Going Live
"I guess it really was too much to hope for..." Go Sang-hun muttered, stepping out of the head coach's office with a look of bitter disappointment.
"I know your eye for talent and your analytical skills are top-notch, Coach Go, but..."
No matter how good she was, recruiting an unranked player was simply out of the question. The head coach had made it clear that he couldn't even pitch such an idea to the front office.
Even as he spoke, the head coach's eyes had betrayed a subtle, doubting look that screamed, Are you out of your mind? It was a far cry from his usual high praise for Sang-hun's keen eye and sharp analysis.
If the head coach, who was normally his biggest supporter, reacted this way, it was painfully obvious how the rest of the organization would respond.
What a waste.
No matter how much Go Sang-hun sang her praises, to everyone else, she was just a skilled amateur. For a complete rookie with zero competitive experience, the only thing that could serve as a resume was their solo queue rank—and she didn't even have that. She was unranked. That alone settled the matter.
To make matters worse, AT Prion was currently teetering on the edge of relegation. They had to be incredibly cautious with their roster changes. There was no way they would risk using an unproven wild card as the savior to pull them out of the abyss.
"I understand where they're coming from, but..."
This Geummisa player is the real deal. Sang-hun smacked his lips in frustration. She hadn't even finished her placement matches yet, but he could already see her raw, undeniable talent.
The moment Geummisa started playing in earnest, she would tear through the ranks and claim a spot in Challenger—a tier reserved for only the top two hundred players on the server. She would instantly make a name for herself among industry insiders as a super rookie and a top-tier ranker.
It was a future Go Sang-hun could see as clear as day, but by the time it actually happened, it would already be too late.
Every other team will be scrambling to contact her by then.
If he were the team owner and held absolute authority over roster decisions, he would have signed her on the spot without a second thought. It was no different from buying a stock destined to skyrocket while it was still at its absolute bottom.
But in reality, he was just an analytical coach, not the owner. No matter how much the team trusted him, he couldn't just recruit players on a whim. That would be a massive overstepping of his boundaries.
"Maybe I should at least reach out to her."
Sang-hun estimated that once Geummisa finished her placement matches, she would land somewhere between high Diamond and Master tier at the very least. If she reached that level, he could somehow squeeze her in for a tryout, and if she performed well, they might actually be able to sign her.
Once she played a few matches, everyone would see her true worth. If they could just get her on the roster, time would take care of all the other minor details.
With that thought in mind, Go Sang-hun opened Asteria and sent a direct message to Geummisa's account. It was like putting a claim on a delicious piece of cake before anyone else could grab it.
Of course, this was all just a hypothetical scenario born of his own wishful thinking. For any of this plan to even begin, one crucial condition had to be met first:
"When on earth is she going to finish the rest of her placement matches?"
The player he had his eye on, Blonde Beautiful Girl Samurai, actually had to play her remaining ranked placement matches.
"You're thinking of starting a stream?"
When I logged into Asteria as usual, I found Han-ah already online, enjoying the game. She had been grinding ranked matches on her main account—the one she had shared with me—but the moment I told her I needed some advice, she immediately rushed over to meet me. That was when I broke the news that I was planning to start streaming.
"You're not as surprised as I thought you'd be."
Han-ah and I had recently dropped the formalities and started speaking casually with each other. It was a natural progression after appearing on her stream a few times, playing games together, and chatting privately. Personally, I tended to speak casually once I got close to someone. After all, my actual age was technically older than Han-ah's current age anyway. I figured Han-ah probably felt comfortable doing the same. Although I hadn't told her my exact age, I had casually let slip that I was a student and dropped hints that I was younger than her. She likely treated me like a younger sister because of that. Of course, that didn't mean I was ever going to actually call her Unni.
"Why would I be surprised? Honestly, I've just been waiting for you to finally bring it up."
What was she talking about? As I gave her a puzzled look, Han-ah slowly began to explain.
"Even in my chat, people are constantly asking if you're going to stream, or when you're going to start if you do. I always figured you would eventually. Plus, you told me before that you were interested in streaming, didn't you?"
"Yeah, I did."
"And if you do start, there are so many ways I can help you out. I can show you the ropes. After all, I'm your industry senior, aren't I?" Han-ah puffed out her chest proudly, grinning like a seasoned veteran showing off to a junior.
"Like what? How can you help?"
"Well, there are tons of ways. New streamers usually struggle with exposure, so we could do a collab stream to get your name out there. Or, using my Partner Streamer status, I could pull some wires to get you into some of the smaller tournaments hosted on Switch. I could also introduce you to other streamers..."
"I thought you said you didn't know any other streamers. Didn't you say you'd only hang out with me once I started streaming?"
"Ugh."
When I brought up what she had said last time, Han-ah clutched her chest as if I had stabbed her right in her sore spot.
"To be honest, there's not actually that much I need to help you with. You're an incredibly rare case for a beginner. Your level of recognition is already on par with most mid-sized streamers. If anything, I'm the one who's received a ton of help from you."
"Is it really that big of a deal?"
"Yes! You just don't realize it because you don't pay attention, but you're a total celebrity right now. People are literally coming to my stream just to catch a glimpse of you. I even heard that Samurai was watching my stream and was completely amazed by your play."
I wondered who this "Samurai" was, so I asked. Apparently, he was a massive streamer who easily pulled in over ten thousand concurrent viewers. Like Han-ah, his main content was Asteria, but his defining trait was that he also used a katana as his primary weapon, just like me.
"Thanks to that, the hype around Geummisa hasn't died down at all. Normally, for a topic to stay this hot for so long, the person in question has to keep doing things to generate buzz... but you're not even streaming, and everyone else is making a fuss for you."
"Hmm..."
Honestly, I just considered myself lucky. I had only played the game by relying on my past memories, so it felt surreal that people liked it so much. When I gave her an awkward smile, Han-ah shook her head and added:
"That's all thanks to your skill. People are interested because your gameplay is absolutely mind-blowing. Streamers live and die by attention, after all. Anyway, starting your stream now is a fantastic decision. You've already built up a solid fanbase, so you're off to an amazing start."
Han-ah was a professional who had spent plenty of time in this industry. Her expert analysis was definitely worth listening to.
"I can at least help you hire people, like an editor or a stream manager."
"An editor?"
"Once you start streaming and get things on track, you'll want to run a YouTube channel alongside your live broadcasts. Most streamers follow that exact path. Some even focus way more on YouTube than their actual live streams."
"So YouTube is that important."
I nodded in understanding. If YouTube was that crucial, then the editor managing it would be just as important.
"In the beginning, your YouTube revenue will be pretty low, so hiring an editor will actually cost you money out of pocket. But you still need to find a decent one."
Han-ah herself was making a tidy sum from YouTube. Having caught a glimpse of that wealth just the other day when she paid me my "appearance fee," I could fully appreciate how lucrative it could be.
"I'll also give you a heads-up on what not to say or do on stream to avoid any controversies. Since you'll be focusing on Asteria gameplay rather than just chatting, I'm not too worried, but it's always better to be safe than sorry."
Han-ah's heartfelt lecture continued for quite some time, as if she were determined to pass down every single piece of wisdom she had gathered throughout her streaming career.
"Thanks. I really appreciate you looking out for me like this."
"Don't mention it. It's the least I can do."
Han-ah insisted that she had gained so much thanks to me, so doing this much was only natural.
"And honestly, I've been secretly hoping you'd start streaming. I don't really have any streamer friends, and broadcasting all by myself gets pretty lonely. It'll be so much fun to play Asteria together, and maybe we can even collab on other games or content sometimes."
In short, she wanted us to have a mutually beneficial relationship. Since I felt exactly the same way, I gave her a bright smile and nodded.
As we basked in the warm atmosphere for a moment, Han-ah suddenly seemed to remember something.
"Oh, by the way, Jeong-ah, is your capsule's specs up to par? To stream, you have to run several other programs simultaneously, so older capsule models usually struggle to handle the load."
"That part should be fine."
I quickly checked the model name of my capsule and read it out to her. Han-ah's reaction was one of sheer disbelief.
"Jeong-ah... are you secretly filthy rich?"
"A-Am I...?"
"What do you mean, 'Am I?' That capsule costs a fortune..."
Personally, I felt a little unfairly judged. Just the other day, the appearance fee Han-ah had sent me felt like an absolute fortune to me.
"Well, it's not my money... My mom is the one who's rich."
"...Isn't that basically the same thing?"
Now that I thought about it, she had a point. It practically was the same thing, since a parent's wealth usually gets passed down to their children. But I had absolutely no intention—nor the guts—to lazily scratch my belly and demand allowance from Professor Cheon Se-rin. I wasn't nearly shameless enough to do that. I was already getting a taste of the bourgeois lifestyle just by being adopted; the least I could do was earn my own living expenses. Starting this stream was part of that effort. I planned to cover my own daily costs, and if I had any money left over, I wanted to buy a nice gift for Professor Cheon Se-rin.
"Born with a silver spoon... capitalism... bourgeois..." Of course, regardless of my actual intentions, once I admitted to using such a high-end capsule, it was practically inevitable that Han-ah would get the wrong idea about me.