Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 167

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 1 Episode 167
58. A Gift (2)
When I first joined Asung Company.
The very first thing I heard was this.
“Feel free to speak casually.”
Skipping introductions entirely and jumping straight to this was considered “normal” here.
I was taken aback by an impression far more intense than any sports club senior, but I quickly grasped the nature of this place.
Or perhaps, the way this entire society operated.
“Do you speak English?”
“No… not at all…”
“…You can’t even speak Korean?”
“Pardon?”
“I said, can’t you speak Korean? Why are you being unclear?”
“I apologize.”
“Don’t be unclear. This isn’t school.”
“Understood.”
“If you make one wrong click in a place where tens of billions, hundreds of billions are at stake, how can you afford to be unclear?”
“I can’t.”
New hires had to have their spirits broken first—that was the reality.
They called it “breaking them in,” and no other expression quite captured it.
This place was a modern wilderness.
An untamed beast might devour its human handler.
This was to avoid being eaten.
This was to survive.
“This.”
Thud.
What my supervisor threw was a thick textbook.
Written entirely in English.
“Memorize all of it within six months. You’ll hear these terms more often than the rice you eat.”
Looking at that crumpled, wrinkled book.
It was a compilation of English expressions related to trade, printed directly and bound with a cover.
The creator was…
‘Taehyeon Park.’
That manager standing right in front of me.
“Understood.”
Since he was a high school graduate who got in through connections, he received some special treatment, but.
Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—I wasn’t the only one enduring this.
“Ugh. Damn. Does this make sense? Why are they making us do wall-facing meditation? Are they doing this on purpose?”
“They didn’t even do this in 2020…”
“I guess retro is trending at the company too.”
Three men and a woman share cigarettes while gossiping with fervor.
“He suddenly started speaking to me in English. Wow. Damn it, I studied abroad too. But I couldn’t understand a word he said.”
“Oh no. That happened to me too… His pronunciation is really good….”
“That’s trade terminology, isn’t it? It’s not something you can understand just from studying abroad a bit. Unless you majored in it….”
Something that new employees could never handle, yet would wound their pride.
That was the language barrier, and it was how nearly every team was grinding down their new hires.
And yet, there was one person.
“Hey. Juhyeok. Come over here for a moment!”
“Yes! Manager Kim.”
Tap.
An employee who had been sitting quietly suddenly flicked off his cigarette and ran over.
While everyone else was helpless, there was one person actually getting things done.

* * *
That person was now accomplishing something again right in front of me, Sanghyeon.
Fluent sentences, an upper-class accent.
Just listening to it, you could tell his proficiency wasn’t something learned carelessly.
I could feel the other party’s bewilderment.
“Actually, You won’t need that translator beside you. You can talk to me directly. Mr….”
“Weilsma.”
“Ok. Mr. Weilsma. Good to see you. I’m his manager, Kim.”
Juhyeok first suggested removing the most irritating element in this tactic—the interpreter.
He wanted to strip away their thick shield first.
“First of all. Thanks for the great opportunity. We really appreciate your offer. However….”
After thanking them for the opportunity, he immediately got to the main point.
The main point being, of course, that the proposed amount was too low.
There was nothing to be upset about. Initial offers are always low.
Foreign companies were especially vicious about price negotiations, so this was simply a necessary step.
Watching from the sidelines, I was merely grateful that Juhyeok hadn’t used these negotiation skills when setting our profit ratio.
Juhyeok was a massive serpent at the negotiation table.
The other party was an armed human, but had just lost the shield called an interpreter.
Now they had to face Juhyeok alone with only their own blade.
Even watching it felt overwhelming.
That poor foreigner was nothing but a militia unable to properly wield even his own sword.
My gaze shifted to the other two employees who could only watch from behind.
‘Actually… those two are the real masterminds.’
I had caught on. I had fallen right into the trap they had set.
The foreigner wasn’t even the person in charge, nor was he prepared.
Without showing any real strength, he was already bound by the serpent’s coils.
Helplessly, crushed down to the bone.
Swish.
I wrote the figure Juhyeok wanted into the contract.

* * *
“Phew.”
The lengthy negotiation had finally concluded.
The Green Diamond Company employees departed, their expressions far from pleased.
“What are we going to do about our budget….”
“No idea. Damn it.”
Juhyeok glanced at his wristwatch and smirked.
“…Did it take about an hour?”
“Juhyeok… I had no idea you were this skilled?”
Department Manager Oh beside me let out an exclamation of admiration.
“I was simply born in America, that’s all.”
“Ah, no. Your English is certainly impressive, but… you completely understand their patterns, don’t you?”
“Juhyeok graduated from graduate school in America too, and his major was in that field… so he’s actually more familiar with their culture.”
During the previous Fantasia negotiation, Department Manager Oh had observed with a satisfied “quite impressive” expression.
But this time, he seemed considerably shocked.
This was the first time he’d truly witnessed Juhyeok’s area of expertise, so it made sense.
“International business was my specialty when I worked at the company.”
“Wow. I see. Sanghyeon, do you happen to speak English well too?”
“No. I can only listen and manage basic everyday conversation….”
I had once desperately studied languages to survive in that place where I’d parachuted in. Thanks to that, my ears were attuned to the language.
But fluent command like Juhyeok’s was impossible for me, and conducting negotiations like that in English felt like a dream.
Rustle.
I once again felt Juhyeok’s abilities anew and unfolded the contract.
[70,000,000 won]
Seventy million won.
It was even higher than the Reckless Warrior’s rate.
Even though it was actually a sub-channel advertisement with a lower tier than that.
‘My market value has increased.’
I recalled what Juhyeok had said in the middle of negotiations.
That we were receiving countless advertisement offers, and that we would become the ‘Big Shot’ of this industry going forward.
Big Shot.
It meant a big player.
I didn’t know exactly what impression it would give, but thinking about it in the English I’d learned, it was an excessive expression for a mere streamer.
‘I’m confident with headshots though….’
A smile spread across my lips.
It was an exaggeration, but that didn’t mean I disliked it.

* * *
Sanghyeon and Juhyeok pushed through the glass doors of the building, roughly loosening their ties.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Juhyeok let out a roar he’d been holding back all this time.
Office workers passing by stared, but given that the securities district was nearby, such behavior didn’t seem particularly unusual. After all, people occasionally erupted in shouts after striking it rich.
So I spread both my arms wide as well.
“Arghhhhhh!”
We both giggled and checked the amount written on the contract again.
Seventy million won.
“This Almond bastard. He’s not a streamer—he’s a complete commercial model, isn’t he?”
Juhyeok’s words had merit.
In fact, advertising revenue was now exceeding broadcast income.
“That’s all because I manage my image well. Got it?”
“Got it.”
I chuckled and nodded.
Image.
The version of myself reflected in others’ eyes.
My personality, my appearance, all my elements…
When combined, they create something like a mirage.
That’s what they call image.
Something incredibly important for a broadcaster.
‘So that’s what Dotorimuk was talking about.’
Dotorimuk had said Almond had an image that “works” in the major leagues.
There was also what Department Manager Oh said in today’s meeting.
「Having worked at a major corporation. That’s the image our people love most. The fact that the person who opened the door to the streaming market in our country was also from a major corporation played a huge role.」
Department Manager Oh added that thanks to this, Almond’s advertisements were relatively easy to secure.
Advertisements ultimately need to have a synergistic effect on a company’s image.
In the streamer market, my image fit perfectly.
‘Asung… it was a good place after all.’
I always think about it at times like these.
Despite all that suffering, despite contemplating quitting several times a day, there was value in enduring and staying there.
Somehow, it became one of the massive pillars supporting who I am now.
If I hadn’t met Juhyeok there, where else could I have met him?
That was when it happened.
[Editor Seojia]
Zzzzring.
My phone rang.
“…It’s Jia.”
Phone calls were extremely rare. Especially at this hour.
I tilted my head in confusion and answered.
“Jia, what’s wrong?”
-Big news!!
“Big news?!”
At the mention of big news, Juhyeok spun around in surprise.
-We’re number one… We’re number one!
“…Number one?”
I paused for a moment, wondering what she meant by number one.
But if Jia was saying it, there could only be one thing.
‘AllTube?’
So I really was becoming a big shot.

* * *
Just as music sites have music charts, the video platform AllTube has video charts.
Charts are created only for videos uploaded less than three days ago.
Today marked exactly two days since Jia uploaded the Story Mode video.
[1.278 million]
In just two days, it had already racked up over 1.2 million views.
And the tags below read like this.
#Gaming
#Trending Now
.
.
.
#Trending Video #1
Jia was right.
It really was number one.
-Wow, congratulations on real-time #1!
Oh my god, Almond ㅠㅠㅠㅜ Finally, you’re truly world-class!!!
-Wow, finally hit #1, the momentum lately has been insane
-Almond is so cute~~
In the latest comments, I could see mentions of the number one ranking.
People were beginning to recognize it.
-Oh what, Reina Story Mode first clear?
And this is worth coming in first for ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
-Reina ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ Can your soul be healed as the #1 almond? ㅠㅠ
-I watched because it was #1, and it’s actually really fun. But is the streamer really that handsome in person? Good-looking guy
└Yeah, looks even better in person. I saw him on the subway
He’s really good at this game. I was watching because he came in first place lol.
-Oh, isn’t this the guy who broke Jeon-ja-pa’s record?! Wow, breaking records left and right
Lol, record-hating almond ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
Being ranked first meant that a considerable number of new viewers had flooded in.
Like a snowball rolling downhill, the view count continued to climb in real time.
And the most surprising thing was the top comment.
-I lost first place….
This seemingly meaningless comment had received an overwhelming number of likes and become the top comment.
The reason became clear when I opened the replies.
└Is this real? Jeon-ja-pa???
└Whoa, it’s real. Upload it!
└Jeon-ja-pa? Why is hyung showing up here?!
└No way… Is this actually true?
Turn on the broadcast for me, please ㅠㅠㅠ
└I heard his health isn’t great….
└Jeon-ja-pa shoutout… Almond is world-class… Chijik….
The author of the comment was Jeon-ja-pa, a professional gamer who had shattered every record in official tournaments.
‘Wow, seriously….’
My eyes wavered in disbelief.
A comment from the undisputed all-time legend himself.
There was no way this wouldn’t become a hot topic.
It was like Messi commenting on a youth soccer team, or Michael Jordan leaving a comment on a high school basketball club.
At least tens of thousands of people came just to see this comment.
[Live) Jeon-ja-pa’s Almond shoutout….]
[Breaking) Jeon-ja-pa appears in comments. Target is Almond?]
It wasn’t just being shared in communities—it was being reproduced like news across the entire video platform.
And naturally, those videos included introductions of who Almond was.
Almond had essentially generated dozens of promotional videos about himself for free.
-First time hearing about Almond. Pretty fun lol gotta check it out
-Wow Almond’s pretty good too? Deserves the comment.
lol
-Our Almond is world-class!
The promotional effect was tremendous.
This firepower was probably what made Almond’s video rank first.
‘Could this be a gift from Reina?’
It was a moment when I felt the reward for diligently playing through the story mode.

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