Lonely Elodie
"M-Maso...?"
Hearing her throw around words like that without hesitation, it seemed like she was almost at affection MAX.
"Yeah! Heheh! You know what it means, right? Like, kind of..." She trailed off, apparently embarrassed to explain it out loud. "Ah, forget it. The word's meaning is a secret."
"..."
Masochist. Put simply, it refers to people who get off on others mistreating them. Seoyeon would get along with her perfectly.
Speak of the devil — before long, Seoyeon walked into Elodie's studio.
"Seoyeon-unnie, welcome!"
"Well... it's nothing, really. Just... is there any chicken left?"
"Uh-huh, plenty. Come have some."
She licked her lips and hovered around the chicken box. But this studio only had one chair.
"Hold on. I'll grab another chair."
"Thanks, manager."
I brought a chair over and watched the two of them enjoy the chicken. Today's Instagram photo should be this.
"You two, look at me. I'll take a picture."
"Kimchi! Say kimchi when taking a picture!"
"Sure~ kimchi."
Just then, a notification arrived from the app.
Elodie's Affection Level Approaching MAX!!!
'As I thought...' At worst, the affection grinding would be done by tomorrow.
"What are you thinking about so hard? You not eating?"
"Yeah, come on, manager oppa, eat some too. I saved a drumstick for you..."
"Yeah, I'll eat. Just a sec."
The next morning, before work. I checked Elodie's YouTube channel.
Channel:I am Elodie
Subscribers:70,000
Her subscriber count had jumped by 20,000 in a single day. Plus, the Bibi Chicken ad from yesterday had already surpassed 100,000 views.
Her popularity was exploding across both genders. Was this the effect of a guaranteed ad? Amazing.
[Guaranteed Reward Ads have been added to the Hoooh Gam Point Store.]
Cost: 2 Points
I didn't need it right now, so let's just head to work first.
Inside the Singgeul Bunggeul Internet Broadcasting Management office, the CEO and Elodie were also watching the YouTube channel.
"Ooh~ That ad video became this huge of a hit. I swear, the god of streaming is helping Elodie or something, isn't he?"
"Eheheh... it's not the god of streaming, it's because manager oppa helped me."
As I lightly greeted them, both of them stood up to welcome me.
"Welcome~ our manager."
"Manager oppa! Good morning today too."
She came toward me like she was about to hug me any second.
"Elodie, congrats — you're about to hit 100,000 subscribers."
"Ahaha. Thank you. Oh! I brought this for oppa..."
"Hm?"
She handed me a bottle of energy drink, wanting to show her gratitude.
"It's B-X500. I hope you drink it before working and get some energy."
"Thanks."
"Right. Our manager's been working hard lately, hasn't he? Taking care of Elodie while also managing Seoyeon and Yejin."
The CEO made a little snort and pointed at herself with her finger.
"Take a look at the human vitamin, Choi Haeun, and get some energy!"
"...You're really sticking with that concept?"
"If I just say it like that, it makes me seem like a weirdo, doesn't it?"
The CEO handed me a brand-new card that looked perfectly official.
"What's this?"
"A new card! It's a hassle for you to keep reporting to me and getting the card every time you buy something. Carry this around and use it for anything the company needs."
I never expected such exceptional treatment. She was just entrusting me with a card outright.
"Thank you. I won't misuse it."
"Ahaha. No need to tense up like that. You can even use it when you eat lunch for personal reasons."
"Ah, no, I couldn't."
Since she mentioned lunch, I figured I'd bring up today's content plan with Elodie.
"Elodie, how about doing an outdoor broadcast today?"
"Outdoor broadcast?"
"Yeah. Kind of like exploring famous restaurants..."
"Famous food! I know what that means!"
She got excited, linked arms with me, and shook my arm wildly.
"That sounds fun."
"My arm's gonna fall off."
"If it falls off, I'll reattach it for you!"
There were many reasons for wanting to do an outdoor broadcast, but one was that since the affection stacks had built up, I wanted to go on something like a date.
"A famous grilled ribs chain just opened near the park, so I thought we could do a walk-through-the-park broadcast and then have grilled ribs mukbang for lunch."
But I said it casually, acting nonchalant.
"Our manager has a plan for everything."
"Ooh~ A park and grilled ribs! Let's go right now!"
"Pay with the card I just gave you. And since you're having ribs, go ahead and order naengmyeon too."
I thanked the CEO.
"Naengmyeon! I know what that is too. I heard the egg is important."
"Hehe. Right. Have fun with our manager exploring Korea."
"Let's go! K-Park tour, K-Ribs naengmyeon mukbang."
"You really love adding 'K' to things..."
Since Elodie said it in such a cute way, I decided to let it slide.
It was around 11 AM. Probably because it was a weekday, the park was quiet.
"Wow... there's a lake! And a windmill!"
I never imagined I'd be at this park — where I occasionally came to exercise — with a girl, and a foreign one at that. Elodie was clinging tightly to my arm, excited to explore everywhere.
"Elodie, hold on. We need to turn on the broadcast first."
"Ah, right. The broadcast for becoming the Streamer King. Starting now!"
"Save that line for when you actually turn it on."
[Stream Title: Elodie came to the park today]
She repeated the same line and appeared on the broadcast screen.
"Heheh... I have a whopping 70,000 subscribers already. Lucky number seven."
She held up her left hand with all five fingers spread and her right hand in a V-sign, showing it to the camera.
"Kyaaaa! Thank you for the 10,000 won! Today I'll be hanging out at the park with manager oppa and doing a grilled ribs mukbang. Say hi, manager oppa."
I waved at the selfie stick she was filming with by moving it up and down.
"Not at all. Seoyeon takes good care of me too, contrary to how she is on broadcast."
"Alright! Let's go, then. A park outing with Elodie."
With her silver hair, Elodie drew everyone's gaze, but she didn't mind at all — she even greeted people cheerfully.
"Hi~ I'm Elordi."
"H-Hi..."
She greeted nearly everyone who passed by, then looked back at the camera recording her.
"Did you all see that? Not a single person ignored my greeting — everyone was friendly. Is this the Korean spirit?!"
"You should all try greeting strangers too."
"Ah. Is that so."
A little while later, after walking around the park and sitting on a bench to rest, I handed a towel to Elodie, who was sweating.
"Thank you. I haven't been in Korea that long, but I think manager oppa is the kindest person."
"Haha... no."
"What do you mean? Is Seoyeon-unnie bad? Did she hit you, manager oppa?"
"No. She was just a little on edge back when she didn't have many viewers."
As the viewers said, before the affection grinding app appeared, Seoyeon really was trash as a person. But now, Seoyeon was a completely different person.
"Should we go eat the ribs now?"
"Oh yeah!"
Inside the newly opened pork ribs chain restaurant. We got permission to film and sat by the window. Elodie, apparently seeing this kind of place for the first time, stared at the grill plate in fascination, then at the ventilation hood above it, fascinated.
"Don't touch it, it might be hot."
"Yes!"
I set up my phone to frame only Elodie nicely and started filming.
"Everyone~ right now, the smell of meat in here is insane. I want to eat it so baaad!"
"Oh, hey, manager oppa. Can I change the stream title?"
"Huh? To what...?"
Lonely Elodie
"Badass, right?"
"That's brilliant..."