Chapter 178 : Recruitment for PerG-Day Interns (1)
Recruitment for PerG-Day Interns (1)
Late at night, in a bustling district's beef restaurant.
In a private room, three men were seated together.
"Alright, order whatever you want! Don't hold back!"
The eldest, Genome, burst out laughing heartily as he spoke.
He had ended their group stream a little early that day to organize this dinner get-together.
To celebrate the formation of the PerG-Day crew, he hadn't even invited any staff.
This was an occasion meant solely for the three members themselves.
"Really, we can order anything?"
"I said order, didn't I?"
"Then I'll have the sirloin, please."
"I heard brisket just melts in your mouth, should we each get five portions?"
At Lee Gyeongbok's suggestion, Genome flinched.
"The three of us, eating ten portions?"
"No, we also have to order the cuts you want, hyung."
At those words, Genome blinked. Come to think of it, both Eclipse and Gyeongbok were pretty large guys.
By standard servings, they'd hardly feel full.
"Eh, you're right! Then, I'll go with ribs!"
Genome soon burst out laughing again, calling for a staff member. After placing their order, Genome raised his voice again.
"Ahem, and Eclipse—if you're alright, you don't have to speak so formally. We're practically family now."
"Haha, I think I'm just more comfortable using honorifics because I've lived with my grandfather for so long. But it would be nice if both you and Purple spoke comfortably with me."
"No, but if only one side drops the formalities, isn't that a bit..."
Genome hesitated for a moment at that response, but Gyeongbok was different.
He gently patted Eclipse's shoulder and spoke up.
"See? This hyung is actually pretty shy. Just use casual speech once."
"What? How am I shy!?"
"Ah, right. You a middleman?"
Gyeongbok's playful remark eased the mood. Eclipse laughed and nodded.
"Alright, hyung."
"Hey, just relax! I'll just do what's comfortable for me, too."
"Huh? Is the small-mindedness coming out again?"
"When did I become small-minded?"
As the three sturdy men joked around, their food arrived. The vivid red beef and dramatic marbling caught everyone's eye.
"Oh, we'll grill it ourselves."
Normally, this restaurant would grill the meat for you, but Genome took up the plate and placed the meat on the grill himself.
He prided himself on being a good griller, and he wanted to treat them properly since it was a special occasion.
Once they'd eaten to a reasonable degree, Genome casually broached a topic.
"Sorry to bring up work stuff, but there are a few things we need to clarify."
"What is it?"
"I know we all trust each other. Still, since we're now a crew, I think we need some 'rules.'"
Genome cleared his throat lightly and spoke with a serious expression.
"You know I've been streaming for quite a while, right? I've seen crews rise and fall many times. Sometimes as an outsider and sometimes from the inside."
Genome rolled his eyes, letting out a shudder at the memories. At that, Gyeongbok nodded.
"Yeah, I get it. Rules are good. Even if we all get along, our standards might differ."
"Yes, I agree. It's better to reach an agreement in advance."
"That's why I didn't order any alcohol. Decisions like this are best made while sober."
With Eclipse also consenting, the three started their discussion. After a while, they summarized the agreed-upon rules.
"So, what's number one? 'Don't believe everything Troopers say.' That's it."
Surprisingly, the first rule was about their viewers.
"In the beginning, it was all just playful teasing, but things got twisted and it sparked an actual dis war."
Once grouped as a crew, the members naturally became exceptions to the "no mentioning other streamers" rule.
Thus, some viewers would compare members or send joking messages between streams as donations.
"Later we found out some trolls deliberately tried to sow discord."
Among them, there were trolls who genuinely aimed to stir up trouble.
"But what can you do? By that point, everyone's fighting, their image is ruined, and everything falls apart. That's how crews disband."
"Seriously, I don't get why people even go that far."
"As more people gather, the number of weirdos grows too, I guess."
Genome immediately followed up on their responses.
"Yeah, so the second rule links to the first: 'If there's a problem, meet and talk in person.' It's good for just the people involved, but having another member there is even better."
Rule two was to meet directly if any issues arose among members.
"If you clarify things on stream, it can just make things worse. People might think you're making excuses."
"Definitely, meeting in person solves things better than chatting online or on calls."
"Exactly, I mean, our job has one huge perk—that we have flexible time."
If they were regular office workers, making time would be tough, but as streamers, adjusting schedules wasn't hard.
"Next is collabs, right?"
"Yeah, the timing for collab streams will be flexible, but we'll do an official one at least once a month."
"That's a rule for the viewers' benefit."
There was no point in forming a crew if they never streamed together. If too much time passed between collabs, viewers got nervous and suspected discord among the members.
It was good both for group harmony and for fans to set a regular schedule for collabs.
"The best thing is to set a fixed date, but we can iron that out gradually."
"Understood."
"Next, there's revenue sharing..."
Lee Gyeongbok wrinkled his nose slightly.
Once acting as a crew, contracts and ad proposals often came in for the group rather than individuals.
But rarely did companies prepare separate contracts for each member.
"Wouldn't it be best to split things evenly?"
In those cases, the members had to figure out revenue sharing themselves.
The three had different opinions on how to do it. Gyeongbok preferred an equal, per-person split.
"Nah, that's not it."
"I disagree with that too."
The other two didn't see it that way.
"Gyeongbok, if anything comes to us, your share will absolutely be the majority, no question."
"I agree as well. What's fair is taking your portion according to your contribution."
From the company's perspective, the primary appeal of the PerG-Day crew was, after all, Lee Gyeongbok.
"People just aren't that hard-hearted. If you get more than your fair share of money, you never know how you might change. You might start thinking you're hot stuff."
"Sometimes, a member with the bigger cut tries to be generous but then gets hurt when no one notices. It causes problems. It's not like Purple would do that, but there's no reason to go down that path either."
With the two people who'd benefit most rejecting his suggestion, Gyeongbok couldn't press the issue.
'In a way, it really shows that they're people I can get closer to.'
Gyeongbok nodded with a faint smile.
"So, as decided, we'll divide revenue based on subscriber count?"
"Yes."
"Yeah, that's best."
Genome smiled with relief and brought up the last rule.
"It might be too early to think about this on day one, but we might want to recruit new members someday. Someone promising could show up at the next audition."
"A new member, huh..."
That was the rule relating to new member recruitment.
"With your standards, I'd trust your judgment, but everyone's criteria are different."
"Exactly. So a new member can only join if all current members unanimously accept them."
"And before joining, they have to agree to all the crew rules."
If even one person was hesitant, the candidate would be rejected. For Gyeongbok, it was a welcome stipulation.
'With these rules, we can easily weed out anyone problematic.'
The three reviewed the last rule and smiled.
"Alright, so let's stick with these five as the basics for now."
"Feels good to have things structured."
"With the Black Company theme, it's basically like making official company rules."
Genome chuckled low and pressed the staff call button.
"Alright then, let's have a drink!"
"What about the snacks?"
"I said just order whatever!"
"How about some sliced brisket this time?"
The three filled their glasses with drinks brought by the staff and clinked them together.
"Let's have some fun with this."
* * *
The next day, on Genome's fan cafe.
Unlike yesterday, the main photo of the fan cafe had changed. Instead of Genome in his Anatomy of a Master researcher costume, it now displayed Purple and Genome holding a suit and mask, with Eclipse in knight's armor standing beside them.
[Wow lol, it feels real now]
[For real, it's become the official PerG-Day Crew fan cafe?!]
[I get why yesterday's stream ended early, haha]
[King-honest, the cafe is so much more convenient lol]
Purple and Eclipse only managed their fan pages, while Genome also managed the fan cafe, resulting in this arrangement.
This was possible because all three shared a significant overlap in their fanbase.
[Even so, the member count has gone up a lot]
[It's nice that the boards are sorted now lol]
[Let's be honest, Tnight needs a revamp]
[Lol, isn't Hot Clip the only good thing?]
The cafe members were pleased. However, the excitement didn't last long.
Their attention soon shifted to the newly opened board.
[(Ltd.) PerG-Day Intern Applications]
This was the audition board announced on the previous day's stream. Applicants had to submit their posts in the correct format to apply.
[Can regular members see the applicants?]
[Do you have to level up to read it?]
[Why is everything private?]
[Wait, wasn't everything supposed to be public?]
Curiously, all application posts were anonymous and only viewable by administrators.
This differed from what Lee Gyeongbok had said the previous day. Hadn't he promised total transparency?
[Lol, so many college kids applying]
[To be honest, application forms aren't typically made public lol]
[Our hyung might be an old guy, but his streaming experience is real]
[It's right not to show whose applying]
Other members quickly replied to the confusion.
[Let's find out why the application board is private.araboza]
[First, you never know what personal info will be in the application.
Even in real companies, hR personnel are the only ones allowed access because of privacy.
Of course, this isn't a real company, but still lol
Genome is being smart here
Honestly, while there will be some known smurfers, there could also be absolute newbs or really small streamers
Why?
Right now, PerG-Day collab streams pull almost 20,000 viewers—a crazy opportunity, right?
Honestly, just passing the audition means you'll blow up lol
But what if the applicants are public?
You think Troopers would just stand by?
It'd turn into, 'Out of their league,' 'No chance they'll make it,' 'Applying with these specs? Got a conscience?' all that trash lol.
You say you wouldn't do it? So what? You watch alone?
Lol, if you revealed it and just blocked comments, you think it'd stop people?
Anyone with a brain wouldn't ask that lol
Even if you block comments, people will still screenshot and share it on other communities, obviously
So why make an application board at all?
There's a number next to the posts
That shows the number of applicants
So Troopers can see how many applied, and applicants can check out the competition.
Obvious what it means lol
No matter what, our Genome knows streaming!]
[-Genome-expert making an appearance?]
[Genome's alt account right here]
[Lol, was it really you all along?]
[Lol, top-level Trooper detected]
[-This guy's probably an internet oldie, huh?]
[Please just live in reality! Lol]
[Lol, like anyone here can talk!]
A member's summary post quickly dispelled questions. Instead, people focused on the number of applicants.
[Is this the only place to apply?]
[Isn't 61 people not that many so far?]
[It's not as many as I expected]
[Probably because it's that much more pressure]
About three hours before stream time, there were 61 applicants.
[Lol, 61 is a lot!]
[Did you even consider filtering, lol]
[Let's be honest, most smurfers already made their own teams]
[Old season competitors are doing practice streams]
[There aren't that many smurfers at Platinum rank and above for bot lane anyway]
It seemed like a low number, but most thought otherwise.
Given PerG-Day's requirements, it was actually a lot.
[I bet there'll be last-minute applications, too lol]
[Won't it wrap up at around 80?]
[80:2 is a crazy competition rate lol]
[But it's a jackpot for whoever makes it!]
[I bet people will rush in, just like that commenter above]
As stream time drew near, people's attention drifted away from the cafe.
They moved over to the Tri channel, ready for the main program.
Maybe that's why—
[Hurry and check out the MCK broadcast right now!]
A rushed post went largely unnoticed.
Only a few users checking applicant numbers found it.
And even before they could click on the post—
[Breaking: Elephant mentions Purple on MCK!]
A new post with an irresistible headline appeared.
Surprised users clicked it instantly. The content, tellingly, contained just a single highlight clip.
From the 'Mystic League Championship Korea'—the MCK opening match—a post-match 'Tier One' interview.
〈Alright, let's talk to today's MVP—Tier One's Elephant player!〉
The interviewee was Elephant. Jung Soyoon, the caster, cheerfully handed him the mic.
〈Thank you.〉
〈Elephant, you really shined in today's opening match. The commentators and even the opposing team were shocked—can you share a little of the secret?〉
Perhaps he saw this question coming.
Without hesitation, elephant answered.
〈I can't deny my performance has been inconsistent. But lately, I found the answer to that.〉
At those words, the already-wide eyes of Jung Soyoon grew even bigger. Even the crowd's murmurs grew so loud they carried on the mic.
But Elephant was unshaken. He looked straight into the camera and continued.
〈I don't know if you're watching the game now, but I'd like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude.〉
The murmurs immediately subsided.
As if unwilling to interrupt, everyone watched and listened very closely.
〈To the streamer who taught me so much—Mr. Purple, thank you from the bottom of my heart.〉
〈Mr. Purple?!〉
Hearing the benefactor's name, Jung Soyoon involuntarily raised her voice.
〈Elephant, are you personally acquainted with Mr. Purple?〉
〈My fans might know this, but it was chance. We met in-game, and I was the one who asked for help first.〉
Elephant turned to the camera again, giving a gentle smile.
〈Even though I shamelessly asked, he made time for me without hesitation. I won't waste the help or the time he gave me—I'll make sure to win every game ahead.〉
〈It's great to see Elephant so confident again! Thank you for the interview, elephant!〉
Thus ended the clip.
Barely five minutes long, but it contained plenty.
[-Whoa! Wasn't Elephant the guy they met on day one?]
[When did that even happen?!]
[Lol, resisting the temptation to upload this to Q-tube?]
[Wow lol, did he really help just out of kindness?]
[Godple's character is unreal!]
[But it's a Black Company! A Black Company, guys!]
[Only real tough guys secretly help those in need]
[What, an amateur helping a pro?!]
[How is this real?]
[Professors giving external lectures now?]
["Wait, don't I need to pay tuition?"]
[NewtonLord must be genuinely fuming right now]
[-The crazy thing is Godple's coaching even helped a pro, lol]
[Is there anyone who's not buying Purple Coin now?]
[Lol, even pros can't resist Purple Coin!]
[How high can this guy go?!]
["To Mars we go!"]
[Are you becoming the Elon Musk of Earth? Lol]
Everyone marveled and praised his apparently "hidden" good deeds. But the aftermath didn't end there.
[What's up with the application board now?]
[Lol, Purple Coin rush starting]
[Hesitant ants are all rushing in before market close]
[Whoa, over 200 applicants? Seriously?]
[Application cutoff in 10 minutes!]
Suddenly, the applicant count exploded, passing 200 in an instant.
The value of teaming up with PerG-Day and Purple was now more apparent than ever.