Chapter 47

Season 1, Episode 47 of The Genius Archer

16. Turning Adversity into Advantage (5)

Creak.

As he came out of the manager's office, closing the glass door behind him, the section chief glared at Kim Gi-yeol with a deep sigh.

"Didn't I tell you to write up a report in advance last time? Submit it right away."

"......"

Kim Gi-yeol remained silent.

"Surely you didn't write it?"

"......"

"Damn brat. You......"

The section chief glanced around for a moment and then said, "Forget it," before returning to his desk.

Kim Gi-yeol watched his back and quietly muttered,

"......F*ck."

Now his life at the company had hit rock bottom.

* * *

Sanghyun had just finished brushing his teeth after a quick breakfast of cereal.

Creak.

At that moment, Joo-hyuk entered the bathroom.

"Hey? What happened yesterday? I fell asleep waiting for you."

"Ah......"

When he returned home last night, Joo-hyuk was already asleep, having stayed up late drinking with Manager Han Tae-ho.

After rinsing his mouth, Sanghyun replied,

"It went well."

"Huh? What do you mean, how well?!"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Well......"

Joo-hyuk was almost dying of frustration but waited for Sanghyun to continue.

"He seems to like me."

"Based on what?"

"He asked me to teach him some archery later. We also made another appointment. The section chief."

"!"

Joo-hyuk's expression twisted in a rather amusing way.

"That's amazing?!"

"Is it?"

"Of course it is!"

Sanghyun nodded.

'It's a good thing.'

Sanghyun knew it was good, but he didn't want to show too much enthusiasm to Joo-hyuk.

"Wow. Archery is your hobby? If you give him private lessons later, it's really...... This is really a good thing? Wow......"

Even after saying this much, Joo-hyuk was still drinking the soup like a shot.

If he showed more enthusiasm, it would have been a disaster.

Joo-hyuk asked with high expectations,

"Hey...... But there was something more important, right?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean, the Battle Large thing."

"Oh...... That."

"Did you talk about it? Huh?"

"They said they would contact the other manager."

"......!"

Joo-hyuk's eyes widened.

"R-really?"

"Why would I lie to you about this?"

"No, no, I know it's real. Just a figure of speech."

"Don't get your hopes up. It might just have been a casual comment."

"Don't tell me not to get my hopes up! That's completely fine, isn't it?!"

Joo-hyuk immediately sat down in front of the computer.

"Here it is! It's really here!"

About a minute later, Joo-hyuk jumped up.

The screen he pointed to was Almond's email inbox.

[Hello, this is the Battle Large management team.]

An email with this subject had arrived.

"Your suspension has been lifted, and we will provide you with a certain compensation...... We apologize for the inconvenience......"

The content was, of course, that the suspension had been lifted, and a certain compensation had been provided.

"Hey. It's real, isn't it?"

Joo-hyuk turned around with a smile. Sanghyun tilted his head.

What does he mean by 'real'?

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, they like you. Given how quickly it was resolved, they must really like you."

Sanghyun then checked the time.

'It's 9 AM now......'

If they called the other company's manager's office so early in the morning, they must have really cared about Sanghyun.

"I should make him a real archery master?"

Joo-hyuk chuckled and headed to the kitchen.

Seeing Joo-hyuk rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen,

Sanghyun chuckled.

'What is this rich kid doing here?'

He never thought Joo-hyuk would end up like this. Wasn't he always the perfect elite?

"Hey. What are you doing this early in the morning?"

"You might think a few crumbs and milk are enough for breakfast, but I prefer a proper meal in the morning."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, it is."

Joo-hyuk seemed to be preparing breakfast for himself.

'I should stretch a bit then.'

Sanghyun's body was stiff from drinking a lot the previous night. After a brief stretch, he planned to go for a workout.

"Oh."

But there was something he needed to do first.

'I need to post on the board.'

He needed to inform his fans on his personal community that the issue had been resolved.

Sanghyun put on his sneakers for convenience and wrote a post on his phone while heading out.

* * *

[Suspension lifted! Broadcasting at 7 PM today!]

A post on Almond's board.

Due to the previous incident where he was reported as a troll and suspended, the viewers were already on the lookout for new news.

The response was quick.

-Oh. lolol

-LOL

-That's how it should be.

-Is that all the compensation they're giving?

-LOL LOL. Man...... This is spicy.

-So they did make a mistake, didn't they?

-They admitted it, so I'll give them a chance.

-Give me back the broadcast I missed yesterday!!!

Most viewers congratulated him or expressed their anger towards the Battle Large management team.

They were angry because the compensation they offered was too insignificant.

-Wow, they're just giving a skin as compensation?

-LOL LOL LOL

-Considering it was only a one-day suspension, it's fine......

-It's a gain, but it's really too much. It's not just about profit and loss, right?

-The bigger issue is that the system's flaws were exposed......

-This was possible because we sent hot topics and complained. If it were a regular person, they would have been screwed.

This post spread to various other communities, and ultimately, Almond's innocence was revealed.

This interesting incident caught the attention of journalists who were already preparing to criticize Battle Large's management.

[Battle Large Management Team Finally Admits Mistake]

[Flaws in Management Style Exposed......]

Articles with such titles were published.

While these articles themselves did not receive much attention, when issue-focused YouTubers started picking them up, the major public finally became aware of the incident.

[Why Battle Large's Management is Being Criticized]

[Unfair Management) A Beginner User Almost Lost Money on a Game They Paid For]

With similar titles, a few issue-focused YouTubers started driving the so-called 'LCK' (League of Legends Korea) narrative.

There were already many issues with Battle Large before Almond's incident, and they had all been simmering.

On the day the Battle Large management team admitted their mistake,

"Hello, everyone. This is Small Long."

A YouTuber with a hidden face made a passionate speech with confident gestures.

"Battle Large. How many times have the management team acted like dogs? This is the first game! The first game! How can a user who played the first game be banned as a troll? How messed up is this?"

He added,

"Punk Co. called Battle Large. Directly to the manager's line. So it was fixed two days later. Originally, Almond's email was just thrown in the trash. They didn't know Almond had a small audience, so they didn't recognize him as a Punk partner."

-Wow LOL

-This is legendary.

-They tried to apologize after two days, but it's really annoying.

-LOL LOL LOL. This is K management!

-They were trying to cover it up, weren't they?

The video received 100,000 views in just 3 hours.

Many people were angry about Battle Large's management practices.

Or so they thought.

Later, it turned out the reason was completely different.

-But, how good must he be to be reported as a troll in the first game?

-I'm really curious about his skills.

-Is Almond not a Kingdom expert? And he hit the peak right from the start.

-Is that even possible?

-There's an Almond video. Let's watch it.

The variable was the casual user base.

Casual users who played Battle Large lightly were not very angry about the management team.

They were just interested in Almond's identity, who was reported as a troll in the first game.

-Show me Almond's video.

-Small Long has lost his初心. Editing videos like this?

-How good must you be in the first game to be seen as a troll?

-LOL I want to see it too.

Many people wanted to see Almond's skills.

Eventually, Small Long added a link in the "More" section.

-Hello, this is Small Long. The video of Almond's play that many of you were curious about is linked in the "More" section.

* * *

It was around the time Sanghyun was about to have dinner.

"Hmm......?"

Sanghyun, who was eating soup while looking at his phone, had a strange expression.

Joo-hyuk asked,

"Why...... Is it not good? I made it based on 'Seung-woo's mom'......"

"No, it's not that. Our YouTube views...... Usually...... Do they get around 400,000?"

"......What?"

That's impossible. The average is around 50,000.

Joo-hyuk muttered this while looking at his phone.

Since he was in charge of Seo Ji-a's YouTube, he hadn't noticed.

"!"

Joo-hyuk's eyes almost popped out from behind his glasses.

"Is this really 400,000? 40,000...... No?"

"Well...... Sometimes videos by other YouTubers get inflated views like this."

Sanghyun said this and continued eating.

Sanghyun was deliberately controlling his emotions.

Not getting too excited or too disappointed easily.

Basic mental management as an archer.

"Hey! What's your reaction? Even if it's not usual, 400,000 is a lot...... There must be a reason, right?"

"Hmm......"

Sanghyun had only one guess.

"Is it because of the suspension incident?"

Upon further investigation, a few videos related to Almond appeared.

Joo-hyuk was amazed after watching the videos.

"Wow...... How many views does this have? They really pulled in a lot of attention."

"Turning adversity into advantage. Just as you said."

Phew.

Joo-hyuk laughed.

I never thought the words he said when the suspension happened would come true.

"Ha ha ha ha! What did I say──"

"Well, YouTube views don't have a big impact on live streams. Let's work hard."

Sanghyun blocked Joo-hyuk's mouth.

He shouldn't get too excited or too disappointed.

Even the popularity of celebrities can be fleeting, and such a video is like a candle in the wind.

* * *

After finishing dinner,

Sanghyun did some stretching to aid digestion and entered the capsule.

[Starting the stream.]

The broadcast started on time.

This was now a familiar routine.

As the intro music played, the chat window appeared.

-Hello

-Is this Almond?

-Hello

-Almond, hi!

-Wow, so many viewers today LOL

-I came after watching Small Long's video LOL LOL

-Really starting at 7 PM!?

Today, the chat was unusually fast.

Sanghyun saw the number of viewers displayed at the bottom of the chat window.

"!"

Thud.

He hit his head on the capsule in surprise.

The exclamation he had been holding back burst out.

"Wow."