Season 4: Chapter 66. General Fame (3)
The entertainment section of the portal site had this as its top headline.
[#1 One Successful Ad Contract Brings in Billions — Who Is the Future Building-Owner Streamer?]
==== ====
Recently, a streamer made headlines for signing a royalty-based ad contract calculated per unit sold—a rare deal in the gaming industry. The game company also employed a bizarre marketing strategy centered around this deal, and it exploded in popularity...
==== ====
“Huh?” Ju-Hyeok flinched and nearly jumped out of his seat.
‘This... This is obviously about Almond, right?’
A royalty-based game ad and a bizarre but successful marketing campaign could only be talking about Ghostwo Busters and Almond. It fit perfectly.
“How the hell did the reporter know?”
The damn journalists even found out something like that.
“The contract details are making waves.” Ju-Hyeok’s face flushed red. “Are they insane? No one even knew about this! What the hell?!”
They leaked it themselves and then dared to call it buzzworthy.
“Fine. Let’s say all that is true.”
The royalty deal was real, and the ad campaign was a hit. At the very least, the viewership metrics were off the charts. So far, it was all technically true.
“But what’s this last part?” Ju-Hyeok muttered, flabbergasted. “Landlord?”
What the hell did landlords have to do with anything? He scanned the article, half ready to sue someone.
[Thus making him a strong candidate to become a future landlord...]
It mentioned a future landlord. Anyone could say whatever they wanted regarding the future. Nothing was off-limits, not even the future Son Heung-Min or future Kim Yuna. The reporter just wanted to force in the keyword landlord, even if it was pure speculation. Ju-Hyeok found it utterly ridiculous until he read one more line.
“Huh?” He got chills after reading it.
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Additionally, it was confirmed that MixedNuts, Almond’s one-man management agency, has signed a lease on an entire office floor, drawing further attention...
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‘What is this?’
The office floor they mentioned was the exact property he had just signed for, right down to the district and neighborhood.
Sure, it had been under a corporate name and not his own. Who would’ve thought an article would ever mention this kind of detail about a streamer’s management agency? The reporter clearly wrote the article with the intent to stir up comments.
— Ugh, seriously? Gamers becoming landlords? What is this country?
— So someone just plays games for a living and pulls in billions from ads? Korea’s doomed lol
— My big bro used to play arcade games in front of the neighborhood kids. He’d be a billionaire if he were born today. This country is a joke.
Typical comments appeared whenever articles about celebrities becoming landlords popped up. People probably didn’t even read the article. The keywords just triggered certain reactions. Of course, the top comment thread called this out.
└ They’re not even actually a landlord yet, and there’s zero proof of billions. Did you even read the article?
└ Lol typical clickbait trash journalism. That headline is BS.
Others also tried to defend the streamer.
└ If you’re so salty, why don’t you become a streamer and make money too? Like that’s easy.
└ He literally brought pride to the nation, winning the national tournament, and you call that worthless???
Those threads just spiraled into flame wars. Naturally, all of this boosted the article’s clicks and made it reach number one.
Ju-Hyeok’s face burned with frustration. His eyes lit up.
‘Who wrote this crap?’
He looked up the journalist’s name.
[Reporter: Kim Yoon-Seop]
Next, he tried to find something he could sue for. Technically, nothing the reporter said was false. The cunning article only used facts, yet presented a wildly exaggerated image.
“Haaa...”
Still fuming, Ju-Hyeok looked up other articles by the same reporter. He just wanted to find something to complain about.
[Earned Billions with a Slip of the Tongue — Han Min-Gu, Future Landlord at 28 Billion Won?]
[Actor In-Ho Accused of Being a Bad Actor: “Bad acting? I bought a building with that acting,” he laughs off the rumors.]
Apparently, everyone famous had been through this. If they could sue over these articles, it would’ve happened by now since those celebrities definitely had the money for legal action.
“So... this is like an industry badge of honor?”
Maybe articles like this were just weird little trophies. Still, Ju-Hyeok’s stomach churned.
‘Billions in ad revenue is pushing it though...’
He jotted down the reporter’s name just in case.
Ding!
A notification popped up on his computer.
[TMC Marketing, Manager Kim: Manager Ju-Hyeok! It’s huge! Seriously, we’ve hit the jackpot!]
‘Hmm?’
Could it be? Was that billions in ad revenue actually true?
***
Just the day before, TMC uploaded their video.
[Mr. Almond, Please Die Just Once! — Episode 1]
[#1 Real-Time Trending Video]
A game developer's ad video had topped the gaming category charts. On forums, users simply began calling it Almond Soup because of their ability to continuously use Almond as source material.
[Almond Soup is so damn funny LOL]
[What’s gonna happen to those guys?]
[Wait, this was REAL? LOL amazing!!]
Episode 1 ended with the Kim duo anxiously imagining that Almond would struggle against the Math Demon. They had planned for the series to have three parts. Episode 2 dropped the next day. Even before its premiere, the hype was unreal.
[1 hour until the premiere!]
[12,000 viewers waiting]
— My precious daily dose is back
— LOL I’ve been waiting ever since that ending!
— Look at that viewer count—crazy
— Bravo
— A masterpiece capturing the joys and sorrows of the working adult life... cheering for you
— Pure fun, GOAT
Countless chat messages flood in. The Kim duo’s secretly filmed reactions were so raw and emotionally honest that they moved viewers. With that kind of anticipation, viewers flocked in droves for episode 2.
Manager Kim looked at the Math Demon’s question and laughed in satisfaction. “Hahaha! This is amazing! So petty! Huh?! There’s no way he can solve this!”
“Our ever hopeful Kim duo.”
With this narration, the screen shifted to the Math Demon marveling in admiration.
“Hoo... Impressive!”
Poof.
Almond instantly solved the math problem, and the Math Demon vanished.
The Kim duo, who had been hyped up moments earlier, froze in place.
— LOL
— WTF LOL
— Their faces though
“W-What just happened?” Assistant Manager Kim looked dazed as if he had become a ghost himself.
Manager Kim looked like a red-faced goblin. “Uh... guess the real Math Demon was him?”
“Haha.” Assistant Manager Kim tried to laugh it off.
Manager Kim couldn’t hold back and roared, “AAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!”
— WTF LOL
— That startled me LOL
— His vocal range tho LOL
The video paused on that shout, and the narrator spoke again:
“Manager Kim’s Phase 2.”
— This narrator is killing me LOL
— Why is the narration so gentle? LOL
— Phase 2 LOL
— It’s like a second stage in a game
— Can’t blame him though, of course he’s mad!
— Imagine losing to someone who’s only good at math
[Manager Kim finds Almond infuriating.]
[So, so infuriating.]
The camera zoomed in on Manager Kim’s fuming face. Of course, from his perspective, Almond seemed annoying.
Until now, Almond had never shown any brains. Then, he suddenly cleared a math puzzle effortlessly as if he had lived his entire life just to ace this ad campaign.
The game progressed to an infiltration mission into the Modeling Club.
There, Assistant Manager Kim injected hope again. “Now he’s going to need deduction skills. Almond might be good at math, but he’s notoriously bad at figuring things out. This is where he’ll choke.”
“R-Right? Yeah, I remember watching Almondoyle. He just randomly shot people.”
In the Modeling Club mission, Almond had to find the culprit. They had high hopes since they knew he was bad at deduction.
— LOL
— Oh no
— Noooo...
— I can’t handle this
Those who already knew the outcome fell into two groups. The ones who couldn’t stop laughing, and the ones who teared up.
Bang!
Almond instantly found the culprit.
“There are about 20% more polygons here.”
Ping!
The screen shifted again, revealing a message from the company rep.
[Modeling team, assemble.]
— LMAO
— Wait, that was real??
— They actually got summoned LOL
It wasn’t just about the Kim duo anymore. The video also exposed other departments. Their chat logs added to the full picture.
[It really was 20% more.]
— He was actually right?!
— LMAO
— Everyone’s taking this seriously, but it’s hilarious
— The guiding light of Pang...
Ping!
The screen changed again to Almond’s battle against Oh Sang-Gi.
[As expected, the Kim duo roots for the villain.]
“Show them who you are! Huh?!”
“Yeah! Just die once, please!!”
Contrary to their hopes, Almond began overpowering Oh Sang-Gi despite having low spiritual power.
“Wait, what did he just do?!”
“I-I don’t even know...”
His footwork and swordplay stunned them.
“Won’t Almond actually kill him at this rate?!”
“Ah...”
[The Kim duo is growing anxious. And then, their hero appears.]
BOOM!
Suddenly, Bubblegum’s Wind Bubble explodes on-screen.
“ALMOND! YAAAAA!!”
In slow motion, the blast struck Almond in mid-dash and sent him flying straight into a toilet bowl.
Sploosh... Plop!
The Kim duo left their chairs at the same time.
“I believed in youuuu! Gumm broooo!!” Manager Kim nearly sobbed out Bubblegum’s name.
Assistant Manager Kim also victoriously roared, “WAAAAAAAHHH!!”
“Assistant Kim!”
“Manager Kim! We—we did it! We finally got rid of that bastard!!”
They hugged each other roughly and screamed in joy.
[The Kim duo finally defeats the persistent demon.]
— The fact that they believed in Gum is killing me
— LOL
— I’m crying LOL
— Why is this so emotional?!
— Wait...
— They actually thought he died in the toilet LOL
“Choosing Bubblegum... was the right call! Right?!”
“Of course! Absolutely! 100%!”
— LOL
— Poor Gum
— Bubblegum takes an unexpected L
Then, the camera zoomed in on their monitor. Almond had survived and looked around.
“Huh?” Assistant Manager Kim’s eyes widened in shock.
The screen froze and turned black-and-white as the ending theme played.
[Cause you are my girl~]
— Aaaand there it is LOL
— LOL
— Wait, he’s going to the final boss now? This is gonna be wild
— WHAT it ends here?? I need their reactions next episode!!
Episode 2 climbed the trending charts as soon as it premiered, eventually taking the number one spot. In a way, the video exposed the company’s internal struggles. Some would criticize them for it. However, TMC gained something much bigger in return: public affection.
[Notice: We are currently passionately patching Ghostwo Busters. Please wait just a bit longer before purchasing.]
That notice only added fuel to the hype.
— Why patch it?! It’s a masterpiece already
— Why mess with natural beauty? Don’t change a thing
— Screw it, I’m buying it anyway~
— Shut up and take my money!
— They’re saying don’t buy it yet, but review counts on PunkSite are skyrocketing LOL
They didn’t have time to fix the bugs or update their ads properly. That didn’t matter. People bought the game without hesitation.
— Dev team must be in agony LOL
— LMAO they’re buying it just to torment the devs
— Time to bug it out and upload to YouTube!
Even the bugs became part of the game’s charm. Sales started skyrocketing.
“Whaaat?”
“Wh-whaaat?”
The Kim duo felt shocked every day they went to work. First, they hit 10,000 units sold, then 50,000, and suddenly jumped to 200,000.
“Is this for real?”
The day episode 3 would be released arrived.
“Manager Kim, Assistant Manager Kim. Can we talk for a sec?” the CEO called them aside.