The Divine Genius’s Game Broadcasting Chapter 24

Episode 24 – Broadcasting Makes Money (1)

Early in the morning, at dawn.

When many people were stretching, Choi Byeong-hun also joined in.

But there is one thing that makes him different.

“Ugh… … It’s over.”

The truth was that it was a stretch to loosen up my stiff body from working all night.

He finished uploading the edited video of Biocrisis, up to Chapter 5 and the ending.

A deep fatigue pressed down on his body, but he did not head to bed. Instead, he moved the cursor to the 'Community' section of the channel.

[What game will you make 'perfect' next?]

[Hello! I am the editor and channel manager.

Feel free to write down what game you want Purple to play next!

We will convey your valuable opinions.]

[Participants – 3,238]

[View Results▽]

What he cared about more than the results of the vote was the number of participants. Considering that the vote was posted in the early hours of the morning, the turnout was significant.

'The last broadcast yesterday had about 2,300 viewers, and the highest was about 2,900… '

The decline was inevitable as the broadcast continued late and viewers left.

'Still, more people than expected stayed until the end.'

A faint smile appeared on his lips. Isn't this evidence of an increase in loyal viewers, including community reactions?

'2600 people. Once the voting is over, we'll be able to guess which game will bring in the most new users.'

That's why he raised the vote.

If you subtract the number of loyal viewers from the voting results for each item, you'll get a rough estimate.

'I'll talk about the rest when I meet with him… '

Choi Byeong-hun yawned heavily after leaving a message to his friend who was still sleeping.

“Oh my… I’m dying.”

He closed his eyes.

The water rushed over him in an instant.

* * *

Early afternoon.

Lee Kyung-bok was facing Choi Byeong-hun at a cafe he often visits.

“When did you prepare something like this?”

“Mom, this is all a joke.”

He was looking at the data organized by Choi Byeong-hun. It was a graph and figures that clearly showed the results of the vote conducted on Q-Tube.

“Hmm… … But there are fewer participants than I thought? We currently have 160,000 subscribers, right?”

The number of subscribers to the 'Perfect Play' channel has increased by 30,000 compared to before. This is due to the addition of multilingual subtitles to the previous videos and the upload of the entire story of the hidden route.

“Even if most of them are foreigners, isn’t that less than ten thousand people?”

However, the number of people who participated in the vote was less than 10,000. Since the notice was in Korean, isn't that a small number even if foreigners didn't participate?

“Hey, that’s normal.”

“Normal?”

“Think about it. What YouTube subscribers want is not ‘Purple’, but ‘videos’. It’s only natural that there are few subscribers who check out the community.”

“That’s true.”

“Yes, Inma. I was actually surprised that there were more than I thought.”

“Is this more than I thought?”

“Of course. Even a million-tuber has a voting participation rate of less than 20%. But we have less than 40,000 Korean subscribers. But the rate is close to 25%.”

Lee Kyung-bok nodded at his friend's words.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. That means there are a lot of people who like it enough to participate.”

“That’s right. But don’t like it too much.”

"why?"

“Not all of those people will come to watch the broadcast.”

Choi Byeong-hun lightly adjusted the smart link and displayed the graph as a hologram.

[1st place – Devaek (2,126 people)]

[2nd place – Elden Soul (1,981 people)]

[3rd place – Gunner Ground (1,722 people)]

[4th place – Falling People (1,311 people)]

…

Below are the numbers, organized by rank.

“As you can see, tastes are divided. The top vote-getters only have 2,000 people at most. If you change to the next game, the number of viewers will drop.”

“Well, I guess so. They all came to see the bark.”

“Yes. Besides, this is for YouTube subscribers, so it’s not the number of people who watch the original broadcast. The number of viewers will be lower than you think.”

As Choi Byeong-hun spoke, he glanced at Lee Gyeong-bok’s expression. His friend nodded with a serious expression.

'Even if you have mental strength, it's disappointing.'

Choi Byeong-hun still had a reason to point out reality.

He's seen the rise and fall of many a flashy streamer, and he knows how they go down.

'The second content is more important than the first.'

If the first content is successful, the streamer will be filled with hope and enthusiasm. However, it is natural that some viewers will leave after one content ends.

But streamers don't accept that fact easily.

'I get anxious when the number of viewers decreases.'

Could it be that he did something wrong or that the time zone is the problem? The streamer tries to find the reason from various angles.

Wrong judgment leads to wrong results. As a result, streamers forget their strengths and follow other streamers, take risks, and change their broadcast times frequently, which leads to their downfall.

'That's the beginning of a vicious cycle.'

Naturally, viewers who had been watching also leave the show, and the streamer becomes impatient again and repeats the wrong choices.

And in the end, he leaves the broadcasting industry in a lonely manner.

'If Kyungbok is mentally strong, that won't happen, but we still need to lower our expectations.'

Most streamers like that have only just started out and have no one around them to help them. However, Lee Kyung-bok was confident.

Choi Byeong-hun collected data to support as a friend and editor.

“Ahem… … Then there’s nothing I can do.”

In the meantime, Lee Gyeong-bok finished his worries and opened his mouth.

“Yeah, so don’t expect too much from today’s broadcast… … .”

“Let’s just take a break this weekend.”

The announcement of a hiatus came out of the blue before Choi Byung-hoon could even finish his sentence.

"……what?"

He blinked and looked at Lee Kyung-bok. Naturally, viewers flocked the most on weekends when they had a lot of free time.

But what if we take a break from broadcasting?

“I need some time to think about what game to play next. I appreciate the votes from subscribers, but I need to find something that appeals to me.”

Lee Kyung-bok expressed his thoughts calmly and collectedly.

“I have to do what I want to do so that the show will be fun.”

If the streamer is happy, the viewers will be happy. Lee Kyung-bok had no intention of breaking that rule.

“I’m sorry for the effort, but it seems like the order of things has changed for me to play the games that people want.”

“No, there’s nothing to be sorry about… … .”

“And you need to get some rest too.”

"ok?"

Choi Byeong-hun blinked. Why was he suddenly talking about himself?

“Honestly, I don’t know much about video editing, but it seems like you’re working too hard these days.”

Lee Kyung-bok knew his friend's lifestyle well. He could easily see that after he started broadcasting, his friend had been reducing his sleep and focusing on his work.

“It’s not like we’re going to make a killing and then get out of here. I want to be on the air for a long time, so let’s take care of our condition and go. If someone sees this, they’ll really think I’m the CEO of a black company.”

Lee Kyung-bok burst into laughter as he recalled the chat window.

At those words, Choi Byeong-hun felt as if he had been hit in the head.

'I was the one who was impatient.'

I thought that I couldn't miss the flow that Lee Kyung-bok had created. That's why I monitored the footage in real time and worked hard even after the broadcast ended.

And that's not all?

I said I had some time off, so I checked the community's reactions and for the past week I've been eating lightly and cutting down on sleep.

'I thought I had to row the boat when the water came in.'

It was a kind of obsessive-compulsive thought.

He thought that since he had brought his friends into this industry, he had to show results. And he was so intoxicated by the results that he couldn't get out of that mindset.

But then I thought about it again and realized that it wasn't necessary.

'This kid would bring up this trend at any time.'

Lee Kyung-bok was a genius who went off the rails. He was a talent who drew water in, not brought it in.

When I accepted that fact, my heart felt so relieved. A smile naturally appeared on my face at the thought of my friend worrying about me.

“Mom, how much time do I have that I can’t manage to that extent?”

“Really? So your face was originally like that?”

“Oh, if you manage me properly, I won’t be able to be an editor. I’ll just end up camming with other men.”

“Isn’t that a remark with a lot of nonsense?”

When Lee Kyung-bok said playfully, Choi Byeong-hun also playfully accepted. Choi Byeong-hun, who had been chatting lightly, soon returned to his serious expression.

“Hey, since we’re talking about a break, I have something I need to discuss with you.”

“What is it?”

“Did you see the guys fighting in the chat room last time?”

“Bun-tang? Ah… … .”

Lee Kyung-bok frowned slightly.

It was when the Overlord entered phase 2 after he declared that he would fight without a rocket launcher during the boss fight with the Overlord.

Chats that got on his nerves when other viewers suggested finding a rocket launcher and tripping over his remarks.

“Well, you can see for yourself, those kids do all sorts of things to avoid being caught by the management bot.”

Choi Byeong-hun also seemed to recall the unpleasant feelings from that time, and spoke with some harsh words.

“It’s true that the filter wasn’t able to be filtered by the management bot.”

“Yeah. It’s fortunate that you crushed them with your skills, but the mere existence of such a bunch of troublemakers makes the other players feel bad.”

“That’s true. It makes it hard to concentrate on the game.”

“That’s right. When you do bark, your skills have already been proven, so it won’t be a big problem. The other players know you’ll do well.”

“Ahem… … Next time we play, will those kinds of things go even more rampant?”

“Yes. Why? Because it’s a new game, there’s no reason for the fans to take sides.”

“Then why don’t you just show me?”

“That’s right, that’s right. There’s no way there won’t be some new viewers who are a bit of a troublemaker. Those streamers are the ones who are starting to become the target of those fanboys.”

As an editor, Choi Byung-hoon was well aware of the nature of the quarrels. The reason they cause conflict is ultimately to get the attention of streamers and other viewers.

“Streamers who already have a large fan base and are well-established don’t budge at all. Rather, they face backlash. But if you try to touch them, the response is lukewarm and they don’t get much attention.”

“Isn’t it fun to have a show with a moderate number of viewers like me but a shallow fan base?”

“That’s right. That’s what I’m saying.”

Choi Byeong-hun leaned forward with a serious face.

“As I said before, we need a manager now.”

"manager……."

The need for a manager.

It was a topic we had already discussed once.

Choi Byung-hoon manipulated the smart link to display the email as a hologram.

“What is this?”

“I saw an email from MCN this morning.”

“On MCN?”

“Of course it’s not a big place. I looked it up and it was new.”

Lee Kyung-bok shook his head with a stern face.

“Um… … But I don’t want to be tied down anywhere anymore.”

If you join an MCN, you will be assigned a manager. In addition, you will be responsible for mediating advertising and sponsorship contracts, managing YouTube channels, connecting fans and creators, and preparing for external events.

But Lee Gyeong-bok didn't need that kind of help yet.

“That’s good, I agree with you.”

“What, but why are you showing me?”

“… … Then should I cut this off from my line?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“And with someone like you, it’s obvious that you’ll be contacted by a bigger MCN, so there’s no reason to sign a contract with a newbie like this.”

Eventually, as the broadcasting scale grows, a contract with an MCN is inevitable. However, Choi Byung-hoon is certain that Lee Kyung-bok is currently undervalued.

It was clear that once his true value was known, large MCNs would approach him first.

“Anyway, back to talking about the manager.”

“You’re cutting that contract? You want to get it separately?”

"uh."

“… … Do you think there is someone you have in mind?”

Lee Gyeong-bok asked a question in response to Choi Byeong-hun’s immediate answer.

“Juho.”

“… … Park Joo-ho?”

“You can trust that kid, right?”

Park Joo-ho.

Like Choi Byeong-hun, he was Lee Gyeong-bok's best friend for 10 years. However, unlike the other two, he was a friend who had a talent for studying.

“Um… … Is he really going to quit his good job and come here?”

“Should I come? Isn’t it an art to roll your golden hair?”

“You’re coming?”

“Yeah. I don’t know the details, but I think it’ll be a lot more than my current salary. Plus, I’ll have more flexible work hours and less stress.”

“Do you want more?”

“… … Haven’t you checked the profits we’ve made so far?”

"ah."

Only after Choi Byeong-hun asked did Lee Gyeong-bok think about money. He had been so absorbed in the fun of the broadcast that he had not even checked it until now.

“How much does it cost?”

“I really… … Go see for yourself.”

Choi Byeong-hun shared his earnings status through a smart link with a hollow laugh.

Then, Lee Kyung-bok's eyes widened.

“… … This much in just a week?”

Because the amount was considerably more than expected.