Chapter 28

Lee Jeonyeong woke up groggily from sleep.

The time was noon.

When he pulled the curtains aside, bright sunlight poured into the dark room.

Out of habit, he picked up his phone, which naturally had no notifications, and opened YouTube.

He scrolled down for a while, found nothing interesting, and closed it.

Then he opened YouTube again.

Scrolled some more.

And when there were no thumbnails that caught his interest, he closed it again.

"Uuugh."

For around ten minutes, he kept fiddling with his phone on the bed before finally moving to his desk.

Then he turned on his computer from sleep mode and opened Travel.

His ID was ConstructionSiteBathroomBrickThief.

Around this time every day, he would usually put on the stream of a streamer he watched regularly while going to drink water.

"Hm. Guess I'll skip food…"

Lee Jeonyeong decided not to eat lunch.

Though honestly, it was closer to breakfast anyway.

He had no appetite.

And cooking felt bothersome too.

After washing up and roughly cleaning the house, he returned to his room and closed the door.

Then he sat in front of the computer.

'I can't keep living like this forever.'

It had already been two years.

Two years of living shut away like this.

Originally, he had been fairly outgoing, sociable, and had quite a lot of friends.

But starting from his second year of high school, after being bullied at the academy he attended for art college entrance exams, his confidence collapsed, he gave up on applying, and ran away.

He hated meeting friends.

Because he felt too pathetic, and seeing people meant they would see him like this.

Staying inside his room felt comfortable.

Surprisingly, it suited him pretty well.

Watching streams and surfing the internet made entire days disappear before he knew it, and the sky outside would grow dark.

Since he woke up late, it was natural, but evenings without sunlight made people feel even more depressed.

Lee Jeonyeong prepared dinner.

He simply threw a few frozen dumplings into the air fryer and that was it.

'Good thing I don't have an appetite. Haha.'

Tomorrow would probably repeat exactly like today.

He felt sorry toward his parents who kept sending him living expenses.

Parents who silently supported him even after he failed his entrance exams and failed again as a repeat applicant.

But he hadn't actually failed.

He never even managed to challenge it in the first place.

Because he was afraid of failure.

"Haaa…"

Lee Jeonyeong let out a deep sigh.

"I'm trash."

He didn't waste money.

In the first place, after staying cooped up in his room for several months, there wasn't anything to spend money on besides the bare minimum living costs.

But he was wasting something more important than money.

Time.

He knew that too.

"I want to change…"

Truly.

He felt pathetic enough to die.

But he had no strength to change.

At that moment, a streamer's voice came from the computer.

[I'm currently looking for an editor, so if any viewers here want to edit my gameplay videos…]

It was about recruiting editors.

The streamer saying those words was Jin Seo Jun.

A streamer who hadn't even been broadcasting for a week yet.

Someone who had just started streaming but was already talking about building a YouTube channel somehow made him feel complicated and envious.

The streamer was his complete opposite.

Outstanding talent and a slightly irritating confidence.

'I used to be like that too.'

But the talent he once believed he had vanished like an illusion as he grew older, and all that remained was failure and a reclusive life.

[Alright then, for real this time, bye!]

The broadcast ended.

The dark screen of a beginner streamer who hadn't even set up an ending screen properly appeared.

His face reflected in the monitor.

He stared blankly at his own eyes reflected on the screen before muttering quietly.

"An editor… should I try it?"

Maybe he just needed something to challenge himself with.

As if possessed, he began searching the internet and learning about video editing.

At a time when the usual him would've been digging through Travel looking for other streams.

The next day, he edited videos too.

"So this goes here, and the shortcut key is…"

The drive to improve while learning something.

It was a feeling he hadn't experienced in a long time.

The corners of his mouth rose.

It was fun.

It felt like he had become useful again.

"Then here I do this… and is there another way to add effects? I should look it up."

The entire day passed while editing.

Time felt like it moved even faster than before, but unlike usual, today didn't feel empty.

And somehow, it even felt enjoyable.

Lee Jeonyeong wanted to escape this miserable situation and properly work again.

Editing even seemed to suit him.

'Now that I uploaded the video, if I just send the email…'

Click.

The hand resting on the mouse froze.

Lee Jeonyeong's eyes shook violently.

Then he closed the email window, grabbed his phone, jumped onto the bed, and opened YouTube instead.

'I worked hard today, so I'll do it tomorrow.'

Humming to himself, he went back to lying around as usual.

And the next day, he postponed sending the email again.

And the day after that too.

And the next day as well.

Before he realized it, five days had passed since he pushed all thoughts about video editing out of his mind.

As he deleted the editing program, he thought:

'It probably wouldn't have worked out anyway…'

Negative thoughts justified his escape.

Would a video made after learning for only a single day really pass?

No.

Then what was the point of sending it if it wouldn't work anyway?

It was meaningless.

Giving up was comfortable.

[Today, we're finally going to catch Kwon.]

The stream turned on.

"Hello everyone."

– Seo hi

– Seo hi

Over the past week, the viewer count hadn't increased.

If anything, it had decreased instead.

Taewoo, Movie Soft, and even Seo Jun had expected this result.

Among the current viewers, some came to watch Seo Jun himself, but many others tuned in purely to witness his skill.

Even so, there was a reason Seo Jun accepted Movie Soft's proposal.

'The core audience.'

Viewers who kept watching a streamer regardless of the actual broadcast content.

Over the past week, Seo Jun had managed to build a small core audience.

After all, he couldn't keep defeating rulers forever.

And fewer viewers had left than expected.

'3,000 viewers when I defeated the Tower Master.'

Yesterday's stream had 2,300.

Far higher than anticipated.

– Kwon ruler checkkkkk

– A martial arts master's foundation is just different, I'm telling you

– Why do you even need story progression? Dawn of the Assassins isn't just this one series anyway

– If it's fun, that's all that matters. Even a soup restaurant just needs good soup

['ScamDice' donated 10,000 won!]

[Seo hi! I started playing Dawn of the Assassins because of you, Seo Jun-nim. What do you think?]

"Ah, thank you for the donation. The game's fun. And it's easy to learn too. Just copy what I do."

The payment hadn't even arrived yet, but Movie Soft was technically his sponsor now.

So he polished his words a little.

– Hahahahahaha don't listen to him

– You'll regret it 100% if you buy this trying to become a martial arts masterㅋㅋ But I still recommend buying it.

– Streamer, you devil

– Please buy Dawn of the Assassins

– Remember a few days ago when he was only doing guide streams and gaslighting peopleㅋㅋ

Was that not true?

Well, whatever.

"Anyway."

Seo Jun was currently in the lobby.

"Before starting the game, there's something I want to say."

Seo Jun used the viewer search function to confirm that BrickThief was present.

– What is it?

– Big announcement?

– Don't tell me he secretly had a girlfriend or something

– "I donated all the money I earned." That kind of flaw would've been fatal, but we respect and support that flaw.

Ignoring the chat that was running wild on its own, Seo Jun opened a window.

It was the unlisted video uploaded by BrickThief on YouTube.

"BrickThief-nim, if you're watching right now… is this your video?"

– How does someone's ID become Constructionㅋㅋ Bathroomㅋㅋ Brickㅋㅋ Thiefㅋㅋㅋ

– Is there really a second person in this world with a nickname like that?

– Why are all this guy's viewers like this

"I left a comment on the video and also contacted you through your Travel ID, but you didn't check either. I wanted to talk, so please check your messages."

The quality of the video Seo Jun had watched yesterday was completely to his liking.

It didn't use flashy effects or editor-specific gimmicks.

The reason it stood out was its sense and cleanliness.

As expected from a viewer who had watched every single stream, BrickThief perfectly picked out all the entertaining moments without missing anything and edited them cleanly.

"I don't know why you never sent the email, but I seriously want to talk with you."

– Oh! Is he recruiting editors?

– Upload the video!

– But why was it public instead of private

– I wanna see it

"The video? Go watch it yourselves."

Seo Jun casually said that partly to boost the video's views.

– The introduction is hilarious

– I'm going to find it

[This is an editor recruitment video for streamer Seo Jun.

Hello! Hyung-nim! I've never properly learned editing before, but I'm confident I can work hard!

All I really have is free time. Haha. I'm unemployed.

Also, since this is my very first video, I can improve even more from here!

Exclusive editor. Wouldn't this be a total jackpot?

If you need verification, please contact me! I'll edit other things too.]

– The oversharing is insane

– So BrickThief was unemployed?!

– If he's unemployed, why was he stealing construction site bathroom bricks

– That's not unemployment. I'm unemployed, so I know

"Ah, damn it. This is so embarrassing!"

Lee Jeonyeong grabbed his head with both hands before punching his thigh.

"Why the hell was this public?!"

The sloppy self-introduction he had casually written.

And those embarrassing lines he could never comfortably say out loud anywhere else.

Plus the fact it was his first-ever edit.

The embarrassment combo was complete.

"How did he even find it? It barely had any views."

He immediately went into YouTube and changed the video to private.

– LMAOOOO it vanished instantly

– BrickThief was watching

– Hahahahaha forced public humiliation

– Looks like he uploaded it wrong from the start

[Ah. Was it uploaded by mistake? Sorry… I don't know anything. Anyway, please check the comments and contact me.]

– Seo Jun killed BrickThief! Seo Jun killed BrickThief! Seo Jun killed BrickThief!

– Cause of death: embarrassment

– The guy who uploaded it publicly is the one at faultㅋㅋ

– unemployed bastard

Hahahahaha

Lee Jeonyeong turned off the Travel chat window.

But he still couldn't close the stream itself.

Instead, he simply stared at the broadcast screen.

"Ugh! This is humiliating."

After calming his pounding heart, Lee Jeonyeong cautiously reopened the video he had switched to private.

Even though the idea of many people watching terrified and embarrassed him enough to take it down, he believed there must've been a reason Seo Jun mentioned it on stream.

"Right… since I already got exposed, maybe he at least left some kind of comment…"

Lee Jeonyeong's muttering stopped.

[Jin Seo Jun] [20 hours ago]

[Wow, this was made after learning for just one day? Your sense is incredible. I don't know why you never sent the email, but I'd really like to work with you, BrickThief-nim. If you're interested, please contact me.]

He stared blankly at the screen and reread the comment over and over.

His eyes slowly reddened.

Silence lingered for a long time.

Finally, he muttered in a faintly trembling voice.

"I kind of… expected something like this, but…"

Haaa.

After letting out a deep sigh, he looked up toward the ceiling.

The ceiling that once felt like the roof of a comfortable prison whenever he lay in bed using his phone now looked different.

Not that tears had formed in his eyes or anything.

"…"

He replayed the edited video several times.

"It's a total mess even from my perspective since it was my first day learning… what does he mean my sense is good…"

He was mocking himself.

But at the same time, he was smiling more brightly than anyone.

A sense of liberation.

Like discovering an escape route after being trapped in a maze.

"Alright. Let's try it."

Talent.

The streamer who possessed more talent than anyone else had told him he had talent too and wanted to work together.

'If he's just saying nonsense to mess with a shut-in NEET like me, then hyung-nim or not, I seriously won't let it slide. If controversy breaks out, he's the one who loses.'

With trembling hands, he began writing an email.