A Seventy Percent Commission Is Highway Robbery!
My first stream could only be described as a total trainwreck. I hadn't prepared any content, and I didn't even have a decent reaction ready.
"O-One... one million won?! I mean, sure, I barked a bit enthusiastically, but... they're giving me a million won for *that*?!"
My heart hammered against my ribs like a sewing machine on overdrive. It wasn't like I'd never earned a million won before, even if my work experience was on the thin side. I'd made that much working part-time jobs, and I'd even made nearly ten million won trading crypto once. Of course, right after that, I completely blew up my account...
"Ugh... the trauma..." The memories I'd buried deep in the recesses of my mind began to squirm and claw their way back to the surface.
"Nope, stop. Don't think about it. That was then, this is now!" Re-burying the painful scar, I focused on the situation at hand. I had just taken my first real step as a streamer.
"Yes, indeed. I can practically feel myself growing." I crossed my arms and nodded repeatedly. It was a gut feeling—the sensation of my potential as a streamer finally beginning to sprout. And the visual evidence to back up that feeling was...
"The fact that I got a donation!" A whopping six-figure donation, a rarity even on the streams of massive corporate-backed creators. To relive that glorious moment, I pulled up the stream VOD.
On the computer screen was a breathtaking beauty—so gorgeous that comparing her to my past self felt like an insult. The moment the one-million-won donation popped up, her eyes went wide, and she froze in sheer shock. Then, as if tossing her human dignity straight out the window, she began to bark like a rabid guard dog.
"Whoa... holy crap. This is dangerous. I know it's me, but this is dangerously erotic!" The loose-fitting T-shirt draped over my collarbones at a dizzying angle. And after barking for so long, she looked completely exhausted, panting with her tongue sticking out.
"You could turn this black-and-white, slap a censor bar over her eyes, and it wouldn't look out of place at all!" At the time, I'd been so blinded by the sheer shock of a million-won donation that only the act of barking had registered in my brain; everything else was a blur. Even checking the chat log, it was just a wall of "sheesh," "damn," and "wow."
"Is this... growth?" Of course, having viewers show interest in me wasn't a bad thing. Actually, calling it 'not bad' was an understatement—it was the alpha and omega of streaming.
"But I should probably refrain from barking like a dog in the future," I muttered, nodding to myself in resolve.
"Alright, first things first: sleep." As I nodded, a sudden throb of a headache reminded me of just how exhausted I was. Staying up until the ungodly hours of the morning to stream was the culprit. No matter how wrecked my sleep schedule usually was, I still tried to pass out before 2:00 AM.
"Once it hits 3:00 AM, the cells in my body go on a general strike from overwork. Ugh, I'm so tired..." I slid out of my computer chair and rolled onto the mattress. Naturally, I was still wearing the exact same clothes I'd worn to the convenience store this morning.
People always said that lying in bed with outdoor clothes on made the sheets dirty. But honestly, wouldn't it be more efficient to wash the sheets once in a while rather than constantly doing laundry for my clothes?
"I'm too lazy to care, so let's go with that." I pulled the cozy blanket over myself and closed my eyes. After riding out a few waves of mind-numbing exhaustion, I finally drifted off to sleep.
"Greetings! A strong and powerful morning, and if you were to ask me, my name is Minser!" The moment my eyes fluttered open, my energy was so incredibly high that I was already spouting nonsense greetings. Was it because I'd slept like a log without a single dream for the first time in ages? My hand naturally reached for my smartphone charging on the nightstand.
Seeing the battery icon sitting at a comfortable 100% filled me with a sense of peace. I checked the time. It was just past 11:00 AM.
"Perfect! I can combine breakfast and lunch. Score!" Amidst the cascade of game notifications popping up on my screen, a list of missed calls caught my eye.
"Why is Mom calling me out of the blue...? Oh, right. Today's the day I get my allowance." There were three missed calls, spaced exactly thirty minutes apart, starting from 9:00 AM.
Should I wait for her to call back because I'm too lazy to dial? I briefly considered it, but according to the principle of the Three Visits to the Cottage, my parents had already made their three attempts. As a jobless, freeloading parasite who happily gobbled up their allowance while avoiding employment, the least I could do was ask how they were doing. I dialed their number.
"Oh, Minser."
"Have you been doing well?"
"Nothing much to report. Your father's farming, I'm running the restaurant, same as always."
"Right, of course."
"Hold on a second, let me put your father on."
About ten seconds later, a gruff, hearty voice echoed from the speaker.
"How long has it been since I last heard my daughter's voice? How's the job hunt going up in Seoul?"
"Well... it's going okay. I'm looking around, but it's tough. Companies just aren't hiring right now."
I could never, under any circumstances, admit that it wasn't the companies refusing to hire, but rather me refusing to apply.
"But Dad, there's actually something I wanted to ask."
"What is it? Don't beat around the bush, just spit it out."
"Well... what was I like back in school?"
Considering even my resident registration card had changed, it was safe to assume my entire past and paper trail had been rewritten. My parents completely perceived me as their daughter, after all. So, what was my school life like in this reality? In my actual memories, I was always a quiet loner huddled in the corner of the classroom, reading books. Ugh... I don't even want to remember. Hoping my school days in this world were at least slightly better, I waited anxiously for his response.
"You were fine. You gave your mother a bit of a headache during your rebellious phase, but other than that, you got along okay with your friends."
Hearing his answer, I let out a silent sigh of relief. Thank goodness he didn't say something like, "You were extremely quiet in class," or "I've never seen you with a single friend."
"Come to think of it, today is the day we send your allowance. No wonder you called."
My train of thought ground to a screeching halt at having my true intentions so easily read.
"How much do you need? Is the usual three million won enough to get you through the month?"
"W-Well, about that..."
"Honey, the economy is terrible and prices are skyrocketing. How is she supposed to survive on three million? We should send her five million!"
"Actually... I think one million won will be plenty for this month."
The moment those words left my mouth, I heard a sharp intake of breath from both of them, followed by dead silence. A brief pause. And then...
"Only one million?! Minser, you haven't gotten yourself mixed up in something shady, have you?"
"No, of course not!"
"Don't lie to me. You haven't even found a job yet, so you shouldn't have any decent source of income. Where on earth did you get money?"
His reminder of my unemployment rubbed salt right into my deepest wounds.
"It's nothing illegal. I've just started earning a little bit of money on the side."
Even if I told my parents I was doing internet streaming, they probably wouldn't understand. Rather than making them worry, it was better to keep things vague and put their minds at ease.
"Anyway, I'll let you go now."
"A-Alright, then. We'll send you some of the rice we harvested here, too. Call us if things get tough."
I let out a soft sigh and pulled the phone away from my ear.
"They worry way too much."
My dad farmed, and my mom ran a restaurant. That was the simplest way to put it, stripping away all the adjectives and embellishments.
In reality, my father owned thousands of acres of fields and paddies, supplying hand-grown crops to major corporations through lucrative contracts. My mother's restaurant wasn't just a local hotspot; it had been featured on all kinds of TV shows, and she was currently in the process of launching a franchise right in the heart of downtown Seoul.
"Was I seriously adopted from under a bridge?"
Compared to my incredibly successful parents, I felt absolutely microscopic.
"Whatever. No use getting depressed. Let's figure out how to transfer those sweet, sweet donations into my bank account."
After digging through the streaming platform's settings for what felt like an eternity, I finally located the payout page. Alongside the massive one-million-won donation, there were several other smaller donations listed.
"A total of about 1.14 million won. That is an insane haul for a first stream."
Just looking at the number had me humming a happy tune.
"Let's see... how do I transfer this to my account..." As I squinted at the microscopic fine print, a certain clause caught my eye and made me freeze.
"If there is no viewer limit, the platform commission is fixed at 70% of all donations?! What kind of absolute bull—!"
I stared at the sentence, trying to parse it like a complex reading comprehension passage on a college entrance exam. But the ultimate realization didn't hit me until my eyes drifted down to the actual payout figure.
[AVAILABLE BALANCE FOR WITHDRAWAL]
342,000 KRW
Snap. I heard the distinct sound of a thread snapping inside my brain.
"Fixed?! A seventy percent commission is fixed?! This is highway robbery!!!"
A desperate wail tore from the depths of my soul as sheer despair washed over me.
"I should've just taken the allowance when they offered it! Why did I have to act all proud and say I didn't need it?! How am I supposed to survive for the next month?!"
To make matters worse, the meager savings I'd scraped together had already been completely drained to buy my streaming gear. If I wanted to avoid a cruel and unusual punishment of eating instant cup ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, I desperately needed cash. But would another million-won donation drop today like it did yesterday? Not a chance. Yesterday was pure beginner's luck.
"What the hell am I even supposed to stream today...?"
Now that I'd successfully caught their attention yesterday, it was time to actually show them what I could do. Yet, no matter how hard I racked my brain, I couldn't think of a single topic to stream.