The Ad That Came Knocking
The new meeting ended, and we finally arrived back in Seoul. Once I got home, one big problem immediately hit me.
“Guess I should turn on the stream… haa…”
After showing off that swimsuit on camera, I couldn’t find the courage to go live again. Every single post in the fan cafe was nothing but talk about me in that swimsuit. At least I’d already posted a stern warning on some sites threatening legal action, so most people were probably just quietly saving the pictures for themselves.
‘I really have to stream now…’
I checked the clock. It was already eleven at night. Midnight was coming up fast. If I kept stalling, I’d end up taking an unscheduled break. I’d promised the viewers, so I had to at least avoid that. Honestly, I wanted to just call it a night, but unfortunately I’d already used up my last remaining break back on Jeju Island.
I took a deep breath and pressed the go-live button.
The viewers flooded in faster than usual.
‘W-wait, what the hell is this…?’
The viewer count today was anything but normal. My streams usually hovered around a thousand people, but now ten thousand had piled in.
“Uh, why are there so many of you today?”
‘Was my swimsuit really that provocative?’
Nine out of ten people here had apparently shown up just because of that one outfit. I could hardly believe it. While I was still panicking, a massive donation suddenly exploded across the screen.
“…….”
For a second I completely lost my words. For reference, the only person who had ever dropped more than a hundred thousand won in my room was the Chairman.
“…This isn’t that kind of stream.”
Denial first. Dancing for money? My pride would never allow something so cheap. But despite my firm resolve, the donations kept exploding.
…
And it kept going. In just five minutes, a total of one million won had been dropped on the exact same question.
Every kind of degenerate had gathered in my stream. How was I supposed to calm them down?
“C-Chairman?”
The refined Chairman who had never once used profanity had just dropped an f-bomb. The viewers were stunned by the sight.
I took the chance to quickly enable follower-only chat for three months. Once the chat calmed down, I let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew, finally. Now I can actually greet everyone properly.”
Now I could finally communicate with the viewers properly. It had been two days since I last streamed on Rona’s channel.
“Looks like I’ll have to keep follower restrictions on for the next three months.”
“Come on, meal ticket? Of course I’ll refund it all.”
It was money given with the dirty expectation that I’d dance. How could I possibly accept it?
“……?”
I’d only given up a hundred thousand won, so why were they acting like this? The viewers suddenly started showering me with praise.
“Content? I don’t have any.”
There was no way I had prepared actual content. My plan was just to ramble about what happened on Jeju Island and then end the stream.
The chat atmosphere flipped the second I said I had no content. A sigh slipped out automatically.
“Then why don’t you guys come up with something for me?”
Looked like the viewers didn’t have any good ideas either. Guess I’d just ramble like I originally planned and end the stream.
“Ha-im?”
Why were they suddenly telling me to bring Ha-im? What kind of logic was that?
They didn’t seem particularly close, yet everyone wanted to see Ha-im. I had no idea that girl was so famous.
‘Do they really want to meet her that badly?’
I’d love to let them, but unfortunately…
“She’s not available right now. She just finished showering and left for class.”
“Well, we live in the same house, so of course I know.”
The moment those words left my mouth, the chat exploded with question marks.
Had I really never mentioned it? Thinking back, I guess I hadn’t. Explaining everything in detail would be annoying, so I’d keep it short.
“Yes. We’re… well, sisters.”
The moment I said we were sisters, the chat became even hotter than before. Every single message was asking why I’d only said it now.
Well…
“You guys never asked.”
“I’m not really interested.”
Growing the stream was fine, but sticking a straw in my little sister’s popularity was something my pride as her older brother—older sister—would never allow.
“Is she really that famous?”
Just one sentence and they were all treating me like an idiot. How famous was she exactly?
‘Article?’
I quickly opened the cafe. The very first post on the front page was about Ha-im.
[Is This Really the Older Sister of the Chuwang?!]
‘What the hell did I do?!’
Objectively speaking, wasn’t I better than that kid? My chest is bigger too… If there’s even one lie written in there, I’ll curse them with male-pattern baldness for three generations.
When I clicked into the post, it was filled with news articles and solo shots of Ha-im.
[Is This Really the Older Sister of the Chuwang?!]
(Article content)
(Article content)
(Article content)
(Article content)
I only brought four because it would get too long. Summary: Two years ago during the first major gate incident, the great awakener ‘Our’ Ha-im saved citizens from a massive department store with zero casualties. Since then, whenever she has time she saves people, and when asked in an interview why she doesn’t take any reward money unlike other greedy hunters, she left behind the legendary quote, “Because people are in danger?” A truly great awakener! Our Ha-im!
“…….”
This was complete bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I had no idea when they started calling her “Our.”
“If you want her, I’ll give her to you. I don’t need her.”
I only said they could have her, yet everyone started calling me an executioner. As if that kid could even get married. Not while Mrs. Kim is around.
“Hey, it’s possible to be a middle school dropout, you know.”
A person can be a dropout. Making fun of it like this is just mean.
“Hmph. Laugh all you want right now. I’m about to become a high school graduate soon.”
“Yes, I took it a while ago. The results should come out in about a month.”
Now the viewers could stop calling me a middle school dropout.
“Please call me the high-school-graduate Chuwang from now on.”
“…….”
The reaction was weird. Shouldn’t they be happy that the streamer they watch is graduating high school? As I fell into doubt, a donation that cut straight to the point flew in.
“…….”
Was this for real? To check if it was the truth, I looked at the chat.
Some people seemed to disagree, some seemed to agree. The reactions were mixed.
“You can be honest. I won’t hate you for it.”
The viewers immediately started denying it. But the more they denied, the more suspicious I became. It really wouldn’t bother me if they did look at me that way…
After that, I spent about two hours talking about everything that happened on Jeju Island and then ended the stream. The viewers protested quite strongly, but what could I do? If they were so upset, they could become the streamer themselves.
Ring~!
“……?”
Just as I was about to leave the soundproof booth, my phone rang. The caller was none other than Choi Ha-yul, an employee of the Returnee Team and my stream manager.
“Seong-a, it’s been a while!”
A bright, energetic voice greeted me the moment I picked up.
“Ah, yes, it has. How’s the manager life treating you?”
“It’s surprisingly doable!”
We chatted about this and that before getting to the main point.
“By the way, what did you call about? Do I need to visit the association or something?”
“No, it’s not that. An advertising request came in through the stream’s email.”
“An advertising request?!”
I never expected a big company to send an ad offer to me of all people! I’ve grown, Chuwang!
“So what’s the product?”
I calmed myself down and checked what I’d be advertising. It was probably a game ad with high probability. Since it was my first sponsorship, I’d give it my all…!
“Um, it’s from the swimsuit and shirt brand you wore on Jeju Island.”
“…Yes?”