Chapter 2. Watch the Broadcast as a Broadcast
“Element Studio….”
I checked the address on my phone screen one more time. The image of the building shown above it was exactly the same as the one right in front of me.
The appointment was for 12:30. I’d arrived a little early, at 12:20, because showing up too precisely on the dot felt awkward.
From the outside, I could see the huge lobby and the white-and-black 3x3 Rubik’s Cube—the Element symbol—set into the wall.
It hit me all over again that I’d really signed with Element. Trying to calm my pounding heart, I stepped inside and headed for the information desk on the first floor.
“Hello, I’m here for a meeting.”
“Would this be a contract-related meeting?”
“Yes. It’s about a streamer contract.”
“May I have your name?”
“It’s Hazy. Hazy.”
The employee typed briskly. After a few clicks of the mouse, they handed me something like an employee badge and explained where I needed to go.
“Please head to the Alpha Room on the third floor. Take the elevator inside, get off on the third floor, and it’ll be at the far left.”
“Thank you.”
That was the end of our brief exchange. I nodded, thanked them, and made my way to the elevator. Not long after I pressed the button, it arrived.
I hit 3 and waited for the doors to close. With a clank, the elevator sealed shut and began changing floors.
During that short ride, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and checked my appearance one more time. It was a formal meeting about a contract, after all, so I figured being neat was basic courtesy. Aside from my hair being a little long, I looked fine. Nothing flashy, just clean and decent.
The doors opened with an announcement that we’d arrived on the third floor.
What I saw beyond them was a far cry from the kind of company I’d pictured.
There was no frantic chaos, no employees getting chewed out by a boss while everything ran on the verge of collapse.
The walls were gray, and the lights glowed a warm yellow. The employees sitting at their desks had headsets on and were busy with their own tasks, while in one corner two or three people had gathered around a long table, chatting.
For the undisputed number one in the industry, they sure seemed to care about employee welfare.
Turning my head the other way, I saw a line of desks and symbols like Alpha and Beta written along the wall. I stopped looking around and headed for the room at the very end.
-Knock knock.
I knocked, but there was no answer.
“...Nobody’s here?”
I opened the door carefully. There was nobody inside. Just a long table, one chair, and a whiteboard that covered an entire wall.
I sat down in the corner of the room. It was a corner, though if someone cracked the door open even slightly, I’d be visible right away. After taking my seat, I checked my phone.
12:26. I’d thought I’d only spent a moment looking around the third floor, but time had gone by faster than I expected.
Maybe it was because the reality that I was really about to sign the contract was sinking in, but suddenly my heart felt like it was beating faster.
-Knock knock.
“Yes!”
I answered the knock and got to my feet. The person who opened the door and came in was none other than Sia.
Today she wasn’t wearing the flashy clothes she used on stream.
A crisp white shirt tucked neatly in, black slacks, her hair—the same one she usually let down on broadcasts—swept back and tied neatly, her makeup almost nonexistent. With the employee badge hanging around her neck, she looked like a real career woman.
“Hi.”
“Ah, hello.”
At my greeting, Sia suddenly stared at me intently.
“Sia?”
“…….”
Why was she just staring at me without saying anything? When I called her again, she suddenly narrowed her eyes and glared. What was this?
So if you don’t speak casually when you come here, I’ll just ignore you and keep staring at Hazy, got it?
No way she’d meant that seriously, right? Even as my head said no, some part of me kept thinking, wait—what if? Was she serious?
Just in case, I opened my mouth carefully.
“Sia...ya.”
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, Hazy.”
The moment I dropped the “-nim” and called her casually, Sia finally relaxed her glare and answered me.
As she spoke, she walked into the room.
She set a stack of documents down on the table carelessly, then slid the key card that had been on top of them toward me.
“You’ll need this when we eat later. The card they give you at the desk won’t work for meals.”
“Ah, thank you.”
There it was again. She started glaring again. I wasn’t used to dropping honorifics, but it looked like I’d better adapt soon. If I didn’t, she really did seem like she’d keep staring without saying a word….
“No, thank you.”
“Yeah. Wait a sec—let’s step outside first. I’ll give you a tour of the company.”
At her words, I got up and followed her out. She guided me through the building from top to bottom, including the third floor I’d just looked around, all the way down to the basement and up to the sixth floor.
“The second and third floors are usually where the managers are, but there isn’t really a strict hierarchy by floor. The chief manager’s on the third floor too. See those two people talking at the end? The one wearing glasses is the chief manager.”
The only person in that little group wearing glasses looked over at us and gave a small greeting. So that was the chief manager.
“The fourth floor is the broadcast floor. Most people stream from home, but if they’re still short on equipment or want to stream in a commute-style setup, they do it here.”
We went up to the fourth floor and stepped into the booth at the very front. At a glance, the gear was better than the equipment I had at home. It was even dual-PC by default, and the space inside the booth was bigger than I’d expected.
No wonder people kept broadcasting here.
“Wow….”
“And the fifth floor is literally the broadcast studio! You know those tournaments Element hosts on Watch sometimes? That’s where the commentators do the casting.”
“Oh, I always wondered where that happened. So it’s here.”
“And this sixth floor up here is where we eat, play, and have fun!”
Huh? That vague wording made me tilt my head.
“I mean it literally. They’ve got beer and snacks stocked, and there’s a huge screen where people can gather and sit together. They use it a lot for things like the League of Legends World Championship finals.”
Ah, so this was welfare too. But hearing “beer” made me curious about one thing.
“It’s okay to drink beer at work?”
“As long as you do your job, sure.”
That was very Element.
“Let’s go down to the basement now. I’m hungry.”
*
“This is the cafeteria…?”
If this was a cafeteria, then the only place that might compete with it was probably Samsung.
It was buffet style, with well over ten different dishes to choose from.
There were plenty of people sitting down to eat while looking at their phones.
A free atmosphere and the best welfare in the industry. The weight of hearing about it and actually feeling it were two very different things.
“Let’s eat first.”
But once we’d filled our trays and sat down to eat, there wasn’t much conversation at all. Just the occasional scrape of utensils and the thud of a table shaking from a phone vibration.
And yet, strangely enough, it didn’t feel awkward. Then my eyes met Sia’s, and she gave me a soft, eye-smiling grin as I chewed my food in silence.
“...This is really good.”
I muttered it, trying to break the mood before it got any more awkward.
Sia set down her chopsticks and laughed.
“Right? The auntie’s cooking is amazing.”
“Making this much food and still having it taste this good...”
“The auntie’s one of the things the company brags about most.”
She said that and smiled brightly before going back to her meal.
That was enough to get the conversation going. We talked about how we’d each started streaming, what kinds of things had happened on stream, and even small stuff like hobbies.
“Wow, so you built your whole computer yourself?”
“I’d put together a parts list, then if something with similar specs went on sale, I’d check compatibility and buy it. I kept repeating that until I had the computer I stream on now.”
“That’s insane. You should do that as content sometime.”
“Hmm, I’d have to think about that. It might be too static.”
The conversation went on longer than I’d expected. Before we knew it, the cafeteria was empty, and only Sia and I were left. Somewhere in the middle of talking, we’d both realized we’d finished our meals and hurried to return our trays.
“I didn’t even notice the time passing while we were talking….”
“Right? Want some coffee? There’s a coffee machine on the third floor.”
Beer and coffee, too. They really had everything.
“I’ll have iced Americano.”
“You’re one of those ice-or-death people?”
“Even if someone held a knife to my throat.”
“Same here.”
We took the elevator back up while talking like that. Once we reached the third floor, I brewed some coffee and followed her into the Alpha Room.
“All right, let’s talk about the contract for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“First...”
Sia glanced at the documents for a moment, and her expression cooled slightly. So she really did change completely when it came to work.
“I’ll start with the company introduction. We’re an MCN—Multiple Channel Network.”
“Yes.”
“Simply put, we support and manage streamers and creators.”
Sia went on, explaining which team did what and what sort of support I’d be able to receive if I joined the company.
I listened quietly. To be honest, I didn’t understand all of it. I only really understood the fact that I was sitting here listening to Sia talk.
“...That’s roughly it. Any questions?”
Sia tilted her head. I thought for a moment. In truth, even while we’d been touring the company, there had been one question pressing at the back of my mind.
Why had Element chosen me out of so many streamers?
It was a question I’d been thinking about ever since I left home, and still hadn’t found the answer to. In the end, I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and asked directly.
“Why me, of all people? There are so many other streamers.”
As if she’d expected that question, Sia gave a faint smile and said,
“I founded the company, but the person influencing who gets brought in right now is one guy.”
“You mean... your older brother?”
She nodded at my question.
“At first I was the CEO, but as the company got bigger, I shoved the job onto my brother.”
“...Can you really say you shoved off the CEO job like that?”
“It was tedious work. Anyway, he checked your numbers and said you looked good, so we contacted you.”
“Do you usually reach out to other streamers like this directly?”
“Nope. Usually our HR team leader handles that.”
So I hadn’t been mistaken. Normally, that kind of contract outreach was handled by the HR team leader—but me? Why me?
“Then why was I...”
“Want to know?”
I swallowed once and nodded.
“Lean in close.”
Looking at Sia, who had suddenly turned serious, I slowly leaned my ear toward her. As she bent closer, as if to whisper into it...
-Fwoosh—
“……!!!”
I jumped so hard I practically fell backward. Sia, who’d seen my ridiculous reaction, looked momentarily flustered, then tried to hold back her laughter—and finally burst out laughing aloud.
“Pfft, ahahaha!”
“…….”
I just stared at her, one hand covering the ear she’d blown on, the breeze still lingering there. After laughing for a moment, she came over to my side and reached out a hand.
“Sorry. I didn’t expect you to react like that.”
“...That joke went a little too far.”
“Sorry. I’ll apologize.”
Somehow, the incident was patched over with an apology, and we sat back down.
“Well, that answer was enough, wasn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“You’re fun to tease, Hazy.”
Hearing that, the thought I’d had that morning back at home came rushing back to me.
...Maybe I should just not sign.
---