video, so I can improve more and more!
A growth-type editor. Wouldn’t that be totally awesome?
If you need verification, please contact me! I’ll edit other things too.]
- tmi overload lololololol
- So you were unemployed, BrickExtortionKing!
- If you weren’t unemployed, why would you extort public restroom bricks lol
- Even unemployed people don’t do that. I know because I’m unemployed lolololol
* * *
“Ah shit. Embarrassing!”
Lee Geon-yeong ruffled his hair with both hands then pounded his thigh with his fist.
“Why is that set to public!”
The sentences he’d carelessly scribbled in the video description.
And the embarrassing ID he couldn’t proudly say anywhere.
On top of that, the first editing attempt he’d ever done.
A three-piece set of humiliation.
“How did he find it? The views were low.”
He hurriedly went to iTube and set the video to private.
- Eok lolololol the video was taken down in an instant lolololol
- Kwak
- Was ExtortionKing watching lolol
- lololololol forced humiliation play
- Clearly uploaded it by mistake
[Oh. Was it uploaded by mistake? My... I know nothing. Anyway, check the comment and please contact me.]
- ExtortionKing, you killed him Seo-jun! ExtortionKing, you killed him Seo-jun! ExtortionKing, you killed him Seo-jun!
- Died of shame, they say
- This is the fault of the person who made it public lololol
- for real lol unemployed bum
Lee Geon-yeong closed the Travel comment window.
But he couldn’t close it on the streaming screen.
He simply shut off the broadcast screen.
“Agh! So embarrassing.”
After calming his startled heart, Lee Geon-yeong cautiously opened the video he had set to private.
Even though the fact that many people could see it was frightening and flustering enough to make him take it down, it was because he thought there must be a reason Seo-jun had mentioned it on stream.
“Yeah, since I’ve been caught anyway, let’s see if he left some kind of comment......”
Lee Geon-yeong’s muttering stopped.
[Jin Seo-jun] [20 hours ago]
[Wow, this video was made after just one day of learning? You have amazing talent. I don’t know why you didn’t send the email, but I’d like to work together with BrickExtortionKing-nim. If you’re interested, please be sure to leave a message.]
With a complex and subtle expression, he stared intently at the screen—no, at the comment.
His eyes grew red.
Silence continued for a long while.
At last, he murmured in a slightly trembling voice.
“I kind of...... expected it to be something like this......”
Haaaah.
Letting out a deep sigh, he looked up at the ceiling.
That comfortable prison-like ceiling he would sometimes look up at while lying in bed using his phone seemed different now.
It was absolutely not because his eyes were growing moist.
“......”
He replayed the video he had edited over and over.
“It’s my first day learning, so even I can see it’s a mess, what talent......”
He was being self-deprecating.
But at the same time, he was smiling more brightly than anyone.
A feeling of liberation.
It felt like discovering an exit while trapped in a maze.
“Fine, let’s give it a try.”
Talent.
A streamer more outstanding than anyone else had said he had talent and wanted to work together with him.
“If... you’re just saying whatever to exploit me with passion pay, hyungnim or not, I really won’t let you off. If controversy arises, it’s your own loss.”
With trembling hands, he began writing the email.