Chapter 2

League of Streaming.

Seo-jun looked into this on his way home.

‘Average live viewership of 300,000? Isn’t this almost at the level of regular tournaments?’

Seo-jun knew from Tae-woo that the tournament was somewhat popular, but he didn’t realize this many people would be watching.

However, after looking into it a bit more, he quickly realized that while 300,000 was certainly a lot, calling it ‘regular tournament level’ was clearly his mistake.

‘Ah, regular tournaments have a baseline of 1 million viewers in Korea alone.’

He heard that the finals are watched by 15 million people in real-time, including overseas viewers.

Korea’s League, that is.

The popularity of capsule games exceeded Seo-jun’s imagination.

They say that enthusiasm has spread even to adults who don’t have time to play games.

Seo-jun had been intentionally avoiding capsule-related issues until now, so he didn’t know the details.

‘Really so many people… are playing.’

Even seven years ago, he hadn’t paid much attention to the virtual reality market.

But he knew that it wasn’t nearly this popular back then.

After arriving home, Seo-jun asked an expert.

A current streamer.

“Hey, you know about League of Streaming, right?”

His friend.

Tae-woo, who was sitting on the sofa holding his phone, answered Seo-jun’s question.

“Huh? Of course I know. I participated last year and got eliminated super fast. Haah. Ah, I really wanted last year’s grand prize though. What a waste.”

If he got eliminated at light speed, why is he talking about winning?

Seo-jun clicked his tongue inwardly.

“What was it?”

“A car. Plus they gave the MVP an actual supercar. Pretty big prizes, right? So many people watch that companies sponsor it.”

“Ah, I looked up how many people watch.”

“You did? Why did you suddenly look that up? You’ve never shown any interest in virtual reality.”

“I don’t know either.”

He’s lived fine without virtual reality for the past seven years.

And he could continue living well in the future.

So why did he look up LOS?

‘Damn.’

Actually, he knows.

Before, he’d just been turning a blind eye because there was no way forward.

The virtual reality he experienced seven years ago.

It was fun. Fun enough to make him want to go back in.

Isn’t that enough?

‘It’s not like I’m spending 100 million won.’

Thanks to Oh Ji-hye’s consideration, he could borrow it for free until the tournament ended.

It’s not like he’d be wasting several years either.

‘There’s no reason not to do it.’

Seo-jun sat next to Tae-woo.

From now on, he should think about ‘how’ rather than ‘why.’

“Tae-woo.”

Seo-jun’s eyes began to shine.

“Yeah?”

“What are the participation requirements for LOS?”

“Why are you suddenly interested in this kind of thing? Sigh. Well, they don’t officially announce it, but obviously you need to be a streamer. When applying, popular mid-tier streamers usually get accepted.”

“What if you’re not popular?”

“It’s a lottery. Viewers also want somewhat known streamers, so it can’t be helped. That doesn’t mean they don’t pick unpopular streamers though.”

If you get picked, you hit the jackpot.

Tae-woo muttered that.

“So how do you succeed as a streamer?”

“You want a serious answer?”

“Yes.”

Tae-woo thought for a moment, then got up and sat with his back straight.

His serious expression, which he rarely showed, felt awkward.

“I don’t know either.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Hey, do you know what I hear the most?”

Seo-jun shrugged.

“How would I know?”

“That it’s enviable to play games while making money. That I’m living life easy. That I don’t have any hardships.”

“……”

“But everyone doesn’t know that for 4 out of the past 7 years, I’ve been broadcasting 8 hours every single day even when my average viewership was under 100. Hmm, did I earn about the cost of electricity per month? I think that’s about right. For the first year after graduation, I felt like I was mooching off you.”

“Is that so?”

When virtual reality came out, the viewer pool expanded, but the ratio of streamers increased by that much, or even more.

The biggest challenge for such streamers was viewer acquisition.

“Even so, I think I’m very lucky. It might not have worked out even in 4 years. When you blow up, it’s huge. But we don’t know when we’ll blow up. We don’t know the method. What if you endure for 10 years and still don’t make it?”

Tae-woo continued.

“Someone who shot up and hit 10 million in one year had previously gone through a dark period of 5 years where they didn’t even gain 1,000 viewers. Even after enduring that, you might not make it…”

Of course, there probably are various rules within all that.

“Still, if I had to pick the most important thing, it would definitely be entertainment value.”

Tae-woo began explaining.

To succeed in game broadcasting, you need to have either entertainment value or skill.

However, surprisingly, pure skill-based broadcasts don’t get many viewers.

This is because there are many substitute options like pro broadcasts or edited videos.

“So it’s hard to succeed with skill alone. It’s not that it doesn’t exist though. Look at this.”

Tae-woo found an article and showed it to Seo-jun.

[Game streamers should focus on the word ‘streamer’ rather than ‘game.’ This is because the proportion of gaming is surprisingly not that significant.]

This was advice from a famous streamer with 100% objective insight.

As Seo-jun examined this carefully, Tae-woo asked again.

“Are you really interested in being a streamer?”

“I just became interested.”

“Hehe. After hearing what I just said? I won’t stop you, but what are you relying on?”

Seo-jun closed his eyes and fell into thought.

What was he relying on?

Even though he couldn’t properly access virtual reality for the past seven years, Seo-jun was confident.

‘Most people probably can’t match me.’

Many types of games have swords as the main focus, and even if they don’t use swords, it didn’t matter.

Even if it was just memories, Seo-jun had literally experienced everything in his past life.

He slowly opened his eyes and spoke while suppressing a laugh.

It was absurd even to say it himself.

“Probably… skill?”

“I told you that just being good doesn’t make you a streamer.”

“Then how good do I need to be?”

Tae-woo pondered and said.

“If you’re better than Shin Ha-yeon, that should work. No, if you’re better than Shin Ha-yeon, you’ll definitely succeed. I guarantee it. You know who she is, right?”

Shin Ha-yeon.

She was a famous female pro gamer. She was more popular than most top-tier celebrities, and she was called an icon of virtual reality to the extent that virtual reality meant Shin Ha-yeon and Shin Ha-yeon meant virtual reality.

The reason was naturally her overwhelming skill shown in the pro league.

“I see.”

After much deliberation, Seo-jun made his decision.

Let’s try it once, at least.

That day, Seo-jun sent a message to Oh Ji-hye saying he would rent the capsule.

* * *

“So… you bought it because you’re confident you can beat Shin Ha-yeon?”

“Yeah.”

“You crazy bastard. Then become a pro.”

“That’s dangerous, so no.”

“Are you really crazy?”

* * *

Oh Ji-hye’s reply and delivery were fast.

It didn’t even take a day.

As if she had been waiting.

The only minor problem was.

“Ugh. Just move aside for now, I need to connect the cables. Didn’t I tell you to call a technician for capsule installation? Or at least don’t touch it first until I finish my broadcast!”

Seo-jun silently bowed his head and listened to Tae-woo’s scolding as he installed the capsule.

“Listen here. Didn’t I tell you last time when your phone broke that you’re technologically challenged when you washed it with soap?”

That might have happened.

“How do you almost break something expensive-looking just by failing to install one thing properly! Hey! This obviously looks expensive!”

Seo-jun had nothing to say, so he just kept rubbing the capsule placed in the corner of the room with his hand.

Tae-woo glared at Seo-jun like that, then after plugging in the last cable, flopped down on the nearby bed.

“Phew, it’s done now. Installation’s complete. Do you have a biometric account?”

“I do.”

“Then you can connect right now.”

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Ah, stop with the thanks. By the way, it looks like a high-end model, but isn’t this level of model too excessive for broadcasting?”

“Well, don’t worry about that.”

It’s borrowed.

“Sigh, so where are you going to stream?”

“Travel.”

Travel was currently the streaming platform in an unrivaled position for games.

“Same place as me. By the way, let me see your record. Just how good were you seven years ago to be this confident? Did you install My VR?”

“Here.”

Seo-jun turned on his phone and opened the app Tae-woo mentioned.

Then information about Seo-jun’s virtual reality ID appeared on the screen.

It was a management app that showed everything from creation date to game playtime and records.

“Huh? Are my eyes wrong? I’m seeing the account of a fresh newbie created less than two days ago? Since when have you lived without any concept of time?”

“Ah, that? I had one before but deleted it and made a new one.”

“Don’t lie.”

“It’s true though.”

It really is.

“Ah, whatever. If you’re really better than Shin Ha-yeon, no, if you’re better than me, I’ll do all the housework from now on. But if not.”

Huh?

A big catch came in on its own without even casting a fishing line.

“Are you sure?”

“How about it? If you’re scared…”

Seo-jun answered without a moment’s hesitation.

“Deal.”

As expected, it was good to take on the challenge.

“Ha! No hesitation at all? I won’t go easy on you just because you’re a newbie, just so you know. You’re not starting broadcasting today, right?”

“No.”

“Let’s do it right now.”

* * *

Seo-jun watched Kim Tae-woo’s back as he headed to his own room, then entered the capsule.

The cover closed and Seo-jun comfortably leaned back against the backrest.

He closed his eyes and fell into thought.

Streamer.

It was a field he knew nothing about.

He wasn’t naturally entertaining, nor did he have the naive thought that he could make it with skill alone.

So even if someone criticized what he was doing now as a stupid choice that wasted time, he’d have nothing to say.

Still.

Seo-jun’s lips curved upward.

‘People originally start in a state where they can’t do far more things than they can do well.’

If you don’t challenge yourself because you can’t do something, there won’t be anywhere you can go.

[Connecting to virtual reality world in 10 seconds.]

[10]

[9]

.

.

.

.

[1]

Whoosh—

As his vision darkened for a moment, a nostalgic sensation washed over Seo-jun.

Flash!

A pure white light turned on, passing through his closed eyelids.

This place was the lobby. A pure white room with nothing in it.

Streamers mainly communicate with viewers here before or after games.

Since Seo-jun’s ID was just created, nothing was placed in the lobby.

‘I’ll need to fill this place with something too.’

[User #105979 requests to add you as a friend.]

A message appeared while he was looking around.

When Seo-jun accepted the friend request, messages appeared in succession.

[Kim Tae-woo invites you to the ‘Training Hall’.]

When he accepted that as well, the background changed instantly. It had the atmosphere of a martial arts dojo.

“You here?”

Tae-woo was coming from a little distance away, dragging a white robot-like doll.

“This is the Training Hall, a basic game installed in capsules that you don’t need to download separately.”

“Like Minesweeper? This wasn’t around in my time.”

“What do you mean ‘my time’? Say hello, this is our dojo’s AI, Kim Cheol-su.”

Tae-woo grabbed Cheol-su’s hands from behind and waved them like a puppet show.

“He looks cute.”

“Hehe. After getting beaten up continuously, you’ll wet yourself just seeing Cheol-su’s face.”

“What nonsense are you talking?”

Tae-woo gave a meaningful smile.

“Just get beaten up first. Let’s talk after you get hit. What weapon will you use?”

Obviously.

“Sword.”

Tae-woo set Cheol-su in front of Seo-jun and went to what looked like a storage area to bring out a sword.

“Catch.”

Seo-jun gripped the sword.

Then when he looked ahead, a sword was generated in Cheol-su’s hand as well.

“Should I explain now?”

“…Yeah.”

“Good. Cheol-su is a sparring AI. I named him. He’s going to fight you. If you can fight and beat Level 7 Cheol-su, I’ll do the housework.”

“I could just fight you instead.”

“I can’t hold back properly, so no. Anyway, everyone has the same conditions here. It’s a place where you can test pure one-on-one skill. Cheol-su has levels 1 through 10. I’ve beaten up to Level 8. For a beginner… Level 4 would be appropriate at first.”

Tae-woo shrugged.

“That’s assuming you really have talent, of course. For reference, pros beat Level 9.”

Seo-jun shrugged and began touching the settings window that appeared before his eyes.

“This will be good for warming up.”

It looks fun.

“Pfft, I should record this. A friend trying virtual reality for the first time fearlessly challenges Level 4 and then cries after getting beaten up. How’s that title? If the video gets good views, I’ll do a special joint broadcast with you.”

Seo-jun just laughed.

“Just watch quietly.”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“I am watching. What are you doing? Aren’t you starting?”

“Hmm, it’s not working.”

“What’s not working? You just press 4 and start.”

“No, that’s not it. Why is Level 10 locked?”

“Hey, you…”