Chapter 236 : Give & Take (1)

Give & Take (1)

It was late, but Yattaman's stream continued, and Park Juho kept monitoring it.

"Hey, this is just too much...!"

The words may have been unintelligible, but the situation was clear enough just from watching.

With an awkward tone, yattaman pressed himself flat against the wall. Facing the assault by hordes of outlaws and gang alliance members, he couldn't help but groan.

"I died again!"

"They attacked from the side? As expected, so cowardly!"

"No, no, no—isn't this too many for a detachment?"

"Gah! Help me, lightemon!"

Even after several deaths, his streaming energy didn't falter. His lively attempts to try again made viewers burst out laughing.

― What's with 'Lightemon' lolol

― But you're getting used to it, aren't you?

― If you die this much, you have no choice but to get used to it lolol

― This man's mental endurance is amazing lolol

He managed to fend off the detachment at last, but the real problem was something else.

"A Gatling gun, seriously? Are you kidding me... hey, seriously, this isn't a joke!"

With a flustered face, he looked to his viewers for answers.

"Wait, Purple, how did you clear this part!?"

― I captured him.

― Huh? For real?

― No way, yattaman www are you trying to do the same? lolol

― Ehh—? No way! Capturing him is impossible for sure!

― Yattaman's in a pinch again!

Some viewers' claims shocked both the others and Yattaman himself.

"Ah, Purple, you're even more amazing than I imagined! But that's why it's worth trying to catch up!"

But as he fired up his determination again, the viewers continued to laugh.

― He's at it lolol Such a manga-like line lolol

― Yattaman's tension goes up when it gets hard, but in a different way lolol

― Should I add 10 more hours to the playtime?

― I'm going to go make yakisoba lolol

But regardless of his willpower, there was no breakthrough in sight. While he was focusing, he suddenly hit the 30-minute mark, which was his goal.

"Huh? What's this? Suddenly a cutscene?"

Caught off guard, yattaman focused on the cutscene.

As flames scattered behind him, backup forces rushed in. The outlaws raised their voices in alarm.

"Federal Marshals!"

"Damn, the detectives are here too!"

"Big Guy! Turn the Gatling gun around!"

When Johnny immediately turned the Gatling gun's barrel to the rear, the outlaws scrambled out of the line of fire in a hurry.

"Let's show them Big Guy's big gun."

Johnny curled his lips into a smile and pulled the trigger. The rapidly spinning Gatling gun blazed, and horses and backup forces fell in its path.

― Whoaaa... It's hopeless against that!?

― It's a weapon of war, of course it's OP. You didn't know? Idiot!

― Ah, is this a bad ending?

Almost half the forces died. Johnny seemed delighted at the outcome, letting out a laugh.

"Ah, dammit! I'm out of bullets! The rest is up to you guys!"

But that didn't last long. Johnny shouted loudly as he jumped down.

"Big Guy!?"

"Where are you going!?"

The other outlaws were dumbfounded, but Big Guy simply ran away.

― This is totally different from Purple's stream

― It's the difference between a happy ending and a bad ending, of course it'd be different lolol

― Ah, it's getting hard to watch now. Knowing there's a better ending makes it tough, you know?

The viewers, and even Yattaman himself, were taken aback.

Right then, Korean-language messages began to appear in the chat as if on cue.

― Haha, I thought so, what a massive difference

― With skills like this, you think you can even touch Godple? lmao

― The real problem is thinking Korea can beat Japan in games

― Now you know why Godple isn't worried at all? lolol

― Seriously, don't even think about leeching off Godple with skills like this lolol

It was the type Park Juho had been concerned about.

Seeing the arrival of toxic viewers, Park Juho clicked his tongue and checked their usernames.

"As expected, they're here."

He compared the remaining chat logs in Lee Gyeongbok's stream.

― Hyung! That was insane!

― Lolol This is why I watch Godple's stream!

― Damn, can't believe what I saw with my own eyes

― Our hyung should be registered as an Intangible Cultural Asset lolol

In Lee Gyeongbok's stream, they acted like ordinary fans—cheering for him and admiring his play.

"Regrettable, but..."

Park Juho frowned at their two-facedness, but soon regained his composure.

He promptly added the toxic viewers' IDs to the ban list. They wouldn't be able to enter Lee Gyeongbok's stream again.

But that alone didn't solve the problem.

― Korean(s)? What are they saying?

― Wow... are they flaming Yattaman right now?

― They're belittling Yattaman by comparing him to Purple!

― Ugh, harsh...

― Purple's viewers are less than perfect

Some viewers who understood Korean conveyed the content, and the chat atmosphere grew tense.

"This is exactly what they mean by 'Fools create anti-fans.'"

This, Park Juho realized, was precisely the problem he feared.

The bad image of a few toxic viewers could rub off on Lee Gyeongbok as well.

"At least the numbers are smaller than I expected, I should be thankful for that..."

There wasn't much he could do here. But just then, a message in the chat caught his eye.

― Those kinds of people do not represent Purple's viewers!

― If you know Korean, you can sense the vibe of Purple's stream, right?

The message was in Japanese, but the username was written in Hangul.

'gatpleibouhasaourinaraemansae.'

It wasn't just because the username was long—Park Juho also knew the person behind it.

"Wait... isn't that Jo Daehan?"

He quickly understood the situation.

"Of course, for someone who likes to admit he loves Korean pride, it's only natural he'd be monitoring this."

Given Jo Daehan's personality, it was expected he would care, and would take the lead in actively protecting Lee Gyeongbok's image.

'I should at least run this through a quick translation tool.'

Park Juho copied and pasted the chat into Qoogle Translate and, after reading it, smiled.

― What, are these some kind of far-right monkeys?

― Ah, see, there are people like that in both Korea and Japan.

― I brought yakisoba, did something happen?

― Yakisobaman lolol I spit out my food

― It must be tough for Purple to deal with those people too

With Jo Daehan's vigorous defense, the viewers understood the situation. That included Yattaman himself.

"Hey, if Purple doesn't mind, then knock it off! Tearing down someone else's effort isn't perfect at all!"

He kicked out the trolls from his broadcast and rekindled his determination.

"If it were Purple, he'd never give up in this situation! Capture Big Guy! I'll show you I can do it!"

― No, no, Purple wouldn't even let it get to this point!

― You got this, yattaman!

― Wow? This yakisoba is really good!? But it's dangerous to eat more!

― Quit eating and watch the stream, lolol

― Ah, if I watch more I'll be late for work, but I can't stop watching Yattaman, lolol

The mood of the stream recovered. It was all thanks to Jo Daehan's quick response.

"A true global communications manager,"

Park Juho smiled slightly in approval.

* * *

The next day, early afternoon.

Team Perfect meeting.

Jo Daehan reported on last night's incident.

"... So after a grueling nine hours and 62 tries, yattaman finally captured Johnny."

He played a prepared highlight clip.

In the video, yattaman carefully crawled between corpses, advancing and waiting repeatedly in line with the Gatling gun's pattern, ultimately succeeding in getting close.

"Wow, crawling at that speed? He really finds a way to catch up, no matter what. That's impressive, truly."

When Choi Byeonghun commented in amazement, Lee Gyeongbok nodded in agreement.

"With that level of determination and grit, he'd be successful at anything."

"Good work, Jo Daehan."

Park Juho cleared his throat and shifted the focus.

"We'll wrap up Yattaman-related topics here, and move to the next item. You already know, since I posted it in the group chat in advance, but we need to set standards regarding 'gifts.'"

He'd already listed this for discussion in their chat.

Choi Byeonghun raised his hand first.

"First off, I'm against food gifts. They're a real headache to deal with. I've heard all sorts of stories."

"Why?"

"Even aside from the risk of malicious tampering—which is very rare—the real problem is that it's just too 'easy' a gift."

Choi Byeonghun shook his head.

"Whether it's store-bought or handmade, food doesn't take much time to prepare. If we allow it, the volume will be crazy. Plus, there's the issue of storage."

"Right. You can only eat so much before it goes to waste."

"Exactly! And with someone as popular as Gyeongbok, the volume would be enormous. You'd end up having to throw away a lot, and that'd be disappointing both for the fans who gave it and the one who received it."

Park Juho immediately agreed.

"I agree. And if, by any chance, someone gets sick from eating something, that's another problem."

"True, it'd be tricky filtering through and only accepting what fits your diet."

With even Lee Gyeongbok agreeing, Park Juho moved on.

"Alright, let's move past food. Some people like to make props or draw pictures for gifts."

"Oh, really?"

"As for drawings, fanart can be posted on the fanpage or the PerG-Day fan cafe's fanart board, but we should set standards for physical props."

He then showed an example figure he'd noticed while going through emails the day before.

"Whoa, what's this? That's really high quality!"

"Wow... they made this themselves?"

Choi Byeonghun and Jo Daehan opened their eyes wide in amazement.

"Fans with golden hands are really rare, and the detail is insane."

"That's what I mean. You could sell this immediately. Actually, if you did, I'd buy it."

Lee Gyeongbok chuckled. It was the kind of piece that deserved such praise.

'For someone to put in that much effort just for me...'

Thinking of how much effort must have gone into something of that quality, he felt even more joy.

Reading the rest of the email made his heart swell even more.

"Oh, they also made sure not to reveal their address?"

"They're a real fan's fan."

"I'd have to accept this, for sure."

Hearing Lee Gyeongbok say that, Park Juho nodded.

"Then, for gifts that clearly involved serious effort, and for those who agree to a collection method that doesn't expose their address, we'll pick out those emails?"

"Let's do that for now. It would be rude to refuse this kind of thing."

"Alright. I'll reply to this email saying we'll accept the gift."

As Lee Gyeongbok nodded, he suddenly looked pensive.

"Wait... Daehan, you said you'd buy it if it were for sale, right?"

"Huh? Uh, yes! Of course! Are you planning to sell it to me?"

With a hint of hope, Jo Daehan looked at him expectantly. Lee Gyeongbok snorted.

"No, I can't. Since it's a gift, I'll obviously keep it."

"Why'd you ask, then?"

When Choi Byeonghun asked, Lee Gyeongbok explained.

"Just taking the gift as-is doesn't feel right. So here's what I was thinking..."

He shared his idea, and the others nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, makes sense, given your reasoning..."

"If that's the boss's wish."

"Wow, you really thought it through. You definitely feel like a boss."

Lee Gyeongbok smiled at their reaction.

"It's good to keep talented people close."

* * *

Later that day, subway station.

Someone was sitting at a LattePro at the station, looking visibly nervous.

'Ugh, why am I so jittery...'

She sipped her drink to moisten her dry lips, and kept glancing at the storage lockers tucked away in the corner of the station.

'I was originally just going to drop it off and go.'

She was the figure creator. As soon as she received the reply email, she headed to the designated subway station, placed the lovingly wrapped gift in a locker, and waited.

'Still, since the manager is coming, privacy shouldn't be an issue.'

She needed to visually confirm that the gift was properly delivered to feel at ease.

If anything went wrong right in front of her, she was prepared to retrieve it, fix it, and send it again.

'Ah? Is that him?'

She spotted someone approaching the locker.

'Looks like it's the manager after all.'

Just to be sure, she checked—the build confirmed it wasn't Purple. Quieter nerves, she watched anxiously.

'He opened it...!'

The locker opened and he took out her gift. Thankfully, there was no problem.

As she let out a sigh of relief—

"Huh?"

He didn't leave immediately. Instead, he rummaged through something and put his hand back into the locker.

What could it be? Her Smart Link buzzed with a new email.

[This is Purple's manager.]

It was a fresh email.

She immediately read it.

[We have received the gift you prepared.

Thank you for your meticulous consideration. As a small token of thanks, we have left something for you in the locker.

The password is the same.

Please check it again at your convenience.]

Reading the message, she stood bolt upright.

"A return gift!"

Her heart raced wildly.

The particular content of the token didn't matter. Simply the fact that Purple had prepared something for her was enough to make her happy.

'Good thing I waited!'

Afraid the locker would close forever if she waited, she hurried over.

She could feel people's eyes, but didn't care. She dashed up to the locker.

'What was the password again? What was it...?'

Her mind went blank, but she soon remembered and entered it quickly.

With a cheerful beep, the locker clicked and opened.

She slid the door aside with trembling hands.

"This is...!"

What she saw made her blink.

A small, oval mask, with a 'P' engraved on the surface—surely the very mask Purple wore in his offline streams.

And there was even a handwritten autograph on the cheek.

"Could this be... the real thing?"

Carefully lifting the mask, she found a postcard and a business card underneath.

She picked up the postcard immediately.

[Trha! This is Purple.

Is it okay for me to greet you this way?

Thank you so much for the gift you prepared.

I thought a lot about what to give in return, and since you made me a one-and-only figure, I figured I should give you a one-and-only item.

Of course, compared to the figure you made, it's nothing, but a lot of people wanted this mask during that stream.

From the chat log, I saw you were one of the people who wanted it, so I thought it'd be okay.

Ah, and the business card is the manager's.

Your skills are outstanding, so if there's ever a chance, maybe we could do something together.

Thank you again!

PerfectPlay.]

A postcard with Purple's handwritten message and autograph. She turned it over just in case there was more.

[P. S. Just to let you know, the mask was thoroughly cleaned. No need to worry about hygiene!]

There was more.

She laughed at the note, then rolled her eyes thoughtfully.

"'Work together'? What does that mean—like a viewer participation event?"

That was the first thing that came to mind—maybe she'd be given priority for such an event.

"But then, why the manager's business card too?"

She puzzled over it but couldn't figure it out. Even so, she was elated.

"I'm Purple's first treasured-fan!"

An unexpected fan service.

"Next is Perfect Yami...!"

She resolved to pour even more effort into her next figure project.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.