Chapter 12. A Clever Move to Secure Both Results and Content
Chapter 12. A Clever Move to Secure Both Results and Content
To be honest, I had braced myself for this before starting the stream. I'd already guessed the viewers would explode with outrage.
So I went with the most reliable method—I blocked them from typing in chat entirely.
"Ahem! I'm going to talk now, so everyone shush."
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Go on then, say something. Let's hear it, you bastard.
"First, I'll unblock the chat, so don't spam. If you spam, it won't be a temporary ban—it'll be a permanent one."
The moment I unblocked chat, a flood of messages began pouring in. Still, it wasn't the kind of spam that makes you frown—it was chat from genuine viewers.
"In my personal opinion, the most admirable S-rank is Association President Go Sang-cheol."
[Why's that guy suddenly coming up?]
[He's retired though.]
[It's already been over a year since he stopped hunter activities.]
[Wouldn't he be pretty rusty by now?]
"I said admirable, not strong."
[This bastard's dodging the question because he's afraid someone will add a controversy section to his wiki, lol.]
True. But what could I do about it?
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- No, you crazy bitch, stop with the forced deflection lol
"Forced deflection, he says..."
I clicked the mouse a few times and pulled up a clip on the output screen. It was from just before I ended yesterday's stream.
- The most admirable S-rank, in my opinion, is...
"You saw? I said admirable."
[...?]
[This guy's meticulous as hell.]
[Is it okay for a Hero to be this sneaky?]
"Anyway, from now on, all Galde Cup talk is prohibited."
[He's no different from Lü Bu lol]
[He just does whatever he wants lol]
[If you don't like it, you should just leave, but everyone's so addicted to the dopamine they can't leave, dammit.]
A level-headed viewer typed in chat. He was right. If viewers don't like a streamer, they could just leave.
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Hey, so what's the highest rank you think you can reach?
"The very top, obviously."
[He thinks S-rank grows on trees lol]
[Does he think it's like leveling up in a game or something?]
[This guy's got nothing in his eyes lololol]
"What are you talking about? I mean higher than S-rank."
A bombshell statement that stunned every viewer. For a moment, the chat froze completely.
[Brb, adding to the wiki.]
[All S-ranks are pushovers compared to me (some fabrication involved)]
[Lmao that's just straight-up fabrication.]
"Just think of it as a stock. You guys have boarded the blue-chip stock that is me, the Hero."
[Right now this stock is looking pretty damn blue though?]
[All blue lololololol]
[ Resignation Letter Always in My Pocket has donated 5,000 Watts! ]
- But if you want to raise your rank, you have to go to gates, so why aren't you going to any gates? And it's not like you're doing gaming streams either...
"Games aren't really fun, and there aren't any gates that suit me right now..."
[At this point I don't even feel like nitpicking anymore.]
[Yeah, just accept that this is the kind of bastard he is.]
But it wasn't really an excuse. The advantages of overwhelming physical ability naturally applied to games as well. And ordinary gates were all beneath my level too.
'Ah... I did need to build up some achievements, though... Wasn't there a good way?'
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Or at least do a collab stream or something.
"Who'd want to do a collab with a small fry like me?"
[Small fry (has earned a billion)]
[Sm—all fry]
I looked at the camera and flashed a grin.
"Well, if anyone wants to collab, just give me a shout."
[There he goes with that shit-eating grin again, damn.]
[Hero, aren't we a little too close?]
[That expression is giving me PTSD from my school days.]
"Contact me while my asking price is still low."
[Boldly insane lol]
---
After the stream ended, collab requests actually came in. There were quite a few streamers with some level of recognition. However, a few politely asked if only I or only Laila could come separately, but I turned those down.
"Honestly, we're a set. Asking for only one of us."
"Right! We're a set, after all!"
Laila was giggling happily beside me, and seeing her smile like that lifted my own mood as well.
"Hmm, how about this person?"
"Not great. They don't match our vibe. We focus on communication, right? I don't think there'd be any game to play together either. And this person is under a company, right? That'll get pretty annoying when we discuss the revenue split later. And if we somehow get tangled up in a legal dispute..."
"Okay, I get it... calm down..."
A mid-tier female streamer. She had a fairly solid fandom and no particular controversies. But unfortunately, since my partner said no...
"Then how about this person?"
A male streamer with a long career in this field. He occasionally showed a fatherly side and mainly did variety gaming and communication streams. He had a clean private life, a stable family, and zero controversies whatsoever. If you really had to nitpick, he was someone whose opinion that mint chocolate was tolerable was treated as a controversy.
"Hmm... he seems like a really nice person."
"How about it? It's not a long session, and he offered to give us 60% of the donations from that day. And most importantly, he's clean."
"Great. Let's do it with him, then!"
"Uh... Laila, could you get in touch with him? It's a bit... for me to do it."
For me, business-related conversations were a real weakness. It was so bad that even at official functions, Kyle and Laila always handled everything.
'I've even heard people ask if my vocal cords got damaged in battle...'
But streaming was comfortable. Even if I blurted things out without thinking, as long as it wasn't something seriously problematic, everyone just laughed it off.
---
[ World's Strongest Hero: Hiya ]
[Look at the stream title lololol]
[At this point they're gonna have to put a single period in the title]
"Today is a short stream. I just have one important announcement to make before I go."
[What is it?]
[Now that you mention it, you're not dressed sloppily like usual. You're dressed up a bit.]
[Are you going outside?]
[Dressed up (sweatshirt and pants)]
[Considering what he usually wears, this counts as dressed up for him lolol]
"I'm going to do a collab stream with Nudungji today."
[??]
[I watch that person's streams but there wasn't any announcement or anything?]
[Whoa!]
Oh, was this supposed to be a secret? There was no such condition, though... But I'd already mentioned the streamer's name, so I couldn't just smooth it over.
[ Nudungji has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- It's fine haha. The collab is today anyway. It's good if the viewers can feel some anticipation beforehand.
As expected of Nudungji... He smoothly defused the situation without making things awkward. This was the skill of a veteran streamer, wasn't it?
[But why are you collabing with Dungji?]
[Our Hero's really made it big.]
[He's a small fry but not a small fry. Can you afford his appearance fee?]
"Ah, about that, the donation..."
Just as I was about to thoughtlessly leak another detail, Laila cut me off from the side.
"We adjusted things fairly so no one loses out!"
[Wise Saintess with excellent wifely support.]
[My eyes... please don't suddenly come in so close like that...]
[Every time she leans her face in, my heart lurches.]
Questions flew back and forth—how did we get in touch, why did we choose Nudungji for the collab, and so on.
"Well... among those who offered to collab with us, he was the person with the least controversy and the cleanest record."
[Yeah, that's true.]
[Lolol, he really does have remarkably few controversies.]
[And since he's a dad, his way of talking is really gentle.]
"Well, and since it's our first collab, it'd be a bit off to do it with someone problematic, right?"
If you stand next to someone who smells, even if you're clean, the smell rubs off on you. Better to be careful and avoid unnecessary controversies.
"So anyway, we need to head out soon, so I'm ending the stream here."
[Bye bye.]
[See you later lol.]
[He means he's literally gonna see us later.]
---
Laila and I were currently in a taxi heading toward Nudungji's studio in Incheon.
─ Bzzzzz...! Ding-dong!
A strong vibration and a ding-dong alarm rang from my phone. It wasn't just mine—Laila's phone and the taxi driver's phone all went off at the same time.
"Citizens residing along the West Sea in the Gyeonggi area should evacuate immediately...?"
The message listed areas like Gimpo, Incheon, Siheung, Ansan, and Hwaseong. It wasn't even an evacuation advisory—it was an evacuation order. The driver, who had also just checked the disaster alert, pulled the car over to the shoulder.
"I-I'm sorry, what should we do? I don't think I can go any further... If you kids are okay with it, shall I turn around and head back where we came from?"
If this happened, wasn't the collab going to fall through as well? I opened my messenger to check, and sure enough, a long message from Nudungji had already arrived.
"Laila, what should we do?"
"Do whatever you want, Hero. I'll follow you~"
Alright. The outdoor broadcast I couldn't do last time—I'll do it right now.
"Driver, it's fine. Please just drop us off here."
"Oh dear, I'm sorry."
The driver let us out just like that, made a U-turn, and drove straight back out of Incheon.
[ World's Strongest Hero: Collab's busted. ]
As soon as I turned on the stream, viewers came swarming in again.
[Why didn't you announce the stream?]
[Can't be helped. Everyone's evacuating right now.]
[I'm evacuating right now too, damn.]
[Evacuating (watching a stream) lolololol]
"We were also on our way in a taxi when the disaster alert suddenly went off, so we don't know much about it either."
[ Nudungji has donated 50,000 Watts! ]
- Oh dear, to call you all the way to Incheon... I hope this wasn't a wasted trip...
Really, Nudungji. It's not even his fault that a Gate Break was happening.
"It's fine. It's an evacuation order, so please take care of yourself too, Dungji."
[ Saintess's Foot Wiper has donated 10,000 Watts! ]
- Hey Hero, but something tells me this isn't a normal situation. Check the news.
"Uh, hold on a sec."
I hurriedly tried to look up the news on Laila's phone. But there was no need to search—the moment we entered the site, it was plastered right across the front page.
[ Korea-China Sea Monster Ownership Dispute... 'Is It Our Monster, or Your Monster?' ]
[ Grand Canyon Nightmare, Reenacted in the Korea-China Sea? ]
[ Professor Lee Dong-hwan of Korea University Issues Shocking Warning: 'Korea Could Become Like North Korea.' ]
"Hmm."
[Hmm, he goes 'hmm' lmao.]
[I'm telling you, we're seriously fucked right now.]
[A summoning order just dropped for the major guilds.]
[Yeah, the President said directly in a press conference that severe punishment awaits those who don't show up.]
A very good idea came to mind. A brilliant move that would let me rack up achievements and set up great content at the same time, all in one go.