After escaping the ancient island, I briefly greeted Redberry and immediately logged out.
It doesn’t feel like much time has passed, but I spent over eight hours on the island.
I initially started the broadcast at 8 PM, and if you include travel time and other delays, I pretty much broadcasted for almost half a day.
Ziiing—
“Ugh.”
I stretch lightly after disconnecting from the device.
Designed for human convenience, there’s really nothing wrong, but I feel alive only after stretching a bit.
“…..Nice.”
Reality really is great.
The current time is 9:10 AM.
Having counted half a day, I haven’t slept a wink, but I don’t really need to.
Deoen is a game you play while sleeping, and it hasn’t drained my soul like before.
Right now, I feel pretty decent.
I headed to the kitchen, made a quick breakfast, and sat down in front of the computer.
Then, I checked the news that had popped up in my Discord.
Though I hadn’t asked for it, people were posting updates on their own.
As expected, the hype around the “earlier events” has really cooled down.
People are chatting about the upcoming academy and the ancient island, and the talk about the academy is particularly vibrant.
Just who is getting selected, and how?
Can anyone really participate simply by clearing it?
Is it just Lily as the professor, or are they inviting professors separately, and so on?
Even acquaintances I have on my friend list have sent me a few curious messages.
Especially Yena.
“We have to see it the same way.”
─Ah.
She showed disappointment in not being able to enroll right away, but if anyone can make it, it would be someone like Yena.
I originally set the pass rate at a level that about ten students from my class could handle.
Ding.
─…So that edit is, Boss!
─Hello!
─Hi there.
“You all are doing great.”
Talking about work before noon is a very exemplary attitude.
Especially the managers, who must have been managing the chat for over 12 hours, still haven’t clocked out and are hanging around in the Discord.
When I asked them about it, they smiled through the Discord.
─It’s fine since we manage it inside Deoen.
─Thanks to you, we had it easy.
─It was good.
While it’s possible to watch the broadcast through the program supported by Deoen, it’s quite hard to handle complex tasks like chat management with just the basic settings.
Setting it up is really tough.
I provided the three managers with the costs for using the setup room, various recovery and energy consumption items, as well as convenience equipment in advance.
By the way, the cost to use the setup room for one hour is 5 gold.
That’s about 100,000 won in cash.
─But is it really okay to write it like this? No matter how you look at it, spending over 300 for a day’s chat management is a bit much…
One of the managers, Joah, who is in charge of thumbnails, said with a slight worry.
The convenience support I mentioned has been consistently provided until now, and sometimes, if the broadcast runs until dawn, I’ve covered the setup room costs.
But this is the first time I’ve provided a full setup room for 12 hours straight.
Since a few people took turns resting in between, the costs came to around 300.
Considering additional costs, it basically means over 400 for a single broadcast.
“I don’t mind at all.”
─Huh?
“You all absolutely deserve it. If it’s not enough, please let me know. I’ll provide more support.”
They’re my people. They deserve at least this much.
─As expected of the boss!
─Thank you!
─Sob sob sob sob sob.
“Don’t cry, just work harder.”
─Gah.
“I’m just joking. Is the World Tree video ready?”
I saw White Autumn, who is in charge of editing the World Tree, posting weird anime news in the Discord chat.
─Ah.
“Didn’t it go well?”
─Y-Yes, of course it did. Haha. What do you take me for?
“Oh.”
Then I should look forward to it.
Coincidentally, we were just on the verge of hitting 6 million subscribers; once the World Tree video goes up, we should hit it quickly, right?
“I’ll be looking forward to it. You can expect a bonus this time too.”
─…Yes.
White Autumn abruptly fell silent after those words.
I guess they must be really busy right now.
“If the editors need any convenience for work, just let me know anytime. I’ll support you.”
─Um… editing might take a while.
─That’s right. Lady Lily. While the managers may have trouble working until dawn, we can manage to some extent…
“No. Don’t hold back.”
It’s better to work comfortably, even if it costs money, than to push ourselves too hard and suffer.
After all, it’s way more money than I need.
“I see it all as investment costs, so no need to hold back.”
─Lady Lily…
─Uh…
“Well… still, I think using it every time might be a bit much, so I’ll look for a way to rent it out for a longer period.”
“I’ll check it out.”
Even though purchasing a setting room is impossible, it seems there’s a way to rent it for a longer period.
You can’t buy it with money, and there’s a certain procedure involved… I’ll have to ask Yena about this part.
When it comes to these broadcasting system-related issues, Yena should know well.
■
“Long-term rental for a setting room?”
“Yes. I’m trying to arrange something for the editor and managers, and I was wondering if it could be rented for a longer duration.”
After lunch, I met Yena at Deoen.
Originally, I was just going to ask her via contact, but Yena came directly to the duchy saying she wanted to check out the academy.
Inside the dean’s office, which is still under construction.
Yena nodded while sitting on a plush sofa.
“…Hmm. It definitely is a hefty price to use every single time. How many managers and editors do you have now?”
“There are five.”
“Five. Then a couple’s room wouldn’t work. The price is already half again as much…”
Nodding to herself in agreement, Yena checked several windows and shared one of them with me.
It’s information about the setting room that’s hard for regular users to find.
“Lady Lily. You know that the setting room system is somewhat contrary to what Deoen stands for, right?”
“I know well.”
Deoen is ultimately about adventure and dungeons. What’s commonly referred to as ‘fantasy’ is just that.
However, the setting room is a space that’s extremely close to ‘reality.’
If you just let loose a setting room that aims in a different direction from what Deoen stands for, it would cause problems, naturally leading to strong penalties.
And those penalties come at a high price.
“The creator of Deoen, Nutri, didn’t want to introduce the setting room. But because broadcasting was the most effective way to promote Deoen first, as a reward for that, they introduced the setting room.”
At the time Deoen first appeared in the world,
Various broadcasting stations and networks promoted it, but what approached ‘gamers’ most familiarly was personal broadcasting.
Famous broadcasters already using a weak broadcasting system all jumped in to play Deoen, and it suddenly took off.
By the way, one of the people who sparked that success was Yena herself.
“There was a time I received a long-term pass for the setting room. I don’t have it now, but Nutri gave it as a token of gratitude.”
“Do we need to get it separately from the game company now?”
“For now, yes. But from what I know, there won’t be any long-term users at this point.”
Yena said that famous broadcasters or stations had the right to use such a system in the early days, but now everyone has returned it and is paying full price.
There are instances where large-scale events like mock siege wars or famous streamers use it, but they never lend it out just for the editor’s convenience…
“…Honestly, in my personal opinion, the editor’s setup room is a bit much. It’s not that I’m stingy, but I feel like it would be a bit of a burden on them too.”
“Well… that’s true.”
It’s definitely a hefty amount for an editor rather than a broadcaster.
Even though my editor’s fee is quite high, 100,000 won an hour feels like the belly is bigger than the body.
Leaving aside the editor Battery, even that playful White Autumn expressed her hesitation and rejection.
“I think it would be better if the managers only covered the early morning shifts. I occasionally do that too.”
“Hmm…”
“Or rather, how about increasing the number of editors─”
“Oh. That was mentioned.”
“?”
I read the setup room information that Yena showed me and suddenly remembered the phrase “special item.”
The honor shop that only PVP diamond rank can enter.
Through the golden raccoon wearing the Blue Ring, you can meet guide Ria.
As you follow Ria inside, you can see a plethora of items, but among them, there’s one item stuck in a corner.
“There was a bundle of network access rights in the honor shop. Worth a thousand honors.”
“…Does that kind of thing really exist?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t check how many bundles there were, but it was definitely there.
If it weren’t for my exceptional vision, I would have never spotted its location, but it was there nonetheless.
Couldn’t we use that to create something similar to a setup room?
“Let’s go take a look.”
“…Somehow, it feels like buying it would be a mistake.”
“Hey, if they were going to stop us from buying, wouldn’t they have just placed it somewhere else?”
If it’s placed in the store, doesn’t that mean it’s for sale?
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