Chapter 94
Chapter 94
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 94
Chapter Title: Episode 31: New Field (3)
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As the filming sessions continued, the teamwork in the Driving License Academy team grew increasingly stable.
Jo Woo-kim PD judged that they had now fully stabilized.
Hwang Yeon-ji's growth, in particular, was dazzling.
"Was Yeon-ji such a talented comedian?"
Jo Woo-kim PD tilted his head.
When she took the public recruitment exam, Jo Woo-kim PD had participated directly as a judge.
But back then, he hadn't seen this kind of talent in her.
Kang Han-do reacted to Jo Woo-kim PD's mutterings, as if he had overheard.
"I knew it the moment I saw her. Yeon-ji, you've got talent."
"You must have a better eye for people than me. Guess I should retire as PD."
"Haha! What good is just having a good eye? You need well-rounded skills in editing, directing, booking, and all that. I've still got a long way to go."
"This guy. You won't even deny that my eye for people is worse than yours."
"I'm kidding. Just a joke to lighten things up."
Kang Han-do humorously brushed it off.
He had no choice but to have a better eye for people than Jo Woo-kim PD.
It was only natural.
Because Kang Han-do already knew almost everything about what would happen in the future.
He also knew that Hwang Yeon-ji would rise to stardom later on.
Anyone couldn't become a star. Only those with the talent to rise to the top could.
It was a realm where effort had strict limits.
That was the entertainment industry.
In that sense, Hwang Yeon-ji was a blessed comedian.
However, she still seemed unsatisfied with her own performance.
"Oppa Han-do."
Hwang Yeon-ji, now calling Kang Han-do not as a senior but as oppa. She had come to consult about the shortcomings she felt in today's stage.
"In this part, I deliberately made my hand gestures big on purpose. But later I wondered if that actually distracted the audience's attention. What do you think, oppa?"
"Well, you'd have to check the monitoring to know for sure. And it's good to check your weaknesses, but don't get too hung up on the tiny details. You might miss the big stuff while fussing over the small things."
"Yes, oppa. I'll keep that in mind."
Kang Han-do was Hwang Yeon-ji's reliable consultant, senior, and mental pillar.
Of course, Oh Min-tae was the same.
But she preferred consulting with Kang Han-do over Oh Min-tae.
'Min-tae would get sulky if he knew.'
Kang Han-do swallowed a laugh inwardly.
With the recording wrapped up,
he was just thinking of heading home.
That's when he ran into Jeong Jun-tae.
Jeong Jun-tae. A senior comedian who debuted four years before Kang Han-do, and a regular on Pobokjeoldo for a long time.
There was one notable trait about Jeong Jun-tae that caught Kang Han-do's attention.
'Jeong sunbae-nim is an Acatuber too.'
He was active as an Acatuber mainly reviewing kidult products.
Collecting toys had been his hobby since childhood. It was content perfectly suited to him.
"Jeong Jun-tae sunbae-nim."
"Huh? ...Oh! Han-do? What's up? You approaching me first and everything."
"Come on. Don't say it like that, it hurts. It sounds like I've been ignoring you all this time."
"Hahaha! Is that how it comes across? Gotta watch out."
No junior greeted as well as Kang Han-do.
Jeong Jun-tae acknowledged that too.
"Jeong sunbae-nim. You do Acatube, right?"
"Yeah. But why? No way you're thinking of starting a broadcast?"
"Not decided or anything yet. Just studying up since it's a new field. With all the web dramas popping up these days, it's good to know about new media in advance."
"I thought you were making your own personal channel. With your skills, you'd definitely blow up."
Jeong Jun-tae rated Kang Han-do's abilities very highly.
There was an essential element required for a one-person creator.
Eloquence. In other words, communication skills.
Kang Han-do possessed outstanding verbal skills. Among the comedians currently on Pobokjeoldo, only one or two had experience solo MCing a program.
And Kang Han-do was within that select group.
That's why Jeong Jun-tae expected him to shine fully even on internet broadcasts.
"I don't know anything about broadcasting equipment yet."
"I'll teach you."
Jeong Jun-tae offered to actively help Kang Han-do.
It was unexpected.
They saw each other often, but they weren't close enough for him to express such willingness to help so proactively.
But nothing in the world was free.
"I'll help you with personal broadcasting stuff. And you help me with show business stuff. We scratch each other's backs, right?"
"You're right, sunbae-nim."
It was undoubtedly a good deal.
Jeong Jun-tae was a reliable senior. Kang Han-do already knew he wasn't the type to stab someone in the back.
"Let's talk more about it later, sunbae."
"Sure."
The two men secretly joined forces away from the other comedians.
* * *
Kang Han-do emerged from Sindorim Station Exit 1 and scanned the area.
Sindorim was famous for its heavy foot traffic, but on a weekday morning, it wasn't that crowded.
The meeting time was 2 PM.
He spotted Kim Dong-woo rushing over from afar, panting.
"S-Sorry! I overslept... I'm late."
"You must've stayed up late?"
"Yes. Yesterday, I had a backlog of reviews... Went to bed around 6 AM. I thought I just closed my eyes for a second, but when I checked the clock, it was already 1:30. I have no excuse. Sorry, Han-do ssi."
"It's fine. I haven't been waiting long. Let's move to the spot first. I spotted a nice place nearby. Perfect for a quiet talk."
"Ah... Yes!"
They headed to a cafe on the fifth floor.
There, Kang Han-do learned about one-person creators from Kim Dong-woo.
"There are all sorts of Acatubers these days. I focus mainly on games, but I try to do daily content too."
"What about movie review content? Seemed pretty popular."
"Honestly, I'm not big on movies. And there are people with way more expertise than me in that field. Competitively, I'd lose big time. So I switched to games, which I'm decent at. You like games too, right, Han-do ssi?"
"I mostly play mobile games."
Kang Han-do tried pretty much every mobile game out there, from Receiv and beyond.
That was his one hobby.
"You could blow up with mobile game reviews or live streams. Why don't you give it a shot, Han-do ssi? These days, even celebrities are making personal Acatube channels and uploading a ton."
It was the second offer he'd gotten, after Jeong Jun-tae.
Truth be told, it wasn't something he'd never considered.
That's why he'd approached Jeong Jun-tae and now Kim Dong-woo out of interest.
Kang Han-do wanted to show his presence to a wider audience.
There were many homes without TVs these days. Plus, Acatuber traffic kept growing.
Mastering not just TV channels but internet broadcasts too would expand his influence across Korea even further.
And if he made money on top of that, it was the best of both worlds.
For now, Kang Han-do wanted to see firsthand how one-person creators did their broadcasts.
"If it's okay, could I drop by your broadcast sometime later?"
"Watching mine probably won't help much... But if you want, sure, come over."
"Thanks. It'll be a big help."
He made an additional appointment with Kim Dong-woo.
* * *
Kim Dong-woo lived and broadcasted from a two-room place.
The small space with green chroma key was where he did his game streams.
Kang Han-do watched from the side as Kim Dong-woo ran his game broadcast.
He did live streams in real-time and later uploaded edited videos separately to Acatube.
For reference, Kim Dong-woo handled the editing himself.
After the broadcast, Kim Dong-woo mentioned the video from their E-Star encounter.
"Thanks to you, Han-do ssi, I got a great video and views exploded. You said it was okay to upload our meeting as a video, right? I did, and it hit 100k views in two days! It's the top among my uploads."
"Glad I could help."
Kang Han-do's fame worked on Acatube too.
He confirmed it indirectly.
Thanks to that, Kang Han-do gained confidence.
Afterward, he checked out Jeong Jun-tae's setup too.
Compared to the poor one-person creator Kim Dong-woo, his recording environment was far more luxurious.
"Can I take some photos?"
Kang Han-do asked permission first.
Jeong Jun-tae readily agreed.
"Sure. Take pics of the figures too. Oh, know which one's the most expensive here? This Platinum Man hero figure. It's so hard to get that..."
Jeong Jun-tae was great and all, but once talk turned to his hobby, he never shut up.
'The image is so different from the Jeong sunbae I knew.'
He had a reputation as a quiet one in the waiting room.
Better described as a comedian who carried weight.
But once kidult topics started, Jeong Jun-tae's character completely crumbled.
Kang Han-do actually found this side of him more endearing and likable.
Having checked the setups of two one-person creators, Kim Dong-woo and Jeong Jun-tae, Kang Han-do headed to Yongsan on his day off to buy broadcasting gear.
Lights, mics, and so on.
And most importantly, a desktop.
It cost over 5 million won.
Still, Kang Han-do didn't feel it was a waste.
'This is an investment. An investment in my future!'
If he saw it as expanding his activity base, 5 million won was worth it.
He repurposed his old monitor as secondary and set up the new 27-inch one.
4K Ultra HD support—perfect.
Gear mattered, but the real key was broadcasting content, and above all, promotion.
He wasn't too worried about promotion. He could handle it by regularly posting on his personal SNS about promos and schedules.
The issue was the content.
"In the end... best to turn what I'm good at into content, right?"
One idea came to mind right away.
"Let's start with mobile games."
It was time to show the power of Receiv's official promo model.