Driving
Driving
- Rank: S
- Passive Effect: The user’s senses become fully synchronized with the vehicle.
The condition of the road, traction, airflow, resistance, and every other environmental factor could be perceived instinctively and translated into control.
Any vehicle could be handled perfectly.
Visual acuity and reflexes rose dramatically.
“That’s a talent I never would’ve expected.”
But it wasn’t as if this one was wildly different from the others, or belonged to some completely separate category.
Still, if there was one small problem...
“What am I even supposed to use this for...?”
No matter how I read it, all it seemed to mean was that I’d become absurdly good at driving.
I’m not exactly at the age where I can enter Formula One.
About the only thing that came to mind beyond that was...
“Being a designated driver...?”
Of course, if I were really trying to list its strengths, there was another one.
If my visual acuity and reflexes go up, I probably won’t ever get into an accident while driving again.
Just the fact that I’d eliminated the chance of dying in some freak accident behind the wheel was already an enormous advantage.
And the rank is S, too?
At that level, it had to be an outstanding talent, something on par with Handicraft, which had been S+.
With that in mind, there had to be uses for it far beyond what I was imagining.
Just as I was sinking deeper into thought.
Buzzz-!
My phone rang hard.
It was Assistant Manager Park.
“Oh, good morning. It’s the weekend, and you’re up early?”
My voice was calm, but his urgency came straight through the phone.
- Deputy Manager Kang. We’ve got a problem. Have you seen YouTube?
“No. Why? What happened?”
- Your channel’s comments are going crazy. I figured you might not have noticed, so I called right away.
“...Huh?”
That made me nervous.
For the past few days, I’d been deliberately trying not to pay attention to anything, and apparently something had blown up in the meantime.
“Got it. Thanks. I’ll check right now.”
- Yeah.
I hurried onto YouTube.
Sure enough, an absurd number of notifications were waiting for me.
- Comment notifications: 999+
What on earth...?
When I opened my channel, the notifications kept piling up in real time.
[Oakwood Table Review]
“...Why is it this one?”
It was the most recent video I’d uploaded.
The one Kang Seo-jun had filmed himself and sent me after I finished making the table.
It had a faint home-shopping vibe, but aside from editing it just enough to avoid any suspicion that I was trying to sell anything, and adding subtitles, it was almost exactly the version Seo-jun had filmed.
Is this going to reflect badly on Seo-jun because of me?
I was already prepared to take the video down immediately and post an apology if I had to, so I opened the comments.
But then...
“...Huh?”
The reaction was nothing like I’d expected.
[Live Comments]
- What the hell is this teddy bear bastard?
- I knew he was good, but he’s been uploading fake AI videos all along, huh;;
- Unsubscribed..
- Wait, did you splice in our Seo-jun oppa? What exactly were you thinking?
- You didn’t even get permission from the author or the company for the copyright, right? Obviously not.
- Like some nobody YouTuber would even bother asking an agency.
- AI is running wild these days. Seriously.
- Anyone can see it’s obviously a home-shopping video with Seo-jun oppa’s face pasted on lol
- Must’ve shoved our Seo-jun oppa’s photo into ChatGPT and asked it to make a promo video lol
- I wasn’t subscribed before, but I unsubscribed anyway lol
- “Don’t recommend this channel.” Good work.
- Why are you using our oppa so carelessly, huh -_-
“...Seo-jun’s fandom?”
Seo-jun’s video must have gone up and gotten linked around in some fan cafe or another.
The view count and comments had actually exploded.
[Trending Right Now]
- #22: Review of a table made by smashing nine slabs of wood to pieces
- Views: 2,613,857
- Comments: 3,891
It had definitely become a topic again because of this.
I thought if a celebrity showed up, people would be happy and the views would climb, but maybe I was too optimistic...
The reaction was awful.
- Likes: 13,625
- Dislikes: 55,284
This was the first time negative reactions had outnumbered positive ones.
And by a landslide, too.
Maybe I should take the video down.
I was just about ready to delete it and upload an apology when...
Hold on. But the comments are focusing on something completely weird...
If they were upset because I’d used Seo-jun’s image carelessly, I could at least understand that much.
But they’re all saying it was manipulated, that it was an AI video?
It sounded like they were angry because they thought it wasn’t a real video.
If there’s a misunderstanding, clearing it up should come first.
After a moment’s hesitation, instead of posting an official statement, I left one comment.
Sub-job Bear: Hello, this is the channel owner. Would it bother you that much even if this were a real video?
- lol you’re full of shit
- How the hell would you know Seo-jun lmao
- “It’s a real video” lol what nonsense
- Quit lying, dude.
The feedback came back fast.
“No, they really do think it’s an AI video...”
At this point, they were nearly certain.
Even if my usual vibe is pretty different from Seo-jun’s, is it really that far off?
On a hunch, I checked the video again.
Maybe the quality’s bad?
It had been shot on a phone camera, and I hadn’t boosted the performance at all, so compared to my usual videos it was lacking in frames and the image quality was rougher.
On top of that, unlike my normal energy, this one had a calm, almost product-introduction sort of feel to it.
“...Even I can see it looks pretty unlike my usual self.”
This wasn’t going to work.
Whether the video was real or not...
I figured taking it down would be best if it kept Seo-jun from getting dragged through any more nonsense.
[The video has been set to private.]
“Ah, forget it. I’m just going back to sleep.”
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Meanwhile, at the same time, in Kang Seo-jun’s fan cafe, Kangsan Wind.
[Teddy Bear Loser Properly Put in His Place!]
- Seo-jun oppa’s video got taken down lololololol
(Screenshot of the video being set to private)
- That parasite bastard who was trying to milk the sudden attention got cut off lol
- What kind of little pest uses our Seo-jun oppa like that? lol
- This is so ridiculous. He even blatantly uploaded an AI video and acted shamelessly like it was real;; makes me want to puke T_T
- Ha, finally sorted out.
- Now that our oppa is doing so well, all kinds of weird people are crawling out of the woodwork T_T
- Everyone, good work!!
Everyone was basking in victory for a moment, until a strange post appeared.
[Hey, Seo-jun’s SNS has the exact same table on it?]
- What are you talking about?
- Nice try, troll.
- Mister Teddy Bear, this is not the place for this.
- No, seriously. Look at my member level? I’m a real fan. I went to his SNS because I thought the channel owner was talking nonsense and wanted to smack him down, but it was actually there.
Uploading a photo now.
(Screenshot of Seo-jun’s SNS)
- Look at this. It’s a photo taken in Seo-jun’s living room, and see the table in the back? There’s an oak table in there that doesn’t fit the house at all.
[That’s really Seo-jun’s table?]
- Huh?
- Why would that be real?
- Isn’t that photo fake too?
- No;; if you go to Seo-jun’s SNS, it’s on the eighth feed.
- Then does that mean the video was real?
- Holy shit;
- Oh no, so everyone who commented just attacked an innocent person?
[So, to sum it up.]
- Seo-jun oppa really did use that table, and the video that looked like an obvious AI fake was actually filmed by our Seo-jun oppa?
And we went over there and caused a total scene at the person who uploaded the real video...?
I’m so embarrassed and ashamed..
- Seems like it..
- No, but it doesn’t fit Seo-jun oppa at all.
- Still, if you think about our oppa’s usual energy, it wouldn’t be weird for him to film something like that..!
[But how does some YouTuber with only a thousand subscribers even know our Seo-jun oppa?]
- Isn’t he, like, a tiny nobody?
He’s way too low-level to be close to him, lol.
- Don’t talk about Seo-jun oppa’s acquaintance like that;;
- Watch your mouth...
- Get some manners;;
- How upset would Seo-jun oppa be if he saw this?
[I dug through SNS and found out ;;]
- Remember how Seo-jun oppa once bragged about getting emoticons as a gift?
You know those Scholar-ticons? The artist who made them has the same name as the channel owner...
- Huh, you’re right?
- So it wasn’t a fake, it was a real video and a real acquaintance verification?
- What do we do?
- We’re screwed;;
- Weren’t we just complete trash to him..?
- Let’s pretend we don’t know.
- Scatterrrrr
- Run!!
[Let’s delete the comments we insulted him with and apologize right now]
- Honestly, that sounds right.
- Hey, but the video’s gone.
- It’s private now.
- Holy shit.
- Did we cause such a controversy that he took it down?
- Damn..
- We’re the bad ones...
- Embarrassing as a fellow fan;;
[Can’t we just act like we don’t know?]
- To the idiots who thought that: wake up.
If we let this slide, we’re literally spitting in Seo-jun oppa’s face.
Delete your comments with a clean conscience and reflect properly.
Apologize, too.
That’s how you protect Seo-jun oppa, and it’s basic respect for him.
- I’ll delete mine and go...
- Someone tell me how to delete comments on a private video.. T_T
- Seo-jun oppa must be confused;;
And about three hours later, a post written by Seo-jun himself went up in the fan cafe.
Kang Seo-jun
- But that was a video I filmed and sent myself?
I set the concept because he’s a close hyung and I wanted to make him laugh...
What the hell did you all do...?
- Oh no T_TTTT
- Oppa is here T_TTT
- Sorry T_T
[Guys, there’s only one way we can apologize.]
- Hurry up and subscribe.
- Don’t just subscribe, hit like on every single video.
- Run the YouTube stream the way idol fans do for mass support T_T
- I’ve already made a full channel playlist. Play it through like this!!
- Hit like on the nice comments!!
Two hours after that.
[But the more I watch the video, the more fun it gets?]
- It’s way more carefully made than I expected?
[I felt bad for Teddy Bear-nim, so I just left it playing while I did other stuff, and I accidentally started watching]
- I’m half-hypnotized and have been watching for 30 minutes lol
[The craftsmanship is insane!]
- Watching the video, it takes several days to make one table, and then he destroys it just because one angle is a little off. That’s incredible;; I couldn’t do that.
[Why is smashing the oak table so weirdly likable? lol]
- He really smashes it with such satisfying force.
[Honestly, I wasn’t interested at all]
- I just left it on, and now I’m becoming a fan;;
- Me too lol
- And since he’s Seo-jun oppa’s acquaintance, he’s even more likable..!
- 2222
- 333!!
[No, but the video quality is pretty high]
- He even makes the clothes well?
- This person’s absurdly likable;
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“...Huh?”
When I woke up after taking a nap, the subscriber count had exploded.
[Sub-job Bear’s Workshop]
- Subscribers: 8,767
“I took the video down, so why is it going up?”
I refreshed the page, thinking maybe there’d been some kind of glitch.
[Sub-job Bear’s Workshop]
- Subscribers: 8,915
“What the hell, why is it still rising?”
It was climbing in real time.
I stared blankly at the screen, and before even thirty minutes had passed...
[Sub-job Bear’s Workshop]
- Subscribers: 10,015
“...Ten thousand?!”
What in the world was happening?
I checked the channel, wondering whether something had gone wrong overnight.
Why are the comments all so polite now?
Even the likes had shot up.
Thinking maybe Park had some source of information for me, I opened my messages.
But instead of him, there was only a message from Kang Seo-jun.
Kang Seo-jun
- Hyung-nim, I’m sorry T_T
- Our fans seem to have caused a huge mess
- I was overseas on a schedule, so I only just checked...
- I’m really sorry T_T
- Could you please call me just once?
- My calls keep going to voicemail T_T
- I’m sincerely apologizing...
- Hyung-nim T_T
- I know you must be upset, but could you please forgive me just this once?
- I’ll come find you first thing when I get back to Korea!!
- Seo-jun Hyung-nim! Please call me once!
“...?”
Only then did I notice there were six missed calls on my phone.
I just had it on silent, that’s all.
In any case, I called Seo-jun right away.
As soon as the line rang once.
- Hyuuung-nim!
Seo-jun’s voice came out strained and desperate as he prostrated himself through the phone.
- Hyung-nim, hyung-nim. I’m so sorry!
“...No, why?”
- You must’ve been in trouble because of me, right? You must’ve been furious. I understand completely why you didn’t answer my calls!
“Seo-jun.”
- Yes, hyung-nim. Say anything you want. I’d understand even if you cursed me out.
“I just woke up from sleeping.”
- ...Huh?
“I’m not even mad. I just missed the calls because I was asleep.”
- ...Huh?
Seo-jun asked me cautiously, still not fully believing it.
- Y-you’re not angry?
“Why would I be?”
I didn’t know the details, but the subscriber count had broken ten thousand.
“I’m in a pretty good mood right now.”
- ...Really?
He made a video call.
I accepted while still lying down.
- Hyung-nim, you’re really okay, right?
“Yeah, I told you, I’m fine.”
I even gave him a thumbs-up.
- Thank goodness...
Only then did he seem to relax. He let out a relieved breath, then broke into a grin.
- But, hyung-nim, I’m sorry to say this so suddenly, but...
“Mm?”
- You look kind of ugly today, hyung-nim.
“I just woke up from sleep... my face is puffy, you jerk...”