Season 2: Chapter 1. Again (1)
Today was the day Almond would be featured on Evening Wide. It was 2 p.m. and it was raining heavily outside.
"Why is it raining in the middle of winter? It's quite slippery," Ju-Hyeok grumbled and carefully turned the steering wheel.
[Turn left after approximately 300 meters. Then take the road on the right.]
The destination on his navigation was set to SCB Studio.
Swish...
Ju-Hyeok drove silently, and Sang-Hyeon looked at his phone in the passenger seat while rain hit the window.
'The article was published.'
The article about Almond featuring on the show had been published while they headed to the studio.
[The archery boy who became a hot topic, streamer Almond. Today, he will be the 23rd guest on SCB Evening Wide.]
After broadcasting once on the live channel, Evening Wide posted an edited version on other top channels and YouTube. The article was published late, considering the broadcast would air today.
— Can we watch the show today?
— World Class Evening Wide! They even invited Almond~
— SCB is working damn hard. Let's acknowledge them as SCV for today.
— Now he's trying to establish himself in the major leagues, haha.
— Almond? That’s a person’s name?
— I should order chicken today!!
After they published the article, news spread on portals like Javer and naturally made its way to communities.
[Breaking News: Almond to be a guest on Evening Wide!]
[The show CutiePie came out on, Evening Wide. Now they’re featuring Almond today!]
Various gaming communities posted such articles.
— Holy, is this real?
— I can't believe I get to see Almond on Evening Wide!
— Where are all of the Almond haters, huh?
└ What does that have to do with Almond's gaming skills and the show?
└ Crazy popularity, lol.
└ A gamer must be popular to feature on that show.
└ OMG. The nuts are starting again!
— Evening Wide is the least famous among the major shows, isn't it? LOL.
'Least famous...'
Sang-Hyeon also nodded. As far as he knew, SCB was definitely not a top-tier major channel. It would be best to consider it as a place that barely gave off a major vibe.
'But I've heard the ratings are good these days.'
Despite that, it was meaningful for Almond to feature on their channel because Evening Wide started to become popular as a talk show.
'Streamers have rarely featured on it.'
For a gaming streamer to enter a major channel like Evening Wide was an exceptional occurrence. Before Sang-Hyeon, only CutiePie had been invited among gaming streamers.
Sure enough, the comments also mentioned CutiePie.
— Isn't this the first game streamer featured on the show since CutiePie?
└ Should we consider CutiePie as a game streamer? lol
└ Anyway, gaming is the main content.
└ She's a former girl group member. She should be seen as a novelty on major channels.
└ If JeonJaPa hadn't rejected, he would've featured too. But he's too afraid of media exposure.
└ Pure 100% gamers can hardly ever be on this show.
To summarize, Almond was the first featured game streamer since CutiePie. The community felt excited because of that.
Others expressed their opinions too.
— Almond is featured on the show as the promising archer, but why is he treated like a game addict?
└ True, lol.
└ For real lol.
— Fact: It's not game streamer Almond who will be on the show, but archer Yu Sang-Hyeon.
The opposing opinions didn’t believe that featuring on Evening Wide necessarily elevated the prestige of a game streamer. It was a fairly accurate statement.
'It doesn't matter.'
Sang-Hyeon didn't care about such details. Whether he featured as a game streamer or Yu Sang-Hyeon, he would be on a major channel. That was the only fact that mattered.
'Considering Ju-Hyeok's situation, there’s no better news than this.'
Sang-Hyeon glanced at Ju-Hyeok, who was driving next to him. He thought of why going to a major channel was important. The reason was mostly related to Ju-Hyeok. He was concerned about Ju-Hyeok’s career, although he pretended that he didn't care.
'Adults value this sort of exposure more than anything.'
For Ju-Hyeok, whether it was a major or minor channel was quite important. Mainly because of the people around him, especially his parents who didn’t accept his current job as Sang-Hyeon's manager.
Although Ju-Hyeok said he didn’t care and would never see them again, he wanted their recognition more than anyone else. It was obvious. Ju-Hyeok wanted to be acknowledged by his father and society.
In that regard, nothing was better than featuring on a major channel. This route could change a person from being a hardworking breadwinner to a top career man.
Older adults still perceived featuring on a major channel as being similar to a celebrity. Amusingly, it wasn’t just older folks.
Most community users felt the same. This made no sense considering their usual attitude because they always criticized and disparaged the older generation's values. They frequently used terms like outdated, washed-up, and old-fashioned. However, they wanted recognition from the older generation more than anyone else.
Educational background, a respectable job, professional careers... In today's world, these weren't necessarily related to income or quality of life, but the older generation still valued them highly and looked down on other types of success.
Sang-Hyeon couldn't understand them even if he tried.
[About 500 meters ahead. You will soon be arriving at the destination.]
They would soon arrive at the broadcasting station.
Gazing up through the passenger window, Sang-Hyeon felt something different from before.
'It's going to be different from Fantasia.'
Recently, he had experienced places like This World, Fantasia, tournaments, and LIL Pro. This place functioned completely differently. It didn't feel unfamiliar. Rather, it felt familiar and he didn’t miss this feeling.
'It's like Ahsung.'
The pressure that used to weigh on him daily during his time at Ahsung returned. Right, he had returned to this world after half a year.
"We've arrived."
"Yeah."
Swish.
The seat belt retracted, and they both got out of the car.
Thud.
The door closed with a hollow sound, and they walked toward the elevator.
When they entered the lobby, someone waved at them.
"Hello! You must be Yu Sang-Hyeon, right? I'm Yu Su-Yeon, the writer of Evening Wide!"
She had an energetic attitude. Following her hurried guidance, they moved to the waiting room to do Sang-Hyeon's makeup.
The writer continued to give him instructions while they walked and didn't waste any time.
"As I've said earlier, an edited version will be uploaded after the live broadcast. Please remember that it's live today!"
Sang-Hyeon nodded. He already heard about it in the pre-meeting.
These days, major channels broadcasted live first, edited the footage, and re-uploaded it with subtitles. Separate channels existed for SCB Live and the edited version.
They arrived in front of the waiting room while listening to her explanation.
"Now, please wait in the waiting room. You'll be called in when it's your turn. Mr. Manager, please follow me!"
***
As expected, the room was empty when Sang-Hyeon entered. He was the first one to arrive among the other guests.
Sang-Hyeon sat alone on a large sofa and momentarily caught his breath.
'They said there will be three guests, including me.'
Today’s show featured a total of three guests.
Sang-Hyeon opened the notes that contained research about them. Ju-Hyeok had emphasized that knowing even a little about the other party would be advantageous when meeting them. The other guests weren't clients, but this was something Ju-Hyeok had done so often at Ah-Sung that it became a habit.
Sang-Hyeon wondered if all this was necessary, but he decided to read it at least once since it had already been prepared.
The first name on the list was In-Ho.
'In-Ho. A member of the idol group Blossom.'
He was likely the youngest and most famous among the guests.
'He started acting recently as well...'
He was incredibly good-looking, taking what was known as the center position in the group, and recently started acting as well. The reviews for his new drama weren’t very good though.
Ju-Hyeok said he didn't know if it was because there was still prejudice against actors who were formerly idols or In-Ho was just bad at acting.
For Sang-Hyeon, there was no need to judge.
'Points to be careful of... among the members, Jae-Hoon is the most popular... and he's better than In-Ho in all respects.'
So Sang-Hyeon shouldn't bring up Jae-Hoon when talking to In-Ho.
'Why did he write about this? I don't even know who these people are.'
He chuckled, but stored the information in his head anyway.
'Don't mention Jae-Hoon.'
He repeated this to himself and moved on.
‘He graduated from a prestigious university.'
Another unique point was that In-Ho graduated from a prestigious university. He had a bachelor's degree in business and was the perfect role model.
Sang-Hyeon moved on to the next guest.
'Next is... a rapper.'
While the previous guest was a typical successful idol, the second guest was quite unique. First of all, she was a female rapper called Lil Grass and her hair was always said to be green like grass.
'Famous for outrageous lyrics... sexual expressions...'
According to Ju-Hyeok's file, she was a rapper famous for her provocative lyrics.
'But actually, she's a comic relief character.'
Ju-Hyeok said she grew popular not because of her provocative behavior or lyrics, but because she was just funny. Of course, this was only Ju-Hyeok's opinion.
'Also from a prestigious university.'
Lastly, this rapper also graduated from a prestigious university with a philosophy degree.
Sang-Hyeon hadn't thought about it at first, but reading about the guests made him wonder.
'Is today a special episode about prestigious universities?'
Sang-Hyeon was a little worried because he had no idea how the talk show would proceed. If the conversation centered around universities, he would have a hard time because he had no connections with prestigious universities.
Creak.
Just then, a guest walked into the waiting room.
'It's In-Ho.'
Sang-Hyeon stood up right away and greeted him, "Hello."
"... Ah, huh? Hello!"
In-Ho seemed surprised that someone had arrived before him. He had a pleasant smile, a typical idol's friendly demeanor.
"This is our first time meeting, right?"
“Oh.”
In-Ho felt surprised at meeting someone he had never met before. People in this field usually had exposure to the media in some way before featuring on the show. He had no interest in streamers and didn't know Almond.
'He probably didn't check the guest list in advance.'
In-Ho likely hadn't researched the other guests in advance either. They were so used to being featured on such programs that it would be hard to check every guest on every show.
Sang-Hyeon understood.
"Ah, yes. I'm the streamer Almond."
"Oh! You're a streamer! Wow, this is the first time I've met a streamer in person! Haha!"
In-Ho, perhaps finding it a bit unexpected, sat across from Almond with a somewhat awkward smile.
Then, silence followed.
"...?"
The awkward silence continued.
Sang-Hyeon pulled out his phone and opened up a game.
In-Ho also took his phone out.
***
In-Ho sent a message to someone in the silence of the waiting room.
[Is there another waiting room?]
He wanted another waiting room even though he was already in one.
[Manager: Huh? Aren't you in the waiting room?]
It was his manager.
[I mean a private waiting room.]
[Manager: Hey, look at the size of the SCB building. Do you think there will be individual waiting rooms for everyone? What's going on?]
[Well, do I have to stay with someone I don't even know? He said he's a streamer.]
[Manager: Alright, hang on.]
In-Ho waited for his manager's response while stealing glances at the streamer. He inadvertently killed the conversation and was curious how Almond would react.
In-Ho simply sat down without introducing himself because hearing that Almond was a streamer killed his interest. It wasn’t a big deal to him, but it probably felt frustrating for the other person. After all, it seemed like that person’s first time in a place like this.
This was a common form of psychological dominance, but beginners had it rough.
'As expected.'
Sure enough, the streamer looked anxious and only looked at his phone.
In-Ho held back a chuckle and turned his head.
"Shoot..."
Then, the streamer let out a startled sound.
In-Ho wondered what the other person could be doing and glanced at Almond’s phone.
"...!?"
[Raising a Lazy Soldier]
It was a game called Raising a Lazy Soldier. Almond often played it and naturally advertised the game.