011. Accidental Collab
011. Accidental Collab
The tall, broad-shouldered man's name was Nam Hyeon-su.
He was a major Neotuber with a staggering one million subscribers.
His Neotube channel was called Cheerful Namsu.
‘So this was the guy who came for the promotional shoot.’
I'd had a vague inkling.
The towering height and sharp, distinct features.
A camera that looked expensive even at a glance.
That alone screamed someone in the broadcasting business.
‘One look and you could tell he was probably popular.’
By the standards of my old world, at least.
Nam Hyeon-su had the kind of face women went crazy for.
A bear-like build with a puppy-dog face.
Naturally, this world was no exception.
This was just a gender-reversed world, not an ugliness-reversed world where standards of beauty had been swapped.
‘His looks were top-notch, but his character was good too. I guessed you didn't become a million-sub Neotuber for nothing, huh?’
Nam Hyeon-su hadn't made a big deal out of the employee's mistake.
He'd just laughed it off cheerfully, saying it was fine.
His personality matched his channel name perfectly.
On top of that,
he'd even smoothed over the employee's blunder by saying things like, Actually, I'm kind of happy I was mistaken for someone like him.
That alone was enough to judge the kind of person he was.
Anyway, Nam Hyeon-su had just moved to the VIP room with a staff member.
Before leaving, he'd proposed a collaboration stream with me.
Or rather, it was closer to a favor than a proposal.
He'd asked me to appear as a guest on the mart promotional broadcast he was filming that day.
He'd also said he'd pay an appearance fee generous enough not to leave me feeling shortchanged.
‘I didn't need the money... and I didn't really need the name recognition.’
A collab with a huge Neotuber wasn't unconditionally a good thing.
It was a double-edged sword, so to speak.
Sure, it could fix my sluggish growth, but if my viewer count exploded overnight, the stream would descend into chaos.
And above all...
Right now, it felt a bit burdensome.
‘I was mentally and physically exhausted from all the shit that had gone down that day. I was already tired, and managing the chat window on top of that would be a pain in the ass.’
A Neotuber with around a million subs probably had a huge live audience, and plenty of viewers would wander over to my stream out of curiosity.
Some of them were guaranteed to be trolls.
Grasshopper from earlier, for instance.
My delusions got a little too vivid.
Just imagining a horde of Grasshoppers swarming in, dripping with jealousy, gave me goosebumps all over my body.
‘Any other time, maybe, but that day was just...’
It wasn't that I hated growth.
More viewers meant more fun, probably.
But there was no need to rush.
This wasn't a stream to make a living.
It was already easing my loneliness to some degree.
‘If I kept streaming long enough, it would grow naturally. Watching the viewer count crawl up slowly was kind of fun in its own way.’
I'd avoided community promotion up until then.
So I'd also decided not to promote myself through collab streams.
That didn't mean I was rejecting the collab itself, though.
Just making a guest appearance on someone's stream was fine.
It wasn't my broadcast, and I wouldn't have to manage the chat window—just show my face. No burden at all.
So I'd told him I'd think about it for now.
I should ask my viewers' opinions too, even if there were only three of them.
‘If I did the collab, I would turn my own stream off. I had no intention of promoting it, and I didn't want to look like some mosquito trying to suck blood off a big Neotuber.’
Let that day's new viewer be just the one: Hottie Licker.
***
I checked the broadcast.
The moment my face appeared, viewers' chat messages started popping up.
【Reformed Guburi】─Oh you're here! You okay? Did it get sorted out?
【Yoho】─Host, what happened with those people? I couldn't hear anything because a crowd gathered T_T
【Hottie Licker】─Shhllluurrpp!!
"Ah, don't worry. It got resolved smoothly. There was a guy who helped me out."
I put the viewers at ease first.
Looking at the chat logs, they'd apparently been worried sick.
"And the guy who helped me out is also a streamer. He asked if I'd be willing to appear on his channel. What do you guys think?"
【Reformed Guburi】─Oh. A collab already?
【Yoho】─A streamer? Who is it?
"A Neotuber called Cheerful Namsu. You know him?"
【Reformed Guburi】─??? For real? Dude, that guy is hella famous. How the hell do you run into him at some podunk mart, lmfao. What is he, a novel protagonist? His luck's on cheat mode.
【Yoho】─I think I've heard of him. A big Neotuber, right?
【Hottie Licker】─Know him. Not licking-worthy though.
As expected of a million-sub Neotuber.
Famous enough that every single viewer knew him.
Of course, there were only three of them, but still...
"Seems like you all know him. Anyway, collab—yes or no? If you guys don't like it, I won't do it."
【Yoho】─You can do it if you want...
【Reformed Guburi】─Since when do you ask for our opinion lol. Do whatever you want.
【Hottie Licker】─Churlp.
"No objections, right? He helped me out, so I felt a bit bad about turning him down. Good thing that's settled."
【Reformed Guburi】─Ahh~ The day my precious little Gye Bastard-hun goes viral has finally dawned~
"Huh? I'm not planning to promote my stream on his show."
【Yoho】─What? You're not promoting yourself?
【Reformed Guburi】─?? You're not promoting it?
【Hottie Licker】─Churlp?
"I told you last time. I'm not really into self-promotion."
【Reformed Guburi】─Dude just kicked a surefire viral opportunity to the curb with his own feet. Fine by me though lol.
【Yoho】─What a relief! hehehe
【Reformed Guburi】─Yoho's true feelings just slipped out lol. But didn't you say you'd like having more viewers? Opportunities like this aren't common. Don't you feel like it's a bit of a waste?
"If the influx explodes all at once, it's a hassle to manage."
【Reformed Guburi】─lol. So it's true that a man's feelings change day by day.
【Yoho】─Because a man's heart is a reed, after all.
【Reformed Guburi】─Reed, lmao what.
"Not a reed. Look, my stream isn't exactly normal, is it? It's a stream riddled with profanity. Plenty of people would find that uncomfortable, right?"
【Reformed Guburi】─Just ban the discomfort freaks.
"That's exactly what I mean—if a ton of people flood in all at once, that gets hard, you dumb fuck. Don't you get what I'm saying? You wanna die?"
【Yoho】─Gasp...
【Reformed Guburi】─Zero-to-a-hundred profanity damn. Seeing this, yeah, I guess there'd be a lot of discomfort freaks. Agreed.
【Hottie Licker】─Thorough self-awareness lol. Churlp!
While swearing, I scanned my surroundings.
There might be someone else getting offended, like Grasshopper.
Fortunately, no one was paying attention to me.
‘...I wasn't usually the type to care about my surroundings when I swore.’
A foul-mouthed bastard unfiltered by time or place.
That was me.
Military service had improved it a tiny bit, but it was a chronic disease I couldn't cure even by the time I was discharged.
But maybe I was maturing with age?
At least, to the extent possible, I'd started thinking I probably shouldn't cause trouble for people around me.
Not that things ever went the way I intended.
I let out a sigh and checked the chat window again.
【Reformed Guburi】─But this motherfucker is a legit Hidden Streamer lol. No one can find him. He's hiding in plain fucking sight.
【Hottie Licker】─Reclusive streamer lol. Shlurp.
"For the record, I'm turning my stream off, so if you still want to watch, relocate to his channel. I don't know what platform he's on, so look it up yourselves."
【Reformed Guburi】─Wha? Irresponsible as hell.
【Hottie Licker】─Irresponsibly hot lol. Churlp.
【Reformed Guburi】─Wait, hold on a sec! Isn't this situation kind of pervy? We're leaving our Gye Bastard-hun in the hands of another stream's viewers for a bit? This is literally NTR! What the fuck.
【Yoho】─Gasp!
【Hottie Licker】─lol "A mysterious video tape arrived one day." Churlp.
"Quit pissing around. I'm gonna call him now, so I'm ending the stream."
【Yoho】─You have to come back for sure...?
【Reformed Guburi】─No! Don't go!!!
【Hottie Licker】─lol. NTR with his heart stolen too. Churlp.
"Dumbfucks."
『The broadcast has ended.』
And with that, my broadcast ended.
Then I called Cheerful Namsu using the number he'd given me earlier.
***
I met Cheerful Namsu outside the VIP room.
I told him I'd appear on his broadcast and added that I wouldn't accept an appearance fee.
"A good-looking guy like you, Se-hun, appearing as a guest... the edited Neotube upload would get crazy high views... I feel really bad about not paying you a fee."
"It's fine. You helped me out, so I'm just returning the favor."
Realizing I wasn't just being polite, Cheerful Namsu awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
I then explained that, going forward, I wouldn't be doing any promotion, or even mentioning my own channel name.
At that, Cheerful Namsu's eyes went wide.
"What? Um... You said you had three viewers, right? This could be a chance for your channel to blow up..."
There was no sarcasm in his tone.
He looked genuinely regretful.
Even though my channel blowing up would be of no benefit to Cheerful Namsu whatsoever.
He seemed like a really nice guy.
"This is just a hobby broadcast for me, so it doesn't matter. I'm sure it'll grow eventually. But I cuss a lot. Are you really okay with that?"
"Ah! I did hear you swearing earlier, haha! What's the big deal? We're not men from the Joseon Dynasty or something. People can swear a little. It's fine, it's fine!"
"...Yeah. I can't really control it when I get worked up, but I'll try to hold back as much as possible."
"Haha. You don't have to hold back too much. If you feel like letting loose, go for it!"
Cheerful Namsu started getting ready to turn his broadcast on.
From what I gathered,
he didn't stream to other platforms, only doing live broadcasts exclusively on Neotube.
Even then, he apparently pulled in a whopping two thousand live viewers.
‘I hadn't thought much of it until just then, but now that I was about to actually appear, I was getting a little nervous for some reason.’
The viewer count didn't matter.
I was just worried I'd be a nuisance on Cheerful Namsu's broadcast.
I couldn't exactly back out then...
Well, as long as I kept my mouth shut as much as possible, it should be fine.
Not long after, Cheerful Namsu's broadcast went live.
"Cheerful-dung-is, hi!"
Cheerful Namsu looked at the camera and greeted his viewers.
My own eyes were on the chat window, not the camera.
The viewer count skyrocketed exponentially, and the chat was scrolling at an insane speed.
This was the power of a huge Neotuber?
The game streams and male cam streams I'd glimpsed briefly didn't even compare.
I was stunned.
And I was the type of person who instinctively swore when stunned.
"Whoa, fuck me... the chat firepower is insane."
I swore. Ten seconds into the broadcast.