Chapter 75 of "The Genius Archer's Streaming Season 1"

27. Toward Dia (1)

At Punk Co., the drinking party started at lunchtime.

Today, one department decided to skip the evening work and start partying from lunch. This was proposed by the executives.

It was a rare reward. The biggest contributor was none other than Director Oh.

Director Oh, the pot-bellied man who was now talking the loudest, said,

"How about it? Huh? The almonds are what I brought! Hahaha!"

Thump! Thump!

He patted his even more swollen belly and burst into his characteristic cheerful laughter.

"Come on~ take it! Take it! I'll pass it around!"

He stood up as if he were hosting a festival and started passing the bottle around.

As he passed the bottle, everyone had something to say.

"Damn, Director Oh is really lucky."

"No, at first, I thought, 'Why did he bring such a weirdo?' He's supposed to be a Punk Partner Streamer."

"They say all the production companies are now leaning towards us? They want to line up for an almond ad."

"Such a star is our partner, and he's giving us free ads. Damn, Director Oh, you're going to get a promotion this time."

"Heh. A streamer who starts by arguing with electromagnetic waves... what can you say?"

"At first, it was really tough to recruit him."

Recruiting Almond was not an easy process at all. Everyone thought he was crazy. There were even rumors that Almond was Director Oh's hidden nephew.

But now, the evaluation has completely changed.

The star quality Almond showed in the disassembly analysis was clear to everyone.

Almond was not just good at games.

He was a natural broadcaster.

Even while doing the difficult 'Survive!' test, he kept reading the chat as if he were broadcasting. This image was etched into the minds of all the employees.

"Even while reading the chat, I thought, 'This guy is going to make it.' Hahaha!"

"Between us, wasn't he actually right about the electromagnetic waves? No, Almond is just starting, right? Plus, he was reading the chat while doing it?!"

"When did he become 'our' Almond?! Hahaha!"

The employees of Punk Co. had a subtle tendency to keep an eye on the electromagnetic waves.

Because he was a large streamer not affiliated with their company.

So, Almond felt even more precious to them.

"Electromagnetic waves, move aside! Almond is coming out!"

Almond might even surpass the dominance of the electromagnetic waves.

"Ugh!"

"These people are really drunk. Haha."

Director Oh smiled contentedly at their appearance.

'It's worth it.'

When a gem he recognized at first glance finally started to shine.

At such times, his job felt the most rewarding.

"Ah, Director Oh. Great job...!"

One of his subordinates, already drunk, raised his glass.

"To be honest, we were skeptical... When we heard that Director Oh was going to the filming site for Almond... I thought, 'Is that his nephew? Or a son from a first love scandal?'."

At this, the entire department burst into laughter.

Especially, Director Oh laughed boisterously.

"Hey! I had to be there to make sure those Fantasia guys didn't mess up. So, how's the result now?"

"He's coming! Y-Yes, sir!"

The subordinate raised his soju glass high and shouted.

"Wow... A! A! For Almond!"

"For Almond!"

Clank!

The glasses clinked so hard that the liquor almost spilled, and the midday festival atmosphere continued.

Soon, it was 3 PM.

"Let's just run all day today! The executives said we're off tomorrow too!"

"Huh...? Wait."

The tipsy Director Oh suddenly stood up from his chair.

[Almond's streaming has started.]

An unexpected early broadcast notification.

It was Almond.

"Hey, hey. I'll go smoke for a bit?"

"Eh? No, decide where to go for the second round! Why are you going alone to smoke?!"

"Bathroom! Big one!"

"Damn! While eating!"

Director Oh just said that to his colleague and quickly went outside to join the broadcast.

'If I watch this with everyone... it might... .'

Actually, since the drinking party was thanks to Almond, it would have been right to watch the broadcast together. But he didn't want to dampen the good mood.

There was a chance the viewers might not have increased significantly, or might have even decreased.

It was a very low probability, but with so many variables, it wasn't impossible.

In this era, fame could be fleeting.

There was no guarantee that the success of one filming would immediately translate into viewer numbers.

Director Oh took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Phew. Let's see. Is the star quality we saw correct?"

After exhaling the white smoke, he waited nervously for Almond's intro song to end.

He could only see the viewer count once the broadcast properly started.

'How many? How many... .'

Previously, Almond's broadcast had been pumped up to about 4-5 thousand viewers.

Actually, that wasn't a large number, and it could burst at any time. A realistic estimate would be an average of 2-3 thousand viewers.

'Let's go over 6 thousand. 6 thousand.'

Exactly double.

If the live broadcast started with over 6 thousand viewers, it would be a number that would not be out of place for a Punk Partner.

Considering that Almond had only been streaming for less than a month, it would be an impressive number.

'No, let's go over 7 thousand. 7 thousand... .'

Director Oh pushed his luck further.

'I really want a promotion this time. Sanghyun! Please!'

Just as he closed his eyes tightly.

Ding!

The intro song ended, and Sanghyun's face appeared.

- Tcha!

The chat window appeared on the screen with a bright voice.

And the viewer count.

[Current Viewers: 8.3 thousand]

"......!"

Thud!

He threw away his cigarette and quickly rushed back inside.

"Hey! Watch the live stream! The live stream!"

To the employees who were staring blankly at his sudden shout, he shouted again.

"Almond's live stream! It's on now!"

* * *

Swallow.

Juhyeok, who was watching the screen, swallowed hard.

"Wow... This is really fast?"

The increasing viewer count was not ordinary from the beginning.

And finally, when it broke the 8 thousand mark.

"!"

He jumped up from his seat.

Then, he roared like a beast.

"Kraaaaaaah!"

It was a strange sound, but who cared? There were only Sanghyun and Juhyeok here.

Sanghyun was inside a capsule with perfect noise cancellation.

Moreover, Juhyeok didn't even realize what sound he had made.

"8 thousand at 3 PM. Crazy."

It could be 'journalist-type' viewers who only came at the beginning due to yesterday's issue.

But even that was attention.

Whether they came to watch the game or to see the face of the guy who broke the record.

As long as this number could be maintained, Almond would have a platform to advance to a mid-level streamer.

'Good. Very good... .'

Juhyeok felt good.

This was a position that people starting as streamers could only dream of.

For Juhyeok, who started as a manager, it was naturally a good moment.

However, as always, there were worries that crept in at the best moments.

"Black Flame Dragon is not the issue. It's trauma."

Sanghyun's past related to archery and his right hand.

His refusal to these two things was not ordinary. Even when they briefly argued about it before...

The awkward anger after the consultation with the doctor...

He seemed so unstable about this issue.

'It seems to be more deeply ingrained than I thought.'

The wound seemed deeper than Juhyeok had anticipated.

He couldn't even imagine what it felt like, but if he had to compare, it must have felt like losing a lifelong partner.

'Does he really not want it to be known?'

If it were the old Juhyeok, he would have thought that Sanghyun's past history was a 'selling point' and should be widely known eventually.

But not now.

Sanghyun was genuinely rejecting those memories, and Juhyeok could feel that sincerity.

'If you're not ready... .'

If Sanghyun wasn't ready, there was no need to reveal it.

Things were going so well that a selling point wasn't necessary.

It might even be toxic.

'Yeah. Everyone has memories they can't sell.'

He made a call.

The contact person for the production team of the Fantasia channel.

"Ah, yes. This is Almond's manager, Kim Juhyeok. I'm calling about the editing of the footage."

"Huh? Why the edit?"

"Please remove the part where he shoots the bow."

"......What?"

"It's still fun without it."

"Is this Almond's request?"

"Of course. He doesn't want to upset professional archers."

"Well... the performer's opinion is important, but there are contract terms... We've already filmed..."

"Contract? Ah! You're right! We agreed, didn't we? We can remove the parts we want. It's not an important scene."

"Ah, I understand. I'll pass it on."

Click.

The call ended.

"Damn broadcasting kids..."

While there was no choice during the live stream, the edited version had over 20 times more viewers. Blocking this would be much better.

* * *

8 thousand viewers.

In front of this number, Sanghyun was just staring blankly at the chat window.

- Wow, Almond is a pro!

- Is the 'Najak' Almond disappearing? :(

- Holy crap. The number of people is insane lol

- Wow lol. The effect of yesterday's broadcast is clear.

- lol

- Ahaha!

Even without mentioning the 8 thousand viewers, the viewers were already talking about it.

No matter how hard he tried to avoid mentioning the viewer count, ignoring it would be more unnatural.

It would be like passing by a massive 30-car pileup on the side road while whistling.

Ignoring it would make it look even more awkward.

"It's been a while. Everyone. But... a lot of people have come!"

Almond said with a bright expression.

- Wow, pro!

- Hi from Indonesia!

- There are even foreigners lol

- Literally a pro lol

- Since he beat Electromagnetic Waves, of course

- Hi hi

- I became a fan after watching the disassembly! Squeal!

- Newbies are flooding in ;;

Many new viewers greeted him. Even at a glance, there were many unfamiliar nicknames.

Today, it felt like he was in a completely different broadcast.

'This is subtly nerve-wracking.'

It was definitely his broadcast, and a familiar environment.

But it felt like he was broadcasting from a completely different place. The chat window was so important.

'What should I say?'

Almond was at a loss for words.

[RubySword has donated '5,000 won']

[All of a sudden, so many people are calling me a pro...]

Then, a familiar nickname's donation came in.

Almond's mouth moved involuntarily.

"Ah. RubySword. Always thanks. Pro? I'm still an Economy."

- Economy lol

- Haha lol

- Not that class lol

[StirFriedEggplant has donated '5,000 won']

[Viewers are multiplying...! What?!]

Another familiar name appeared.

"StirFriedEggplant. Thanks for the donation from the start. The viewers are really multiplying. Haha."

A natural laugh escaped.

It felt like something that was blocked had suddenly cleared. It felt like coming back home.

Thanks to the old users. Those who had been with him since the first day of his broadcast.

Thinking about them, everything that had frozen melted away.

"The flow is good from the start."

The words flowed smoothly.

When broadcasting, there's a certain flow, a current.

Right now, the current was stable.

"Should we play a game now?"

As if facing a thousand people, Almond felt comfortable.

- What are we doing today?

- Game go go go!

- Battle Royale!

"What game are we playing today?"

[KimchiMan has donated '1,000 won']

[Kingdom Age! Zebarry :((]

"Battle Royale!"

- Haha lol

- KimchiMan lol

- Kingdom noobs are really persistent lol

- Haha lol, tears in my eyes

- Do it sometime, bro!

"We decided to go to Battle Royale Diamond, right? Of course, we're going to Battle Royale."

- Oh, keeping the promise lol

- Wow! Amazing!

- Really doing it?

- Holy shit.

Thus, the journey toward Diamond began again.

With over 8 thousand viewers, and those who had been with him from the beginning.