Chapter 65: Advertisement (3)
The topic trended in Battle31's community for a while.
[How is Almond the only plat III]
[Give me plat too if I win all my placements!!!]
[This is too staged.]
[It's because Almond is fucking insane.]
[Why are there so many angry people?]
[Because Almond is p o p u l a r.]
How did Almond rank into Platinum III after his first placement? This topic went beyond Almond and resurfaced old controversies surrounding the placement matches.
[The reason why this rating system is retarded]
[Evidence showing why the MMR ranking system is rigged]
[The reason why the AI judgment is so bad]
[Battle Large's company Fantasia's past controversies]
[It's not the first time the developers are acting stupid]
One side agreed it was possible to reach platinum while the other disagreed. The two groups were evenly split and ferociously fought. It was an even fight, but one incident turned the tide.
[Battle Large's hottest streamer invited onto Fantasia's channel.]
Battle Large's?company, Fantasia, decided to invite Almond.
The article stated:
[How he reached Platinum III, the extent of his capabilities, what kind of testing will occur...]
It wasn't just an invitation. The company wanted to prove the legitimacy of Almond's rating. That meant the company indirectly backed Almond's platinum placement.
[The company even said they're going to prove it. Why does anyone else have a problem with whether he's platinum?]
[What are you going to do now, huh?]
[Almond is world class]
[Almond is working with the developers to prove it, yet these basement losers are still reporting him out of jealousy]
[So satisfying]
[Fantasia is doing their job for once]
[Oh shit! Isn't this like an ad? He really is world class]
Fantasia not only invited Almond, but they also announced that they would prove his ranking. They gave him the best treatment possible.
It didn’t come as a surprise that those who envied Almond’s privilege bashed him even more.
[Can't you tell from his special treatment? It's because he's got connections with the directors]
[I heard it’s true that his director called them]
[Wow, is this guy from a rich family or something?]
Baseless rumors and false stories about Almond began to spread.
"What the fuck? I'm going to sue these guys," Manager Oh shouted while reading the community comments.
Almond was preparing for the shoot and had makeup done on him for the first time in his life.
Ju-Hyeok spoke to Manager Oh in his place, "We'll be grateful if you can do that." He fuelled Manager Oh's anger with articulate words. "Sang-Hyeon's mental state is what’s most important... It wears him out when he sees things like this."
Of course, Ju-Hyeok lied. On the contrary, it only fired up Almond even more instead of wearing him down.
However, Manager Oh didn’t know that and grew angrier by the minute. "Really? These scum. Ju-Hyeok, collect all of this and send it over. Our legal team isn’t just for show."
"Yes! Right away!" Ju-Hyeok excitedly shouted.
Manager Oh angrily continued, "Are these guys out of their minds? Saying these things against a Punk partner streamer. Connections with the director? They're crazy. We'll take legal action. That'll show them!"
"Yes, yes. They'll definitely back down if you take legal action and put up a notice."
"That's a good idea. We tried with Bubblegum in the past and it was quite effective."
Ju-Hyeok successfully fanned the flames. 'You scums, I hope you all get sued.'?
***
The game communities continued to talk about Almond without knowing about Ju-Hyeok's efforts.
Fantasia's official SNS announced their collaboration with Almond along with the news article. It became an indisputable fact that Fantasia invited Almond.
[We invited Battle Large's hottest streamer! Get ready!]?
— Wow...
— Oh, Almond!
— Wow, Fantasia's become a big boy collaborating with Almond.
— Almond? Who's that?
— Ooooh.
— It's going to be worth a watch.
— Are they streaming it on Almond's channel too?
— Take a look at that silhouette. Amazing.
The picture only contained Almond's silhouette, but everyone seemed to recognize him.
There was no backlash against Almond on social media or YouTube. Instead, he received much-deserved attention for placing into platinum.
— Wow, platinum? He's a natural!
— That's possible?
— That's insane.
— No wonder they're inviting him.
— Placed into plat! Jesus...
— Isn't that higher than JeonJaPa?!?
Whether someone was placed into platinum or diamond didn't matter. It fascinated them and no one had a reason to get jealous.
'Yes, this is the normal reaction.'
Ju-Hyeok realized how toxic the gaming communities were after seeing the other major platforms. Some would become loyal fans, but others were like a virus that wouldn't disappear. It was a double-edged sword.
'This is why AcornJelly suggested we go major.'
Acorn Jelly told Sang-Hyeon that they could make it in the major market. He said, ‘There’s no reason for him to stay down here if he can make it up there.'?
Ju-Hyeok could tell now after directly witnessing the difference.
'We'll find out today.'?He thought to himself while watching Sang-Hyeon receive makeup.
They would get a taste of the major scene thanks to Fantasia's channel. Today, they would determine if Almond had what it took or not.
***
"Wow... you don't need any makeup at all." The girl putting an unknown product on Sang-Hyeon's face was impressed.
She had cute chubby cheeks and her hair was tied up. It was fun to hear her talk because she sounded young and cute.
"There's no point putting makeup on you! You're good to go as you are!"
However, she kept repeating the same thing and Sang-Hyeon had to hold back his yawns.
"Haha, thank you."
Sang-Hyeon worked in an uptight corporation for five years and he used to be a professional athlete. Laughing off these boring conversations became second nature to him.
"I've done a lot of makeup for celebrities, but you're on top of the list. You're so handsome."
"That's not possible."
"No, I'm serious. I think you'll blow up on the major scene!"
"That seems too far in the future, no?"
"I heard that your stream is doing well. These days, TV broadcasts are worse than streams. You’re just going out to build experience. You'll probably get some contacts soon enough."
He looked at himself in the mirror after her rant.
Tok tok.
She finished touching up his makeup.
"Ta-da!?How is it?"
Sang-Hyeon briefly froze at his own reflection.
'Wow.'
Was this the power of makeup? As she said, his face looked like a celebrity now. The way he dressed was also a bonus.
"You look like you’re going to an awards ceremony or something."
He definitely looked ready for a big event like that. Her rambling exhausted him, but she excelled at her job.
"Y-You're incredible."
"Oh, I didn't do anything. This did everything."
Pinch.
She lightly pinched Sang-Hyeon's cheeks.
"If you liked my makeup today..."
Swoosh.
The other hand went into Sang-Hyeon's inside pocket. She was a pro despite her innocent looks.
"This is my business card. I'm a freelancer."
Wink.
She winked at him in the mirror and called for the other staff.
"Almond's makeup is finished! There's an actor sitting here! An actor!"
Clap. Clap.
Sang-Hyeon took out the business card during the commotion. It wasn't an actual business card, but a small handwritten note with her name and phone number.
Sang-Hyeon thought she was quite forward because she was still young. His expression didn't change because this wasn't the first time. Other girls also acted like this in the past, but he didn’t have any good experiences with them. He took those past incidents as a lesson.
"Almond, over here!"
"Yes, I'm coming."
Sang-Hyeon left the makeup artist's business card on his seat.
***
The bright stage lights pointed towards Almond as the staff guided him.
This was on a completely different scale than Acorn Jelly's stream. He could feel the magnitude of Fantasia's channel. The studio seemed to be as big as other TV station studios.
"Hi. I'm the anchorwoman, Yu Ha-Yeon."
Her refreshing perfume lingered in the air. She had thick curly hair and wore a casual dress that accentuated her figure, high heels, and perfect jawline. She looked like the textbook anchorwoman.
"Yes, hello."
"Here are the related notes about the interview."
"Ah..."
"Don't be nervous. Ours is also just an internet stream, so it'll go naturally."
"Internet stream..."
Sang-Hyeon unconsciously glanced at the Jimmy Jib camera in the distance moving on its own. It was worth a couple of million won.
Yu Ha-Yeon noticed his stare and giggled, "It's an overwhelming environment, right?"
"Yes, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't."
"Still, you don’t seem to be as nervous as others. It's almost suspicious." Yu Ha-Yeon assessed Sang-Hyeon with her large, beady eyes.
Sang-Hyeon unconsciously stuck his right hand deep into his pocket.
"I usually don't show it," he lied.
It was obvious when he was nervous. He just wasn’t the type to easily get nervous.
"Is that so? Hmm... Well, it's one of the questions anyways. I'll ask later."
"Sure."
‘Is that one of the questions?’?Sang-Hyeon briefly looked at the interview notes.
[1. Interview]?was written on the card.
'Past work experience, age, height, relationship status...'
These obvious questions would grab people's attention. Sang-Hyeon flipped to the next card.
[2. Physical, concentration, synchronization test]
This was the main event.
'It's what they told me yesterday.'
Sang-Hyeon had been notified ahead of time. He needed to know what to prepare and how the test would proceed. He felt excited because he could finally prove himself.
[3. Synchronization Checkup]
This was what Ju-Hyeok wanted. He wanted to see if there were any problems related to Sang-Hyeon's synchronization with the capsule. Fantasia had the best team in the industry for this test.
The staff wearing sunglasses shouted from far away, "Alright, the countdown begins in 30 seconds!"
He seemed like the director.
"Yes." The anchorwoman touched her hair and positioned her legs to look suitable for the camera like a pro.
Sang-Hyeon didn't know what to do and blankly stared at the camera.
"Kya, Almond! You look great!" The director gave Sang-Hyeon a thumbs up.
'Huh?'
Regardless, the stream started.
Tak—?
The slate came down and the anchorwoman greeted everyone with a bright smile.
"Hello, everyone! We're back with another special format. It's going to be the segment where we break down Almond and analyze him!"
[Current Viewers: 17k]
They had close to 20,000 viewers right as the stream started.