Chapter 18 : How to become famous from the first day of the broadcast

[That’s it for today’s stream.]

The chat I typed on the virtual keyboard popped up, and the viewers’ chat room filled with messages of disappointment.

– Aww, too bad
– A little more, please
– Bye bye bye bye bye bye
– But it’s about time for your Diamond rating to slow down. The opponents are getting better.
– The opponents are too good (says the undefeated person)

I wish I could stream for a few more hours.

I have the stamina.

But it can’t be helped.

‘He told me to only stream for a maximum of 5 hours a day.’

A time limit on streaming.

This was also an order from Deputy Director Cha. Hmm, saying it’s an order feels weird, so should I correct it to a submitted appeal?

Deputy Director Cha appealed, saying that I should maintain a mysterious, crazy concept in the beginning. He said that needlessly consuming my image wouldn’t be beneficial.

I don’t know why he keeps mentioning that crazy part, but I acknowledged Deputy Director Cha’s burning passion and decided to follow his words.

– Kichiik!

I turned off the game and opened the machine.

It was so subtle that most people wouldn’t notice it, but I could clearly distinguish the sound of the virtual machine’s hydraulics with my ears as I slowly stood up.

My body was slightly wet with sweat, perhaps because I had been using cognitive acceleration for a long time. This never happened when I played V-BAT, so it seems that the cognitive acceleration function really does put a great strain on the human body.

“Master, here’s a towel.”

Miley, who had been monitoring from outside, rushed over as soon as I ended the broadcast and stood up, handing me a soft towel.

I wiped my face with the towel and asked.

“Where’s Deputy Director Cha?”

“He’s checking public opinion with the private surveillance team.”

“…Calling it a private surveillance team makes it sound like a group planning something really bad.”

A private surveillance team.

Doesn’t that sound like a team that would commit illegal acts?

I said with a wry face.

“Well, you know. Just in case, wouldn’t it be better to use a more public-friendly and pleasant-sounding word?”

Miley nodded as if she understood.

“Then I will tell them to change the team name immediately. Please give me your expert opinion on what name would be good, Master.”

“Hmm…”

Nothing comes to mind.

After much 고민, I carefully opened my mouth.

“…Ego-searching team?”

* * *

Research Team Leader Lee Jong-han had a sour look on his face.

[Ego-searching Team]

The reason was simple.

The office nameplate of the research team he managed was being torn down in real-time.

Instead of the shiny nameplate that had been there until yesterday, a piece of paper with [Ego-searching Team] written on it with a permanent marker was being taped on.

Team Leader Lee Jong-han stared at the beautiful blonde, blue-eyed woman who was sticking the tape, and groaned.

Who on earth is that woman?

No matter how I look at it, she seems like someone from the higher-ups, but why is she replacing our team’s nameplate? And with a name like ‘Ego-searching Team’ that has no basis at all!

And why is Deputy Director Cha Eun-ho, the real power of this company, TS Media, just standing there and watching this?

As Team Leader Lee Jong-han hesitated, not knowing what to do, Deputy Director Cha slowly opened his mouth.

“Butler Mackey, why is our research team’s name… a name like Ego-searching…?”

Then, the beautiful platinum blonde woman blinked. Her head tilted slightly, as if it would burst the hearts of men.

“Was this team’s name the Research Team? CEO Kim explained it as the Private Surveillance Team.”

“Well, that’s… that’s what they do.”

Deputy Director Cha Eun-ho shrugged and grinned.

Butler Mackey, who had been staring at Deputy Director Cha’s smile with a dissatisfied look, declared firmly.

“It can’t be helped. It’s the Chairman’s order.”

“Ah, then of course we have to change it! If it was the Chairman’s order, you should have told me that first. We’ll order a new team nameplate from the same company. Don’t worry.”

‘Don’t just brush it off!’

Team Leader Lee Jong-han wanted to scream.

Just how great is the Chairman’s order that they’re changing a perfectly good team name overnight!

But he’s a person who’s already experienced the real world. He shouldn’t make such a sound in this place.

Who is Cha Eun-ho?

He’s a monster who was called a genius full of madness to the bone on terrestrial television, and who created the saying, ‘The reason a PD who does crazy things is still alive is because he has that much talent.’

The devil of entertainment who exceeded 35% viewership ratings with terrestrial entertainment shows in the midst of the proliferation of OTT, general programming, and cable!

If he hadn’t uncovered the former president’s military supply corruption in a current affairs program he did as a pastime during his sabbatical year, he would have ascended to the heavens and become a constellation!

‘Such a person is… so submissive?’

Deputy Director Cha, a monster among monsters, is being crushed by the momentum of that woman called a butler and is slowly backing down. Team Leader Lee Jong-han could clearly feel it. Just who is that beautiful white woman and what does she do to make him act like that!

And who the hell is that Chairman?

As Team Leader Lee Jong-han, still filled with questions, hesitated, Deputy Director Cha grinned and nodded.

“Indeed, the Chairman is different. I didn’t expect this much in just one day. My eyes weren’t wrong.”

“What do you mean?”

“Please look at this.”

With that said, Deputy Director Cha handed over the documents containing the information that Team Leader Lee Jong-han and his team members had obtained by crawling the internet all day today with their eyes popping out.

“Do you see this? This number? The social keyword index related to Minder Hero has increased this much today!”

Deputy Director Cha hummed a tune as if he were about to dance.

“The only issue that could be mentioned about Minder right now is the Chairman, so this is all the Chairman’s work. Haha!”

After laughing for a while, Deputy Director Cha scratched the back of his head when he saw that Butler Mackey wasn’t laughing at all.

“Well, that’s that. Team Leader Lee?”

At Deputy Director Cha’s call, Team Leader Lee hurriedly stepped forward.

Then, he explained the data collected throughout the day.

“Yes, yes. Overall, mentions of Minder Hero have increased mainly in large male-dominated communities. Related keywords include ‘scam,’ ‘broadcast,’ and ‘Pachichik.’ In addition, the number of curse words has also increased.”

At that moment, a chilling energy swept over Team Leader Lee Jong-han’s body. When he looked up to see what it was, the white woman called ‘butler’ was looking at him with a murderous look.

“…Please collect the curse word-related data separately and hand it over to the audit team. Every single one of them.”

“Yes, yes?”

“Hand over, the curse word data, to the audit team.”

Each word, emphasized, carried a strong weight. It was like a giant stepping on the ground before performing a huge technique.

I don’t know why I have to hand over the curse word data to the ‘audit team,’ but Team Leader Lee Jong-han wished good luck to the poor, brainless shut-ins who were caught cursing at the Chairman protected by such a monster.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

When Team Leader Lee Jong-han shouted in a disciplined voice, Butler Mackey sighed and asked for an explanation again.

“Phew. Please continue.”

“Y-Yes. The sharing rate of the broadcast link you told us about in advance has also increased rapidly. Of course, as a result of checking, the number of people who actually accessed the broadcast is significantly smaller than the number of people who received the share… But since the sharing itself has increased, I think it has sufficiently entered the stage of becoming an issue.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

At that moment, a voice was heard from behind the butler.

A relaxed, beautiful voice.

Team Leader Lee Jong-han clearly knew who the owner of that voice was. One of his subordinates was monitoring the broadcast and acting as a manager, so how could he not know who the owner of the voice was?

“Chairman, you’re here.”

“You’re here, Master.”

Including Deputy Director Cha, Butler Mackey bowed her head. Of course, the people below couldn’t be stiff-necked.

“You’re here!”

“You’re here, Chairman!”

Just like gangsters bowing their heads, everyone in the Research Team… no, the Ego-searching Team now, bowed their heads.

And soon, with the sound of footsteps.

The Chairman of this TS Media Co., Ltd..

No, the Chairman of its parent company, Top-Star Inc..

Appeared.

“…What is this, is this a gangster office? Deputy Director Cha. I heard that there are a lot of gangsters involved in the entertainment industry, but don’t do this in my company. This is an order.”

“Chairman, that was in the 80s and 90s. If you talk about something that happened half a century ago, before I was even born…”

“Anyway, don’t do it.”

“Yes.”

The Chairman, Seongwon, who instantly subdued the rebellious Deputy Director Cha, sat down on the highest seat inside the Ego-searching Team.

It was so natural, as if she had been in such a noble and high position since she was born.

In addition, that beauty.

Since she was wearing a strange bear mascot costume during the broadcast, her face was not revealed, so I didn’t know, but now all the members of the Ego-searching Team saw her face.

‘Oh my god.’

‘I did well to change jobs. I really did, past me.’

‘Wow, look at her skin… Which dermatologist does she go to?’

‘Oh my god thank you god for such a chairman I really must have saved the country in my past life I believe’

Even without any makeup, her beauty was truly that of a goddess. She was a bit short, but that could even be said to be her charm point!

All the Ego-searching Team members stared at Seongwon with their mouths wide open. She crossed her legs with an arrogant attitude and lifted her chin. It was a strong force that was different from the previous broadcast, as if she would dominate people.

“Alright, let’s hear a detailed explanation.”

At that dignified declaration, perhaps the tension was released, one of the deputy managers of the Ego-searching Team fainted and collapsed.

“Huh?”

“Th-They collapsed? Deputy Manager Park collapsed!”

“I think they fainted?”

“C-Call 119! Call 119 quickly!”

While Miley, a woman, attempted CPR on the suddenly collapsed Deputy Manager Park, Seongwon turned her head at the subtle gaze coming from somewhere.

Then, she saw Deputy Director Cha staring at her.

“…No, I didn’t really do anything this time.”

“Ahem.”

No, really.

Seongwon felt a little wronged.

* * *

After sending the poor Deputy Manager Park to the hospital, it was Deputy Director Cha who cleared up the chaotic atmosphere.

“The paramedics said it wasn’t a big problem. Deputy Manager Park, I didn’t hear that you had any underlying diseases, right?”

“No.”

“Then it won’t be a big deal. Don’t worry, let’s work.”

Deputy Director Cha clapped his hands lightly and brought out new documents. Then, he stealthily handed them to me.

“Chairman, please check.”

“Yes.”

Looking at the documents, it was the viewer trend.

“This is the current pattern of viewers of the Chairman’s broadcast. Since we can’t tear out the internal data of Pachichik, we crawled it ourselves, so it may not be accurate.”

“Well, that can’t be helped.”

We can’t hack the streaming site just to tear out the viewing patterns of viewers.

“Now, as you can see, the viewing pattern of the Chairman’s viewers is like this. It’s not very normal, is it? This pattern is usually seen in people who are unemployed or, if they have a job, are freelancers or part-timers. Well, they’re often called ‘watchers’.”

“It feels a bit like looking down on viewers.”

“There’s no need to feel bad because I’m telling the truth.”

Deputy Director Cha shrugged.

“They are a group commonly called the first group. They are the important target point. They are not very numerous, but the rate at which they immerse themselves in and participate in the broadcast is overwhelming.”

Of course, there are also many malicious users.

“The characteristic of the first group is that they have plenty of time. They move between various broadcasts without a fixed pattern, and there is no particular purpose. They just need a program to burn their time. It’s just that the target is online broadcasting.”

“Hmm.”

“So, the Chairman must target them well. Then, they will spread the news of the Chairman to other broadcasters. It’s often called relaying to other streamers, or cuckooing…”

At that moment, the team leader who was checking something on his smartphone from behind raised his hand and shouted.

“Deputy Director Cha, there was a mention of the Chairman on the ‘Queen of Fighters’ live stream. I confirmed it with a community post. It seems like they’re still talking about it.”

Then, Deputy Director Cha laughed like a classic meme.

“See, this is how it’s done. It’s really easy, right?”