Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: I Swear in the Name of the Mad Brush Star-nim
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Defeated.
Utterly and completely crushed in the stare-down, with zero room for excuses.
Of course, it was a solo stare-down, a shadow boxing match with myself.
But a loss was a loss.
The one thing I'd overlooked.
People with rock-solid convictions and philosophies can't be bought off with money.
This Kirinuki editor was exactly that type.
He'd explained to me why he couldn't be my official editor.
Long story short:
Our visions for editing were worlds apart.
💬 Live Chat — Editor My editing style is super spicy. "...Yeah. I've seen it."
— Editor I'm not really looking to change my style... Does it suit your tastes, Jia-nim? "Nope. Hate it."
— Editor Got it. Still a no from me. I'll take down all the videos as soon as the call ends! "..."
I didn't like his editing style one bit.
But there was no denying it had been a huge boost to my streams.
Subscriber inflows had visibly spiked ever since he started running that Kirinuki channel.
Anyway, I lost.
Total defeat in the stare-down.
When you lose, you pay the price.
My vow of "I won't beg or cry" went right out the window.
"Ah, just be my editor already! My YouTube's doomed without you!"
💬 Live Chat — Viewer1 Instant backpedal lmao — Viewer2 You were just ranting about sinners and all that lololol — Viewer3 Pathetic! — Viewer4 This is straight-up tantrum-throwing lololol — Viewer5 Too bad about Worship Hall owner tho... — Viewer6 Fr, if Worship Hall guy edited main channel, 1M subs easy I started throwing a tantrum at him.
For a split second, I wondered if I was going too far.
Nope.
This was necessary.
A YouTube editor's skills were way more crucial than I'd thought.
When you wonder, "This person's not that entertaining, so why the huge subs and views?"—it's the editor, 100 times out of 100.
Conversely, "This person's hilarious live, but subs and views suck"—editor again, every time.
Not even my official channel, no promo from my streams, yet word-of-mouth and algorithm got him to 100K subs in under a month?
That's pure talent.
I had to snag him.
More than worth groveling for.
He looked a little awkward.
— Editor But for real, our editing styles just don't match what you're aiming for... "I-I'll adapt as much as I can! That work?"
— Editor Uh... for real? "Yes."
— Editor Over half the videos might get age-restricted. Cool with that? 💬 Live Chat — Viewer7 Half the vids age-gated? — Viewer8 That's wild lololol — Viewer9 No wonder she refused at first smh — Viewer10 Basically kissing YouTube revenue goodbye lolol "...Doesn't matter. Not doing it for the money. Money's whatever, yeah."
I cut myself short.
The unspoken end was, "The Awakener Association dumps massive cash into my account monthly anyway."
The devotees seemed to misinterpret.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer11 "Money? Just squeeze donations from devotees" ㄷㄷㄷ — Viewer12 Donations "gimme" — Viewer13 "Pay up" Tricky.
Couldn't clear up the misunderstanding.
Super frustrating not being able to just say, "I'm an Awakener."
Anyway.
"I swear in the name of the Mad Brush Star-nim. I'll adapt as much as I can."
For the YouTube channel, I'd bow and submit.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer14 Mad Brush Star wtf lolol — Viewer15 Did she mess up? His voice brightened at my oath in the god's name.
— Editor If you're that serious, no reason for me to say no. Deal! But fair warning, main channel edits will match or exceed the Worship Hall clips in intensity... "Ah, tone it down a bit."
— Editor ...Pardon? "Too intense."
— ㅇㅇ donated 1,000 won Said you'd adapt 5 secs ago, liar ao lololololol — Jia'sDiveInMyHeart donated 5,000 won "I'll adapt" (lies) — Editor B-But you just said you'd adapt... Swore on the god's name! "Didn't."
— Editor Y-You did! My pride stung.
Defeat was sealed, but I wanted to keep fighting.
So I doubled down.
"I swore to the Mad Brush Star-nim, not Reflecting Myriad Stars. Gotta listen properly..."
THUD!
"Gwehk!"
THUD!
"Euek,"
THUD!
"Gyaak!"
Mocking the god's name came at a steep price.
The guy on the call snorted with laughter.
💬 Live Chat — Viewer16 Oh, scripted? — Viewer17 Scripted moment lololol — Viewer18 Figured it was too forced lolol — Viewer19 Price of blasphemy welcome — Viewer20 Long time no see lololol — Viewer21 ? What tf is she doing? — Viewer22 Banging her head??????????????? — Viewer23 Newbies confused af hot — Viewer24 Sacred ritual, no misunderstandings pls. — Viewer25 RP God Jia! RP God Jia! RP God Jia! RP God Jia! — Viewer26 Kya turning it into a gag like that — Viewer27 Curious how she'd wrap it up, but she smashed it clean lolol — Viewer28 Da Ji A — Viewer29 Pig Ji A — Viewer30 Hey, not a pig — Viewer31 Hmm... looks piggy in midshots tho — Viewer32 Hey — Viewer33 Take it back... that last thing...! — Anonymous donated 3,000 won This stream's just RP God confirmed ㅇㅇ — ㅇㅇ donated 5,000 won WWE master Da Jia ㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷㄷ The chat and donations erupted in RP God praise.
...Felt like I was the protag in some delusion novel.
Not RP.
I actually banged my head.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The next morning.
Up early, I made a group VoiceTalk room and invited two people.
One was my stream manager and channel manager, "Grace of Myriad Stars' Gaze."
His main gigs: overall channel management and comment moderation.
Crazy trolls dropping slurs.
Gallery shitposters.
Ad spammers hawking shady sites.
YouTube comments were literal hell, so his role was heavy-duty.
The other: channel editor, "Lee Jia's Worship Hall."
"Lee Jia's Worship Hall" had one condition.
No complaints about his editing style, ever.
Just trust him, and he'd blow up the channel's scale.
...Accepted.
No choice.
Snagging talent like this ain't easy.
Put off the contract for now.
My MCN and agency, Omnia Archive?
Super black company that doesn't even help with contracts.
Ugh.
Any normal MCN or corp would've hooked me up proper. What gives, Reflecting Myriad Stars-nim?
To contract these folks, I'd need to study up myself or hit up the Awakener Association. So, postponed.
They could start after signing, but they were gung-ho.
Both ready to dive into channel ops today.
Agreed to keep "Lee Jia's Worship Hall" Kirinuki channel as-is.
Better as a clips channel than terraforming it into main.
Sigh.
YouTube woes sorted.
Two hires now—they'd handle it.
Actually, perfect.
Managing every video myself would've sucked.
Age-gates or not, let 'em cook.
My job: pay up as a diligent employer.
💬 VoiceTalk — GraceOfMyriadStarsGaze Need a custom channel banner pic — LeeJiasWorshipHall I can handle that! — LeeJiasWorshipHall Asked Mad Star artist for Kirinuki launch, she hooked it up lol — GraceOfMyriadStarsGaze Kya — GraceOfMyriadStarsGaze Big connect Star Mad Star, the artist who did my cafe banner, popping up again.
Owe her a thanks too.
Watched my two eager employees debate hotly, zoning out.
Ding.
VoiceTalk notification.
💬 VoiceTalk — Ayase Hi Jia-nim~ Hope you're well! "Gasp."
Ayase.
Thrilled at her message, I fired back fast.
— LeeJia Yeswell doing! — LeeJia Yesdoneyes! — LeeJia Yes I'm good! Typo apocalypse.
— Ayase Lolol still hilarious lololol — Ayase But why reply so fast? — Ayase Streamers take at least a day to reply lolol ...Face burning.
Should've typed slower, more carefully.
— Ayase Anyway, reaching out for — Ayase a tourney invite! — Ayase Check details below, DM if interested no pressure! — Ayase (photo) Tourney invite.
No hesitation.
— LeeJia I'm in 100%! Replied first, then checked the pic.
Tourney: "Battle Lounge Streamer Random Team Battle."
Uh.
Yeah.
'Battle Lounge' tourney.
Future's clear.
Shit the bed in the tourney, grief my team, eat shit from everyone.
"..."
Gonna need Yoo Euisul's help.