NOVEL NEXT Chapter 51
Team Leader Yang Jae-min had come to the company today as usual, continuing his enjoyable salary-loafing routine.
Lately, he felt really good. Ever since he had banned a certain streamer under the pretext of viewbotting, it felt as if the world was his, and his spirits were light.
At first, his girlfriend, Si-young, questioned him about why the streamer she liked had been banned. She tried to hold him accountable as the moderator, but he had a justification.
All actions were taken after verification procedures were completed.
The streamer’s grievance wasn’t due to being wronged; it was simply because he was brazen.
As the streamer tried to gaslight his way out of the situation, Si-young, despite her disappointment, had no choice but to accept it. In the end, she complained that she felt betrayed by the streamer.
It was a perfectly executed victory for him.
He thought he wouldn’t have to watch his girlfriend enjoy that pathetic parasite-like stream anymore, and he smiled widely while leaning back in his chair, having only a work screen open, enjoying a community and idol photos, chuckling to himself.
“Um, Team Leader…”
“Uh, what?”
Just then, a subordinate unexpectedly approached his desk, and Jae-min hurriedly closed the internet tabs, grumbling internally about the interruption. It had been the best time and now he was being disturbed.
“Director Baek is calling for you. He said to come up to the director’s office as quickly as possible…”
“Director Baek? Okay, got it.”
However, realizing the reason was that it was his uncle, Director Baek Jin-seung, one of the company’s key figures, he hurriedly got up and straightened his clothes.
Wondering if it might be news of a promotion, he held onto that hope nervously and hurriedly made his way.
“Lulu~.”
He hummed a tune while waiting for the elevator to arrive, and soon enough he reached Director Baek Jin-seung’s office.
“Oh, I heard you called for me.”
He spoke casually to the secretary guarding the entrance, who politely bowed and stepped aside.
“Yes, they are all waiting, so you can go in.”
“…All?”
With the tone implying there was someone else waiting besides Director Baek, Jae-min momentarily tilted his head in confusion.
It wasn’t unusual for other employees to drop by the director’s office occasionally, but he thought this behavior was unlike Director Baek, who always preferred meeting privately.
Knock, knock.
“This is Team Leader Yang Jae-min. May I come in?”
– Yes, come in.
No matter how much he was family, he was still a superior at work, so he knocked and asked for permission before opening the door and stepping inside.
What greeted him was the familiar face of Director Baek Jin-seung and an unfamiliar beautiful woman.
“I heard you called for me.”
“Yes, start with introductions. This is Director Ryu Seo-ha from our company.”
Caught momentarily off guard by the stunning beauty, he quickly tried to manage his expression as he realized the woman’s identity.
Director Ryu Seo-ha.
There likely wasn’t a person in the entire Aiver who didn’t know that name, not only because she was a key figure next to Chairman Han Jong-ryul but also due to being the owner of Changseong Corporation.
“Hey, I’m Yang Jae-min. Currently overseeing the Cheese Server Management Department.”
“I see, I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Ryu Seo-ha.”
With a rather dry, even cold greeting, Jae-min felt a chill run down his spine. Usually, when meeting someone for the first time, a handshake might be expected, but Ryu Seo-ha kept her distance, as if the very idea repulsed her.
“Team Leader Yang, Director Ryu wants to ask you a few things, so that’s why I called you in.”
“Me…? You want to ask me?”
When Baek Jin-seung explained the reason for calling him, Jae-min’s eyes widened as he pointed to himself.
For some reason, he felt a chill run down his spine, but he nodded and prepared to answer the questions.
“Team Leader Yang, I heard that one streamer active on Cheese was unjustly banned permanently. Is that true?”
“Unjustly banned? Ah, are you referring to that streamer, Cosmo?”
“Yes.”
Though Jae-min wondered why such a name came from the lips of someone so powerful in the Aiver, internally he was gloating.
After all, the banned streamer’s notice on YouTube had caused a small uproar in the company, but every time that happened, Jae-min managed to convince them otherwise.
Thus, he opened his mouth confidently, certain there would be no repercussions this time.
“I heard that the streamer claimed he was innocent and made ridiculous statements, but according to our investigation, he was definitely a viewbot user. So please don’t worry about any rumors regarding the company…”
“What nonsense are you talking about? I’m not worried about this company.”
“…Excuse me?”
Jae-min stopped mid-sentence, rendered speechless by Seo-ha’s sharp and displeased tone, her arms crossed.
‘What’s going on? I thought she was worried about the platform being harmed or something.’
It seemed that employees, more than anyone, prioritized company profits, so he had assumed she was concerned about rumors spreading that the platform was unjustly banning streamers.
However, from her reaction, it seemed her worries were about something entirely different.
“If the ban was enforced for a reasonable cause, then we don’t have to worry. If the thief feels guilty, truly having done nothing wrong, then I wouldn’t care about our reputation being sullied.”
“Then what are you…?”
Just as he was about to continue asking, Seo-ha suddenly slammed a file down on the desk, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise.
“I want to know if the reason for that streamer’s permanent ban was indeed viewbotting.”
It was a question that almost made him gulp. But Jae-min swallowed his reaction, attempting to appear casual as he nodded.
“Y-Yes, of course. According to our investigation results, it was obviously clear…”
“We? That’s strange. I heard the ban on that streamer was carried out solely at your discretion.”
“……”
However, unlike before, he found it difficult to respond to her words.
It felt as if her tone implied she knew every detail regarding how this matter unfolded.
‘Could it be?’
Realizing the file was likely not an ordinary document, Jae-min sneaked a glance at it, and noticing his gaze, Seo-ha walked over, picked up the file, and began to spread its contents before him.
“It’s written here, Administrator Yang Jae-min. Also, I heard that as long as you have the approval of the decision-maker, you can approve actions without other staff reviews, right?”
“Ah…”
Jae-min felt his stomach churn upon seeing the papers he knew he had written laid out before him.
Indeed, the reason he was able to label that streamer Cosmo as a viewbot user and ban him unjustly was due to the lax system in the management department.
Whenever an investigation on a specific streamer was conducted, it required monitoring the live broadcast and data review by at least three employees to ensure everything was sound before any measures could be taken.
However, that does not apply to him, the head of that department. He was given unilateral authority solely because he was the final approving authority.
“I think there’s some misunderstanding on your part, Director. While it’s true the verification and actions were conducted at my discretion, we certainly did conduct thorough data reviews during that process.”
Internally, Jae-min felt a pang of defeat but pushed forward with excuses, reassuring himself that revealing his blunder was not an option at this stage.
Strictly speaking, “data review” was less about proper procedure and more about exhausting efforts to find a flaw.
“Really? Did you have any evidence?”
“Actually…yes. For example…”
He mixed in as many complicated terms as he could and began explaining the investigation on the streamer Cosmo; how it uncharacteristically showed an increase in followers and viewers from a certain point onwards, and how, in contrast to other streamers, this particular streamer had a lower ratio of viewer interaction.
With such detailed reasoning, there was no way she wouldn’t be able to understand.
Thus, he gestured and animatedly continued, but the response he received when he finished was utterly deflating.
“I see. So, where’s the evidence?”
“Pardon? Evidence, you say…what do you mean?”
Did she really not understand, after all he explained?
For a moment, Jae-min felt an urge to sock the woman in front of him, but the thought quickly faded.
“Are you really equating suspicion with evidence? What I’m asking is not why you banned that streamer, but whether you have any concrete proof to back it up.”
“Even if you say that…”
Of course, there was no possibility of such evidence existing. He had unjustly imposed the blame on someone who was innocent.
If he were to craft a scenario like a murder in a cartoon, it would be plausible to forge evidence through fingerprints or orchestrate things to create false evidence.
However, that didn’t apply in this situation. Thus, he had made the decision to ban independently.
If any other employees from the same team were to witness this, it would be apparent that he tried to frame someone without any evidence.
“Well, this is a bit complicated for you, Director, since you’re not an expert, but generally speaking, such bans don’t require absolute evidence to be enforced…”
So, Jae-min was desperately trying to appease Seo-ha’s concerns.
If she were to instruct a re-investigation to find evidence, the case would inevitably dissolve, and the streamer Cosmo would be recognized as wrongfully banned and released.
Moreover, the moment that news of the wrongful ban was made public, the blame would immediately shift to Aiver, and eventually, it would circle back to him.
He had to prevent that from happening, so Jae-min once again brought up the “you’re not knowledgeable enough” argument, trying to establish some distance as if to say, “You shouldn’t meddle in something you know nothing about.”
After all, she should have no means to know his internal affairs at this point, so he believed he could talk his way out of it.
“Hey.”
“…Yes?”
But that was an overly naive thought, as Seo-ha sharply addressed him, omitting any honorifics, while she scattered the papers from the file all over the floor.
Jae-min’s eyes widened at the sight of the A4 papers spreading across the floor.
The papers that covered the ground contained detailed statistics about the streamer Cosmo, backing up his sudden rise in viewership, along with various pieces of supporting evidence.
In other words, while they were attempting to frame a man without presenting any solid evidence, they had gathered a plethora of evidence asserting another man’s innocence.
“What? I can destroy a man without evidence? Then I guess I don’t really need a reason to ruin your life either, huh?”
“……”
At that moment, Jae-min finally understood that the woman in front of him hadn’t come seeking answers based merely on assumptions.
From the get-go, she had intended this. If he failed to deliver an appropriate answer, she was serious about burying him in this country.
And given her power and influence, her warning could never be taken lightly.
‘Uncle…!’
Desperately, Jae-min looked to his uncle, Director Baek Jin-seung, standing beside him for help, but all he did was clear his throat and pretended to gaze absently at the clouds outside.