A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 27

When the game company selected a streamer for advertisements, they usually used iTube as the benchmark.

The reason was the substantial difference in the audience size between Travel and iTube.

There was a streamer with 5,000 live viewers but 1 million iTube views, and another streamer with 10,000 live viewers but only 100,000 iTube views.

It was as clear as day which would be better for promotion.

Of course, there were exceptions.

If the audience loyalty was high or the number of followers led to many views on Travel replays and buying power was strong, a high price could be justified even if iTube subscribers were few.

However.

‘None of this applies to me.’

iTube subscribers?

I don’t even have a channel yet.

No, I don’t even have an account.

As for the audience, well, it’s only been three days.

‘I heard they did widespread advertising when launching a new title.’

This doesn’t apply either.

“How about it, Sojun? Will you accept our proposal?”

“Thank you for the generous offer. Honestly, I’d like to sign immediately but…”

“But?”

“It’s a bit surprising and raises questions. Why present me with such favorable terms?”

10 million won.

It’s not much.

At least not by major standards.

For Sojun currently, even 1 million won would be a good deal.

Just having an advertisement offer was something he should be grateful for.

“Haha, you are very cautious, Sojun.”

“I was merely curious.”

Is there any such thing as a favor without a price?

Although Sojun was smiling calmly, he was prepared to back out of the deal if things went south.

He would still cooperate but would be cautious.

And even if Kim Yunchan didn’t notice, Eve Faimo seemed to read Sojun’s intentions.

“Hmm, I should make sure to convince you.”

Eve Faimo laughed heartily.

Her slightly wrinkled, blue eyes twinkled appealingly.

“To put it simply, it’s an investment. Both Team Leader Kim Yunchan and I have followed all your gameplay, Sojun-nim.”

Kim Yunchan nodded beside her.

“We judged that you, Sojun-nim, would achieve remarkable growth. So, we wanted to establish a relationship in advance at the company level. In truth, even if the teaser video is a bit delayed, it’s not a huge problem. Moreover, we expect that by the time the beta test happens, you will have grown even further. Simply put, it’s a win-win.”

She was honest.

Now Sojun understood.

This was like marking their territory ahead of time.

It also served as a gift.

“Yes. Truly, it’s just us. The other company members have no idea.”

Kim Yunchan chimed in from the side.

“Well, since I’m the president, it doesn’t matter!”

Eve Faimo said, grinning.

Sojun was surprised.

She’s the president?

Kim Yunchan reached out and spun the contract around, explaining various terms to Sojun.

Everything was as they had said.

As the explanation was wrapping up, Eve Faimo spoke to Sojun.

“Sojun, we can run the advertisement for Assassin’s Dawn, but can I recommend a game for you?”

“What is it?”

“For Justice.”

For Justice.

It was a martial arts action game set in a fictional continent, made by MubiSoft.

“With your skills, Sojun, I’m sure you’ll perform incredibly in that game. I would love to see it.”

By this time, Eve Faimo was more interested in watching Sojun’s gameplay than promoting the company’s game.

“I will seriously consider it. By the way, which country are you from, President?”

“Oh, I’m French.”

“Really? You speak Korean very well.”

“I had a short study experience in Korea.”

“I see. Isn’t honesty a virtue of the French?”

“No. I just thought being honest would be better with you, Sojun.”

How honest.

As expected of a president, she reads people well.

Sojun smiled, packed up the contract, and stood.

“Thank you.”

“No, we should be thanking you.”

“But what if someone else collects all the Fragments of Order within the week, other than me?”

Sojun suddenly thought of Lee Dongsu.

“Hmm. I don’t think it’ll be easy, but there is one possible user. Luckily, they don’t stream, so I plan to ask them not to make it public.”

Neither realized they were referring to the same person.

And the fact that Sojun’s cooperation made it unnecessary to ask Lee Dongsu was unknown too.

Lee Dongsu was only playing Assassin’s Dawn because of Sojun anyway.

“Understood. Then I look forward to working with you.”

Eve Faimo clasped Sojun’s hand and gave a charming smile.

“We, too, look forward to the synergy that MubiSoft and Sojun-nim will create together.”

* * *

Following the request, instead of capturing the Ruler, Sojun began enjoying the game by engaging in various activities within the Assassin’s Dawn. He still ignored missions and quests, doing things his own way without change.

When it became apparent that Sojun had no intention of capturing the Ruler, some streamers thought to themselves, “Wouldn’t it be great if I could uncover information about the Fragments of Order first?”

This thought began to spread, creating a minor trend of challenging the Ruler. Han Jimin’s employer, an iTube editor, had the same idea.

The problem was.

“That wicked woman.”

Han Jimin sighed deeply, slumping into her chair.

『Just tweak it a bit more to feel like this streamer.』
『I’ve modified it, check it out, please.』『1』
『Hey』『1』
『Do take a look』『1』

Two days had passed without any response. It had been like this for a month. She pressed on her right eye with her hand.

“Ahhh. They say family and friends mean nothing when it comes to money.”

Han Jimin felt like chewing out her employer, who was also a friend with whom she had shared dreams and worries about the future.

“I should’ve known when they kept nitpicking over trivial things.”

A year and a half ago, Han Jimin had just started learning video editing. She had stumbled upon a minor streamer and found their stream entertaining.

When she heard that the streamer was struggling with iTube due to editing alone, she decided to send her work to help, suggesting they grow together. Thus began their partnership.

The minor streamer couldn’t offer a stable salary but proposed to share the iTube revenue 50:50, promising that during tough times and prosperous ones alike, they would share the results.

“I shouldn’t have trusted a verbal promise back then.”

Now, it seemed futile to regret it. For the first six months, Han Jimin had devoted herself to editing despite challenging circumstances. At that time, the channel had 217 subscribers. There was no revenue to speak of.

Even so, Han Jimin and the streamer had held on through the tough times together. She worked tirelessly, creating one video a day and growing the iTube channel.

Over time, her editing skills improved, and after about six months, the channel hit 30,000 subscribers, and revenue started to flow.

“Everything was good up until then.”

As the channel grew, her life became more stable, and eight smooth months passed. The channel was on the verge of reaching 100,000 subscribers.

Thanks to iTube, even live broadcasts saw an increase in viewers. When they began to earn more, they had to hire another editor, and that’s where the problem began.

“People can be so petty.”

Han Jimin stared at the monitor on her desk. For nearly a year and a half, she had become accustomed to the videos of someone she had watched tirelessly. A month ago, she had fought with her employer, whom she had considered a friend.

The issue was that Han Jimin, as an editor, was taking too much.

It was almost entirely her efforts that had grown the channel.

“Hmph. As if managing a channel is easy.”

She turned off the editing software. It seemed like it was time to resolve their relationship. This month’s earnings hadn’t been sent either. Her taste turned bitter.

“What? To revise it to feel like this streamer? Knowing I can’t do it and still asking, damn it.”

She had trusted her.

Believed they had become closer than anyone, overcoming tough times together. Hence, she hadn’t expected such betrayal. She shivered with anger, feeling like crying.

“What do I have left now?”

In reality, she had been too busy editing to spend money, accumulating a considerable amount. And her editing skills? Her vision started to blur.

It felt as if 18 months of her life had been invalidated.

But work shouldn’t stop. She, for the first time in a long while, logged onto an editor recruitment site. And she found a post.

“……”

Ironically, it was the streamer from the video her former employer had sent.

A person with undeniable skills. That person was looking for a freelancer to edit some videos immediately and, if things went well, was considering a full-time editor position.

“You too want to share revenue? Fine, let’s draft a contract. If you think of exploiting me without one, don’t expect me to stay silent.”

Han Jimin sent an email to Sojun.

* * *

– So, you’re tackling the Ruler tomorrow? Finally, hahahaha.
– The real deal is happening.
– Seeing all the other streamers fail made me realize how exceptional our streamer is.
– At last, phew.
– Honestly, with those skills, focusing only on pickpocketing or mini-games was just overkill.

– For real, if that’s all you’re going to do with those skills, then just hand them over.

“Alright, everyone, see you tomorrow.”

– Darn it!
– Tough luck!
– Ugh!

*Click.*

Sojun turned off the stream and stepped out of the capsule. After a quick wash, he sat in front of his computer and checked his emails.

『Teaser video is all done.』
『(Ad) ★Winner of the 929th, runner-up of the 996th★, ‘First Prize Predicted Numbers’ Free Event!! This could be your turn!』
『Sojun-ssi, if you keep focusing only on Assassin’s Dawn in your stream, it might tank. As a fan, just a piece of advice…』
『Report: mijhvn0216 used profane language.』

The first email he saw was from MubiSoft, stating that the teaser video was complete and he could do as he pleased with it. Following that were several ads and emails from viewers giving unsolicited advice on his streams. There were no new emails from aspiring editors.

“Dang.”

On the first and second days after he posted the open call for editors, a few videos had been submitted.

However, none of them were up to Sojun’s standards. No matter how much a fan someone was, he couldn’t hire an editor lacking in skill.

“At least I’ve got two videos to upload on iTube.”

One was a collaboration video edited by Lee Suhan, Alpaca’s editor, and the other was the first episode edited by a professional hired through an editor recruitment site.

Sojun opened the video he received from an editor named Han Jimin.

His impression was,

“It’s neat and tidy, no unnecessary elements. A professional?”

A voice came from behind him.

“Yeah.”

Sojun, already aware of Taewoo’s presence from the sounds, answered.

“Are you going to sign an exclusive contract with them?”

“Well…”

Sojun considered assigning his whole channel to the editor, finding it more efficient. He’d learned from Lee Suhan that it was ideal if the editor was an ardent fan who followed all the streams.

“I’m in talks with them. I’ve given them a few tasks, and their skills are impressive.”

“Is that so? Try to lock them down if you can.”

If he couldn’t find a suitable editor, Sojun planned to join an MCN (Multi-Channel Network).

“Yeah, I’ll wait a bit longer. Not sure if they’ll accept the offer, though.”

They both stared intently at the monitor for a moment.

“True. Or, you could look around yourself. Find someone who’s already making fan videos of your content and recruit them.”

Giving the chair Sojun was sitting in a small tap, Taewoo walked back to his room. Taewoo always kept an eye on Sojun’s progress after each stream.

Following Taewoo’s advice, Sojun logged onto iTube and started searching.

“Hmm, what should I look for?”

Nameless.

Musou.

Ruler.

Streamer fan videos.

And so on.

No matter how much he searched, nothing useful came up. Giving up, Sojun then searched for other people’s editor application videos just out of curiosity.

That’s when a familiar iTube account name caught his eye.

『Public Toilet Brick Theft King』

He was a regular viewer of Sojun’s streams, always silent when asked to be a moderator. Sojun clicked the video.

With 157 views and titled with just a “.”, the description read, “This is an editor application video for streamer Sojun-nim!”

It piqued Sojun’s interest.

“Why is this video public? And… I don’t recall seeing this in my emails.”

Sojun double-checked his inbox and trash folder in case he missed it by mistake. It turned out he hadn’t overlooked anything.

‘Well, let’s give it a watch.’

After watching for a while, Sojun leaned on his desk, lost in thought.

“This is really good. Why not send it to me?”