Chapter 125: New Build-up (2)

The day after the announcement about the second fan meeting spread.

I was in ChickenBox’s office, looking at a horrifying result.

“…Did you perhaps bring in application documents from major companies?”

“What you see is exactly what it is.”

“No way…”

“He’s truly a top star. I anticipated this and prepared a lottery program, so there’s no need to worry too much. Haha! I expected the scale to grow this big.”

A mountain of application documents was piled on the desk.

Moreover, astonishingly, there were countless document boxes beneath them.

Mr. Sung-jae nodded in satisfaction and shook a USB stick in his right hand as he spoke.

“Actually, the documents are just decoration. All the information about the participants is contained in this USB. Our staff really worked hard to organize this.”

“Total number of applicants: 27,328… A competition ratio of about 273:1. Do you think this makes any sense?”

“Amazingly, it does. It proves that Mr. Chan-sik is practically a walking conglomerate.”

And this was the number of applicants counted in just one day.

All the members of the Evil Gang must have been counted, and many people applied to meet other members of the , not just me.

The scale of the second fan meeting had grown immensely compared to the first.

Mr. Sung-jae handed me two documents and said.

“The president of SD Corporation has stepped up as the official sponsor of this fan meeting and gladly lent us the convention hall you used last time.”

“Ah, Mr. Seong-su?”

“Yes, he also rented the buffet on the lower floor of the convention hall for two hours and reserved the large chicken restaurant in front of the Luna Capsule Room.”

“My goodness.”

“Mr. Chan-sik is a reliable partner of SD Corporation. He said it was only natural.”

As expected, the generosity of the chaebols was beyond prediction.

It’s not even about playing his company’s game, but just holding a personal fan meeting, and he’s providing this much support.

It was a treatment worthy of considering me as an exclusive advertising model.

This is why they say, ‘chaebol third generation, chaebol third generation.’

“Don’t worry too much, Mr. Chan-sik. We at ChickenBox will manage this fan meeting thoroughly.”

“Thank you.”

There was no one as reliable as Mr. Sung-jae in these matters.

I nodded with a sly smile.

Alright, no need to worry too much.

“Next Monday, there’s a special shoot for , and on Friday of that week, there’s a shoot for .”

“…Phew.”

It was indeed a killer schedule.

Just thinking about squeezing in internet broadcasting in between made my neck feel stiff already.

However, Mr. Sung-jae smiled gently as if understanding my thoughts.

“Think about the Twipod party in the U.S. You can properly take a vacation for about a week, can’t you?”

Except for the week off after the ‘incident’ where I revealed myself as , I hadn’t had a proper rest.

Recently, I’d even been broadcasting on days I was supposed to take a break.

Moreover, I wasn’t just playing games in my room like before.

I often did outdoor broadcasts, shoots for , and advertisements.

It was a killer schedule that was naturally draining my energy.

“Phew, I really have to hold on just thinking about that.”

“You could have a cozy trip with Ms. Na-young.”

“Ahem.”

“By the way, when are you planning to announce your official relationship? If the two new pillars of ChickenBox come together… let us know your plans for children in advance. Pre-contracting them as child creators wouldn’t be a bad idea.” ℞

This guy…

Come to think of it, Na-young was also looking forward to going to the U.S. with me last time.

Mr. Sung-jae whispered in my ear.

“If things go south, I’ll pull Mr. Dong-su out for you. You two can enjoy yourselves. Since the Twipod party is in LA, taking a week off in LA would be nice too.”

Recently, the frequency of meeting Na-young separately had decreased.

Hmm.

Since the ‘incident’ where I hugged Na-young tightly, nothing significant had happened.

I felt like I needed to increase the frequency of meeting Na-young privately to do something about it…

I’ll have to ask Mr. Owang later.

He recently started a successful relationship with a famous female streamer, so I might need to get some tips from him.

“I’ll proceed with the work as we discussed today. First, there’s the advertisement shoot next week.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll send the draw results via email as soon as they’re finalized.”

“Please take care of it.”

After thoroughly discussing the second fan meeting and future schedules, I finally left the company.

As Mr. Sung-jae said, the first priority was shooting the special advertisement for .

SD Corporation generously gave me, Mr. Dong-su, and Huh-soo 100 million each.

This was because the first advertisement had a promotional effect beyond their expectations.

“Chan-sik!”

“Huh? Na-young. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been calling you since earlier, why haven’t you been answering your phone?”

I checked my smartphone belatedly.

There were three missed calls from Na-young.

“Sorry… I was talking about work at the company.”

Na-young squinted at me and then sighed.

“Did you finish well?”

“Yes.”

“Then let’s go shopping together today. I need to buy clothes, and don’t you need to buy some too? We have to go to the U.S. You don’t have many clothes you usually wear.”

She caught me again.

I awkwardly nodded at Na-young’s words, and she slowly smiled at me.

“You’re buying lunch.”

“Alright. What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s think about it while we walk.”

Na-young grabbed my sleeve and led me forward with a gentle smile.

There were many shopping malls as well as offices in the Gasan Digital Complex, so we could buy clothes there.

Since it’s been a while since I hung out with Na-young, I decided to enjoy it comfortably.

4.

-Streamer couple born? The hot streamer Shia and Na-young, their date spotted!

-Walking confidently without masks!

-Can their sweet onscreen marriage become real?

-Who is the streamer Na-young?

“Hey, at least wear a mask. You both are too careless.”

“…I mean, who knew there would be paparazzi?”

“You know you’re a public figure now. You’re probably more famous than I am.”

This place was a large studio rented by SD Corporation.

A total of 30 capsules were installed.

I was getting scolded by Mr. Dong-su there.

It was because the shopping I did with Na-young at Gasan Digital Complex last time became an article in an instant.

Na-young didn’t seem to mind much, and Mr. Lee only patted my back a few times.

Though the pats were somewhat strong.

Honestly, I think I had bruises for a day or so.

I certainly felt that the attention toward me had increased recently.

I’m not sure if it’s because the status of streamers has risen, or if my own status has risen, but still.

“Be careful. Not for you, but bad rumors can be quite damaging for female streamers. Sae-rin and Yoo-seon also mentioned that.”

I knew well that everyone was saying this out of concern for us.

That’s just how Mr. Dong-su is.

While listening to our conversation, Huh-soo sharply spoke to me.

“Na-young is too good for you. I don’t know why she’s dating you.”

“At least I’m more fun than you, don’t you think?”

“Swearing a lot doesn’t make a broadcast fun.”

“Even so, I probably have more content than you, don’t you think? Didn’t you play just two games in China? Heh.”

Huh-soo gritted his teeth and just glared at me.

Who told him to pick a fight first?

Life is all about giving an inch and taking a mile.

“You two really get along. Gosh, back in the days, Huh-soo always wanted to kill you, Chan-sik. Those were the days…”

Come to think of it, it was a bit upsetting.

Before the betrayal incident, I belonged to Brother Dong-su’s guild, but Brother Dong-su didn’t take my side.

He didn’t side with Huh-soo either, though.

He always stood in the middle, listening to both sides.

That was the position Brother Dong-su held in .

It’s the same now.

There are quite a few streamers who don’t get along, but Brother Dong-su managed to maintain a great balance among them.

Isn’t that why his broadcasts have such longevity?

“By the way, do you think you can handle today?”

Huh-soo accepted Brother Dong-su’s mediation and asked me.

I gulped and forced myself to nod.

“Honestly, I’m not sure.”

“Please, make sure the yukgaejang is from a good place.”

“Is he crazy? Even if he speaks, he must.”

“But I do worry about you. I might have forgiven you, but…”

Today, it wasn’t just me, Huh-soo, and Brother Dong-su, the model representatives, who were gathering here.

The former rankers who once decorated the highlights of with us were also coming.

SD Corporation had personally gathered past rankers to evoke nostalgia.

Most of them had quit gaming and pursued other careers. Very few, like us, made a living through streaming.

I took a sip of the coffee in front of me and exhaled deeply.

I never got along well with the rankers in the past.

I was the unofficial number one, the implicit overall top ranker.

Maybe that’s why I often clashed with the official rankers.

There was likely a lot of bad blood.

I couldn’t easily predict what would happen if we met face-to-face.

Brother Dong-su, in a mischievous tone, spoke to me, who was struggling to stay calm.

“The guys are all eager to teach you a lesson.”

“Please stop them.”

“Why should I? Your intention of dating with me around is too impure… You need to face some consequences.”

Without Brother Dong-su’s help, I might actually die.

As we were talking, Brother Seong-su, who had arrived at the filming site, approached us with a refreshing smile.

Today, the highlight was the watch peeking out from his clean suit.

He really looked cool dressed like that.

Is this the charm of capitalism?

“Dong-su and Chan-sik, you’re early again today?”

“Long time no see.”

“You’re here, Brother.”

Brother Seong-su lightly greeted us and then looked at Huh-soo with a big smile.

He extended his hand to Huh-soo and said.

“We are honored to have you join our project, Mr. Cerberus.”

“No, sir. It’s a great honor for me.”

“Thanks to Mr. Cerberus joining us, we can shoot this special advertisement today. I hope we can build a good relationship going forward.”

Brother Seong-su had also once been a gamer who truly loved .

That’s why he understood the significance of the nickname .

He was a player standing in complete contrast to me.

If I had a dark and gloomy image, Huh-soo always thrived in the light.

An image of justice.

Though, considering his recent manner of speaking, he didn’t seem that righteous.

Huh-soo softly smiled and spoke to Brother Seong-su.

“Feel free to call on me anytime.”

“Great. Ah, it looks like the participants for today’s shoot will be arriving soon.”

From what I heard, Brother Seong-su arranged vehicles in each region for the people appearing in the advertisement.

It seemed they were about to arrive.

I took a deep breath to maintain my composure.

There shouldn’t be any major problems.

I mean, would they really harm me in an advertisement shoot?

“All Seoul team participants have arrived!”

“North Gyeonggi team arrived.”

“South Gyeonggi team arrived.”

Besides us, there were a total of 27 participants for today’s shoot.

As the participants started entering through the door one by one, they looked at me with sly smiles.

What on earth did those smiles mean?

“Hey.”

As I was taking deep breaths, trying to regain my composure, Huh-soo spoke to me with a happy expression.

“Did you write your will?”

“Huh-soo.”

“Want to leave a last message? Hurry up.”

…If I go, I’ll make sure to take this bastard with me.

Grinding my teeth, I looked ahead.

Will we be able to finish the advertisement shoot safely?