Season 2: Chapter 5. True Nature (2)

They got on the elevator after exchanging awkward greetings.

Ju-Hyeok's eyes quickly went to the floor button.

'Where did we come from?'

Ju-Hyeok tried to recall where the elevator originally stopped. He thought it would take a long time since they came from the top floor. The 14th floor also lit up.

[14] [Executive Office]

'Executive...?'

Ding!

The elevator stopped. They had arrived at the basement level three, where Ju-Hyeok parked.

In-Ho pressed the basement level four button. It seemed he had parked on that floor and they needed to exit first.

Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon exchanged greetings and got off.

"Drive safely~"

"Yes! See you again!"

Thud.

After the doors closed, the elevator continued down.

"... Did something happen in the waiting room between you two?"

The observant Ju-Hyeok noticed it a while ago. It wasn't just strange that those two came from an upper floor. The atmosphere in the elevator felt heavy.

"Something? No, let's hurry up. I'm hungry."

Sang-Hyeon swiftly turned and headed first to the parking lot. He didn't want to unnecessarily bother Ju-Hyeok with trivial matters even though he felt a piercing gaze from behind.

***

After arriving home, Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon browsed the community sites as if by agreement. They felt curious about the viewers' reactions since it was their first major channel appearance.

Ju-Hyeok checked intermittently, but Sang-Hyeon was even more curious because he hadn't seen anything beyond the chat window during the live broadcast.

First, he went to a certain game community.

[LIL Pro]

The most discussed topic there was Almond. As expected, a post titled

[Almond not overshadowed by an idol.jpg]

appeared on LIL Pro.

The idol was definitely In-Ho. The post showed a photo of In-Ho looking disgruntled and a picture of Almond laughing heartily as they sat side by side. It was clearly an intentional selection.

— Oh man...

— He's in his 30s?

└ He's 28.

└ Info: Almond lied about his age by 2 years

— Why is it on Big Pro?

└ Why, you ask? This is Almond’s fan page, you idiot.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

└ Lol so true

— It's not that Almond is on par with idols. It's like the idol became a squid. Lol.

— Most idols these days rely on makeup and styling. Naturally, they're overshadowed by a truly handsome guy like Almond;

— Why compare Almond with someone who looks like they had male hormone removal surgery?

— Why is this on Big Pro? This seems like a LIL Pro topic.

└ In-Ho, logging in.

True to LIL Pro's nature, the users made sharp comments. They showed an especially strong aversion to male idols. This sharpness was once directed at Almond too. Sang-Hyeon hadn't forgotten that.

However, he felt somewhat elated right now and the corners of his mouth rose.

[Almond Evening Wide Highlight (Video)]

The next post highlighted his moments on

Evening Wide

.

“Wow, he's really a genius, isn't he?”

Han Min-Gu exclaimed in admiration and Almond confidently replied.

"Yes, I'm really a genius."

— This is the real deal.

— Real genius in front of a flustered fake and crazy Han Min-Gu.

— He adds tension to a slack talk show.

— His unique quick reactions and emotionless face are hilarious.

— It feels like a fake documentary. Lol.

Back then, Sang-Hyeon really went with the mindset of answering as quickly as possible without giving it much thought. The feedback came back very positive.

He scratched his head. The next video was pretty similar. When Seo-Rin bravely chimed in with a question, he simply responded without thinking.

"You shoot the arrow a bit faster than others. I've never seen this before. Is there a reason for it?"

"Ah... just... should I shoot it later?"

— If he says to shoot later, he'll shoot later, LOL.

— What kind of conversation is that? LOL.

— LOL. Seo-Rin is not ready to host a talk show yet.

└ What do you mean by hosting? From what I saw, even the main host barely managed.

└ They just added him because he's an idol.

└ Fact: They added him because he's very handsome.

And so on...

More similar videos were attached and the reactions were very good.

'The public opinion is surprisingly positive.'

Sang-Hyeon thought he would receive some criticism, but it felt unexpected to see the overwhelmingly positive feedback. Of course, this was limited to Lil Pro. Even those who didn't appreciate Almond in other communities responded positively. What about other sites?

'I'll probably get a lot of screen time.'

Sang-Hyeon reveled in the thought that he'd appear in the edited version. It wasn't just a delusion.

— Almond will get a lot of screen time, right?

└ He probably won't be overshadowed by the idol next to him.

└ He might even appear more than him.

— Almond carried his weight, LOL.

└ I thought he shouldn't be on talk shows, but this is surprisingly good.

— Now that Almond has conquered talk shows, he should go to Genius next.

└ LOL.

└ Definitely getting eliminated first.

└ This dude isn't an Almond fan, he's a walnut fan.

The audience also thought he played a significant role on the talk show. Of course, some didn't think so.

— Just because he took up a lot of live time doesn't mean he'll get a lot of edited screen time... These newbies don't know broadcasting.

— Ugh, these kids are getting excited. Just because celebrities pretend to be friendly doesn't mean they're worth fawning over.

└ Dude, clean your dentures at home. I can't understand what you're saying because of the noise.

└ LOL.

"Hmm..."

Sang-Hyeon lay on the sofa and decided to check the reactions from other communities.

Next up was KAF.

1) Oh my... I never thought I'd see this day.

A very touching title sat at the top of the trending topics.

[Almond went on Evening Wide, and it seems Kingdom will be broadcasted on major channels now.

As expected, one star can indeed save a game. As an old player, this is really gratifying.

Ahhhhhh!]

— It's not gratifying. It's like being possessed, LOL.

— Really? Is it true?

└ You didn't watch Evening Wide live? Then you're not a Kingdom user.

└ LOL.

— Praise! Nuts are greater than primates! Nuts are greater than primates!

└ They are great! They are great!

— Dang, I can't believe this day has come, LOL.

— Wow...

— If he does this one more time, I'll have no more wishes.

KAF reacted very positively. After all, it was the only game directly featured on the show.

A few trending topics about Almond also appeared on Battle31.

'The feedback is good.'

The gaming communities reacted positively.

'It's kind of expected.'

To Sang-Hyeon, gaming communities were like his home turf. Of course, they would likely have positive reactions.

To see the real reactions, he'd have to go to the community with the mainstream viewers of

Evening Wide

. If there was one, that is.

"Ju-Hyeok, is there a community for

Evening Wide

?"

"Yeah, just go to Community Garden."

So there was one.

***

Community Garden was a free site where users could create, delete, and manage communities. Communities existed for almost everything and they referred to communities as gardens. Originally, the term derived from a site where users grew plants and uploaded pictures of them.

To view posts related to

Evening Wide

, one simply had to go to the

Evening Wide

garden.

The producer in charge of

Evening Wide

, Director Jang, always took note of the reactions here.

"

Hmm.

The garden reviews seem very positive, don’t they?"

It was the morning after the

Evening Wide

shoot. Naturally, they discussed the garden's reactions at the production meeting.

"What do the writers think? I have a feeling that editing with Almond as the main focus will go well."

The writer closest to Director Jang twirled his pen and nodded.

"That's right. I was initially worried because Almond looked like an ordinary guest. However, the reviews are good. He seems to have subtly boosted the live viewership too."

"Isn't that because of In-Ho, not Almond?" another writer asked to make sure.

He seemed opposed to the idea of editing with Almond as the main focus.

Director Jang didn’t mind. The essence of the meeting was to consider all possibilities.

"It's not exactly clear. We've invited idols with popularity similar to In-Ho before, right? The chat frequency and such plotted a similar graph, but the increase in viewership wasn’t as significant then."

Director Jang nodded in agreement.

"It’s likely because of external fans drawn in. After all, Almond was a guest we’ve never had before."

"Oh, so you also think Almond boosted the viewership?"

"Yes, because that's the only new variable we introduced."

"Do streamers have such a loyal audience?"

The group seemed a bit surprised because the impact wasn’t this significant during the CutiePie era.

"Probably. If a streamer I watch daily appeared somewhere else, I'd watch out of curiosity. The only streamer we’ve ever had was Minseo, a former idol."

"Oh, is it about novelty?"

"Yes, it's about the novelty."

Everyone seemed to agree and the writer who guided Almond raised his hand.

"Even if it’s about the novelty, we should benefit from it too!"

"Yes, that's right," Director Jang agreed.

"We should also benefit from the novelty. In my opinion, the flow of the broadcast will be very natural if we focus on Almond. What do you think?"

"The scenes where Almond appeared received good reactions. Most of the scenes I personally found interesting were related to Almond's story."

Writer Yu spoke up in defense of Almond, and the atmosphere seemed to go in that direction.

However, several other writers objected.

"No. Although Almond did increase the viewership, it's probably due to temporary curiosity because a streamer appeared. Whether it will be effective in the edited version is questionable. The reactions were better for In-Ho's scenes."

"That's right. The chat frequency in In-Ho's scenes was about 1.2 times higher than Almond's. When looking at all the scenes, it was almost three times more."

Director Jang reviewed the data. That was indeed the case. The number of chat messages during In-Ho’s scenes was higher, but... it was excessively high and almost seemed artificial.

"Our system can't filter out one person typing multiple times. Isn't this just typical idol fandom behavior?"

This usually happened when a popular idol appeared. Some fans intentionally flooded the chats, and group chats could skew the data.

"Do general audiences find this interesting based on the chats?"

This data didn’t represent the general public's preference. Now, it was a matter of interpretation.

"Don't we have to accept an idol fandom's loyalty as one of the general public's preferences?"

Some believed that the loyalty of idol fans should be considered as part of the data.

"No, broadcasts are about views. No matter how much an individual loves In-Ho and wants to spend money on him, we only count it as one view."

Director Jang believed that even if a person repeatedly showed engagement, they only counted as one person.

"But if we edit toward In-Ho, targeting advertisements becomes much easier. The main demographic will be women in their teens and twenties. Given their loyalty, the advertising profit will be substantial."

"That's right. Those fans don't just flood the chats. They also show loyalty in terms of purchasing power. We don’t just live on views. If that were the case, we would’ve switched to YouTube."

Director Jang remained silent for a moment.

Another producer interjected, "Right. Firstly, the makeup brand Minimas is affiliated with In-Ho’s agency and is one of our major sponsors."

Director Jang frowned.

"Do you want me to edit based on the sponsor's preferences?"

"It's not about pandering to the sponsor. If they're advertising, targeting the same demographic for the program isn’t bad."

Director Jang let out a long sigh.

"

Ah

, this game of numbers."

Everyone felt the tension in the air.

"For now, consider both options. Let's end the meeting here. Thank you, everyone."

Director Jang left the meeting room first and the rest of the team continued their conversation.

"Why is Director Jang like that? Our job is to make profitable shows, right?"

"Exactly... We're not artists or anything."

They seemed displeased with Director Jang's judgment.

Writer Yu defended Director Jang.

The concept of a profitable show differed for them. PD Jang believed that if it were entertaining, the views would increase. And views meant money, didn't they?

"... Well, that could be true. But do major channels make money from views? How many views can we get? Only minor channels can distribute based on views."

"But, if the views are high, sponsors would─"

"No. Do you think advertisers decide based on the view count? They give money to channels that potential buyers are watching."

"..."

"A channel watched by all: men, women, young, and old. Sounds great, but think from an advertiser's perspective. Who would they target?"

Writer Yu couldn't argue and was left gaping.

"That's enough. Writer Yu is still so naive. PD Jang is too. Let's disband."

With that, everyone left the meeting room.

***

On the rooftop, the gloomy winter sky could be seen. Above it, a single red star brightly burned in midday.

Flick

.

With a sigh, PD Jang exhaled smoke.

"

Sigh.

If it's like this, might as well use AlphaGo as a PD."

Since when were the entertainment show PDs no fun anymore? How many of the current major channels actually had genuinely fun content? They all seemed like machines that crunched numbers to pull the most advertisements.

Viewers didn't even know why they watched. They just blankly stared and aimlessly laughed.

These TV shows were meant to make viewers mindlessly watch advertisements.

"Isn't fun the top priority?"

He asked the empty air with no one to answer him.

"Wasn't it that people watched because it was fun and ads simply came with it..."

At some point, the order changed.

"Well... if watching their favorite idols is fun, then it's fun."

PD Jang leaned on the railing and turned on his phone. He checked the Treevy app, which he usually didn't watch.

He curiously looked and noticed...

[Streaming now]

"Oh? At this time?"

Almond was streaming.

[That game sponsored you?]

That was the title.

"

Huh.

He's advertising too. Ads... everywhere...

Huh?

"

PD Jang recognized the game being played.

[Playing Kingdom Age]

'Kingdom?'

He remembered the game from the shoot. PD Jang remembered the story because it was entertaining.

'Ah, that perfect shot.'

The concept of the perfect shot was particularly memorable.

Curious, he clicked on Almond's stream.

"Wow, they gave him an ad too?"

PD Jang had nothing else to do while smoking.

"

Huh?

What's this?"

Upon entering the stream, Mr. Jang’s expression instantly turned to disbelief.