Interview (5)
The interview shoot wrapped up without a hitch.
“Thank you for your hard work today.”
“Ah, yes. You too.”
The filming of the interview featuring Tamer Park Jihun and one of his familiars, Briana, had gone smoothly. As a broadcasting novice, Jihun’s reactions and dialogue had been a bit awkward at times, but thanks to the veteran host Joo Yejin, everything blended together naturally. Briana had also performed diligently, resulting in a surprisingly solid video.
‘It wrapped up cleaner than I expected.’
Joo Yejin watched Park Jihun and Briana as they went around greeting the staff, letting out a quiet sigh of relief in her mind. This was her first time interviewing a monster, after all. On top of that, she knew full well how fiercely the internet was currently burning with rumors about Jihun’s familiars. Even though the footage would be edited before upload, she had been worried the questions might somehow offend him.
But to her surprise, Park Jihun had calmly answered everything—including the questions about Vietnam and the Vampire Queen—saying it was fine to ask until the end. Once this video went up, it would probably serve as something of an explanation. She suspected it might even help improve his image a little.
‘And that thing at the end… was he serious?’
While she was thinking that, her eyes caught Park Jihun engaged in an earnest conversation with Huntube CEO Shin Sooheon. The two had been talking nonstop for a while now, exchanging words with obvious intensity.
“What are you two talking about so seriously?”
The curious Joo Yejin approached and asked. Shin Sooheon answered with a smile.
“Ah, the Hunter was asking about the YouTube channel you mentioned earlier. He had a lot of questions.”
“Oh, I see.”
Hearing that, Joo Yejin recalled the final comment Jihun had made during the broadcast.
“Oh, and I’m thinking about starting a YouTube channel soon. I’ll upload stuff like daily life with my familiars, random things, that kind of channel.”
It clearly hadn’t been casual talk. He had even specifically asked that it be included at the very end during editing. And now he was asking all sorts of questions to Shin Sooheon, the man running Huntube with over 3.6 million subscribers.
Of course, it wasn’t unusual for hunters to create YouTube channels. They would share gate stories, use magic for various content, flex their wealth, and so on. The formats varied, but quite a few hunters ran channels as a side gig. So on the surface, there was nothing particularly special about it.
But the moment the owner of that channel became Park Jihun, it transformed into something utterly unique in the world.
The story of Tamer Park Jihun and his familiars.
In other words… it would be the world’s one and only YouTube channel showing the daily lives of monsters.
‘…He might surpass Huntube’s subscriber count in the blink of an eye.’
If people from all over the world flocked to watch and subscribe, 3.6 million would seem like nothing. That was what she thought.
“Thank you for all the information. If I have more questions, I’ll reach out again.”
Having asked everything he wanted to know, Park Jihun gave a polite bow to the crew and left the set.
“Th-thank you!”
The petite beauty with silver bobbed hair and jade-green skin, Briana, also bowed deeply before following after Jihun.
“…An interview appearance, and now a YouTube channel… What suddenly got into him?”
Joo Yejin muttered in genuine wonder.
He had revealed his abilities and various other details because hiding and acting covertly was too much of a hassle. But looking at his usual behavior, Park Jihun hated anything that interfered with his actions. It was obvious that someone who had never shown his face to the media or done interviews before wouldn’t suddenly appear on a YouTube show—and even announce that he was going to run his own channel.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
At that moment, Shin Sooheon let out a small chuckle as if he had figured it out.
“A cool guy is always serious about protecting his girls’ dignity.”
“…?”
When Joo Yejin looked at him like she had no idea what he meant, Shin Sooheon shrugged.
“You know, like that thing. The boyfriend who shows up at his girlfriend’s reunion driving a Benz to pick her up?”
“Ahhh~”
“Hunter Park Jihun probably wants to give his familiars some breathing room using a YouTube channel as his Benz.”
Both Shin Sooheon, who ran a major YouTube network, and Joo Yejin, the channel’s star host, knew very well just how powerful the influence of media—YouTube in particular—could be on the public.
Media can turn the greatest saint into the worst criminal trash.
Conversely, it can turn the most notorious mass murderer into a saintly volunteer.
People these days had learned not to blindly trust the media and to stay skeptical, but that didn’t mean they were completely unaffected. Whether the influence was evil or good, people unconsciously projected the images they absorbed from media onto the person and tended to view them through that frame.
“So right now, our familiar friends are trapped inside the ‘monster’ frame and are being seen in a bad light~ That’s what I’m saying.”
Especially the Vampire Queen Trene, who had caused a massive incident in Vietnam, and the Succubus Sira, who had tried to break through a special gate and invade Earth directly. On the internet right now, they were viewed purely as “monsters”—enemies of humanity who had caused countless deaths. In other words, 100% absolute evil.
“And in that context, we show them living ordinary daily lives. Cooking, shopping, playing games like normal people~ Stuff like that.”
That was exactly what Park Jihun’s planned “YouTube channel” was for. He wasn’t going to do anything special. Just upload vlog-style content showing him and his familiars living ordinary human lives.
“I see. It’s about planting a friendly image in people’s minds—that they aren’t all that different from us.”
“Exactly.”
When Shin Jiyeon nodded in understanding, Park Jihun snapped his fingers and affirmed her words. Just as she said, what Jihun was aiming for was precisely that “friendly image.”
If being monsters made them unacceptable, then showing that they weren’t all that different from humans would change everything. They would simply become slightly unusual, powerful hunters… and breathtakingly beautiful goddesses.
Uniqueness, hunter, goddess-level beauty. Only the keywords people loved would remain.
If that happened, even Trene’s image—currently blamed for the deaths of many in Vietnam—could gradually improve.
“That’s how media works. No matter how many crimes someone has committed, if they make a comeback and keep showing a good side, their image naturally recovers over time.”
As he spoke, Park Jihun glanced around at all his familiars. Whether it was YouTube or media in general, unless they had been exposed to modern society for a long time like Briana or had actively researched it like Sira, most of the familiars didn’t seem to fully understand what he was talking about.
But one thing was certain: each of them had their own unique charm. If they leveraged that charm and their goddess-tier looks to film daily vlogs…
‘It’ll succeed plenty even without my name value or the monster gimmick.’
“And the timing worked out perfectly with the Huntube appearance too.”
“Right? Seriously.”
It hadn’t been intentional, but it had become massive promotion. There was no better opportunity than debuting on a mega-channel with over 3.6 million subscribers.
“Hehe, it’s all thanks to me.”
This time, he couldn’t help but praise Sira as she proudly puffed out her chest.
“Yeah, I’ll give you real praise. As a reward, should we start the night by pumping Sira full right from the beginning?”
“Kyaaah~ Jihun, you beast!”
And so, Park Jihun spent the night mixing his body with his familiars in what felt like an after-party celebration.
While Park Jihun was busy with his sticky games with the familiars, the video finally went up on Huntube.
[Meeting the Man of the Hour, Tamer Park Jihun!]
It was a clean title without the usual clickbait YouTube nonsense. But just the name “Tamer Park Jihun” was enough. Barely ten minutes after upload, the video had already surpassed 100,000 views.
The content was simple. It started with trivial questions—favorite foods, taste in women, number of past relationships—and moved into a full interview about Park Jihun.
How he had obtained the power to tame monsters. What it was like after awakening as a hunter. How it felt when his stats first started growing. The video continued with topics people were curious about.
There were also plenty of questions directed at his familiar, Briana. What race she was, what her relationship with her master was like, whether she got along with the other familiars, what her original home was like, how well she had adapted to modern life, what her favorite foods were, and so on.
The sight of Briana answering in a flustered panic caused her fanbase to explode.
And then came the main event—the topic currently burning hottest across the internet.
The massive gate outbreak in Vietnam, and the questions regarding the Vampire Queen Trene connected to it. Opinions in the comments were split.
Some people thought asking such questions was crossing the line and questioned why they would do it.
Others said it was good timing since they wanted a clear explanation anyway.
And of course, there were those who simply disliked them and were being sarcastic.
Park Jihun’s answer in the video was this:
He had turned speculative rumors into confirmed fact. Viewers who saw it either rejoiced that they had been right or lamented the unfortunate truth.
Then came Jihun’s next words.
Of course, it was a lie. Trene had simply been an invader who wanted to rule the other world and pioneer new land. But there was no way he would say that straight out.
He had simply flipped the positions of monster and hunter to draw out sympathy, pity, and forgiveness from people.
People actually began to overlap the situation with their own circumstances and a wave of sympathy for Trene started to form.
Of course there was backlash, but—
The public opinion had already shifted, and people were now defending her among themselves. Originally the voices attacking Trene had been louder, but the supportive voices were quickly rising to match them at a near fifty-fifty split.
And at the very end of the video:
The battlefield for the next fierce fight among people, who had already split into two heated camps, had been decided.