Chapter 31: Choices (1)

No wonder the voice sounded so soft.

The golden armored commander’s identity was none other than the game’s second heroine, Rosenita.

— Oh, she comes out like that in this progression.

.

— Rosenita over Emilia for sure.

— Move out of the way Emilia.

— Dang, I like Emilia…

Sang-Hyeon could tell Rosenita was an impressive individual even without having played the game before.

‘Incredible.’

Her game model looked different from others. It seemed like the developers put more care into her than Emilia.

She had a sharp gaze with a calm demeanor, armor that enhanced her femininity, and dangerous sparkling eyes that lured one into the depths of her soul.

The grace of her words and movements added to her irresistible allure and left the onlookers around her powerless. Emilia’s knights felt so captivated by Rosenita’s beauty that they couldn’t take their eyes off her.

Rosenita hadn’t done anything except for taking off her helmet. The knights already fell for her and lost against her beauty. The only one who could face her head-on was Almond. The choice was his whether to remain loyal to Emilia or cave in to his immediate desires.

[1. It’s an honor for you to recognize my potential.]

[2. I am still loyal despite being a mercenary.]

Two selections popped up in front of him. He would become Rosenita’s ally sooner or later if he chose the first one.

‘Didn’t I already spend seven days with Emilia?’

Sang-Hyeon felt lost and confused for the first time in this game. He already spent too much time with Emilia to betray her now.

Granted, she was only a video game character and seven days in the game didn’t equate to seven real days.

‘Still… I grew attached…’

He had escorted Emilia in her carriage, defeated the bandits and the goblins, and also helped the farmers. He recalled how Emilia’s cheeks turned red from her obvious and cute lie. Her bright, righteous, and pure eyes…

‘Ugh…’

Sang-Hyeon had experienced all these events as Almond. The physical touch and smell felt real even though it was a video game.

— It has to be Emilia, no questions about it.

— Vote for it!

— You’re going to betray Emilia?!

— It’s obviously Rosenita.

— Rosenita hands down.

— These nerds.

— 111111111111

— 2222222! Press 2!

The first choice was Rosenita and the second choice represented Emilia.

The chat was filled with 1s vs. 2s. The speed of the chat made it hard to believe that one to two thousand viewers were watching.

“Are you going to leave me hanging like this?”

Rosenita frowned and tilted her head. Her automatic dialogue played as time passed, but Sang-Hyeon still flinched. Rosenita felt like a living character.

— Ohhhh!

— Rosenita, have me!

— I’m going to go with 1. Sorry, Emilia!

— Nonono still Emilia.

— Getting rid of Emilia? No!

The viewers sided with Rosenita a little more after her dialogue, but the race between them still came quite close.

Almond thought for a moment. Then he made his decision.

“I’m going to finish today’s stream here. I played a lot today.”

He decided to turn off his stream.

***

Almond mercilessly turned off his stream.

—

What kind of being are you!?

— This nut…

— Damn, what a cliffhanger.

— It seemed like he was waiting for this.

— This guy…

Some viewers remained like ghosts in the dark broadcast of Almond’s stream after being crushed by his merciless act. However, Almond wasn’t planning on coming back despite their presence.

Eventually, they went back to their own communities and spread the news of today’s events.

These enthusiastic fans always arrived first when Almond turned on his stream. They also left last and cursed when his stream ended. They sometimes spoke roughly from his perspective, but these grateful people also advertised his stream for free.

“The hardcore fans… there’s quite a bit of them,” Ju-Hyeok muttered to himself as he typed away on his keyboard.

“The stream is targeted towards 20-30 year old men, but it seems like female fans are just as loyal.”

He analyzed the viewer data after the stream and tried to figure out what direction their stream should head towards. They attracted loyal fans even before the stream and casual fans after the game started.

The amount of loyal female fans was quite high despite them being a video game broadcast. This seemed uncommon when compared to other game broadcasts.

“And women donate the most too…”

The female percentage was overwhelming with massive donations. They accounted for 79% of the total revenue.

However, males donated more often by 64%.

“This data isn’t reliable since Seo Ji-Ah donated as much as all the males combined.”

Ju-Hyeok couldn’t accurately determine the donations for now. They had reached the level of a small company, but their viewer-to-donation rate was still low. They needed more data to build upon.

“If it’s like this, in the next game…”

Ju-Hyeok analyzed the data to prepare for the next game after

Kingdom Age.

Kingdom Age

was the perfect game for streamers who wanted to show off their skills. Almond’s stream didn’t take off just because of his skills, but also because of the game he chose. Sang-Hyeon had done a great job on his own.

However, Ju-Hyeok had become his manager and analyst now. He didn’t even edit the videos, so he had to at least help select another game.

He scrolled through the games that Punk imported since they would soon be partners.

“Hmm…”

Ju-Hyeok had to find a game that suited Sang-Hyeon’s demographic and also allowed Sang-Hyeon to show off his skills. It would be perfect if the game was already popular.

“I think this is good.”

He was going to click on what he found when…

Thud.

The door to his room harshly swung open.

“Dear!”

“Let go!” Ju-Hyeok’s father screamed.

“!?”

Ju-Hyeok jumped in surprise and a chill went down his spine. This fear had been engraved into him as a child. His voice instinctively grew feeble in front of his father like a dog drooling at the sound of a bell.

“You, what do you think you’re doing?” The angry tone targeted none other than him. His father’s eyes filled with flames and a laser gaze fell on Ju-Hyeok.

“I’m just resting—”

“Do you think that’s what I’m talking about?”

“...!”

Ju-Hyeok’s body trembled. He formed a fist, but it quickly fell apart.

“Why did you quit the company?”

“...”

How could he possibly say it wasn’t for him in this situation? It would just sound like an excuse to his father who always said at the dinner table that the moment a loser gave a reason, it became an excuse.

“Why did you quit!!!” The anger from the fact that his thirty-year-old son had quit a job was close to madness. He couldn’t bear to watch his bloodline lose to someone else and get expelled from society. They had better be ready to die from his fists first.

“He’s probably… transferring to somewhere else,” Ju-Hyeok’s mother chimed in.

“I heard how he quit, so don’t give me that bullshit.”

Ju-Hyeok’s mouth remained shut. It would be impossible to transfer after releasing all his anger on the manager when he quit.

“Do you not care about my image at all? Director Han…

sigh

, whatever. Just start at my company tomorrow. Starting from the bottom.”

“Dad! That’s—”

“What!?”

‘Do you still have anything to say?’

His father’s look seemed to say everything already.

Ju-Hyeok found it difficult to endure and his shoulders trembled. Those who knew the confident and carefree Ju-Hyeok would be surprised to see him like this. However, this side was also a part of him. Shadows would inevitably form wherever there was light.

“Do you have anything to say?”

“...”

He did have a lot to say, but nothing at the same time. Both would lead to the same result in front of his father.

“No…”

“You start tomorrow morning. Don’t be lazy and prepare to learn the job. Be nice to every worker as well. They are the flesh and blood of our company. And always be humble.”

He heard those same words every day.

“Yes…”

His father went back to his study.

“Ju-Hyeok…”

“It’s alright, Mom. I’ll start going tomorrow.”

“Okay, good thinking. Should I get you some fruits?”

“No, I want to be alone for now.”

Thud.

Ju-Hyeok lost all his energy as he closed his door and melted into his chair.

“Sigh.”

His eyes returned to the computer screen at the stats he carefully made. He had articulated the data he collected with charts and graphs of their demographics.

‘Seo Ji-Ah’s YouTube intro video, the channel design… Was it all a dream?’

“It went on too long to be a dream,” Ju-Hyeok whimpered as tears slowly dripped from his chin.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

Only a little over a week had passed. He hadn’t earned any huge profits or honor from the job, but Ju-Hyeok felt invested and full of hope.

“Phew…”

It seemed like he had to sweep all of that away now and label it as a good dream.

***

Bzzt…

Sang-Hyeon woke up as his phone buzzed early in the morning. He wanted to sleep in since he streamed until 4 A.M. the night before.

“

Sigh,?

what does he want now…”

Sang-Hyeon read the name on the caller ID and picked it up. The voice on the other end immediately shocked him awake.

— Hey! Open the door!

Not just through the phone, but he could also hear the voice through his windows.

“Have you gone insane? What are you doing here so early in the morning.”

“Sorry.”

Thud.

Sang-Hyeon saw the items that Ju-Hyeok placed on the ground and grew even more shocked.

“Did you… run away from home?”

Ju-Hyeok brought a giant carrier with a fully stuffed backpack. Anyone could see that he ran away from home.