A Swordsman’s Stream

Chapter 64

*Psshhh.*

Sojun emerged from the capsule.

After glancing at the clock hands pointing to 10, he headed out of his room to wash up.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah. What about you?”

“It’s my day off from streaming today. Oh, right. You can’t take a day off streaming for a while, right?”

“Why?”

“To rank within the top 16 in the Battlefield, you have to play games every day, don’t you?”

“But I can still take a break.”

“What? You mean you’re going to play the game but not stream it? I mean, technically you could do what you’re saying… But you’re not going to take a day off on the last day of the Battlefield and play alone, are you? If you do that, people will call you crazy. Even your loyal viewers will riot.”

“What a great idea. I’ll definitely do that and tell the viewers that it was your suggestion.”

“What? Hey, then my stream will get wrecked. If your viewers come to cause trouble, my viewers will definitely join in for fun.”

Kim Taewoo, who had been lounging on the living room sofa like a sloth, turned over immediately.

“Hey, that’s taboo among streamers.”

“It’s probably like that among streamers. But we’re friends, aren’t we?”

“Why am I your friend?”

He just lost his only friend.

Damn it.

He wasn’t sad, though.

“Alright, then order some food.”

After that, Sojun told Taewoo, who was now more of a housekeeper than a friend, and headed to the bathroom.

* * *

10:30.

It was time for the usual meeting of the So Labor Department, which Sojun typically attended if nothing else came up.

Before the meeting, he routinely checked the streaming statistics.

The peak number of live viewers today was,『8,791』

Since breaking through the identity of the 10th-level AI before, the cursed barrier of 10,000 viewers hadn’t been broken. Reaching 10,000 was that challenging.

The regular viewers were,『5,461』

Regular viewers were defined as those who met a certain criterion set by Travel among those who watched Sojun’s streams. Typically, the live stream viewer count converged around this number of regular viewers.

Therefore, if the live viewer count was significantly higher than the number of regular viewers, it indicated that there was a lot of new interest and exposure.

Conversely, if the live viewers were much lower than the regular viewers, it meant the regulars were leaving significantly, which was a major concern for a streamer.

“And iTube?”

Managed by two editors, Sojun mainly just checked on it casually.

“Certainly.”

The collaboration video with Alpaca, and the video linked by MubiSoft, had the highest views among Sojun’s videos.

The combined view count for these two videos reached 800,000.

Considering that these were videos from a channel that had been live for less than a month, it was an incredible achievement.

Taewoo, who was observing and supposedly advising from behind, remarked.

“The siphon effect is crazy.”

“Indeed, it is.”

However, the influx of viewers driven solely by algorithm suggestions was consistently increasing overall. There were also plenty of foreign viewers who became regulars.

The subscriber count was,『50,000』

“Wow, that’s fast.”

The growth rate was steep.

“Sojun-nim, did you know?”

“Know what?”

“The capsule game iTubers are gods.”

“What nonsense is that?”

“Huh, the revenue when calculated will be enormous.”

Even earning just enough to pay the editors’ salaries was profitable.

“Is 50,000 subscribers that amazing?”

Currently, iTube’s channel analysis indicated zero in all components, so the expected revenue couldn’t be determined.

Han Jimin mentioned that this often happened to channels where no settlements had ever been made.

She had experienced it herself.

That’s why they hired experienced professionals.

“Hey. You don’t think that you would earn the same money just because your ad has the same views, right?”

“Huh?”

Sojun hadn’t considered that at all until Kim Taewoo’s words made him realize there was more to it.

“There must be different rates.”

“Correct. You look like you just learned something new.”

He’s quite perceptive.

“Explain it to me.”

“Alright. You probably don’t know the details, so I’ll explain. It’s the most important factor influencing the ad rate on iTube. That factor is firstly, secondly, and thirdly—the audience.”

“I see.”

“For example, a golf channel that’s popular among middle-aged men would have viewers with high purchasing power, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then the rate would be higher. Even if it only gets 200,000 views, it might earn as much as others with a million views.”

“Really?”

“Yes. There’s even a ranking of expected earnings by category.”

“Is there such a thing?”

“It’s all estimated, but 6th is health, 5th is beauty, 4th is real estate, 3rd is interior design, 2nd is finance and investment.”

“Wow.”

“And finally, number 1 is virtual reality games.”

“Why is it so high?”

“What do you think is the reason?”

“Well…”

It’s clear that these categories are ranked based on the purchasing power of their audience. What matters in advertising is how much the viewers buy. To know how much they buy, you need to know what to sell.

For the audience watching virtual reality games, what to sell is clear: games.

And moreover…

“Virtual reality games aren’t that expensive, right?”

“Exactly.”

“Even elementary students can save up and buy them. Some are free at capsule rooms.”

Although the capsule itself was quite a costly item for students, they could simply enjoy the games in capsule rooms.

“That’s exactly right.”

“So most of the viewers are just potential customers?”

“Plus, the viewer base is huge. The largest, in fact!”

Smartphones played a role in bringing women and the elderly into the gaming market, which was predominantly enjoyed by men.

Thanks to smartphones, the gaming market had become a massive industry with over 3 billion customers worldwide, three times larger than the movie market.

Then came capsules, which, while they might not be as widely spread as smartphones, boosted the industry’s overall revenue significantly.

The enjoyment from mobile games just couldn’t compare.

Excluding cases like Sojun, who was uniquely unable to enjoy them, most people who tried virtual reality, even on other devices, transitioned to this side.

“Indeed. This is why they call it a godsend. Of course, there will be many competitors, but Sojun-nim, you’ve already reached 50,000.”

“50,000 must be much higher than I thought.”

“Yes. It’s always the hardest to take off initially.”

Perhaps he was just getting started.

“Moreover, with your current view count, which is good relative to subscribers, I think you could hit a thousand.”

* * *

After seeing Taewoo off, Sojun started the So Labor Department meeting.

The meeting was mainly conducted through text.

It didn’t usually contain much since it was just for fun and communicating with each other.

But today was different.

『Han Jimin: There are two emails today that the boss needs to check.』
『Lee Gunyung: As expected! It’s the boss!』

Han Jimin became the manager.

Being a manager mainly involved negotiating ads.

After all, Sojun had been handling iTube management all along and didn’t need help for live streams.

Sojun usually managed the minor tasks himself. If anything came up, he could just ask Taewoo.

“There’s no reason to refuse.”

Given his somewhat experienced background and the fact that the final decision ultimately rested in Sojun’s hands, he had been considering offering additional compensation if someone exhibited extraordinary negotiation skills, though he wasn’t overly optimistic about it.

『Sojun: Just a moment. I’ll check and come back.』
『Han Jimin: Okay.』

Sojun logged into the website, entered the official account’s ID and password he had created to share with Han Jimin, and checked the email inbox.

“Two messages?”

It was unexpected, considering that no significant emails had arrived before.

“Is this it?”

Han Jimin had already placed the important emails in a convenient folder for him to check easily.

Sojun opened the first email, which began with ‘Hello, Sojun-nim.’

『Hello, Sojun-nim. I am Streamer Ark.』

==

I am a streamer with a channel boasting 800,000 subscribers on iTube.

I once made a donation when you were strategizing through the Magic Tower, and since then, I’ve continued to be a viewer of your streams.

The reason I’m sending this email is to ask for your permission to feature your story in my main content, ‘For the Battlefield’.

‘For the Battlefield’ summarizes events that occurred during game battles and developments between factions, reaching up to millions of views.

The video will proceed as follows, so please take a look and let me know if it meets your approval.

(Community Link)

I’ve already posted a top 10 article in the community, so if you’d like it removed, please let me know.

==

“Ah, this is that person.”

Streamer Ark. He recently heard the name while watching ‘For the Battlefield’ and now remembered it.

The person who uploaded the strategy for the Magic Tower.

He recalled viewers debating about the “official streamer narrative” and attempting to spin tales.

“Why would I refuse an offer to feature in content that gathers millions of views?”

Nonetheless, just to be sure, Sojun sought the opinion of those managing his iTube.

『Han Jimin: The influx of viewers from the video will far outweigh any loss of viewers.』
『Lee Gunyung: That’s the third siphon, then. Good!』

There appeared to be no opposition.

Now, the second email posed a new issue.

“Is it common to ask like this?”

Sojun stared at the email, puzzled.

『To Streamer Sojun-nim.』

==

Hello.

We are a small indie game developer, MONSTER.

MONSTER is set to release an action-adventure game soon.

The first chapter scheduled for airing will feature a horror theme.

Therefore, we’re looking for a streamer to promote it upon release. Are you proficient in horror games as a streamer?

==

Even considering the lengthy time left until the release, typically, one would conduct an evaluation and proceed with advertising, rather than inquire as such, right?

Sojun consulted someone experienced in the field.

『Han Jimin: The streaming market has expanded, and since distribution platforms now provide more advertising funds, there has been an increase in indie game developers.』
『Han Jimin: Most indie developers primarily comprise developers, often lacking marketing or publicity teams, leading them to more directly inquire about necessary aspects.』

He understood. It’s certainly more straightforward this way.

『Lee Gunyung: So, boss, are you good at horror games?』
『Sojun: I have rarely experienced fear.』

In the past, when even the True Heavenly Demon referred to him as a close friend, he might have felt a fleeting fear.

When else?

『Lee Gunyung: Hahaha, I figured as much.』
『Lee Gunyung: Imagining you scared and recoiling is quite absurd.』
『Han Jimin: Indeed, boss has the impression of someone who might even punch ghosts.』
『Sojun: ……』
『Han Jimin: Anyways, we’ll respond saying you’re skilled at it!』
『Sojun: Yes.』

Sojun felt like he might have overlooked something but dismissed it as trivial.