Chapter 105: Bubblegum (1)
"Remember, you're not a pro gamer. You're a streamer. You have to make this clear."
That was the first thing Ju-Hyeok said during their meeting. This was a common dilemma among streamers with skilled gameplay. They danced around a fine line between streamer and gamer, earning profits by both means.
Even if a streamer was skilled in gameplay, it was important for them to communicate constantly with their viewers. The streamer may think viewers came to watch, but that wasn't the case from Ju-Hyeok's analysis.
The reason viewers watched these types of streamers was simply because they liked them. The streamer’s gameplay skills were one of the reasons for being loved, but overall, fondness was the main reason.
Hence, these gameplay streamers needed to do more than just play well. They needed to communicate, entertain the viewers, and attract them. They needed to reel in viewers with their skills and make them stay with their charms.
"So after we rack up viewers, we need to focus on communication. It's important to change games once in a while too."
After analyzing, Ju-Hyeok concluded that the most consistent streaming category was a streamer who could play a variety of different games.
Just like Bubblegum or Acorn Jelly, playing and enjoying different games yielded the most consistent results.
Sang-Hyeon accepted and understood this too. He was an athlete by birth, but since streaming became an important part of his life, he tried to take it down a notch and enjoy the games he played.
'... What the.'
He was just enjoying himself, but still kept winning. Eventually, he found himself a game away from the Diamond IV tier.
'I'll get to Masters at this rate.'
He could see himself getting to Master, but recalled his conversation with Ju-Hyeok and thought it wasn't a good idea.
"Alright, that's enough for today! Bye, Treevy!"
Thankfully, it was time to end the stream. Almond left without finishing his promotion matches.
— Wait, you're not going for master?
— Get masters!
— Ah...
— Bye, Treevy...
— Bye, Almond...
— Almond, you're not going to masters? Almond, you're not going to masters? Almond, you're not going to masters?
Ping.
[The stream has ended.]
After seeing the usual notification, Sang-Hyeon came out from the capsule.
Chik—?
The lid opened and he was covered in sweat like usual.
"I was fine during the promos, but here we go again."
Ju-Hyeok chimed in while watching him, "Ah... you're back to normal."
Sang-Hyeon nodded after he took a look at himself. He felt an unexplainable source of strength during his promotion matches, but now he felt like a powerless leaf.
"Anyways, how can you get first in all the games even though you're messing around?" Ju-Hyeok laughed out loud.
"That's the weird thing."
"Hm?"
Ju-Hyeok thought Sang-Hyeon would respond smugly and say something like he was a genius. He was surprised to hear Sang-Hyeon respond so seriously.
"What's weird?"
"Why does the game feel easier?"
"Easier?"
Judging from Sang-Hyeon's expression, he wasn't being cocky. He was being serious.
"Yeah. Players are definitely more skilled individually, but the game itself got a lot easier."
"Hmm..."
Ju-Hyeok thought for a moment and sat in front of his computer. He searched for the keywords Almond and stream sniper on the community forums.
'Nothing.'
No posts were aiming for Almond. Why? A large reason was likely due to the fact that Almond already beat JeonJaPa's record. Therefore, no one had any reason to hinder him anymore.
'It's because of the MMR.'
Almond's MMR was also too high. He was queuing up with Master tier players, which meant he was also playing with famous streamers, pro gamers, and amateur pro gamers.
They didn't have the luxury to gang up on Almond because it would dirty their reputations. As Almond ranked up, his matches became cleaner.
These games felt much easier for Almond, who always had to face several stream snipers in his matches.
"Hey, I think it's because no one is targeting you anymore," Ju-Hyeok explained the situation to Almond.
"Wow... it makes this much of a difference? Haha," Sang-Hyeon sarcastically laughed.
He had been playing with sandbags tied to him the whole time.
"Anyways, I'm going to wash up."
Sang-Hyeon wiped the sweat off his fingers and headed to the bath. Ju-Hyeok checked out the community comments since he was on the website.
***
[Almond said he's screwing around, but he got through Diamond V so easily?!]
[Wow, I think he got better after coming to this rank.]
[It's probably cause no one's targeting him anymore.]
[Almond without stream snipers... this is dangerous.]
Most posts were about how Almond was too good despite him taking the game lightly. Some recognized that it was due to fewer players targeting him.
'It's not as big a deal as I thought.'
There were fewer mentions of him than during his Diamond journey. Different streamers had the spotlight now.
1. Look at Miho's photoshoot!
A photoshoot of a streamer named Miho was the top trending post.
2. Bubblegum today LOL
3. Bubblegum's driving in hell
…?
7. Bubblegum messing up five times in a row
They frequently mentioned Bubblegum in the top posts because he was starting to pick up Battle Large again. His influence was noticeable since he averaged 50,000 viewers.
There was one top post about Almond.
10. I think we’ve finally found the weapon to defeat Almond and it’s this guy
That was the title of the post.
Ju-Hyeok expected to see JeonJaPa in his prime days.
— The weapon is Almond's duo partner, Bubblegum!
— Tomorrow!
— Almond vs. Bubblegum!
— Genius gamer vs. Genius streamer!
— The collaboration of the century!
— Game, Start!
There was a picture of Bubblegum holding a toy gun as well. Instead of the photo being threatening, it looked comedic.
'How can a person look so funny holding a gun?'
Ju-Hyeok was impressed by Bubblegum's stature. It was a different type of genius from Almond.
— LOL
— Ah, Bubblegum's collab will be worth it.?
— Why's everything vs. LOL
— It's hilarious how they're a duo, yet it looks like they're facing off against each other.
— Wait, you tricked me! This is an ad!
— Almond, this guy crushed diamond today and was just screwing around.
└ For real, it was the most surprising thing to see after his diamond promos.
└ Platinum and diamond is hell because there are so many stream snipers.
└ Since he plays with masters, he can show off his skills better.
Tak.
Ju-Hyeok read up to here and turned off his computer.
'Big companies are a different level.'
As Bubblegum started playing?Battle Large, the communities turned their attention toward him.
Since the huge event of crushing JeonJaPa's record ended, the public steered all their attention toward Bubblegum.
Almond peaked at 10,000 viewers during his event, but that was nothing compared to Bubblegum's 50,000 viewers.
The public would’ve ignored Almond if he hadn't collaborated with Bubblegum.
'We barely made it.'
This wasn't a survival game, but Ju-Hyeok felt relieved. He knew that the industry would become more difficult and competitive, but not to this extent.
Ju-Hyeok could feel that Battle31 was paying less and less attention to Almond. It wasn't declining, but it wasn't increasing either.
Watching the same thing repeatedly reduced the novelty as time went on. It wasn't a big deal. Any celebrity faced this problem, even politicians. The more they were exposed, the faster their popularity declined.
It was up to the person to maintain or gain popularity by bringing about changes. From now on, it was a fight of skill.
'Is now the time...'
Click.
Ju-Hyeok clicked on a specific file.
It was a list of games he organized while deciding which game Almond should play next. Data was also collected on viewer demographics, gender, and peak times to stream.
Sang-Hyeon already chose three games from the list.
"Hm."
Ju-Hyeok highlighted the three and thought for a moment.
'Is there a way to naturally play these games?'
***
Sang-Hyeon was inside the capsule for thirty minutes before their meeting.
"Phew."
Even he felt nervous about meeting Bubblegum. They weren't technically meeting in person, but in a virtual space called This World.
'I'm meeting Bubblegum.'
Even so, he felt nervous because he genuinely liked Bubblegum as a streamer. Bubblegum had been his beacon of comfort.
[Entering This World]
[All the avatars in This World use 100% biometrics of the user.]
[If you do not agree with these terms, please exit the application.]
A request popped up on This World. Sang-Hyeon pressed yes.
Swoosh—?
Suddenly, the scenery changed and Sang-Hyeon was transported somewhere.
[Choose your outfit.]
There was an avatar that resembled Sang-Hyeon. However, it wore nothing but underwear. Sang-Hyeon instinctively chose a business casual look until he realized that users gathered here to play video games.
Some sponsored outfits required cash, but he didn't choose any of them.
[Gaming Hoodie]
[Natural Jeans]
He wore a hoodie any game character would wear and standard jeans.
[Entering This World's channel.]
Wooong...!
His surroundings lit up with stars. Sang-Hyeon's body lifted into the air as if he was floating in space. He could move closer to the stars.
'Wow...'
They weren't stars upon closer inspection. Inside them were people who gathered to talk. Some places resembled small towns with houses. Inside the town, he could see people in a restaurant eating soup.
A different star had a different environment. It reminded him of a cyberpunk setting.
'Where should I go?'
Most channels were locked, which meant no outsiders could join. Sang-Hyeon felt a sense of emptiness as he looked around the stars.
He felt like he didn't belong anywhere. As this familiar sensation overcame him…
Ding.
[Bubblegum: Oh, you're here already! Hello!]
Bubblegum messaged him in This World.