Chapter 48
The settlement statement. It detailed the breakdown of the points a streamer receives from the company. Where the revenue stemmed from, the ratio of earnings between the streamer and the company, and the total amount settled.
Suhyuk examined the statement and widened his eyes.
“Is this really the profit from just a few days?”
An enormous amount. Seeing Suhyuk’s surprised reaction, Un Hyang replied with excitement.
“This time, it’s a bit of a special case. The successful collaboration with Falcon Eye and the significant donations of Reinhardt played a huge part.”
Suhyuk had anticipated some success from the collaboration. While streaming, he had seen the donations flowing in, calculating that half of it would be his share. But what astonished him was another part.
“The video revenue alone is 24,119 points.”
That was the profit from just three days.
“The ad revenue is 6,000 points. An advertisement?”
“Yes, it started yesterday. While the rate isn’t very high yet, it’s a good sign that ads are already being placed.”
The revenue from sources other than donations was split 60-40. Meaning the initial ad rate was actually 10,000 points. The same applied to the video revenue. If the settled revenue was 24,000 points, it meant the original earnings were 40,000 points.
Additionally.
‘The donation revenue is 18,000 points. The total is 49,000 points.’
Total 49,789 points.
A massive sum, close to 50,000 points, was his settlement this time.
‘Far beyond expectations.’
Especially since he had taken a break from streaming for a few days, causing his revenue to plummet. Though selling hunting yields could earn money, he thought he was still far from the 80,000 points needed for his next skill level upgrade.
However, this changed things.
‘If I play my cards right, I might reach the target in the next stream.’
Each skill level upgrade required an exponentially increasing amount of points. It felt like a huge burden, but receiving such a considerable sum almost made him want to dance.
Glancing at the settlement statement, Suhyuk felt curiosity gnaw at him.
“I should check it out. What kind of video is it?”
—
Entering the Players Channel, Suhyuk searched for videos under ‘Lee Suhyuk’. Over tens of thousands of records appeared. Videos edited from Suhyuk’s past exploits, analyses, or praises of him.
And among them.
『Lee Suhyuk Reincarnated.』
The first video that caught Suhyuk’s eye was this one. A somewhat provocative title. Glancing at Un Hyang, he decided to watch it. An empty stream with no viewers.
The video started with Suhyuk’s initial foray into streaming and entering the dungeon.
“I told you, I’m your first viewer.”
Un Hyang’s triumphant voice made Suhyuk nod. He remembered it. He had been quite surprised at the time. The video quickly transitioned, showing the chat window with just four viewers.
– Do people even stream on the 2nd floor nowadays?
– I’ve seen a few. Most quit quickly due to low viewer engagement.
Being ignored was expected. The 2nd floor. A level so low it was almost embarrassing to call oneself a player. Moreover, when he first started streaming, Suhyuk carried an air of inexperience.
– Should he even be streaming now? The 2nd floor is just the starting dungeon, suddenly emerging from the darkness.
Nevertheless, despite such concerns. The video continued to capture Suhyuk’s early attempts at streaming, his awkwardness gradually giving way to something more formidable.
Slash-.
“Yeah, it just pops out suddenly.”
Suhyuk easily took down the monster.
“Do you know how surprised I was? It was so clean.”
“You can do it even more easily, can’t you, Manager?”
“That’s if we’re at the same stats and level. Levels will eventually rise, but having that kind of sense is rare.”
Her keen observation was impressive. Most wouldn’t think that far. Suhyuk chose not to comment further. There wasn’t any need to plant unnecessary doubts.
Already, the video had a provocative title suggesting reincarnation. In the video, Suhyuk’s rampage through monsters continued. As similar scenes repeated, he approached the dungeon’s end.
Accompanied by grand BGM. A close-up of the sleeping Wolf Warrior appeared.
– Finally, the boss.
– That wolf dude… he’s still intimidating.
– I got stuck on him for 8 tries.
The Wolf Warrior stood out from the moment it appeared. With BGM, close-ups, and slow-motion edits, it was clear significant effort went into it.
‘This is more fun than I thought.’
The long stream was compacted into essential parts, and key moments had music and special effects making it movie-like. A lot of work had clearly gone into the fight with the Wolf Warrior.
After all,
‘Un Hyang said that Balhae Entertainment first took an interest in me because of this.’
The Wolf Warrior wasn’t meant to be defeated. It was designed to evaluate players, not be conquered. Suhyuk’s stream first garnered attention because he defeated an undefeatable boss. This video highlighted that moment.
With the fight against the Wolf Warrior concluded.
『You can challenge the ‘Trial of Fire’.』
『You can challenge the ‘Trial of Water’.』
『You can challenge the ‘Trial of Sky’.』
『You can challenge the ‘Trial of Ice’.』
.
.
.
Among them, Suhyuk’s choice was, of course, this one.
『’Trial of Lightning’ selected.』
With that, the over 30-minute video concluded.
“It’s a highlight video, but there wasn’t much to edit out. There were too many important scenes.”
Except for the travel time, most scenes were included. Suhyuk belatedly checked the video’s view count.
‘240,000 views. Rating: 4.5 stars.’
The view count was not as high as he expected. The truly high-viewed video was the second one.
『How do you obtain lightning? Just like this. It’s easy, right?』
An exceptionally long video, spanning about 40 minutes, with a whopping 1.4 million views. The video began abruptly with a battle against a giant, followed closely by a connected storyline.
The scenario was named “Survival”. It told the tale of humans targeting the isolated giant chief to end the battle with giants.
However, giants lurking in traps, waiting.
Panicked humans started fleeing from them.
At that moment.
“You’re not going?”
“Y-Yes?”
“I can’t move until you go.”
Suhyuk stepped forward.
‘That’s pretty cool, actually.’
He was beginning to understand why people watched these videos. The quality was akin to watching a movie. Unlike just watching a live stream, there was a sense of pace and grandeur, enhanced by the BGM.
Flying over the heads of giants, Suhyuk aimed at the giant chief. As the red impact of his magic sword gleamed in the close-up, the throat of the giant chief was pierced.
“Wow.”
Even Un Hyang, who was watching the video with him, couldn’t help but exclaim. Despite having seen the scene multiple times, she reacted as if it was her first time.
Where she had gotten it from wasn’t clear, but she was eating a cake loaded with fruit using a fork.
“That was really amazing, you know? Both the Wolf Warrior and the Giant Chief. How did you even think of taking them down?”
“I just… thought I could do it.”
“Had you already evaluated them from the start? As expected…”
As their brief conversation continued, the giant chief’s life was extinguished, and thunder rumbled from the sky.
Kabang-!
And the next moment, a message appeared.
『’Skill – Lightning’ acquired.』
With that, the second video ended.
‘Perfect timing to end it.’
The death of the giant chief, followed by the dramatic appearance of lightning. Fans with a nostalgia for Lee Suhyuk watching this video would be dying to know what happened next.
Sure enough.
– (best) Why cut it off here?? ㅈㅊㄴㅅㄴㅊㄴㅍㅍㅈ
– (best) I’ll hold my breath until the next episode comes out if this gets top comment.
– Sent
– Lee Suhyuk is crazy, LOL. Both of them are.
– When’s this guy’s live stream?
– No fixed time, does it when he feels like.
– Even his personality is like Lee Suhyuk? I like it even more.
The comments were explosive, and the view count was still rising.
“We’ll continue to settle revenues from subsequent views. And the more videos there are, the more the revenue will increase.”
“It’s a good thing I started streaming.”
For a player to succeed and generate significant income, it would typically take a long time.
In contrast, the streaming profession could generate substantial points from merely having popularity and topic relevance, regardless of a player’s abilities.
Like Park Suhyuk and Falcon Eye.
“It seems everyone is waiting for your next stream, Suhyuk. Since the video went up, your subscriber count has increased by 20,000.”
The video’s popularity had brought additional benefits. Real-time stream subscribers had increased rapidly. It seemed like viewers were migrating from the videos.
“Tomorrow, right? Your return?”
“Calling it a return seems a bit much since I haven’t been absent that long.”
“Time passes so slowly. Hehe.”
Un Hyang awkwardly giggled as she brought the remaining cake to her mouth. Suhyuk nodded.
“Yes. I plan to start again tomorrow.”
A tournament on the 3rd floor. The tournament with Lee Suhyuk’s former guild, Blue Eyes’ keepsake, as the prize. And participating in that tournament would be the first content of Suhyuk’s return stream.
“We’ll show them. The victory.”
Hearing Suhyuk’s confident words, Un Hyang hesitated. She had a look that suggested she had something to say but couldn’t bring herself to say it. It was the same expression she had when she mentioned contact from Blue Zone.
“What’s troubling you?”
“It’s not that I doubt you. I don’t doubt you at all.”
“The more you say that, the more it sounds like doubt.”
Prompted by Suhyuk, Un Hyang quickly continued.
“I have a friend named Cheon Ryang who likes to gamble.”
“Gamble?”
“Yes. Betting on the winners of specific tournaments or specific guilds’ victories. You know, putting money on those kinds of things.”
‘Like a toto.’
Not just streaming, this appeared to be a thing too? It seemed the world really had changed a lot.
“So?”
“Right now, your odds are 3 to 1.”
“3 to 1?”
The odds were higher than expected. That meant there was another top contender for the championship.
“Yes. The main contender is a player named Omar Schneider.”
It was an unfamiliar name to Suhyuk. He had never concerned himself with 3rd-floor players.
“He’s been on the 3rd floor for over ten years. He belongs to Blue Zone.”
“Blue Zone?”
“Yes.”
The affiliation didn’t sit well with him, making even the name irksome. Suhyuk frowned behind his mask as he asked,
“Why is a ten-year repeat student getting such high expectations?”
“Because he’s not a repeat student due to lack of skill.”
“Then why?”
“He has a purpose. And it’s the same as yours.”
This was also why this particular tournament was garnering so much attention.
“The Thunder Cave conquest. You might face him not only tomorrow but also in the next trial.”
Suhyuk pondered this revelation for a moment. His initial reaction was one of annoyance, but it quickly shifted to determination.
“Then it seems we both have a lot riding on this.”
Un Hyang nodded in agreement, looking serious for a moment.
“But remember, Suhyuk. You’ve got your own path, and you’re not alone in this.”
With that, Suhyuk felt a renewed sense of purpose. Tomorrow’s tournament was not just a competition but a crucial step towards achieving his goal.
“We’ll show them what we’re made of. Let’s win this.”
“Absolutely. Let’s give them something to remember.”
With that resolve, Suhyuk was ready to face Omar Schneider and anyone else who stood in his way. This was just the beginning.