Chapter 137: One Mountain After Another (2)

After Joo-hyun’s ridiculous bombshell statement, thanks to Sung-jae’s amazing sense of humor, the situation didn’t become as serious as it could have.

Joo-hyun, drunk, lay slumped over the table, and her manager, who realized what had happened, quickly entered the restaurant.

Hadn’t he mentioned he was watching nearby?

Seeing Joo-hyun’s state, her manager tilted his head.

“That’s strange?”

I widened my eyes at his comment and asked.

“What do you mean strange?”

“Joo-hyun isn’t the type to get drunk this easily. It’s strange.”

Three bottles of soju and four 500cc glasses of beer.

It’s normal to get drunk with that much.

Of course, there were plenty of people around me who were heavy drinkers, but since Joo-hyun was an idol who didn’t drink often, it wasn’t that surprising.

The manager tilted his head a few more times before looking at me helplessly.

“This is problematic.”

“Why?”

“Since the kids are on break, it’s awkward to take her back to the dorm.”

“Why not take her home?”

“Joo-hyun’s family home is in Busan. Actually, the CEO told me to take her to the KTX station after today’s schedule.”

A complete disaster.

I nodded as soon as I heard that and said,

“Call the CEO’s house…”

“Unfortunately, the CEO is unavailable. He went on an overseas trip…”

So, he watched the broadcast from overseas?

He must really love his niece.

“Maybe we could take her to another colleague’s house… Ah, but that’s a nuisance.”

“Exactly.”

Just as we started discussing Joo-hyun’s situation, Na-young, who had been drinking steadily, spoke up with a slightly flushed face.

“Should we take her to my house? It’s not far from here, and my dad won’t be home today.”

“Where did Mr. Lee go?”

“He’s an executive at the National Capsule Room Association, so he went to a workshop.”

Coincidentally, the timing was perfect.

At Na-young’s suggestion, Joo-hyun’s manager’s eyes sparkled as he nodded.

“That sounds good. If it doesn’t work out, we can use the corporate card to book a hotel… Shall we subtly ask Joo-hyun?”

“But she’s really drunk.”

“She should still be able to answer.”

He was an expert when it came to managing his celebrity.

I heard that this manager had been with Joo-hyun since her trainee days…

The manager lightly flicked Joo-hyun’s forehead.

*Smack!*

With a clear sound, Joo-hyun slowly opened her eyes.

“Ah! Why, oppa?”

“Do you want to stay at Na-young’s place tonight? It’s too late to take the KTX.”

“Na-young unni’s house? Sounds good! That sounds best!”

“Or you could stay at another colleague’s family home…”

“Absolutely not! I want to stay with Na-young unni!”

Just a while ago, she was openly declaring war on Na-young, but now she was acting differently.

Was it because of the alcohol?

I looked at Na-young and asked cautiously.

“You’re not planning to kill her, right?”

Na-young widened her eyes and asked back.

“Why would I?”

“No, just…”

“You and I are nothing more than business partners, right? If Joo-hyun wants to flirt with you, I should congratulate her. We’re just frie-nds.”

I’m doomed.

Should I start begging for forgiveness now?

But there was no timing at all.

Na-young finished the remaining beer in front of her and stood up.

Then she approached Joo-hyun with a bright smile.

“Joo-hyun, shall we go to unni’s house today?”

“Okay, unni! Let’s go for round two!”

“Round two?”

“I’ll treat this time!”

A type that keeps drinking once they start.

That type was really exhausting.

Although Na-young hadn’t gotten drunk yet, she didn’t seem to have any intention of drinking more tonight.

She firmly refused Joo-hyun’s suggestion.

“We’ve had enough for today.”

“Wow, you’re so firm! Unni, then let’s buy a few cans of beer on the way home.”

“That sounds good, shall we go?”

“I’ll escort you home.”

“Thank you.”

Since the manager was taking her, it should be fine.

If I hadn’t been drinking, I would have borrowed Sung-jae’s car and taken them, but unfortunately, I had drunk a lot.

“I can drive you…”

Just as I was about to get up and support Joo-hyun, Na-young pushed me aside and lifted Joo-hyun with ease.

“Wow! Unni! You’re so strong!”

Even a drunk Joo-hyun couldn’t help but exclaim at her strength.

With such a pretty face and a healthy physique to match, she was really attractive.

Na-young shrugged at Joo-hyun’s exclamation and responded.

“Our family is quite strong. I’ll ask my mom to make you some honey water.”

“Ah! Unni, won’t your mom dislike me?”

“When she saw you on TV last time, she said you were very pretty. She’ll be delighted to have a celebrity at home.”

Now that I think about it, I hadn’t met Na-young’s mother separately.

Having swiftly handled Joo-hyun’s attempt for round two, Na-young looked at me coldly.

“Then, we’ll head off first. See you later.”

“Should I go with you?”

“No need.”

How could someone be so curt?

Na-young, who had flatly rejected my subtle offer, took Joo-hyun and left the chicken restaurant.

I followed them outside to see them off until the end and then returned to the restaurant.

As soon as I came back inside, everyone who had been watching me burst into laughter and spoke to me.

“Watching you two together is so refreshing!”

“So, when’s the wedding announcement?”

“Are you sending chicken box employees invitations? I’d love to raid the buffet.”

“…Why is everyone picking on me?”

My heart ached enough already.

I took a sip of beer as I returned to my seat.

The bitter yet refreshing sensation traveled down my throat as Sung-jae, who had been watching me, chuckled slyly and said.

“So, Chan-sik, which coin do you prefer? The Sa-young coin or the Sa-hyun coin? Just tell me. I’ll use my business sense to… Whoa, calm down.”

“Sung-jae.”

Trembling.

The beer glass in my hand started to shake with anger.

I’ve been working out recently and benching over 500 pounds, so I was brimming with strength.

Sung-jae, who knew this better than anyone, cleared his throat a few times, wiping the smile off his face.

Then he looked at the employees and loudly proposed a toast.

“To our streamer, Shia’s longevity!”

“To longevity!”

These people were teasing me till the end.

Phew…

Should I just change the MCN?

4.

The morning after the joint broadcast.

I received a KakaoTalk message from Joo-hyun.

[Joo-hyun: Oppa!! I’m so sorry about yesterday!! Hehe!! I think I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have because I drank too much. But you got home safe, right?]

I pondered for a long time on how to respond, and then I just sent a simple reply.

[Me: Yeah… Be careful on your way to Busan today. See you at the next shoot.]

She said she’d call me “teacher” except when drinking.

Women are really incomprehensible creatures.

I hadn’t heard from Na-young yet… Should I call her first?

…Phew, this is really exhausting.

After replying as carefully as possible, I sighed deeply and lay back down on the bed.

I felt completely drained.

However, the video from yesterday’s broadcast had been edited by the editor who stayed up all night and uploaded it to my MeTube channel.

When I checked after getting up, it was proudly ranked number one in real-time videos.

The fame of was rising in real time.

When I casually checked the comments, they were all about Na-young.

-That person also streams on Twipodㅇㅇ

-Wowㄷㄷ Even with Joo-hyun, her beauty doesn’t lose out at all!

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋShe must have customized her character really well in the gameㅇㅇ If she had that face, she would have already become a celebrity and lived comfortablyㅋㅋ Why do you guys like such girls so much? She must be really ugly in real life.

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└I googled it and it’s Seo Jae-woo from Shinsung Elementary School, 6th grade, class 2, right?

└These elementary school kids are really harsh these daysㅋㅋ

└From now on, if you leave comments like this, make sure you don’t get caught by Googling, Jae-wooㅋㅋ

└Jae-woo, you’re dead if you show up at school today. You know Dong-cheol, the number one at your school, right? He goes to our dojoㅋㅋ

“These elementary kids are too much these days.”

I clicked my tongue while looking at the top comment supposedly left by an elementary student.

It was extreme even for a troll.

If they were this extreme already, I couldn’t even imagine what kind of troll they’d become as they grew up.

Getting doxxed was their own fault, so they had to deal with it themselves.

Whether they got properly educated by the school bully or got their money taken by local thugs.

That’s none of my business.

Who told them to leave hateful comments with an easily traceable ID?

The real pros would create new IDs for trolling.

“Bro, you might get a free content idea.”

“What kind of content?”

“A trolling competition, how about that? Gather all the trolls who left hate comments on your videos and hold a rehabilitation competition. This kind of content has never been done in Korea.”

Jin-hyuk, who had been watching my video on his phone next to me, casually threw out a suggestion.

…Why does this guy come up with amazing ideas when he’s being stupid, and sound stupid when he’s serious?

It was an unbelievably fresh idea.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

As soon as I heard Jin-hyuk’s words, I got excited and slapped him hard on the back.

*Smack!*

The satisfying sensation of my hand sticking to his back came with my praise for him.

“Why do you come up with such brilliant ideas?”

“Are you really going to do it?”

“Why wouldn’t I? If you have ideas like this, you should’ve told me earlier. If this content hits big, I’ll buy you beef.”

“Wait, bro!”

There was no time to think.

Gathering the trolls for content…

There’s no better content in this situation.

Trolling is an enemy of almost all content industries.

Honestly, could they have said such harsh things if they had to attach their real names to the comments?

In the past, I couldn’t relate as much, but the blatant criticism during MeTube or streaming sometimes crossed the line.

Well, I have a strong mentality, so it doesn’t matter to me, but seeing some streamers take long breaks due to excessive hate comments, I couldn’t help but feel it wasn’t just someone else’s problem.

Jin-hyuk seemed to sense my determination and spoke with concern.

“Hey, I was just joking. Are you really going to do it?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Honestly, a lot of my content ideas came from Jin-hyuk.

This one would also turn out to be quite interesting.

Jin-hyuk looked at my excited face with concern and said.

“Hey, do you think the trolls will come out that easily?”

“Don’t worry. I already prepared for this.”

I immediately called Sung-jae.

After a brief ringtone, Sung-jae’s voice came through.

-Yes, Chan-sik.

“Did you get home safe yesterday?”

-Of course. Did you get home safely too, Chan-sik?

“I always do. Anyway, I thought of a good content idea.”

-Ah, you’re truly a walking think tank. What’s the content this time? As long as it doesn’t cost too much, I’ll help you with anything.

Trolls are cowards hiding behind the mask of anonymity.

Bringing them into the light was very simple.

I smiled happily and told Sung-jae.

“Did you collect enough evidence against the people leaving hate comments about me?”

The evidence I asked him to gather diligently to pay for chicken later.

Sung-jae responded immediately.

-We have strictly selected those who can be sued. But why the sudden interest?

“I’m going to sue the trolls. You can look forward to some entertaining content.”

Life is a battlefield, trolls.

“Hey, bro.”

…Why are you trembling at the word “sue,” Jin-hyuk?

Could it be…?