I took care of Sre and logged out right away after returning from the Empire.
By the way, Sre had eaten so much meat, not the top-grade kind but just regular beef or lamb, that they said we’d have to butcher more to keep up with their appetite.
No matter how much energy you burn, that’s just excessive.
“First… let’s organize the sources.”
This visit to the Empire was quite satisfying in its own way.
I learned about the Empire’s thoughts and their response to destruction, and especially, knowing about the Demon Race was extremely important.
Once the Demon Race rears its head, they spread magic across the world, tainting it.
It was a bit annoying dealing with the Demon Race while facing the Kraken, but in a way, I can say it’s somewhat fortunate.
“I can’t fully trust them, though.”
The Demon Race was the one leading the magic experiments, just like Karia, and had been under the Empire’s influence for a long time.
The Empire wouldn’t protect us out of goodwill, so as soon as things are wrapped up, they’ll try to make a move.
Perhaps they might execute the experiments they couldn’t carry out back then.
“Hmm.”
I retrieved the filming files connected to Deoen on my computer.
Besides the reasons stated earlier, one of the purposes of visiting the Empire was precisely to find the ‘video’ feel.
It has been relatively peaceful recently, and NewTube has mostly been about hunting, the Academy, or the occasional duel video.
The last content that could be considered recent was the dungeon where the Circulation’s Red Horse appeared.
“Exclude this one and that one. This one feels a bit inappropriate to show…”
I turned on the filming files, placing them into the editing program and trimming off the unnecessary parts.
I’m not exceptionally good at editing, but after chatting and working closely with the editor for months, I’ve managed to get to a certain level.
I don’t plan to learn it professionally.
For now, what I’ll show are the ride through the Empire’s skies, the dinner with the Barrier beautifier, Esther, and Sre’s food vlog madness.
Everything else is just too impactful.
There are various controversies surrounding me, plus if this information spreads, it’ll cause complete chaos.
Ding!
─So when the boss arrives… wow, it’s a tiger.
“White Autumn! Do you have a moment? I’ll send you the editing sources.”
I know all the other editors are busy, but White Autumn seems to have a bit of free time.
The editor, White Autumn, replied through Discord as if inquiring.
─I can, but is it… that one? The Empire?
“How did you know?”
I hadn’t even mentioned it.
White Autumn quickly uploaded a picture on Discord.
A dragon soaring through the clear skies of the Empire.
─Isn’t this Sre? It completely blew up in the community.
Tee has spread completely.
“Looks like you’ve been caught.”
I did expect to be caught, though.
But I didn’t think it would spread so quickly, especially in the capital of an empire that users can’t easily access.
Other regions might be different, but entry to the empire’s capital is very strict.
“Yes, that’s me. I visited the empire and thought I could edit and upload a video about it.”
─Oh! Should we make a thumbnail?
“If you have time, you can start working on it right away.”
I answered Joah’s question.
While Joah browsed through the video roughly for the thumbnail creation, White Autumn posted a few pictures right away from the video source shared on Discord.
It’s a picture of Sre eating meat from various angles.
─Wow, so cute.
“Please don’t curse.”
─Oh, I’m sorry. What is this? It’s totally cute!
“It’s a Mukbang mad movie.”
There are so many Mukbangs on Newtube, but even if all those numerous people, pets, and monsters were put together, it wouldn’t work for Sre.
It’s partly because Sre eats a lot, but mainly because Sre eats so deliciously.
“There are some inappropriate sources for a full video edit, so I left those out. I think it would work better as a hot clip or a video around 7–8 minutes long.”
─Sounds good! We’ll probably need to split the video into about three parts.
“Can you handle all of it?”
─Yep. Just so happens, last time was Battery’s turn, so I have some time on my hands.
Well, that’s fortunate.
I felt that the editor and manager were a bit lacking, but it seems like everyone has reached a certain level of professionalism and is managing well.
However, the manager role is still somewhat underwhelming compared to the viewer count, so some improvement is needed.
Deoen reduced my fatigue through my network system, but lately, the number of “evil characters” has been increasing.
“What about the managers? Do we need more people?”
─Um… to be honest, it’s a bit tough. Still, I’m holding back on too harsh insults or unreasonable complaints, but it’s getting a bit much.
─Agreed.
White Autumn nodded in agreement with Joah’s comment as she created a GIF of Sre munching away.
It’s clear that since I revealed my identity and with Rapina’s incident, the number of people who hold negative feelings towards me has been gradually increasing.
Of course, there are still many more who like me, but compared to the past, the ratio has definitely increased.
“I guess I’ll have to recruit some managers soon. Maybe around two people like before? Five should be enough, right?”
─Since we have chat every hour anyway, that should be manageable.
Currently, the managers are Joah, Hyuji, and Apple Flavor, who also does both editing and managing, making three in total.
White Autumn also occasionally edits and does some managing in her spare time, but since the editing work has been getting busier, she naturally stepped back from managing duties.
I’ve been so busy with editing work that I’ve naturally stepped away from the manager’s job.
─Besides, when the Great Cataclysm starts, we’re going to need to prepare for a huge increase in viewers.
“Got it. When do you think that’ll be?”
─Honestly, it’s so fun that I could just upload it as is, maybe in a day? If we do a three-a-day, that seems doable. The funniest one is the Mukbang… I think it’d be enjoyable to upload it as ASMR too.
White Autumn uploaded a short edited video.
─Chop chop chop chop chop.
It was a one-minute clip of Sre burying his head in the plate, and the uniform sound was really pleasing to hear.
─I think we could upload it separately as a shorts, it’s oddly addictive.
“Let’s put it up right away. We didn’t have anything to upload as shorts anyway.”
─Just a moment. Let me finish this up and I’ll upload it right away.
While White Autumn was preparing, I logged into my NewTube channel.
6.01 million subscribers.
The trending video at the top was my first video where I met Yena, and it was nearing 50 million views.
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1WE83WnhqbmRkVmFBelZMWWxOUi9nRU1vVVBZUDJDTnE2Ly9mWlUvbXF4cg
Compared to the beginning, it’s really grown a lot.
Especially once it hit the foreign algorithms, now even basic duel or hunting videos get hundreds of thousands as a baseline.
The most popular series featuring the Siege War against the Empire totaled seven episodes, each surpassing 20 million views.
The channel with Yena has seen a significant increase in both subscribers and average views compared to when I first saw it.
No, it feels like the view count for videos featuring Deoen has also drastically increased.
It was popular before, but I’d heard the viewer-to-creator ratio has grown quite a bit since I first started.
─… Done. It’s uploaded.
“Wow.”
─Chop chop chop chop chop.
As soon as I clicked on the shorts, familiar sounds started playing alongside Sre’s figure appearing.
The background was black, with “Hatchling Mukbang ASMR” written at the top, and in the middle, Sre’s chubby body was buried in the plate.
He really does eat deliciously.
It was a short video of about 50 seconds, yet within less than five minutes of uploading, it had over ten thousand comments.
─ So cute!
─True, please show us once later.
“Since you’re at the Academy, feel free to drop by sometime.”
─Sure!
─Yay!
Now that I’ve uploaded the shorts, let’s start editing the riding videos and upload them gradually.
─By the way, what were you doing at the Empire?
“Just chatting a bit? Had a talk with the person in charge about the Great Cataclysm.”
─The person in charge, you mean…?
“Duke Huangyeol.”
─Wait? Didn’t you say you didn’t like Duke Huangyeol?
“Didn’t you like it?”
“I do dislike it, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Just because I don’t want to talk doesn’t mean everything’s going to fall apart.
I didn’t want to see her face either, but thankfully she came as a prince with a sword, making our conversation much easier.
“If you happen to have any small stakes near the sea, you should pull them out. Everything’s going to sink.”
─ Didn’t you say you would stop it?
“Even if I try to stop it, there are limits.”
The Kraken wouldn’t be called the Kraken for no reason, would it?
I can stop the entire continent from flooding, but it’s safe to say that all the land near the sea is going to be submerged first.
When the Kraken’s powers reach their peak, it won’t stop at just a simple tsunami.
─ But I heard Hyuji is holding out because the land prices are going up.
─ That’s true. But won’t she sell just before it bursts? Sister?
─ Probably?
■
It’s been three days since I returned from the Empire.
During this time, I regularly logged into Deoen and waited at the Academy, but Nea did not come.
I didn’t think she would go against Duke Huangyeol’s orders… Or was she intentionally not sending any message?
Whatever the case, it was a bit disappointing, but my mood wasn’t too bad.
[Match has been made.]
Finally, after five days, a duel match was set up.
I hadn’t even bought the Barrier Yet, and I got matched up right away!
I had been waiting for this day.
[?]
[Oh]
[MooYa]
[Oh Rank]
[Rank Broadcast onzzzzzzzzzz]
[Lily Rapid Bang what’s that]
[Rank Got Matched, Now Kine]
[Hahahahahahahahahaha]
[Did the Sacrificial Lamb appear?]
[Lily, what’s the video?]
[Lily, Empire’s Gathering?]
[Lily, I have a lot to clarify]
[Sre is so cute, I love her, she seems totally soft and squishy, haha]
“Lilha~ Welcome. Today is the Great War broadcast.”
I spun my spear joyfully, focusing on the opponent who was summoned with blue particles.
The battlefield was none other than a high plateau with massive clouds clearly visible.
At the top of the plateau, where the wind blew, ‘she’ was there.
Dressed in a black robe with one hand behind her back, her black ponytail danced like a painting.
Just by looking, she wasn’t an average ranker.
“Who…?”
As she slowly turned her head, the chat window filled with question marks.
“I am The Ruler of Heaven.”
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