Chapter 8
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Viral Sensation
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Seojun's eyes flew open. He had slept soundly, without a single dream.
Lying in his crib, surrounded by its walls, he gazed up at the colorful mobile dolls. Seojun kicked his arms and legs, his own version of a morning stretch.
Then, he popped the pacifier his mother had given him into his mouth, the one attached to his chubby wrist by a strap.
Suck, suck—
Unlike other babies who would have burst into tears the moment they woke, Seojun was different. He leisurely enjoyed his pacifier.
[Basic Elven Breathing]
Allows a being of good (light) to harness mana.
Does not conflict with other breathing techniques (except for evil (darkness)).
Harmonizes the user's body.
Seojun breathed. Inhale, exhale.
This world was low on mana, but not completely devoid of it. From the moment he could form a coherent thought, Seojun had practiced [Basic Elven Breathing].
Whenever he was reborn, he forgot almost everything, except for two things.
He had made sure never to forget [Basic Elven Breathing] and [Basic Demonic Breathing]. [Basic Demonic Breathing] had a similar effect to its elven counterpart but was beneficial to beings of an evil (dark) alignment.
Once he had a grasp of his new 'body,' Seojun would choose one of the two alignments and master the corresponding basic breathing technique.
Seojun's breathing gradually settled. With each inhale and exhale, tiny particles of mana seeped into his body.
Throughout his many lives, Seojun had made these two breathing techniques his first abilities for one specific advantage. The greatest benefit of [Basic Elven Breathing] and [Basic Demonic Breathing] was...
"Oh, you're awake already?"
His father's face suddenly appeared over the side of the crib. Seojun smiled at him.
...its safety. Even if someone touched him or he had to stop abruptly in the middle of the technique, he could safely disengage.
It was especially useful when he was reborn as a weak monster, unable to let his guard down for even a moment.
"Seojun's awake?"
"Yeah. But why are you getting so many Banatalk messages?"
Sunday morning. His father, who didn't have to go to work, picked Seojun up and carried him into the living room.
His mother was at the living room table, laptop open, looking at her smartphone.
She must have had notifications on, because it kept crying out, *Banatalk- Banatalk-*.
"A-boo, a-boo."
"See? Seojun says it's loud, too."
"Alright, alright. I'll turn it off."
Seo Eunhye frantically turned off the notifications. Lee Minjun sat down next to her. Seojun sat on his father's lap, his back resting against his dad's stomach.
"So what's going on? Why all the Banatalk messages?"
"Well, Minji, Soyoung... It seems like everyone who knows Seojun is messaging me."
Seo Eunhye said, looking exhausted. Even as they spoke, Banatalk messages continued to pour in.
Seojun contemplated. He was hungry. Should he cry? Or not?
"Minji told me to check N-tube. She said it's gone crazy."
Having finally read the message, Seo Eunhye logged into N-tube. Lee Minjun craned his neck to see the laptop screen. Seojun decided to wait and watched the screen as well.
N-tube was where they had uploaded the video of Seojun using [Fairy's Sparkle].
N-tube.
A site where people from all over the world uploaded their own videos.
The news his dad often watched would sometimes feature stories about N-tubers—their past, present, and future.
He didn't know the details, but Seojun was aware that people could become stars through N-tube, not just by being traditional celebrities.
"Whoa... what is this..."
"Wow... this is scary..."
Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun were stunned by the incredible number of views and comments. Seojun also looked at the numbers on the screen.
'This is insane.'
He had hoped many people would see it, but he never expected this many. And it hadn't even been 24 hours.
As the three of them marveled, a call came in. It was from Mina's mom, a fellow N-tuber.
Seo Eunhye quickly answered the phone. The view and comment count, beyond anything she could have imagined, wasn't making her happy—it was making her scared.
"Oh, Minji! What is this? What's happening?!"
- "Did you see?! It's! Amazing!"
"No, seriously, is this for real?"
- "It is! You're a total star! Oh, no. Not you. Seojun! Seojun's become a total star!"
Mina's mom's booming voice echoed through the living room. Lee Minjun and Seo Eunhye listened, their eyes still glued to the screen. Mina's mom quickly continued.
- "Hurry up and apply for monetization!"
"M-monetization?"
"One second, honey."
Taking the phone from a flustered Seo Eunhye, Lee Minjun switched it to speaker mode.
"Hello, Mina's mother. This is Seojun's dad. But aren't there requirements for that?"
He tried to sound calm, but he was just as flustered, getting straight to the point.
"I heard it's hard to meet them in just a day or two unless you're already famous."
He remembered talking about the monetization requirements with Kim Heesang, who sometimes uploaded videos of himself making dolls to N-tube.
- "Ah, hello! Don't worry! Seojun's channel has already met the requirements and blown way past them!"
"Is that so?"
- "Yes! They look at watch time and subscriber count, and Seojun's channel passed those ages ago!"
With a shocked expression, Seo Eunhye pointed to the subscriber count on the screen. Lee Minjun, still on the phone with Mina's mom, looked over.
Subscribers: 200,000.
Lee Minjun's jaw dropped. Seojun contemplated. He was hungry. Cry? Or not? But his parents' state seemed too unusual to interrupt with crying.
- "It's 200,000! 200,000!"
- "And it's still climbing!"
Mina's mom kept talking. His parents' expressions showed no sign of changing. Feeling like his stomach was about to stick to his spine, Seojun decided to cry.
"Waaaaah! Waaaaah!"
"…!"
"...You scared me!"
Seojun's cries finally snapped Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun out of their daze. Lee Minjun shot up, holding Seojun, and headed for the kitchen.
"R-right. Let's get you fed. My son. You need to eat!"
"Uh... yeah... I'll stay on the phone with Minji!"
Seo Eunhye applied for monetization for the channel [JUN] while talking to Mina's mom.
Lee Minjun poured warm water into a baby bottle and mixed in the formula. Having stopped crying instantly, Seojun waited in his father's arms for his bottle.
"Wow... really... what is happening?"
His dad mumbled to himself in a daze, but he prepared the formula with practiced ease. That's my dad!
He even checked the formula's temperature before the nipple entered Seojun's mouth.
Gulp, gulp—!
Lee Minjun quickly carried Seojun back to the living room. Seo Eunhye had hung up the phone and was now reading the comments on Seojun's video.
"Did you apply?"
"Yeah. She said ads will start running as soon as it's approved."
"But how did this happen?"
Seo Eunhye, a tutor who taught Korean to foreign students, slowly scrolled through the comments. There were many languages, but she read the ones in English and Korean.
"Everyone's saying... their kids who wouldn't eat are finally eating after watching this video. If you feed them five times a day, three of those times are a 30-minute struggle, but they say if they show Seojun's video, the kids eat right away..."
As Lee Minjun leaned over to see the screen, Seojun, who was happily drinking his formula, found his position uncomfortable. With the nipple in his mouth, he couldn't make a sound, so he slapped his father's arm with one hand.
"Ah, sorry, sorry."
Lee Minjun straightened up and looked at the screen again. Seojun also peeked at the screen from the corner of his eye.
He could read some Korean from watching television and reading picture books with his dad... but the comments were mostly in English and other languages.
Still, he tried to read the Korean comments that popped up, but his mom and dad were scrolling too fast. With the text flying by,
'Ah, my eyes hurt.'
Seojun blinked a few times, then decided to close his eyes and focus on his formula.
Gulp, gulp!
Lee Minjun and Seo Eunhye were engrossed in reading the comments. They saw comments of gratitude and ones saying they'd recommended the video to their friends because it was so good.
*Banatalk-! Banatalk-!*
It was Seo Eunhye's phone. The message was from the mother of the twins.
While Seo Eunhye was reading the message, Seojun finished his formula and let the bottle drop to the floor as if letting it go. The bottle was heavy.
"Whoops."
His father, finally pulling himself out of the comment vortex, quickly grabbed the bottle.
"You little rascal. You should call for Dad when you're done!"
"A-boo, a-boo!"
"That's right. You call me like that! What if you dropped it?"
"What are you expecting from an eight-month-old baby?"
Seo Eunhye said to Lee Minjun, dumbfounded. Lee Minjun just laughed and patted Seojun's back. *Burp.*
"Our Seojun is a genius, so he understands everything."
"All parents think their child is a genius."
"But our Seojun really is a genius."
"Yes, yes."
Letting her doting husband's words go in one ear and out the other, Seo Eunhye opened the link the twins' mother had sent.
It was an article.
A small internet article, but an article nonetheless.
"…."
Lee Minjun saw the article too. Neither of them could speak. After opening and closing their mouths a few times, they finally managed to utter a few words.
"Wow. I thought my heart was going to stop."
"What is happening overnight..."
After that, links to posts and articles about Seojun's video were sent to Seo Eunhye and Lee Minjun's Banatalk from everyone who knew Seojun, from her family to his.
> Hey! Isn't this that video of Seojun you showed me?!
> Crazy! Wow! For real!!!
It got to the point where even the unmarried Kim Heesang contacted them, saying he'd seen Seojun's video.
[Title: Highly recommend! A lifesaver for babies who won't eat!]
[Content: Let me give you the channel name first.
It's [JUN] on N-tube! Go watch it now!
Show it to your babies, and they'll eat in no time!]
A mere three-line post on a mom cafe garnered an enormous number of comments. At first, many comments were skeptical, but they were soon followed by a flood of praise.
Comments (1,293)
...
- Oh! My daughter ate everything!
- It really works! What's the secret?
- Wow. This is the third time I'm feeding her while watching, and she's eating without a single complaint! Seojun is the best!!!
...
- Ah, it's not working for my son. He won't eat.
- I've seen a few people say that. Some for whom it doesn't work...
- My son is 4. It's not working.
- My daughter is 3. No effect!
Besides that, posts and articles kept popping up.
At first, it was a video watched among mothers, but now even childless couples and unmarried people were looking it up.
[Title: Looks like the effect depends on the age!]
[Content: My first is 4 years old, and my second is 10 months!
The second one eats well while watching the video, but the first one doesn't!
Looking at other comments, it seems like it doesn't work for kids 3 or 4 and up.]
- Wow, that seems to be the case.
- Guess there's an age limit lol
- 2-year-old girl, no effect T_T
- 28-month-old girl, no effect T_T T_T
[Title: Should we run some stats?]
[Content: If everyone posts their baby's age and whether it worked, I'll compile the data!]
- Great idea!
- 23 months, no effect.
- 5 years, no effect.
- 10 months, effective.
...
The unity of the parents was incredible. A movement had begun to determine the video's effective range. Someone analyzed the data and compiled the statistics. And the results were in.
On sites completely unrelated to babies, posts began to appear with the title, [A miraculous baby mukbang! Effective up to 20 months!].
They included a few screenshots from Seojun's video, comments from the mom cafe, and photos of babies eating while watching a smartphone—proof shots.
- Wow. Do they really eat?
- lol That's weird lol
- They say it doesn't work from 21 months on. This mother of a 26-month-old is crying T_T
- Wait, so it's a hard cutoff at 21 months?
- Yep, doesn't work. My daughter is 21 months T_T She won't eat T_T
- What's the reason?
- I'm more amazed that they're eating at all lol
Before they knew it, [JUN] was trending. It was low on the list, but everyone was clicking on it at least once.
And then there was this one person.
Someone was looking at the posts with a grave expression.
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