276. A Company with a 6 Trillion Won Market Cap
276. A Company with a 6 Trillion Won Market Cap
***
Rustle, rustle.
As I watched Seoyun getting ready to leave, a sense of regret filled my chest.
From Thursday, when I'd been sick, to Saturday, the weekend, before I knew it.
Maybe it was because Seoyun had stayed so long for once, but seeing her leave left me feeling nothing but regret.
"So it's Monday, the week after next...?"
Seoyun, who had put on her shoes, nodded her head emphatically.
"Yeah. That's when fall break starts."
"That's early for fall break."
"Well, yeah? Even if they call it fall break, it's fall break in name only. These days it feels like the season of fall has almost disappeared. Even if it's hot now, it'll be winter before you know it."
Was it because it was 2031 that even the seasons were different from what I knew, or was this world just unusual? Either way, I found myself nodding at the idea that fall had become an extremely narrow season.
"I guess that's true."
"Yeah. By mid-October it's already the dead of winter. Anyway, next Sunday? Or if I'm fast, Saturday, I'll bring my stuff over to your place. Oh, right, that's why I'm asking again—are you sure it's okay for me to stay at your place during break?"
"It's fine. I'll have the room properly ready by then."
Even as I answered, I felt a little amazed.
Because now, Seoyun staying at my place felt like the most natural thing in the world.
When we first met, it felt like just the other day, but now, looking at Seoyun, I was filled with the feeling that she was precious family.
A cute younger sister who was thoughtful and took good care of me, at that.
'Or maybe I'm the one who gave her trust.'
Seoyun had said I'd changed over the past few days, and it seemed like she was starting to see me a little differently.
The feeling that she was treating me like family she could rely on, at least a little.
Click.
I followed Seoyun, who had opened the front door, to the elevator. With a ding-dong, the elevator I'd reserved arrived right on time.
Rumble.
The elevator doors opened, and Seoyun, standing inside, smiled faintly.
"See you next week, then. You should rest well over the weekend too, okay, Sis?"
"Got it. Seoyun, you be careful getting home. Take a taxi once you arrive."
"Pfft, don't worry. I'll get back safely while spending the money you gave me like crazy."
With that brief farewell, the elevator doors closed, and I set aside my regret and returned home.
Click.
When I opened the front door, the house suddenly felt strangely quiet.
"...It's always so weird at times like this."
Because Sua and Seoyun had stayed over for a few days, the house had been filled with a warmth it hadn't had before.
Now that I was alone, all that warmth was gone, and the house even felt desolate.
Loneliness, being alone.
Something that should have felt familiar now felt awkward.
Without realizing it, I seemed to be sinking into a small wave of sentimentality.
"..."
I looked at the neatly tidied living room, then turned my gaze toward the terrace. Before I knew it, the sun was setting, and the sky was dyed red.
5:53 p.m.
Drip.
I checked the time as I poured water into a cup.
"...I guess this is what adapting feels like."
My original self no longer even came to mind. It was as if even those traces were gradually fading away.
I could feel myself growing accustomed to being Han Serin.
My memories of Black Ark were still vivid, but more than anything, it was hard to deny that my personality had changed a great deal since then.
I smiled more easily when dealing with people, and now I even felt awkward about being alone.
The me who used to keep a cold attitude and never let anyone get close now felt like an illusion.
Gulp.
Having emptied the glass of water, Serin shook her head and went into her room.
***
BaTalk!
Park Soyul.
[I'm messaging you again because there's a lot to update you on. There are several things that need to be confirmed by today, Saturday... If you don't check them, I'll have to send separate follow-up emails to the people who emailed us today. Please, somehow, I'm asking you.]
Kim Hayoon.
[For the eighth RinTube video, I'm planning to work on the scene where you exchanged rings. Could you ask Jeanne d'Arc if it's okay to include her in the video? I've already contacted Plea and gotten her consent.]
Checking the messages from my editors that I hadn't looked at for days, I realized the backlog had piled up like a mountain.
Regarding work, I'd replied that I'd check over the weekend because my personal health and schedule overlapped. It was absurd to realize that in just a few days, the messages from the two editors alone numbered in the hundreds.
There were messages every day asking how I was doing and worrying about my health.
But more than that, there was the backlog of work and schedules. There was a lot to check.
"Is this the life of a celebrity or something?"
I muttered with a slightly fed-up look, but still carefully went through the BaTalk messages the two of them had sent, one by one.
As for the NewTube video work Hayoon had messaged about, it was just a matter of contacting Eunha to get permission and replying, along with a simple greeting.
"...Soyul, you seem way too dedicated to your work."
The messages from Soyul, on the other hand, had far too many things I needed to pay attention to.
Maybe it was because Soyul even managed business emails, but there were dozens of work-related BaTalk messages alone.
Among them, one of the main emails I needed to look at was the Five Million Project contract that Sua had mentioned earlier.
I quickly checked the main points of the contract, and thinking the terms were extraordinary, I signed it without hesitation.
"The terms are better than I expected."
I muttered offhandedly, but I couldn't quite believe it.
I'd already decided to do the project with Sua anyway, and I'd planned to accept as long as the terms weren't too bad. But the terms were beyond anything I'd imagined.
The next thing I looked at was a large advertising sponsorship inquiry that was too big for Soyul to handle on her own.
When I opened the email and checked the advertisement, the amount being offered this time was vastly different from before.
Different enough that I understood why Soyul hadn't cut it herself and had contacted me instead.
The amounts offered by brands proposing tweetie advertising contracts spanning months or a full year reached into the tens of millions of won, so I did think about it for a moment, but soon shook my head.
"It's definitely better than before. But still, it's a bit iffy."
I was solidifying my position as a streamer now, but I still thought my channel had room to climb higher.
The RinTube subscriber count alone was rising sharply day by day, and my average tweetie viewership had recently hit absurd peaks during broadcasts.
'I feel like I could get better treatment than this.'
Soyul's BaTalk advice about those ads said they were okay to accept, but also noted that I could get higher-paying contracts later.
And based on Soyul's advice, the judgment I reached was close to putting them on hold.
At a time when my channel and RinTube were still growing rapidly, accepting ads felt like it would be a waste.
So I sent Soyul a message saying I'd be declining those ads as well.
As I was going through and handling the backlogged messages one by one—
"SJ Entertainment?"
The next message from Soyul that I checked made me startle without realizing it.
Park Soyul.
[SJ Entertainment reached out with something special. No, wait—remember the celebrity I mentioned last time, Seo Eunwoo? The one who became a hot topic just by leaving a comment on RinTube. You know him now, right? This is the first time I've ever received a proposal like this from a celebrity's entertainment company... I don't think I can give you advice on what to do. But honestly, from my personal perspective, I think this is an absolutely insane opportunity for you, Rin.]
Soyul's long message was something I hadn't expected at all.
A content proposal from SJ, a famous entertainment company.
"Wait, SJ Entertainment..."
It felt oddly familiar, and then I realized—it was the same entertainment company as the pro team Eunha belonged to.
'Wasn't it one of the top one or two entertainment companies in the country?'
I knew because I'd looked into various things while preparing for the collab stream with Eunha.
It was a company so large that an article about SJ Entertainment's market capitalization surpassing 6 trillion won flashed through my mind.
And the celebrity who'd been proposed alongside the content was someone I had some connection to.
"Seo Eunwoo, huh."
He was the celebrity who, just by leaving a comment on RinTube, had put the three syllables of "RinTube" on a famous website's real-time search rankings.
His fame was practically on par with Eunha, who was a superstar within Another World.
No, in terms of the general public, he could be seen as someone with even greater influence.
I carefully examined the terms from the entertainment company that Soyul had relayed.
- An online collab stream, not offline.
- A simple 30-minute talk show about recent updates.
- Co-casting TSJ's playoff match.
"Keep up some simple talk, then cast TSJ's match, and that's it."
The proposed content was relatively easy, to the point that it could be summed up in a single sentence.
Just exchange greetings, watch the playoff match, and run what you'd call a freebie broadcast—and in return, they'd pay an appearance fee of 10 million won.
On top of that, if you considered that it meant casting a match for TSJ, a team with a massive fandom, alongside a popular celebrity like Seo Eunwoo, it was easy to predict that viewership would easily hit tens of thousands.
'And on top of that, I can even upload the collab to RinTube.'
In the additional details, I could feel through the screen just how absurdly excited Soyul's BaTalk message was.
The terms really were that extraordinary.
"Hmm..."
But because the terms were so good, I found myself wondering if it was really okay to just snatch it up.
Kindness without a price.
When the compensation was suspiciously good, I had to be suspicious first.
Even with someone you were normally close to, if they showed too much generosity, there was usually something behind it.
SJ Entertainment and I had never done anything together.
No, we'd never even been in contact. For them to suddenly offer such good terms made no sense.
No matter how well I was doing in Another World right now, so to speak.
'The reason a celebrity like Seo Eunwoo would make this kind of proposal...'
As I thought about it again, a laugh escaped me without realizing it.
"Well. There is a reason."
He had shown interest to the point of leaving a comment directly on RinTube.
Thinking about it, there wasn't no basis at all.
"Should I take this...?"
A collab out of nowhere.
And with a famous celebrity, at that.
I figured there would definitely be risks involved, but the terms were so good that I couldn't help being tempted.
The amount they'd offered was a huge sum of 10 million won for a single day.
Plus the condition that I could upload it to RinTube as a bonus.
Soyul's BaTalk message had a tone suggesting I should 100% accept, and the pro team whose match I'd be casting, TSJ, was also the team Eunha belonged to.
After Eunha returned to the team, TSJ's fandom was truly overwhelming.
Just mentioning the name "Jeanne d'Arc" was enough to set the chat on fire, and since I'd done a collab stream with her directly, I knew Eunha was practically a cheat code.
Casting a TSJ playoff match was practically a guaranteed check for viewership.
The condition that it was just a 30-minute talk show plus casting the match was also incredibly easy.
Even considering it slowly, point by point, not taking this would just be stupid.
"The more I think about it, the more the answer feels predetermined."
After that, Serin, fiddling with her smartphone, let out a hollow laugh.
She'd unintentionally ended up on a streaming hiatus for four long days—Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Monday's broadcast next week already felt like it was going to be a storm.