Season 3: Chapter 88: Fake National Team (1)
Hui-Chul quietly looked at the message.
[... How about filming a team documentary and uploading it? I know you’re hesitant about media exposure that could interfere with the competition, but we really want to seize this opportunity. I will discuss the details over the phone...]
He fidgeted with the phone number they gave him.
[Call]
[Message]
[Add to Contacts]
He hesitated between the options, but soon made the call.
“Ah! Yes! Cookie, did you receive the contact? We were about to provide further explanations…”
On the other end, they seemed to pick up the call too quickly and appeared quite tense. Perhaps they expected Hui-Chul to refuse them outright.
"I will do it. How can I cooperate?"
“... Sorry?”
"The team documentary. I think it's a good idea."
A momentary chatter could be heard from beyond the phone. It seemed like they were discussing among themselves.
He guessed it was probably the sound of the person in charge shouting in joy.
“I'm really thankful! We will send you the proposal first! The players who can cooperate with the filming and the members who can review the strategies…”
Hui-Chul quietly noted what they were saying.
'Maybe winning isn't the most important thing to them.'
For Hui-Chul, winning this game was important. What about the others? For years, they hadn't even made it to the main competition, let alone win.
They weren't even recognized as sports athletes by the nation. Was their real goal to win? It seemed highly unlikely.
They were merely hobbyists, hoping that this hobby would someday become their livelihood.
'... I want to be like Almond. Really.'
Hui-Chul felt the way the players looked at Almond when he first joined the team. It was envy. Overwhelming envy. Was it because of Almond’s handsome looks? Or his exceptional gaming skills? These were actually all secondary. ℝ
It was the result these elements created that they envied.
"Ah! I also want to make money with Civil Empire someday...!"
Coffee, the assistant commander, would occasionally say this. It was a bit annoying to hear him say this while managing Hui-Chul's cafe, but Hui-Chul understood.
They weren't really doing the cafe work because they loved it. What they truly loved was Civil Empire.
That was why they envied Almond. They envied him for making a living from playing the game they loved.
Cookie found it difficult to immediately promote Almond based on his skills. Only after Almond blended into the team and gained the recognition of his teammates could he be properly elevated.
'The archers seem to be getting along with him.'
At least Almond got along well with the archers around him.
However, Civil Empire had many members and some still felt somewhat awkward around him.
“Cookie? Are you listening?”
"Ah... Sorry, just a moment..."
“Yes~ Anyway, I'll reorganize it and send it to you.”
"Oh, yes. But I prefer to write it down myself. Please repeat it."
“Yes, of course.”
Lost in thought for a moment, Hui-Chul started to take notes on what he needed to prepare.
***
While Ji-Ah was hospitalized, no videos would be uploaded on Almond’s channel. Even if Ju-Hyeok tried to find an assistant editor, they wouldn't be ready to handle the task immediately. After all, the video concept under Ji-Ah's direction had to be maintained.
Ultimately, Almond made a decision.
"So I'll take a break from streaming until the match against Italy."
The stream would be on hiatus until the Italy game.
— ???
— Huh?
— How did it end up like this…?
— Oh no…
— The editor must be really sick…
Currently, Almond's revenue was largely dependent on YouTube. It accounted for over 70% with most of his advertising coming from his YouTube viewership. Of course, the number of live viewers was also one of Almond's strengths, but his YouTube views were relatively higher than live viewers.
The only thing slightly lower was his subscriber count simply because his channel had only been established for four months. Now, even that was increasing due to his performances in Civil Empire.
Consequently, YouTube was becoming increasingly important for Almond. Before finding another editor, they couldn't make excessive demands on Ji-Ah.
"Even if the editor recovers, it will be tough if too many videos pile up... Not to mention, there were important advertising videos scheduled. We decided to postpone all of them."
— So it's all about money!
— Breaking) Almond: "The most important thing is advertising"...
— Editor, please don't overdo it!
— It's inevitable, honestly…
Almond had secured countless advertisements after G-Star and those videos wouldn’t be possible without Ji-Ah. Contractually, advertising videos had to be edited and uploaded to YouTube no matter what.
Ding.
[RubySword has donated 30,000 won.]
[What advertisements are there?]
"Ah. Thank you for the 30,000 won donation, RubySword. The advertisement is..."
Almond briefly opened his schedule to check.
"This time, I was supposed to play JetPumped. It wasn't just a playthrough, but I was also preparing for an event stream using the patch voting right that I earned. For now, everything has been postponed."
— Oops
— KK
— Oh, that sounds fun
— Really? Almond is involved in the patch?
— JetPumped gets a 10-day extension
— Kim Iseo: Phew...
In addition to JetPumped, Almond had advertisements for playing the completed story of Zombie School, which finally left early access. He also had to play the Battle Large Ninja Mode among others, all of which had been determined at G-Star.
He was supposed to work on them while playing in the national competition. It seemed he wouldn't be able to manage them until after the match against Italy.
"I'll also take this opportunity to focus on preparing for the competition and take a little break. Bye~"
— You’re going?!
— Please do a real-life survival show
— No!
— Sob
— Bye~
Almond's stream ended like that for the day.
Swoosh.
Sang-Hyeon came out of the capsule and sighed lightly, "Phew."
At some point, watching reactions on YouTube had become his hobby.
Splash.
Sang-Hyeon threw himself onto his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.
'It already feels empty.'
He briefly closed his eyes, exhausted.
***
The sound of Ju-Hyeok knocking woke him up.
Knock knock.
"Uh... uh. Why?"
Sang-Hyeon's weary voice cut through as Ju-Hyeok entered.
"Ah. You were sleeping, didn't you see? Check your phone."
Prompted by those words, Sang-Hyeon checked his phone. The black screen initially just showed his puffy face, but soon the phone recognized him and turned on.
[Ju-Hyeok: Look at this]
[Ju-Hyeok: Sent from Civil Empire Korea]
Ju-Hyeok had messaged him earlier.
"What's this?"
"We won't have any videos to upload to YouTube for a while."
"Oh."
"They're planning to shoot a team documentary. What do you think?"
"… Huh?"
A team documentary was an unimaginable concept in archery and something new to Sang-Hyeon.
Ju-Hyeok explained, "So it's like a vlog for the players."
Sang-Hyeon thought of it simply as a vlog for the players.
"Well... yes. This team documentary is meant to increase the appeal of the Civil Empire team and draw more viewership for the competition. It's kind of a mutual benefit situation?"
If the audience developed a liking for the Civil Empire players, they would watch the competition more diligently. Watching the competition more diligently would spark curiosity about the players. It was a mutually beneficial relationship.
What mattered most was how to initially capture people's attention.
"The video will predominantly feature our Almond..."
The Civil Empire Korean branch’s solution was to highlight a player who already received considerable attention.
"Ah."
Hearing that he would play a significant part, Sang-Hyeon felt slightly pleased.
Ju-Hyeok didn’t think that he didn't need to persuade Sang-Hyeon any further.
"And I'm discussing uploading this team documentary directly to our channel."
It already sounded good just hearing that. Even the team documentary itself would be uploaded to their channel.
"To our channel? They would do that?"
"Of course, we'd share the revenue since they’re handling all the production."
"Ah, uh... That's expected..."
They would’ve naturally wanted to upload it to their own channel since they were handling the production.
"I'm persuading them because it's really good for both sides. Obviously, it’s good for us because we'll get more subscribers. It’s good for them because they make a lot of money by showcasing it on a channel that already has high viewership. Besides, we don’t have any videos to upload for a while, right?"
Indeed, Ji-Ah was taking a break from editing and they would have no videos to upload on the channel.
What if Ju-Hyeok successfully persuaded them?
'We can keep uploading videos.'
They could continue to operate their channel even while Ji-Ah was resting.
"Wow!"
Sang-Hyeon literally jumped up from his bed.
"That sounds good, but..."
Would Hui-Chul agree to such a proposal? Hui-Chul, as Sang-Hyeon knew him, was very conservative. A team documentary like this would clearly not improve the level of their gaming.
Hadn't there been many instances where player performances declined due to being busy shooting ads all the time?
Sang-Hyeon thought that Cookie wouldn’t easily agree to this.
"What about Cookie? He wouldn’t agree, would he?"
"Ah. Surprisingly, Cookie agreed right away. That's why they contacted us."
"Really?"
Sang-Hyeon's eyes widened. It was unexpected for Cookie to agree so quickly.
"Cookie even said to make sure his team members were captured well."
"Wow..."
One could know the depths of the waters, but not the hearts of men. Hui-Chul agreeing like that was completely unexpected.
"So, are we okay with it?"
"Of course."
"I'll continue to discuss uploading it on our channel."
"Right. Let’s do that."
If it went through, this video would be the first production grade video uploaded on Almond’s channel.
'We’re expanding.'
YouTube channels commonly used a strategy when aiming for significant growth. It involved planning something akin to a blockbuster. Not just videos featuring the channel's owner, but creating a sort of planned entertainment show to upload.
"It almost seems like it’s going to happen. Do you know who the PD in charge is?"
"… Who?"
"Director Jang."
"!"
Director Jang was someone who had helped Almond when he first appeared on a major channel.
"He left the broadcasting station. Said he started in the minors and was moving up to the majors because we communicate well. It seems like it will go well."
"Ah... He left, huh? I felt like he didn’t match well over there."
“Hahaha.”
They both laughed when recalling that time.
Certainly, Director Jang was not the type of person to plan such a stately program.
***
As time passed, the day of the match between Korea and Italy approached. It would be quite a historic day for Almond’s channel when Korea and Italy faced each other.
[Fake National Team Ep.1 Heart of a True Competitor]
The first blockbuster would be uploaded on Almond’s channel today.