In the end, after successfully defeating the boss on my 77th try last night, I received a mission bonus of 500,000 won from the Chairman as a form of gratitude and was able to end my broadcast.
The next day arrived.
“…Wow, it’s really huge.”
After having lunch a little past noon and moving to the meeting location, a gigantic building stood before me.
This was none other than Aiver Headquarters, which I was visiting at the suggestion of the meeting they offered towards the end of yesterday’s broadcast.
I heard that recently, following the Twip service shutdown announcement, some famous streamers were given priority for meeting offers, and then after that, contact was made sequentially with a few other streamers who were Twip partners.
And I was one of them.
So here I was, having ventured out for the first time in ages, all the way to Aiver Headquarters, but upon seeing the building, I felt totally intimidated. It really is different when it comes to big corporations.
Gulp.
After swallowing hard and easing my tension, I adjusted my bag slung over my shoulder and headed toward the building.
Ugh, so intimidating.
As I entered, I was greeted by a neatly decorated interior with a reception desk in the center. It wasn’t overly extravagant, yet it was clear that money had been spent.
“Excuse me. I’m here for a meeting today.”
After glancing around for a moment, I approached the reception desk and carefully spoke up, prompting a female employee who was momentarily staring at me blankly to react with a surprised, “Ah!” before responding.
She must have been zoning out from working hard. I get it, though.
“Yes, may I ask who you have a meeting with?”
“I heard it’s with Deputy Manager Kim Sung-min from the Social Media Team.”
“Oh, in that case, are you here regarding the Cheese Streamer meeting?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Nodding, the employee began typing away on her computer, then opened a drawer and handed me an ID card-like item to wear around my neck.
“Please wear this and head to the Social Media Team 2 on the third floor down the right hallway.”
“Ah, thank you. Have a great day!”
Remembering the habit I learned from my dad, I greeted her with a big smile, causing the employee to seem a bit surprised but eventually smile back and wave.
Meeting everyone with such a smile, huh? Service jobs seem harder than I thought.
“Ah…!”
As I reached the elevator, I spotted someone already inside who had arrived on the first floor.
If I missed that, there’s no way I’d get to my appointment at least ten minutes early, so I sighed and sprinted toward it.
“Oof!”
Fortunately, seeing me, a man quickly pressed the elevator’s open button with a look of surprise. Thanks to him, I avoided the disaster of getting caught in the elevator door.
“Huff, huff… Thank you.”
Breathing heavily, I expressed my gratitude to the man in his late thirties who was smirking down at me and waved his hand.
“No problem. By the way, judging by your ID, you must be here for the Streamer meeting, right?”
“Yes… Ah?”
Just as I was about to nod while resting my hand on my knee, a voice that sounded oddly familiar filled my ears, causing me to inadvertently lift my head with a snap.
Ding.
At that moment, the elevator chimed to signal we had reached the third floor, and I stumbled out, staring intently at the man in front of me.
I didn’t have a particular preference for that type, but the voice I just heard was too familiar to ignore.
“Uh… Are you Mr. Exit?”
Exit.
He is a heavyweight streamer in the Korean streaming scene, famously recognized for his high energy and immense content creation that overwhelms his fandom.
He’s known to be in his late thirties and, like me, maintains his anonymity with no public face, having stuck to no-cam broadcasting from the start.
He was my favorite streamer before I even started broadcasting.
“Ha ha, that’s me! How did you know?”
As soon as he confirmed my suspicion, my eyes widened in disbelief.
No way, it’s really Mr. Exit?
“I’m a huge fan. I never expected to meet you here… It’s such an honor.”
“Oh, the honor is mine.”
I had heard he developed various dialects from traveling extensively as a child, but I didn’t expect it to come through so much in his actual speaking style.
Wow, it’s really Mr. Exit. I can’t believe it.
“Oh, I’m Cosmo, the streamer on Twip. Sorry for not introducing myself sooner.”
“Nice to meet you. You’re the one who often gives advice on your streams, right?”
“You know about me?”
“Of course, my wife watches your streams regularly.”
What?! Mr. Exit’s wife watches my streams?
Considering he knows what kind of content I typically produce, it doesn’t seem like mere flattery.
Wow, is this a dream or reality?
“Well, let’s save the chit-chat for later and get to the meeting first. There might be others waiting for us.”
“Ah! I’m so sorry. I was out of it…”
Feeling dazed as if I had just met a celebrity, I hurriedly followed him down the hallway.
As we arrived in front of the room labeled Social Media Team 2, a male employee passing by locked eyes with us.
“Oh, welcome! You must be Mr. Exit and Cosmo!”
He immediately recognized us and enthusiastically expressed his greetings. This must be the Deputy Manager Kim Sung-min we were set to meet.
“Yes, that’s us.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I didn’t expect you both to come together. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you. I’m Deputy Manager Kim Sung-min.”
The employee who bowed to greet us pointed toward the other door, looking at Mr. Exit.
“The person in charge of Mr. Exit’s meeting will be out soon. We’ve prepared refreshments in the meeting room next door, so you can relax inside while you wait.”
“Ah, thank you. Well, then…”
Probably to conduct individual interviews one-on-one, Mr. Exit entered the meeting room with another employee.
After watching this unfold, Deputy Manager Kim Sung-min led me to another small room next to the pantry, making me wonder what’s with all these rooms along the hallway.
“I’ll greet you again. I’m Deputy Manager Kim Sung-min, assigned to Social Media Team 2. I’m also in charge of managing partnership contracts for the upcoming Cheese platform.”
Once inside a room boasting a neatly arranged table with simple snacks, Deputy Manager Kim handed me a business card and began to formally introduce himself.
I stood up from my seat, bowed, and introduced myself properly.
“I’m Kang Woo-joo. I use the nickname Cosmo on Twip.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, I heard you took your streaming name from your real name?”
“Did you know?”
“Of course. It’s only natural to know about someone we might be indebted to.”
I found his notably friendly tone quite surprising.
And it’s no wonder, as from an objective viewpoint, I’m just an average streamer with about 300 viewers on a good day.
Unlike Mr. Exit, who has thousands to tens of thousands of viewers, I’m neither a rising star nor a sensation on the scene.
I never expected him to speak so encouragingly about bringing me into their platform.
“Let’s sit down and talk comfortably.”
“Yes.”
A little pressure set in, but at the same time, I felt strangely uplifted by the treatment I was receiving.
“First things first… We would like to extend a partnership proposal to you, Cosmo.”
Trying hard not to get my hopes up prematurely, I took my seat as the conversation finally got underway.
*
Rolling around. Rolling around.
On my rare day off, leaving work to the executives and employees, I spent my time sprawled out on my bed.
Anxiety was bubbling up steadily within me, becoming hard to ignore.
And why? Because today was none other than the day for the new platform meeting with Mr. Cosmo.
“I’m sure things are going well…?”
Hugging a giant pillow, I muttered to myself, though my worries showed no signs of abating.
I’m still worried.
I heard that they called all the partner streamers from Twip, but among them, the select few that the Cheese platform truly wanted would be a rare find.
I couldn’t guarantee that Cosmo was one of them.
“The partnership terms are quite good. The question is whether that offer will reach Cosmo.”
From what I heard, the partnership contract for Cheese was designed differently than Twip.
From settlement methods to preferential conditions. They weren’t anything extremely special, but they shouldn’t be perceived as lacking in benefits either. If Cosmo accepts it, it would help propel their broadcasting growth.
To be honest, I even thought about giving the company a heads-up to solidify Cosmo’s partnership, but something told me that wouldn’t be what Cosmo wanted.
From what they often expressed during streams, it seemed like Cosmo wasn’t fond of relying on others to achieve something.
As a fan, all I could do was believe in and wait for the streamer I liked.
“Ugh…!”
Fluff.
But it seems worrying is just unavoidable.
After struggling in bed for a while, I finally kicked off the blanket and pillow and jumped up, heading straight for the shower.
Right, I’ll just take a quick peek. I’d mentioned to Cosmo before that I had connections with Aiver’s employees, so it wouldn’t be weird if I bumped into him—just covering up that I’m here to meet a friend.
With that rationalization completed, I turned on the shower and let the warm water fall over me while closing my eyes.
I want to see Cosmo as soon as possible.
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