– JoMeohyeop-nim. Upon further thought, I don’t think I can do the broadcast. I apologize for going back on my word.
“No!”
As Jo Cheol-gon was wracking his brain, devising a broadcast plan, he received news like a bolt from the blue.
Wadeulwadeul had suddenly messaged him, saying they couldn’t do the broadcast.
With trembling hands, Jo Cheol-gon began to reply.
– Why the sudden change?
– I’m terribly sorry. Something came up…
Fortunately, a reply came from Wadeulwadeul.
Yet, there was no real reason for Wadeulwadeul to apologize.
No specific schedule had been set, and less than a day had passed since they mentioned it, so it wasn’t as if they were late in informing him.
– There’s no need to apologize. I was just wondering if something happened.
Jo Cheol-gon sent the message as gently as possible.
Right now, Wadeulwadeul was like a pigeon from the early 2000s (TL Note: A Korean idiom referring to someone who is extremely skittish or easily startled, like pigeons were in Korea during the early 2000s).
If he approached even slightly closer, they seemed ready to flutter away.
– It’s a personal matter..
Facing Wadeulwadeul’s reply, Jo Cheol-gon scratched his head furiously.
Since it was a personal matter, it would be awkward to pry.
However, Jo Cheol-gon had already envisioned a massive hit from a joint broadcast with Wadeulwadeul.
If he let Wadeulwadeul slip away now, he wouldn’t be a true broadcaster.
Then, a thought suddenly struck him, and Jo Cheol-gon scrolled up the chat.
Come to think of it, Wadeulwadeul had already sent their phone number.
It seemed impossible to make progress through chat; only a phone call would offer any hope of a solution.
Without hesitation, Jo Cheol-gon immediately dialed Wadeulwadeul’s number and placed the call.
The ringing tone didn’t last long before the call connected with a soft click.
“……Hello?”
From within the phone, a delicate girl’s voice emerged.
For a moment, Jo Cheol-gon thought he had dialed the wrong number, pulled the phone away from his face, and rechecked the number.
However, even when he compared it to the number on his monitor screen, the number was identical.
‘Could it be that Wadeulwadeul was truly this girl?’
“Ah, ah. Hello?”
“Ah, yes. Yes. Hello? Is this Wadeulwadeul-nim?”
The dumbfounded Jo Cheol-gon hurriedly replied.
On the phone, a brief silence hung.
Jo Cheol-gon immediately added,
“This is JoMeohyeop.”
“……Ah. You startled me.”
From within the phone, Wadeulwadeul’s faint laughter could be heard.
“I was startled when your JoMeohyeop nickname suddenly appeared. Come to think of it, I did give you my phone number, didn’t I?”
“Yes, yes. I saw that and contacted you. I apologize for calling so suddenly.”
“No, I should be the one apologizing. But I already told you I don’t think I can do the broadcast.”
‘This is insane,’ Jo Cheol-gon thought.
It was clearly a female voice, a teenager’s, or at most, a woman in her early twenties.
Typically, subscribers to JoMeohyeop’s broadcast were referred to as ‘Sohyeop’ (TL Note: ‘Little Hero’, a common term of address for fans in online communities, often used by streamers for their viewers).
However, among them, female subscribers had a separate designation: ‘Yeohyeop’ (TL Note: ‘Female Hero’, a term used for female fans in online communities).
JoMeohyeop’s broadcast had many notorious viewers, and as the broadcast itself was primarily game-focused, it was an extremely male-dominated community.
Thus, Yeohyeop were virtually regarded as mythical creatures.
But now, the very Wadeulwadeul, who had been a ‘concept-player’ (TL Note: A person who strictly adheres to a specific persona or ‘concept’ online, often for entertainment or humor), was a Yeohyeop.
Of course, in a male-dominated broadcast, nothing generated as much fervent reaction as a joint broadcast with a woman.
The already sharp ‘big hit opportunity’ had become even keener.
“Ah, but I’m truly disappointed. This broadcast has such incredible potential for fun. I can accommodate almost anything, so I was hoping you might reconsider.”
Jo Cheol-gon’s voice turned desperate.
That a well-known ‘concept-player’ from the broadcast was actually a woman was already shocking, but the unexpected revelation of their home even generated sympathetic public opinion.
This meant that even without specific content, just having them as a guest would undoubtedly cause viewer numbers to explode.
“……Hmm.”
Wadeulwadeul let out a troubled hum.
Sensing a hint of wavering, Jo Cheol-gon seized the moment and pressed harder.
“Oh, and the appearance fee I mentioned earlier—I can certainly increase that as well. Can’t we really make this work?”
“It’s not about that. I wanted to do it too, but after thinking it over, I don’t think I can.”
“What do you mean? Because of that situation?”
“Yes. When JoMeohyeop-nim was talking about the broadcast content, you told me to highlight the advantages by comparing it to a virtual reality capsule I’d used before.”
“That’s right, that’s right.”
“But I’ve actually never used another virtual reality capsule before. So I thought I might just cause trouble.”
“That was the situation?”
“……Yes.”
Jo Cheol-gon felt like stripping off his pants, running to the rooftop, and screaming at the top of his lungs.
He had worried it might be an insurmountable reason preventing the broadcast appearance, but this was truly nothing.
While the claim of never having used a virtual reality capsule would normally be hard to believe, he had already seen Wadeulwadeul’s home.
For someone living in such poverty, it was entirely plausible.
Viewers would undoubtedly understand as well.
“Oh, that was entirely my fault then. I should have asked if you’d ever used a virtual reality capsule first. I apologize.”
“No, it’s fine. Who hasn’t used a virtual reality capsule in this day and age? I’m the strange one.”
“No, no! Wadeulwadeul-nim is not strange at all! It’s my fault!”
“……Ah, okay.”
A hint of bewilderment emanated from Wadeulwadeul’s voice.
They seemed unable to comprehend why Jo Cheol-gon was going to such lengths.
“Then if we just change the content, there’s no problem, right?”
“That’s true, but why go to such lengths……”
“Because it’s a huge hit opportunity. I’ll be frank with you.”
Jo Cheol-gon decided to speak openly.
Hiding his true intentions now and beating around the bush was far from JoMeohyeop’s style.
“What’s a ‘huge hit opportunity’?”
“A joint broadcast with Wadeulwadeul-nim. I have a good nose for these things, and this joint broadcast is guaranteed to be a massive hit.”
“……Really? I don’t know about that.”
Naturally, as they weren’t a broadcaster, they wouldn’t know.
This was a scent that only broadcasters, especially veteran broadcasters with an instinct for it, could detect.
“It’s an absolute certainty. Have you seen the post Wadeulwadeul-nim put on the cafe? It’s already a trending topic.”
“Uh, no. I just got home from work.”
“Ah, I see. No wonder your voice sounds a bit tired.”
Jo Cheol-gon spoke as kindly as possible.
He truly felt sympathetic.
It was like seeing a younger sibling, who had been struggling, return home after a hard day’s work. Wadeulwadeul might have been a ‘concept-player,’ but they had never caused any harm to his broadcast, which only intensified his feelings.
“A lot of positive interest has gathered around Wadeulwadeul-nim. We’ll make it explode with my joint broadcast. I’m confident in this. Just trust me. I absolutely won’t let any harm come to Wadeulwadeul-nim’s personal information.”
“I trust you as a professional, but……”
“I’ll even give you half of the donations received during the joint broadcast. That’s at least 200,000 nyang (TL Note: A traditional Korean unit of currency, often used as a fantasy currency in web novels). Usually, if I stream for about three hours, it’s even more than that.”
The streamer JoMeohyeop’s instincts were telling him to go full throttle.
For a broadcaster, what mattered wasn’t money, but attention.
Chasing attention ultimately transformed into money, whereas chasing only money could lead to mistakes.
From that perspective, splitting the donations on the day of the joint broadcast was not regrettable at all.
A brief silence fell, and only breathing could be heard.
They were probably thinking.
“……Yes. Alright.”
Upon hearing the acceptance from the phone, Jo Cheol-gon clenched his fist.
“But what exactly do I need to do?”
“We’ll have to think about Plan B starting now.”
“What?”
Wadeulwadeul asked back, sounding bewildered, but Jo Cheol-gon shamelessly replied,
“What’s important is the joint broadcast with Wadeulwadeul-nim, not what we do with Wadeulwadeul-nim. Of course, the content is important, but it’s not the core.”
“I’m not some celebrity, though.”
“I’m confident it will be more talked about than any joint broadcast with any other streamer. And I’ll make sure of it.”
Jo Cheol-gon spoke with a tone of absolute certainty.
“I will never make unreasonable demands of Wadeulwadeul-nim. You won’t have much to prepare either.”
“That would be a relief then.”
“Since we’re talking about it, why don’t we plan the content together right now?”
“What?”
The bewildered voice was almost cute.
A moment later, the worst kind of forced meme flashed through Jo Cheol-gon’s mind: ‘Hit! It’s a hit!’ (TL Note: A popular, often intentionally cheesy, catchphrase in Korean internet culture).
“What was the most fun among my broadcast contents?”
“I just like watching you play games.”
“Ah, then we can just do a duo.”
“Even if you say duo……”
Wadeulwadeul’s voice trailed off.
The core game of JoMeohyeop’s broadcast was Royal Commando.
It was a foundational game he had played since the early days of his broadcast and also a major game that had topped capsule room occupancy rates for five consecutive years.
Royal Commando was a virtual reality-based hyper FPS game.
It was a 5v5 PvP game characterized by characters divided into roles such as tank, dealer (DPS), and healer.
The problem was that Royal Commando could only be played with a virtual reality capsule.
That was probably why Wadeulwadeul sounded so troubled.
“Then you’ll have to practice a bit first.”
“No? Don’t play even one match.”
“What?”
“Being completely new is better than being mediocre. That’s what makes it fun to watch. I think going with a ‘newbie guest’ concept would be good. Plan B is ready.”
“……Is that so?”
“Yes, of course. Good content often comes quickly. Let’s just set the date. How about this weekend?”
“This weekend? That’s the day after tomorrow?”
Only after hearing that did Jo Cheol-gon look at his calendar.
It was indeed Thursday.
However, for a ‘newbie guest’ stream, there was no need to prepare a script or anything, so the sooner the better.
“Ah. Do you have plans?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Then that’s great. Oh, and I’ll send you the Royal Commando chip.”
To download a game to a virtual reality capsule, a chip must be inserted.
Since it was a game combining cutting-edge technologies, it was naturally expensive.
Royal Commando itself cost 200,000 silver nyang.
“Are you sure you can do that?”
“Of course. It’s just a gift.”
“Thank you.”
And with that, the call ended.
Jo Cheol-gon reconfirmed that the call had ended, then jumped up from his chair.
“It’s done, damn it!”
****
“Is this right?”
Even after hanging up, Sori Hwa was still dumbfounded.
Immediately, her phone rang.
It was the Royal Commando game chip code from JoMeohyeop’s number.
It was like a gift certificate system: if you entered the code and address, it would be delivered automatically.
Now, once the game chip was delivered, she could insert it into the virtual reality capsule’s slot, download it, and play.
It wasn’t a real-life joint broadcast, and with Royal Commando, the character’s appearance was already set, so her true self wouldn’t be revealed.
JoMeohyeop had even offered half of the donations received during the joint broadcast.
She wondered why he was going to such lengths, but he had mentioned seeing a ‘huge hit opportunity’ or something similar.
Though she hadn’t expected to try something like this, she had always wanted to experience broadcasting, and since she would be paid, there was no reason not to.
“The day after tomorrow.”
Sori Hwa turned her head to look at the torn calendar.
It hadn’t quite sunk in yet.
