293. 3.2 Million Subscribers
293. 3.2 Million Subscribers
***
—[Plea : Serin, do you have a moment to talk?]
When she checked the whisper notification, it was a whisper from none other than Sua.
—[Rin : Yeah, sure. What's up?]
—[Plea : Oh, nothing much. I wanted to talk about that project I mentioned before. So please spare me a little time!]
Only seconds after Sua's reply arrived, a new notification popped up.
Ding!
*
————
'Plea' has invited you to the Arena.
[Y / N]
————
*
Thinking that an Arena invitation rather than a personal house was very Sua-like, Serin accepted it right away.
Then her vision filled with light, and in an instant the space before her eyes changed.
The interior of the Colosseum felt familiar.
And when she spotted the blonde female knight at the edge of her vision, she felt a surge of gladness first.
"You just ended your stream. Sorry for calling you over right away, Serin."
When Sua greeted her first with a slightly apologetic look, Serin shook her head.
"No, it's fine. Don't worry about something like that."
As Serin answered, she naturally walked over to a nearby rock and perched on it without hesitation, and Sua smiled brightly.
Then, as if struck by a thought, Sua's eyes slid sideways.
"You know, the more I look at you, the more amazing your popularity is."
"Why is popularity suddenly coming up?"
"No, I mean, Jeanne d'Arc mentioned you in her interview today, and then there's the collab with a famous celebrity. I just thought your popularity is really something."
At the sight of Sua bringing up everything from the stream, Serin let out a small laugh.
"What, Sua, did you skip streaming today to watch my stream?"
"Hey, I streamed too. I did a short daytime stream, and then I watched your stream afterward."
"...Well, that's a relief."
Lately there had been a lot of hiatuses because of her, so Serin had been unconsciously a little worried about Sua.
"And I really saw you in a new light today, Serin. How are you so natural while talking with Seo Eunwoo? You didn't look awkward or nervous at all, which was amazing."
At Sua's words, Serin let out a short, hollow laugh.
"It wasn't like that. I was really nervous too."
"Huh? From what I saw, you didn't look like that at all. You calmly exchanged words the whole time you were hosting. You really looked like a celebrity too, you know?"
"Celebrity, what... I just didn't let it show on the outside. Honestly, the whole time we talked, I was a little nervous that I might make a slip of the tongue without realizing it."
Outwardly she spoke calmly, but before speaking she thought once more and acted with care, so while the conversation was comfortable, she never let her guard down.
If someone nitpicked for no reason, a controversy wouldn't be good for either the celebrity or her.
"Really? I thought so too, and the viewers also kept sending suspicious chat messages like, weren't you two originally close? while watching you and Seo Eunwoo talk so naturally."
"Originally close, what. We met for the first time today. Well, honestly, the conversation itself was comfortable for me too. I thought it might be a little difficult since he's a celebrity, but he said he's my fan, and he naturally lightened the mood here and there while leading the conversation. I thought, no wonder he's a celebrity."
The biggest reason the stream was comfortable was simply that her collab partner was excellent.
From the start, he spoke well during the talk, so I thought anew that he wasn't a celebrity for nothing, and later while watching the match, he reacted well too. Even without me saying much, the stream went smoothly.
She felt anew that popular people all had their reasons.
"Well, yeah... Seo Eunwoo really is a celebrity with no personal-life controversies. So, Serin, how was it, actually dealing with a real celebrity?"
As if she'd had a lot of questions while watching the stream, Sua asked about this and that, and Serin smiled as if she found Sua's behavior cute and answered.
"How was it? Hmm... I don't know about other things, but I could tell there's a reason he's a popular celebrity. Even after the stream ended, the way he talked and acted made him seem like a decent person."
"If you're saying that much, just how good a person is Seo Eunwoo?"
"I didn't really praise him that much."
"What do you mean, no. You don't usually praise other people like that. I've never seen you call someone such a good person before."
When Sua murmured with an odd expression and looked at her, Serin met her gaze with a fresh look.
Because Sua seemed a little hurt.
"I praise you a lot normally, you know?"
"Really? Then why do I feel like I've hardly heard it?"
"Isn't that because you don't watch all of my streams, Sua?"
"Pfft... I probably watch your streams far more than you watch mine. What are you talking about?"
"Anyway, I'm just saying don't feel too hurt."
"Even if it's just words, I don't feel bad. By the way, Serin, what's that bracelet on your right hand? It looks like an item I've never seen before."
When Sua smiled and looked at Serin's right hand, Serin was a little surprised.
'Should I say Sua has a surprisingly keen eye too?'
Honestly, she'd thought a bracelet was such a minor detail that no one would notice unless they looked carefully, but Sua had spotted it right away.
"This bracelet? I just got it as a gift."
She lifted the bracelet once as if showing it off.
True to the item's name, it kept changing colors in rainbow hues, and the more she looked at it, the more she liked it.
"A gift? Don't tell me Seo Eunwoo gave it to you?"
"Yeah. He gave it to me, saying he's my fan. Honestly, at first I tried to refuse because it seemed like too much, but in the end I accepted it."
When Serin said it calmly, Sua's eyes lit up.
"Seriously, look how popular you are... It looks like a really nice item just from the appearance. Is it a Legendary item?"
"No? It's a Mythic item."
"What? A Mythic item?"
"Yeah, a Mythic item. I felt awkward just taking it, so I exchanged it for a few benefits."
As if to say she hadn't just taken it for free, Serin spoke confidently, and Sua stared at her blankly.
A Mythic item as a gift. On one hand, she wondered if a gift could be on such a scale, and on the other, she wondered what these benefits were.
"Benefits? What kind of benefits did you exchange for a Mythic item?"
"It's a little embarrassing to say it myself, but I accepted it on the condition that he could post content related to me on his NewTube channel."
"No way... That's the benefit you gave him?"
Sua asked blankly. Serin nodded awkwardly.
"Honestly, I thought the exchange rate was a little weird too, but since a celebrity proposed it directly, I figured he needed it."
When Serin said that the celebrity Seo Eunwoo had proposed it, going from bad to worse, Sua let out a hollow laugh.
The benefit Serin had offered wasn't a benefit at all from Sua's perspective, and the benefit that a celebrity had personally proposed made even less sense.
"Wait, wait a minute, Serin. Do you know how many subscribers Seo Eunwoo's NewTube channel has right now?"
When Sua asked in a dumbfounded tone, Serin blinked as if she finally sensed something was off.
"...No?"
"3.2 million."
"What?"
"Seo Eunwoo's NewTube channel has 3.2 million subscribers alone. And on top of that, the drama A Thousand Faces is a hot topic right now, so the subscriber count is probably rising even faster."
Upon hearing that, Serin's mouth fell open for a moment.
'No, then...'
Why did he accept my condition of four videos as if he liked it?
The answer to that question came to mind without needing to think.
He had been someone who intended to just give her the Mythic item from the start.
Clearly, the condition had been offered with the thought of giving her even more.
"Seo Eunwoo must really be a true fan of yours. He even accepted all that."
"Yeah, I guess so."
Even as she answered, her head grew complicated.
Honestly, she had assumed he was just starting out on NewTube or something, which was why he'd proposed such a condition.
So I'd thought that while receiving a Mythic item, I was also giving something in return.
The reality was completely different.
Rather, that person had felt the Mythic item wasn't enough, and had done her the kindness of offering to post NewTube videos on his own channel.
"Pfft... Do you finally get how funny that word 'benefit' was?"
"Yeah."
Nodding blankly, Serin felt heat rising belatedly in her face for no reason.
In front of a big-name NewTuber with 3.2 million subscribers, she had acted as if she were granting permission to upload videos related to her, and had even increased the number of videos to four.
How ridiculous must that have looked to a celebrity like Seo Eunwoo?
It was as if he had already prepared a huge gift and given it to her.
And then, as if that weren't enough, she must have looked like she was throwing a tantrum saying, "Give me more!"
As all sorts of thoughts piled up, Serin's face turned red as if it would burst.
"Ah, seriously, Serin, sometimes you're just too innocent!? There's no way a celebrity like Seo Eunwoo would have a small NewTube subscriber count."
"R-right..."
As Serin nodded blankly and let out a deep sigh, Sua watched her with a soft expression.
"But popular celebrities really do live in a different world, I guess. No matter how much of a fan he is, how could he think of giving a Mythic item as a gift to someone he just met?"
"...Right, I was pretty shocked at first too."
"Ah, while we're at it, tell me the name of the item you got as a gift. I'm curious how much it's worth."
"Rainbow Bracelet of the Celestial Maiden."
When Serin answered in an embarrassed voice, Sua immediately began searching for the item on the Auction House.
"...Hah."
As Serin sighed under the belated wave of embarrassment, Sua quickly finished her search.
*
————
- Rainbow Bracelet of the Celestial Maiden [6,123,000,000 Silver Coins]
- Rainbow Bracelet of the Celestial Maiden [6,124,000,000 Silver Coins]
————
*
"Wow... 6.12 billion!"
When Sua covered her mouth and said the price with a surprised expression, Serin reflexively asked back.
"6.12 billion?"
"Yes, 6.12 billion. And there were only two listings left. The options are really solid too. This is why pretty things are worth looking at, I guess."
Having even examined the item's detailed stats, Sua looked at her with an envious expression.
"Pretty... Why are you suddenly saying that?"
At that, Sua burst out laughing.
"What do you mean, why? In the end, didn't a celebrity fall for your looks? If I were just a little prettier, maybe I'd get a Mythic item as a gift too. Isn't the world really unfair!?"
"Enough. Stop it, Sua. Didn't you call me because you had something to say about the project?"
With a muttered "Oh, right," Sua looked at Serin.
"That's right. Serin, do you remember that the project I mentioned last time was a 3-Person Raid?"
"Yeah, I remember. We're hunting the Beast of Destruction, right?"
"Yes, that's right. And since it's a 3-Person Raid, I called you to get your opinion on the one person we'll bring besides you and me."
"My opinion?"
When Serin tilted her head and looked at Sua, Sua smiled brightly.
"Yes. The budget allocated for this project is pretty large, so... at this level, recruiting a famous ranker wouldn't be a problem. I thought it would be better to ask you too rather than decide on my own."