Chapter 112: Ad President (1)
The chat was filled with question marks when they heard Bubblegum's offer to teach LIL to Almond.
— ???
— Bubblegum's skill: question marks?
— ???????
— Do you want to get carried again?!
— Who's teaching who?
— We can see through you!
All the viewers accused Bubblegum of wanting to get carried again, but Bubblegum was frustrated.
"Wait, everyone. Do you think?LIL is a joke?! How is a first-time player going to carry me?!" he proudly said while pounding on his chest.
Thud.
"Even though I look like this, I'm Silver."
— LOL
— Sil...
— Hahaha
— Proud to be silver?
There was a large inflation of ranks in LIL, unlike Battle Large. Gold was commendable, but Silver and Bronze were the same as Bronze in Battle Large.
"Hey, Silver is good! It's still like top 30%!"
He wasn't wrong. On average, even Silver-ranked players were decent at the game. However, something was wrong if a player continued to stay in Silver despite playing a lot.
"Anyways, Almond. Think about it. I had fun today."
"Yes, thank you."
Bubblegum wanted to vent his frustration, but ended his stream there.
***
After the stream ended, Almond and Bubblegum returned to his This World channel.
"Wow! The stream was really fun, Almond!" Bubblegum thanked Almond once more.
"Thank you, it was fun playing together."
"I wasn't joking about playing?LIL, so give it a consideration. Wahaha!"
"Ah, well, I was actually thinking of trying..."
Right when he was about to say he planned on playing LIL…
'Hm?'
A familiar avatar came into view.
'It's Miho.'
Miho still sat on the bench where she and Almond were sitting before.
'Is she not streaming?'
He heard Miho had a stream today, so why was she still sitting there? Bubblegum noticed where Almond was staring and discovered Miho. It was hard to miss her long pink hair.
"Huh? Miho, aren't you streaming today?"
"Ah, I took a break."
Miho glanced at them and looked down again. Her long eyelashes covered her eyes and made them hard to read.
"You took a break? Why?" Bubblegum blinked in confusion.
Despite her image, Miho was diligent in her work. She was one of the few professionals who Bubblegum recognized.
"Just because. I don't feel well."
"Huh?!"
It was rare to see her taking a break simply because she wasn't feeling well.
"What? I can take a break too if I want," Miho stared at Bubblegum with a pouty look.
"Y-Yeah, you're right," Bubblegum scratched his head and agreed with her.
Miho was scary when she got angry.
"Anyways Almond, you're good at collaborations."
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
"I thought... you weren't good at meeting people."
Almond felt like being stabbed. It was sudden, but Sang-Hyeon realized what was going on.
'She's upset.'
Miho was upset because he turned down her offer multiple times. It was understandable because she didn't seem like the type to ask for favors easily, yet she was rejected multiple times.
Of course, he couldn't accept her offer just because she was being pouty. Ju-Hyeok always advised him that it wasn't good to stream with girl streamers, especially the beautiful ones.
Being close to her wasn't a good choice. He had to push her away. Thankfully, Sang-Hyeon had experience with that.
"So there's a child-like side to Miho too. It's refreshing."
“Pfft,”?Bubblegum laughed out loud.
It was a subtle attack, as opposed to Miho's obvious one. Almond's response humored him.
"..." Bubblegum quickly shut his mouth and froze after Miho's expression.
She generally had a cold look, but it was even colder this time. Even then, he was impressed by how pretty she looked.
"So mean... I was just fooling around..."
Ironically, she sobbed and logged out.
Ping!
Her avatar disappeared.
'She left?'
Sang-Hyeon was taken aback by her disappearance.
"Kya, the nine-tails exorcist!" Bubblegum shouted at the timing.
Judging by how he was fooling around, the situation wasn't as serious as it seemed. Did this happen often?
"I'll apologize on her behalf. Surprisingly, she can't hide her emotions."
"Ah..."
"Anyways, Almond. You're amazing. Is it because you have lots of experience thanks to your looks? I thought any guy would fall for her if she tried."
It was understandable, but that was if looks were the only factor. Objectively, she acted like a child.
'She's too young... to make guys fall for her.'
Miho seemed like a pretty child instead of a pretty lady. Almond kept it to himself because he didn't know how close Bubblegum and Miho were.
"She was... trying to make me fall for her?"
He just played dumb.
"Wasn't that obvious?"
"Ah..."
"Wahaha! Maybe you're not aware because you're so good-looking! Should we end it here for today?"
"Yes, it was fun."
Bubblegum cheerfully waved goodbye and Almond bowed. Shortly afterwards, Almond’s avatar disappeared and Bubblegum remained alone in This World.
"Ah..."
Bubblegum lay on a bench and stared at the stars shaped like his face. The stars changed depending on how he felt. Well, at least according to the creator. In the star was another Bubblegum winking at him with a happy look.
"It was more fun than I expected."
Well, it seemed like he was right.
Bling.
Just then, he got a message from his manager.
"Oh?"
It was surprising news.
***
Chiiik—?
As the lid opened, the sound of pressure releasing could be heard. Sang-Hyeon came out wet from sweat like always.
'The stream went longer than I thought.'
Sang-Hyeon checked the time after seeing his body. It was late in the evening. Combining This World and playing games, he streamed for around six hours.
"Oh, good work. The stream was great. The viewership went up to 14k. You reach a new record every time," Ju-Hyeok told him as he handed him a towel.
It was like a coach handing a towel to a boxer after their match.
"And Bubblegum offered to play?LIL?together, right? That's really rare! It's a big deal!"
Ju-Hyeok was excited as if he was the one to receive the offer. Sang-Hyeon ignored everything he said and ran to the bathroom.
"Let me shower first."
***
Shaaa...
The warm water relaxed him.
"Phew."
Hot, yet refreshing. A satisfying moment. This moment made it worth it to push harder. While Sang-Hyeon enjoyed this moment, Ju-Hyeok couldn't hold it in and knocked on the door.
Knock. Knock.
"Hey! You didn't say you were going to play LIL, right!?"
"Why?"
"We didn't decide to play?LIL?or not, we're still choosing!"
"Ah, that's right. Yeah, I didn't say anything."
"Okie."
"But what are the choices for games??LIL seems fun."
"..."
There was no response. Ju-Hyeok probably went straight to his computer to do more research.
'Wow.'
Ju-Hyeok was a diligent guy. He always was. Even in Ahsung, which was full of competition, Ju-Hyeok climbed his way to the top.
Sang-Hyeon was always aware of Ju-Hyeok's ambition, but something was different. There was something more to him.
'Is it... passion?'
He was passionate now. That was the difference between now and his time at the company. The time put into the work may be the same, but the quality was different. Ju-Hyeok was diligent, but felt dead inside when he was a salaryman. He was a diligent zombie.
His eyes were full of reactions, happiness, anger, and excitement now. He was fully alive and looked like a person with all of his emotions functioning properly.
A properly functioning human...
Sang-Hyeon lifted his right arm. As expected, it started trembling. He made a fist. It continued to shake, but he was able to make one. He lifted his fist high towards the sky.
A small shadow formed in the shape of his fist and covered Sang-Hyeon's face.
'Everyone will know one day.'
He made up his mind.
When the time came, he wouldn't show any remorse to Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah no matter what.
***
After he came out from his shower, he saw Ju-Hyeok making a list.
"What is this?"
Sang-Hyeon looked into the monitor as he was drying his hair.
"Ah, I'm making a list of demographics for other game streamers depending on their gender, age, and hobbies."
"Ah... What the, there's this many LIL?streamers!?"
Sang-Hyeon thought he was collecting data from LIL streamers. There was an overwhelming number of LIL streamers compared to other games.
"Yeah. If you compare it to the whole world, there’s even more. It's this much, and this is just in Korea. And all of them are more popular than you are."
"... Ugh."
Dudun.
Sang-Hyeon thought he heard a drum noise.
'All of these people...?'
Even without a number beside their name, it was an unfathomable amount of people. It was hard to believe every single one was more popular than Sang-Hyeon. He still felt that he had a long way to go.
"How is it? It's a big world, right? You baby," Ju-Hyeok made fun of Sang-Hyeon while fixing his glasses.
"Phew... You're right. All of these streamers only play LIL?"
"Uh... They mix up different games sometimes, but mostly?LIL."
"50k viewers is possible just with LIL..."
Bubblegum's average view was 50k. That was enough to call him one of Treevy's top streamers. However, a couple of streamers had the same numbers as him. There were even some who reached higher.
"I thought Bubblegum was at the top, but there are people who have 70k viewers too..."
"But Bubblegum gets paid more for playing other games because his fans are loyal. He's perfect for playing a variety of games. That's why companies love him and that's how he became the president of Treevy. In reality, he's the ad president."
Sang-Hyeon nodded at Ju-Hyeok’s explanation.
Bling.
Ju-Hyeok received a text message.
"...?!"
His expression was suspicious. He fixed his glasses and held Sang-Hyeon by the shoulder as if to give him strength.
"Hey, Sang-Hyeon. Don't feel discouraged."
"...?"
He wasn't discouraged, but he went along with Ju-Hyeok anyway.
"Why."
Ju-Hyeok smiled and showed him his phone.
"I think you're going to shoot an ad with the ad president."