Chapter 364
“Why?”
“Huh?”
“No, why?”
“What do you mean?!”
Ha Yoon-ho tilted his head as if he genuinely couldn’t understand, standing right in front of him.
He even blinked twice.
“Were the seats on the outskirts not available? So you had no choice?”
“No! Not at all! There were seats available. See this place, a bit away from the center, it’s empty? This was originally one of the areas the game company was handling, but they had to scale down due to some circumstances, so we decided to hold the survey and performance over there.”
“Then just give me the spot the game company vacated.”
Seo-jun was dumbfounded.
Why give him the larger, more prominent, better-located center spot?
“Mr. Seo-jun. You are the most honored guest singer; how could we seat others there?”
“No….”
First of all, why was he a guest singer?
He wouldn’t deny being a little special.
He was undeniably the streamer with the highest recognition.
However, if the question was whether he deserved to take over the organizer’s own event space, he could only shake his head.
Seo-jun sighed at the position that was burdensome but practically impossible to refuse now.
Whether he sighed or not, Ha Yoon-ho continued his explanation.
“Our company has prepared really thoroughly. Now, let me show you the booth blueprint, where you’ll be standing, introduce the staff, and so on.”
Ha Yoon-ho, being the person who participated since the very first T-Star and the CEO of a company that exports many streamers to T-Star, showed Seo-jun what perfect preparation meant.
There’s a reason people hire experienced professionals.
After listening to the entire schedule calmly, Seo-jun chuckled slightly and said with satisfaction,
“It’s simple. Isn’t there a saying that if a job looks easy, the person doing it is a master?”
“Ah! That’s a line that always comes up on your stream, Mr. Seo-jun! Since you always make things look easy! This is high praise!”
“You’re quite sharp.”
“Heh heh, I can’t disappoint you. You were the ace of our team and the world’s best gamer.”
Seo-jun scratched his cheek with his index finger at the sudden worship before moving on to the next topic.
“Anyway, why is the organizer covering the prize money? I definitely said I would cover it.”
The prize money was a whopping 30 million won.
And it wasn’t just for one winner.
Whoever beat Seo-jun, no matter how many, could each take the 30 million won prize.
No matter how many sponsors the organizer had, if Seo-jun made a mistake, it could result in a loss of billions.
Of course, with Travel behind the organizer, and Surfaces behind them, there was certainly no way they would go bankrupt, but things in the world aren’t always that simple.
Seo-jun just wanted to cover the prize money himself.
Since there was no way he’d lose, but using someone else’s money might lead to complications later.
“Ah, that, well, Mr. Seo-jun.”
“Yes.”
“When the organizer heard your idea, they naturally expressed the opinion that there’s absolutely no way you would fail, so it ended up that way. Should I just tell them now? That you’ve decided to cover it?”
Really, what is this.
‘They’re even giving up the spot they were going to use and trying to cover the prize money themselves?’
Seo-jun was dumbfounded. At the same time, he became curious.
‘Who on earth is it?’
Is it someone with excellent judgment, or just a common fan?
“Hmm….”
“What would you like to do?”
“Well, since I won’t fail anyway, let’s just proceed. As is. I like it.”
* * *
[Lee Geon-yeong: Wow! Should I just prepare for the outdoor stream?]
[Han Ji-min: It’s our first proper outdoor stream!]
[Jin Seo-jun: I guess so. It’s the first time properly preparing and doing a full outdoor stream. With that in mind, we’ll have to prepare a lot. Of course, Point will provide all the cameras.]
MCNs were convenience itself for streamers.
Most things streamers needed were prepared and could be rented at very cheap prices.
In Seo-jun’s case, it was all free because it was included in his contract.
Besides being able to use top-of-the-line equipment freely without buying it, there were numerous other advantages.
While Seo-jun received special treatment making things even more convenient, that didn’t mean MCNs weren’t useful for other streamers.
[Lee Geon-yeong: We’ll need to do some rehearsal beforehand.]
[Han Ji-min: Who’ll be the cameraman then?]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Since I’m a guy, wouldn’t I be much better suited?]
[Han Ji-min: Why?]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Ah, sorry. I was talking about the physical aspect. Following the boss around all day holding a camera would be quite tough.]
[Han Ji-min: You’ve got a point there. But, Geon-yeong.]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Yes?]
[Han Ji-min: So you think your stamina is better than mine? For real? You sure about that?]
[Lee Geon-yeong: .......]
[Jin Seo-jun: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Ha, I started exercising. Think you can handle it, sis?]
[Han Ji-min: Oh yeah? Bring it on.]
[Jin Seo-jun: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Seo-jun quietly watched his two editors fight.
They were trying to settle it based on stamina, but Seo-jun knew.
Both of them were weaklings.
It was also a fact both of them knew, so the next event moved to rock-paper-scissors.
But when Han Ji-min lost, she couldn’t accept it.
[Han Ji-min: Keuaaak! I’m going to capture the boss’s noble face!]
[Han Ji-min: Come on! If you win, I’ll admit it!]
[Lee Geon-yeong: Accept your defeat.]
Seo-jun realized it was time to step in and typed in the chat.
[Jin Seo-jun: I have come to end this fight.]
[Han Ji-min: !!!!!]
[Lee Geon-yeong: O_O!]
[Han Ji-min: Yes. If the boss chooses that ungrateful brat, I’ll reluctantly step back!]
[Lee Geon-yeong: ㅋㅋㅋ]
[Jin Seo-jun: Folks, do you know what?]
[Jin Seo-jun: ㅋ]
[Jin Seo-jun: Point also assigned a cameraman for us. A professional.]
[Jin Seo-jun: ㅋ]
[Han Ji-min: ?????]
Immediately after, numerous question marks started appearing.
They could be seen as very short messages protesting why he hadn’t told them from the beginning.
Or protesting why he made it sound like they had to prepare grandly for the outdoor stream.
Seo-jun typed ‘ㅋ’ once more and closed the chat window.
“MCNs are really convenient, indeed.”
Notifications kept ringing, and Seo-jun waited until they subsided.
Then he reopened the chat window and checked the messages.
They had protested for a while, then regained their senses and were having a constructive conversation.
“So, what are you two going to do? If I tell you to just edit here, there’d be a coup, right?”
His channel might disappear forever.
This was a rare opportunity to go outside and be active.
Seo-jun smiled and typed, the message reading:
[Jin Seo-jun: Are you two good with your hands?]
Their roles had been set from the beginning.
“Anyway, isn’t there anyone else to handle the first screening? Using only people from Point is boring.”
But.
There’s no one to call?
* * *
Yamada Rise was the older sister of Yamada Yasuo, Japan’s greatest Kacham master.
And she was also an actress.
The younger brother was one of the top Japanese league players, featured even in Seo-jun’s history book, and the older sister was a celebrity.
However, their relationship wasn’t known to the public.
There was no reason to reveal it, and they were biological siblings who thoroughly ignored each other.
So Yamada Yasuo was surprised when his sister contacted him first.
[StrongerThanMe: Hey, are you still doing that stupid training?]
The stupid training referred to the training method Seo-jun told him about at the after-party when he asked how to become stronger. This was a training method Yamada Yasuo absolutely never revealed to anyone, never saying Seo-jun taught him.
He kept it to himself alone.
Because it was a secret technique.
It must not spread.
If it did, others would suck up all the honey and become stronger.
Even his own sister was no exception.
“Ha! It’s a method taught by the Mr. Seo-jun you love so much, so the stupid one must be you.”
If Seo-jun had said the training was 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and a 10km run, being Japanese, from the home country of anime, Yasuo would have recognized it.
As a stupid method to mock him.
But Seo-jun answered him seriously.
The training method was incredibly named Waterfall Slash.
Standing under a waterfall, getting hit by cold water, and maintaining a calm mind.
By concentrating on the surroundings, a moment comes when you feel like you could cut the world, and Seo-jun told him to ask for the next training method then. So Yamada Yasuo was diligently practicing.
Conveniently, there was a waterfall on the mountain behind his house.
“Anyway, why did you call?”
Yamada’s fingers moved.
[StrongerThanMe: Ah. Did you see this? It says that person is holding a fan meeting.]
“Oh?”
Yasuo read through a summary post about Seo-jun’s T-Star event posted by a Japanese person and his eyes lit up.
Unlike in the history book, where he had a deeply intertwined fate with Seo-jun’s ‘Divine Sword’ character, Yasuo’s relationship with Seo-jun was one of completely one-sided defeat, so he held no ill feelings.
The reason he had no ill feelings despite being utterly crushed one-sidedly would be clear if you watched the history book section about the Divine Sword.
Anyway, his admiration was greater.
[Others might not know, but you must be happy, sis? Isn’t the program content similar?]
This was also true for his older sister.
Yamada Rise, she was precisely that Japanese actress who challenged and beat masters with good hand dexterity in various workshops.
Though she was on a break now.
[StrongerThanMe: So, I’m going to Korea!]
[????]
[Are you crazy? No matter how much of a monster you are, you can’t beat that person.]
[StrongerThanMe: ??????]
[Aren’t you going to do what you usually do, glaring with your eyes wide, saying you want to fight, want to try it?]
[StrongerThanMe: What nonsense are you talking about.]
[StrongerThanMe: Forget that, I’m almost home, so pack your bags quickly.]
[????]
Yamada Yasuo was flustered.
He hadn’t even started his waterfall training for today yet.
[What about your schedule, sis?]
A reply came saying there was nothing important, so she canceled everything.
And she asked if he happened to have Seo-jun’s contact information, so if possible, she could discuss working there while in Korea.
* * *
“Ah, about the first-round examiners, they’ll try out what you bring and filter them out. We decided our two editors and the Point staff will handle that.”
Seo-jun clicked his tongue.
“Huh, still, it won’t be easy to reach me. To think there’s no one to call, so I’m just making my editors work. And they say passing the first round will be easy. No wonder they’re considering pulling viewers for the last round, too.”
Don’t the chat messages hit too close to home?
“Our company isn’t a black company. We’re all trying to work together.”
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Maybe the streamer isn’t just claiming to be an outsider, but actually is one?
-But pretty much all streamers will be at T-Star, so you really wouldn't have anyone to call.
-Looking at it, the editors are all weak with no athletic ability, so it’s gonna be a headache for the streamer.
-He’ll end up facing hundreds of challengers lol
-Sure, who could this streamer bastard possibly ask? At best, his editors and manager Joam lol
-? Can I cut the guy who mentioned me, Streamer?
-Ah lol I also have one talent, maybe I should challenge. I should see the streamer up close once.
The fans watching the stream found it funny at this moment.
Unaware that a person who would later be called the Wall of Lamentation was flying over to Korea.