episode_0347

“Team leader!”

“Ah, Manager Choi. What’s the matter?”

The day after concluding the first match with Charlotte, Choi Sung-chul, the team leader and PD of AT Thunder’s YouTube team, visited the head of AT early in the morning. If it were last year, he wouldn’t have even thought of coming like this.

‘If the CEO was still the head of operations… Ugh… I don’t even want to think about it.’

In fact, until last year, Cheon So-young, who was the head of operations at AT Thunder and is currently the CEO, was quite a well-known figure within the organization.

When Cheon So-young first joined the front office, she was famous for her Seoul National University background and her appearance that made people’s hearts flutter. Moreover, since she had just graduated from college and was young, there wasn’t a single man in the front office who didn’t like Cheon So-young.

However, as time passed, the front office staff began to notice something strange. The fact that she drove expensive foreign cars at a young age and that the foreign car changed almost every day. Also, the subtle way in which the CEO and the director deferred to her, and the surname ‘Cheon.’

After a year had passed and Cheon So-young had rapidly been promoted to head of operations, the front office staff finally learned that she was part of the owner’s family.

From then on, with her background and her cold personality that never minced words with anyone, even those who subtly or blatantly disregarded Cheon So-young due to her gender and non-baseball background, there were hardly any people who approached or opposed her after she demanded Ji Maeng-ho strongly in the rookie draft two years ago and picked him as the first overall pick, winning the power struggle with the baseball background staff.

Hong Hyun-cheol, a former AT Thunder player and current head of the scouting team, also quit his job shortly after the rookie draft, so you can imagine how influential she was.

If there was a chance to approach her, it would be on the day AT Thunder won a game?

Choi Sung-chul, who manages AT’s team YouTube channel, found it difficult to even mention Ji Maeng-ho’s YouTube appearances last year because Ji Maeng-ho was a player specially managed by Cheon So-young.

There was no one who could oppose Cheon So-young, not even the director or the CEO. Even the head of the marketing team proposing to use Ji Maeng-ho for promotion and getting scolded by Cheon So-young for hours was a famous story within the front office.

‘Was that maybe the day AT made a comeback? The head of marketing has no tact. Tsk. No one is unaware that CEO Cheon gets sharp on days when the baseball team loses, blinded by results.’

Of course, such favoritism was not entirely incomprehensible. It was not an exaggeration to say that Ji Maeng-ho was a player who supported the team. Even if the team struggled when Ji Maeng-ho’s performance was affected by external pressure, it was not surprising.

Indeed, last year, during the period when Ji Maeng-ho was disciplined for bench-clearing incidents, his absence from the team due to the Asian Games call-up, and this year’s assault controversy, the team’s performance was bleak.

Nevertheless, Ji Maeng-ho’s YouTube appearances were an indispensable part from the perspective of managing the YouTube channel. Each interview featuring Ji Maeng-ho significantly increased the number of views.

“Team leader. Would it be okay to film team content using player Ji Maeng-ho?”

“What? Player Ji Maeng-ho?”

“Yes. Every time Player Ji Maeng-ho appears, the YouTube views are about 20,000 to 30,000 more than other interview videos, and there are many comments asking why Ji Maeng-ho isn’t appearing. Fans truly care about Ji Maeng-ho. Isn’t it true that Ji Maeng-ho rarely engages in other external activities? I heard he only does interviews with specific reporters. If Ji Maeng-ho were to appear on the team’s YouTube channel, our channel could greatly grow.”

“Is that so? Hmmm….”

Despite Choi Sung-cheol’s enthusiastic explanation, Team Manager Kim Moon-hyun’s response was lukewarm. It was understandable since Team Manager Kim Moon-hyun, a man in his late forties, only watched news and trot singer music videos on YouTube.

Moreover, the team’s YouTube channel was not profitable; it was simply created as a communication platform for fans. In reality, considering things like the production team’s salaries, it was running at a significant loss.

‘Damn, he doesn’t seem interested at all.’

And Choi Sung-cheol couldn’t ignore such an atmosphere.

‘What should I do? Surely fans would watch a lot if Ji Maeng-ho appeared. Not just AT fans, but other baseball fans too.’

If you were to choose a superstar in Korean baseball right now, it would undoubtedly be Ji Maeng-ho. His skills were unquestionable, and his popularity, with his superior physicality, natural talent, and handsome looks, was at the highest level among Korean sports stars. He was even more popular than Choi Ju-tae, who was active in the majors.

It was certain that the view count would increase if Ji Maeng-ho appeared, even briefly, in various contents, but it was frustrating that there seemed to be no convincing strategy to persuade the Team Manager.

‘Should I try to persuade him by attracting fans? Or aim for a profit turnaround? Would a profit turnaround work? Considering the size of the YouTube team, even a Gold Button might be challenging to achieve… How should I persuade him? Should I convince him by saying it would be easy to divert attention from the assault controversy?’

However, contrary to Choi Sung-cheol’s concerns, the problem was resolved quite easily.

“But wasn’t Player Ji Maeng-ho not appearing in any content?”

“Yes?”

“Why was that? Did the player refuse? Tsk tsk, these days players… Back in our time, that would have been unacceptable. Why wasn’t he appearing?”

‘What? You didn’t know at all? You just weren’t interested.’

But it was a fortunate turn of events. It was better to be uninterested compared to the attention Cheon So-yeong received.

“Well, that was not the player’s decision; it was last year’s decision by Chairman Cheon, I mean, the current CEO Cheon…”

“Oh, I see. Well, he must have had his reasons. But we shouldn’t just consider one player’s convenience. Team spirit. You know? There is no player greater than the team. Even if that player is Ji Maeng-ho, there are no exceptions. Do it during non-training hours.”

“Really? Can we start today then?”

“Yes. If it’s outside training hours, why not? Players should also provide fan service. Their salary comes from the fans. If they can’t even do that much, it’s not acceptable.”

‘Nice!’

“Understood. Thank you, Team Manager!”

Just when he was worried about a possible refusal, a refreshing decision burst out. Choi Sung-cheol bowed his head and continued to express his gratitude.

‘Great! This way, the incentives will also… Since making a vlog will take some time, let’s skip that for now. I need to edit quickly and upload before the Team Manager changes his mind. Should I try to get closer to him? No, it’s Ji Maeng-ho’s first video, so having two people might be a bit much, right? Hmm, what should I do? Q&A session? Yes, a Q&A session should be good. There’s no better content than a hearty beef rice bowl for the first content.’

With that, Choi Sung-cheol left the manager’s office, his eyes flashing with passion towards the incentives.

“Hello! Player Ji Maeng-ho! Have you received my message?”

“Oh, this? I heard we were filming something…”

“Yes, that’s right. You know that our team’s YouTube channel, known as ‘Etube,’ is up and running, right?”

“Yes, I’m aware.”

When I first joined this team, I greeted the fans and knew that interviews were regularly conducted and uploaded to the team’s YouTube channel. But did they film something like this here?

“It turns out many fans wanted to see Player Ji Maeng-ho on Etube.”

“Oh, really? Then why wasn’t I called in?”

“Well, you were a rookie last year, and we couldn’t risk affecting your performance.”

“…Is that so?”

Fortunately, it seemed like I hadn’t been excluded. From what I gathered, it seemed more like a matter of timing. Being called in now must mean that I’ve found my place in this team.

Anyway, it was a good thing that fans wanted to see me. The more fans I have, the higher the ratio of pretty girls increases, which means more opportunities to charm them.

“I should seize this opportunity to show my true self.”

My true charm that can’t go unnoticed by women. With that determination in mind, as I looked around the room, several cameras were pointed at me.

“But are we filming right now?”

“Yes, we’re filming, but feel free to speak comfortably. If there are any awkward moments, we can edit them out.”

“Oh, I see.”

“Then let’s begin with the official Etube questions here. Have you subscribed to Etube?”

“No.”

Although I knew it existed, I hadn’t subscribed because I thought it was a channel for interviews. I didn’t need to watch my own interviews, and I certainly didn’t need to watch others’. Watching a lookbook or something else would be more beneficial than watching that on YouTube.

“Could I see what channels you are subscribed to?”

“Sure, take a look.”

I unlocked my phone, opened YouTube, and handed it to the person who seemed like a producer. The camera meant for filming was capturing my phone screen.

“Oh, XX Lookbook, AA Lookbook, High School Girl ASMR. Lovely XX, Mishi Nuna… Wow, this one is… Baseball channels like JiaTube and MLB Channel… That’s all?”

Looking at the channels I subscribed to, the producer seemed flustered.

“Well, with treasures like these, it’s natural for a guy to be flustered.”

Even though we hadn’t conversed much, I sensed that the talk about lookbooks wasn’t quite hitting the mark, so I shifted the conversation towards baseball initially.

“Yes. Do you really need to watch Korean baseball on YouTube? I just catch up on major news occasionally. Oh, and I subscribed to JiaTube because Seung-cheol hyung recommended it. JiaTube is fun. I even made an appearance there recently, and apparently, the views have been increasing lately, which Ji-ah likes. PD, you should check it out.”

Despite my recommendation, the PD didn’t seem pleased. However, I quickly understood why he had that expression. It must be annoying to be told to watch baseball YouTube channels while working at a baseball company. Plus, considering his reaction to lookbooks…

“It’s probably not ideal to watch baseball from work to home, right? How about this instead? This channel is really top-notch these days. It’s so entertaining that time flies when you watch it, even on the bus.”

I pushed the channel that currently appealed to me the most onto the PD. Perhaps the lack of recent views made it more revealing, but it was indeed an enticing channel. By the way, my current hobby involves trying out styles from places like this on my girlfriends.

However, even after recommending my prized channel, the PD’s expression remained unimpressed.

“Ha, is this not enough? I didn’t want to reveal this much.”

“Well, how about this then? This is an ASMR channel. It’s so relaxing. Seriously.”

On a night when there are no women around, playing an ASMR channel and falling asleep, the sound of a woman whispering something fills the room.

“Oh, um… I can’t use this. Let’s edit this part for now.”

“Why?”

Could it be that I’m subscribed to a better channel than the one I usually watch?

“Still, if the image of a baseball player watching a lookbook gets out, it might be a bit awkward. We’re not a fashion channel; we’re run by the team, so if rumors start because of us…”

…It was for such a trivial reason. The excitement of subscribing to a new channel fades away.

“Anyway. Would that really cause rumors? What’s wrong with a man watching a channel where women are scantily clad? It’s because Koreans lack confidence, that’s the problem.”

“Let’s start over. Just answer truthfully. If it seems off, we’ll cut it out. Maengho, do you subscribe to Etube?”

“No.”

“Oh, too bad. Please like, subscribe, and turn on notifications this time.”

“I find notifications a bit bothersome. You know, when they pop up at the top of your phone, it’s a bit unsettling. And I only hit like on real gems. It’s annoying when you’re binge-watching and suddenly a man’s voice comes on.”

“…Let’s try again. Just say you understand.”

The PD of Etube sighs as he speaks. In reality, I was the one who wanted to let out a sigh.

“I thought it was real, but it was scripted? Well, that’s the level of the team’s YouTube, I guess.”

It wasn’t going to be easy today.

A murmuring voice is heard, wondering if it’s the writer or someone else. If there was a script as expected, it was clear that showing my true charm wouldn’t be easy.

“Still, I have to show my true self. It’s a matter of respect for the fans.”

As the first content produced by the team, meant to introduce myself to the fans, I vowed to show myself without any filters.