Season 2: Chapter 5. True Nature (2)

Season 2: Chapter 5. True Nature (2)

They got on the elevator after exchanging awkward greetings.

Ju-Hyeok's eyes quickly went to the floor button.

'Where did we come from?'

Ju-Hyeok tried to recall where the elevator originally stopped. He thought it would take a long time since they came from the top floor. The 14th floor also lit up.

[14] [Executive Office]

'Executive...?'

Ding!

The elevator stopped. They had arrived at the basement level three, where Ju-Hyeok parked.

In-Ho pressed the basement level four button. It seemed he had parked on that floor and they needed to exit first.

Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon exchanged greetings and got off.

"Drive safely~"

"Yes! See you again!"

Thud.

After the doors closed, the elevator continued down.

"... Did something happen in the waiting room between you two?"

The observant Ju-Hyeok noticed it a while ago. It wasn't just strange that those two came from an upper floor. The atmosphere in the elevator felt heavy.

"Something? No, let's hurry up. I'm hungry."

Sang-Hyeon swiftly turned and headed first to the parking lot. He didn't want to unnecessarily bother Ju-Hyeok with trivial matters even though he felt a piercing gaze from behind.

***

After arriving home, Ju-Hyeok and Sang-Hyeon browsed the community sites as if by agreement. They felt curious about the viewers' reactions since it was their first major channel appearance.

Ju-Hyeok checked intermittently, but Sang-Hyeon was even more curious because he hadn't seen anything beyond the chat window during the live broadcast.

First, he went to a certain game community.

[LIL Pro]

The most discussed topic there was Almond. As expected, a post titled [Almond not overshadowed by an idol.jpg] appeared on LIL Pro.

The idol was definitely In-Ho. The post showed a photo of In-Ho looking disgruntled and a picture of Almond laughing heartily as they sat side by side. It was clearly an intentional selection.

— Oh man...

— He's in his 30s?

└ He's 28.

└ Info: Almond lied about his age by 2 years

— Why is it on Big Pro?

└ Why, you ask? This is Almond’s fan page, you idiot.

└ Lol so true

— It's not that Almond is on par with idols. It's like the idol became a squid. Lol.

— Most idols these days rely on makeup and styling. Naturally, they're overshadowed by a truly handsome guy like Almond;

— Why compare Almond with someone who looks like they had male hormone removal surgery?

— Why is this on Big Pro? This seems like a LIL Pro topic.

└ In-Ho, logging in.

True to LIL Pro's nature, the users made sharp comments. They showed an especially strong aversion to male idols. This sharpness was once directed at Almond too. Sang-Hyeon hadn't forgotten that.

However, he felt somewhat elated right now and the corners of his mouth rose.

[Almond Evening Wide Highlight (Video)]

The next post highlighted his moments on Evening Wide.

“Wow, he's really a genius, isn't he?”

Han Min-Gu exclaimed in admiration and Almond confidently replied.

"Yes, I'm really a genius."

— This is the real deal.

— Real genius in front of a flustered fake and crazy Han Min-Gu.

— He adds tension to a slack talk show.

— His unique quick reactions and emotionless face are hilarious.

— It feels like a fake documentary. Lol.

Back then, Sang-Hyeon really went with the mindset of answering as quickly as possible without giving it much thought. The feedback came back very positive.

He scratched his head. The next video was pretty similar. When Seo-Rin bravely chimed in with a question, he simply responded without thinking. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via N0v3l.B11n.

"You shoot the arrow a bit faster than others. I've never seen this before. Is there a reason for it?"

"Ah... just... should I shoot it later?"

— If he says to shoot later, he'll shoot later, LOL.

— What kind of conversation is that? LOL.

— LOL. Seo-Rin is not ready to host a talk show yet.

└ What do you mean by hosting? From what I saw, even the main host barely managed.

└ They just added him because he's an idol.

└ Fact: They added him because he's very handsome.

And so on...

More similar videos were attached and the reactions were very good.

'The public opinion is surprisingly positive.'

Sang-Hyeon thought he would receive some criticism, but it felt unexpected to see the overwhelmingly positive feedback. Of course, this was limited to Lil Pro. Even those who didn't appreciate Almond in other communities responded positively. What about other sites?

'I'll probably get a lot of screen time.'

Sang-Hyeon reveled in the thought that he'd appear in the edited version. It wasn't just a delusion.

— Almond will get a lot of screen time, right?

"No. Although Almond did increase the viewership, it's probably due to temporary curiosity because a streamer appeared. Whether it will be effective in the edited version is questionable. The reactions were better for In-Ho's scenes."

"That's right. The chat frequency in In-Ho's scenes was about 1.2 times higher than Almond's. When looking at all the scenes, it was almost three times more."

Director Jang reviewed the data. That was indeed the case. The number of chat messages during In-Ho’s scenes was higher, but... it was excessively high and almost seemed artificial.

"Our system can't filter out one person typing multiple times. Isn't this just typical idol fandom behavior?"

This usually happened when a popular idol appeared. Some fans intentionally flooded the chats, and group chats could skew the data.

"Do general audiences find this interesting based on the chats?"

This data didn’t represent the general public's preference. Now, it was a matter of interpretation.

"Don't we have to accept an idol fandom's loyalty as one of the general public's preferences?"

Some believed that the loyalty of idol fans should be considered as part of the data.

"No, broadcasts are about views. No matter how much an individual loves In-Ho and wants to spend money on him, we only count it as one view."

Director Jang believed that even if a person repeatedly showed engagement, they only counted as one person.

"But if we edit toward In-Ho, targeting advertisements becomes much easier. The main demographic will be women in their teens and twenties. Given their loyalty, the advertising profit will be substantial."

"That's right. Those fans don't just flood the chats. They also show loyalty in terms of purchasing power. We don’t just live on views. If that were the case, we would’ve switched to YouTube."

Director Jang remained silent for a moment.

Another producer interjected, "Right. Firstly, the makeup brand Minimas is affiliated with In-Ho’s agency and is one of our major sponsors."

Director Jang frowned.

"Do you want me to edit based on the sponsor's preferences?"

"It's not about pandering to the sponsor. If they're advertising, targeting the same demographic for the program isn’t bad."

Director Jang let out a long sigh.

"Ah, this game of numbers."

Everyone felt the tension in the air.

"For now, consider both options. Let's end the meeting here. Thank you, everyone."

Director Jang left the meeting room first and the rest of the team continued their conversation.

"Why is Director Jang like that? Our job is to make profitable shows, right?"

"Exactly... We're not artists or anything."

They seemed displeased with Director Jang's judgment.

Writer Yu defended Director Jang.

The concept of a profitable show differed for them. PD Jang believed that if it were entertaining, the views would increase. And views meant money, didn't they?

"... Well, that could be true. But do major channels make money from views? How many views can we get? Only minor channels can distribute based on views."

"But, if the views are high, sponsors would─"

"No. Do you think advertisers decide based on the view count? They give money to channels that potential buyers are watching."

"..."

"A channel watched by all: men, women, young, and old. Sounds great, but think from an advertiser's perspective. Who would they target?"

Writer Yu couldn't argue and was left gaping.

"That's enough. Writer Yu is still so naive. PD Jang is too. Let's disband."

With that, everyone left the meeting room.

***

On the rooftop, the gloomy winter sky could be seen. Above it, a single red star brightly burned in midday.

Flick.

With a sigh, PD Jang exhaled smoke.

"Sigh. If it's like this, might as well use AlphaGo as a PD."

Since when were the entertainment show PDs no fun anymore? How many of the current major channels actually had genuinely fun content? They all seemed like machines that crunched numbers to pull the most advertisements.

Viewers didn't even know why they watched. They just blankly stared and aimlessly laughed.

These TV shows were meant to make viewers mindlessly watch advertisements.

"Isn't fun the top priority?"

He asked the empty air with no one to answer him.

"Wasn't it that people watched because it was fun and ads simply came with it..."

At some point, the order changed.

"Well... if watching their favorite idols is fun, then it's fun."

PD Jang leaned on the railing and turned on his phone. He checked the Treevy app, which he usually didn't watch.

He curiously looked and noticed...

[Streaming now]

"Oh? At this time?"

Almond was streaming.

[That game sponsored you?]

That was the title.

"Huh. He's advertising too. Ads... everywhere... Huh?"

PD Jang recognized the game being played.

[Playing Kingdom Age]

'Kingdom?'

He remembered the game from the shoot. PD Jang remembered the story because it was entertaining.

'Ah, that perfect shot.'

The concept of the perfect shot was particularly memorable.

Curious, he clicked on Almond's stream.

"Wow, they gave him an ad too?"

PD Jang had nothing else to do while smoking.

"Huh? What's this?"

Upon entering the stream, Mr. Jang’s expression instantly turned to disbelief.