Chapter 47: Blessing in Disguise (5)

Creak…?

Kim Ki-Yeol's manager glared at him as they left the director's office.

"I told you to write a letter in advance, right? Hand that in right away."

"..."

Kim Ki-Yeol didn't respond.

"Did you not write it?"

"..."

"You fucking idiot. You..."

The manager looked around and just let it go.

Kim Ki-Yeol stared at his back and whispered to himself, "Fuck…"

His work-life was about to spiral downwards.

***

Sang-Hyeon brushed his teeth after finishing his cereal.

Creak…?

Ju-Hyeok walked into the bathroom.

"Oh? Hey, how did it go? I got tired of waiting and went to bed."

"Ah..."

Sang-Hyeon returned quite late from the dinner because he also went out to drink with Director Han Tae-Ho.

He responded after rinsing his mouth, "It worked out."

"

Hmm?

What do you mean it worked out? How well did it work out?"

"

Hmm…

I'm not sure."

Ju-Hyeok grew frustrated, but didn't ask any further.

"I think he really liked me though."

"What's there to like?"

"The director asked me to teach him archery next time. He said he would set up another meeting."

.

"!"

Ju-Hyeok's expression brightened. "That's amazing?!"

"You think so?"

"Of course!"

Sang-Hyeon nodded.

'It’s a good thing.'

He already knew, but didn’t show his excitement to Ju-Hyeok.

"Wow, his hobby was archery. It’ll be really good if you give him private lessons... Wow!" Ju-Hyeok usually got ahead of himself. He became overly excited about the news like a puppy.

"Hey... but there's something more important."

"Hmm?"

"

Battle Large."

"

Ah...

that. You brought it up, right?"

"He said he'll contact their director himself."

"...!" Ju-Hyeok's eyes widened. "R-Really?"

"Why would I lie about something like that?"

"N-No, I know it's true."

"Don't get too excited. He might just be acting polite."

"What do you mean? Isn't that a great sign?!" Ju-Hyeok ran to his computer. "Oh! It's here! It's really here!"

He pointed to Almond's inbox with a subject line that read:

[Hello, this is the Battle Large admin team.]?

"We are clearing your suspension. Due to the inconvenience, we would like to give you a small in-game reward. We sincerely apologize..."

They gave him a small reward as compensation after lifting the suspension.

"Hey, I think this is legit." Ju-Hyeok turned around with a smile.

Sang-Hyeon tilted his head and wondered what Ju-Hyeok meant.

"What are you talking about?"

"The fact that he likes you. He must be quite fond of you if it was resolved this quickly."

Sang-Hyeon checked the time.

'It's 9 A.M. right now...'

The director must’ve directly called their company first thing in the morning. He really cared about Sang-Hyeon.

"You better turn him into Robin Hood with your archery lessons," Ju-Hyeok giggled and went to the kitchen.

Sang-Hyeon glanced at Ju-Hyeok's back as he searched the kitchen and finally laughed.

Smirk.

'I have no idea what that rich kid is doing here.'

He never imagined Ju-Hyeok would turn out like this. Wasn't he the type to only show his elite side?

"Hey, what are you up to so early?"

"You might be full from leftover snacks and milk, but I like to eat proper meals."

"

Ah

, is that so?"

"That's right."

Ju-Hyeok seemed to be making himself breakfast.

'Then should I warm up my body?'

Sang-Hyeon felt sore from all the drinking last night. He planned to exercise after stretching.

"Ah."

He needed to do something else first.

'I should post on my feed.'

He needed to tell his followers that the situation had been resolved. Sang-Hyeon made the post while putting on his running shoes.

***

[My suspension has been lifted! I'm going to stream today at 7 P.M.!]

The new post came up on Almond's feed. His followers had been eagerly waiting for an update since the controversy began, so they quickly responded.

— Oh, congrats.

— Gratz.

— A small reward? That's it?

— They're so cheap...

— So they admitted to their wrongdoing?

— I'll let it slide since they admitted it.

— It was their fault I couldn't watch his stream!!!

The viewers either congratulated him or insulted the admin team. From their perspective, it was unfair that Almond only received a small reward as compensation.

— Wow, their compensation is only a single reward?

— LOL

— I guess since it was only a 1 day ban...

— It's technically worth it, but still. It's not that simple, right?

— Yeah, this showcased their faulty system.

— This was only possible because we saw the post and made it trend. They would have done nothing if it was a regular person.?

The post spread to other communities and Almond was proven innocent. The journalists already prepared to beat down

Battle Large’s?

admin team for this incident.

[Battle Large admin admits their fault.]

[Their faulty system revealed...]

Multiple articles with similar titles popped up. The news didn't spread that quickly, but it was enough for different YouTubers to catch on. After that, the majority found out about the incident.

[Why the Battle Large admin team is under fire.]

[(Incompetent admins) A beginner wrongfully suspended.]

Multiple YouTubers attacked the company with similar titles. Everyone jumped on the news because of Almond's recent controversy with

Battle Large.

"Hello everyone, this is Small Ring."

A YouTuber appeared on the screen with his face covered and expressed his anger.

"

Battle Large?

admin team! This isn't the first time you fucked up like this. Everyone, it was his first round! Jesus... how can you ban a user who only played once as a smurf? What's going on with your company?"

He added, "I heard Punk directly called

Battle Large?

and spoke to the director himself! That's why it was resolved so quickly. Initially, they just got Almond's email and threw it in the trash. They didn't know Almond was a Punk partnered streamer."

— Wow...

— This is big news.

— I was ready to forgive them for being so quick, but knowing this? This is unacceptable.

— This is the class of a Korean company!

— It seemed like they were trying to blow him over.

The video reached over 100,000 views in just three hours. More viewers grew upset at the

Battle Large?

admin team, but that wasn't the end of it. The video gained traction for another completely different reason.

— Wait, how good was he that he got reported as a smurf in his first game?

— I'm curious about how good he is too.?

— Almond? Isn't that the guy who's good in Kingdom Age? He peaked as soon as he started playing that game.?

— What? How is that possible?

— I heard there are some videos of his gameplay. Go take a look.

The casual gamers became the x-factor. These gamers only lightly played the game and didn't pay much attention to the controversy. However, they suddenly grew interested in Almond's skills.

— Show me Almond's video.

— Small Ring, you've lost focus. Do you just make videos like this now?

— How good is he to be mistaken as a smurf in his first game?

— I want to see it too.

Countless people became curious about Almond's skills, so Small Ring also provided links to Almond's videos.

— Hello, this is Small Ring. I've also linked Almond's videos in the description for those who are curious.

***

Sang-Hyeon was about to eat dinner when he checked his phone.

"Hmm?"

He made a confused expression as he sipped his soup.

Ju-Hyeok asked, "Why... is it not good? I made it according to a YouTube cooking channel."

"No, it's not that. Our YouTube video... does it usually reach 400,000 views?"

"What?"

'That's not possible. Our videos usually average 50,000 views.'?

Ju-Hyeok muttered to himself and checked his phone.

Seo Ji-Ah was in charge of their YouTube channel, so Ju-Hyeok didn’t pay much attention to it.

"!"

Ju-Hyeok's eyes almost popped out of his glasses.

"Wait, is this really 400,000 views? Not 40,000?"

"Well... sometimes YouTubers get lucky with the algorithm."

Sang-Hyeon continued eating. He kept his mentality in check by not being too happy about it. He often used this tactic in archery to remain calm.

"Hey! What's with that reaction? It's 400,000 views! There must be a reason..."

"Hmmm..."

Sang-Hyeon thought about it. "Is it because of the suspension?"

They looked further and found videos related to Almond.

Ju-Hyeok felt impressed after watching a couple of them. "Wow... look at the viewer count. They did a good job attracting people."

"It really was a blessing in disguise like you said."

“Pfft,”?

Ju-Hyeok laughed.

Who would've thought that what he said during Sang-Hyeon’s suspension would become true?

"

Hahaha!

What did I tell—”

"What. The YouTube views and streaming don’t relate that much. Let's continue working hard."

Sang-Hyeon covered Ju-Hyeok's mouth because he didn't want to risk another controversy. Celebrities often experienced one-hit wonders. This video could've been one of those.

***

After dinner, Sang-Hyeon lightly stretched to digest his food and entered the capsule.

[The stream is now beginning.]

His stream started right on time as part of his routine. The intro music played and the chat log came up.

— Hihi

— So you're Almond?

— Hihi

— Hi Almond!

— Wow, look at the viewers today.

— I came from Small Ring's video!

— He's right on time at 7!

The chat moved quicker than usual. Sang-Hyeon spotted the number below the chat.

"!"

Thump.

He banged his head on the capsule and exclaimed in astonishment, "Holy shit."