NOVEL NEXT Chapter 124
Chapter 124
Sojun played three more rounds solely with Kael.
Although there were those who wanted him to play other heroes and some who wanted to witness a three-person ultimate, neither of those opportunities arose.
The former was because Sojun simply didn’t want to play other heroes.
The latter was due to the games ending too quickly, often before more people could gather, with the opposing mid-player or jungler leaving and surrendering coming fast.
Some internal disputes arose as well.
Sojun thought that these days, new players seemed to lack perseverance.
Of course, he didn’t voice this thought aloud.
“Today was fun too, Travel.”
After wrapping up his stream on Travel, Sojun stepped out of the capsule.
* * *
Before going to bed, Sojun washed up and sat at his desk.
It was time for the Seodong District meeting.
『Han Jimin: Boss! We’ve finally hit the 1 million view mark after becoming the “World’s Greatest” in the game!』
『Jin Sojun: Wow!』
The one-on-one video with the rankers, which had been climbing the ranks to third in trending videos, hit 1 million views, becoming the most viewed video on Sojun’s channel.
It took two weeks, but the figure of one million was deeply touching.
『Lee Gunyung: See! It was worth putting it up right away!』
『Han Jimin: Agreed.』
They had been anxiously refreshing, waiting for the video to hit the million mark for days, and it finally reached that position today.
『Lee Gunyung: How much money have we made from just that video? Amazing.』
『Han Jimin: Probably around 7 to 8 hundred?』
『Lee Gunyung: Wow… That’s insane.』
『Han Jimin: Congratulations, boss!』
『Han Jimin: (Character casually sending a congratulatory emoticon)』
Truthfully, it was less about the money and more about how the scale had changed.
‘Nevertheless, I’m earning between 3.5 to 4 million won from that video alone?’
For Sojun, who had lived a frugal college life after becoming independent and had lived a thrifty life in his past life, this was a substantial amount to earn from a single video.
Reflecting on his past, Sojun nodded.
‘I was indeed upright.’
Those corrupt officials who took money from bad people and turned a blind eye to the suffering of good people were scoundrels.
Sojun did exactly the opposite.
Not that he extorted money from bad people; they brought it willingly into the room of truth, so why bother robbing them.
『Jin Sojun: In celebration of my first million views, coffee’s on me!』
『Lee Gunyung: Wow! So you’re saying we should work even harder!』
『Han Jimin: Quickly drink this and focus on making videos, slaves!』
『Han Jimin: You’re not saying that, are you?』
『Jin Sojun: Nope. Haha. Cakes on me too.』
『Han Jimin: Cakes? Sounds delicious. Thank you!』
『Lee Gunyung: Me too!』
『Jin Sojun: And lastly, I know a good health center, and I’ll provide memberships!』
Silence descended upon the chat window immediately after.
‘Hmm.’
Although the “1” indicating new messages had disappeared, why wasn’t there a reply?
Thinking about their health would be good.
Even the most skilled can’t stand against time.
Of course, as Sojun wasn’t aging dramatically and hadn’t lived so long to feel young again, he wasn’t in a place to say this.
But managing in advance is always wise.
As Sojun pondered on these unnecessary thoughts, he typed in the chat again.
『Jin Sojun: How about the memberships?』
The number disappeared from the conversation as it scrolled. Apparently, they hadn’t left.
『Han Jimin: Oh, right! Boss, have you checked your mail?』
『Jin Sojun: What about the memberships?』
『Han Jimin: Not that, a casting email from LoS arrived!』
『Jin Sojun: Oh?』
Hearing the unexpected news, Sojun’s eyes widened.
There were two ways for event organizers to gather streamers for a competition.
One was to accept applications, and the other was scouting.
Usually, they would scout first, choose applicants based on it, and then take entries, with the scout ratio being around 10-20%.
This ratio used to be much higher.
However, as the streaming market grew and the number of streamers exploded, the situation changed.
Aside from a few key streamers essential for success, there were enough options that securing seats early by scouting wasn’t necessary.
Simply put, when the overall pool of streamers was smaller, it was the organizers who had to bend.
“Would you be interested in the event? If you don’t come, we’ll fail.”
That was the past.
Now it was more like:
“Join us if you can! The prizes are amazing!”
This evolution meant Sojun thought it would be challenging for him to be scouted.
Even Oh Jihye had said it was unlikely.
Yet, being scouted like this was fascinating.
『Jin Sojun: I guess I managed to draw some attention.』
『Lee Gunyung: I think it’s more than just some attention…』
Watching Sojun’s chat, Lee Gunyung thought from a distance.
“Please, boss, have some self-awareness.”
Regardless, Sojun remained unchanged.
『Jin Sojun: I thought this amount of interest wouldn’t be enough for them to scout me.』
『Han Jimin: Well, boss, you were holding back a bit. But they noticed. It truly is a needle in a haystack.』
『Jin Sojun: Oh, that’s clever.』
『Han Jimin: Haha.』
『Lee Gunyung: … 』
『Jin Sojun: Anyway, time for me to sleep.』
『Han Jimin: Yep!』
『Lee Gunyung: Yep!』
『Han Jimin: Oh, by the way, check your email trash once!』
The email trash?
Because of the LoS casting?
『Jin Sojun: Alright.』
Sojun closed the chat and connected to the site, opening the email and heading to the trash.
He realized that Han Jimin had been organizing the mailbox diligently and that the messages weren’t related to LoS.
It revolved more around The League.
Among them were emails related to Kael.
『”I want the view you have”』
『”Please share the pattern”』
『”Even if it gets nerfed or changed, I’d like to know it once too”』
『”How much would it take? I’m willing to fund anything! Do you believe in Kael Mains?”』
Hundreds of emails piled like that.
The fact that Han Jimin moved them all to the trash was impressive.
“Huh, the content is mostly similar.”
That was Sojun’s simple impression upon seeing the emails.
They were devoted to Kael.
To understand the specific context, Sojun went into the community and found The League’s Kael board.
Entering, he grasped the situation.
『”Can’t they chat?”』
==
You have to wait 3 hours after following.
==
Initially, they intended to ask Sojun directly.
But they were blocked by chat restrictions.
“Oh no, can’t cause havoc. Can’t threaten.”
– If you try, they’ll take a break for a week to discipline viewers. Be careful.
– Oh, seriously, need to be cautious.
– Existing viewers, can’t you relay the message?
– Even without us, people keep raising it in chat, but the Streamer-nim isn’t paying attention.
– Would spamming work to catch their attention?
– Probably, it’ll discipline them too. Haha.
– Then spam through donation?
– Hey guys, rather than donations, why not email. It’s clean. Anything else is intrusion.
That was how the emails had come about.
Since the email was originally opened for viewer feedback, Kael players’ choice was apt.
For a moment, Sojun pondered.
Given he had no reason to hide it, there was no issue in sharing.
“But even if I tell them, it won’t help.”
Explaining it was possible, but if merely knowing the principle was enough to perceive it, someone other than Sojun would have discovered it by now.
“However, considering the effort they put into emailing…”
Sitting at his computer, Sojun logged into Travel.
He started a stream.
The title was Kael, with a completely black screen as the background.
He waited for a moment, keeping an eye on the Kael board.
『”That streamer started streaming!”』
– Suddenly? Why?
– Did this happen before?
– Nope.
– Isn’t this because of us?
– From the title, it’s Kael.
– Wow, imparting info right away? Crazy.
– A streamer who communicats well, I like them. Heading there immediately.
After witnessing the expected reaction, Sojun turned his focus to his chat window, where viewers, puzzled by the sudden stream, were watching.
– What’s going on?
– Oh??
– Soha?
– Oppa, was this a mistake?
– Say something.
– Oppa, if it’s you, it’s okay. Let’s just pretend this was intentional and continue streaming.
– Many have fallen like that. Haha.
They were saying savage things.
Though accidental streams leading to mishaps were an annual event, Sojun wasn’t destined to be its next headliner.
“No, guys. You know about my abrasive on-screen persona, right?”
– Soha.
– He spoke.
– He’s aware of his bad personality? That’s unexpected.
“That persona is just a stream persona. My real personality is different. Kind. So, even if I stream 24/7, I’m safe.”
– Here he goes again with his nonsense.
– Oppa, no one believes that.
– It’s an academic consensus that he’s nice during streams. Haha.
– So, why’d you start the stream?
– Playing computer games?
“Oh, the reason I began streaming is to teach you how to see Kael’s vulnerable pattern in the next update.”
Viewers of Kael might not be able to type, but they probably would’ve spammed with disbelief if they could.
“I’ll inform you straightforwardly. Kael’s patterns are visible with a bit of wit.”
The roughly 3,000 viewers watching were momentarily stunned.
“A notice will be posted soon, so please check it out. Travel.”
Ignoring them, the stream ended.
– ?
– What was that?
– Crazy guy, hahaha.
– Curious folks, check The League’s Kael board.
– Truly an evil guy, haha.
– This character’s audience manipulation is legendary, haha.
As laughter erupted in the halted chat, it was evident they visited the Kael board and returned with gossip.
While amused chatter filled the streaming chat, it seemed likely they would shift focus to the board.
Just as Sojun did.
『??』
『Is this a provocation?』
『Did we get picked on?』
『Lol..』
『With a bit of wit, you can see!If bewildered, like this post, lol.』
『Looks like that guy’s bluffing and doesn’t actually know that, hahaha.』
Sojun let out a satisfied smile, typing a notice on iTube.
Coincidentally, a post that caught his fancy appeared.
『”Check the notice first before getting upset, guys!”』
==
But still, it’s infuriating.
Make sure your notice is well written, streamer pal. ^^
==
While noted for its content, the post wasn’t exactly positive.
Regardless, if left unattended, there could be serious folks cropping up who’d post angry vents, so a notice had to be quick.
Sojun typed swiftly and pressed enter, posting a notice to his iTube community.
『”I will directly explain the pattern of Kael in tomorrow’s stream!”』
The response was positive.
Comments from non-followers appeared swiftly.
– Oh!
– Wow!
– We, Kael-mains, have triumphed! The power of emails!
– This streamer is heading for great things! Kind person! Has a kind-looking face!
– Now we use the two-person ult, haha.
– Foolish lot, lol.
– His character training and viewer manipulation have reached an art form, haha, hyung-nim…
He didn’t plan to explain through a notice.
Had he done so, people wouldn’t be able to sleep trying to figure it out, unfortunately.
‘The next vulnerable spot for Kael lies in the position where it aligns with previous vulnerabilities. Writing this without further explanation would have…’
Led to sleepless nights filled with productive debate and study. Instead, only insults towards Sojun would have emerged.
It was inevitable.
It’s an intermediate-level problem.
Explained as just… moderately.
Aware.
Skillfully managed.
Those are the only explanations for this intuition.
Someone who designed it might post a solution, but even then, it wouldn’t guarantee that understanding leads to knowing. Not even for its creator.
Still, Sojun wasn’t without options.
“I could teach them how to develop this sense or offer direct aid to guide an awakening.”
Meanwhile, one email subject that caught his attention had also caught his eye.
『”Is this old Kael in the video Sojun-nim? I’m a fan!”』
The email sender was a high-tier Challenger talent.
Their self-introduction and request for guidance revealed this fact, and Sojun thought he found a fitting email, interlocking his fingers.
With a deeply earnest expression, he muttered,
“Could this be because they’re a Challenger?”
Viewers familiar with Sojun had become skeptical whenever he offered to teach.
Most viewers found it unsettling because they believed it transcended simply not wanting it due to disproportionate expertise disparities.
But now, that seemed to be proven.