Clack. Clack.
As I arrived at Aiver Headquarters and headed to the meeting room where the board meeting was to be held, my footsteps were slightly louder than usual.
Kim, my companion, looked rather heavy-faced, and perhaps he had caught on to my mood just from the sound of my footsteps. He quietly followed me without saying a word.
– It’s on the 19th floor.
After taking the elevator up to the top floor, the noise in the lobby, which had been bustling just moments ago, suddenly quieted down, and everything around turned still.
Only then did my anger from earlier start to die down a bit.
“Ah! Director! Long time no see.”
“…It’s been a while.”
As I crossed the carpeted hallway and reached the front of the meeting room, a middle-aged man who was just about to enter recognized me and gave a low bow.
If I remember correctly, his name was Director Jeong Jae-jin.
Since I don’t particularly remember many of the Aiver people except for a select few, it took me a moment to extract his name from my memory.
If it weren’t for his noticeably bald head, I might not have recalled him at all.
“I wonder how your work is going? It might not be my place to ask…”
“Today, I’m attending as an Aiver director, so let’s skip the unnecessary topics, Director Jeong.”
“Ah, right, my apologies.”
Since I don’t often show up at Aiver, it was quite obvious that he was trying to make a connection now that he had the chance, and I responded somewhat curtly in annoyance.
In response, Director Jeong Jae-jin immediately lowered his head and gestured for me to go inside.
“Why don’t you have a coffee outside, Secretary Kim?”
“Yes.”
As I stepped in, I tossed out a remark towards Secretary Kim with a hint of a casual tone. Normally, he would have insisted, saying, “No, I’ll wait in the hallway,” but perhaps to minimize any chance of upsetting my mood today, he nodded and stepped outside.
It seemed Director Jeong Jae-jin was rather late, as the other board members were already seated by the time I walked in.
“Director Jeong, what took you so long on a day like this…!”
“I-I’m sorry! It’s just that I’ve been dealing with a bit of constipation as I’ve gotten older…”
One of the board members, looking older than Director Jeong, quietly gestured him to sit next to him. Given their familiarity, they could speak so unceremoniously with each other.
Not my business, though.
“It seems like you’ve been making frequent visits lately, and I’m quite embarrassed, Director Ryu.”
As I quietly took my seat at the designated spot, Chairman Han Jong-ryul approached me, bending over as he did so.
In terms of rank at Aiver, Chairman Han was technically higher than I, but no one here found the situation strange.
It’s not only because I’m the CEO of the largest segment under Changseong Group but also because everyone here knew that I belonged in this seat in the first place.
Additionally, I was the only one here with the power to change the executive management unilaterally.
“Indeed. I mentioned I would try to step back from management as much as possible, but I apologize for not being able to keep that promise, Chairman.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize. It’s our incompetence that has caused unnecessary trouble.”
I’m glad he acknowledges that.
If there had been any suggestion of, “Why are you showing up here so often when you said you would step back from management?” I would have flipped the table right then.
“First of all, I would like to thank all the executives for attending today’s board meeting without fail.”
After a few rounds of greetings, once Chairman Han returned to his seat, the presenter, with a trembling voice, began to speak.
Normally, the executives would see the presenter daily, so it was rare to see someone so nervous.
However, there was a reason why today’s presenter looked particularly stiff.
That person was the head of the development team for the Cheese platform, someone I had insisted Chairman Han bring in.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to the company due to the shortcomings of our platform development team and management department.”
The man who stepped out from next to the podium bent deeply and began to control the projector with a remote.
“Since our internet broadcasting platform, Cheese, launched in March of this year, there have been numerous problems raised among users recently. Today, I would like to clarify those points and discuss the resolution process moving forward.”
Going into detail about the issues and addressing them later is not bad. However, how they plan to solve those issues is the crux of the matter.
As I leaned back with my arms crossed, the man, who had previously been glancing at me with a stiff expression, pressed the remote button again.
“Currently, due to unauthorized programs known as viewbots, you can see that many streamers who originally had a low viewer count are occupying the main rankings of the site.”
Beep.
As the data screen changed, several major corporate streamers appeared, some boasting viewership numbers nearing 5,000.
After showing a screenshot from their individual streams, clearly indicating responses in the chat window that suggested viewbot usage, the gravity of the situation was evident.
“Ordinary viewers have no choice but to frequently click on the broadcasts of these so-called major corporate streamers exposed in the top rankings. This means that for streamers who originally held high ranks, their rankings may drop, resulting in direct negative impact on them.”
Given that some of the board members were older, they initially seemed confused, but gradually began to grasp the explanation provided by the development team leader.
“Moreover, the trust level among our platform users has significantly decreased. If we check the responses on community platforms, it’s evident that users express sentiments such as our platform lacks merits compared to the competitor, S platform.”
That’s to be expected.
While the development team leader only mentioned the viewbot incident, Cheese is currently facing more issues than anticipated.
Particularly, many of the systems mentioned at the launch stage have yet to be fully implemented, leading to a lot of user dissatisfaction.
The most prominent examples are the replay and clip features, services that were initially supported by Twip.
“That’s a serious issue.”
“What has the development team been doing until it got this bad?”
“My apologies, it’s purely our lack of capability.”
As the current reduction in Cheese users was illustrated with concrete graphs, the executives seemed to rethink what they had taken lightly and began to chastise the development team leader.
The development team leader bowed deeply, apologizing, but even that did little to relieve the tension in the room.
From a purely customer perspective, the inconvenience had been particularly high.
“Team Leader Kim, so you still haven’t been able to present specific solutions?”
“Ah, no. First, we are making efforts to implement the replay and clip functions that we originally promised. We are also setting up a system to detect viewbot programs. However, we are facing server issues and several overlapping reasons…”
While he rambled on, the gist was he was just dodging the fact that immediate solutions would be difficult.
Of course, I understand that, as someone managing a company, sometimes there are unavoidable circumstances. They wouldn’t just ignore things voluntarily either.
But there’s a limit to what’s acceptable.
Services that were promised from the initial launch are nowhere near completion, and we’ve even caused trouble to the streamers that we initially prioritized caring for. Do they think they can drag their feet on this?
“One week.”
“…Yes?”
Feeling I could no longer remain silent, I held up one finger and spoke firmly.
The development team leader, perhaps thinking he misheard me, gave me a blank stare, leaning forward to listen closely. I reiterated the time frame.
“I’m giving you exactly one week. I don’t expect a viewbot detection program by then, but I do want you to expand the servers and monitor the visible viewbot users, removing them as soon as possible. Also, I want an apology statement published today.”
“One week… are you serious?”
Sweating profusely, the development team leader questioned me, but I responded with a posture suggesting that if he has objections, he should voice them.
“Is it tough?”
“N-no. I will do my best to sort it out as quickly as possible and aim to have the detection program developed within at least a month.”
“That sounds acceptable.”
While the customer complaints are an issue, what’s more critical is that the viewbot program acts against our own streamers who have joined us.
Thus, I considered it a priority issue that needed addressing, and the development team leader seemed to agree, showing a determination to resolve it soon.
Good. By publishing a statement of apology first, users will recognize that the platform is aware of the problems and is willing to make changes, buying us some time.
If we manage to filter out the noticeable viewbot users within that timeframe, we should be able to calm user sentiment until a detection program is created.
Feeling like a rough solution was coming together, I quietly watched the development team leader wrap up his notes and then cautiously spoke up.
“And please implement the replay and clip functions as quickly as possible as well. I also know the subscription icon system hasn’t been introduced yet, so you’re aware that there’s a significant demand for that, right?”
“That’s certainly understood. We will aim to have it serviced within two weeks.”
His reply was quite satisfying, and the development team leader immediately began typing up my directives into his laptop, adding them to his summary notes.
Only then did I allow myself a faint smile and nod.
Hmm. These systems are necessary for customer satisfaction, so I merely asked for them to be prioritized quickly; I had no ulterior motives.
It’s not like I want to watch Uju’s replay video as soon as possible on a busy day, or that I want to save some of her clip moments on my phone to watch during boring times in the car.
And it’s certainly not because I feel a bit bored since the subscription icon appears and disappears in the chat, nor because Uju mentioned wanting to use the subscription icon as soon as possible.
So, this isn’t a personal opinion but rather a reasonable directive about understanding user needs from an executive standpoint.
Yep, exactly.
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