Chapter 74: Record (3)

— It's a shame.

— It's possible.

— Because the match ended in a tie. It's like getting comforted for having more ball possessions in a soccer match...

Everything the normal-looking guy on the screen said sounded ridiculous.

"

Kya

, what a guy! What! A! Guy!" Ju-Hyeok laughed out loud while drinking his beer.

He happily made fun of Sang-Hyeon and rewatched the stream repeatedly.

It was rare to see Sang-Hyeon embarrassed, so Ju-Hyeok wouldn't let it go.

"Urgh."

Sang-Hyeon couldn't look at the screen and went on his phone. He turned around on the sofa, but could still hear it.

'How did I say all those things?'

Sang-Hyeon wasn't one to watch his words, but even he thought the Almond talking on-screen was a bit much. He seemed too serious and upset.

Even he couldn't understand why a newbie player felt so angry about tying with the world's greatest player.

"Damn, every single word you say is SOMETHING else!

Huh?

It sure is SOMETHING!"

Everything Sang-Hyeon said had been too much.

'I was too rattled up.'

Sang-Hyeon admitted that he overreacted upon hearing the words: a world record. He had overstepped as a new player, but he just wanted to beat JeonJaPa that badly.

Sang-Hyeon wasn't a thirty year old salaryman in that moment, but an eighteen year old archer aiming for the world record. That rookie who wasn't afraid of saying anything stood in the interview.

"

Kumph…

At least you didn't specifically make fun of Korean soccer. You still had some sense in you? Hey?

Hahahahaha!

"

Ju-Hyeok kept rewatching one particular scene.

— Because the match ended in a tie. It's like getting comforted for having more ball possessions in a soccer match…

This controversial statement was hilarious.

"Hey, the results are good. Don't worry."

"Did I say something? I'm saying you did a good job! Good job!" Ju-Hyeok, red from the beer, continued laughing.

Speaking of soccer, Sang-Hyeon wanted to kick Ju-Hyeok in the face. He considered making it his 1 million subscribers’ special event.

"Kuhm..."

Sang-Hyeon pushed away the violent thoughts and went back to his phone. He browsed through the gaming communities.

Thankfully, the public reacted positively. As he said earlier, the results had been good.

[A collection of Almond's statements]

It seemed positive judging from the comments on the top post.

— Wow, but isn't Almond so fucking cool?

└ For real

└ I agree

└ It's his looks...

— We need someone like that in Korea. Everyone just pretends to be nice and acts modestly.

└ For real

└ Agreed.

— But if this continues, he'll surpass JeonJaPa just like Ha-Yeon said.

└ I think Yu Ha-Yeon just fell for Almond LOL

└ Stfu. Ha-Yeon doesn't know what she's talking about.

└ Shut up loser. Go back to your mom's basement.

└ LOL, spitting facts.

└ Stop it! He's already dead!

— He's got what it takes to be world class! His looks, skills, and personality!

└ Personality LOL

— Doesn't Almond seem rattled up? More than usual.

└ He's pissed because he didn't beat the record.

└ Yeah, he's crazy.

└ That's right. It seems like he's actually angry. So cute!

└ 22222 I thought he was cute as well.

The reactions were strangely positive. He thought most people would criticize him for his results, but only a small percentage did. The public sided with him unexpectedly because of his last statement.

One of the top three trending posts was titled:

[The reason Almond is so likable]

[He could've been happy and claimed he was the best in the world with that VNS score. Honestly, most people would've reacted like that.

If someone only used the capsule for three weeks and achieved that score, they would've been excited to find out and even bragged.?

But this showed that Almond was a true, authentic guy. The part where he compared it to the Korean soccer team jerking themselves off for having more ball possessions despite the result being a tie…?

It was like he was saying, ‘It's sad to jerk myself off like that when it ended as a tie.’

A REAL man. Super likable.]

For some reason or another, his statement garnered a lot of sympathy from the general public.

"I never said Korean soccer."

Of course, he couldn’t prevent the story from being slightly distorted. It felt good to have his honest feelings acknowledged like this.

— For real.

— Hey, he never said Korean soccer. Our soccer team is doing pretty good right now!

└ He never said Korean soccer, yet everyone knew what he was talking about! It's magic!

└ Passion! Structure! Resilience! K-Soccer!

— Anyways, the reason he's likable isn't because he criticized soccer.

└ For real. The reason he looks so cool is because he's focused only on the results of the match and doesn't care about other factors.?

└ True...

— This guy will be big.

└ Yeah, I mean look at his face...

— If it were me, I'd stand in front of his house with a sign LOL

He found it fascinating. The day Yu Sang-Hyeon's true self was recognized had come. He had always been ignored and rejected...

Honesty was poison in this society. His true self had been a flaw that he hid like his right hand in his pocket.

'Maybe this is the path for me.'

It became an advantage in this industry, which shocked him.

"

Yaawn.

Hey, I'm going to bed now. The beer is making me sleepy."

Ju-Hyeok finished watching all the broadcasts and stood from the couch. The view outside the window had grown dark. Time passed and it was already late at night.

"I should sleep too."

Tak.

Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon disappeared from the dark reflection.

***

The next day, Sang-Hyeon got up like usual and quickly ate cereal for breakfast. He browsed the internet on his phone and saw that what happened yesterday already spread everywhere.

"Wow…"

Sang-Hyeon felt shocked with a spoon still in his mouth.

'Search ranking?'

Almond's name appeared on the country's most popular search engine, Javer. The related searches with his name included VNS and JeonJaPa as well.

It wasn't a high ranking, but it still made his head spin. He suddenly realized that this could become a big issue.

'Do I need to make a Javer portal profile for myself or something...'

He thought that after a pack of almonds appeared when he searched for his name.

'Who would've thought I would need such things.'

A Javer portal profile? That was something only politicians or celebrities had. Hardly any streamers uploaded their profiles no matter how popular they were. At most, they would have to be as popular as Bubblegum to appear.

Bzzt.

His phone vibrated after receiving a message.

[Acorn Jelly: Sang-Hyeon, I saw the stream! You're something else! Thanks to you, our video together is gaining popularity again. I just wanted to thank you!]

It came from Acorn Jelly. Come to think of it, they hadn't contacted each other since then. It was nice to hear from him after a long time. It brought back memories of when Sang-Hyeon first started streaming.

He smiled and sent a reply.

[No, thank you! I wouldn't even have become a partnered streamer if it weren't for our stream together!]

[Acorn Jelly: Stop being modest! Don't talk about Korean soccer again, okay? Let's grab a drink next time!]

[Korean soccer LOL. Alright, sounds good!]

"Sounds good!" Ju-Hyeok suddenly appeared from behind and mocked him by repeating his text.

"Oh, shocks!"

Sang-Hyeon dropped his phone in surprise.

"Is it Acorn Jelly?"

"Yeah, make some noise when you're coming."

"Sounds good!" Ju-Hyeok mocked him again and headed to the kitchen.

Bzzzt.

Bzzt.

A phone continued to go off. Sang-Hyeon checked and realized it wasn't his.

"Hey, Ju-Hyeok! Your phone is ringing."

"Yeah, I know."

"Aren't you going to get it?"

"It's not a phone call."

"Then?"

"They're all emails and texts."

Bzzzzt... Bzzt!

All the vibrations from his phone were texts? Sang-Hyeon felt confused.

"Did you borrow money or something?"

"What do you mean borrow money? We're big now."

"We didn't properly calculate the profits yet."

"They gave me 1.2 million won as my cut for yesterday's stream alone!"

"Then what are those notifications?"

"Take a look."

Chuk.

Ju-Hyeok left his phone on the table.

"Am I allowed to?"

Despite his words, Sang-Hyeon quickly grabbed the phone and took a look. As expected of Ju-Hyeok, he didn't have a password.

"!"

Countless texts covered the screen when he turned on the phone.

[Hello, this is the fashion company AMUMUSINSA. We're contacting you after seeing Almond's stream! Of course, you probably...]

[Hello, we're the creators of many popular FPS games and survival games...]

[Hello! This is golden barbeque chicken! We're reaching out to...]

[Hello! We're the marketing team for the famous original hell's kimchi stew, Oh Gang-Woo's Kimchi Stew...]

All the texts were for collaborations or advertisements.

"W-What the..."

Not only games, but he also received offers from apparel companies and restaurant franchises.

"This is all from this morning?"

"Yeah."

"Do they never get off work?"

Every morning, Sang-Hyeon always saw the marketing employees already there when he arrived at work.

"Right, they never get off."

The marketing department often slept at the company, working day and night.

"They probably want a contract with us while we're still cheap."

Chiik.

Ju-Hyeok explained as he flipped his eggs.

"They're investing when the stock is low, so they can cash out later."

"Ah..."

Sang-Hyeon quickly understood. He wasn’t a fool. He was just surprised so many companies speculated that the stock called Almond would soar in the future.

"Hey! I didn't tell you, but we received a lot of offers in the past from random brands."

"Really? Why didn't you accept them?"

"Why? Because it's not worth it. We only sell the stock when it’s high. What's the point of selling when they're low? Besides, it just ruins our image if we agree to something weird."

"..."

Sang-Hyeon became speechless. He just blankly stared at Ju-Hyeok's back.

'That guy... he was sure Almond's stock would rise?'

It struck him once again how much Ju-Hyeok believed in him.

The ad rates were high, but Ju-Hyeok rejected all of them. He needed money more than anyone else, but still refused all of it. He was someone who could truly see the big picture.

"So what are you going to do now? Aren't some of the brands here pretty famous?"

"

Hmm...

That's right, but we're going to ignore them for now."

Tak.

Ju-Hyeok placed his egg and kimchi fried rice on the table.

Sang-Hyeon turned toward the food.

'When did he get this good at cooking?'

"Why? You want some?"

"Yeah…"

"Nope, it's all for me."

"I think that's enough for three."

"It's for one if one person eats it."

"Sigh..."

Ju-Hyeok finished all of it by himself.

"

Hmm.

Anyway, we'll wait for the ads. We're in this for the long run, so we have to be specific in choosing ads. It's not like we don't have income right now."

"Well... I don't mind."

Sang-Hyeon wasn’t lying. He didn’t enter this market to make money. Shooting the bow in virtual reality satisfied him and it would be enough if his viewers were happy. He had no problems as long as he could eat.

'But Ju-Hyeok is different...'

Ju-Hyeok likely entered the scene looking for a big success.

.

"Doesn't this matter for you?"

It would be the smart thing to do some advertisements for a little money.

However, Ju-Hyeok shook his head. "That's alright. I'm in this for the loooong run! You just focus on today's stream. I already have an ad in mind."

"Really?"

"I'm not going to tell you since you might get ahead of yourself."

"Alright."

‘Thank goodness he has a plan.’ Sang-Hyeon went out to jog with that thought.

"Hey! The most important thing for us is getting diamond! Diamond!" Ju-Hyeok shouted as Sang-Hyeon left.

'Yep, I need to work hard today too.'

The important thing was his promise to the viewers. Sang-Hyeon had to play

Battle Large

for today's broadcast and he would do his best.

Regular exercise and good eating habits were essential as the doctor advised.

He zipped up his jacket to block out the chilly wind and slowly walked down the stairs.

***

It still seemed a little early to stream at 3 P.M.

Chiik.

However, Sang-Hyeon entered the capsule.

"Phew."

He felt slightly tense, unlike usual. Sang-Hyeon had a rough idea of what to expect.

Yesterday, he even made it to the real-time search rankings. The edited version of Fantasia's show hadn’t been uploaded yet, but the live broadcast made a significant impact.

More viewers would definitely appear. Even if it was just a temporary pump, the number of viewers would undoubtedly increase.

'I just need to calmly stream like usual.'

Sang-Hyeon reassured himself not to worry about the number of viewers.

[Stream will soon begin.]

As always, the intro music played and viewers began to gather.

— Wow! Starting early today?

— Heck yeah!

— I can't resist it!

— Everyone who can't resist, gather!

— Wow, is this the new schedule now?

— Kya!

— This is why I didn't look for a job! Haha!

It was quick. Unbelievably quick. The viewers usually gathered fast, but this was...

'Not like this…'?

He had never seen anything like this before.