Chapter 33
Chapter 33: Let's Grow NewTube
About eight hours after posting the vlog.
Mu-yeong had taken a short nap and woke up to check the view count.
"Eight hundred views. Not completely terrible."
He'd heard that if you caught the algorithm—or whatever it was called—you could skyrocket all at once.
But for that to happen right away would be nothing short of luck.
For now, he wanted to take meaning in the fact that he'd taken a first step.
"But…… why are there so many comments?"
Eight hundred views, yet seven hundred comments.
A ratio that wouldn't be an exaggeration to say nearly everyone who watched had left one.
He started by reading the most-liked ones first.
—Sigh……. He's genuinely good-looking so I'll let it slide. ↑ 350
—This is the last time. I'm going dormant. Don't expect anything from me next time. ↑ 236
—Great as white noise lol ↑ 104
Mu-yeong tilted his head.
He'd filmed the vlog to show what his daily life was like, yet the reactions in the comments were subtly different from what he'd expected.
Scrolling further down, he was able to pinpoint the problem.
—You expect us to watch all of this?
—Boss, twelve hours is a bit much…….
—No editing?
—Impressive that he just uploaded it in one go lol
"So twelve hours really was too long."
It did make people spend half a day—that was a bit excessive.
Then how much should he cut it down?
Maybe about six hours?
After a brief moment of contemplation, Mu-yeong came to a conclusion.
He'd let the viewers' reactions decide.
He turned on the stream right away.
—Oh, you've been going live diligently lately.
—Sup sup
—Who is this? Isn't this the Mu-yeong who uploaded a twelve-hour vlog raw with zero editing?
—Ah that thing lol
—I watched it and it was hilarious lololol
Sure enough.
Talk about the Newtube video came up right away.
Aware of his mistake, Mu-yeong acknowledged it without resistance.
"Before I started the stream I read through the Newtube comments. Even by my own assessment, twelve hours was too much."
—So you knew?
—If he didn't know, that'd be even more serious lol
—You thought it was too much yourself?
—First time in my life seeing someone upload like this lol
"So next time I plan to cut it in half. Will that do?"
—?
—?
The chat flooded with question marks.
Mu-yeong was equally puzzled.
He'd cut it down by a whole half, and yet that was the reaction.
In that case, generously speaking, in three parts……
['12-Hour Meditation Mad Movie' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—Sir, instead of half, what about cutting it into 30 pieces? I think that'd be just right.
"Thirty pieces? Isn't that too short? Rough math puts that at about twenty-four minutes."
['12-Hour Meditation Mad Movie' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—That's the standard, though? If it's too long, people won't even want to click on it;
—Truuue lol
—He's got a point lol
—That's right lol
—I don't click on anything over thirty minutes either
"Is that so? Hmm……."
As Mu-yeong showed signs of genuinely considering it, the viewers finally realized.
That this person was dead serious.
['One by One' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—(horrifying) The twelve-hour unedited upload wasn't a mistake???
—Aaaaaaah!
—Come on, who in the world would do that lol
—Gonna sleep with the lights on tonight lol
—I literally got chills lol
—Even more shocking is the fact that he was thinking six hours next lol
['Backhanded Compliment Doll' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—What are you worried about? He'll just upload a six-hour one, then get told again, then cut it to three hours. Then one hour thirty minutes. Probably gets normal around the fifth iteration ㅇㅇ
—This is exactly it lol
—Slowly narrowing it down lol
—Nice to watch him grow, isn't it lol
—Effort is what counts, at least lol
Looking at the reactions, six hours clearly would have been pushing it too.
Mu-yeong came to terms with the situation.
He'd accept the advice and aim for about thirty minutes.
"Understood. I'll try drastically cutting down the time for my next vlog."
—Phew
—Thank goodness.
—Crisis averted for now.
—Looking forward to it ㅇㅇ
It seemed the issue was resolved—but something else was waiting.
['Shallow Waters' has donated 1,000 Won.]
—But don't tell me you're filming yourself meditating again? I'd genuinely be disappointed;
"Isn't a vlog about filming your everyday actions? Meditative Breathing Cultivation is part of my daily routine."
—No no no no
—It's everyday life, sure, but there needs to be a theme.
—People only watch because it's you, Mu-yeong. Who's gonna watch someone just sitting there with their eyes closed.
—Basically the same as a nap video;
—I had it playing as white noise ASMR lol
A theme.
Yu-na had indeed said something like that, too.
Whether it's cooking, taking a walk, or cleaning.
Pick one thing first and actually do something.
For Mu-yeong, who didn't really have any hobbies to speak of, it was quite a difficult challenge.
Of course, these days he did keep up with other people's streams, but that was strictly to check which games were trending.
He never sat glued to it for hours on end.
I'll have to do some market research on this side too.
Mu-yeong picked up his phone.
When it came to people he could ask something of, his connections were rock-solid.
The Iron Blood Witch, boasting a million subscribers.
Yu Ye-rin, who had surpassed five hundred thousand.
Yu-na, hovering in the low-to-mid two hundred thousand range.
All of them were top-tier streamers in their own right, but Mu-yeong chose Yu-na immediately.
The reason was simple.
Right now, Mu-yeong and the Iron Blood Witch had absolutely no connection in the streaming world.
They met in person often enough, but publicly they were strangers.
In that state, calling her out of nowhere would raise questions for everyone—so, pass.
Yu Ye-rin was the same.
They were on fairly close terms, but the fact that she belonged to Daehwasan Sect was a sticking point.
The incident from the night before was still unresolved, so she was on hold for now.
And so, by process of elimination, Yu-na was chosen.
A short while later, a bright voice rang out from the speaker.
"Oh, hello. Mu-yeong?"
"I'm in the middle of a stream, but do you have a moment to talk?"
"Of course. What's going on?"
The unexpected voice caused the chat to fly upward.
—Oh wait, who is this?
—Who is it???
—Sounds like Yu-na?
—It's Yu-na!
—It's definitely Yu-na omg
"I filmed my first vlog yesterday and uploaded it, but I can't get a feel for it. I called because I was hoping you could help."
"Oh, really? Then let me watch Mu-yeong's vlog through properly first and give you feedback later. You're streaming right now, so is this okay?"
"Thank you. I'll be waiting."
"Sure~"
Click.
The call ended.
Mu-yeong spoke with a confident air.
"As you all know, Yu-na is a streamer who uploads vlogs often. I've brought in a professional, so you can look forward to the next vlog."
—Oh nice nice.
—The connections are insane lol
—Streamers gotta look out for each other.
—But when did they even exchange numbers?
—Probably did it at the tournament.
"Well, now that the request is made, until I hear back I'll just——"
Just as Mu-yeong was about to move on to the next piece of content.
Bzzzt! Bzzzt!
—Didn't she just hang up less than 30 seconds ago?
—Instant rage feedback lol
—I can already guess what it's about
—Upvote if you saw this coming
For some reason, Mu-yeong felt reluctant to pick up.
He held off for three unnecessary seconds before pressing the green button.
A booming voice launched right out.
"Mu-yeong! Is this real? What on earth is this monstrous twelve hours?"
"……I just got told the exact same thing by my viewers, so please take it easy."
"Huu……. Fine. The playtime—it looks like you already know about that, so I'll move on. How is there nothing but meditation? You don't even say a single word?"
—She's making great points lol
—Please roast him harder
—As expected, Yu-na coming in with the straight talk lolllll
—Saying everything I wanted to say lol
"This is your first video, so you're barely scraping a thousand views as it is. Keep it up like this and you could fall to single digits. This is very serious."
"Then what should I do?"
"Hmm, clean editing that doesn't break the flow is important, but the angle you film from and the situations you capture matter too…… This is too vague to explain in words. I think the fastest way is to watch how other people do it and learn it in your body."
In short, it's a complete mess.
It meant he'd have to tear everything down from the very beginning and rebuild.
It'd be better to learn it properly from the start.
Right now he was putting effort into vlogs, but his main focus would naturally be gaming.
In that case, he'd need to find an editor and prepare a whole lot of other things.
While Mu-yeong quickly ran the calculations, Yu-na casually made a suggestion.
"So, um…… how about we do a collab stream tomorrow? I can teach you properly."
"I'd be very much for that. Can we sort out the details later?"
"Of course. Oh, but just so you know in advance—it's an in-person collab stream about how to film a vlog."
"In-person? Meeting face to face, you mean?"
"Yes!"
—Oh wow
—In-person collab omg
—A professional right there beside him teaching him?
—Definitely a must lol
—Please, someone turn our Mu-yeong into a functioning human being.
Mu-yeong had no particular reason to refuse.
On the contrary, it was welcome.
What could be a greater stroke of luck than learning firsthand, with someone right beside him?
He answered without hesitation.
"Then I'll see you tomorrow."
.
.
.
.
Bang!
"What! Ten billion?! Do you really think that makes any sense!"
Inside the office of the head of Daehwasan Sect.
Mae Han-gyeom roared at the figure in black kneeling on one knee before him.
"Five of you swarmed in together and couldn't even scratch him—not an arm, not a leg—and on top of that your identities were exposed and you just came back? You should have bitten your tongue off right then and there!"
"I have no excuse."
"Of course you don't! Good grief, I trusted the Shadow Unit, and what an utter embarrassment! How do I deal with this……."
Mae Han-gyeom clutched his throbbing head.
Ten billion.
His hands trembled, but as a proportion of his total assets it wasn't that overwhelming.
And yet having to dump that money—the sweat of his blood—right into that man's mouth.
It burned more than any bone-deep agony.
But if he ignored it, Daehwasan Sect's image would clearly plummet.
He had no intention of killing anyone—but even the single fact of having sent an assassin was more than enough to invite condemnation.
What was the deadline again? Midnight tonight?
There were two options.
First: wire the ten billion as it was and seal his lips completely.
Second: send a far stronger force and crush him entirely.
Honestly, the latter appealed to him more.
But seeing the fear-stricken face of Number One—the Shadow Unit's commander—gave him pause.
This man has never failed a mission before, and he looks like this. What in the world did he see to end up this way?
Number One: will to fight, shattered.
Numbers Two through Five: critically injured.
The struck areas completely destroyed—they were lying in hospital beds.
From what he'd heard, they all went down in a single hit.
"With ordinary forces it won't work—if anything, sending the Martial Force Commander along with elite troops……."
"That will be quite enough. Head of Sect."
At that moment, a soft male voice slipped into Mae Han-gyeom's ears.
He snapped his head around to find a man in white martial robes standing with his hands clasped behind his back.
Upon confirming the face, Mae Han-gyeom's expression drained white.
"Y-you are……!"
"We may not be close, but I don't believe I'm the sort of person you'd address so informally?"
Whsssh!
The instant the man flung open his fan, Number One lost consciousness.
At the same time, a pressure that seemed to squeeze Mae Han-gyeom's entire body came pouring down.
A prickling sensation.
Mae Han-gyeom immediately deployed his internal energy to resist.
This aura…… no question about it. But why is this person here……!
If you asked the martial world to name its two most brilliant minds, there were two names that appeared without fail.
The genius born of the Zhuge Family, known as Ten-Thousand-Wonder Heaven-Shaker, Zhuge Wun.
And.
The Demonic Heaven Sect's Chief Strategist.
Heaven-God's Brain, Yang Mu-geuk.
The very pinnacle of mystique—a man rumored to rarely show his face.
Why on earth had he appeared here, right now?
"Ahem……. Forgive me. I apologize for a moment ago."
"Accepted. More than that—don't we have something to discuss?"
"Discuss? What are you referring to?"
"Playing dumb won't do you any good. Last night—didn't you send the Shadow Unit to drown someone?"
Mae Han-gyeom wore an expression of bewilderment.
Less than an hour had passed since the incident.
And yet in that short time, he'd pinpointed the facts precisely and come all the way here.
For that to be possible, there was only one explanation.
Perhaps that Mu-yeong fellow was with the Demonic Sect……!
"He is not."
"What is 'not'?"
"The thought you just had. You were thinking the one who was attacked might be a member of our sect, were you not?"
"Truly uncanny. The Chief Strategist indeed."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Yang Mu-geuk's aura vanished in an instant.
He folded his fan and began tapping it lightly against his palm.
"To elaborate—that apartment building is under the protection of our Demonic Heaven Sect. So if a violent crime occurs there, what does that do to our image? We can't be trusted, it's dangerous here—that kind of sentiment would spread. Extremely inconvenient."
"So you came in person over that?"
"I couldn't very well send someone else to call on the Head of Sect."
"Kuhahahaha! Good, very good."
Mae Han-gyeom drank from his water glass.
He wiped the corner of his mouth and put on a grave expression.
"I apologize for today's business. I will ensure nothing of the sort ever happens again."
"I'm glad the conversation has moved in a favorable direction."
"I won't see you out."
"Then."
Yang Mu-geuk disappeared as smoothly as he had appeared.
Once he confirmed not even a trace of his presence remained, Mae Han-gyeom stroked his mustache.
"Of all the luck—living in an apartment under the Demonic Heaven Sect's protection. Count yourself fortunate. Mu-yeong."
His teeth gnashed as he checked his account balance.
At that same moment.
Yang Mu-geuk, having slipped out of the room, gazed northward.
At the end of that gaze seemed to be an apartment building that couldn't possibly be visible from there.
"I didn't expect you to have grown this much in ten years…… As expected of the Young Lord."
Yang Mu-geuk smiled and began moving again.
In the hands clasped behind his back was a small book.
On the very first page, the characters for 'Ledger' stood out in clear, bold strokes.
Whoosh.
As the wind swept past, the pages at the back of the book fluttered open.
The visible page was filled with the names of countless people.
Alongside them, numbers that could not be more suspicious.
"Any obstacles in your path—I will handle them all. So do not worry, and may you achieve everything you wish."
Yang Mu-geuk channeled energy into his feet and tucked the ledger into his chest.
Passing scenery blurred around him as he murmured quietly.
"My future Heavenly Demon."