Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 166

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 1 Episode 166
58. A Gift (1)
Green Diamond advertising, of all things.
I found it even harder to believe than when I first met Balloon Gum.
These were things I saw every day, consumed like any ordinary person, yet the distance between their world and mine was as vast as the sun and the earth.
I was acutely aware of that gap myself.
But that was no longer the case.
Beyond becoming a streamer with a personal connection to Balloon Gum, I’d been invited to compete in tournaments together.
And now Green Diamond wanted to run an advertisement featuring me.
‘Does this even make sense….’
I felt dazed, as if something heavy kept striking my head repeatedly.
Yet it didn’t hurt at all—instead, it left me feeling inexplicably good.
“Actually, Almond advertisements weren’t exactly pouring in before.”
For Juhyeok, advertisement offers had become little more than spam mail. They came that frequently. Which meant he chose them that carefully.
Especially almond food advertisements required particular discretion.
Since it was a food product directly connected to the streamer’s name, both brands became too intimately intertwined.
That’s why Juhyeok wanted to select only the best—the top company for this.
He’d managed to secure it through a deal with Department Manager Oh.
“Among all those advertisements, this one is different. You understand, right?”
“Yeah. Completely different. Green Diamond is….”
Sanghyeon nodded eagerly.
“The top almond cereal company, and they also make almond milk.”
“Exactly. Plus, it’s not just eating the product a few times. It’s a commercial shoot. Like Fantasia.”
It wasn’t mere sponsorship provision.
Not the kind where you do a few mukbangs and call it done—this was becoming an advertising model.
This kind of deal was excellent for external image while commanding substantial compensation.
“All those mediocre advertisements I filtered out led to this result. That’s how crucial it is not to squander your image.”
He was absolutely right.
By not wasting my image on trivial advertisements and carefully building it up instead, these major opportunities were now falling into my lap.
Initially, I’d thought accepting even small deals for faster growth might be better.
But Juhyeok was right. This guy definitely knew how to think big.
Now that he’d secured the Green Diamond advertisement, Juhyeok was simply correct in my eyes.
“Yeah. You were right. Well done.”
Sanghyeon conceded defeat.
What more could I say in the face of a Green Diamond advertisement?
In this moment of victory, Juhyeok felt an unexpected heat rising within him.
A certain thought had just crossed his mind.
‘Wait…. I’ve only just started eating properly.’
If I accept an almond cereal advertisement, how much more will I end up consuming as sponsorship….
Now there’s no basis left to stop it.
‘Green Diamond sponsors gave us an advertisement! We should accept it, right?! And it’s free!’
Before Sanghyeon shouting like this, Juhyeok couldn’t say anything.
‘Ah… damn.’

* * *
The next day.
Department Manager Oh invited Juhyeok and Sanghyeon to a shared public office facility.
It was an office where multiple people gathered and shared through rental, and the facilities were quite decent.
“This is a place I use personally from time to time. Anyway….”
Department Manager Oh tapped Sanghyeon’s shoulder and spoke.
“Is this what they call a successful fan?”
“Pardon?”
“I mean Almond. A successful otaku. I heard he loves Almond cereal so much.”
“Ah. Haha. That’s right.”
Sanghyeon, who rarely laughed carelessly normally, had a smile spreading across his face today.
Even people who didn’t know Sanghyeon well would think something good happened to him today.
As Department Manager Oh pressed the conference room floor in the elevator, he added an explanation.
“The unit price will be somewhat lower than Fantasia.”
This was about the advertisement.
“You know how video advertisements are now divided into sub-channels, major channels, and all-channels, right?”
“Yes.”
“This advertisement is a sub-channel. The previous Reckless Warrior was a major channel advertisement. Plus, it included a game character contract, so the price was high.”
As the status of terrestrial broadcasting completely collapsed, the era of calculating by TV broadcast rates, Ollytube rates, and Tribee rates had passed.
It became meaningless to divide by platform tier.
Instead, advertising companies divide advertisement styles into ‘major channels’ and ‘sub-channels’.
The criteria are simple.
Places with many viewers are major channels.
Whether it’s terrestrial variety shows or personal broadcasts.
Major channel advertising is when you target appropriate age groups, genders, hobbies, and such from among them.
Sub-channels refer to advertisements that go into more minor channels in the same way.
There are few viewers, but by targeting viewers with unique tastes, you could aim for high loyalty.
All-channels is a system that targets all channels comprehensively, and the unit price is naturally the most expensive.
The Reckless Warrior advertised before was a mass-produced mobile RPG, so naturally it aimed at both major and sub simultaneously.
Almond cereal, surprisingly, is being targeted at sub-channels.
“But does cereal need to target sub-channels?”
“To be precise, it’s not that the Almond cereal advertisement targets sub-channels, but rather the version that Almond advertises goes into sub-channels.”
“Ah….”
“He doesn’t have major recognition yet. However, I believe that day isn’t far off.”
Almond’s recognition is still low.
However, in the game broadcasts on Tribee, which are generally classified as sub-channels?
His recognition might actually be higher than celebrities from major companies.
In such cases, there’s a phenomenon where loyalty increases considerably.
Green Diamond is aiming for exactly this phenomenon.
This advertisement only has impact if people know that Almond is Almond. They judged that broadcasting it to audiences unfamiliar with him would be pointless.
Ding.
The elevator arrived at the conference room floor.
“Let’s head in.”
Juhyeok smoothly adjusted his suit collar and stepped forward.

* * *
An office where Almond’s photograph floated suspended in mid-air.
A man slid his finger into the hologram and asked a question.
“I heard the person decided on this time is a streamer—is this him?”
“That’s what they say. It was decided at the end of the meeting upstairs.”
“Wow. So streamers really are the trend these days.”
“They’ve been climbing up steadily for about ten years, and ever since Capsule games became widespread… the word ‘celebrity’ has practically disappeared.”
“I was pretty good at games too, you know.”
Smack.
The Mischievous Man clicked his tongue.
“Man, I should just try it now. He quit his company and started as a game streamer too. I heard he grew tremendously in just one month.”
“…Come on. Why would you quit a place like Green Diamond? Just to become a streamer.”
“True. Unlike other sales positions, you’re practically in the driver’s seat, so the work is easy and the pay is good. It’s really a sweet deal, isn’t it?”
“Yeah! It’s great!”
“This guy. You’re hooked….”
Green Diamond.
A major foreign food company that hadn’t been in Korea for long, but precisely because of that, it remained a land of milk and honey for its salespeople.
Having just entered the market, they frequently land and distribute large projects, so opportunities abound.
Just looking at the Department Manager in front of me—by age he should only be a Manager, but through rapid promotion he’s currently a Department Manager.
Department Manager Oh glanced around at several screens and muttered.
“Anyway… we’ve spent quite a lot of money on our end.”
“Ah… yes, that’s right. We poured too much into the celebrity actor advertisement in front.”
“We might need to cut back somewhere to balance it out?”
“Hmm….”
Though they’re roughly called the Sales Team, what they actually do is essentially the opposite of sales.
Rather than bringing in work, they distribute work.
The goal is to give out as much work as possible within a limited budget.
But recently, too much money went out in negotiations.
So they needed to adjust prices somewhere and save the budget as much as possible.
Among the current advertisement list, the one catching his eye was….
“Hmm… if we’re going to cut, wouldn’t it be this one?”
Streamer Almond.
“He’s the easiest target. This kind of advertising is almost unheard of in the streaming industry, and he won’t be able to handle it well.”
The Department Manager nodded.
“That’s true, isn’t it? What’s the amount they’re offering?”
“Five thousand.”
“Don’t budge an inch from that. It’s better to create an atmosphere as if a deal isn’t even possible. Just take the stance that you came here to sign the contract, nothing more.”
“Hmm… Will it really go that far?”
“You fool.”
The Department Manager chuckled and pressed his thumb against his subordinate’s shoulder.
“You still don’t know anything, do you?”
Click.
His thumb pointed at something over his shoulder.
“?”
There stood an employee dispatched from the foreign headquarters, calmly reviewing documents with a relaxed expression.
“Nathan?”
“Call him Weilsma. You idiot.”
“Ah… I’m close with him.”
“Regardless. From now on, it’s Weilsma.”
“?”
The Department Manager grinned wickedly.
“When you use those foreign bastards, you have no idea how smoothly negotiations flow in this country.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. He’s conveniently dispatched here and under my jurisdiction, so I’ll give it a try. Learn from this well.”

* * *
“Come in.”
As I entered the conference room, three people were waiting.
Two men with unremarkable impressions and one foreigner.
“Hello.”
Though his pronunciation was slightly awkward, he clearly knew all the proper Korean etiquette, standing up and bowing his head.
Department Manager Oh introduced everyone in Korean, so it seemed he had no trouble understanding.
“Oh… you are the Almond. I’ve watched you playing ‘Battle Large’ several time. Nice to meet you in person.”
Still, when it came to longer statements, he spoke in English.
The Korean man beside him was the interpreter.
“He says he enjoyed watching your streams, Almond, and is glad to meet you in person.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Sanghyeon answered awkwardly and took a seat at the end of the table.
‘This is….’
Juhyeok sitting beside me nudged Sanghyeon’s arm.
Sanghyeon nodded back.
We couldn’t whisper with the client right in front of us, so we only exchanged glances.
But we both understood perfectly.
‘It’s similar to back then.’
A situation I’d experienced before.
There was no real reason for a foreigner to be here just because it was a foreign company.
“Since Green Diamond only recently entered the Korean market, all our middle managers are still foreigners. I apologize for the inconvenience. I’ll handle the interpretation instead.”
That’s what they claimed, but….
‘It’s intentional.’
I’d seen this pattern several times during my days at Asung.
Korean companies often struggle to express their opinions properly in front of English-speaking foreigners.
Many places exploited this by conducting important presentations in English.
This way, there were fewer objections than when conducting things in Korean.
Even with an interpreter, it was the same.
In such cases, the negotiations don’t proceed as intended because the interpreter acts as a buffer.
Oddly enough, the English-speaking side gains the advantage. Foreign companies dealing with Asians knew this and actively exploited it.
They’d pretend not to understand an Asian’s English and ask again, or apply pressure with an indifferent expression.
When this happens, even someone fluent in English becomes intimidated. After all, the other party is a foreigner.
Being proficient in English and conducting negotiations in that language are two entirely different matters.
At Asung, when a new employee arrives, they first correct their English, then their accent. It’s also a good excuse for breaking in subordinate employees.
Even if someone studied abroad and speaks English well, once seniors start nitpicking every accent and inappropriate vocabulary for the situation, they become timid.
However, there was one person who survived those seniors’ harsh training very easily.
Someone born in Georgia, USA, who spent only his school years in Korea, then graduated from a master’s program in America—fluent in both academic and everyday English.
Someone whose major wasn’t domestic trade but international trade, who earned his master’s degree in America with that specialty, and who was sitting right beside me.
Juhyeok Kim opened his mouth.
“Actually….”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————