Season 2: Chapter 214: The Festival Begins (3)
Attending G-Star essentially meant doing an outdoor stream. The numerous Treevy viewers quietly anticipated this outdoor stream.
— Almond's outdoor stream is gonna be awesome!!
— I want to go too!!
— Is it true that Yu Sang-Hyeon will be streaming outdoors for three days starting today?
It really was paradise because it allowed them to see a different side of the streamer instead of the usual virtual reality scans or the internal capsule cam. Photos and videos from cameras used in outdoor streams had a real-life feel. Streamers already famous for their looks would shine even more.
"Are you getting good shots?" Ju-Hyeok, also mindful of this, casually spoke while looking back.
"Wahaha! Yes! Manager! Does it start when the red light goes off?" a person holding a rather high-performance camera asked. He sounded slightly clueless and resembled someone familiar.
"Ah... no. It's recording when the REC mark lights up."
Click.
The man hurriedly pressed the button and responded, "Ahaha...! Yes! It's recording!"
"Just a moment..."
Ju-Hyeok felt somewhat uneasy and checked to see if it was the desired screen ratio.
"BornToB, this is an outdoor shoot. If we miss it, we can't redo it."
"Uh, uh... sorry!"
"I'll explain it just one more time, so watch closely."
"Yes!"
Indeed, the cameraman was BornToB. He had served as Almond's commander in Civil Empire. They had good rapport and produced many memorable videos together. Above all, Ju-Hyeok remembered him because of his likable character.
'I heard he lived nearby, so I called him...'
Usually, one more camera was needed for outdoor shoots since there were clear limits to what Sang-Hyeon could shoot with a GoPro camera. Feeling that an additional cameraman was necessary, Ju-Hyeok had planned to hire one.
Just then, BornToB heard about them participating in G-Star and reached out. He had contacted them through Kimchi Warrior.
[Kimchi Warrior: BornToB says he lives in Busan and will help unconditionally. Is there anything?]
Even if Ju-Hyeok didn't trust BornToB's professional skills, he seemed genuine enough to accept. All he had to do was carry the camera and follow them all day. In fact, trust was a bigger issue than skills.
Of course, not spending any money was the biggest merit. Hiring someone to handle the camera all day would be quite expensive.
BornToB was a trustworthy talent and willingly volunteered for free. Of course, Ji-Ah also met these two conditions, but continuing to edit and upload videos during this time was more financially beneficial for her.
This was how BornToB became their cameraman for G-Star.
"Like this..."
After Ju-Hyeok finished all the settings, he handed the camera back to BornToB.
"Ah. I've memorized it. I've never used such a good camera before... sorry. Wahaha!"
BornToB nodded energetically and lifted the camera again. Ju-Hyeok looked into the large lens.
"Why... are you doing that? Is there something else I need to learn?"
"Ah, no. I was just zoning out. Let's go."
Ju-Hyeok turned and signaled to Sang-Hyeon that it was okay to proceed.
'The camera my father bought me...'
The camera BornToB was holding was the one Ju-Hyeok’s father had bought him before he went to study abroad.
'It's still a good camera.'
He was once told to go and capture foreign landscapes. Apparently, the camera was good enough to still use.
Ju-Hyeok had wandered around capturing countless scenes of the city near his university during that time while traveling with people he met.
"I didn't know back then..."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. The stream is starting now."
"Got it."
***
Ding.
Every follower received the alert.
[Almond is starting the stream!]
Almond had turned on the stream.
— Oooooh
— Finally!?
— You've arrived now, bro!
— Where are you, bro? I'm at G-Star!
— Already there?
— Aha aha!
After a brief delay, the camera turned on and showed an outdoor background. It was from the GoPro held by Almond.
— ???
— Where did Almond go?
— What's this?
"Ha~"
Almond's voice could be heard, but he wasn’t visible.
"Huh? You can't see me? Ah..."
Whirr.
The camera flipped over and Almond finally appeared, upside down.
"Ah~ So this was the front."
— ??
— Wow!
— Are you a bat?
— lol
— Why is the angle like this? lol
— Call the squirrel! The walnut!
Ju-Hyeok, seemingly called by a viewer, appeared and adjusted his camera screen.
"Ah~ Ha!"
— Third try for this?
— Cute!
— Goggles?
— Camera angle, third try legend lol
— Third try haha
— Ahahaha!
— In another world, I blink and strike with a sword in one try, but here I adjust the camera angle three times?!
— But what's with the goggles?
Finally, Almond correctly held the camera. Viewers kept asking about the large transparent goggles he was wearing.
"Ah. These goggles? They say there's a fun event for VIPs who wear these around."
— Oh...
— Even with such ridiculous goggles, he still looks handsome...
— Almond looks like a lonely genius scientist wearing them... If I wore them, I'd look like a mad scientist.
— Wow, that sounds fun lol
"Let's take a look around G-Star. Watch this."
First, he toured around with the viewers.
— Ooooh
— Wow, it's spacious
— The lighting is amazing
— Wow, where will you start?
The huge dome took in light selectively, making the gaming-style lighting stand out. It felt like being in a vast futuristic city precisely targeting the tastes of gaming enthusiasts.
"Wow. It's my first time at G-Star. It's incredible," Almond spoke with a slightly excited tone. "There are so many game booths I don't know about covering mobile, PC, and capsule games. And..."
Almond turned the camera to somewhere else. Even from a distance, the main booth looked striking with flashing laser lights slicing through the air. A giant hologram text revealed which booth it was.
[Legends Tale]
[Re: Birth]
It was Legends Tale, the anticipated title from Police and WePlug, the biggest sponsors of this G-Star.
"That booth over there with Legends Tale is the biggest! It seems to be a remake."
— Yes, that's right
— They must have spent a lot of money. How many booths did they take over?
— A game created by the devil lol
— I wonder if it will be fun
— Since that guy is involved, it must be interesting.
[Legends Tale]
[A World Reborn]
Legends Tale was a remake. It was a relaunch of a game previously known as LIL RPG. It only retained the original framework, but everything else was completely revamped.
"I personally enjoyed the LIL story mode, so I'm quite excited. We'll visit there last. It doesn't seem to be fully open yet."
— Yes
— That place is too big lol
— Seems like we arrived too early?
— Let's start with some lesser known games lol
G-Star wasn't just about big games. Mobile games and even games showcased by university clubs and students majoring in game-related studies with their graduation projects occupied a corner of the booths.
As such, there were a variety of games and lots to see.
— Wow, cosplay
— Oh...
— Noo-noona...!
The models and idol performances among others attracted the predominantly male gamer population.
— Wow, it's the Runestar model Choi Seo-Yeon
— Wow, she's beautiful…
— Insane
It was a festive atmosphere. For some, these performances and cosplays were the festival's main event. In fact, participating in such active content wouldn't be bad since they were already walking outdoors.
However, it was a different story for skilled gamers like Almond.
"It seems we've arrived too early. Everyone is still preparing..."
Zing.
A slight vibration came from the goggles.
"Hmm?"
[Challenge Offer]
These words appeared on one side of his field of view. It was an AR service for streamers who entered with a VIP ticket.
Game developers could issue challenges to him. This feature was naturally linked to the broadcast, so viewers could also see that a challenge came in.
— Ohhh
— A challenge?
— Wow, what technology!
"Shall we see what the challenge is?"
As Almond looked at the text reflected in his goggles, a box opened with new text.
[Battle Large - Ninja Mode]
[Win and gift chicken to 100 random viewers + various missions prepared!]
— Ohhh
— Insane
— Really?
— Wow
— Look at the scale!
— That's 3 million won for one game lol
— Ninja mode??
The challenge message came from Battle Large, which belonged to the company Fantasia. They were a game company as big as Police.
"Wow... It’s a message from Battle Large, but it's a strange challenge. Why are they offering chicken to the viewers? It's me who'll win."
— ?
— ??
— lol
— He’s already won? lol
— You nut...
While making such jokes, game companies started sending messages after realizing that Almond had arrived.
Zing.
Zing.
[Win and instantly get 20 pizzas!]
[Win and host a headset event for fans!]
[Win and 50 fans will receive top-quality speakers]
And so on. All sorts of gifts were up for grabs, not just rewards for viewers but personal rewards for Almond as well.
"Shall we try this one?"
Contrary to what he said earlier, he chose the challenge with the biggest viewer rewards.
[Battle Large - Ninja Mode]
[Navigation will begin.]
A blue path appeared through the goggles. This feature was quite helpful at the G-Star festival, which was relatively dark, to enhance the gaming atmosphere.
"Let's go."
Almond led the way, followed by BornToB and Ju-Hyeok.
"Off to get chicken."
— Wow
— This will be fun lol
— Isn't this a reaction game? lol lame
— Wow, am I getting chicken!?
— There must be missions per kill too
Confident in Almond's skills, the viewers were already salivating at the thought of eating chicken.
It wasn't just Fantasia setting up missions.
Babam!
[ShyNapoleon has registered a mission!]
[I can't miss out lol. I'll throw in a 10,000 won per kill mission! To hell with it!]
— :O :O :O :O
— Wow
— Proceeding while knowing it's hell
— Crazy...
— Another per-kill mission?
— To hell with it lol
"Wow. Napoleon, thanks for the 10,000 won per kill mission. I'll definitely win it."
He'd not only be winning chicken for one hundred viewers, but he'd also collect Napoleon's per-kill mission. This motivated Almond even more.
'But what is Ninja Mode?'
The catch was that he didn’t know anything about this Battle Large mode. Over seventy percent of the games featured at G-Star were new. The remaining thirty percent were either existing games coming out with a new mode or maps and major patches being advertised.
He approached the game without knowing anything about this mode. Even a good gamer could lose to a complete beginner in a game they had never played before.
[You have arrived at your destination.]
He reached his destination while pondering such thoughts.