Chapter 16 : Clarification Broadcast
Chapter 16: Clarification Broadcast
Four days had already passed since the hack controversy began burning up all the communities.
However, despite time passing, the communities showed no signs of calming down. Rather, as if oil had been poured on them, they only blazed more fiercely.
Generally, no matter how big a controversy was, it would be reasonably extinguished after about four days, yet this was happening.
Of course, there was a reason for it.
A controversy calming down only happens when the subject quietly goes into hiding.
When the subject pours oil by announcing they’ll appear on a clarification broadcast, it was natural for the flames to intensify.
Just like Kang Soyul did this time.
[Notice] Will Conduct Hack Controversy Clarification Broadcast
After finishing talking with Baek Woohyun, Kang Soyul immediately posted a clarification broadcast announcement on her broadcast channel as soon as she coordinated the schedule with Planet Earth.
In case the controversy died down and the reaction was weak, she poured oil at the moment it was blazing most fiercely.
The flames grew as she had hoped, and time passed like that—the announced broadcast date arrived.
“Oh right, did you read the script I sent you?”
Around ten minutes before the broadcast started.
Kang Soyul asked as if suddenly remembering.
At her question, Baek Woohyun recalled the Word file he had received from her through Kokoatalk.
Containing three A4 pages worth of content.
“Yes, I read it.”
Since there was nothing particularly difficult to understand, it didn’t take long to read.
Enough to read it all in less than five minutes.
The problem was.
“I did read it but… there were quite a lot of blank parts in the script. Why is that?”
The content itself had holes throughout.
Just enough to grasp the overall progression.
Thanks to that he could read it quickly, but it was also true that looking at the content made him tilt his head.
Thinking ‘Is this enough?’
“Ahaha. That’s because, due to the nature of personal broadcasting, the script has no choice but to be like that.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Since we can communicate with viewers, it doesn’t progress entirely according to script. Unless you completely ignore donations and chat, but…”
Kang Soyul shrugged as if it was impossible.
Well, chat aside, there was no way she could ignore donations, the main source of income.
It meant she had to react somehow, which made it absolutely impossible to proceed entirely according to script.
Think about it.
What would happen if donations and chat were enthusiastically talking about the previous game, but she moved quickly to the next game saying she’d proceed according to script?
It would have the adverse effect of cutting off the flow and killing the atmosphere.
In that case, it would be worse than having no script at all.
Baek Woohyun, who realized why she gave him a script full of holes, bobbed his head.
“The script is just something I sent for you to reference since this is how I plan to proceed with the broadcast, and Woohyun-nim can just do as you like.”
“As I like…”
“As long as you don’t use excessively harsh profanity or suggestive actions, it’s fine. Since it’s a personal broadcast, there aren’t strict standards or anything.”
“I can cover for any minor verbal mistakes!” Kang Soyul, who added this, grinned as if telling him to just trust her.
For Baek Woohyun, who had lived a life completely unrelated to personal broadcasting, it was a fairly grateful story.
While he had chosen the clarification broadcast proposal because he had his own plans, he had no intention of ruining her broadcast.
“However.”
“Yes! Please speak.”
“I suddenly became curious, but Soyul-ssi doesn’t seem to think at all that I used hacks. May I ask why?”
“Uh…”
At Baek Woohyun’s question, Kang Soyul’s eyes widened.
Come to think of it, that was certainly true.
For some reason, she was completely excluding the possibility that Baek Woohyun used hacks.
Not consciously thinking ‘I should believe!’, but subconsciously concluding that there was no way he used hacks.
Belatedly realizing that fact, she tilted her head.
‘Why did I think that way?’
A moment of contemplation.
The answer came faster than expected.
“Eyes…”
‘Right, that’s it. Because of the eyes.’
What momentarily flashed through Kang Soyul’s mind was the scene when she first met Baek Woohyun.
That moment when she faced those dully clouded inverted eyes.
Pure white and dead, pupils flickering only with madness and murderous intent—what had she thought seeing those eyes?
‘How could anyone think of hacks seeing those eyes.’
“Eyes… you say?”
When Baek Woohyun asked back after hearing her inadvertent mutter, Kang Soyul made an ‘oops!’ expression.
Unless she wanted to give the insane answer “Because your eyes were like a crazy murderer’s, I didn’t even think of hacks!”, she needed to quickly think of an excuse.
Her head spun faster than ever before.
Naturally, an answer that could salvage the situation didn’t come easily.
Seeing Baek Woohyun tilt his head at the lengthening silence, Kang Soyul’s mouth moved on its own.
“Because your eyes were sincere! That’s why I believed you!”
“…?”
Baek Woohyun’s expression became strange.
An expression as if it was an answer he hadn’t expected at all, and it actually did contain that meaning.
Because eyes being sincere was something he was hearing for the first time in his life, including that other world.
However, he soon returned to an indifferent face.
In any case, it was a sufficient answer to resolve minor curiosity.
It wasn’t an important issue either.
“I see.”
“Yes, that’s it!”
‘What do you mean that’s it, Kang Soyul you crazy bitch-!’
As the two people’s conversation somehow wrapped up, the scheduled broadcast time was approaching.
Kang Soyul, who lightly clapped her hands a couple times, said:
“Then I’ll start the broadcast now! Woohyun-nim, please stay away for a moment as written in the script, and when I give the signal, come over here!”
“Yes, understood.”
Baek Woohyun moved to a spot a few steps away.
It was the ‘position that doesn’t appear on broadcast’ that Kang Soyul had informed him of in advance.
Now he would wait here briefly, then when he received the signal, walk into view beside Kang Soyul.
“Phew-”
‘Good! Let’s go!’
Kang Soyul, who briefly checked on Baek Woohyun, pressed the broadcast start button.
Now she just needed to wait for those who had followed her broadcast to see the start notification and come.
In about five minutes, around a thousand people would gather, and around then she could switch screens and properly proceed with the broadcast—
-Let’s, go~ Let’s, go~ Let’s, go~ Let’s, go~ Let’s, go~ Let’s, go~
-Clarify clarify clarify clarify clarify clarify
-Is this the broadcast selling hacks (really don’t know)
-Very festive atmosphere. Is it a festival? No, it’s a funeral. Very festive atmosphere. Is it a festival? No, it’s a funeral.
-Hacker Out! Hacker Out! Hacker Out! Hacker Out! Hacker Out! Hacker Out! Hacker Out!
—But it didn’t take very long to realize how naive that thought was.
Surprisingly, when barely over a minute had passed since Kang Soyul turned on the broadcast, the viewer count was already exceeding six thousand.
Considering the fact that the average viewer count watching her broadcast was usually 2-3 thousand, it meant over twice that number had rushed in at once.
Even this wasn’t enough, and the viewer count was rapidly rising in real-time.
What more needed to be said when she had already broken the ten thousand mark while she was inwardly clicking her tongue, not having expected such a hot response?
If given more time, fifteen thousand, perhaps even twenty thousand seemed easily achievable.
‘I didn’t know I’d renew my broadcast’s highest viewer count record like this.’
Kang Soyul’s past highest broadcast viewer count was six thousand.
This was even a record set when she co-streamed with a broadcaster commonly called major corporations, and when alone she had only reached a maximum of four thousand.
But now, before the broadcast even started, she had hit the highest viewer count, and in that brief time it increased further so nearly eight thousand viewers had come in and were waiting.
The record renewed by such an excessively large margin was absurd enough to make her laugh hollowly.
Of course, that didn’t mean it was a bad thing.
If she had no way to handle it, she would have been anxious not knowing what to do, but now she had the solid card called ‘Planet Earth Korea’ prepared.
Rather, a kind of anticipation was even rising in her heart.
‘In any case, it means I’m receiving tremendous attention, so if I lead this well, the content’s success is certain!’
Even if only half of these remained, that’s five thousand, and even if that got cut in half again, that’s two thousand five hundred.
Meaning average viewer count would skyrocket by double!
Kang Soyul clenched her fist and steeled her will.
‘I can’t miss this opportunity!’
“Yes, hello everyone! Good morning!”
-Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha Hackhahahaha
-Hackyaho! Hackyaho! Hackyaho! Hackyaho! Hackyaho! Hackyaho!
-What happened? Why is chat like this?
-What the fuck; spam is insane;;
-Could you sell me just one hack please? Could you sell me just one hack please? Could you sell me just one hack please?
Finally, as it switched from the waiting screen to the broadcast screen, the chat window began heating up like crazy.
What more needed to be said when hundreds of chats were uploaded at once per second, so much that even veteran broadcaster Kang Soyul couldn’t read them at all?
Fed up with the spam continuing ceaselessly and crazily enough to make the broadcast program itself lag, Kang Soyul firmly declared:
“Ugh, chat is too fast and even causing lag. I’m sorry but I’ll activate slow mode!”
Finally, only after activating slow mode (a state where after sending one chat, you can only chat again after a certain time passes) did the chat window become somewhat calmer.
That said, it just meant those who had been spamming like crazy decreased, and the fact that the chat window was scrolling up at tremendous speed hadn’t changed.
Well, thinking about it, even if ten thousand people chatted just once each, over ten thousand chats would go up, so it couldn’t be helped.
Moreover, these people were even burning with their own righteous cause of ‘destroying the broadcast where a hacker brazenly shows their face’…
‘If I hadn’t blocked donations from appearing in advance, it would have been worse than this, right? At least that’s fortunate.’
Kang Soyul, who inwardly sighed in relief, spoke in a more composed tone than usual.
“An incredibly large number of people have come to my broadcast. Thank you. The reason is naturally because of the hack controversy that’s become a hot topic recently, right?”
-So when will the hacker get banned?
-Implement justice let’s goooo
-I did come after seeing that post ㅇㅇ
-But why is chat like this when this person isn’t even a hacker
-I was thinking that too while watching;;; Really dizzying;;;
“I also read posts about the hack controversy. From the first post claiming hack suspicions, to the posts after, all of them. But you know what, everyone.”
Kang Soyul looked straight at the camera in front.
Her two eyes shone clearly and firmly.
“To be honest, no matter how much I read them, I couldn’t understand. Those posts. There’s not a single piece of evidence put forth while driving toward hacking, they’re just claiming it’s a hack because the physicality is too amazing.”
-???
-Is she defending a hacker right now??
-What hack are you shielding lololol
-So how much are you selling hacks for
-One more person falling to hell~
At Kang Soyul’s words blatantly confronting them, the chat window heated up hotly.
Chats poured out at a speed hard to think of as slow mode.
Most were criticism toward Kang Soyul.
Among them were even raw profanities.
Even though the broadcast manager and chat bot were diligently cutting chats that crossed the line.
However, Kang Soyul didn’t care at all about the chats tearing into her.
Because she had expected such a reaction would return even before opening her mouth.
How could she, who had continued personal broadcasting for years, not even guess the result of pouring oil on burning viewers?
Thus she continued speaking calmly throughout.
“Normally, malicious rumors full of malice created only through speculation without evidence are called malicious rumors. Like this hack controversy.”
-Malicious rumors lol bullshit lololol
-Give me a break fuck
-We all know it’s noise marketing~~
-? Not wrong though. It’s all circumstantial evidence, right
-Reported broadcast for defending hacks ㅅㄱ
“Then I’ll ask everyone. Is there anyone here who has solid evidence that Woohyun-nim used hacks? Not speculation that it seems that way circumstantially, but evidence that can definitively conclude it’s a hack.”
Of course, there was no way such evidence existed.
Because all the combat Baek Woohyun showed on broadcast was accomplished entirely through his skill.
When even the start of driving him as a hacker was a post entirely thrown together with only speculation, how could those incited by it have proper evidence?