Chapter 154. The Audition Will Staaart~ Now!!!
Chapter 154. The Audition Will Staaart~ Now!!!
Of course, the instant that post went up, it was the most predictable outcome in the world that chaos would erupt.
This wasn't a training exercise for prospective hunters, nor was it a national emergency. Civilians were entering a gate purely for the sake of entertainment.
This unprecedented endeavor instantly became fodder for the press.
Within a single day, headlines were plastered across the main pages of every news portal, broadcasting station, and even critics' social media.
[ Gate Entry for... Fun? What Is the Association Doing? ]
[ Views Over Safety? Hunter Association's Morality Questioned ]
[ Once a National Threat, Now a Variety Show Stage? ]
However, the Hunter Association was an institution packed with elites.
They had already anticipated this kind of controversy.
"Good afternoon, citizens. I am Go Sang-cheol, President of the Hunter Association."
Dozens of camera flashes brightly illuminated his face, and the reporters' eyes were sharp.
Without so much as blinking, the Association President remained completely composed.
"The purpose of this gate tour, first and foremost, is to show the public what a gate truly looks like through a familiar internet personality."
He methodically laid out his points: statistical data showing the most preferred career among young people today—becoming a hunter—and public opinion data on how lightly children were taking the dangers of gates.
Then a reporter raised their hand and shouted.
"If you hire hunters for security, doesn't that set a precedent where wealthy individuals could later privately hire hunters to enter gates themselves?"
This was precisely why the Association hadn't responded immediately once the controversy ignited.
In order to legally permit civilian gate entry, a minimum of three S-rank hunters were required to accompany them.
Drafting that regulation was what had consumed the time.
"Do you think some rich person... could ever hire S-ranks like Max Hunter and Emir Hunter? And even if they could, would those two ever agree to such a job?"
When the reporter was at a loss for words, Go Sang-cheol calmly continued.
"Both of them are participating without any financial compensation whatsoever, solely based on their close personal connection to Hunter Song Hoon. Does that answer your question?"
In reality, Max had often enjoyed traveling across worlds with Song Hoon, and Emir had settled in the faraway land of South Korea just to follow him.
The reporter, at a loss, nodded reluctantly at the Association President's statement, and soon another question was thrown his way.
"They are civilians. If an accident were to occur... what do you intend to do?"
At those words, Association President Go Sang-cheol looked straight ahead and replied calmly, without so much as a sip of water.
"Should any accident whatsoever occur, I will take full and complete responsibility. I will resign from my post as Association President, and liquidate my entire personal fortune to ensure maximum compensation for the victims."
In that instant, the press seating fell dead silent.
The weight of those words carried a genuine, somber resolve.
Even the reporter who had asked the question gave a flustered nod of acknowledgment before taking their seat.
"Are there any further questions?"
"..."
---
At the same time, in a conference room at Pajijik headquarters.
I was sitting across from CEO Shin Chang-hyun, watching the Association President's press conference.
"Huh... I didn't know the Association President would go as far as to say something like that."
A laptop was already open before him, and inside it, streamer participation applications were flooding in nonstop, piling up without a moment's pause.
"Well, CEO? What do you think?"
Shin Chang-hyun chuckled and rubbed the back of his head as if he really hadn't expected this.
"Honestly... if I reject this now... wouldn't that make me the only bad guy?"
"Pfft... surely you wouldn't do that."
Shin Chang-hyun interlaced his fingers, bowed his head, and steadied his breath for a moment before speaking with a serious expression.
"Alright! Now that things have come this far, let's go all out and make it a grand spectacle."
"Make it a spectacle, you say?"
"Yes."
Shin Chang-hyun nodded firmly.
"Am I not the CEO of a named company? I'll bring in everything I possibly can, to the fullest extent."
His confident declaration.
It was a bit surprising.
"You really do have a lot of connections when you're the CEO, I see?"
At that, Shin Chang-hyun answered with a sly grin.
"Even if I were a total outcast among other corporations... they'd still be rubbing their hands together raw trying to get involved in a mega-event like this. Just the act of participating alone is the ultimate corporate image boost."
I nodded, the corners of my lips lifting.
"Good. So now the only thing left... is just getting the consent forms signed by Max and Emir, right?"
At my words, Shin Chang-hyun waved his hand dismissively.
"Well... you can hand them in later. Honestly... at this point, that isn't even the pressing matter."
"True. Alright, I'll contact you again once we've got the list sorted."
With that, I got up from my seat.
Then Shin Chang-hyun, who had just remembered something, spoke up.
"By the way... what method are you using to select them?"
"Hmm... I was just going to go through the applications live on stream with the viewers."
"...?"
Consuming even this as content for the broadcast.
was that not another essential virtue of a professional streamer?
---
"Hoon, you haven't talked to Max and Emir yet, have you?"
"..."
"Oh, good grief!"
Emir, the social media addict, and Max, the head of a massive guild.
There was no way they hadn't already heard about this news.
— Vrrr...
Speak of the devil...
A call had come from Max.
Precisely speaking, it was from Emilia, not Max directly.
"Laila, could you get that for me...?"
"It's connected to the car's Bluetooth, you know."
"..."
Max was fine, but for some reason, Emilia was a little hard to deal with.
Letting out a sigh, Laila pressed the call button and answered.
"Hello~ Emilia."
- Is Hunter Song Hoon with you?
"Ah, he's driving right now~ What's the matter?"
- I saw the article... I asked our boss, and he said he hadn't heard anything about it.
"..."
The entire conversation between Laila and Emilia was audible through the car's speakers.
"Um, Emilia... this is Song Hoon."
- Ah, you were listening. What exactly is going on?
"Ha, haha... you said you wanted to come visit Korea for fun, right! So I was hoping to ask Max for a little help..."
As if Max had been listening in right next to Emilia just like before, a cheerful voice immediately came through.
- Wahaha! Hoon, it's been a while! But seriously, what's all this talk about a gate?
"Well, you see, this time, I..."
I laid out the entire current situation.
Just as expected, Max didn't mind at all and let out a hearty laugh.
- Kehehe! Sounds like fun! As it happens, my schedule is empty then, so it should be perfectly doable. Now that I think about it, this would be our first time entering a gate together, wouldn't it?
"Right. So I figured I'd ask you as a favor while you and Emilia were visiting Korea anyway..."
- Hoho, I'm looking forward to it! I'll see you then!
Judging from the way Max's voice faded into the distance, it seemed Emilia had snatched the phone away.
- Haa... Hunter Song Hoon... how can you and the boss be so exactly the same... never mind...
"I should have mentioned it sooner..."
- It's fine... I'll see you then.
"Okay..."
And then, for a while, Laila and Emilia continued chatting on the phone about something or other they found so amusing.
The moment I hung up, I immediately placed a call to Emir.
As expected, Emir picked up and agreed to participate before I could even finish bringing it up.
"Everything's sorted, right?"
"Yes!"
"Then... I guess it's time to go on stream now."
"Pfft... the viewers must be waiting like crazy, you know?"
"You think so...?"
I had been a bit busy for a while.
I hadn't been able to stream lately due to all the coordination with the Association and Pajijik.
And on top of that, classes happened to overlap.
"Oh, speaking of classes..."
"Didn't they say entering the gate would be counted as attendance?"
"Right."
---
[ Author: Anonymous ]
[ Title: You son of a bitch, when are you coming? ]
[ Content: (Nutube announcement screencap) After driving people this wild with anticipation, why the hell aren't you turning on the stream!!!! ]
└ You bastard, turn the stream on already
└ The small streamer I was watching right now was freaking out because he hasn't gotten any contact either lololol
└ For real, this was truly the land of opportunity for low-tier streamers
└ Chae-hyun, you son of a bitch, at least you turn your stream on
└ Saintess's Foot Wiper: Are you insane?
└ That's literally the manager's job, you bitch
└ Dammit, what the hell was this announcement!
└ My body just keeps getting more and more worked up!!!
To be honest, I hadn't even thoroughly checked the participation applications yet.
I only roughly knew that a massive number of people had applied.
But among them, those I had a personal acquaintance with had contacted me separately.
'Well, we definitely need at least some people who have decent streaming experience...'
I slid them in using my connections (?).
It's my content that I was making anyway, so who cares?
"Laila, ready?"
"Yeah, I think you can start now."
[ World's Strongest Hero: Gate 101 Audition ]
A title loaded with clickbait.
A broadcast title blatantly ripped off from some audition program.
[So is the low-tier streamer I watch getting picked?]
[Speed Who are you going in with?]
[Any VTubers participating?]
[Are you only accepting Nutube streamers?]
Countless questions poured in.
"I haven't read a single application yet."
[Are you a genuine fucking lunatic?]
[Unbelievably hilarious lololol]
[Streamers who applied are sobbing]
"I was a little busy with the gate entry-related stuff..."
[A streamer... talking back?]
[You punk, just get on your knees and bow lololol]
"Anyway, I need to pick from among the lovely people who applied now, right?"
[Yes]
[??]
"I'm going to go through the applications together with all of you."
[Is he insane? You're just going to show the applications openly like that?]
[What an utterly transparent bastard lololololol]
[Oh, so that's why the broadcast title was that]
With practiced ease, I clicked on the folder on my desktop.
Under the title 'Gate Tour Participation Application', a staggering amount of form data was sorted like a list.
"Whoa... just looking at it, there's so many..."
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 50,000 Watts! ]
- The Audition, Let's Get It Staaaarteeeeed~!