Chapter 367
“Just think about it for a moment, Streamer K.”
“It’s J.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Seojun apologized with a good-natured smile before continuing.
“Anyway, in the end, we all work hard to win over the hearts of the viewers who come here. So they can enjoy themselves. That’s why, after T-Star ends, the viewers choose the streamer who left the strongest impression.”
“……”
“But do you really think you can draw more attention than I can? And as luck would have it, my booth is free during the first half, right?”
Of course, Seojun had been planning to walk around then.
If Jay had known that, he should have been more careful.
Who knew what Seojun might do if he freely wandered around and singled him out?
“……”
“I hope the challenge at your booth becomes a huge topic of conversation, Mr. K.”
“It’s J.”
Seojun approached Jay once more with a good-natured smile.
Then he whispered quietly.
“That way, you’ll be worth taking down. When that happens, think carefully about who people are going to vote for.”
After saying goodbye, Seojun leisurely moved away from the large booth where Jay had been standing.
‘I came here to enjoy the festival.’
Of course, he intended to do everything he could to take first place, but Seojun had come to enjoy himself.
And part of that enjoyment was—
‘I was already planning to visit all the other booths, but he’s really fired me up.’
Naturally, it included conquering them one by one.
This was something he couldn’t pass up.
He could even visit the booths of people he knew and teach them a thing or two.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Seojun began surveying each booth.
As an aside, no one noticed that the streamers who knew Seojun and were preparing their booths at that moment suddenly felt chills run through their bodies all at once.
* * *
One day before T-Star began.
Team Leader Seon and the other streamers were all busy with their preparations.
The merchandise they had prepared was being transported, banners were being hung, and the staff in charge of inspections were rushing about.
The same was true of the committee overseeing T-Star as a whole.
“I wonder how many people will come.”
“Are you saying more people than usual are expected?”
Attendance at T-Star required a ticket.
However, the unusual thing was that they did not sell the tickets.
It was an event for the viewers.
A great deal of capital went into it, but that was covered by corporate sponsors who received ample promotional benefits in return.
This was possible because Travel had grown so large, but regardless, the tickets could not be sold.
So how did one get a T-Star ticket?
It was simple.
You applied, and they gave you one.
“I understand that roughly the same number of viewers as last time applied again this year.”
“Hmm… Looking at the number of users who took their tickets, it is lower than last year.”
The application period for T-Star had been just before Seojun went to the historical records.
And every viewer who had applied at that time received a ticket.
“Then isn’t there anything to worry about?”
Thirty percent of the viewers who took their T-Star tickets actually attended.
That had been the case most of the time.
There was no reason not to take a ticket even if they had no intention of attending, which was why seventy percent of the applicants were merely nominal attendees.
Applying was also absurdly simple. While watching a stream, a pop-up banner would appear, and all one had to do was click the application button.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I think more than seventy percent will attend this time…”
“More than twice as many as last time? That should still be fine. We can accommodate them easily enough.”
Everything at T-Star was prepared generously.
They knew it was bad for the event to look deserted, but their policy was to let the viewers and streamers chat and play together for longer.
All of this was thanks to the structure of the operating committee.
The committee was divided between the game companies, Surface, and the streamers. Surface was a wealthy company with a generous spirit.
It was a corporation supported by the public for its monopoly.
As such, it knew how to look at the bigger picture rather than pursue small, immediate profits, while the streamers naturally wanted to preserve the event’s original purpose.
Therefore, the event was not operated according to the methods the game companies wanted—ways that would save more money and reduce the game companies’ sponsorship burden.
One of the streamer representatives on the committee explained it this way:
“Yes, it’ll be crowded if there are about twice as many people, but it should be fine.”
“Then that settles it.”
“But what if it’s eighty or ninety percent? Or what if a large number of people gather in one place?”
“……No, come on. Say something that makes sense. Eighty or ninety percent is simply impossible in reality.”
“Is that really so? I was shocked when I checked Carrot Country this morning.”
“Why?”
The Surface representative showed interest.
“There were a lot of people trying to buy T-Star tickets together with Travel IDs. And I mean a lot. That was when I realized I might have been too optimistic and started looking into it.”
Selling a ticket was extremely bothersome.
That was because one had to log in to the other person’s Travel app as well. It was required for entry.
Naturally, a Travel ID did not contain any particularly important information.
At most, it contained points. So even those who had bought tickets would probably use it only when entering T-Star for the first time, log out afterward, and resume watching on their own accounts.
Even so, meeting someone in person and logging in for them was undeniably quite a hassle.
It also felt unsettling.
So what could motivate people to go through something both unsettling and troublesome?
A large sum of money.
And for the free tickets to become worth a large sum, there had to be an unspoken demand. The source of that demand was—
“It can only be Streamer Seojun.”
“No, does that really make sense…? They’re selling for one hundred thousand won?”
“Yes. Those who didn’t even apply because they thought they wouldn’t go are shedding tears of blood. There aren’t even many tickets available.”
Once the situation had been explained well enough, everyone began adding their own comments.
“It’s not that there are few listings because it’s troublesome…”
“It’s because they want to go themselves, so they aren’t selling them.”
“Then it makes sense that many people will gather—and that even once they gather, they’ll all converge in one place.”
“Our event grounds are very spacious, though.”
“What about transportation? Surely the traffic won’t get completely jammed? Seoul is always congested, but if this many people gather in a place that’s already always congested…”
They had already taken every possible measure, including traffic control, but that was precisely why it was a problem.
There was nothing more they could prepare for.
“Oh, my aching head.”
“Come on, surely it won’t come to that?”
The game company representative spoke uneasily.
“I heard three hundred Heavenly Demon costumes have been sold. And seven hundred Kael costumes.”
“Those people didn’t all buy them because they’re going to T-Star, did they?”
He replied just as uneasily.
“I heard a rumor that a major-league pitcher might come to T-Star too. He wants to check out Mr. Seojun’s shoulder.”
“No, isn’t that also just a rumor?”
“Who knows?”
“That’s right. Who knows?”
They were already beginning to feel afraid.
“Come on, there’s no way it’s really going to happen!”
* * *
“So it was true…”
The long-awaited opening day of T-Star.
The game company committee member who had insisted most strongly that it wouldn’t happen was horrified as he watched the number of cars streaming in and the number of people getting off at the nearby stops, all bathed in the reddish sunlight of dawn.
It was obvious from far away.
An unprecedented number of people were going to gather for this event.
“This is unbelievable. At this hour…”
“Give it up. Go take a look at the lines right now. Everyone’s talking about the same thing.”
“Who are they talking about?”
“The person you opposed so strongly, Committee Member.”
“Thirty million won?”
“Yes.”
Even in the committee, the proposal concerning Seojun had not passed unanimously.
The opposition had mainly come from the game company side, because they were the ones contributing the most money.
They had no choice but to be the most sensitive about budgets and advertising.
It would be wasteful to spend a large sum bringing people in, only to place Seojun somewhere other than the center.
It would also be wasteful if Seojun continued to fail.
“Now that you see this, what do you think?”
“His influence can’t be denied, but you know what happens if he fails anyway. My mind hasn’t changed.”
“Don’t worry.”
“What?”
“If he were the kind of streamer who could fail that spectacularly, this many people wouldn’t have gathered to see him.”
“No…”
“That’s what viewers are like.”
While words of wisdom were being spoken somewhere atop the building, various conversations were also taking place among those standing in line below.
“Hello. Excuse me, is that outfit…?”
“That’s right! The outfit of Judge Kael, the true and devout neighbor of Asius! Haha!”
“As I thought! I think I’ve seen three people wearing that outfit already. I wanted to ask if it was really what I thought. Thank you.”
“What? Three people? No, this isn’t right. Already?”
People wearing Kael costumes began appearing here and there.
“Hehehehe.”
“How dare you step before the Heavenly Demon?”
“I am the one and only true Heavenly Demon.”
The Heavenly Demon was no different.
“What are those two squids doing?”
“Excuse me? We can hear you, you know. Could you speak a little more quietly?”
“We’re together. We’re saying it so you can hear us.”
“Oh.”
“The real Heavenly Demon wouldn’t have features like that. And his way of speaking is wrong too.”
“Heh heh heh. That’s true.”
There were plenty of people making it abundantly clear that they had come because of Seojun.
What about everyone else?
“Ah, I’m getting withdrawal symptoms from the boss.”
“I’ve never been this proud of pressing the Attend T-Star button in my life.”
“I hear everyone came to meet the boss, but does anyone actually have a challenge prepared?”
“Do you think they do? Finding something that monster can’t do is like finding a needle in a sandy beach.”
“That’s true.”
People chatted in groups of three or four with those before and behind them in line, talking about Seojun.
A true viewer dedicated enough to come all the way to T-Star couldn’t possibly not know about Seojun.
And if someone who wasn’t a true viewer had come to T-Star, it was surely to see Seojun. So it was hardly strange that most of the conversations were dominated by talk of him.
“I heard we won’t be able to see the boss in the morning. Should we stay for a long time?”
“If we look around the various booths, don’t you think we’ll run into him eventually?”
“I hope some weirdos don’t cause trouble and inconvenience the boss.”
“I’m not worried. The boss will just parry them.”
“Wow, you’re right. All my worries suddenly disappeared!”
But if people kept talking about Seojun, a problem was bound to arise.
“The boss is definitely the Heavenly Demon.”
“When was he ever the Heavenly Demon, brother? He abandoned that role long ago for the sake of chivalry.”
“He doesn’t play The League anymore either.”
“I can’t just let that comment pass, brother.”
“Another Kael, is it? Fine, let’s gather, then.”
Was Seojun Kael or the Heavenly Demon?
Seojun wasn’t doing either at the moment, yet a fight began to break out, and the people watching couldn’t hold back.
They couldn’t resist announcing the fight.
“Hey, I hear Kael and the Heavenly Demon are fighting over there. Aren’t you going to help?”
“Seriously? I can’t miss this. Heavenly Demon, assemble!”
“Yes! Those people are going off to fight, so the line is getting shorter.”
The eyes of the two factions that stupidly left the line to gather, as well as everyone still in line, widened.
All their phones had begun ringing with notifications at once.
[‘Jin Seojun’ has started streaming.]