Chapter 18. The First Rule of a Pro Streamer: Use Good Equipment.
Chapter 18. The First Rule of a Pro Streamer: Use Good Equipment.
"Whoa... why is this so expensive?"
It was rare equipment that even Korea's Five Great Guilds possessed only in limited quantities.
Made from a special material, it was gear designed for clearing large-scale gates.
A monitor feed was displayed on the goggles you wore, allowing hunters to communicate smoothly with one another and receive instructions from the command center in real time.
The price wasn't even listed precisely.
It was made to order according to the customer's specifications, and the additional cost varied wildly depending on the features.
One thing was certain: it wasn't in the hundreds of millions, but an astronomical sum.
"I can't ask the Association to cover this..."
"Hmm... I'd personally prefer you didn't."
Right.
Asking them for a favor now would just put me in their debt later.
I tucked away the thought of borrowing it from them.
Should I ask the Hanul Guild?
'No, playing the parents card was a bit...'
"Hero, how about we try to get a sponsorship?"
Save up enough money to buy equipment through sponsorships? That would take forever.
Even a few hundred sponsorships probably wouldn't be enough, would they?
"Ah, Hero! Not like that! I mean, what if we get sponsored by that company with their equipment?"
"Oh!?"
You get the gear for free through the sponsorship, and pocket the sponsorship fee on top of that.
It was a truly shameless, leech-like mindset.
But I wasn't sure any company would provide such expensive equipment for free.
"I think it's entirely possible, actually?"
"Huh? You think that could work?"
"Son, do you know how much money companies spend trying to prove the durability and reliability of the equipment they manufacture?"
My mother's explanation was grounded in reality.
Even if a company had that kind of budget, finding someone willing to clear dangerous gates to test their equipment was far more difficult.
But now, a streamer who goes into those gates and even broadcasts it live had appeared.
"There's probably at least one company that will reach out."
---
[ World's Strongest Hero : Heading to a gate, accepting sponsorship offers ]
A title brimming with clickbait.
I'd definitely learned from my senior, Nudungji.
It must have worked, because the chat window started flying by like sparks.
[So now you're not even doing ads, you're straight-up asking for sponsorships?]
[Did this guy blow all the donations he's received on gambling debts or something?]
[So which gate are you going to?]
Opinions were divided on exactly which gate I would tackle next—the man who had annihilated the entity 'Black Angel' on the west coast in a single blow.
"Ahem, ahem... ahem...!"
[This bastard's training them again]
[Sigh...]
[ Overflowing Holy-Power Pouch has donated 300,000 Watts! ]
- Ugh;; So where are you going?
"The place I'm headed is none other than the Baekdu Mountain Gate."
[???]
[You're seriously going there?]
[You praise him for doing well and now he's really trying to do too well...]
Naturally, people voiced their concern.
Fighting monsters that burst outside the gate was on a completely different level from going directly into the gate—their home base—to fight.
[Even the entrance there is supposed to be insanely hot. Is that even possible?]
[Yeah, I heard it's lava for miles]
[But how are you going to film? Gonna hold your phone and record?]
[LOL even a Nokia phone would melt there]
"And that brings me to why I'm looking for a sponsorship."
Speculation ran wild: sports drinks, ice cream, functional T-shirts.
You think I'd go all the way to Baekdu Mountain just to get sponsored for stuff like that...
"I'm trying to get filming equipment for this content."
[Can't you just go ask about that kind of thing on the streaming gear gallery or the computer gallery?]
[Yeah, just ask Nudungji instead]
I shook my head and waved my index finger.
My streaming computer setup had already been top-of-the-line from day one.
"I plan to use it for my gate stream. The catch is, I won't be using ordinary equipment."
Saying that, I put up a slideshow I'd made myself.
The viewers took in the blue-and-purple presentation and lavishly praised my outstanding sense of aesthetics.
"It's because I don't have the money to buy it. I looked into it, and it was crazy expensive."
[So your grand strategy is to use the kind of gear major guilds use in special situations, but for streaming?]
[I already knew he was insane]
[With that kind of money, you'd be better off buying a building in Seoul]
"And it's not just anyone using it—it's the one and only me."
[Fuck LOL, you really are a highway robber]
[Do you know how much that thing costs? LOL]
[I looked it up just now, and it's a price you couldn't even dream of unless you're a major guild or the government]
How could they only think so one-dimensionally...?
Of course, a few sharp minds did pop up here and there.
"It'll be like, 'Oh, it works perfectly fine even inside a gate deemed unclearable? Isn't this a total god-tier product?' That's how it'll get even more famous."
People thought that actually made a lot of sense.
[It definitely makes sense when you see how much money those guys pour into it]
[But the real issue is, it has to work well without breaking, right?]
Exactly.
I was going to receive the equipment and head straight into the gate without any kind of rehearsal.
What if—and this was a big if—the equipment breaks during filming?
Then that company's image would instantly be driven into the ground.
"That's all I have to say for today. I'll announce the date I enter the gate later."
I paused before ending the stream.
"Only people who are truly confident in their products—please contact me."
---
[ Author: Saintess's Footwiper ]
[ Title: Renewing the legend once again ]
[ Content: (Clip of him saying he's going to Baekdu Mountain) The bastard is even shrewd enough to secure a sponsorship on top of it all ;; ]
↳ Is it even possible to go straight into that scorching place and fight?
↳ I dunno, it's possible if you've got a constitution that doesn't overheat easily
↳ Yeah, possible if you don't get hot, lolololololol
[ Author: Throwing My Resignation Letter ]
[ Title: But what if he actually clears it? ]
[ Content: North Korea has already fallen, so who gets the land? ]
↳ If Korea takes it, there's limitless potential for its use
↳ Isn't this a gray area? Even if we say Hero gets the monster corpses, the land itself was ambiguous
↳ Hmm... I didn’t think they'll just sit back and let Korea swallow up that land, do you?
↳ 'They' who?
↳ Yeah, they're already sharpening their knives because of the Black Angel, aren't they?
I thought quite a few inquiries would come in, but so far I hadn't received a single one.
Companies were hesitating to contact me, wary of the risk of the equipment breaking during a live broadcast.
"These people running companies are so timid."
And the news was buzzing again over comments related to the gate.
They were clamoring day after day about the geographical and economic advantages that would be gained if the former North Korean territory were absorbed.
They were also saying they'd provide some form of support for the gate raid.
"Trying to get a piece of the pie, huh?"
I wasn't going to accept support.
Even if, by some chance, I did, it'd be support from the Hanul Guild.
There's no reason to accept support from another company and leave my parents' company hanging.
─ Vwoom... Vwoom...!
A call came in.
Not from the companies I'd expected, but from the 'Nova' Group.
"Why Nova?"
I'd already looked up several products.
A company that sells cheap, off-the-shelf items, and one that did custom-made products with overwhelming quality.
But Nova neither manufactured nor sold these kinds of products.
- Hero, I'm contacting you because I wanted to inquire about the sponsorship.
"Shall I head to the place I went last time?"
- Yes, we'll send a car right away.
"No, I'll go myself."
We're in a hurry, too.
---
"It's been quite a while."
The lab manager I'd met last time was there, along with several men in suits.
Someone wheeled a cart over, and it was loaded with various equipment.
Goggles, a monitor, earphones, something like a watch—items along those lines.
"This is what Hero will be using. Even though it looks like this, it's extremely light. And..."
The manager grabbed the monitor and goggles, then hurled them onto the floor with all his might.
'...?'
Brimming with confidence in his product, he picked up the fallen objects.
And the product didn't have so much as a minor scratch.
"This is the Hypernova Vision X1 Pro. It's a prototype that hasn't even been released yet. For now, this model only has basic performance, but we can additionally equip it with whatever functions Hero desires."
I checked the catalog he handed me, but there were so damn many features that I closed it right away.
What I wanted wasn't that complicated.
Durability of the filming equipment, and a clear view of the chat and donations.
"Then that works out even better. You can use it right now, as it is."
"It can be done that quickly?"
"Yes, please feel free to use it to your heart's content."
"This hasn't been officially released yet. If it breaks while I'm using it, won't the image damage be quite severe?"
At that, the manager smirked, radiating confidence.
"And while this doesn't apply to you, Hero, guilds consider their raiding know-how and the value of their information to be extremely important. We're also meticulous about security in that regard, so please don't worry."
I shrugged my shoulders.
I didn't even need any security.
I was going to raid the gate in front of everyone through a live stream, anyway.
---
[ World's Strongest Hero : Review of the sponsored product ]
[You finally weaseled your way into getting it, you crazy bastard]
[From where? SpectraLink? Optima XR?]
"Nope. It's from Nova, Korea's proud company."
[Nova makes stuff like that?]
[First time hearing about it]
"This one isn't even out yet officially."
I brought a hard case over in front of the camera and opened it.
Inside were six beads larger than a 500-won coin.
[What's that? A marbles game?]
[What are those, stored so preciously?]
[Squid Game Season 3 LOL]
"These are cameras."
Saying that, I took the beads out and tossed them onto the ground.
Then the beads made mechanical clicking sounds as each one transformed into a small drone.
Soon, they flew into the air and filmed from various angles around me.
[Whoa; Cutting-edge tech for real]
[Yoo, I saw that in a movie]
"Streaming is all about the gear."
A pro streamer's first rule: use good equipment.