The Treevy award ceremony had ended. However, this was only in regards to the live broadcast. It was just beginning on YouTube and other video platforms.

— Wow, the first release video is up

— I heard this performance was legendary

— First release!!

— Treevy president! Open the door!

True to being a leading media platform, Treevy provided viewers with plenty of content to enjoy effortlessly and prompted them to seek out more videos.

For instance, the collaborative entrance performance featuring CutiePie with Patisserie was a major hit.

— Here it comes

— Is this an idol?! Is this an idol?!

— Breaking: The rumors of discord all turned out to be false…

Moreover, the special performance videos of the other invited singers also gained a lot of popularity.

— Panatic's rap, seriously?

— Lil Grass lolol, it's crazy

— My eyes are feasting!!

Among the videos uploaded on Treevy's official channel, perhaps these singer performance videos received the highest views because such special performances were hard to come by.

All this occurred on just the official channel, but Director Jang didn’t operate just one channel this time. He created another sub-channel like a fan page. There, a video unrelated to singer performances recorded the highest views.

[Sweet Almond Chocolate Making]

Director Jang personally planned this video, which simply featured a man in a suit giving an acceptance speech. Oddly enough, it felt perfect.

This was the magic Director Jang wielded. Without any particular touch, he could succinctly highlight someone's beauty.

— Wow, he's so handsome

— Came here thinking it was a cooking channel and got mesmerized

— So how do you make that almond chocolate?

└ Go and ask Almond's mother and father

└ The only one who knows the recipe lol

└ Why are you seeing my in-laws?

└ lololol

└ Ah lol, are you married already? lol

— What's with the clickbait title? lol

— Paradise

The suit draped over his well-trained body since childhood. His looks appealed to everyone’s tastes, even to those who weren't initially fans of the streamer Almond.

— This person is a streamer? I thought it was a movie award ceremony lol

— I came here from the algorithm of another award ceremony… Why is my favorite actor here?

— I saw this person for the first time today. I… love Yu Sang-Hyeon.

This was another privilege of the award ceremony. As everyone was in the season of holding award ceremonies, it was easy to take advantage of the algorithm on YouTube and garner new fans.

— So, this is the acceptance speech for Best Actor, right?

— Yu Sang-Hyeon. My marriage fell apart, you're responsible.

└ Why did your marriage fall apart? Lol

└ I realized after watching this that something was wrong with my husband???

└ Lolololol

Just a short while after the video was uploaded, someone joked that their marriage fell apart because of it. Someone else fantasized about marrying him. It was probably because Sang-Hyeon was wearing a tuxedo.

— He feels like a cool, sports-oriented pretty boy who dressed up for the first time in a while to propose to me…

└ Cool… sports… pretty boy… ok, I'll lie down here?

└ But who's proposing to you, exactly??? Lololol

└ Lololol so funny lolol

└ Ju-Hyeok: ???

└ lololol a confession lololol

Meanwhile, Almond's original fans naturally appeared in the comments too. They seized the moment to show off in front of the new fans.

— ??? Hey, don't binge on Almond. Whew…

└ lololol

└ ??lololol

— Newbies, let me set the rules for you. Only once a week. Your body won't be able to handle more than that.

└ Is it some kind of dark martial art? Lololol

└ lolololol

└ If you don't know the proper breathing technique, it's advised not to use it.

└ Lololol

They likened watching Almond's streams to smoking or learning a dark martial art. It was something that had to be limited. Their reason was as followed.

— Everyone, from now on, after donating a lot during Almond's stream, you'll find yourself staring blankly at a black screen with an octopus due to him suddenly ending the stream. You’ll only feel frustration, so whew… don't binge on Almond.

└ But how can you avoid Almond? Lololol

└ lololol

└ Why are you speaking informally, you punk

└ Director NormalWater has entered the chat;

Almond was known for abruptly ending his streams at irregular times, which frustrated the viewers.

Despite their warnings, something happened on the day after the award ceremony when no one particularly expected a stream.

Ding!

[What will this man be like in 2036? Planning a New Year Masterplan]

Almond’s stream turned on with this title.

While the viewers welcomed it, they also felt bewildered.

— This is crazy lololol

— Are they turning it on just to tease us??

— Typical cult behavior...

— Better control the expectations, Mari!

— The title will cause a riot lololol

— Wow, when everyone expected it wouldn't be on, it's on. And when they thought it definitely wouldn't be, it's suddenly live?!

— And it's a chat stream lololol insane

— Why does the stream have to be on New Year? ~~~

***

Yawning heavily, Sang-Hyeon seemed tired and hungover. The hangover hadn't worn off yet.

‘Uh…’

Regardless, he sat in front of the webcam and turned on his stream. He had already decided to do this after consulting with Ju-Hyeok. He wanted to interact with the fans somehow today.

The topic would be about planning the New Year's stream with the viewers. Although the main outline was already decided, it was more like notifying them than actual planning together.

[The streaming has started]

He pressed the streaming button and waited for it to load. Sitting in front of a computer instead of inside a capsule felt oddly unfamiliar.

‘Hmm?’

His gaze shifted to the viewer count.

[Current Viewers: 9.3k]

Many viewers appeared right after starting. What was happening? Sang-Hyeon wondered if there had been some controversy. Did he say something strange while he was drunk? He briefly reflected on what happened.

Meanwhile, the stream already went live.

“Ah. Hello.”

He greeted the audience with a sleepy hello.

— What a crazy dude, you’re crazy

— Is this for real???

— Hi hi

— Wow, boss!!!

— He really started streaming!

— Awesome, is it a communication broadcast today???

— I was seduced by the suit, and now it’s an immediate heart attack with casual content!?

‘What's up with the chat’s speed?’

His streams usually didn’t proceed this fast in the beginning. Of course, streams always went by fast, but it usually calmed down quickly too. This time was a different story.

[Current Viewers: 15k]

Suddenly, 15,000 people had joined his stream.

“Uh… today, we're not playing any games. Just talking. I’m taking a break from rank climbing in

Civil Empire

until tomorrow.”

Boom!

Donations flooded in as if to shut him up.

[RubySword has donated 100,000 won!]

[Wow! Congrats on the Newcomer Award! And all the other awards too!]

— "And all the other awards" lol

— RubyLord, nice

— Wow

— The beginning is insane~

— Boss got lucky today

As the viewers said, perhaps today was Almond's lucky day.

Babam!

[EggPlant has donated 30,000 won!]

[What's your resolution for New Year? My younger sibling said it's dieting, but I corrected them by saying that’s more of a prayer than a resolution.]

— Correct lololol

— At least he didn't steal his sibling's money

— But... you love your sibling, right?

— Is your sibling a girl? Is she pretty?

— EggPlant lol, what a brutal correction!

EggPlant made a hefty donation after a while. Following that, numerous donations continued to congratulate Almond on the Newcomer Award.

Babam!

Babam!

Each donation was significant, ranging from forty to fifty thousand won.

‘But where have I seen these people before?’

Almost half of them seemed like strangers. Usually, only a set group of viewers donated.

"Thank you all so much. I'll work hard in the New Year too."

Almond slightly bowed as the donations ended.

“But... I see a lot of new faces... why did so many come for a chat stream?”

[Current Viewers: 37k]

His stream would usually only hit 30,000 viewers with a highly interesting game. This was the first time he hit 30,000 since the

LIL

tournament. One could guess the significance. Why so many came for a chat stream was certainly a mystery.

— Mentioning viewer count should be banned

— Ban the streamer

— You. Get out.

Almond had mentioned the viewer count himself, but it didn't matter.

"The streamer is fine."

That was the rule.

— lol so shameless

— The broadcaster is blatantly cheating

— lol

Clap.

Almond clapped once to refocus his attention.

"Now, for the New Year's plan…"

He was marking an editing point.

"This man, what will 2036 bring?

Eeeey.

Let's get started."

— Lolololol

— Now the stream is getting good lol

— Is this a major channel!? Is this a major channel!?

Click.

Then, he opened the New Year's plan prepared by Ju-Hyeok.

"First…"

Visually, it looked very convenient.

"Communication."

1. Communication

The first topic was communication.

"All throughout 2035, there was a lot of feedback that communication was lacking in the stream. There wasn't much last year. Strange, isn't it?"

— ???

— You weren't here last year

— lol are you bragging about the Newcomer Award??

— Oh, I won the Newcomer Award after just 3 months~~

— Just get it, guys!

"Thus, we're cautiously creating a channel for communication. Runestagram has its limits, so…"

Click.

2. Stream Format

That led to the next topic.

"The streaming format is changing a bit. I won’t just be jumping into games…"

Click.

He showed photos compiled from other streams.

"Introducing T.S.B., the Treevy Streamer Board."

— Chat?

— Wow, insane

— Treevy Streamer Board opening!?!?

— TSB on lol

— lol, this will be hard to manage

The Treevy Streamer Board was a fan board for Treevy viewers to use. They could share messages with the streamer, have fun and joke around, or simply share their daily lives.

As long as it didn’t offend anyone, anything could be posted. Streamers who were good at communication would start their streams by reading these boards. Almond's stream had this turned off. He initially didn't want to deal with the risks associated with such communication.

"It's a step up."

Almond realized this during the award ceremony, especially after observing the other nominees and Zello who won the Grand Prize. None of them were bad at communication. In fact, about twenty percent of their streaming time was devoted to communication with the rest going to gaming.

"Ultimately, what the viewers want is a friend. Forming a community and communication are essential."

This was what Bubblegum said. Viewers needed a place where they could interact, share stories, and become friends. The Treevy Streamer Board, abbreviated as TSB, was exactly that.

Almond decided to also use it after being positively influenced by the award ceremony.

"From now on, I'll start the stream by reading posts from TSB. And…"

Ding.

Posts already started appearing.

Ding. Ding.

— What a sight

— Lololol

— If only you studied this hard ??

— Read it! Read it!

"Alright, a promise is a promise."

Almond clicked on one of the first posts from TSB.

— What a historic moment

— Wow

— I’m jealous!

— They say early birds catch the worm

"I'll read the first post."

He expected the content to be sparse since it was the first post.

"It’s titled, ‘The Reason for the Surge in Viewers.'"

It was a post with some substance. However…

"Hmm. You’re going to get banned."

— ???

— ?

— …?

A brief silence followed.

– lolololol

— Lol

— Exactly lol

Viewers finally got the joke about being banned for mentioning the viewer count.

"You went straight to posting without reading the notice. That's why you're banned."

Indeed, the first poster was banned for three hours.

— Oh~

— A juvenile offender!? What's that?

— Is this justice?! Is this justice?! Is this justice?!

— You could join the Justice League

— A fair move. Yes, we'll use this as an example.

Ding.

A donation came through.

[ReverseWayne has donated 1,000 won.]

[Thought it was an early bird, but turned out to be just an early worm, huh?]

— Lololol

— Exactly lol

— Reverse proverb!

As it was just a thousand won donation, Almond moved on without any comment.

"Now, let's move on to a really important topic."

He returned to the New Year's plan.

3. Progressing with Civil Empire and Other Games Simultaneously

— Ohh

— Really?

— You’re going to play other games?

— This is the endgame

— Wow, can he handle it?

Many questions arose and Almond began to address them.

"There's been a lot of talk this year asking if I'm really a variety game streamer. There wasn't any last year. Feels like some kind of manipulation is at play..."

— That's because you weren't here last year

— lol this concept is killing me

— Are we going with this? lol

— Lol, so cute

— Who wrote this script? Come out!

— This is still about the Newcomer Award after starting 3 months ago, right? Lol

After enjoying the chat reactions, Almond continued.

"After communicating with the

Civil Empire

national team, it seems it won't take as much time to rank up as we thought. Someone's exceptionally good gameplay is to thank..."

As he said this, Almond glanced slyly at the camera.

— Today's concept is relentless

— Communication lol

— lol

— lol so funny

"Most importantly, all scrims I'll be joining from now on will be done in private under strict security."

— ???

— Really?

— What about the stream?

— So that's why...

"We've decided to just play another game," he concluded.

Then, he revealed a list of games.

"We'll take a vote."

1. Jet Pumped!

2. LIL: Survival Mode or Flashy Blade’s Story Mode

3. Kingdom Age: Rosenita’s Route