Chapter 24: Editor Recruitment (2)
Seo Ji-Ah’s channel made an announcement.
[Revealing for the first time in 5 minutes!]
‘For the first time.’
The video contained a live chat when it aired.
— Oooooh!
— How can I resist that title?
— Same haha.
Due to the provocative title, around three thousand people gathered before she even released the video.
[The archer who took over the castle alone, Almond.]
The title even took into consideration people who didn’t play Kingdom Age.?YouTube was a more mainstream platform than Treevy, so it was necessary to consider such viewers who didn’t play games.
— It’s starting!
— 5, 4, 3…
— Staaaaart!
— Kya!
— Today’s cinematography is great as well.
The video began with dramatic background music. It didn’t sound as grand as last time, but was more quiet and mysterious. It perfectly suited the sneaky infiltration and assassination mission.
The background sounded great, but the screen direction was even more fantastic. The screen split in two during scenes like when Almond killed two soldiers at the same time or when he succeeded in three headshots in a row. The screen also slowed and suddenly accelerated when he began rapidly firing.
It felt like a blockbuster action movie with a little CGI added to the already incredible feats.
— God DAMN.
— I couldn’t even believe the last scene happened as I watched it.
— I missed yesterday’s stream, but it’s nice to watch it like this at least.
— Hahaha, he’s so good!
— I’d only let Almond shoot an apple from on top of my head…
— Hello, my name is Kim Ju-Hyeok. I’m Almond’s manager. We saw your video, Seo Ji-Ah, and we wanted to…
The reactions in the comments exploded. More than 100 comments went by in the blink of an eye. The video began trending 78th in the #game category.
Only real-time hot videos on the platform received hashtags. The number of views increased exponentially once it received such a hashtag. The views kept going up and it would likely achieve 200,000 views within 24 hours at this rate.
Such a phenomenon had never happened before when it came to videos on games, especially for Kingdom Age.?
***
“God, there’s a lot.”
Sang-Hyeon dragged out his trash with his right hand in his pocket. He had to take out the trash this morning.
“Sigh.”
He felt glad to force his tired body outside, but the sight of stairs was daunting. However, he reminded himself that he took the same flight of stairs every day and it would only be a temporary hurdle. He recalled an old saying from his athlete days: repetition makes things familiar.
He carried the trashbag with only one hand. His balance became off, but he could still walk. The weather didn’t feel too cold and he was grateful the stairs didn’t turn icy yet.
Sang-Hyeon slowly made his way down when a door beside him suddenly struck his shoulder.
“Oh? I’m sorry.”
He heard a startled woman’s voice.
What just happened wasn’t unusual in the Hoogye neighborhood. Houses had been built right next to the stairs, so doors interfered with people’s paths.
“Ah, that’s alright.”
As Sang-Hyeon brushed it off and continued on his way…
“Gasp!”
The girl covered her mouth and took a few steps back.
Her reaction surprised him.
‘What the?’
However, he didn’t say much.
“Are you okay?” he simply asked her.
“...”
The girl didn’t say anything and only blankly stared at Sang-Hyeon.
“Okay then.”
Sang-Hyeon shrugged and went on his way down the stairs.
***
“Phew.”
It took him twenty minutes to get to the garbage. He threw the trash away with a frustrated sigh.
Thud.
‘This is it.’
Hard work paid off during such moments. Seeing a huge trash bag fly and perfectly land gave him an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction.
‘One more!’
Thud.
He turned around to leave after throwing all the trash away.
“Excuse me!”
A person called out to him while gasping for air. He could tell by their gesture that the person specifically meant him.
‘The girl from earlier?’
Sang-Hyeon realized the girl he bumped into had come down.
‘Huh? Did I drop something?’
Sang-Hyeon checked his pockets to see if he lost anything.
“Umm…”?The girl caught her breath before asking, “Can I get your autograph?”
Sang-Hyeon cautiously stepped back at the unexpected question.
‘Who is this?’
He looked at her closely.
She wore a khaki jacket that looked too big for her. A black hat covered most of her head and her body looked quite fragile. She didn’t seem particularly suspicious except for the fact that she had her hat tightly pressed down.
“You want an autograph?”
“Huff… puff… Yes.”
She handed him a note as she grabbed her chest from running so much.
“Can I have your autograph, please?”
How quickly did she come down?
Sang-Hyeon finally grasped the situation.
‘Ah, she’s a fan.’
“Did you know that I was Almond?”
The black hat nodded without saying anything.
“I see.”
This moment made him quite happy. He met a fan near his house even though he wasn’t that famous yet.
‘But it’s a bit…’
His house address had basically been exposed, which could be burdensome. However, Sang-Hyeon hadn’t yet experienced the effects of being a celebrity and only felt happy.
Besides, what would this young girl even do?
“Of course, what’s your name?”
“Ji-Ah. Seo Ji-Ah.”
His hand suddenly stopped as he prepared to sign the note.
***
After a while, Ju-Hyeok ran through the door at a cafe near Hoogye station in a full suit.
“Oh, you’re here.” 𝙗𝒆𝙙𝒏𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡.𝙣𝙚𝒕
Sang-Hyeon had one hand in his pocket and sat at a high bar table. He casually greeted Ju-Hyeok.
“...?”
Ju-Hyeok felt confused because Sang-Hyeon sat in a place too cramped to talk about business.
“Oh, I sat here because there was nowhere else to sit. It’s a bit busy since it’s the weekend.”
“Hello…”
A girl with a small figure greeted him from behind Sang-Hyeon.
“Hello! Are you Seo Ji-Ah?”
“Yes…”
Sang-Hyeon had called Ju-Hyeok as soon as he found Seo Ji-Ah. He just randomly brought her to a nearby cafe and waited.
“You’d be in jail by now if you were a bit uglier.” Ju-Hyeok whispered to Sang-Hyeon.
“What can you do? I’m not ugly.”
“Die.”
The two exchanged whispers before sitting next to Ji-Ah.
“My name is Kim Ju-Hyeok. I’ve been looking all over for you, Seo Ji-Ah…”
Ju-Hyeok gently smiled and handed her his business card.
“Ah…”
Seo Ji-Ah didn’t seem like a talkative person. She didn’t react to the business card in any way other than nodding.
Despite that, Ju-Hyeok continued to lead the conversation.
“Ah… So you originally worked in the video industry?”
“Yes… I went to school for it and it was one of my hobbies…”
“Wow, you make videos as a hobby and as a living? That’s amazing.”
“Yes, well…”
Seo Ji-Ah was so silent that Sang-Hyeon wondered how she even asked for his autograph.
Ju-Hyeok kept pushing his agenda and disregarded everything else.
“If you have any interest in working with us…”
Flop.
He took some documents out of his briefcase. When did he prepare all this? He sure acted fast.
“I just want you to think about it.”
“...”
Seo Ji-Ah seemed taken aback.
Ju-Hyeok took this opening as an opportunity.
“Did you know there are actually some issues regarding the videos you’ve uploaded?”
“Sorry?”
Seo Ji-Ah was surprised to find out that there were issues regarding her videos.
“What do you mean…”
“Legal issues, such as copyright, use of the content, etc…”
“Ah.”
Ju-Hyeok proceeded with such logic.
Seo Ji-Ah’s channel was a fan channel, so she couldn’t possibly profit from it. She could only earn from it right now because they didn’t take any actions against it. She needed to make a contract with them if she wanted to properly use the channel.
Her gaze changed when Ju-Hyeok brought money into the conversation.
“I gave him donations…”
Ji-Ah spoke in a stuttering manner.
She already donated money that exceeded any profits. Ju-Hyeok’s words were quite hurtful from her perspective.
“I haven’t even gained any money from the videos yet. As you know, those videos aren’t to make money off of.”
“Yes, I realize that. However, I want to offer you the opportunity to make money with those videos.”
“...”
Seo Ji-Ah became silent.
Ju-Hyeok came to a realization at this point.
‘She’s really not in it for the money.’
Seo Ji-Ah was truly an enthusiastic sponsor of Sang-Hyeon.
Ju-Hyeok thought she had to be from a wealthy family. However, she didn’t seem financially comfortable yet considering her current situation and where she lived.
Even so, the fact that she donated meant that she cared more about the streamer Almond than money. She made those montages as a pure fan.
Ju-Hyeok had to revise his vocabulary since money didn’t move this girl.
Then…
“Almond needs Editor Seo Ji-Ah’s help.”
“...!”
“You can make your videos however you want. Us two right now, we’re kicking the can. We need to make profits in any way possible and we need your help.”
“Help…”
Seo Ji-Ah turned to Sang-Hyeon.
Sang-Hyeon’s eyes seemed like he was in dire need as well.
‘Does Almond really need me?’
Almond needed Editor Seo Ji-Ah. It sounded good to hear that.
Maybe because it was Almond? Who knows. Probably because she never heard those words before and no one ever needed her help.
“There’s one problem.”
Seo Ji-Ah picked up the contracts and intended to look over them.
“Whatever it is, I’ll try to solve it!” Ju-Hyeok shouted energetically. The people in the cafe turned to him, but he didn’t care.
“The company I work for currently forbids me from signing another contract to work elsewhere. It might seem obvious, but there’s a difference between uploading fan videos and making some side money versus working as an official editor.”
Seo Ji-Ah had to make a choice. To quit and work as their editor or continue working the same job.
“I need some money for my basic living expenses as well. My company’s pay is quite decent. Of course, I can make some money from the videos. However, the risk is too much for me.”
Sang-Hyeon was taken aback for a moment.
‘It looks like I’ll have to give her paychecks.’
He wasn’t a company. He was just a streamer who started a week ago. He couldn’t even buy his passionate manager drinks, let alone paychecks for an editor.
‘Let’s think about this more first.’
He noticed Ju-Hyeok’s flaming confidence when he prepared to say that.
‘What the?’
Why did that guy seem so confident at a time like this? It felt like the wrong timing.
Ju-Hyeok’s glasses flickered and he confidently pulled out something he had been holding onto.
Chuk!
“As a matter of fact, I just received something in my email.”
An offer came in from Kingdom Age’s?distributor company, Punk,?to be a model for them.
“Punk has offered to be a partnered streamer. It even gives a budget to hire an editor in the description.”
Du-dun.
A sound effect played in Sang-Hyeon’s ears.
‘Is this real?’
A large company like Punk?actually offered to be his partner? Sang-Hyeon couldn’t believe it.
Seo Ji-Ah must’ve thought the same as she quietly looked at the email. She seemed to be checking something in the email when…
“It’s not bad.”
Seo Ji-Ah willingly accepted.