Chapter 41: YouTube Algorithm (4)

“Why don’t you understand?
Don’t you really know that you have to run when an opportunity like this comes!”

“……What bullsh*t.”

Song Cha-in muttered openly.

“No, well, yeah.
I know you have to run because it’s a jackpot opportunity.”

“Right?”

“What do you mean ‘right,’ you b*stard?
So why do we have to do it?”

It was an extremely reasonable statement, and such an obvious story, but Hiro wore a bewildered expression.

As if she really didn’t know.

“Um… well, that’s true… but still, can’t you do something about it?”

“Even so, dancing is a bit….”

“…I don’t want to, it’s tiring.”

“Is that okay?”

Hiro gently grasped the laptop and looked at the three of them alternately.

Like a dog that had been told to wait by its owner, she fidgeted and then spoke again.

“No, look, listen.
If my YouTube does well, I can raise your salaries….”

“I don’t get a salary.”

“Even so, I don’t like videos of me being filmed being circulated on YouTube, boss….”

“Tiring….”

“Ah, I’m really disappointed!
You all laughed and enjoyed watching me dance Zero Two, but when I ask you to help me once, you won’t help me!”

“You did it because you’re a streamer, you crazy btch.
We’re just fcking ordinary people.”

“Even if I did it, I don’t have a chest to shake, so I feel like I’d just get bashed.”

“…Was that the problem?
Anyway, I don’t really want to be famous or receive attention.
I just want to live quietly.”

“You want to live quietly, but you went to fight after getting angry while playing Tekken?”

“Why is that story coming out now, sh*t!”

The two were bickering again, but there was no sign of a clash breaking out.

They were just sitting there and saying harsh things.

“But this really looks like an opportunity.”

“Shouldn’t you prioritize thinking with your head rather than looking at opportunities?”

“You’re talking like sh*t, seriously.
Anyway, the reason why I’m trying to do this is that if I film and upload this, almost 90% of the videos are blowing up.”

The screen that Hiro was holding up showed a video of four women taking turns turning their hips in their own styles.

Well

It was a video full of blatant s*x appeal.

“Wouldn’t it be weirder if this didn’t blow up?
It’s almost like a porno, except they didn’t take off their clothes.”

“What does that make female idols if you say that?
There are a lot of dances that are more extreme than this among idols’ dances.”

“I don’t like that either, it’s too suggestive on TV where kids can watch.”

I like it a lot.

Hiro swallowed her thoughts and continued the story.

“Look, my broadcast has been doing well recently.”

“Right?”

“Is that so?”

“Until a couple of months ago, it was a broadcast that barely had 40 viewers.
But it went up to 1,000 at one point, and now it’s fallen to around 500, right?”

Hiro smiled and licked her bitter lips.

“I have 500 people watching me now, but I don’t know how long this will last.”

Hiro recalled a few faces.

People who had become a big issue and blew up at one point.

“In the end, people who blew up because of an issue, not because of their skills, will eventually find their way back to where they were.

Of course, you can maintain it if you have the skills.

But can I, who had a limit of 70 viewers for over a year and a half, really have the skills to maintain my current position?”

Hiro expressed her complicated feelings.

Since she had blown up because of factors outside of the broadcast, not because she was good at broadcasting, she was always plagued by anxiety.

Can I really continue to maintain this position?

Isn’t it an illusion that will disappear like a lie at some point?

A glass full of bubbles looks full at first glance, but sometimes it’s not even half full, right?

“So, I have to do something at least while the bubble is being maintained.
Otherwise, I don’t know when the next opportunity will come.”

Maybe there won’t be another chance.

Hiro left those words as a monologue and smiled.

“So please help me.
I beg you.”

Hiro pleaded with the three in a faint voice.

At those words, Ara and Yeon-i stared at Hiro, and their expressions softened little by little.

“Bullsht, this bstard is selling snake oil again.
It’s obvious that you’re going to upload a video this time because you see that the three of us are pretty good-looking, and if the video’s reaction is good, you’re going to call us as guests and make us work your as off, you btch.”

“I’ve been caught, sh*t.
But listen.”

Of course, it was a useless snake oil sale to Cha-in, who had seen everything.

The expressions of Ara and Yeon-i, which had softened at Cha-in’s words, returned to their original state, and the two’s chairs were subtly moving away from Hiro.

Shouldn’t I have called Cha-in?

I regretted it, but what could I do since it had already happened?

I had to do something with what I had now.

“Okay, well… I’ll be honest.
What she said is right!
It’s right but… no, wait a minute, don’t pack your things!”

The three of them, except for me, were naturally packing their things together, as if they hadn’t discussed it with each other.

Seeing Ara and Bo-yeon, who had been about to fight to the death just a moment ago, getting along so well, I wondered if I had become a common enemy.

Somehow I made the three of them sit down again, and I started explaining again.

“I won’t tell you to dance, so please listen, everyone.”

“I hope you say something reasonable.”

“Trust has plummeted….”

“I’m worried about what you’re going to say now, boss.”

“I know, I know.
I’ll film the video myself and do whatever I want with it.”

Three pairs of eyes filled with disbelief were stuck on me, but I tried to ignore them.

“The real main point today isn’t this, it’s about the future of the broadcast.”

“Right?
You weren’t really thinking of making us dance something, were you?”

No, I’d be grateful if you did.

“To be honest… I feel a bit limited broadcasting alone.”

“Are you asking us to come out as guests?
I don’t want to.”

“Shut up for a bit and let me say what I want to say first.
…As I said before, I’m not confident that I can maintain my current broadcast situation alone?”

“Your house is too far away, so it’s a bit hard to go….”

“Annoying….”

“That’s why I’m moving this time, except for that, it’ll be closer, so.”

It’s hard to restore trust once you lose it….

I was sad about my situation, where I had to persuade the three people who didn’t seem to be listening at all.

I should have been the boss.

“If you’re a normal streamer, you grow gradually and have streamers you know around you.
But I blew up all at once this time, so I don’t have any streamers I know around me?”

“Can’t you just say hello to other streamers first?”

“Not easy.”

“You’re full of sh*t, seriously.”

“Anyway.
If my broadcasting skills are lacking, I have to fill it in some other way, and usually, they solve it by making friends with other streamers or by calling people around them to make it more diverse, right?”

The three of them still didn’t have very happy expressions, but they seemed to roughly know what I was saying.

I feel like I can get away with it if I talk a little more.

“So, I’m thinking of turning on a broadcast with a housewarming party this time… how about it?”

“I’m not so sure, I’m a public official.”

“It’s not a big problem if you don’t get caught as a public official, right?
It’s not like you’re going to talk about politics or economics anyway.
It’s more dangerous to get caught for fighting while playing fighting games than getting caught appearing on a broadcast, right?”

“Ah, sh*t, what you’re saying isn’t wrong.”

“And I’m not asking you to come often, just come sometimes, sometimes.
Bo-yeon-i?”

“Not Bo-yeon-i… I don’t want to, can you leave me out…?”

“If you really don’t want to, there’s nothing I can do… but please come to the housewarming party once.
It might be fun, right?”

“Um… just once.”

“Okay, okay, and Ara?”

“Me?
I’m shy, but I’ll go if you need me to.
…But I’m a really boring person, so I think I’ll be a nuisance to the broadcast, are you okay with that?”

I waved my hand at Ara’s words.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s my job to make the broadcast fun, so don’t feel burdened!
And….”

I glanced down and then back up.

“…It’s okay anyway!”

“Um… something’s fishy?”

“No, no, there’s no way.”

Yeah, there’s no way.

There’s no way it’ll be a nuisance.

An AAA cup sitting next to an H cup.

Just breathing will be funny, so it’s not a nuisance.

There’s no way.

Hahaha.

“Okay, so everyone’s coming to the housewarming party, right?”

“Just the housewarming party….”

“Yes, you can call me if you need me, and other times too.”

“You’re going to clean up everything before calling us, right?
You don’t need help, right?”

“Yeah, I’ll take care of all the cleaning, so just come and hang out, you b*stard.
Just eat what you want comfortably~ chat a bit and go home.
That’s all you have to do~”

Cha-in asked me again, still feeling uneasy.

“Hey, we’re just going to hang out as friends, right?
Don’t force us to do anything?”

“I’m not, really.
If I force you, I’ll call you ‘unnie’ from now on.”

“‘Unnie’ my a*s, I don’t like that, so do a horror game broadcast once.”

“You’re so damn suspicious.
I’m not forcing you, you b*tch!”

Yeah.

I really don’t have any intention of forcing Cha-in, Ara, or Bo-yeon-i to do anything.

I’m just going to have them come over to eat, chat a bit, and send them back home.

I am saying.

I am.