January's Power Balance
Akatsuki's beginnings were utterly humble.
Despite being a partner streamer, Oh Yeong-jun lacked the clout for the "Taesan selection" and had to enter the server through a comment application. On top of that, Kim Hak-do happened to join on the same day, so Yeong-jun never even got a proper welcome and was left circling the outskirts.
But perhaps that turned out to be a blessing?
It led him to meet a virtual streamer with the temperament of a stray cat — someone who shunned crowded places.
That someone was none other than Park Na-na, who until then had been wandering Rena World without a company of her own.
Actually, it was rather strange that Park Na-na — the virtual streamer with the greatest recognition and clout among those who had settled in Rena World — was still flying solo at that point.
But her true fans knew.
This was just Park Na-na's style.
She had spent nearly five years on Rabbit TV doing isolated island broadcasts, so of course she wasn't used to hanging out with other streamers. And it wasn't as if no one had invited her to join a company. Back in the Milk Company days, Elsa and Seol Pyo-woo had asked her to team up, and Tu-nyang-i had even made a sneaky attempt to shanghai her into Busan's Jagalchi-pa.
Even so, Park Na-na had stubbornly continued her stray-cat lifestyle alongside Muyo — until she met Oh Yeong-jun.
And Park Na-na introduced Muyo to him.
A meeting that took place at a small fishing spot.
No one could have guessed it then, but the chemistry between those two would bring a new wind to Rena World.
Oh Yeong-jun, the scatterbrained water buffalo character who got distracted by everything. And Muyo, who — despite a full generation's age gap — took sharp, capable care of him. Their story at the time was so popular it became known as My Oh-jussi, a parody of the 2018 hit drama My Mister.
Honestly, Muyo's talent genuinely shocked me. How does a kid who only started streaming during the Wooga-dol audition pull off stuff like this…?
Instant back-and-forth banter, writing her own storylines on the fly, even locking in the broadcast angles herself. And on top of that, serving as a guide for Minecraft newbie Oh Yeong-jun.
With that astonishing performance, Muyo became the first streamer on Pangea TV to break ten thousand viewers without riding the coattails of a major corporate streamer.
This storyline is impossible not to respect… It has everything people love.
The growth arc of Minecraft beginner Oh Yeong-jun. Muyo's devotion in helping him. The cross-generational sensibility that came from their full-generation age gap. The passion of grinding herself down around the clock, even though she was practically in a leadership position. Oh Yeong-jun's planning ability, and Muyo's execution that turned those plans into reality.
Countless casual viewers took interest in the pair, and a flood of "Mujussi" fans — left adrift by Park Bong-sik's extended hiatus — poured in as well.
Honestly, if I'd had my way, I would have wanted Oh Yeong-jun and Akatsuki's position for myself…
But no matter how I thought about it, that was impossible. Setting ability aside, the environment, the "gender," everything I'd built up and everything I was born with — it was all different. Besides, I'd already invested heavily in Oh Yeong-jun at his lowest point, so my current position was just right.
He was going to firmly establish himself as a solid mid-tier streamer from here on out.
Oh-ha and Oh Yeong-jun as a dual engine — that would definitely be excellent firepower.
Two streamers still going strong even into 2025. They were excellent pieces on the board for my future strategy.
"Anyway… is it about to start?"
In the chat of Oh Yeong-jun's stream, which I was watching under a non-login account, a considerable commotion was breaking out. A viewer known as both a die-hard fan of Park Bong-sik and one of Pangea TV's big spenders had appeared and proposed a mission to Oh Yeong-jun.
HannamTheHill has donated 50,000 Candies
"Whoa! Got it, hyung-nim. I've already got the whole thing planned out. Taking your nickname as inspiration, I'm going to build the tallest mega-structure in all of Rena World right here… the Hannam Monument. Leave it to me. But, uh, would you maybe be willing to split those 200,000 Candies with my two friends too? I've got kids named Muyo and Jisuni working with me."
The reason Rena World would later be called a building server.
The sheer, deranged scale of the architecture funding amounts.
That reality was slowly beginning to reveal itself.
Communities always welcome sensational material. Naturally, the news that a single building in Rena World had drawn 200,000 Candies in funding became a hot topic.
And Oh Yeong-jun had a nose for opportunity. The moment community aggro pulled in a staggering fifteen thousand viewers, he seized it and poured everything into the construction work through the night.
Faced with a chance that hadn't come in so long, Oh Yeong-jun didn't even feel the fatigue. Even after sending Muyo and Jisuni off first, he kept building the Hannam Monument alone.
Viewers who had originally dropped by out of casual curiosity found themselves completely drawn in by Yeong-jun's unstoppable grit and the tension that never flagged even after an all-nighter.
Akatsuki's concept of crying out for romance was more than enough to capture casual viewers' hearts. They were always setting off on some adventure, and before departure they'd equip skins matching the adventure theme and leave it all in photographs.
Akatsuki's adventure chronicles — determined to preserve everything as memory. A new wind was blowing through Rena World's storyline, which until now had revolved solely around major corporate streamers.
And Akatsuki's momentum didn't stop there.
Kkaenam-i — a mid-tier streamer whose viewership and Candy power were recognized by everyone — settled into Rena World. Given his close friendship with Oh Yeong-jun, talk of him joining Akatsuki naturally began to circulate. Of course, adapting to Minecraft would have to come first for now.
Yeah. At this rate, almost all the major players are assembled before Park Bong-sik returns, right?
Rena World's January power balance was unfolding in fascinating ways.
O-Wang Company surging ahead, with Lethal Company close behind. Akatsuki quietly becoming the center of attention, and Seoni Moon finally catching its breath after recruiting NS Namsin. The Partner & Tofu Company alliance desperately waiting for Park Bong-sik's extended hiatus to end. Bad Potato Company, whose president had fallen into the abyss and whose director, Tteu3, wasn't even logging in — a company whose very skeleton had vanished. And finally, our V-Live Company, steadily solidifying its foothold.
For now, this week's Purge Day is the key.
The number of people who'd completed endgame gear sets had grown considerably. And enough time had passed for gaming talent freaks like Oh-ha and Oh Yeong-jun to get comfortable with Minecraft.
Could we claim victory against them?
We have to. No matter what.
I steeled my resolve.