Chapter 7: Ads Are Coming

“Forge ahead, for that is your destiny.”

One day, while watching YouTube, I stumbled upon a game ad with some rather cringy lines.

Ah, this must be that new subculture mobile game that’s been super hot lately in Korea. Looks like it’s finally launching.

I had only glimpsed at it before, but overall, the character designs seemed well-made. The problem is that these types of Korean games always get tons of criticism and are notorious for their aggressive monetization strategies.

I just hope they don’t follow the same path this time.

Click.

Feeling curious, I decided to search for the game. I typed ‘Last Destiny’ into a portal site, and a list of related articles popped up. I clicked on one of them.

[SV Studio’s ‘Last Destiny’ Set to Launch]

SV Studio’s new game, Last Destiny, is finally launching.

SV Studio, which had been struggling financially, received funding from Changseong Group’s cultural division on June 28th last year, allowing them to resume the halted development.

Changseong Cultural Division stated, “We believe that game development will be a cornerstone for future cultural growth, and this was a long-term investment.” They also mentioned that they are supporting various other game development companies, aside from SV Studio.

Last Destiny is a subculture-based gacha RPG, and its goal is to capture the attention of many gamers through aggressive marketing, particularly targeting internet broadcasters.

According to Director Kim Jae-min…

After skimming through it, it seemed like this was one of the games funded by the famous Changseong Group.

Aggressive marketing, huh? I’m already feeling envious of the streamers who will receive those ads. It’s not like offers like that would ever come to a small-time streamer like me.

“Meow.”

As I sat on the couch, bitterly licking my lips, a white British Shorthair cat approached me.

This little guy, who I like to call the lord of the house, is named Milk. He’s like a breath of fresh air in my solitary life.

“Hey, Milk. Do you want a Churu treat?”

“Meow!”

As expected, he came to me for the treat, tapping on the cabinet where I keep them. The moment I mentioned Churu, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

He sure does love to eat. Such a small body but such a big appetite.

Snip.

I took out one of the Churu treats, which are limited to one per day, and snipped the top with scissors.

The peculiar smell that wafted up was still something I didn’t like, but that was just my human nose. It didn’t seem to bother Milk.

He stared up at me intensely, as if threatening me that there would be bloodshed if I didn’t give it to him soon. Flustered, I squeezed the treat out of the package for him.

“Here you go. Enjoy.”

Chomp, chomp.

A slurping sound filled the air as Milk devoured the treat, gobbling it up quickly as I squeezed it out bit by bit.

Anyone watching would think I had starved him for days. But he’s been eating his regular food just fine.

After playing with Milk for a bit, he lost interest in me, so I returned to my bedroom, which also serves as my workspace, and turned on my computer.

I always feel this way, but having a combined bedroom and workspace isn’t ideal. It just makes the room look messier, and it halves the space efficiency.

The problem is that I use the small room as a study and closet, so it’s not easy to separate them. Maybe I should move to a bigger place.

As I pondered this, I checked my inbox, where, as always, several emails had arrived. One subject line in particular caught my eye.

The sender was ‘SV Studio,’ the very same game developer from the Last Destiny article. Why were they sending me an email?

I felt a mix of excitement and doubt, but I decided to calm myself before opening it. No point in getting ahead of myself.

And then, moments later…

“Whaaaaaa!!”

A scream, or maybe a shout of excitement, erupted from my mouth.

Cosmo has started streaming.』
‘First ad ever!!!!!’

The stream title alone made my heart swell with pride, but I calmed myself down and waited for viewers to join while starting the stream.

【CosmoForever】 – Koha
【Kokkiahoo】 – Koha
【Baekhwaryoran】 – Is the title real?
【ChakanSangak】 – What ad did you get???

As expected, along with the usual greetings from regular viewers, there were plenty of people who jumped straight to asking about the ad mentioned in the stream title.

Feeling a bit puffed up with pride, I decided to kill some time chatting while waiting for more viewers to join.

“Alright, alright, calm down. I’ll explain everything slowly.”

【‘NextdoorHani’ donated 1,000 KRW.】- The streamer’s getting cocky because they got an ad, huh? That pisses me off, so here’s a donation to calm myself down. Lololol
【MunoeSukhoe】 – Lmao
【Woobaeklim】 – Lmao, exactly!
【WaSandDoYouKnow】 – Telling us to calm down, yet you’re the most excited one. Lolololol

Ahem, these guys are already trying to rain on my parade on such a joyous day.

But I’ll let it slide today, because as I mentioned in the stream title, today is the day I received my first-ever ad.

【‘CosmoForever’ donated 10,000 KRW.】
– What ad did you get? Anyway, congrats!

“Ah, thank you so much for the 10,000 won donation! I was just about to tell you.”

Just as I was about to express my gratitude and clear my throat, a message popped up in the chat.

【Kokkiahoo】 – Isn’t it for Last Destiny? That game’s been trending lately.

“Oh, right! How did you guess that?”

【PositiveVibesPlease】 – There were a lot of articles about it.
【HayangHayanghae】 – I saw it on YouTube today, as soon as I logged in. Lololol
【BINGO】 – They talked about aggressive marketing through streamers, so I guess they gave you an ad.

Ah, so everyone saw the same article I did. Well, with how much it’s plastered all over the internet, it would’ve been stranger if no one had seen it.

At least now I have less to explain.

“You guys figured it out from the article? For a second, I thought someone had installed a hidden camera in my house. Phew, that was a scare.”

【tws2425】 – What’s even worth watching in your house for someone to install a hidden camera?
【JustGotUpAfterEating】 – Lololol
【ArisaLover】- Wouldn’t that just hurt their eyes?

“These little…”

As frustrating as it was, they had a point.

Alright, time to fight fire with fire, with some bold misinformation and manipulation, you little brats.

“Anyway, though someone already guessed correctly, I’ll give a brief explanation. Next Friday, I’ll be doing my first-ever ad stream!”

Since it was about the ad stream, I decided to switch to a more formal tone, filled with the spirit of capitalism, instead of my usual casual speech. As soon as I did, the chat was flooded with congratulatory messages, as if everyone had been waiting for this announcement.

【Kokkiahoo】 – Oh.
【Moskos】- Wow.
【Cromagnon】 – Wow, wow.
【OneHitHundredHits】- Have you finally made it to the big leagues?

“No, no. What big leagues? Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

After calming down the excited viewers, I pulled up an image from the email I received. It was a promotional banner for Last Destiny, a mobile game I’d seen in an article earlier that morning.

“Anyway, just like you all guessed, I received an ad offer for Last Destiny, a game developed by SV Studio. Seriously, I yelled as soon as I saw the email.”

【CosmoForever】 – You must’ve been really happy.

“Of course! Who would’ve thought someone like me would ever get an ad offer?”

After all, ads are meant to expose a product to more people. Naturally, advertisers prefer famous celebrities or streamers with larger audiences.

Of course, I wasn’t the only streamer to receive this ad offer. Other streamers were likely approached as well, but just knowing that my name was included on that list made me happy.

This is just my personal theory, but maybe Twin Party played a crucial role in this.

Even though it seemed like a regular party, everyone invited was recognized as a streamer worthy of special treatment by the Twip platform.

From an outsider’s perspective, it could have been seen as a good way to filter out streamers who were worth offering ads to.

Would this be considered a double stroke of luck?

“On top of that, the advertiser seemed to know me really well. They even knew I sometimes play mobile games on stream and what kinds of games I usually play.”

【AlpacaHunter】 – Wow, sounds like they did a lot of research.
【LucidDream7】 – Really?
【LockOnGlasses】 – That’s kind of amazing. Lololol

When I shared some of the details from my call with them, the viewers reacted just as I did at the time.

Honestly, I was a bit surprised too. While it’s natural for advertisers to do some research on the streamer they’re investing in, I didn’t expect them to know such specific details.

“Oh, and they also invited me to AGP the day before the game’s release. Of course, I’m planning to attend.”

AGP stands for Anime Game Party, an annual event held around this time of year.

As the name suggests, it’s a huge event where you can experience and check out new games and anime-related content. The game I received an ad offer for will be featured there as well.

【HaemulBibimSauce】 – Are you going to stream live from AGP?
【BlueFailGame】 – Your face will be shown, then.
【Moskos】 – Just wear a mask. Lololol

“No, I won’t be streaming live. I’m just planning to attend. Streamers can join if they want, but I’m curious about the games, so I’ll just go and check them out.”

【Kokkiahoo] – Lol
【SojuScentedHandCream】 – You’re not streaming? Missed opportunity.

When I poured cold water on their expectations, the chat was filled with disappointment. Some viewers even suggested I film the event in first-person, like holding a camera and showing the festival. But I didn’t feel like doing that, so I didn’t agree.

【CosmoForever】 – Where is AGP held?

“It’ll probably be at ATEX. It’ll be my first time going, so I’m not entirely sure…”

【CosmoForever】 – Ah… I’d love to go sometime too.

While I was chatting, CosmoForever, who clearly wasn’t as deep into anime as the rest of us, responded with genuine interest, saying that they hadn’t even heard of AGP before.

It would be hilarious if we ended up meeting there, though we probably wouldn’t recognize each other.