Chapter 8

"Yes. I mixed them up, thinking outside the box. They are certainly in the same flavor category, but the tastes are definitely different. It's the same principle as mixing crab and shrimp meat."

"Ah."

When I heard it, it made sense.

I adjusted the focus of my FX9 and carefully took a picture of the sushi.

"Hmm..."

When I put it in my mouth, the taste wasn't particularly great. However, it was an excellent menu item to post as a one-minute video on YouTube.

"Can I post this now? I won't mention the ingredients."

"Really? Not mention the ingredients?"

"Yes. Since it's still in development, it might be better to post it when we officially launch. I'll post a video under a minute suggesting people guess the ingredients, and when this sushi officially joins the menu, I'll reveal the ingredients."

"Ah, that's a good idea."

Chef Yoo nodded.

"Great. Since we're launching this weekend anyway."

With his approval, I smiled brightly.

"Great! I'll post it!"

I quickly uploaded the video.

The title of this video was, "Sushi that only a few people in the world have tasted."

*Ding dong. Ding dong.*

After a while, the notification sound for an increase in subscribers came again.

'Just as I thought.'

I smiled.

After the second video was uploaded, the number of subscribers increased by nearly 100, reaching 287.

Why did this happen even though I was kicked out of the Sushi Man channel, which was a gateway?

It's because the attention I drew from the Sushi Man channel still remained.

The new video I posted appeared on the first page of the YouTube feed for those who saw my comment on the Sushi Man channel.

Sushi Man might not know, but his channel was still leading his subscribers to my channel, contrary to his intentions.

451 subscribers

"Want to start a YouTube channel together?"

"Yeah. I need an editor. And since I want to grow it big, I need help with various tasks. I'm gathering colleagues."

I nodded in response.

"Hmm."

The guy scratching his head after hearing me was my classmate, Kang Bum-soo.

We're both in the Media Communication department at K University, or simply, the Media and Communication department, and we're in our third year.

He's a guy who stands out in our department for his exceptional video editing skills.

He has memorized an incredible number of shortcuts for video editing programs like Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro.

It's not just about memorizing them; he actually applies them well, showing amazing work speed.

He tried to start a YouTube channel a few times, saying he wanted to do it, but he never succeeded.

To successfully run a YouTube channel, several conditions are necessary.

Concept, sense, speaking ability, appearance, video production skills, and so on.

In my opinion, Bum-soo didn't have much to offer except for his video editing skills.

So... I actually like it.

He's perfect as my colleague.

"What's up? Last time you said you didn't want to start a channel together."

Yeah. That was because I thought it would fail if we followed the concept you suggested at the time.

But I can't say that directly.

"There was a reason. I already made the channel."

"Really? Did you upload videos?"

"Yeah."

When I nodded, Bum-soo picked up his phone and asked.

"What's the channel name?"

"Um... It's not a sushi channel."

"What?"

"It's not a sushi channel."

I confirmed again.

It was a bit random to tell him without an explanation, but I had to give him the name for him to search.

"Crazy... What kind of channel name is that? Is it some new kind of clickbait?"

Bum-soo muttered as he opened the YouTube app and typed it into the search bar.

"Really? Wow?"

Bum-soo's eyes widened.

"Crazy... Both videos are about sushi? And you say it's not a sushi channel?"

"It's a bit complicated. I'll change it soon."

I frowned as I answered.

"Wow? But 449 subscribers? What's this? You uploaded two one-minute videos and got over 400 subscribers? Damn. I didn't get more than 50 subscribers even after uploading 10 videos last time?"

Bum-soo raised his voice.

"Yeah. And more than 10 of those 50 were classmates from our department, including me."

"Shut up, you. How did you do it? Wait. Let me see the videos first."

Bum-soo seemed interested.

I waited quietly for him to watch all my videos.

Well, I only waited for about 2 minutes.

"Seriously? There's no voiceover at all?"

"Yeah. Sushi isn't cooked with fire, so there's no cooking sound. So, it's a bit difficult to do ASMR (videos that record sounds at high volume)."

"Ah, there are ambient sounds? You didn't edit it at all?"

Bum-soo said. He seemed more interested in the editing.

"Yeah. I shot it directly and uploaded it live from the scene."

"But how did you get so many subscribers?"

"First, see the video titles? 'Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's First Sushi,' 'Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's Sushi No One Has Tasted.'"

"Yeah. Is this a channel that follows Chef Yoo Min-hyuk?"

"Ah, no. This guy is quite famous in the sushi industry and recently opened a new place. So, sushi YouTubers mentioned him a lot. But the store wasn't open yet, so YouTube's algorithm pushed my videos to the subscribers of Yoo Min-hyuk, and I got lucky."

"Hmm... So, the videos got popular just because of that?"

"People who commented with 'Yoo Min-hyuk' would see it. The keywords in the comments and my title matched."

"Ah, I see."

At this point, I told him the story of how I ended up visiting Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's new store and the story involving Sushi Man and his followers.

"Tricky YouTube algorithm."

Bum-soo chuckled after hearing my explanation.

"Ultimately, the channel name 'Not a Sushi Channel' also gets caught in the search algorithm, right? It will still show up when searching for sushi, whether positive or negative."

"Ah, right. You catch on quickly."

"Moreover, since your videos suddenly got popular, the algorithm would have pushed them even more. It's a winner-takes-all system."

I was honestly impressed. Bum-soo, you're smart.

"Wow... You know that too?"

I was genuinely impressed.

"At that time, the professor explained how SNS algorithms work. Whether positive or negative, it doesn't matter. Both 'Sushi Channel' and 'Not a Sushi Channel' work similarly."

"Ah, so you didn't fall asleep in class?"

"Shut up. I listen carefully to lectures about OTT and SNS."

Bum-soo said.

Although we're in the Media Communication department, there are many more lectures on media, newspapers, and broadcasting.

However, in our department, the number of students who want to become YouTubers or influencers is more than those who want to become newspaper journalists or TV anchors.

There aren't many formal lectures on OTT or SNS yet.

But when they are offered, students flock to them, listening with bright eyes, which is unusual for today's university scene.

Bum-soo and I, who don't usually care about grades, managed to absorb such content well.

"Thanks to Sushi Man's strong reaction, it helped. Even though he deleted the comments, the record of his and his subscribers' views and replies to my videos remained. The algorithm uses that record to show my videos."

"Hmm. If he had blocked you, it could have erased that algorithm route."

"Yeah, but it seems he didn't."

"Hmm."

My channel had 449 subscribers... Now it's 451.

Anyway, let's move on to the main topic.

"Come on, let's do it together. I'm really going to launch a proper YouTube channel this time."

"Why did you change your mind?"

"I didn't change my mind. I didn't want to start without a proper concept. Now I have a clear concept."

"So, what's the concept? I need to know that to decide."

"Yeah. It's something I've been thinking about from the beginning."

"What is it?"

Bum-soo leaned in, showing interest.

"I went to Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's store opening, right? There were 7 other customers besides my mom and me."

"Yeah."

"So, only 9 people enjoyed that. Chef Yoo Min-hyuk might open another store later, but for now, there are fewer than 10 people in the world who were opening customers of this store."

"Yeah, that's right."

"And the two sushi videos I uploaded are the same. One is Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's first opening menu, and the other is a sushi he developed that no one has tasted yet."

"Yeah."

"They both have something in common, right? They're experiences that only a few people in the world have had."

"Ah... So, you're going to make that your concept?"

Bum-soo's face showed some skepticism as he asked.

"Yeah. I've already chosen two possible titles: 'Experiences Only a Few People in the World Have Had' or 'Experiences Less Than 10 People Have Had.' Something like that."

"Wow..."

"Why? Do you like it?"

I smiled and asked, and Bum-soo answered firmly.

"Yeah. It sounds fun. It's also easy to draw attention. But!"

"Yeah."

"How are we going to do it? The sushi was a stroke of luck this time. How can we, ordinary college students, keep filming things that few people have experienced? You know, to run a proper YouTube channel, you need to upload at least one video a week."

"Ah, that's a very good question."

"Huh? That's not a question you can answer so casually, right?"

"Leave it to me. I'll soon create content in a completely different field. For now, this."

I handed Bum-soo an SD card.

"What's this?"

It's the SD card from the FX9. It contains all the videos I shot at Chef Yoo Min-hyuk's new store.

"Let's edit this together. We need to do it properly. We'll make a 20-minute video and upload it, then move on to other content."

A 20-minute video.

Bum-soo understands what that means.

It's the standard length for monetized videos.

The implication is that we're going to run the YouTube channel commercially.

"Wait. I haven't said I'll do it yet."

"I'm starting for real this time. So, be my colleague."

"Hey, wait. Wait. Don't use outdated catchphrases."

Bum-soo waved his hands.

"I'll buy you an iMac."

"Huh?"

"An iMac. The new one."

"..."

The atmosphere changed instantly.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah."

"So, you're talking about the new iMac with the M1 chip, completely redesigned, and available in seven colors?"

Bum-soo started rapping.

His eyes were sparkling.

"Yeah. The one with 16GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD."

"What? 2TB?!"

Bum-soo's eyes grew even wider.

"Do you know how much that option costs?"

"Yeah. It's about 8.1 million won. Apple, they're so bold. Right? You can buy a 2TB SSD for 400,000 won separately."

I know the exact price because I already ordered it last night.

"Are you really giving me that? It costs over 3 million won?"

"Yeah. We're college students, so we can get an educational discount. If you really take charge of the editing, I'll give you ownership. But you have to let me use it too. I'll find a space where we can work together."

As I said this, I took out the FX9 from my bag.

"Wow..."

Bum-soo couldn't help but exclaim.

"I'll use this to create content, and you'll use the iMac for editing. And we'll use this and the iMac to upload videos? Not many people are using them yet."

"Hey, what's going on with you?"

Bum-soo's voice dropped.

"Huh?"

"Isn't that a camcorder worth about 10 million won? And a fully optioned iMac? What's going on with you? Did you win the lottery?"

"Don't ask. It's a secret of my birth."

"You're really out of your mind."

That's right. Bum-soo doesn't know much about my personal life.

We usually don't talk much about family when we're friends from college.

559 subscribers

"Wow..."

I opened the iMac's packaging.

Bum-soo, now my colleague, was adding sound effects with his exclamations.

"Really, this arrived in just one day?"

"Yep."

I smiled.