A Shift in the Balance of Power
I hurriedly grabbed my phone and began scouring online communities and BJ forums.
Since I already knew about the flat appearance fees, I skipped past those and started looking up revenue split percentages.
Fuck... Is this for real?
The information flashing before my eyes left me utterly devastated.
Getting a percentage of donations and video sales was incredibly rare. Even when they did, it started at a measly five percent and topped out at ten percent at best.
"Fucking greedy bastards..." I muttered.
My hands couldn't help but tremble with rage.
Creak.
Just then, the door opened, and I felt Ye-wol's presence.
Thud.
She plopped her butt down on the sofa and spoke.
"I'll give you ten percent. But you have to agree to appear one or two more times."
I wanted to slap that smug mouth of hers.
"Still... shouldn't you at least give me twenty?"
"Ha! You've got to be kidding me. Hey! Ten percent is already incredibly generous. Do you really not get how this industry works?!"
I did know.
I was torn between accepting it like a humble rookie or standing my ground.
"...Ten percent, without the condition of future appearances."
"Ha, really? Fine! Just take your five hundred thousand won appearance fee and get the fuck out!"
"Why, you crazy bitch!"
Bam!
Unable to take it anymore, I slammed my hands on the table and stood up.
"Forget it! Keep your damn five hundred thousand won! I'm leaving!"
"Hmph."
Ignoring her as she whipped her head away, I flung the front door open and stormed out.
What is money even worth...
A bitter feeling washed over me. I felt a tiny pang of regret, wondering if I should have just taken the five hundred thousand won, as I trudged back home.
After getting home and taking a shower, I picked up my phone. The K-Fans app was flooded with notification badges.
"What's all this?"
There were countless direct messages from Ye-wol.
"Ha, this bitch is unbelievable... So it was just a power trip?"
I scrolled down further.
Seeing the flood of messages, Ye-wol completely slipped my mind.
"Ha... I knew it. I'm the man. The legend, the giant-dick god!"
Suddenly holding all the cards, I confidently tapped away at my screen.
...Is thirty percent too much?
A sudden worry crossed my mind. What if I got a reputation for being a greedy bastard, and the BJs colluded to blacklist me?
"Ahem."
Either way, I was going to rake in cash by the shovel-load from now on.
I adjusted the message, aiming for what was still top-tier industry treatment.
This was the sweet spot.
There was no need to go through the headache of running my own channel.
It was much better to just get invited as a guest, fuck my brains out, and collect easy money.
I copied and pasted the same message to Yura, Eunha, Ari, and Sara.
Ye-wol? I'll ignore that bitch for now.
I didn't know if all four of them would accept my terms, but it didn't matter.
After all, I still had Ye-wol as a backup, since she had already offered twenty percent.
With a light heart, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
"Ah... fuck. I should have just accepted it. Why did I do that... why?!"
Now that I was in my thirties, I should have swallowed my pride, but I ended up playing power games like I was still in my twenties.
Once he put his clothes back on, he looked like the most ordinary guy ever. Looking at him, I had looked down on him, thinking, You got to eat someone way out of your league.
But what made my hands shake the most was the live stream revenue from our broadcast on the K-Fans app.
Of course, that 59 million won wasn't all going into my pocket.
With the implementation of the K-Fans Special Act, settlements had become incredibly convenient.
A 30% platform fee, plus a 15% "sweet" tax.
If I kept pulling in this kind of revenue, I'd have to worry about hitting the highest bracket of 45% for global income tax next May.
A miracle where high earners making hundreds of millions only paid taxes comparable to ordinary office workers. This was the special industry privilege born from the "sweetness" of our dear lawmakers.
Once the platform took its 45% cut, all the headache was cleanly resolved.
"Forty-five percent... That's 26.55 million won gone, leaving me with 32.45 million won."
That was the net profit landing straight in my bank account from just a single night.
In all my years of streaming, I had never made such blinding amounts of money.
That was why I had been so stingy.
After quickly calling around my contacts, I was told that even ten percent was too much.
So I had offered ten percent as if doing him a massive favor. But when he scoffed and demanded ten percent more, I lost my temper and screamed at him.
"Why did you do that... you stupid bitch!"
Anger at my own foolishness flared up again.
"Whew... whew... Calm down. Just calm down."
I took deep, ragged breaths and lay down on the bed. With trembling hands, I picked up my phone and logged onto the K-Fans community.
The moment I tapped the "Trending Posts" tab, the feed was completely plastered with my name and stories about him.
I clicked on the post with the most explosive view count.
[Photo of the monstrous tool penetrating her sweet spot, its sheer girth and length obvious despite the black mosaic blur]
Whoa, fuck lol. Look at her face. You can't fake that. That's 100% real.
What's with that intimidating size even with the mosaic? Is this photoshopped?
I watched it live, not shopped. It's literally a weapon. I'm amazed it even fit.
Hey, so when is the video dropping?
I'd buy this even if it was 50,000 won! Please release the video quickly, I'm getting dizzy waiting!!
My wallet is ready. Shut up and take my money!
The comment section was nothing but praise for his massive cock and clamoring to buy the video.
Below that, a debate was already raging over the pricing.
"Sigh... this is a dilemma too..."
I looked up my editor's contact info and dialed.
After a few rings, heavy breathing came through the receiver.
"*Huff, gasp, whew...* N-Noona... what's up?"
"Sigh... you dirty bastard. How's the editing going?"
"Yes, *grunt*! This one is fucking insane. I'm already on my third round jerking off to it."
"...Finish that up later. What do you think of the footage?"
"It's a masterpiece. I don't even know how else to describe it. He's not human."
"That good, huh... How do you think we should price the video? I've never dealt with a monster like this before, so my head is spinning."
"Hmm... let's go with the standard industry pricing. But... I think we should split the video into three parts."
"Three?"
"One teaser edit of five minutes, one thirty-minute highlight cut, and finally, the uncensored, uncut full video. Those three."
"And the prices? What are you thinking?"
"Well... the pricing is ultimately up to you, Noona."
"Just give me your opinion."
"I think 10,000 won for the five-minute teaser, 29,000 won for the highlight cut, and 49,000 won for the uncensored version."
"Hey, shouldn't we charge more? Raise them by ten to twenty thousand won. People will buy it even if it's expensive with this level of quality!"
"Hmm... I disagree. It's better to stick to the standard pricing."
"Really? Is that honestly the best way? We need to rake in every penny we can."
"Yes. Noona, the platform just launched. Competition is fierce, so there's no need to get called a rip-off because of high prices. Right now, it's crucial to boost sales volume and aim for the top of the rankings."
"The rankings... we can do it, right?"
"Of course! If we release it at this price and lock down a top spot, the traffic will explode. Selling it to a thousand people at a reasonable price yields a much higher total profit than selling it to a hundred people at a high price. And..."
"We need to solidify the fandom with this. That way, they'll trust us and buy the next episode when it drops, right? We have to look at the long game..."
"Right... but this might be the only one we ever sell."
"...Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Don't tell me... Noona, did you lose him?"
"Hang up!"
"N-Noona..."
I hung up, not wanting to hear any more of his lecturing.
Ding.
A moment later, a text message arrived.
As if possessed, I tapped the link.