Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 285

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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 2 Episode 5
2. The Essence (2)
After exchanging awkward greetings, we boarded the elevator.
Juhyeok’s eyes quickly darted toward the floor buttons.
‘Where did we come from again?’
Juhyeok remembered exactly which floor the elevator had been stopped on initially.
He’d thought it would take a while since it was the highest floor.
That meant it was the 14th floor.
[14] [Executive Office]
‘Executive…?’
Ding!
The elevator came to a stop.
We’d arrived at basement level 3—where I’d parked.
Inho must have parked on basement level 4, since that button was lit up. He needed to get off first.
Juhyeok and Sanghyeon exchanged farewells as they exited.
“Take care going in~”
“Yes! See you again!”
Thud.
After the doors closed.
The elevator descended again.
“…What happened between those two in the waiting room?”
Perceptive as always, Juhyeok had caught on immediately. It wasn’t just that they’d come from the upper floors that seemed odd—the very air in the elevator had felt heavy with something unspoken.
“What? No, nothing. Let’s go. I’m hungry.”
Sanghyeon spun around and headed straight toward the parking garage.
I didn’t want to burden him with trivial matters by bringing them up.
Though I could certainly feel the sharp weight of his gaze on my back.

* * *
After arriving home.
Juhyeok and I sat down as if we’d made a promise, browsing through the community site.
Since this was our first major channel appearance, we were curious about the viewers’ reactions.
Juhyeok had probably checked it here and there, but I hadn’t seen anything beyond the chat window, so I was even more curious.
I started by entering the gaming community first.
[Lilpro]
Lilpro, where mentions of Almond appeared most frequently these days.
As expected, there was already a post titled “Almond Doesn’t Lose to Idols.jpg” sitting prominently on the big board.
The idol in question was naturally Inho.
When I opened it, there was a photo of Inho looking somewhat crumpled next to a photo of Almond smiling brightly.
It was a deliberately intentional photo selection.
-Oh man…
Is that person in their 30s? Wow.
└He said he’s 28.
└Info) Almond lied about his age by 2 years
-Why big?
└Why big? This is Almond’s fan cafe, you idiot
lol lol lol lol lol
-It’s not that he doesn’t lose to idols, it’s that the idol just becomes a squid lolol
-Most idols these days rely on makeup and styling except for a few. It’s natural that a truly handsome guy like Almond outshines them;
-Why are you comparing that sushi guy who looks like he got male hormone removal surgery with Almond hyung?
-Why is this on the big board? This is Lilpro content.
└Inho, log in^^
True to Lilpro’s nature, the comments were harsh. They especially showed strong aversion to male idols.
That harshness had once turned its blade toward Almond. I still haven’t forgotten that.
But somehow, right now it felt refreshing.
The corners of my mouth lifted slightly.
[Almond Evening Wide Highlights. (Video)]
The next post was about Evening Wide highlights.
[Wow. Is he really a genius?]
The first video was a scene where Almond answered Mingu Han’s question of admiration with a matter-of-fact “Yes, I’m really a genius.”
-This is the ‘real’ deal
-Mingu Han’s fake madness, flustered before the real thing
-It seems to add tension to a loosened talk show.
-His unique quick reaction speed and blank expression are hilarious lolol
-Like it’s some fake documentary lolol
Back then, I had genuinely answered without much thought, just trying to respond as quickly as possible.
The reaction was really good.
Almond scratched his head. The next video was similar.
It was Serin’s answer when she gathered her courage and interjected with a question.
[You shoot your bow quite a bit faster than other people. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Is there a reason?]
[Ah… well… should I shoot slower?]
-If told to shoot slower, he’d shoot slower lol
-What kind of conversation is this lol
-lol Serin’s still not ready to host a talk show
└What hosting lol, from what I saw the host here is also struggling
└They just put her in because of the idol quota
└Fact) They put her in because she’s insanely pretty
And so on…
After that, several similar video clips were attached.
The response was quite positive.
‘The public opinion is surprisingly good.’
I thought I might get some criticism, but seeing the surprisingly positive response, I felt taken aback.
Of course, this was limited to Lilpro. These were people who hadn’t acknowledged Almond more than any other community. If they’re like this, what’s the point of checking other sites?
‘I’m really going to get a lot of screen time.’
I started running through a happy thought loop about how much I’d appear in this edited version.
It wasn’t mere fantasy.
-Almond’s getting a lot of screen time this time, right?
└Doesn’t seem to lose to the idol next to him
└Probably gets way more than her
-Almond carried his weight lol
└I thought he shouldn’t go on talk shows… but this is really surprising
-Now that Almond’s mastered talk shows too, let’s get him on Genius next.
└Are you crazy lol
└Confirmed first elimination
└This guy’s a Hodu fan, not an Almond fan.
The viewers were also evaluating that I played quite a role in this talk show.
Of course, there were those who didn’t see it that way.
-He just took up a lot of live time, so there’s no way they’d edit it to give him more screen time… so many Jam fans who don’t know broadcasting
-Sigh, these kids are excited. Hyung will tell you straight. Kids. Being a broadcast regular is just being a broadcast regular. You can’t ride on celebrities being friendly with you. Kids.
└Hyung. Why don’t you brush your dentures at home, the clicking sound is so loud I can’t understand what you’re saying.
└lololololololololol
“Hmm…”
I sprawled out on the sofa and decided to check reactions from other communities.
Next was ‘Kingchiman’.
1st place) Oh my gosh ㅠㅠㅠ I never thought a day like this would come in my life ㅠㅠㅠ
A remarkably touching title had risen to the top of the trending posts.
==== ====
Almond went out with Evening Wide, and it looks like Kingdom is targeting major broadcast channels ㅠㅠ
So it’s true that one star can feed an entire game? As a veteran player, this feels like true enlightenment.
Ahhhhhhh!
==== ==== 
-More like possession than enlightenment lol
-Wait really??? For real???
└Haven’t you watched the Evening Wide livestream? You’re not a true Kingdom player.
└lolol facts
-Praise him! Nuts are greater than primates! Nuts are greater than primates!
└Greater! Greater!
-Wow, never thought I’d see the day lolololol
-Seriously….
-If he does it just one more time, I’ll have no more wishes.
Kingchiman’s reaction was quite positive.
After all, it was the only game where the actual footage was displayed there.
Besides that, Baera31 also had several posts about Almond popping up in the issue threads.
‘The reactions are all good.’
The game communities had positive reactions.
‘When you think about it, that’s only natural.’
Since the game community was essentially my home base, naturally the probability of positive reactions was high.
To see the actual reactions, I needed to go to the community where Evening Wide’s mainstream viewers gathered.
If such a place existed.
“Juhyeok. Does Evening Wide have a community?”
“Yeah. It does. You can just go to the Community Site.”
Apparently such a place did exist.

* * *
Community Garden.
A free site where users can directly create, delete, and manage communities as they wish.
Communities exist for almost everything.
These communities are called “gardens.”
The term originated from what was originally a site where people grew and uploaded photos of plants, which eventually expanded.
To view posts related to Evening Wide here, you simply go to the Evening Wide Garden.
Department Manager Jang, the producer in charge of Evening Wide, always referenced the reactions from this place.
“Hmm. The garden ratings are really good too, aren’t they?”
The morning after the Evening Wide shoot.
It was natural that the garden’s response came up during the production team meeting.
“What do you writers think? My gut tells me that if we edit with Almond as the main focus, it’ll flow smoothly and work out well.”
The writer sitting closest to Department Manager Jang twirled a pen once before nodding.
“That’s right. I was a bit worried that Almond might come across like a regular person or guest. But the ratings are good. It seems like he also pumped up the live viewership somewhat naturally.”
“Is that because of Almond? Isn’t it because of Inho?”
Another writer asked to clarify.
He seemed to be against making Almond the main focus of the edit.
Department Manager Jang didn’t mind. After all, keeping all possibilities open was the basic principle of a meeting.
“That’s not entirely accurate. We’ve invited idols with similar popularity to Inho before, right? In terms of big data—chat frequency and such—they showed similar graphs. But back then, the viewership pump wasn’t at this level.”
Department Manager Jang nodded.
“It does seem like we drew from outside the pie. Almond is a guest we haven’t had before.”
“Ah, so you’re saying Almond provided the viewership pump, Director?”
“That’s right. Since he’s the only new variable we’ve had so far.”
“Does a streamer’s audience really have that much loyalty?”
They seemed a bit taken aback.
It wasn’t at this level during the Cutie Pie episode.
“Well, if people hear that a streamer they watch every day is appearing on something like this, they’d watch out of curiosity alone. The only streamer we’ve invited so far who came from an idol background is Minseok.”
“Ah. Is it something like an opening boost?”
“Yeah. An opening boost.”
While everyone nodded in agreement, Sang-hyun Yu, the writer who had guided Almond, raised his hand.
“Even if it is an opening boost, we should benefit from that opening boost too!”
“That’s right. Exactly.”
Department Manager Jang agreed.
“We should benefit from the opening boost too. In my judgment, if we make Almond the main focus, the broadcast flow will be very natural and clean. What do you think?”
“The scenes where Almond appears actually have good reactions. Most of the scenes I personally found entertaining were Almond’s stories.”
Sang-hyun Yu defended Almond’s side, and the main producer, Department Manager Jang, agreed as well, with the atmosphere quickly solidifying in that direction.
However, as if that couldn’t be allowed, several other writers objected.
“No, that’s not right. Almond did expand the pie, but that’s just temporary curiosity from a streamer appearing. Whether that’s effective in the edited version is uncertain. Also, the scenes with good reactions are actually Inho’s.”
“That’s correct. The chat frequency in scenes where Inho appears is about 1.2 times higher than Almond’s, and if we count all scenes rather than just key ones, the difference widens to nearly 3 times.”
Department Manager Jang also reviewed the data. It was certainly true.
There was a lot of chat activity during Inho’s scenes.
But… it was excessively so. Artificially so.
“Our system can’t filter out multiple messages from the same person anyway. Isn’t this just the typical trait of idol fandoms operating with overwhelming force?”
This is what happens when a somewhat popular idol appears. Sometimes a single person deliberately spams the chat, and other times they organize coordinated raids through group chats that create data confusion.
“Would it be entertaining for the general public if we use this as our standard?”
This data has significant potential to diverge from public preference. The writers aren’t unaware of that either. From here on, it’s a matter of interpretation.
“Shouldn’t we acknowledge idol fandom firepower as one form of public firepower as well?”
The position that idol fandom loyalty should also be measured as data.
“No. Broadcasting is about view counts. No matter how much one individual loves Inho to death and wants to throw money at him, we only count it as a single view.”
Department Manager Jang’s position was that no matter how much one person operates with overwhelming force, ultimately they’re just one person to us.
“However, if the editing favors Inho, there’s also the advantage that advertiser targeting becomes much easier. The demographic would be primarily teenage and twenty-something women. With their loyalty, we’d see significant advertising gains.”
“Exactly. Those kinds of fans aren’t just operating with overwhelming force in the chat—they often have overwhelming purchasing power in actual consumption. We don’t survive on view counts alone. If that were the case, we’d just do Ollytube.”
“….”
Department Manager Jang fell silent for a moment.
Another producer seized the opportunity to jump in.
“That’s right. First of all, Minimaas, the makeup brand affiliated with Inho’s agency, is one of our channel’s major sponsors.”
Department Manager Jang frowned.
“Are you telling me to edit while worrying about the sponsor’s feelings?”
“It’s not about worrying about the sponsor—rather, if they’re providing advertising, it wouldn’t be bad to align the program’s target demographic with their advertised products.”
Department Manager Jang eventually let out a long sigh.
“Damn. This number game nonsense.”
“?”
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
“Anyway. I’ll take both perspectives into consideration. Let’s wrap up for today. Good work, everyone.”
As Department Manager Jang fled the conference room first, the remaining staff exchanged words among themselves.
“Geez. Why is Department Manager Jang like that? Our job is to make profitable broadcasts, isn’t it?”
“Right… We’re not artists or anything.”
They seemed dissatisfied with Department Manager Jang’s judgment.
Writer Yu stepped up to defend Department Manager Jang.
“It’s just that the concept of ‘profitable broadcasting’ differs between them. Department Manager Jang operates on the fundamental principle that good entertainment leads to good view counts. View counts are money, after all.”
“…Right. That could be true. But where do major channels make money from view counts? How many mouths do we have? Only minor channels can sustain themselves on view counts.”
“If view counts are high, then sponsors would──”
“No. Do you think advertisers give money based on view counts? Advertisers pay for channels where people who’ll buy their products are watching.”
“….”
“A channel everyone watches—young and old. Sounds nice, right? But think about it from the advertiser’s perspective. Who would they be targeting?”
Writer Yu couldn’t counter and just opened and closed his mouth.
“That’s enough. Writer Yu is still innocent. Department Manager Jang is naive. Let’s wrap up too.”
With that, everyone left the conference room.

* * *
The rooftop.
A rooftop overlooking the hazy winter sky.
Above it, an early afternoon red star burns brightly.
Sizzle.
Department Manager Jang exhales a sigh along with smoke.
“Phew. If it’s going to be like this, I might as well just use AlphaGo. As a PD.”
Since when?
Variety show producing has become utterly joyless. How many of the major channel contents that come out these days are actually entertaining?
They’re all just machines that extract advertisements through numerical calculations.
The viewers don’t even know why they’re watching—they just stare blankly and giggle mindlessly.
Programs designed to turn people into idiots and make them watch only advertisements.
“Isn’t entertainment supposed to be the top priority?”
He asked the empty air with no one to answer him.
“If it’s entertaining, people watch and ads get attached anyway, right….”
Somewhere along the way, the order flipped.
“Ah. Well… I suppose watching your favorite idols is entertaining in its own way.”
Department Manager Jang muttered in resignation, leaning against the railing, and turned on his phone.
Then he opened the ‘Tribee’ app, which he rarely used.
He checked just in case….
[Currently Streaming]
“Oh? Even at this hour?”
Almond is broadcasting.
[‘That Game’ Gave an Advertisement?]
The title was like this.
“Ha. This guy’s also an ad. Here too~ there too~ ad… huh?”
The game being played looked familiar.
[Kingdom Age Currently Playing]
‘Kingdom?’
It was the game he’d heard about during Almond’s shoot. The related story was interesting enough that Department Manager Jang remembered it.
‘Ah. That Perfect Shot.’
The concept of Perfect Shot had been particularly impressive.
Out of curiosity, he clicked on Almond’s broadcast.
“Wow. They even gave an ad there?”
It’s not like he had anything else to do while smoking anyway.
“Huh? What?”
The moment the PD entered the broadcast, his expression became utterly bewildered.

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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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