I Want to Be a VTuber

"Ju Youngbin, can I ask you something?"

A little time had passed after Hyper Action Star ended. Kang Taejin had a drinking session with Youngbin.

"Do you even ask me anything? More importantly, today is my consultation about my troubles..." "About independence, you’ve already made up your mind about it, haven’t you?"

Youngbin cursed inwardly at his friend’s sharp words. Always just saying whatever he wants. At least he’s treating me today by buying the meat, so I’ll let it slide.

"So what’s this about?" "Do you know anything about OTT dramas?" "I know. But why are you asking me about that?" "Because it’s related to you too."

Upon hearing Taejin’s serious tone, Youngbin adjusted his sitting position. If it’s something related to him, it’s probably something about his family. And if it involves Taejin's family, it would certainly be something related to his daughter, Seoyeon.

"Tell me more." "Hyper Action Star was originally a promotional variety show. It’s a promotional show for the movie Mine." "I heard about that." "But there’s been a lot of internal discussions about it. Well, it’s mostly something I suggested."

Pouring a shot of soju lightly, Kang Taejin continued calmly.

"What we’re talking about is whether to go ahead with an OTT drama or a movie." "OTT drama? Like those Nettrix things?" "Yes." "So, it’s not just the domestic market, but you’re aiming for the overseas market as well?" "That’s the plan." "What about you, which one are you leaning towards?" "OTT drama. I’m the one who brought it up in the first place."

An OTT drama, huh. Youngbin had seen some of them before. But were any of them really that impactful?

To be honest, he wasn’t sure.

‘How am I supposed to know? I want to say that.’

Anyway, Kang Taejin also knows that he’s not someone with professional knowledge in that area. So, does that mean he just wants to hear his thoughts from the perspective of a regular person?

"I don’t really know much about that market, to be honest."

Youngbin shook his glass and spoke.

"At least, I think the general trend in the creative industry will be similar."

Youngbin worked in the gaming industry. He saw games as a comprehensive form of entertainment, combining music, video, and all sorts of other elements.

Web novels, webtoons, comics, and countless games. TV dramas, movies. All of them are interwoven into the market’s flow.

Recently, the rise of PC culture overseas is one such trend. Though he wasn’t sure how it would affect gamers. But Youngbin’s tastes didn’t align with it.

"People are always going to look for things that give them quick enjoyment."

For example, like YouTube Shorts. Games are similar.

So many games are being released, so they have to deliver fun quickly to attract players. It needs to have a distinct color rather than being just plain.

"Let’s take mobile game scenarios as an example."

The scenario of a mobile game is obviously important. But at the same time, there aren’t many people who actually watch it.

Most users just skip through the dialogue. They only enjoy the parts where they’re directly playing the game.

"So, is the scenario not important then?" "No, no, it’s not that. I’ve told you. These days, it’s all about Shorts. Not many people read the scenario, but there are definitely some who do. And those who do will post their thoughts on forums, SNS, or even on YouTube, with videos summarizing it. Or someone might watch someone else’s gameplay video."

He placed his glass down with a thud.

"Does that mean that these summary videos and reviews will be seen by others?" "Exactly. Regular users encounter the ‘start’ of the scenario there." "So, watching those videos is the proper way to enjoy the game?" "That’s right." "......" "I told you, these days it’s all about Shorts. That’s what it is."

It’s likely that this trend will only speed up with time. Or perhaps, there will be a time when people who’ve gotten tired of it will calmly enjoy the works. Only time will tell.

But the trend will inevitably come full circle. Right now, we’re simply in an era of quickly consuming creative works.

"Through reviews or videos, people might eventually want to experience the game’s full scenario." "So, you’re saying that the scenario is important?" "Well, yeah. But it’s not just mobile games. Web novels are similar. They don’t like long buildup, the kind that gets called ‘sweet potato’ developments. But is that bad? Not at all." "So, it’s just how the times are." "Yeah. In that sense, OTT dramas are closer to ‘Shorts’ than movies."

This ‘Shorts’ isn’t just about short videos.

"It’s about easy accessibility." "......Really?" "As individualism grows, the culture of enjoying things alone develops. With the flow of the times, OTT dramas seem to have jumped on the bandwagon."

Having said that, Youngbin suddenly thought he might be talking nonsense about the film industry, something he didn’t really understand. Wasn’t he just talking aimlessly? And if Taejin started having strange thoughts from all this, wouldn’t that be his responsibility?

"Ahem, anyway, that’s what I’m saying." "Is that so? That helps." "Well, you probably know about it already."

Saying that, Youngbin ate the finest hanwoo beef to his heart’s content. He thought again, it’s good to have a rich friend.

A few months later.

Child’s Game!! Number 1 on charts in 83 countries worldwide. The OTT phenomenon that shook the world starts in Korea!! What is OTT drama? Child’s Game reveals the power of culture!! Massive crowds gathered in Italy. All for Child’s Game?

A global mega-hit. A drama that brought in revenue higher than any foreign drama before.

It came out of Korea. After seeing the article, Youngbin thought.

"I should have bought the stocks."

His energy drained away. At that moment, when he told Kang Taejin that the future was OTT, if he had bought Nettrix stocks then...

He would be rolling in money now...

...

"No, it’s not too late." "It’s too late, team leader!!" "I’m telling you, it’s not too late! My daughter’s drama is going into production early next year!!"

In front of everyone at the company, he threw all his savings into Nettrix stocks. ...Of course, it was money he had saved up from his own pocket. It wasn’t family wealth.

But still, it was definitely valuable money.

"Ah, that’s not how you invest in stocks..." "This is the peak! The peak!" "If it goes higher, I’ll be eating my words." "Ugh, I really should have bought it earlier." "There’s no way there’s going to be another big hit like that."

Everyone tried to stop him, but Youngbin trusted his daughter. After all, his daughter had won awards this year and hadn’t had a single failure with her works.

"I believe in her, my little dinosaur."

He thought to himself. When the money starts rolling in, he’ll make sure to rub it in the faces of the company people who laughed at him.

A few days after the awards ceremony. With winter break just around the corner, Teacher Song Dayeon of the Yeonhwa High School Drama Club called Seoyeon.

"Seoyeon, would you mind putting your name on the drama club roster?" "I’ve already put it down." "Huh? When? Oh, really?"

Because of Lee Jiyeon’s suggestion, Seoyeon had already put her name on it some time ago. Though she had never participated in any activities yet.

Seoyeon’s club activities were only in the eSports club. Recently, she wasn’t even playing League and was focusing on her father’s company’s new game. The boys she used to play League with all started playing Eternity Camp once Seoyeon began.

Why do they all follow me around when I do something? Do I have some kind of influence on trends?

She thought about it, but it didn’t quite feel right.

When are they officially opening it? And they are running ads, right? She couldn’t get any information yet, so she couldn’t tell.

"Hey, when the new first-year students come in, can you at least show your face? Our Yeonhwa High is trying to push the arts and sports a lot these days. There are a lot of people coming because they want to see you." "Really?" "You’ll definitely be a great senior." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Beautiful senior!!" Seoyeon loved the sound of that.

"If you get the chance to act with the actress who won the Best Supporting Actress award, wouldn't a lot of aspiring actors come, right?" "Yeah, that's true."

Seoyeon basically liked showing off.

In that sense, joining the drama club didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She was a first-year student now, and though the seniors were still a bit reserved around her, she had never gone to the club before.

But doesn’t it always happen that juniors are shy around seniors? And if she, a proud and beautiful person, was there, it was only natural that the juniors would admire her.

Imagining the first-year students following her like chicks in her head, Seoyeon nodded.

"Sounds good." "Thank you! So, you'll be doing it with Jiyeon, right?" "Yes."

Jiyeon was also an actress who had won the Best New Actress award. Now, no one would dare to underestimate her.

In fact, Jiyeon had received numerous scripts from her agency already. Seoyeon knew that Jiyeon had shed a few tears upon seeing them.

‘That’s great.’

Jiyeon would probably get busier from now on. If so, winning the Best Actress award wouldn’t be just a dream.

Seoyeon thought to herself. Surely, if Jiyeon’s skills continue to improve, she could certainly win the Best Actress award.

Screech!

"Ah, hey." "Seoyeon’s here?"

After finishing that conversation, when she opened the classroom door and walked in, she could immediately feel the atmosphere had softened compared to before. Especially after Seoyeon won the Best Supporting Actress award at the ceremony.

Since Kyungsung Lady premiered, the once-tense air had calmed down. In fact, there were now people who came up to talk to Seoyeon.

"Seoyeon, you looked so beautiful at the awards." "You really looked like a princess."

She even heard those kinds of comments. Even when she remained expressionless, people would give her snacks as they passed by.

It was truly an incredible image makeover. Seoyeon thought to herself.

‘Impressive, Princess Yeonhwa.’

However, once she got into character, it was hard to switch out of it for the rest of the day, making it awkward to try method acting. It would be difficult to stay in that state once she starts shooting Flower of the Imperial Palace.

What was funny, though, was that once she got into that character, Park Jungwoo couldn’t even look her in the eye properly. His shyness made him seem just like the other boys around her.

Heh.

It was funny in some ways, but at the same time, Seoyeon was curious about how he really thought of her. Sometimes, it felt like watching a lion at a zoo.

Anyway, after the awards ceremony, even the online communities seemed to calm down. Was it like this ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) when they were shooting Tae Soom Dal back then?

Perhaps it was because a lot of people who felt nostalgic for that time had joined the fan cafes.

‘And slowly, it’s time.’

Seoyeon had bought Nettrix stocks early on. Of course, she did it through her mother, Sua.

She knew that Sua had been obsessed with checking stock charts lately. Meanwhile, her father, Youngbin, looked like he was dying inside.

He was always mocked, so he never asked her. Anyway, if she made money, where would it go?

Of course, it was for her parents’ spending money, not for anything else.

But Youngbin seemed like he wanted to earn it himself rather than ask his daughter. But recently, when he had been praying to her with such a desperate expression, Seoyeon had an idea of what he was thinking.

‘He bought Nettrix stocks.’

They were probably telling him that it was the peak now, but seeing him buy in this situation, he certainly had the heart of a beast. At this point, Seoyeon couldn’t help but admire her dad.

"You're lucky, Seoyeon."

When they arrived at the filming set, Arthur Diaz, who had been warming up early, said.

"With Child’s Game, interest in Korean OTT dramas has really grown. I’ve unintentionally benefited from it too." "Is that so?" "Hmm, you can tell just by the atmosphere at the set. It feels like there’s a much higher level of anticipation than before."

Arthur crossed his arms and grinned. The people he had been carrying around all had different expressions now.

Before, they had all worn faces that said "ugh, not again." Honestly, it didn’t feel sincere.

Even the personal stylists and managers.

But now, everyone’s eyes were wide open, and they were seriously engaging in their work. They couldn’t act arrogantly like before at the filming site.

"In the end, the market revolves around money."

Arthur had seen Child’s Game’s big success recently. Honestly, even after seeing it with his own eyes, he couldn’t believe it.

A drama that hit that big overseas. And it just happened to be while he was filming an OTT drama.

‘The timing is just too good.’

With Child’s Game’s massive success, interest in Korean dramas reached an all-time high. And it wasn’t just in the typical Southeast Asian or Japanese markets that had traditionally supported Korean dramas, but across the entire world.

Drams entering the market at this time would undoubtedly benefit from Child’s Game’s success. Japan had already been interested in Seoyeon, so that was nothing new...

‘But can I call this luck?’

Arthur gazed at Seoyeon. She was the actress who won Best Supporting Actress at the recent Korean awards ceremony.

She was young. If she had been American, she might have even won an even bigger award. Like Stella.

Now, even Arthur Diaz couldn’t deny Seoyeon’s acting skills. He had learned this after several shoots together recently. It wasn’t just her amazing physical abilities, but also her outstanding acting.

‘She’s been acting seriously all along, but...’

Arthur Diaz was not the type to miss opportunities. Even though Seoyeon might not have been his favorite, he had no intention of being hostile in this situation.

A good actor’s job is to produce the best work.

‘She’s gotten serious.’

Watching Arthur’s face, Seoyeon blinked. She was certain that today’s shoot would give her a chance to see Arthur’s true acting.

"Has Sehee arrived yet?" Seoyeon asked the other staff, looking around. She had expected Sehee to arrive early since she had scenes today.

But unusually, Sehee hadn’t arrived yet.

"Not sure?" "I heard she’s running a bit late because of something." "Something?" What was it?

While she was thinking this, something suddenly crossed Seoyeon’s mind. It was something related to Jo Sehee during this time. Thinking about it reminded her of something she had investigated before.

It was about her mother. The actress Baek Seoran. The legendary actress who closed her eyes before she could fully bloom.

‘It should be today.’

Recalling the date, Seoyeon’s face hardened.