****
League of Streaming.
Seo-jun searched about this on his way home.
‘An average live broadcast viewership of 300,000? At this level, is it not almost the level of a regular tournament?’
Although Seo-jun knew the tournament was somewhat popular from hearing about it from Tae-woo, he did not know that this many people watched it.
However, after searching a bit more, he quickly realized that although 300,000 was plenty, thinking it was regular tournament-tier was strictly Seo-jun's misunderstanding.
‘Ah, regular tournaments basically get 1 million viewers in Korea alone.’
It was said that 15 million people watched the finals in real-time, including overseas.
That was for the Korean league.
The popularity of capsule games surpassed Seo-jun's imagination.
He had heard that the fever even spread to adults who could not afford the time to play games.
Seo-jun did not know in detail because he had been intentionally avoiding issues regarding capsules until now.
‘So many people... have ended up doing it.’
Even seven years ago, he had not been that interested in the virtual reality market.
However, he at least knew the fact that it was not popular to this extent.
After arriving home, Seo-jun asked an expert.
Namely, an active streamer.
“Hey, do you know about League of Streaming?”
It was his friend.
At Seo-jun's question, Tae-woo, who was holding his phone on the sofa, answered.
“Huh? Of course I know. I went out last year and got eliminated instantly. Hmph. Ah, I really wanted last year's prize for winning. What a shame.”
How could he discuss winning when he said he was eliminated at lightspeed.
Seo-jun clicked his tongue inwardly.
“What was it?”
“A car. On top of that, they gave a supercar to the MVP. The prizes are quite big, right? Since so many people watch it, companies sponsor it.”
“Ah, I know how many watch it because I searched it up.”
“You know? Why did you suddenly look that up. Why you, who had absolutely no interest in virtual reality?”
“I do not know either.”
He had lived well without virtual reality for the past seven years.
And he could continue to live well in the future.
Why did he search about LoS.
‘Dammit.’
Actually, he knew.
In the past, he was merely turning his eyes away because there was no way.
The virtual reality he did seven years ago.
Was fun. Enough to make him want to enter again.
Was that not enough?
‘It is not like I am spending 100 million won either.’
Thanks to Oh Ji-hye's consideration, he could borrow it for free until the tournament ended.
It was not like he was throwing away several years.
‘There is no reason not to do it.’
Seo-jun sat next to Tae-woo.
From now on, he had to worry about 'how' rather than 'why'.
“Tae-woo-ya.”
Seo-jun's eyes began to shine.
“Yeah?”
“What are the participation conditions for LoS?”
“Why that all of a sudden. Sigh. First of all, although the organizers have not revealed it, you naturally have to be a streamer. When applying, popular mid-sized streamers usually get accepted.”
“What if they are not popular?”
“It is a lottery. It cannot be helped since viewers also want streamers who are somewhat known. It is not that they do not pick unpopular streamers, though.”
If you get in, you hit the jackpot.
Tae-woo muttered like that.
“Then, what do you have to do to succeed as a streamer?”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Tae-woo fell into thought for a moment, then stood up and sat with his back straight.
The serious expression he rarely showed felt awkward.
“I do not know either.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Hey, do you know what the words I hear the most are?”
Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders.
“I do not know.”
“I envy you for earning money while playing games. You live life easily. There is no hardship.”
“...”
“But nobody knows that out of seven years, I spent four years broadcasting regularly for eight hours every single day even though my average viewership was not even one hundred? Hmm, did I earn enough for the electricity bill in a month? I think it was something like that. For a year after graduation, I also felt like I was freeloading off of you.”
“Is that so.”
Although the viewer pool increased with the advent of virtual reality, the ratio of streamers increased just as much—no, rather, even more.
The biggest grievance of such streamers could be said to be the influx of viewers.
“Even so, I think I was very lucky. It might not have worked out in four years. If it blows up, it is a jackpot. But we do not know when it will blow up. Because we do not know the method. What if it does not blow up even if you endure for ten years?”
Tae-woo continued his words.
“Even people who suddenly blew up and hit ten million in a year went through a dark age in the past where they did not even gain one thousand viewers for five years. Even if you endure like that, you might not blow up...”
Of course, there would be various rules within that.
“Still, if I had to pick the most important thing, would it not be fun after all.”
Tae-woo began his explanation.
In order to succeed with a game broadcast, one had to possess either fun or skill.
However, unexpectedly, it was said that people did not watch pure skill broadcasts very much.
This was because there many alternatives, such as professional broadcasts or edited videos.
“So it is difficult to succeed with skill alone. It is not that it does not exist, though. Look at this.”
Tae-woo found an article and showed it to Seo-jun.
[Game streamers must focus on the word 'streamer' rather than 'game'. This is because, unexpectedly, the weight of the game is not that big.]
This was one of the pieces of advice from a famous streamer with 100% objectivity who had insight into this.
As Seo-jun examined this closely, Tae-woo asked again.
“Are you really interested in being a streamer?”
“I just became interested.”
“Keke. After hearing what I just said? I am not stopping you, but what are you relying on?”
Seo-jun closed his eyes and fell into thought.
What was he relying on?
Although he had not been able to properly log into virtual reality for the past seven years, Seo-jun could be confident.
‘For the most part, they will be worse than me.’
In many types of games, the sword was the main focus, and even if they did not use a sword, it did not matter.
Because even if it was only memories, Seo-jun had literally gone through all sorts of hardships in his past life.
He slowly opened his eyes and spoke while holding back his laughter.
This was because it was ridiculous even for him to say.
“Probably, skill?”
“I told you, you cannot become a streamer simply by being good.”
“Then, how good do I have to be?”
Tae-woo spoke after agonizing over it.
“I think you just need to be better than Shin Ha-yeon. No, if you are better than Shin Ha-yeon, you will absolutely succeed. I guarantee it. You know who she is, right?”
Shin Ha-yeon.
She was a famous female professional gamer. She was more popular than most top-tier celebrities, and she was called the synonym of virtual reality—such that when people thought of virtual reality, they thought of Shin Ha-yeon, and when they thought of Shin Ha-yeon, they thought of virtual reality. She was practically the icon of virtual reality.
The reason was, of course, the overwhelming skill she showed in the professional league.
“I see.”
After much deliberation, Seo-jun made a decision.
First, let us give it a try.
Seo-jun sent a message to Oh Ji-hye on that day stating that he would rent the capsule.
<><><>
“So... you bought it because you are confident you can do better than Shin Ha-yeon?”
“Yeah.”
“You crazy bastard. Then do professional gaming.”
“That is dangerous, so I cannot.”
“Is he really a crazy bastard?”
<><><>
Oh Ji-hye's reply and delivery were fast.
It took less than a day.
It was as if she had been waiting.
If there was a minor problem.
“Ah. First of all, move aside a bit because I need to connect the wires. Did I not say we should call the technician who installs the capsule? Or at least, do not touch it first until I finish broadcasting!”
Seo-jun silently bowed his head and listened to the rebukes of Tae-woo, who was installing the capsule.
“Look here. Did I not tell you that you are terrible with machines when you washed your broken phone with soap last time.”
He felt like he had said that.
“How could you not even install this one thing properly and almost break it! Huh! It looks expensive just by looking at it!”
Seo-jun had nothing in particular to say, so he merely kept stroking the capsule placed in the corner of the room with his hand.
Tae-woo glared at Seo-jun, and after plugging in the last wire, he lay down flat on the bed next to him.
“Whew, now it is done. The installation is finished. What about your biometric account?”
“I have it.”
“Then you will be able to connect right now.”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“Thank you for what. By the way, it looks like a high-end model, is this level of model not too excessive for broadcasting?”
“Well. Do not worry about that.”
It was borrowed.
“Sigh, then where are you going to stream?”
“Travel.”
Travel was a game streaming platform that was currently in an unrivaled position.
“It is the same place as me. By the way, let me see your record. Just how good were you seven years ago that you are this confident. You installed My VR, right?”
“Here.”
Seo-jun turned on his phone and brought up the app Tae-woo mentioned.
Then, information about Seo-jun's virtual reality ID appeared on the screen.
It was an administrative app that showed everything from the creation date to the game play time and record.
“Huh? Is something wrong with my eyes? I see a fresh newbie account created less than two days ago. Since when have you lived without a concept of time.”
“Ah, that? I had one in the past, but I deleted it and made it again.”
“Do not lie.”
“It is true.”
It was true.
“Unbelievable. If you are really better than Shin Ha-yeon—no, if you are better than me—I will do all the housework from now on. Instead, if you are not.”
Huh?
A big fish came in on its own even though he had not even cast his fishing rod.
“Am I supposed to do it?”
“How about it. If you are scared...”
Seo-jun replied without a single moment of hesitation.
“Deal.”
As expected, it was good that he took on the challenge.
“Ha! No backing out, okay? I will not go easy on you just because you are a newbie. You are not starting the broadcast today, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Come right in.”
<><><>
After watching Kim Tae-woo's back as he headed to his room, Seo-jun entered the capsule.
The lid closed, and Seo-jun leaned his body comfortably against the backrest.
He closed his eyes and fell into thought.
A streamer.
It was a field he knew nothing about.
He was not the naturally funny type, nor did he have the naive thought that everything would work out with skill alone.
Therefore, he would have nothing to say even if someone criticized what he was doing now as a foolish choice that wasted time.
Even so.
The corners of Seo-jun's mouth curled up.
‘People originally start in a state where there are far more things they are bad at than things they are good at.’
If one does not challenge themselves because they are bad at it, there will be nowhere they can go.
[Connecting to the virtual reality world in 10 seconds.]
[10]
[9]
.
.
.
.
[1]
Flash—
At the same time his vision darkened for an instant, a nostalgic sensation washed over Seo-jun.
Whoosh!
A pure white light that passed through his closed eyelids turned on.
This place was the lobby. It was a pure white room with nothing in it.
Streamers mainly communicated with viewers here before or after starting a game.
Because Seo-jun's ID was just created, nothing was placed in the lobby.
‘I will have to fill this place with something too.’
[#105979-nim requests a friend addition.]
While he was looking around his surroundings, a message popped up.
As Seo-jun accepted the friend addition request, messages popped up one after another.
[Kim Tae-woo-nim invites the user to the 'Training Ground'.]
As he accepted subsequently, the background changed in an instant. It was an atmosphere like a martial arts dojo.
“You're here?”
Tae-woo was coming from a short distance away, dragging a white robot-like doll.
“This is the Training Ground, a basic game installed in the capsule even if you do not download games.”
“Like Minesweeper? There was no such thing in my day.”
“What do you mean, in your day. Say hello, this is our dojo AI, Kim Chul-soo.”
Tae-woo held Kim Chul-soo's hands from behind and shook them as if performing a puppet show.
“It looks cute.”
“Hehe. If you keep getting beaten up, you will piss yourself just by looking at Chul-soo's face.”
“What kind of nonsense is that?”
Tae-woo wore a meaningful smile.
“Get hit first. Let us talk after you get hit. What do you want for your weapon?”
Naturally.
“A sword.”
Tae-woo stood Chul-soo in front of Seo-jun, went to a warehouse-like place, and brought a sword.
“Take it.”
Seo-jun held the sword.
As he looked ahead next, a sword was likewise generated in Chul-soo's hand.
“Shall I explain now?”
“...Sure.”
“Good. Chul-soo is a sparring AI. I was the one who named him. He is scheduled to fight you. If you fight and win against level 7 Chul-soo, I will do the housework.”
“I can just fight with you, though?”
“I cannot go easy on you, so that will not do. Anyway, everyone has the same conditions here. It is a place where you can test pure one-on-one skills. Chul-soo has levels 1 through 10. I have won up to level 8. If you are a beginner... about level 4 would be appropriate at first.”
Tae-woo shrugged his shoulders.
“Of course, that is under the assumption that you really have talent. For your information, pros even beat level 9.”
Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and began to touch the setting window that floated in front of his eyes.
“It will be good for a warm-up.”
It seemed like it would be fun.
“Pfft, I should record this. 'A friend doing virtual reality for the first time fearlessly challenged level 4, got beaten up, and cried.' How is the title? If the video views turn out well, I will specially do a joint broadcast with you.”
Seo-jun just laughed.
“Just watch quietly.”
“...”
“...”
“...”
“I am watching. What are you doing? Are you not starting?”