78. RinTube Channel Launch
78. RinTube Channel Launch
***
Maybe the fatigue from pushing herself for days hadn't fully faded, because Serin, who had been tossing and turning in bed, slipped into sleep as if it were a lie.
And so, the next morning.
"..."
—August 5, 6 a.m.
Serin picked up her phone to check the time and let out a blank sigh.
'Let's just accept it.'
Rather than trying to cut back on sleep or force her body to change right away, she shifted her mindset toward letting her body gradually improve.
The more I pushed myself, the more this body seemed to show me just how much of a wreck it was.
Half-resigned, I pulled myself together and sat up in bed. That was when I saw the PC and the food I hadn't cleaned up yesterday.
At least I'd left the air conditioner on, so it wasn't hot—whether that counted as lucky, I wasn't sure. I belatedly put away the food that had been sitting out for half a day, storing it in the fridge.
For today's meal, it looked like reheating the leftover braised short ribs and fried shrimp would be enough.
After finishing the cleanup, I considered shutting down the PC, which was still on, but instead just checked my email.
Starting with advertising inquiries, several emails were visible, but more than any of them, one email caught my eye.
*
————
[This is Han Siwoo, coach for the ACK Pro League team G1.]
— Hello. This is Han Siwoo, coach for the G1 pro team.
After close internal discussion regarding what you sent, we have decided to accept your proposal...
However, I would like to ask once more in advance for your understanding that any uploaded videos will be subject to detailed review...
......
————
*
And with that, I confirmed that a scrim schedule with the pro team called G1 had been set.
This was the pro team that had emailed me before asking to scrim. I'd liked the conditions they proposed, but accepting them felt a little ambiguous, so I'd sent a reply adding one condition: asking whether I could make a NewTube video.
The email said the pro team had readily accepted that condition.
"...What do they see in me?"
I muttered blankly, but it still felt strange.
No matter how famous I was right now, I wondered if I was really someone a top-tier pro team would be that eager over.
Honestly, after sending the email, I'd expected the pro team called G1 to refuse. My email had been a kind of added condition, essentially asking, "Do you still want to scrim with me even under these terms?"
If they accepted, I'd gain even more, so that was good. If they refused, it was a scrim I hadn't even been thinking about originally, so I had nothing to lose.
In short, against a famous pro team, I'd basically been bluffing and saying, "Give me more."
And the pro team had said they'd gladly give more.
'Well, it's good for me, but...'
The things the pro team was giving me right now were quite substantial.
From a Legendary-grade Crescent-Moon Weight that wasn't even on the market at all, to the amount of money I'd receive for scrimming over just two days—it was on the larger side. On top of that, there were various other ACK-related benefits, but the decisive factor was the video I'd be posting to my NewTube channel.
When I'd sent the email, I hadn't really felt much significance in posting a video to a NewTube channel. But now that I'd created the NewTube channel, it felt real.
"Hayoon and Soyul would be really happy if they found out, right?"
Before I knew it, my thoughts turned to the two editors.
This wasn't some middling team—it was a scrim with a famous pro team that had a massive fandom.
There was no way this wouldn't become a hot topic.
So I opened the app right away to tell the two of them.
—Bard talk
The most famous SNS app of the current era.
Texting did exist, but the app nearly all citizens used to exchange messages was Bard talk.
Bard talk was commonly shortened to "BaTalk."
The moment I opened BaTalk, the notifications visible numbered in the hundreds.
Among all kinds of spam-ad notifications and the like, I searched for the two people I had saved separately.
And soon I could see that while I'd been asleep, the two of them had each sent me many BaTalk messages.
Kim Hayoon.
[I can't believe I get to handle the first video for the RinTube channel. I'll work hard to make it a good video.]
Me.
[Yes. I'll look forward to it.]
Park Soyul.
[The RinTube channel work is all finished just now. Please check the channel once, Rin, and let me know your impressions. If there's anything that feels lacking or doesn't match your style, please tell me right away.]
Me.
[I'll check it now.]
"They really live busy lives..."
Even as I belatedly checked the BaTalk notifications and replied, I could tell just from the messages that the two editors were already sincerely throwing themselves into the work.
Hayoon had finished yesterday's short stream and then gone straight into working on the first video for RinTube, messaging me about it hours ago. Soyul had just messaged that she'd already finished everything from decorating the NewTube channel to the introduction.
Considering it was now around 7 a.m., I wondered if they'd pulled an all-nighter.
'...If I tell them, they'll probably work even harder.'
Seeing that, I figured it would be better to tell them about the scrim with G1 a little later.
They already seemed to have so much on their minds.
Then, from the email I had open, I saved the contact info of the person called the G1 coach to BaTalk and sent a message as a greeting.
[This is streamer Rin. I've confirmed the email you sent. If there are any changes to the schedule or any news to share, please contact me.]
Coach.
[Ah, yes. Thank you. From now on, if there are any detailed matters regarding the scrim schedule or other news to share, I'll let you know right away.]
Watching the reply come in less than a minute, I decided to first check the NewTube channel Soyul had told me about.
"Let's check it right away."
I immediately opened a new window.
Tap tap tap.
And so I connected to NewTube and entered my channel.
"No way. You did all this in just one day?"
The moment I saw it, admiration slipped out before I knew it.
Along with clean, elegant fonts, there was channel art with a red background—an edited image of me holding the Crescent-Moon Weight in Another World, placed into the background. It was decorated stylishly without being overdone.
And whether she'd turned me into a character, a cute silver-haired female character appeared as my icon, and I liked that too.
Then my eyes went to the letters written in the center of the NewTube channel art.
—RinTube!
"RinTube..."
Even as I pronounced the name of the NewTube channel, it felt oddly fascinating.
After that, I checked the items in the RinTube channel one by one.
From the character icon, channel background art, channel banner, and channel introduction text to the business email and so on.
Since I was just starting out on NewTube, there were really a lot of things to take care of one by one. Soyul was the one who had volunteered to handle all of it.
Even with her experience editing for a major NewTube channel, I'd thought it might take a bit longer, but confirming that she'd finished all of this in barely a day was almost unbelievable.
I pressed the silver-haired female icon and checked the design anew, feeling a fresh sense of emotion.
'I'm really a NewTuber.'
It felt like I'd only just started streaming a few days ago. But now, before I knew it, I'd even created a NewTube channel and was at the stage of running it.
And on top of that, I was even starting the channel with two editors.
And I really liked that both editors were to my liking.
"You really never know... what's ahead for people."
Honestly, even I hadn't expected to take things this far.
After that, I sent Soyul praise, telling her that everything from the RinTube background art to the channel introduction and the icon character design was all really good.
Park Soyul.
[If you say that much... you're going to make me expect a bonus or something!]
Soyul's way of subtly saying she was expecting a bonus was kind of cute.
Even if Soyul had experience editing a million-subscriber NewTube channel, she was still only 24. I wondered if she was half-joking, but since she seemed to be hoping for a future bonus, I decided to give her an answer she'd be happy with.
Me.
[You can definitely look forward to a bonus!]
Even as I sent that message, I felt the reality that I was now someone in the position of giving money to others.
"That might not be so bad..."
The 2.7 billion won still sleeping in my account.
The fact that I had quite a bit of financial breathing room right now was supporting me far more than I'd expected.
Whether in starting something or thinking about something, being able to not cling to money—that gave me more room to breathe than anything else.
As for the two editors' salaries, we'd already agreed on amounts matching the industry average that Sua had told me about earlier.
However, considering that the channel was just starting, Sua had said it was a reasonable amount, so it wasn't a burden for me right now.
"How much should I give as a bonus?"
I wondered what percentage of their salary would be good as a bonus.
Since it was the first bonus, I figured I should make it big.
Serin smiled softly and headed to the bathroom.
***
G1 pro team dormitory.
Pro players' schedules started relatively late compared to ordinary people.
—August 5, 11 a.m.
Only as the time approached noon did the players begin to wake up one by one and appear in the dorm living room.
Even on a match day, the pro players' mornings were as late as ever.
"Ah. My head's seriously about to split open."
"Ugh, you idiot, didn't I tell you to take it easy on the booze?"
"No, but Kang Hyeok broke into the top 30 of Challenger—how could I not drink?"
"Minseong, the more I look at you... it seems like your personal ranking matters more to you than your league results?"
"Come on... that's because Kang Hyeok is in the top 20. Do you know how important it is to have my nickname on the first page of the rankings?"
The two who started bickering the moment they ran into each other with bed-head hair, as if they'd just woken up, were G1 pro gamers Kang Hyeok and Bae Minseong.
And waiting in the living room for the players to come out was the coach.
Han Siwoo grinned and spoke.
"Kang Hyeok. That thing you wanted finally went through."
Knowing they'd overdone it last night with the evening scrim schedule and personal practice, he'd deliberately not woken the players and waited for them.
"...The thing I wanted?"
Still not fully awake, Kang Hyeok looked at Siwoo as if asking what he meant.
Siwoo curled the corner of his mouth slightly.
"Rin. The scrim schedule with that person went through, you idiot. Ugh, seriously, do you know how hard I had to negotiate with the front office?"
"Ah, Siwoo! I was really counting on you, you know? So when is it!? When are we scrimming?"
At the unexpected good news, Kang Hyeok's eyes went wide as he asked again and again.
From the impression Rin had given him when they'd clashed greatswords, she hadn't seemed like someone who would agree easily. He'd asked Siwoo to make it happen anyway, but Kang Hyeok had expected it to be difficult—and Siwoo had actually pulled it off.
"The scrim period is two days, the 16th and the 17th. I've got it scheduled for those two days."
"Uh... hey, Siwoo. When you say Rin, you don't mean that 'Rin,' do you?"
Even Minseong, who was standing nearby, asked blankly at the unexpected news.
Rin had become a huge topic even among the top rankers after beating Plea, the 8th-ranked player.
Everyone wanted to test themselves against her, but there was no particular point of contact, so no one had been able to reach her.
"Yeah. That Rin."
"Whoa, insane... so we'll get to see Rin in person too??"
And Bae Minseong was actually a fan of Rin.
He'd watched Rin's streams a few times out of curiosity, and while her Another World skill was certainly impressive, more than that, he'd fallen completely for Rin's soft, friendly voice.
Siwoo shook his head and laughed.
"No. She agreed when I told her it'd be online."
"...Aw. That's too bad."
Looking at Minseong grumbling for no reason, Kang Hyeok spoke as if dumbfounded.
"You've got a girlfriend, you bastard, what's your deal."
"No, I'm just curious as a fan. Kang Hyeok, you're curious what Rin's like in real life too, aren't you?"