Chapter 113: Ad President (2)
An ad? With Bubblegum? Was it really happening? Already?
Sang-Hyeon had several doubts, but the message Ju-Hyeok showed him on the phone really said that.
[Punk Manager Oh: The ad proposal went through. See you tomorrow in the office. We need to sign the contract.]
It was real.
Chuk.
Ju-Hyeok gave him a thumbs-up and acted all proud.
"How's that? I told you. I'm a man of my word."
Watching him act proudly was difficult to watch, but seeing how he created an ad out of thin air made it acceptable for today.
"And it's a Fantasia ad with Bubblegum."
"Fantasia?"
"Yeah man!"
The advertisement was on a different scale from the other offers Sang-Hyeon had been receiving.
'A Fantasia ad? Isn't that one of the best in the industry?'
Fantasia was one of the top three game industries in the country. Almond was offered an advertisement from them alongside the most expensive model, Bubblegum.
Even beyond the payout, this was an honor. It would help him greatly in his streaming career as well.
"Oh..." Sang-Hyeon let out an exclamation.
"Oh? Is that it?!"
"Then?"
"Shouldn't you sound more excited?!"
Sang-Hyeon thought for a moment and gave him a thumbs up.
"Good job. As expected of Mr. Ju-Hyeok!"
"..."
"Good? I'm going to bed now."
While Ju-Hyeok was dumbstruck, Sang-Hyeon took advantage of this to run away.
"Wow! He really has no emotion. No emotion at all. Huh? Is he a ghost or something? No, even ghosts have souls... then is he a corpse?"
Sang-Hyeon could hear Ju-Hyeok mumbling from behind, but ignored him with a laugh.
***
Sang-Hyeon continued to laugh while in bed. He hid his emotion from Ju-Hyeok because he didn't want Ju-Hyeok to get full of himself, but he was actually in a very good mood.
'An ad with Bubblegum?'
He never thought the day would come when he not only streamed with Bubblegum, but also collaborated on an advertisement together. He would’ve started streaming much earlier if he knew this would happen.
'I think Grandma would've liked it too... Grandma would've been thrilled to see me appear in TV commercials. She would've bragged to the whole neighborhood. She would probably be more effective than the TV ad itself.’
“Sigh,”?Sang-Hyeon sighed in shame and checked the community's reactions like usual. This became a routine act to finish off his day.
[Today's genius gamer vs. genius streamer was so good]
[The collab actually did pretty well. I thought it'd be super awkward the whole time.]
[Bubblegum really is a genius streamer. He even had good chemistry with Almond.]
[But isn't Almond a monster? How did he carry that old man out of bronze?!]
[I'm more excited about their LIL stream next time.]
It was a handful of good reactions. There were no haters because of Bubblegum's good image. It seemed like some of the good vibes spread to Almond as well.
There was positive talk about him not only in the normal discussions, but also in the trending posts. More than half of the trending posts were about him. He clicked on the top one.
[Bubblegum's physical comedy compilation.gif]
It was a collection of Bubblegum tripping or falling while running.
'When did this happen?'
There were many scenes Almond didn't get to see because he was focused on the game, but Bubblegum had some funny moments. He wondered why Bubblegum never improved, but it was because of this. Bubblegum had a talent for tripping over every small pebble.
— LOL that's hilarious!
— Look at Almond's face. He doesn't care at all.
└ True!
└ Almond said he's a fan of Bubblegum. He probably already knows...
└ Bubble Clown is famous…?
— Bubble Gum is hilarious, but Almond pretending nothing is wrong and keeps shooting is even funnier!
└ LOL that's what makes it so good!
└ Ah, no wonder their chemistry looks good. Just watching the compilations, it seemed like it was fun. I'm going to go watch the replay.
— His avatar is too funny
└ The real-life version is even funnier
└ Facts!
Looking back, even Sang-Hyeon thought it was funny. Almond gave his all with a serious expression in a Bronze-ranked game while Bubblegum fell over with a serious look as well.
"It's pretty funny."
After a good laugh, Sang-Hyeon went to the third trending post because it complimented Almond.
[The reasons why Almond is a good coach]
[He didn't just carry Bubblegum, but also gave him chances. He made Bubblegum confident by continuing to win. You can tell this was effective because in the last game, Bubblegum sniped three people in the head.
Everyone didn't notice because of Almond's bow skills, but if this happened in a normal stream, there would be cheers and donations for Bubblegum's kills.
So in short:
Almond gave Bubblegum chances.
Bubblegum gained confidence.
Bubblegum's skills actually improved.]
— Me too! This was my favorite part. Usually, the coaches suffer and swear at him, but it looked like Almond was actually trying to help Bubblegum.
└ 2222 Same! I was touched
— I was disappointed we didn't get to see Almond suffer. Let's hope for the best in LIL.
└ LOL you're evil
└ Almond needs to experience the pain of being in a team too.?
└ So true. Almond's been taking it easy playing solo all these games. Now, it's time for hell.
— I was sad Bubblegum was losing his confidence, but I'm glad Almond gave it back to him.
└ ???: Bubblegum will reach silver at best.
└ LOL so mean!
└ Silver at best hahaha.
└ So true!
"They have a good eye," Sang-Hyeon muttered with a giggle.
He was glad the viewers caught on to his message. His primary coaching objective was to give Bubblegum confidence.
[Almond starts off by winning a 1 vs. 20 knife fight]
There was a post that showed Almond fighting off twenty Bronze players in the Arsenal.
— Is this an action movie?
— That's crazy.
— This is Almond!
— Look at Bubblegum's face LOL
— Bubblegum's stunned in place.
└ How did he live while standing still like that?
└ Almond deflected all the knives being thrown at him!
└ Sweet Almond!
└ Sounds like an actual brand name LOL
Playing in the Bronze rank gave Almond more opportunities to show off. Ji-Ah would be excited since she had the gift to turn these battle scenes into masterpieces.
'Wait, but why aren’t the Diamond promotion matches being uploaded yet...'
After checking the community reactions, Sang-Hyeon went to his YouTube channel. There were still no videos.
She could be putting more effort into the videos and planning on uploading them later than usual. However, his subscriber count had already increased to 60,000. He gained two to three thousand subscribers a day. It was a steady increase to say the least.
"Let's sleep."
After browsing the forums, it became late. He quickly closed his eyes, trying to sleep. Almond's room fell into darkness. It seemed like he'd have sweet dreams tonight.
***
The next day, Ju-Hyeok and Almond went to Punk as promised.
"Oh, you're here. Come over here. We need to sign the contract."
Manager Oh greeted them brightly since they hadn't come in a while.
"Kya, Almond! You're doing so well. I'm jealous! Hahaha!"
Manager Oh didn't forget to compliment him while patting his own belly. Then Manager Oh led them into the meeting room.
"Alright, wait here for a bit. Sigh... I told you to clean up after the meeting. Wait a second."
The meeting room was full of the previous meeting’s remains. Manager Oh cleaned up the drinks and chairs and left the room with a frown.
They could hear him shouting outside.
"Hey! Who's the team that just had a meeting in here?! Come over here! You guys just left your mess behind?!"
“Pfft.”
All companies were alike.
Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeok made eye contact and laughed. They sat down and felt slightly uncomfortable while waiting for Manager Oh.
"... Weird that we don’t have to prepare anything."
"Yeah, I feel weird too."
Sitting in a meeting room without any preparation was a strange sensation.
In the past, they needed to prepare immensely for a meeting room. It always left them with no chances to sit still. They had to think of what to say, how to answer specific questions, and constantly stand on their toes. That was what a meeting room represented to them.
However, it was different now. They were the ones waiting now.
Creak.
The meeting room's door opened as Manager Oh and several employees entered.
"Hello."
After a light greeting, the youngest-looking employee placed the contract on the table for each employee. Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok picked up the contract as they usually would and started reading it.
'Wow...'
Sang-Hyeon tried to hide his awe but couldn't keep his mouth shut.
[Short-Term Advertisement Model Contract]
It was because of the title.
'Me? Becoming an ad model?'
It wasn't just a one-off advertisement but a contract. It was different from the kimchi stew agreement. The kimchi stew felt like an advertisement for bloggers whereas this one felt like an actual commercial advertisement only celebrities received.
"Alright, I'll summarize it briefly before the others arrive."
It seemed more and more like it as Manager Oh further explained.
"First, it's not a short-term advertisement. There are plans to shoot offline footage as a model and we advise you to play new games occasionally as well. It's just an industry formality... and then..."
'New games?'
Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok reread the contract. In the contract, there were no names of games. The contract was just general with only prices on it.
What was the new game?
Even Ju-Hyeok didn't seem to know.
"Ah! We haven't told you what the game is yet!"
Manager Oh slapped his forehead so hard it looked like he was about to give himself a concussion.
"It's a new mobile game called, Raising a Lazy Soldier. Even from the name, you can smell mass production, right? Let's just say it smells like profit."
‘Mobile game?!’
.
Sang-Hyeon was shocked.
'Wow, shit! This is legit!'
No matter how much virtual reality games improved over the years, they were nothing compared to mobile games when it came to profits. Because of its popularity, popular girl idols or actors were usually the models.
'But I'm doing it?'
This time, it was Almond along with Bubblegum.
"Alright, you have confusion in your eyes, right? A mobile game? Isn't that for girl groups!? Don't worry. This game ad is targeted at streamers specifically. There's still an opening for a celebrity, so don't get on your high horses yet."
So that was the case. But still, it was good news.
"Yes, but we're still grateful."
"Haha, you're right. Alright, this is the silver lining in the contract. Read right here."
"...?"
There was a special note at the bottom of the contract.
"There's a section about character sales during the duration of the contract."
"Yes, we saw that."
"What that means is that we can recreate our streamers to be playable in the game."
"... Sorry?!"
Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeok both replied in surprise. It was the first time Ju-Hyeok heard about this as well.
"I don't really understand. I don't know the game very well..."
"Alright, I'll explain. This is a good thing."
Manager Oh excitedly turned on the hologram and started explaining. Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon stared into the hologram and came to a realization as they continued hearing his explanation.
'This is a big deal.'
This advertisement was a much bigger deal than they imagined.