Season 4: Chapter 74. Poster Boy (2)
Bzzz.
Sang-Hyeon received a long message on his phone. His phone simply vibrated on the table. At that moment, what he had just said stole everyone’s attention at the table.
“W-Wait, Choi Sa-Rang is going to be the coach?” Ju-Hyeok whispered as if someone would overhear.
His eyes looked like they had nearly popped out.
“Yep.” Sang-Hyeon nodded enthusiastically, clearly enjoying the reaction. “Pretty good, right?”
“G-Good? That’s more than just good!”
“Exactly. Exactly.”
‘Kim Ju-Hyeok, you punk. What do you think?’ Sang-Hyeon looked at Ju-Hyeok with that smug thought.
Ju-Hyeok, completely stunned by the unexpected news, couldn’t pick up on the vibe at all. Sudden variables always caused problems.
He had several questions, but asked one first. “But... why? The Civil Empire tournament must’ve been exhausting. Why would she suddenly get involved with LIL? You haven’t even touched archery since then.”
Ji-Ah chimed in with a theory, “Maybe her mindset changed a bit after the Civil Empire tournament?”
Sang-Hyeon nodded, admitting such a possibility, but offered a more direct reason. “It’s because of her friends.”
“Friends?”
He told them that the legendary former CK Entus players would likely debut as streamers on Paprika during the upcoming Platform Battle.
“Whaaaaaaat!?” Ju-Hyeok shouted and shot up.
He seemed even more shocked than when he heard that JeonJaPa would be their coach.
“Why are you only telling us this now?!”
“Huh? Well... the timing just never worked out.”
Thunk.
Ju-Hyeok rubbed his forehead and shook his head. “Damn, those Paprika bastards. They’re not playing around.”
“Right? Like they’d ever do something for nothing.”
“True.”
Paprika was definitely trying to dominate. They probably planned to hog all the spotlight too. If Sang-Hyeon hadn’t found out through JeonJaPa, this would’ve been top-secret information.
Ju-Hyeok started thinking. They couldn’t let the Platform Battle become the debut stage for Paprika’s streamers.
‘What, we’re gonna beat them with pure skill?’
Ju-Hyeok found it hard to imagine. JeonJaPa wouldn’t play. Could they assemble an ace team from the previous LIL tournament to beat the old CK players? Those former pros would still likely have their old synergy.
‘Impossible.’
Ju-Hyeok could tell even without knowing much about LIL. Each CK member could’ve declined in skills, but the biggest difference between amateur and pro LIL players was teamwork. That alone would make the matchup a blowout.
Instead of winning with raw skills, they needed something else to flip the narrative. Otherwise, Cheese would get wiped out before it even began.
“We need to do something about this.”
Sang-Hyeon didn’t understand why Ju-Hyeok suddenly turned so serious.
“You’re not even competing. Why are you acting like that?”
“Agh, you clueless guy... You just focus on forming a solid team, like super solid. That’s a promise, alright? If you don’t, you really think she’s just gonna let it slide?”
“I guess you’re right...”
“Exactly!”
“But look at this post.” Sang-Hyeon showed him a community post.
[LIL isn’t a game you can win just by gathering all the aces.]
“Team synergy is what really matters. That’s true for LIL and all team sports, right?”
Back when Sang-Hyeon was an athlete, he recalled his seniors from other sports saying the same thing. The minimum performance of a team full of aces would be high, but their cap would be lower.
Ju-Hyeok stared at the post for a moment and slowly nodded in agreement.
‘Yeah... that’s true.’
He had seen this plenty of times in overseas football leagues. Even the legendary CK Entus didn’t have the absolute best player in every role.
‘So the real key is teamwork...’
Then, a new thought struck him.
‘Wait. The key factor is...?’
He started questioning the key factor itself. Was teamwork the only crucial element to win? Given this event’s nature, maybe teamwork would be even more important than winning.
‘I analyzed something like this during the previous LIL tournament. Victory matters... but why it matters is even more important.’
Sure, winning was great. However, the real question was: Why did the audience want their team to win?
Would Koreans celebrate if a Japanese or Chinese team won? Nope, no one cared if some random guy from the next town over won a baseball tournament. However, someone would celebrate if their friendly neighbor won.
‘It’s about proximity.’
Not physical distance, but emotional proximity. That was the answer.
‘What if we could bring streamers emotionally closer to their viewers?’
If they could make viewers feel more connected to the streamers, this competition would be a success regardless of winning or losing.
‘Isn’t this why Sang-Hyeon had such a hard time picking a team?’
This was why Sang-Hyeon couldn’t decide. The other streamers felt it was unfair because Sang-Hyeon only had a connection with Balloon Stars. After winning the LIL tournament and taking on Civil Empire, Sang-Hyeon never had time to grow closer with the other streamers. Then, a flash of inspiration struck Ju-Hyeok.
‘That’s it!’
Maybe he could fix everything at once.
Ji-Ah, who had been watching them quietly, asked in a dazed voice, “So... wait... Choi Sa-Rang is... JeonJaPa?”
At that moment, Sang-Hyeon and Ju-Hyeok locked eyes. Their faces said it all. They didn’t even need to speak.
‘Did... did I say JeonJaPa?’
‘Yeah. You said it.’
‘Crap.’
Sang-Hyeon had been so eager to brag that her real name slipped out.
Ji-Ah read their expressions and slowly nodded. “Ah... I knew it. I thought they looked alike the first time I saw her...”
“N-No, that’s not it!” Ju-Hyeok tried to recover.
Sang-Hyeon cut in. “This has to stay completely secret, okay?”
“You idiot!” Ju-Hyeok clutched his head.
‘We’re doomed.’
Now he had to explain to Ji-Ah why they had kept this from her. Ji-Ah’s eyes already looked far from forgiving.
***
A few hours passed.
Plop.
Ju-Hyeok collapsed onto the couch like a corpse after getting home.
“Where were you?” Sang-Hyeon asked nonchalantly while tossing an almond into his mouth.
Crunch, crunch.
Ju-Hyeok found the crunching annoyingly smug. Sang-Hyeon looked like he was trying not to laugh.
‘That punk is doing this on purpose.’
Ju-Hyeok waved him off. “What do you think? I had to explain to Ji-Ah why I was the only one who knew.”
“Ah.” Sang-Hyeon nodded and reminded him again. “You made sure that she keeps it a secret, right?”
Ju-Hyeok looked like he had a lot to say, but just silently nodded. “Good. It’ll all work out. Don’t worry. And don’t worry about me either.”
“Why would I worry about you? You’re not even the one with ties to JeonJaPa.”
Ju-Hyeok gave up on the conversation and stood up to get back to work. He sat at his computer and made a call.
“Hello! Manager, what’s going on?” The Cheese platform representative answered on the other end.
“Ah, yes. I have a proposal for you.”
“For our platform? Please, go ahead. Is this about the donation system?”
“No, I’d like you to hold an event.”
The idea had come to Ju-Hyeok earlier.
“Excuse me?” The Cheese representative understandably sounded confused. “Is this related to Almond? If so, it might be doable... But I’m not in charge of that...”
“No, it’s not about that.”
“Sorry?”
“Let’s hold an event for all the streamers to participate.”
That was an extremely bold proposal from a mere streamer manager.
“Uh...”
“Please connect me with someone higher up. I can explain everything.”
“Uh... okay. I’ll pass on your suggestion...”
“No, no. I mean right now.” Ju-Hyeok aggressively pushed.
From his perspective, Cheese’s management hadn’t earned his trust yet.
‘You guys are about to get wrecked, you idiots.’
They didn’t know something very important.
“Please transfer me now. I have something important to say. If not...”
“A-Alright! You’ll get a call soon!”
Moments later...
Bzzzz.
Ju-Hyeok received a call.
“Yes, hello. This is Park Hyun-Soo, an executive of Cheese. I should’ve reached out sooner. I meant to after our launch.”
“Ah, hello. Not at all, sir. I wanted to speak with you directly because there’s something important.”
“I see. Please, go ahead.”
The Cheese executive had already been partly briefed about an event. He assumed it was just a proposal for an additional competition during the Platform Battle. What Ju-Hyeok said next caught him completely off guard.
“Did you know that the legendary CK Entus players are debuting as streamers on Paprika?”
“Sorry?”
“The legends of LIL who played alongside JeonJaPa at several Worlds.”
“They’re debuting as streamers... on Paprika?”
It turned out Cheese had no idea. They were likely too busy with their launch to notice.
“Yes. And their debut stage is the Platform Battle. If this goes ahead as planned...”
“W-Wait. Are you sure this information is credible?”
“Yes, I heard it directly.”
“From whom?” Park Hyun-Soo chuckled, clearly skeptical. “It’s a bit far-fetched to take this at face value just because you heard it...”
“I heard it from JeonJaPa.”
“Pardon?” Park Hyun-Soo went quiet in shock.
Hearing JeonJaPa’s name caught him completely off guard.
“JeonJaPa, the legendary GOAT of LIL. You know Almond and JeonJaPa follow each other, right?”
It wasn’t really because of the mutual follow, but Ju-Hyeok had to frame it that way. In today’s ultra-connected social media age, referring to them as mutuals made things easier.
“So that’s how you found out...”
Apparently, Park Hyun-Soo hadn’t known they were mutuals. He sounded genuinely surprised and began to listen properly.
“If you proceed with the Platform Battle as planned... there’s no way we can win in terms of raw skills.”
“I suppose so. This event you’re proposing, it’s to shift the focus to building camaraderie? To take the edge off the competition?”
He quickly understood Ju-Hyeok’s intent to reframe the competition’s purpose and tone.
“Exactly. When is the Platform Battle scheduled for?”
Ju-Hyeok could now gain confidential information like this by speaking directly to a Cheese executive.
“About a month from now. Nothing concrete yet, but we’ve been operating under the assumption of a one month period for streamers to adapt.”
“Got it. That’s enough time. I have something in mind like a launch event or opening ceremony. I’d love to meet and discuss the details in a week or so if you’re open to it,” Ju-Hyeok boldly said, but swallowed dryly.
‘This might be pushing it a bit...’
After all, Cheese was the subsidiary of a major corporation, and he was just a manager. The idea of him personally pitching an event to an executive seemed absurd, but the intel he provided was valuable enough to justify it.
If he stripped away their titles and looked at the information’s raw worth, this meeting was definitely justified. Even more so with Almond’s massive presence on Cheese right now.
‘They have to accept even if it’s a bold move.’
After a brief pause, Park Hyun-Soo gladly agreed. “Of course, you’re Almond’s manager. Naturally, you’re welcome.”
‘Yes!’
Ju-Hyeok clenched his fist and barely suppressed a cheer. This would be a major event for Cheese, but Ju-Hyeok wasn’t doing this just to help the platform.
‘The power is on our side now.’
From the very start, this new platform’s momentum was tilting toward them. Now, Ju-Hyeok could build the entire stage around Almond. He glanced over at Sang-Hyeon.
Crunch, crunch.
Sang-Hyeon casually continued munching on almonds, completely unaware.
‘Is it... really okay to build everything around this guy?’
For a moment, Ju-Hyeok had his doubts.
***
Several days passed. The day before the massive migration to Cheese arrived. Treevy’s service hadn’t completely ended yet, but it would no longer be an exclusive streaming platform. Starting tomorrow, it would be co-streamed with Cheese.
This co-streaming arrangement applied not only to Cheese, but to streamers on YouTube and Paprika as well. In effect, today was Treevy’s final day as a standalone platform.
Almond’s stream title for the day read:
[Talk: Cheese-flavored Almonds]
— Oh, it’s been a while since he did a facecam stream.
— Where did the new male cam go?
— Where’s Almond?
— Treevy Shutdown D-7...
— Hey hey~
— Last time to say Hi Treevy~
Pop.
Almond’s face appeared on the stream, but he didn’t give them the usual cheerful greeting.
He sat more seriously than usual and simply said, “Hello, everyone.”
— ??
— Did he do something wrong?
— Is there a scandal?
— LOL what is this now?
Almond clicked his mouse once, and a voting screen popped up.
“My first Cheese stream will start soon, and I wanted to take a vote on which game to start with.”
The poll listed games that had been well-received in the past.
“I put this together to relive some memories from Treevy.”
[1. Kingdom Age]
[2. Zombie School (Single Player)]
[3. LIL: Story Mode]
One odd entry also appeared.
[4. Survival Craft]
— LOL what’s number 4?
— No LIL survival practice? Is this excluded because it’s guaranteed?
— Kiiingdooom~
— One of these is very new
Ding!
[Deer has donated 5,000 won.]
[Aren’t you going to practice for the Platform Battle?]
“Ah, practice for the Platform Battle... We’ll be working on that on the side. This vote is for the main game I’ll be streaming.”
— Ooh...
— Dual game tracks lol
— Kingdom fans rise again!
— Is this poll fake again??
— Kingdom is first? Sounds sus already lmao
— No way he doesn’t want to play 4 lol
— Is this actually happening?
— Kingdom fans clinging to hope after seeing #4
The viewers, already hurt by previous fake polls, began to doubt the sincerity of this one. Regardless, the voting began.