Chapter 331
The first episode of the special "Pro vs Gamer" drew 3.3 million viewers, dominating cable broadcasts as the undisputed number one.
The number of cable channels in the U.S. is unimaginably vast.
And to pull in this many viewers, considering it was a one-off broadcast, is an enormous success.
So much so that the production crew might feel a twinge of regret that it wasn't a regular program.
However.
- Kya! Number one!
- Hmm, only that much?
- Meanwhile, the streamer's own broadcast has 2.3 million live viewers lolololol
- The streamer is just insane lol
It's on a comparable scale to the viewership numbers of a single individual, Seo-jun.
So to many people, it came across as rather unremarkable.
True, even if the streaming sector's overall market has grown immensely, an individual pulling in viewership in the millions is an outlier.
Probably over a million viewers are from Korea alone.
'Whatever the case, it surpassed 3 million.'
An average of 3 million cable viewers in the U.S. across the two episodes.
That was the incentive condition, and Seo-jun had a feeling he could achieve it.
Overseas viewer numbers also had to be satisfied simultaneously, but since his own stream's viewership counted, that was a piece of cake.
Anyway, people just need to watch the next episode too.
"Everyone, you'll watch the next episode too, right?"
- Yes
- Ah lol of course
- Is it tomorrow?!!!
- You'll turn the stream on tomorrow too, won't you?
- Guys... the streamer is someone who took over a whole week off... you shouldn't beg him with 'you'll turn the stream on tomorrow too, won't you'...
Well, the audience had been well-trained in various ways, and word of mouth would likely boost numbers even further, Seo-jun thought.
"Bye."
Seo-jun ended the broadcast immediately.
He felt he'd talked enough, and he hoped anyone still aching to chat would go spread the word elsewhere.
These little details are necessary.
[Han Ji-min: Boss! Congratulations! Wow!]
Han Ji-min, who roughly knew the contract details, left a congratulatory message.
[Han Ji-min: Boss, you're truly world-class.]
World class.
She wasn't just saying that.
'Thinking about the money from this shoot...'
Quite a few game companies might not be able to afford hiring Seo-jun for ads anymore.
Base appearance fee: 400 million won.
A 50% bonus if the incentive conditions were met.
Hazard pay?
That's included.
Now that the History Book was over, was there a bubble around Seo-jun?
Yes.
It's not over yet.
One long shoot remains, and if you just considered the timeframe, Seo-jun might even be working cheap relative to his value.
Nevertheless.
600 million won is a substantial sum.
A truly substantial sum.
Even if targeted advertising doesn't work for a non-game project.
'I can suddenly buy five of my capsules in one go.'
Even so, he didn't fall into a strange excitement or get giddy.
Money wasn't that important to him.
[Jin Seo-jun: I'm feeling good haha]
[Han Ji-min: Congratulations!]
Since it looked like he'd get the incentive, being happy was just the natural response.
"Hmm…"
Sitting in his chair, Seo-jun quietly fell into thought.
Money?
He'd earned a lot.
He could keep earning it, even if it dropped significantly from now on.
Honor?
Honestly, he had deliberately, unavoidably, neglected managing his image for the viewers' amusement, but even so, it seemed he'd gained a fair amount of honor.
His skill alone was enough to be acknowledged at this level.
"Or not?"
If not, so be it.
His viewership was top-tier.
It would go down someday, but as an individual broadcaster, pulling this many viewers for weeks—not just a single spike—was unprecedented.
If Seo-jun were a baseball player, records like this would be meticulously documented and left in world history.
But well, it would eventually decline and find its place.
"Should I try retaining viewers?"
To do that, he'd need to produce foreign-related content, do collab streams with foreign streamers, and chase after mega-hit games.
That didn't suit Seo-jun's broadcasting style.
He felt no reason to force it.
"Dismiss the idea of going all-in on money."
This was the same.
He would keep being a streamer.
But he felt like he'd lost his direction.
In his past life, he might have set his sights on unifying the martial world, or nurturing a promising junior to carry out his will, or set off to torment those damned demon cult bastards, or traveled around pretending to be a newbie like a typical veteran.
Hmm.
"Nurturing juniors?"
That seemed pretty decent.
But this, too, was dismissed.
He couldn't see a pressing reason to do it.
What you might call a driving force.
It was a day of deepening contemplation.
* * *
The second episode of Pro vs Gamer went out.
Seo-jun relaxed on a sunbed.
Baek Do-yul busily roamed about, expounding his survival knowledge of local flora and fauna.
Seo-jun rested in bed.
Bear and Ryan likewise hunted, sated their hunger, and then began their search in earnest.
Seo-jun rested underwater.
- Vacation lolololololololol
- Seriously, what is this lololol
- What the hell is this guy doing? lolololol
- Hey, isn't the production crew insane? lolololol Where'd the survival show go? lololol
In truth, there were unavoidable circumstances that Seo-jun and the other viewers weren't aware of.
Upon receiving the recorded footage, the editing team reviewed it all and reached a conclusion.
[We absolutely cannot proceed like before!]
[Why?]
[He makes it look too easy!]
First, there was no tension.
Seo-jun's nonchalant or mischievously playful expressions prevented viewers from realizing that a single slip could endanger the cast's lives.
And it just wasn't entertaining from a broadcast perspective.
[We cannot let people see this and think it's easy!]
When something looks effortless, it means the one doing it is an incredible master.
Thoughtful adults would grasp that.
The problem was the young or immature people who wouldn't.
[Then what do we do?]
[Let's just go full-on variety!]
As if it isn't reality.
Though of course, it is reality.
Whatever the case, such behind-the-scenes efforts occurred, and what was now airing was the result.
- The streamer is sleeping at the bottom of the sea! lololol
- He got cut mid-way, wasn't that when he went up to breathe?
- lololololol For real, worse than Ryan
- Oh? Rain's coming
A sudden storm sweeps in.
Weather is, by nature, fickle.
Under the harsh rain and wind, Bear and Ryan halted their search and moved to their shelter.
But the walls and roof the two had built had been blown away by the fierce wind.
An emergency situation. Nonetheless, as survival experts, they found a place to take cover and hide.
Meanwhile, Seo-jun and Baek Do-yul rested comfortably.
- Chilling fact: The streamer invested less time building their camp
- ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ
- The streamer alone, while those two had more time and two people......
- And those two are Bear and Ryan lolololololol
The next day arrived, and Bear and Ryan diligently searched for the flag.
With increasing urgency.
The fear that they might actually lose was written on their faces.
[The moment we find it, we'll lash the prepared logs together with vines, make a makeshift raft, and cross straight to that island. We can't delay any longer.]
They rationally narrowed down the unsearched areas, one by one, meticulously seeking the flag.
A far more stable method than simply relying on luck and wandering.
[There!]
On the cam, Ryan pointed a finger up into a tree.
[Those dirty producers. Hahaha.]
Ryan immediately began climbing the tree.
[Hey!]
To signal Bear they didn't need to search anymore, he hollered energetically as he climbed.
Bear, having heard the shout, approached the base of the tree, and Ryan climbed up, retrieved the cunningly hidden flag, and came back down.
[Let's go, quickly!]
- Gasp
- Did the streamer get too relaxed and actually lose?
- What happens if he loses?
- Pride gets wounded lololol
- Actually, the streamer's pride isn't really on the line out in the wild
- True, that's fair
As the viewers watched the scene of Ryan holding the flag and crafting their raft, they began to worry about Seo-jun's potential defeat.
But then.
[Hey!]
A raft that appeared perfectly made approached their island.
With Seo-jun standing at the bow, waving a flag.
Bear and Ryan looked at each other, chuckled, and admitted it.
[We've lost.]
[Yeah.]
- Kya!
- Do-yul hyung! You finally did your part!!!!
- He found it first
- But look at the raft, that thing's amazingly built lolololololol
* * *
- What did Do-yul hyung do?
- This guy is a total vacation lolololol
- In the end, the streamer did everything lololol
In the end, Seo-jun had found the flag.
As a sense of unease crept in, Seo-jun had confirmed the areas Baek Do-yul had definitively marked as clear, then checked the remaining parts himself.
To others, it might have seemed like he wandered casually, but Seo-jun had located it swiftly and thoroughly.
Then he crossed over on the raft he'd prepared beforehand.
Without Baek Do-yul.
Incidentally, Baek Do-yul had been searching for the flag the entire time Seo-jun was crossing the sea.
- lolololololol Just let the pro rest
- At this point, I can't tell if the streamer is helping him out or just messing with him
- Definitely messing with him, since it's the streamer, but when you look at the outcome, it's a total honey pot lolololol
As Bear, Ryan, and Seo-jun exchanged embraces and congratulations on their hard work, the program drew to a close.
[Well done.]
[You worked hard.]
[Hahaha. I really want to see what happened. Probably won't be able to until it airs, though.]
[Well, have some of this. It's crocodile meat.]
Bear's narration wrapped it up.
[We were defeated in our area of expertise. It's a shame, but nature is where anything can happen. Now the battlefield will shift. LAST. There, in a far fiercer and crueler place than this, we must survive against the gamers. We must consume them. Just as they did in our world.]
"Wow. It ended like that. Yes. With my victory. I told you, didn't I? Reality is stronger."
The main reaction was satisfaction at finally seeing the reality of the Geom Seo-un legend.
"What Geom Seo-un legend? Is there anyone who can't do at least that much?"
As reactions like 'here he goes spouting nonsense again' popped up, Seo-jun turned his head.
Honestly, that last comment was a bit over the top.
'Not just anyone can do that, though.'
Anyway.
"So, I guess I'll finally have to pick my team members today."
The next battlefield was LAST.
A game about surviving by teaming up with his viewers.
And today was the day to announce that team.
"The requirement that you have to be unemployed, I stressed that many times."
It's a game that runs 24/7, so of course you need to be jobless.
- Kya!!! Finally!!!!!!
- Please let it be me please let it be me please let it be me
- Non-famous regular viewers, get lost
- Regular viewers can be picked too
- For a minimum level of cooperation, later influxes should get lost lololololol
It was the moment when people's interest in viewer participation was heightening.
Seo-jun spotted a chat message and stopped those viewers in their tracks.
"Hold on."
Seo-jun accessed Ryan's SNS through his computer.
There was a chat saying something had been posted.
"Oh."
And the content was quite interesting.
[Ryan: LAST. I'm ready. You've faced the real thing now, haven't you? Is this what you write when you're like this? lol]
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did he really write that?? ㅋㅋㅋ
- ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Crazy
- Bald provocation on lolololololol
- The loser is ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
- But special forces in LAST, isn't that kind of scary?
- They'd be running operations every day lololol
"There are guns in LAST. And it's 99% similar to reality."
It's a game without combat skills.
So, if he fills his team entirely with special forces members, how strong would their fighting power become?
Especially if they'd synced up together before, they'd have undergone countless drills and real combat.
However.
Seo-jun's eyes began to curve. The corners of his mouth lifted.
Because honestly, that wasn't what was important right now, and Seo-jun had just realized something.
He laughed, refreshing and clear.
"Hahaha. Special forces? That's fine. But everyone, I think I've finally figured out the direction I should be heading."
What need was there for some grandiose goal?
While continuing to broadcast as a streamer.
"What is it, you ask? To civilize all heretics of the world."
Wouldn't that be enough?
Just a small, humble goal.
- What kind of crazy talk is this now lololol
- This isn't the History Book, mister
- Koi-tsu www He's become Kael incarnate www
- Wait a minute... feels like the world is f***ed?
- Just what is a heretic, seriously lololololol
"Alright. Let's hurry up and pick our teammates."