Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Ad Revenue
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Kim Woo-jin's channel uploaded a new video.
[Full Course Treated with Stam]
The thumbnail showed him sitting at a table lavishly set with eight dishes, eyes closed in prayer. Below it read: (Stam is God).
Kim Woo-jin usually kept his thumbnails plain. So viewers, intrigued by this unusually goofy one, clicked with curiosity.
Solo-living student Park Suyeon was one of them.
"Oh, perfect timing. A new video. I can watch while eating."
Mukbang videos were usually for vicarious satisfaction during diets or paired with meals. The way mukbang YouTubers devoured food always sparked appetite.
Park Suyeon plated the samgyeopsal sizzling in her frying pan and sat at her desk. She fired up the video on her computer.
[-Hello, subscribers. This is Kim Woo-jin. Today, we've got an ad collab with Stam, so we're doing a joint stream.]
The screen paused as Kim Woo-jin's narration kicked in.
[Stam reached out for an ad, so we're collabing with the Sky and Kite channel. Head there if you want cooking videos.]
That was the last mention of the newbie YouTuber before the video proper began.
"Is that guy Haneul? He's ridiculously handsome."
A handsome guy lifted tray lids one by one, introducing each dish. The first jerky looked insanely good. The second sandwich was thick like something from a gourmet deli.
"All that from Stam?"
Especially the final Peach Bourbon Ham Steak—it looked nothing like canned ham.
If it looked that good, it had to taste even better. Kim Woo-jin ditched his usual chatter, focusing purely on eating. Park Suyeon got hooked.
She set down her chopsticks. Her chewing mouth ground to a halt.
[-This is unreal. You made all this with Stam? Wow...]
Gulp.
"How good does it have to taste for that expression? Wow."
When Kim Woo-jin ate something truly delicious, his brow furrowed in that telltale sign of bliss. She was eating samgyeopsal, way better than Stam, but now it tasted meh.
In the end, Park Suyeon barely ate half her meal by video's close.
-If you've got Stam and bourbon whiskey at home, give it a try. It has some difficulty, but it's seriously good. The recipe's on Sky and Kite's channel.
Park Suyeon's eyes lit up at Kim Woo-jin's words.
"Whiskey? I've got some. Sky and Kite, right? Wonder what the recipe's like."
Park Suyeon immediately searched for Sky and Kite.
-How to Cook Stam: 8 Ways.
The thumbnail featured that Peach Bourbon Ham Steak she'd drooled over. She clicked and fast-forwarded to the final recipe.
"Ingredients needed..."
She scoured her place for them while watching.
The key whiskey was buried deep in a shelf. She had exactly one Stam left. The rest were on hand, so she followed along slowly.
The result was pretty close. And delicious. A sophisticated flavor worlds apart from her usual Stam.
Like eating at a ham specialty restaurant.
For a solo liver who treated fried rice as gourmet, this was pro-chef level.
"How does canned ham beat samgyeopsal?"
Park Suyeon scraped the leftover sauce from the pan as she hit the YouTube link.
-Buy the Stam gift set via the link below for 10% off. A small commission goes to Sky and Kite. Thanks for your support!
Bundled Stam gift sets in various sizes and prices. She meant to grab a few, but that sauce flavor had her upping the count.
She dropped 60,000 won on 15 cans.
Such reactions weren't isolated.
Reviews from those who tried the recipes were unanimously glowing. The earlier dishes used everyday ingredients, easy enough for anyone—huge hit with solo livers.
The Peach Bourbon Ham Steak drew universal praise: effort vs. payoff was unreal.
With "delicious" dominating comments, fence-sitters started buying via the site.
Lee Juyeon seized the moment.
"Sis, whatcha doing?"
"Cutting Shorts."
She made Shorts for each dish, plus meme clips viewers would love. Links to Stam everywhere, promo nonstop.
Oju Foods spotted the results first.
"Huh? What's this?"
Na Kyung-mo stayed at the office till Chuseok eve, monitoring promo stats. He gauged influencer impact on his monitor, sorting hot vs. flop products.
Today's item: Chuseok bestseller, Stam gift sets.
Big influencers led at first. But over time, one lower-tier collab's purchase rate spiked.
Sky and Kite.
Pre-promo internal meetings pegged their impact at ~40 million won.
Factoring rapid sub/follower growth and views exceeding subs.
Now? They'd smashed 60 million. 15,000 units of 4,000-won Stam sold. Views already over 200k.
All metrics soaring.
"Is this for real?"
No matter how tasty Kim Woo-jin made it look, that shouldn't drive Stam sales. Especially from a small channel.
One word summed it up:
Mutant.
Else how else hit 90k subs in a week? Instastar followers breezing past 10k. Graphs showed no signs of plateau.
"Damn... gonna lose it. Could this hit 100 million?"
Just 1,000 more units. Then hefty commissions plus promised incentives.
"Come to think, Kim Haneul negotiated with total confidence—unlike hesitant Lee Juyeon."
Na Kyung-mo recalled the meeting.
Small channels tense with corps; Haneul seemed bored, even. Instead of flat fees, he pushed running guarantee—bold.
That poise screamed self-belief.
Arrogant? Maybe. But now proving true.
Na Kyung-mo drafted a report: Sky and Kite growth, future biz expansion.
No corp wants sulky staff after a "loss." Maximize gains from reality.
He'd given Sky and Kite their first ad; leverage goodwill for ongoing ties.
Waste effort on sub-100k channel? Eh.
Na Kyung-mo trusted his gut.
This small fry would hit 1M subs in under a year.
His instincts, honed on countless YouTubers, screamed it.
Proof came at ad settlement deadline.
-Cumulative sales: 120 million won.
-Potential sales: 200 million+.
"Wonder how much we'll get."
"Yeah, exciting. Feels like we sold a ton, right?"
"Definitely."
We lounged on the bed, awaiting Na Kyung-mo's word.
Today settled our Oju Foods ad running guarantee. No sales figures—we guessed from comments.
Midway queries got only "good news coming" from him.
"If we rake in big bucks, what do you wanna do?"
I asked Sis, glued to comments. She set down her pad, pondering seriously.
"Depends on the amount."
"Hmm. If we top 100 million and snag all incentives? Around 30 million won."
"30 million..."
Sis murmured the figure softly.
"Dunno. Car? I graduated, so you get your license and drive. Laptop's due—maybe just upgrade that?"
Her ancient laptop had bugged her through college. Still using it.
So bad: long clips crashed editors, forcing splits. Random shutdowns too. Time to replace.
But not my hoped-for answer.
"How about we move?"
"Move? This place is fine. Cozy enough."
Sis shrugged. But to me, it sucked. Semi-basement: flood worries in rain, rampant mold in summer.
Sis kept it spotless—no bugs or mold—but at huge effort.
"Just move. We've savings, plus 30 mil ad money—plenty."
"Mm... If ads net 30 mil, sure. Deal?"
"Sweet."
Sis seemed reluctant. But no choice. Past life, lung cancer took her. Mild asthma + basement? Toxic.
11 PM sharp: long message from Na Kyung-mo, plus deposit alert.
About 30 million won hit the bank account.