The next morning, I sat in my office as LOAN had asked for a day to get things ready. In front of me was a giant man looking at me. It was Jung-han Yoo, our company’s only manager that I brought from HS.
“Jung-han.”
“Yes, Boss. Did I… do something wrong?”
Something wrong? No. If anything, I felt nothing but apologetic toward him. He was diligent, honest, and loyal. I brought him after promising a bright future and then only made him suffer
It had been as terrible for him as it had been for me. The girls at least succeeded eventually, but it would just be a waste of time for him.
I put my hand on his shoulders and said, “You know what. This time, I’ll make you successful.”
“Boss? You’re not… thinking of gambling, are you? You can’t! Ever!”
“…How did you come to that conclusion? I’m talking about being a successful manager, you punk.”
“Oh, was that it? Haha.”
Even with HS Entertainment’s sweet talking, Jung-han hadn’t betrayed me. I owed him a lot. If things were going to end badly anyway, why not just betray me and take the money? What was the point in staying loyal?
This time, I’ll help you do everything you want!
“Jung-han, there’s been a change in plans.”
I explained everything I had planned while he was on vacation. From the members’ potential talents to the recent contract with LOAN, and even talking about guidelines for things like ‘What to do when HS entertainment tries to keep us in check in certain ways.’
I shared everything I could think of about the newly changed plans.
The longer I talked, the more Jung-han’s respect grew.
“As expected of you, Boss! I respect you the most!”
“Yes, you only need to follow me.”
“Um, but Boss.”
“Yes?”
“It’s… about Yoon-jung’s plan.”
“What is it? Does the streaming part bother you a bit? You don’t have to worry too much. Yoon-jung can upload dance videos and show off her artistic side—”
“No, it’s not that,” he said. With a puzzled expression, he continued. “Do we have to start later?”
“Huh?”
“There’s a lot of people who gain popularity by streaming, even as amateur gamers. Skill and popularity aren’t strongly related.”
“Oh… really?”
To be honest, I wasn’t well-versed on the internet side of things. I only knew that Yoon-jung was extremely good at games, and that she was extremely popular in streaming and on YouTube.
That’s why I planned for her to stream games after her gaming skills improved. But to think that skill and popularity weren’t strongly related.
“To be honest, just showing Yoon-jung’s face will get us halfway there.”
“Is that how it is? Even for streaming games?”
“It would be a plus if she was also good at games. The most important part is being entertaining. Even if she’s pretty and good at games, it wouldn’t be any use if she wasn’t entertaining. It’s something we can’t know ahead of time whether we start now or later.”
I knew that she would gain popularity. In other words, it meant that her stream was entertaining, but it wasn’t necessarily connected to being skilled.
“I think it would be fine to start now. If she’s going to succeed, she will. If not, it would be better to save time and focus on uploading dance videos. She can become better on stream with time, but we can find out if she has what it takes early on.”
As expected of my intuition. From here on out, I’d leave him in charge of things like streaming and YouTube. What more was there to think about?
“Then let’s start right away.”
“Um, Boss…”
“What?”
“We also need streaming equipment.”
“…”
“I’ll handle everything, so feel free to take the kids to the practice facility.”
“…Okay.”
Just then, the respect in his eyes vanished without a trace.
***
After practice, Yoon-jung was taken aback by the changes to her computer desk. There were lights, an extra monitor and computer body, and even a microphone and camera.
“President Kang? I’m not ready yet.”
“Not ready?”
“I’m not skilled enough yet.”
I shared the same concern until this morning. But not anymore.
“You can try it out once and think of it as a test run.”
“…Right. A test run,” Yoon-jung nodded.
With Jung-han’s help, she created an account and learned how to use the two monitors. He also went over the basics of how to operate streams.
It looked like he studied up while I was away at the practice facility. Or maybe… No, let’s leave it at that. If he had succeeded in streaming, he wouldn’t have been here right now.
I decided to keep my suspicions about his past to myself.
Soon enough, she booted up a game and started streaming. She seemed to be much more relaxed after hearing it would be an experiment.
“Just do what you usually do. Since it’s a live stream, feel free to say what you’re thinking and check the comments when you have time. Got it?”
“Got it.”
She didn’t need any touch ups. I didn’t want to make her nervous by dressing her up, so she wore a simple short-sleeved shirt.
The lighting highlighted her natural beauty, making her look innocent and approachable.
‘Maybe this is for the best.’
The live stream started off slowly. At first, Yoon-jung felt burdened with the President and Jung-han looking at her but quickly became focused once the game started.
Her usual daily play time didn’t amount to much, and there were many days when she couldn’t play at all. Now, it felt like she was free from anything holding her back. She was at her peak, her skills honed through consistent practice during her break.
‘He said to talk, right?’
A glance at the viewer count told her there were 12 viewers – a small number. She felt even less nervous knowing that this was a test run.
‘Yeah, it’s just practice.’
She was playing a game called Battle Royale. In this game, 100 players were dropped into a restricted zone and fought other players.
“Looks like the plane is passing through my target area. I’ll drop here.”
Military Base. It was the most densely populated area on this map, making it challenging to survive.
– woah, who’s dis? Came cuz of the thumbnail but she’s hot
– she’s the real deal
– craazy
– what’s her theme?
– no one knows. She just started streaming lolol
– Imma go after checking her out lol
All 12 viewers were drawn into the stream by her thumbnail. Unbothered, she parachuted down and scouted the area.
“A lot of players are dropping here. Looks like maybe at least 20 people.”
– that’s a lot what the heck lol your super unlucky
– if you last 10 seconds, I’ll stick around for one more round
– 5 kills and I stay another round
– 5 kills? Nahh lol when this happens, you gotta grab whatever’s left
– for real lol
The ‘D’ route was used by the most players at the Military Base. It led to an area with the juiciest loot.
Swoosh– Tap. Yoon-jung’s character landed on the rooftop, and she spared no time to quickly loot items. Her gameplay was on point, like a pro.
“Double barrel. It’s one of my favorite guns.”
She loaded the gun and turned around. Bang!
1KILL.
“Because it’s a one-shot one-kill.”
Yoon-jung moved quickly – there were still people left on the roof.
Taking cover behind an object, Yoon-jung reloaded, peeked out, and – bang! She fired again.
2KILL.
As she quickly took out two players, the remaining players also engaged in combat. On the roof, the only remaining players were Yoon-jung and a player wielding an AK-47.
The other player took cover, trying to turn this into a battle of will. In contrast, Yoon-jung – seemingly uninterested in such tactics – reloaded and immediately dashed out. She fired again – Bang!
3KILL.
“I got hit. Still, I’m alive and they’re not. This is why shotguns are great. It’s a one-shot one-kill.”
Yoon-jung’s voice was calm as she smiled brightly.
– yooo she smiled
– 3 kills in less than 30 seconds?!
– is she a pro? look at her go. R u a pro?
– one shot wonder hahaha
– you guys r so dramatic
“Oh? It’s an AWM.* This is one of my favorite guns since it’s also a one-shot one-kill.” The Arctic Warfare Magnum was a British sniper rifle and commonly abbreviated to AWM.
“Hm…? Huh? You’re going to farm like that over there?” She went down the flight of stairs and aimed her AWM at a user in the opposite building. Before they could even see it coming, she took a head shot – Bang!
4KILL
– Yooooooo!
– you guys seriously stop
– she really loves those one hit KOs lolol
“Huh? What’s that person doing? They’re riding a motorcycle right now?”
Yoon-jung took aim at the motorcyclist that was zigzagging left to right and – Bang! As she fired, the motorcycle fell and skidded across the ground.
5KILL
– …I’ll watch the next round
– anyone caught running away is a goner
– wut? someone wants to leave the stream? fat chance lol
Yoon-jung’s impressive streak continued.
“Huh? Someone’s planting a bomb here?”
“Huh, what? They’re gonna eat supplies now?”
“Huh? Someone’s trying to snipe me?”
“Huh?”
“Huh?”
With every “Huh?” from Yoon-jung, her kill count increased by one. The chat was flooded with “Huh?” messages as viewers enjoyed the stream.
“Huh?”
Bang! 28KILL.
“I got first place.”
Viewers who were drawn in by Yoon-jung’s thumbnail didn’t leave since they were having fun. When she took first place, there were 52 viewers.
“Jung-han.”
“Yes, Boss.”
“It kind of looks like… skill is important?”
“…She’s pretty, so it’s a plus if she’s also good at games. If you put together being fun and being skilled, that would be the ultimate combo.”
“Yeah, but Jung-han–”
“Yes, Boss.”
“–Yoon-jung said that she wasn’t skilled enough, though?”
“…!” Jung-han’s eyes widened.
At that time, Yoon-jung removed her headset and unplugged the jack.
“President Kang, what did you think of the test stream?”
“Huh…?”
As I was at a loss for words, the donation jingle echoed through speakers and an AI generated voice spoke.
– What? President? Test stream? What’s this mean? Why don’t you fill us in on it too?
“Oh, I did this after my boss asked me to do a test stream.”
The chat became flooded with question marks, and another AI voice chimed in.
– What? So are you going to tell us what this test stream is that you’re doing with your boss or what?
She was a newbie, but she answered in a way to eat up two donations like a pro.
“Oh! I guess I didn’t introduce myself. Hello, my name is Yoon-jung. I’m the main dancer from Blue Sherbet.”
In that moment, the few 52 viewers flooded the chat like wildfire.
“…If you’re pretty and good at games, that’s a winning combo. If you add fun and talent to the mix, you become unstoppable. And if you can dance well in a girl group, it’s a superstar. Yoon-jung is… success in a bowl, Boss.”
I agreed.
“Continue streaming, Yoon-jung.”
“Can I?”
“Go ahead. You can do anything you want.”
That day, Yoon-jung streamed for five hours, had 400 viewers at her peak, and earned 300,000 KRW.*
(T/N: 300k Won is equivalent to about 220 USD as of June 2024.)
This was before the rumors spread. After the stream ended, internet streaming communities were filled with numerous posts and clips from Yoon-jung’s videos.
It was the moment the eco destroyer disrupted the streaming industry.
—