Season 4: Chapter 32. Math Demon vs. Almondoyle (2)

Thud! Thud!

Almond slapped on every kind of talisman he had, but the Math Demon just kept talking.

"

Ugh...

I-I will give you a quiz! You must a-answer it to pass!"

"Wow. This is a complete glitch. Why doesn’t the talisman work on a ghost?"

Almond just grumbled without thinking of the glitches he’d just caused. He didn’t have time to waste.

—

Seriously LOL

—

Hahahahaha

—

Says the guy who just launched the Angler into orbit

—

The real glitch here is Almond

Finally, the Math Demon presented his quiz.

[19 – 18 = 18]

"Draw one line to make this equation true, but you cannot change the equals sign!"

"

Hmmm...

"

Almond’s eyes drifted to the chat as a donation popped up.

Ding.

[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]

[Everyone, hush]

—

Hahaha

—

Oops haha

—

Lockdown on hints!

—

No backseat gaming LOL

—

Not that anyone would know anyway

Seeing that, Almond’s gaze returned to the numbers.

"

Hmmm...

"

His brow furrowed deeply. He clearly wasn’t used to working his brain this hard.

Ding.

[Naemdu has donated 3,000 won.]

[You kept singing about "Strategy is Almondoyle~" but now your face is all twisted in front of real strategy haha]

—

Hahahahaha for real

—

Oh man LOL

—

Shrinking away the second there’s real brains involved

—

Haha

—

Where’s all that confidence now? LOL

***

Others frowned just as hard as Almond. At that exact moment, the sales department of the Cheese live streaming platform was in a late-night meeting.

"

Haaa...

we just can’t seem to finalize the streamer tiers. It’s a mess."

"Tell me about it. My head is killing me."

Cheese had been hastily launched to fill the gap left by Treevy’s exit, so they had a lot to prepare. The crucial moment was fast approaching, and they hadn’t even decided what revenue shares to offer each streamer.

They had settled one thing, though. Unlike Treevy, where everyone received the same terms, Cheese decided on a clear hierarchy strategy. Top streamers would get the best possible deals while smaller ones would only get the bare minimum.

They couldn’t afford the platform fees any other way. In the end, the cold world of capital played by its own rules. Especially in the streaming world, where revenue and future potential were as plain as day.

The data made it easy to be ruthlessly analytical and cold enough to give someone frostbite. Small streamers would always end up following in the footsteps of the big ones. Only top streamers really mattered like the one Team Leader Oh Jin-Hyeok was mentioning right now.

"The undisputed number one is Zelo, right? His average viewership is pushing two hundred thousand. That’s basically a sure thing."

"Yeah. They’re saying it’s the highest record since the rise of streaming itself."

A man who could pull two hundred thousand viewers without any special events or collabs. That was Treevy’s Zelo. Locking down his transfer terms would decide everything else.

"Once we finalize Zelo’s terms, the rest will fall into place. He’s asking for a big share, but he’s not demanding a huge signing bonus."

"

Hmmm...

"

Department Head Park Dong-Ryeol listened while tapping his pen against the table as he ran the numbers in his head. He was always lightning-fast with calculations.

"Seventy to thirty. We can’t do any higher. And it’s absolutely critical to keep it secret."

"Yeah... though I bet Paprika is going to offer the same. Should we try to throw out a big signing bonus to stand out?"

Internally, setting the tiers and offers was the easy part. The problem was their competitor, Paprika. Dong-Ryeol’s eyes drifted out the window to a fully lit building across the street.

‘So they’re not going home either.’

Ironically, Paprika’s office was right across from theirs. Clearly, they were also gearing up for the final showdown. Right now, both sides were only talking to the top streamers. By tomorrow, every sales rep would be out like hunting dogs to chase down every streamer they could find.

They had to have their strategy and system locked in beforehand, or risk losing everything by getting jerked around.

"Zelo is asking for an eighty-to-twenty split, right?"

"Yeah."

"What if we just gave Zelo the eighty-twenty he wants?"

"Well..."

It wasn’t clear if that would leave them any profit at all. They’d get torn apart for sure if upper management saw this on the final report.

"Then, we’ll do seventy-thirty for the tier below him. Who’s next? CutiePie? Bubblegum?"

They were scanning for the next targets when someone spoke up.

"Excuse me. What about Almond?"

"What?"

"If eighty-twenty is too much for Zelo, why not make Almond our top priority instead?"

Dong-Ryeol looked back down at the data. The average viewership for Almond was eighty to ninety thousand. In the past, that number would have been jaw-dropping. However, it was a noticeable step down in an era where the number one was pushing two hundred thousand.

"His current revenue might not be the best, so he probably won’t ask for huge terms. He’d take seventy-thirty. I also heard he’s looking to move offices soon."

Dong-Ryeol adjusted his glasses to get a better look at the staff member speaking.

‘Team Leader Joo Ok-Ji.’

It was an unusual name.

"You know that much about him?"

"Yes. Unlike Zelo, Almond does a lot of external activities. It wasn’t hard to find out. And... I actually think Almond might be worth an eighty-twenty split, too."

The room fell silent for a moment. They were still hesitating about offering Zelo an eighty-twenty, and now this?

"Of course, we should push for seventy-thirty first..."

"No. Absolutely not. The system has to be locked in at seventy-thirty. We can’t start shaky. And besides, there’s no way Almond deserves eighty-twenty. Even seventy-thirty is generous."

Dong-Ryeol’s fingers tapped against the table.

"Being well-known is definitely a plus. We have to get him—no question. We need those headlines, but we’re not giving that level of split."

"Ah, yes, understood... But!"

Joo Ok-Ji corrected what she saw as an error in the data.

"Those numbers are just an average. Almond’s only been streaming for less than a year. If you look at his growth, he’s higher than anyone. And tonight, his live viewers were up to a hundred and forty thousand..."

"I know, Team Leader Joo. And I know you’re Almond’s handler."

Dong-Ryeol removed his glasses and looked her straight in the eye.

"You said that average was misleading? How do you know that the chart won’t go down tomorrow instead of up? Big events like the international tournament can boost it, but it might drop again once that’s over."

"You’re right. Almond is important. Keep gathering every detail and get him on board, but get him at seventy to thirty."

***

It was already quite late after the meeting ended. Team Leader Joo stood in a quiet corner of the office hallway, talking to someone on the phone.

"

Haaa...

yes... I brought it up, and they shot it down completely. Manager Kim, I’m telling you everything honestly. They said no to an eighty-twenty split..."

"Oh, really? Then I’ll just have to hear what Paprika says before deciding."

The person on the other end was Kim Ju-Hyeok.

"Yes, of course. That’s only natural. But our platform, Cheese, really is solid! It’s the closest to Treevy’s atmosphere, and I think it’d work really well for Almond too."

"Yes, yes. I understand, but seventy-thirty is way too low."

"Th-That’s still a really high offer... Would you be interested in a signing bonus, perhaps?"

"

Hmm.

I’d have to see the percentage first. What exactly did they say when they refused?"

"Well, um..."

She wasn’t supposed to share that information, but Ju-Hyeok pressed her.

"Wouldn’t it be better if we each shared what we know? That way, we can see how close we can get to what the higher-ups want. Our interests are the same, aren’t they?"

He was right. What the executives wanted and what the employees wanted were two different things. Joo needed to lock in Almond even at eighty-twenty, while Ju-Hyeok wanted that split himself. Only the higher-ups thought it was out of the question.

"

Haaa,

" Joo sighed and told him everything in the end.

"I really told you everything. Please don’t repeat it anywhere else, okay? Promise?"

"So they think the growth won’t continue, huh?"

"Y-Yes. They think the international tournament was a huge factor, and that it might not last."

"Treevy’s full exit is still a bit away, right? Let’s watch until then."

"Excuse me?"

"Isn’t that enough time to see whether the growth holds or not?"

How long did he plan to keep this going? It felt like he was betting everything on one last chance. And such confidence—did he really think he could predict the future of a streamer’s growth?

"Are... are you sure about that?"

"Make the strongest possible case to your bosses. That way, we’ll see if the growth is real."

"Understood."

Click.

The call ended.

"

Haaa.

What is this? Will it even work?"

She worried that they’d end up forced into a rushed and sloppy deal if they dragged this out for too long. Waiting until Almond’s growth was proven... was that even possible?

***

Thud.

Ju-Hyeok ended the call and suddenly shouted, "

Argh!

"

Bang!

His fist slammed against the desk. He was clearly just as anxious. If he had to wait until Treevy pulled out completely, he’d never get the deal he wanted.

"Those bastards... Almond’s playthrough stream is the number one trending topic on Javer right now. Are they joking with me?"

However, he couldn’t just jump at Cheese’s offer either.

"What? They’re saying it’s just a one-time spike because of the international tournament? What the hell... did their ancestors help them win that championship or something?"

It was enough to make him seriously start thinking about Paprika.

"Paprika already has a ton of top players..."

The platform was filled with ex-pros and top gamers. Their entire brand revolved around skilled competitive play. Not to mention, unlike Cheese, Paprika was an established platform with way more stability for streams.

The only problem was that it felt very different from Treevy’s vibes. This was a surprisingly big hurdle since viewers needed to adapt to a new platform’s atmosphere.

"Still... whoever I end up with, the point is to prove that we’re still growing."

No matter who he negotiated with, he had to bury the misconception that Almond only grew thanks to the recent tournament.

Ju-Hyeok made up his mind. He would show them just how far this growth could go.

"But..."

He glanced back at the stream.

"How the hell did he even solve that?"