Chapter 37

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 37

Chapter Title: Gotta Buy a Computer

-----------------------------------------------------------------

He checked the scrolling comments and slyly lifted the corner of his mouth.

It wasn't the reaction he'd expected, but it wasn't bad either.

'I definitely have a bit of an exhibitionist streak.'

To draw this kind of response from a video of just washing a carrot.

People really do reflect their usual behavior.

With a satisfied mind, he pulled up the dashboard window.

He'd always just checked the daily earnings out of habit and closed it.

He hardly ever looked at the accumulated revenue.

After all, until it hit his bank account, it was no different from cyber money.

But one recent comment had piqued his curiosity.

'Money, huh.'

No matter how low the payout per view was for Shorts, with gangster-level views like these, maybe it added up differently?

Since he'd just let it pile up, it might be more than he thought. Excitement swelled within him.

With trembling hands, he clicked the revenue tab.

"Whoa."

A gasp escaped his lips.

The numbers didn't feel real, so he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

Fifty-one thousand dollars.

At the current exchange rate of around 1,400 won, punching it into the calculator...

"Seventy million won?"

Insane...

This was more than he could earn in a year of grinding at the logistics center, sacrificing sleep after work to eat rice, which topped out at 5 million.

And he'd made 1.5 times that in just three months.

"This... actually works?"

The daily tens or hundreds of dollars coming in hadn't excited him much.

After taxes, what's left? He'd been indifferent.

But seeing it all piled up, the sheer weight of the amount was no joke.

And this was just the beginning.

The videos would keep racking up views, and revenue would pile up daily.

"Gotta upload more often."

He reaffirmed his resolve.

With money right in front of him, motivation surged from nowhere.

No wonder people loved webnovels with status windows.

Visible growth boosts satisfaction.

Sinking deep into his chair, he pondered happily.

What to spend it on?

He wasn't very materialistic, honestly.

A car?

As long as it runs, fine.

His old beater was plenty grateful.

A house?

Just for sleeping? Studio's enough.

Luxury goods?

Wearing them doesn't increase your value.

"Nothing I really want."

No hobbies besides games.

Didn't drink much, travel was a hassle.

Then his eyes landed on the PC case humming and blowing hot air.

"Maybe upgrade the computer."

His current rig was basic peasant spec.

Ryzen 5600X, RTX 3060.

Great value at the time, but years ago now.

Cost about a million won back then.

"Yeah, go full options this time."

Sudden greed hit.

With this much cash, a little splurge was fine, right?

Plus, when Darkness Soul Land sales start, he'd need top specs to run it.

Planning to dip into streaming then too.

No face reveal, of course.

AI app for a character overlay, voice modulation.

Needed beastly specs for that.

Streaming while running high-end games? Current PC couldn't handle it.

"Let's see."

Without hesitation, he hit up the PC parts site.

Low price? Value?

Not in his dictionary anymore.

Highest price, best performance only.

Top-tier CPU.

GPU: 5090...

Motherboard with beefy power delivery, RAM at a generous 256GB.

SSDs: 4TB x6, no capacity worries.

Board had only 4 slots, but PCIe NVMe extender card fixes that.

Cooler, PSU, case—all high-end.

"Total... 22 million won."

Insane price.

A whole car in one PC.

GPU was brutal, RAM and SSDs no joke either.

Old him would've just window-shopped.

"Checkout."

But not now.

Smashed the button without a second thought.

YouTube payout pending, but no issue.

Plenty left from Eun Ha-min.

"Sunday today... Tuesday delivery."

While at it, grabbed a monitor too.

Always wanted a desk setup with big earnings; had eyed a wide one.

After that, bank balance plummeted.

But satisfaction filled the void.

"What to do till Tuesday."

Waiting for delivery was always boring.

Habitually double-clicked Chrono Rea icon.

Familiar loading screen, character spawned in town square.

"Whoa... calling it a dead game feels off now."

He marveled at the player count.

This the same Chrono Rea that barely hit 500 concurrent?

Chest swelled with pride.

Town buzzing made him itch to play.

Moving his character across the square, he felt eyes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on him.

More folks recognized him lately.

Beggars via whisper, randos sending junk items via mail.

Short replies in chat.

Ignored mails.

But accepted the items.

Fan gifts—rejecting's rude.

Even cheap pots show appreciation wins hearts.

'Hmm. Time to spec up more.'

Time to use the laundered gold from the hacked merchant account.

Current spec short for next boss raid.

To carry properly, needed stronger.

"AI app, transfer everything from laundry account to main."

Screen buzzed with activity.

Character slipped to quiet alley.

Shabby alts approached one by one.

Trade windows popped and closed dozens of times.

High-value mats poured in—cash equivalents.

Last safety step: items over gold.

"Sell these, clean money."

Dumped all on auction house.

Slightly under market.

Sold instantly.

Inventory gold skyrocketed.

1.5 trillion.

Lost 100 billion in final wash, but belly-full number.

Bought pre-wishlisted top-tier gear.

Weapon, armor, accessories.

Expected 1.4T, but prices up—1.52T spent.

'Good, server rank contender... almost.'

Equipped new gear—brilliant light effects from set bonuses.

Could bus a few newbie fans now.

Pulled megaphone from inventory.

Paid item for server-wide message.

Enter—chat exploded.

Dozens of whispers instant.

Picking lowbies for party invites, one caught his eye.

Copycats?

Paused invites, replied.

Names obvious rip-offs.

Searched them.

'World's Reality... 1,200 subs. Truth's World... 800.'

Thumbnails, titles identical.

Content knockoffs too.

Views and quality tragic.

Max 30k-50k.

Most under 1k.

'Cute. Adorable.'

More pity than annoyance.

YouTube rule: one hit, copycat swarm.

But fakes stay fakes.

Can't match original flavor.

Back to channel, checked carrot vid.

'15 mil.'

Overwhelming.

Carrot wash hits 10mil base now.

'Ride the momentum, drop another.'

Screw it, whatever.

Fridge: green onions.

Grabbed one, plopped on board.

Sliced root off.

'Add meaning this time.'

Carrot was random, but viewers projected dreams.

What if intentional meaning from start?

Fed onion root clip to AI.

"Make artsy vid with deep meaning. Make it look profound."

AI worked silently.

3 mins later, output.

Played.

Eerie BGM, slo-mo root chop.

Serious narration subs.

"Ugh... total bullshit."

No clue what it meant, but looked deep.

'Artsy' fans from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠carrot vid would lose it.

Grinned, uploaded.

Title: [Severance]. Simple.

Waited.

"Oh, comments flying."

Refreshed eagerly.

...

Scroll stopped.

Exact opposite of expected.

Praised carrot philosophy; now direct philosophy = hate flood.

"Jerkasses."

Flopped on desk.

But next day, views solid.

20mil in a day? Good enough.