The Life of a Top-Tier Streamer (1)
The van had been driving for about an hour when we finally arrived in the heart of Seoul. It was the district famous for housing Korea’s biggest corporations. I stared up at the skyscrapers that seemed to pierce the sky and turned to Arine.
“Now that I think about it, where exactly are we going today?”
“Oh~ right. Did I forget to tell you? We’re almost there. It’s the NOVA headquarters.”
“NOVA? The NOVA I’m thinking of? One of Korea’s top three game companies?”
“What other NOVA would there be? I’m literally a NOVA game streamer, you know.”
Was there anyone in Korea who hadn’t heard of NOVA? In some ways, it was the most famous game company in the country. I’d grown up playing the online games they made when I was a kid. And now I was heading to their actual headquarters. My heart started pounding.
How many chances would a guy like me ever get to visit a major corporation like this—especially one famous enough that even I knew the name? If I hadn’t come with Arine, stepping foot inside the building would’ve been impossible. As someone who became a streamer because I loved games, visiting a renowned game company felt almost magical.
“We’re shooting a branded ad today. It’s part of their headquarters image promotion campaign.”
“Oh. When you put it like that, it sounds pretty impressive.”
“Heh. Right? That’s the kind of woman I am, Doyun. I’m Arine, the streamer who ranks number one in branded reputation with game companies, you know?”
“Yeah… suddenly you sound way less impressive.”
“What are you even saying? Pfft.”
I shut down Arine’s bragging the moment she started puffing up her chest, and we both burst into quiet laughter. But deep down, it hit me even harder. The woman sitting right next to me was the one who could shake the entire Naty platform and was famous enough to get calls from multiple game companies and broadcasting stations. I already knew that, but seeing it up close like this made the reality sink in that much stronger.
Unlike me, who was a little nervous, Arine looked completely unfazed. That only made the gap between us feel even wider.
…I’ve been with her every day lately, so I kind of forgot. She really is an incredible person.
“So while our dear Arine-nim is filming, what should I do? Should I cheer you on or something?”
“Male cheerleaders aren’t popular, Doyun.”
“Then should I do it in drag?”
“Ugh. I just pictured it and I feel like throwing up.”
“It’s not that bad. Don’t overreact.”
“Anyway, your role today is… you could say you’re a cast member, assistant manager, and assistant cameraman all in one.”
She nodded to herself with a satisfied little hum. What was she so pleased about?
“Why do I have so many roles?”
“It’s fine. The rest are just titles I slapped on. You just need to do a good job as a cast member.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The editing team’s Jin-nim is going to film the actual video anyway, and Manager Seona-unnie is here too. All you have to do is watch me work, give some reactions, and if you have time, help out with the camera a bit.”
“Okay. That sounds easy enough.”
They probably hadn’t expected much from me in the first place. I was here today to experience a day in her life. The extra roles were probably just there so I wouldn’t get bored during the long outdoor shoot. At least I’d have something to do to pass the time.
“We’ve arrived.”
From the front seat came the voice of the editor Arine had called Jin. The car slowly came to a stop, and Arine opened the door and stepped out. Her manager, who had been in the passenger seat, quickly hopped out and stuck close to her side. Several people who had apparently been waiting by the headquarters came rushing over to greet her.
“We’ll start by reshooting the entrance scene, so please leave the vehicle as it is for now. Arine-nim, you can head to the dressing room for makeup and wardrobe change.”
“Alright.”
Arine answered with a delicate smile. Then she turned her head slightly and looked at me.
“See you in a bit, oppa.”
For some reason, her powerful presence left me nodding blankly.
# Outdoor shoot. Commercial. Just hearing those words sounded like a dream to most streamers. Only those who had gained real fame and influence could receive such opportunities. I wondered if I would ever become famous enough to do something like this. Back in the early days of my broadcast, I used to dream about it. The things that had once looked so magical and beautiful to me…
“Eiii! Take this!”
Facing reality showed me they weren’t quite as beautiful as I’d imagined. It started with a twenty-four-year-old woman dressed like a hero, swinging a prop sword at a PD dressed as a slime. From the outside it looked hilarious, but from the perspective of someone involved in the shoot… well.
…Making money really is this hard.
“Cut. Let’s pause here and do one more take. Arine-nim, you can swing with a bit more sincerity. Like you’re really slaying a monster. It’s just foam, so it won’t hurt. Okay?”
“Ah, yes. Understood. I’ll try swinging harder.”
“Our PD-nim is working hard too, so make your reactions a little stronger. You’ve seen the footage on camera, so you know. Even if you exaggerate, it doesn’t always show up well. Okay?”
“Yes.”
To be honest, at first it was pretty funny. Seeing Arine in a pink wig and hero cosplay was eye candy, and the reshoot of the entrance scene and the interview that followed were still fun. The concept for this ad was that NOVA headquarters was a magic tower, and Arine, as the hero, would start at the entrance, complete various missions on each floor, and conquer her way to the top.
But after the first floor, then the second, then the third… as the shoot progressed, the constant reshoots made the atmosphere grow increasingly serious.
“Cut. Let’s fix this part and go again—”
“Cut. Arine-nim, can you make your expression look a little more annoyed?”
“Cut. Mission Man, that’s not how you do it. You need to hand over the toilet paper roll right there. What are you doing?”
Work really was just work after all. I felt a little embarrassed for thinking an ad shoot like this would be somewhat fun. The repeated scenes, the lines said over and over. The uncomfortable costume, the hair and makeup that couldn’t be allowed to fall out of place. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
Yet Arine’s expression never crumpled, like an idol on stage. She smiled. Whether it was her own mistake or someone else’s. No matter how many reshoots there were, she never showed a hint of fatigue and kept smiling. In fact, I was the one watching her who grew more exhausted.
From outside the filming area, I turned to the editor who was filming me watching her and asked,
“Do outdoor shoots usually require this many reshoots?”
The editor hesitated for a moment, then answered carefully.
“I haven’t been on that many myself, so I’m not entirely sure… but from what I’ve heard from my seniors, yeah, it’s pretty common.”
“I see.”
“Especially for ad shoots or planned productions, the director usually has a very specific image in mind. Since it’s not a guest appearance, they tend to be pretty sensitive about mistakes.”
“Ah…”
“Still, out of all the sets I’ve been on, today’s director is one of the gentler ones. He speaks nicely and everything. This many reshoots is actually on the low side for him. If it’s decent, he usually just moves on.”
…This is considered low?
Then how many takes did they usually do? As someone experiencing a properly planned shoot like this for the first time, I was genuinely shocked. So Arine had to keep forcing herself to maintain that energy through all these repeated reshoots? And not for just a few dozen minutes, but for hours on end?
“This must be incomparably harder than live streaming.”
On internet broadcasts, if you made a mistake, you could just brush it off. A quick smile and apology was usually enough for the viewers to forgive you. But this was different. One mistake affected everyone, and you had to repeat the same scene until the perfect shot came out. On top of that, the atmosphere on set was heavier and more oppressive than I’d expected. Every camera and light was focused on Arine. All eyes were on her.
No matter how many cams you had, people watching through a screen in chat could never compare to humans physically present. It was on a completely different level from comfortably streaming at home while scratching your stomach.
“Arine must have been carrying this kind of weight since she was even younger than she is now.”
I spoke in formal language as if talking to the viewers, since I’d have to use it for the YouTube upload. But the feelings behind my words were completely genuine. Watching her roll around under the hot lights in that bulky costume, that was what I truly thought. I was envious, but at the same time I felt sorry for her. How much of a burden must this have been? What kind of experiences had she gone through to become this used to it?
While I was lost in those heavy thoughts, watching Arine film from afar—
“Huh? Wait a second. Why is this happening?”
The editor’s flustered voice reached me. He was holding the camera, looking completely lost.
“Um… this shouldn’t be happening… the focus…”
Seeing his slightly pale, panicked face, I walked over to him out of curiosity. After all, there was no one else around to help him. Since this was our shoot, any problem with the filming was an emergency for me too.
“What’s wrong, editor-nim?”
“Ah, well… I just shifted the focus from Do Doyun-nim to Arine-nim for a moment…”
“Yeah?”
“And right after that light flickered when you said you were using some skill, right? I think that might have messed up the focus recognition…”
Focus recognition. It reminded me of the time during my first year of streaming when I’d done late-night broadcasts, desperately trying to save my channel. I’d fiddled with cameras quite a bit back then, so I told him,
“Can I take a look at the camera?”
“Huh? Oh, sure.”
When I took the camera from him and checked it, I couldn’t help but smile a little. I’d caught the editor making the exact same mistake I used to make. He probably hadn’t shot that much before.
“Have you been filming in AF-C mode this whole time, editor-nim?”
At my words, the editor’s eyes widened in surprise.