Yesterday, I ended the stream early after watching reactions and having a casual chat.
At first, all viewers were spamming the chat furiously when I said I’d end early, but when I told them I’d start early tomorrow, they let it slide this time and left.
Because today was that long-awaited day.
The day I reached 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Actually, I had passed 100,000 some time ago, but since I wanted to celebrate the milestone with the Silver Button that’s now preciously displayed in my room, I could only proceed with this content now.
First thing after waking up, before starting the stream, I sent a thank-you message to someone.
I sent a message to my editor thanking her for helping reach 100,000, but since a message alone wouldn’t fully convey my feelings, I gave her a 200,000 won bonus.
In the relationship between editors and streamers, money speaks louder than words, after all.
In response, the editor sent me a video of themselves doing the grand bow that Yeonhee did yesterday.
Who would’ve thought giving my editor a bonus would get me a Grand bow reaction video?
Come to think of it, this editor was also from Daeju-dan.
“Can you see the sincerity in my reaction, boss?”
“Very impressive.”
“Thank you.”
Finding it awkward to respond, I just gave a half-hearted compliment.
Having a friendly relationship with the editor was something to think about. Well, at least she does good work…
I carefully took out the Silver Button.
Looking at it gleaming under the fluorescent lights and streaming lights, I felt somewhat moved.
I placed the Silver Button carefully on my desk and turned on the cam.
And the stream too.
“Everyone, look at this.”
[???]
[What’s this shining metal thing?]
[Daeju-nim, have you perhaps become an android?]
[Look at how smooth Daeju’s skin is ㅜㅑ;;;]
[Metal shine skin omg]
The viewers’ reactions were weird, so I looked at the stream screen and realized that because it reflected light too well, it wasn’t clear whether this was a Silver Button or just a piece of metal due to the reflection.
Only after adjusting the lighting did its form become clear.
[Oh, the Silver Button]
[Oooh~~~]
[Is this the thing they give to YouTubers or married men?]
[Congrats]
[The YouTuber next door… got a Gold Button… tsk tsk…]
“Today, for the 100k celebration, we’ll look at everything you prepared in advance when I asked for 100k congratulatory content.”
[There was such a thing?]
[Sigh… newbies, please watch the VODs before coming…]
[I also prepared something quickly in MS Paint and uploaded it]
It was time to watch the 100k congratulatory content that long-time viewers had prepared in advance.
I had already selected some viewable content for this a long time ago.
Because more people participated than expected, there wasn’t enough time to see everything on stream day, and some weren’t suitable for streaming.
And not only did I select things, but I also received what I could in advance.
I was worried because not only were there things I selected, but also things the editor picked. I had asked them to help since I had limited access to posts, but now that the day had come, worry struck me.
“Can you see the boxes behind me?”
I moved my chair slightly to show the stacked boxes.
There were about ten boxes of various sizes stacked up.
[Oh lolol Daeju has more than 10 Daeju-dan members congratulating]
[That really big box doesn’t have someone hiding inside, right?]
[What if this suddenly becomes a horror stream?]
“Let’s start the IRL gacha.”
The first box was relatively small.
Though I did select them, since I chose them a while ago, my memory was hazy.
It’s probably artwork, I think.
When I opened the box, there was artwork and a bag of snacks inside.
“Wow… this drawing, look at this! Huh? Who’s this?”
In the drawing, my appearance was quite beautified, and next to it, for some reason, Yeonhee was drawn roughly like a 2D character in a stubby way. The scene in the drawing looked familiar – it seemed to be drawn based on when we streamed together before.
[Why are their art styles different? lolololol]
[Why did they draw Yeonhee like a dwarf?]
[An elf and a dwarf lololol Yeonhee only comes up to Daeju’s knees lol]
[Stop beautifying Daeju!]
Though I honestly liked the drawing, I couldn’t keep mentioning it because I felt sorry for Yeonhee.
However, I did carefully place the drawing behind me.
The next box contained a phone case.
And the one after that was a drawing lightly depicting many games I’ve played so far.
The fourth one was quite unusual.
At least, it wasn’t something I had selected.
“What’s this?”
It was full of cat treats along with a letter.
It felt heavy, and for good reason.
The letter read:
“Sending this because my cat hit 14KG. Either feed these to that pig [1] or eat them yourself, Daeju-nim.”
“What?”
[Daeju, the human who eats cat food]
[His efforts to become a cat-person wow;;;]
[More importantly, is a 14KG cat abuse or neglect?]
[Can that cat even jump?]
[The owner probably has to help lolol]
“Why is this…”
I’d have to ask around later if anyone nearby has cats.
If someone says they have a cat, I should give them the treats and request some photos or videos.
Then in order, there were collections of foreign snacks and normal gifts, and in the second-largest box, there was a set of dolls including mine, and for some reason, dolls of Yeonhee, Geum Taeyang, Soo-ah, and even the rarely mentioned editor. The seventh gift contained some expensive jeans.
“No way, something this expensive…”
[You can hear the happiness in his voice, right?]
[Honestly, he wouldn’t be this happy if it was cheap, right?]
[True]
And when I opened quite a large box, there was a long pillow and pillow cover.
“Why is this pillow so big?”
[Oh? Isn’t this that thing?]
[It is that]
[What is it, you guys? Tell me too]
[Ah… don’t you know?]
[Tell me, damn it]
Only when I held up the pillow cover did I realize what it was.
The front had me lying down normally, and the back had me lying down seductively.
They did make it well.
Even though I’ve never struck such a pose in my life, it looked like I had.
So I said:
“I’m going to sue.”
[lololololololol]
[lol Good strong response]
[Damn lolol Just accept the lawsuit notice gracefully]
“I’m going to burn it right away. I’ll gratefully accept the pillow but burn the cover.”
And finally, I looked at the biggest box.
“Wonder what that could be.”
[Dunno?]
[There’s a person inside lolol]
[Should we throw the first punch?]
The size was really bigger than a person.
It was roughly the size of a refrigerator box, but when moving it, it wasn’t as heavy as expected.
Though I wouldn’t say it was light either…
I walked slowly and carefully opened the box.
And I paused for a moment when I saw flesh color before opening it completely.
“Huh?”
[????? Really? Is it a person??]
[Why is this happening]
[But then is there a script? Is this a staged stream?]
That can’t be.
How long ago did I receive this package? Opening it a bit more revealed what it was.
“It’s a mannequin…?”
A female mannequin at that.
The letter included with it read:
“Since you moved to a big house and might feel lonely and scared, I’m sending you our shop’s reliable mannequin. Since sending it nude would be vulgar, I dressed it in fancy underwear.”
After reading the letter’s contents aloud, I thought quietly.
“Having this makes me feel more lonely and scared… and putting underwear on it makes it more vulgar, you know?”
[lolol looks uncomfortable]
[Before the stream, Daeju was all smiles thinking about showing off the Silver Button and opening boxes, but now there’s some emotion in his voice, right?]
[Daeju-nim, don’t feel too down~ You’re not pitiful~]
[Still grateful for viewers celebrating like this, right?]
“Ah.. yes, well…”
[lololololol]
Honestly, my first thought upon seeing the mannequin was just wondering how to dispose of it.
Finally, I laid out all the received gifts in a row.
“Heh heh heh…”
[lolol In terms of memorable gifts being the best gifts, isn’t this a huge success?]
[If this is success, please quit]
[Isn’t Daeju-dan’s happiness Daeju’s happiness?]
[This isn’t a stream with such a pure streamer]
“Haah… forget the gifts, I have an important announcement.”
Though there are more streams to do, I decided to make the important announcement now while viewership was at its peak due to the Silver Button bait and box opening.
[Getting married?]
[Retiring?]
[Switching to adult streams?]
[Going submarine?]
[If you retire, I’m coming for you.]
“Nothing’s confirmed yet, but I might be starting the MCN company a bit earlier than planned.”
When a viewer previously said they could help, I contacted them right away.
Starting a company required so much knowledge. Well, I could probably proceed if I wanted to, but the viewer said that starting that way would surely have deficiencies and many lacking points.
Fortunately, they said MCN doesn’t need many things, but since it’s still properly a company, there are necessary documents and various tasks to proceed with, and they added this:
Hire them.
When I asked why she, who had quite a stable position at another MCN company, wanted to help us like this, she said she smelled potential for ‘explosive growth.'[2]
And after consideration, I accepted the deal.
They might be a scammer, but what’s certain is that it would be too much for me alone right now.
With the mindset that I had nothing to lose.
“Anyway… I just wanted to say this”
[Promise to do adult streams if it fails~]
[If it succeeds, will you abandon us and suddenly strengthen chat rules?]
[We know where your house is anyway lolol You know that, right Daeju-nim? ㅎㅎ]
[Want to see Daeju struggling after the company is built and other streamers blow up except him lolol]
[Oh a struggling CEO would be fun to watch lololol]
I regretted revealing my house location every single day.
* * *
(End of chapter)
Translation Notes:
- Lol they are talking about Yeonhee here I guess
- “떡상” (ddeoksang) literally means “rice cake rising” but is also a slang for explosive growth/success
