Chapter 70

I’m translating the chapter now and preserving the in-universe UI as styled HTML blocks where the source treats it as readable content. I’m also keeping the club/account names and the moment-to-moment business humor intact rather than flattening it into literal prose.CHAPTER_TITLE: The Gold Mark and the 15 Percent

Marco, a fervent Real Madrid fan, was lying in bed and browsing Moment on his Apple phone.

A slightly foolish smile kept slipping across his face.

"Wow... I have over 1,500 followers?"

Every time his finger swept across the screen, the follower count on his profile refreshed.

His ordinary Moment account, the one followed by little more than a handful of college friends and family, now had 1,532 followers.

I never thought Raul's photo would get this famous. It's still an insanely cool shot no matter how many times I look at it.

That was right. The roaring photo of Raul he had taken at the last El Clasico he attended in person was being pushed by Moment's algorithm.

"Moment is seriously amazing."

No matter how many photos you uploaded on Facebook, only your friends or maybe your friends' friends would see them.

That was because its structure was fundamentally closed off, built around people you already knew.

Moment was different. It connected people through interests. If he uploaded Real Madrid photos, the app would surface them to another Real Madrid fan's feed.

Thanks to that, even an ordinary person like him had managed to gain over 1,000 followers.

Then it happened.

Ding.

With the notification sound, a banner appeared at the top of the screen.

Did someone else like Raul's photo?

Marco checked the alert without much thought.

But the instant he saw the words in the notification window, his eyes went wide.

"...Huh?"

Real Madrid.

The name of the club he had supported since before he could even walk properly, the club he loved more than life itself.

"...No way."

Marco let out a snort of disbelief. It had to be a fake account.

There was no way the world's best club would personally appear on the page of a nobody fan like him and tap "Like" on his photo.

"Who would even pull a stunt like this..."

Half curious, half irritated, he tapped the notification and opened the account profile.

The screen changed, and the profile page appeared.

The first thing he saw was Real Madrid's emblem, crowned with a regal gold crown.

And the ID, stripped of all embellishment, was simply Real Madrid.

"...Huh?"

Something felt different.

It felt real.

Marco's eyes widened.

...Is this actually the official Real Madrid account?

If so, he needed to follow it immediately.

But his finger hesitated over the follow button.

The follower count was strange. There were too few photos, too.

Real Madrid, the greatest club in the world, had only 400 followers? That made no sense.

Even he, a random fan, had more than 1,500.

"Fake account."

He had heard fake accounts were running wild on Facebook lately, and now it had reached here too.

Tsk.

Clicking his tongue, Marco opened the comment window.

As a die-hard fan, he had to strike down scammers like this.

[Marco: Hey, you're fake, aren't you? Don't use the Real Madrid name so casually. I'm reporting you in a minute.]

He posted the comment and was just about to back out when...

Ding.

An instant reply appeared.

He was dumbfounded.

[Marco: Don't feed me that. Where in the world is Real Madrid with only 400 followers?]

Another reply came in, just as sharp.

"...Locker-room photos?"

Marco froze.

The players' locker room.

It only ever surfaced in passing through an occasional club documentary, and the raw, pre-match reality of it was one of those scenes fans wanted most and rarely ever got to see.

...No way, really?

Just as Marco was thinking that...

[Real Madrid posted a new photo.]

Marco tapped the alert as though enchanted.

And then.

"...Holy crap."

A stunned sound escaped him.

In the photo, captain Raul was sitting on a bench, tying the laces of his football boots.

Beside him, Casillas was pulling on his gloves with a tense expression, while in the corner Ramos was lying down with a towel over his face, identifiable only by the silhouette of his body.

It was a composition he had never seen before.

Not a news photo, not a studio feature, but something with the living immediacy of a camera passing by in the hallway and catching the moment as it happened.

And the filter applied to it was The Match Day filter from Moment.

"I-it's real..."

This was not a photo some impostor could have gotten hold of.

Only someone who was truly inside the club could have shot it from that angle.

With trembling fingers, Marco immediately hit the follow button. Then he rushed to add a reply beneath the comment he had left earlier.

[Marco: Sorry for doubting you! So you really are real!]

His heart was racing.

...I'm actually talking to the official Real Madrid account!

As a fan, he couldn't help being stunned.

He was thrilled that he'd discovered it before everyone else.

A little later, another reply appeared.

[Real Madrid: No problem. Thank you for following us. Also, would it be all right if we reposted the roaring photo of Raul on your account? We'll credit you.]

"...!"

Marco rubbed his eyes.

My photo? They were going to put it on the club's official account?

"This is insane... insane!"

He hurriedly typed back so fast his fingers nearly tangled on the keys.

[Marco: Of course! Absolutely! Use it however you want! It's an honor!]

[Real Madrid: Thank you.]

As that short exchange went on, the Real Madrid account's follower count began rocketing upward every time the page refreshed.

The number that had been 400 jumped to 800, then 1,500, then 3,000...

In no time at all, it passed 5,000.

And soon after, a new photo went up on the club account.

It was the very Match Day photo of Raul that Marco had taken.

"My God... they really uploaded the photo I took?"

Marco felt a chill run over his skin.

Then he checked the post that had gone up with it.

"Crazy..."

They tagged his account.

Marco clapped a hand over his mouth, overwhelmed.

Then something in the post caught his eye.

The phrase "the first football club in the world."

"Wait... does that mean other clubs have accounts too?"

His hand naturally drifted to the Moment search bar.

[Search term: Barcelona]

Sure enough, there it was.

An account bearing the Barcelona emblem.

And Barcelona had more followers.

"What? Why do they have more?"

Real Madrid had only just passed 5,000, but Barcelona was already above 6,000.

"I won't stand for this."

Marco sometimes wore his Real kit to school.

And because of that, he couldn't stand losing on the pitch, and he couldn't stand being behind in popularity either.

Besides, I don't know exactly what it is, but if Barcelona gets the Gold Mark before us...

Just imagining it made him want to puke.

Gold was the symbol of Real Madrid.

Barcelona might eventually earn it too, since they were a popular club, but they could never be allowed to steal first place.

Marco immediately captured the Real Madrid account screen.

Then he posted it on both his Moment account and Facebook at the same time.

[Marco: Hey! Where are all the Real fans? Why aren't you following the official ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠account yet?]

[Marco: Barcelona is getting ahead of us! Aren't you ashamed?]

[Marco: Go follow it right now! @Real Madrid]

As soon as he posted, reactions came flooding in.

Ding!

Ding!

Ding!

Likes and shares started climbing fast.

But then a familiar name appeared in the notification window.

[Lucas: lol, you're really trying hard. Is that the extent of Real's firepower? Their follower count is tiny.]

It was his Barcelona-crazy friend, Lucas.

Marco bristled and replied.

[Marco: Shut up. We're not that far behind you.]

Lucas answered instantly.

[Lucas: What are you talking about? We've already passed 10,000.]

"What?"

Marco hurriedly searched for the Barcelona account again.

"That's impossible..."

Marco opened FreeChat with shaking hands.

He started blasting the link into every chat room he could see.

[Me: Download Moment right now and follow Real Madrid! This is urgent!]

In the early afternoon in Spain, the fan pride war had begun in earnest.

It was a click war with pride on the line.

On the other side of the world, in Europe, that enormous battle of pride between clubs and fans was raging.

And the one who had lit the fuse under that fight was...

Sunday evening.

At home, before dinner, I was sitting on the living-room sofa and idly flipping through TV channels.

Then the news stopped my hand.

The screen changed, and a middle-aged man with a confident expression appeared amid the flashburst of dozens of reporters.

[Kim Hyeoncheol / Head of Seongsam Electronics' Future Innovation Office]

It was strange seeing the same man I'd seen at the entrance ceremony now on television.

He even looked a little better than he had then.

Probably because Galleon is selling well.

「That is correct. The results are excellent.」

Listening to Zero, I kept watching the news.

["The response since launch has been explosive. Did you expect this?"]

On screen, Kim Hyeoncheol answered with a relaxed smile.

["To be honest, it's been far hotter than we expected. But this wasn't just chance. I believe it's the result of consumers responding to the very best effort Seongsam Electronics put in."]

["Some are also expressing concern about the competitor smartphone from Apple, which is expected to launch soon."]

At that question, Kim Hyeoncheol's eyes sharpened.

It seemed to be an irritating question.

Then Director Kim looked straight into the camera and said firmly,

["I can say with confidence that Galleon is superior to the Apple phone in both price and performance. And in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠terms of convenience, such as after-sales service networks and battery replacement, the Apple phone will never catch up with our Seongsam. Starting with Galleon, Seongsam Electronics will take the lead in the global mobile market. I hope the people of this nation can take pride in that."]

"Pride, huh..."

Having pride is a good thing.

I wanted to feel it too, since I was Korean.

What I was curious about was whether Galleon would still sell well once the Apple phone launched in Korea on May 5th.

Well... Seongsam Electronics must already be thinking through several countermeasures.

While I was spending that time at ease, Zero spoke up.

「Master, the Real Madrid club account on Moment has just surpassed 50,000 followers. They have also immediately requested official verification.」

Already?

I set down the remote I was holding.

It had been less than two hours since I delivered the official verification conditions to Real Madrid.

And they had gathered 50,000 people in that time...

As expected of a giant club, their firepower is no joke. The fans' loyalty is incredible.

「It is not only due to fan power. It is also evidence that the 'recommended post algorithm' you created is functioning properly.」

The algorithm... Right, that too.

「Yes. The posts are spreading to people around the world who are interested in Real Madrid or in football. They are being exposed not only in Spain, but in other European countries, and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even among users across the ocean in the United States and South America.」

That was an extremely positive signal.

It meant that a borderless form of "connection" was happening inside my platform.

Good. Then we can just give them the official verification as promised...

I stroked my chin for a moment.

Though it's a little too good to hand over right away.

Now that I had them here, I wanted to squeeze out a little more.

I guess I really was a greedy human after all.

When the water's rising, you row. When you've got the handle, you swing it.

Right now, Real Madrid needed the verification mark badly. They wanted it before any other club.

Then I needed to get exactly what I wanted out of the deal.

Zero. Send them a contract in exchange for the official verification. Put in a few restrictions and conditions.

Of course, this wasn't about putting limits on Real Madrid's Moment activity.

The more they talked and posted photos, the more my app would come alive.

What I was aiming at was elsewhere.

From now on, Real Madrid will probably do a lot of club promotion, jersey sales, and sponsor ads, right?

「That is correct. Once they see that Moment has a large user base and that it allows them to reach global targets through the algorithm, they will naturally make active use of it to expand club revenue and influence.」

Then... include a clause that says we take a certain percentage of any advertising spend they make on Moment, and of the profits earned through those ads. That will be the price of official verification.

「You mean that if Real Madrid runs paid ads inside the Moment app later, they must pay a commission on them.」

Exactly. Call it a 'platform usage fee.'

Zero seemed to do the math for a moment before asking,

「What percentage would you like to set?」

Fifteen percent. Google and Apple take 30 percent as platform fees for app stores, so this is reasonable. Slip that in quietly too.

「Understood.」

That clause probably wouldn't mean much to Real Madrid's marketing team right now.

At the moment, advertising meant TV rights fees, sponsor logos on jersey chests, or A-board ads around the stadium.

The very idea of spending money on advertising through social media was still hazy.

They'll probably just think of it as a free promotional tool for now. But...

Things would change.

Once the smartphone era fully arrived, social-media targeted ads would become a central pillar of marketing.

Tens of billions, maybe hundreds of billions of dollars would flow through this platform every week.

I was going to plant a straw into that future cash flow well in advance.

And one more thing.

I hardened my expression and added,

Aside from money matters, make sure the penalty clause for violating Another Technology's internal policies is ironclad. For example, if they post racist content, political incitement, or anything that causes public outrage...

...the account can have its official verification revoked at any time, and be permanently deleted.

In plain terms, if I didn't like what they were doing, I would erase the account.

「You want the control rights clearly stated.」

Right. The account operator is Real Madrid, but I want it made unmistakably clear that the owner of the platform, Moment, is me.

「A sound idea, Master. I will send the contract in Spanish immediately.」

At the same time, in the Real Madrid marketing team office.

All the staff had gathered in front of the 40-inch TV in the center of the room.

On the screen were two web-view windows of the Moment app, connected through a laptop.

The left side showed Real Madrid's official account, and the right side showed Barcelona's.

"Team leader! Barcelona's at 48,000 followers! They're only 2,000 behind us!"

"Damn it... keep refreshing!"

Every time the youngest employee hammered the F5 key, the numbers kept overtaking each other.

It was a bloodless but brutal contest.

Some people might think follower numbers or official verification were trivial things.

But for clubs and stars competing over the title of "the world's best," those trivialities mattered enormously.

After all, these were the people who would pour tens of billions into those trivial details just to defend the title of world-class.

Team leader Garcia downed what was already his fifth espresso of the day and muttered anxiously,

"When the hell are they giving us official verification? It's been ages since we passed 50,000 followers!"

In truth, it had been less than ten minutes since they crossed 50,000.

But in Garcia's sense of time, it already felt like half a day had gone by.

Maybe Barcelona had asked for official verification in advance before they reached 50,000 followers, and Moment was reviewing that first?

If they're as sneaky as Barcelona, they might well do that.

Just as Garcia was biting his lip in irritation over nothing...

One of the employees shouted,

"Team leader! We've got a reply email from Moment about official verification!"

"They're giving it to us?!"

"Yes! They approved the official verification! But..."

The employee faltered in the middle of his cheer, and Garcia snapped,

"Why stop in the middle? Say it properly!"

"T-the thing is... before they issue the verification, they want us to sign a contract."

"A contract? What contract?"

Garcia's brow furrowed.

What kind of contract was necessary just to stick on a verification badge?

Facebook and Twitter would verify famous people on their own and slap the mark on.

But this haughty new app was being difficult to the very end.

"They really have to make everything a production, don't they."

Still, he couldn't afford to waste time complaining. Even now, Barcelona's follower count was rising.

They had no way of knowing when a verification badge might appear on that account first.

"Print it out! If there's no problem when I read it, I'll sign it and send it back immediately!"

"Yes!"

The employee hurried off and came back with a freshly printed, still-warm contract from the printer.

Garcia snatched it up and scanned it quickly.

"Let's see..."

As a marketing team leader, he had read plenty of contracts, but this one was clean and to the point.

It was a highly professional legal document written in perfect Spanish.

Compliance with operating policy, clarification of account ownership... the terms were all standard enough.

But one clause caught his eye.

"Hmm..."

Garcia tilted his head.

It was an odd clause, all right.

Fifteen percent wasn't a small number.

But he soon nodded.

Well... it's not like it can't be done.

The advertising Real Madrid spent money on was mostly TV, newspapers, and outdoor billboards.

Moment wasn't a place where you spent money. It was just a place to upload photos and gather fans for free.

They weren't going to be spending money here in the first place, so what did it matter whether the fee was 15 percent or 50 percent?

Zero percent of zero euros is still zero euros.

Still, because it concerned money, he had to get approval from above.

Garcia immediately called the president's office.

Fortunately, he had already reported on the official verification competition in advance.

Rrring... click.

"Yes, President. Garcia here. I just received a contract from Moment, and..."

Garcia briefly explained the 15 percent commission clause. Then the urgent voice of the president came through the receiver.

[That sort of trivial thing doesn't matter! Fifteen percent? Just give it to them and do it!]

"E-even so, shouldn't we report it to the chairman? It's money-related."

[I'll report it later. For now, sign the contract! What's important is being the first in the world, or at least the first before those Barcelona bastards, to get the official mark. I looked into it too, and Moment downloads have already passed 10 million, and it's the hottest thing in the United States! Not just football clubs either, baseball clubs are making accounts too! You know the LA Dodgers, right?!]

The president's voice was full of excitement.

[Anyway, hurry up and sign it. If those Barca idiots get the mark first, will you take responsibility?!]

"Y-yes! Understood!"

Permission had been granted.

Garcia turned to the staff and ordered,

"Scan the contract immediately and send it back!"

"Yes, sir!"

The staff sprang into action.

And while Garcia kept glaring anxiously at Barcelona's follower count on the screen, he was also convinced of victory.

We won!

What was 15 percent, anyway?

They weren't going to be spending money on Moment in the first place.

They did not know it then, but the Real Madrid club had no idea.

Once the smartphone era fully arrived and the social-media marketing market exploded, that "trivial" 15 percent clause they had signed would end up making them pay more money to Another Technology than any player in Real Madrid history.

And it wouldn't stop with Real Madrid. It would be the same for every club that sought official verification.