Chapter 62: The Super Rookie’s Negotiation Strategy

Sungwoo really logged off cleanly after recording just the fourth part of the video.

After all, what mattered to Sungwoo right now wasn't character development, but the management of his newly launched channel.

As soon as he stepped out of the capsule, Sungwoo immediately extracted the footage and saved it as a file.

‘That’s it for Part 4.’

Finishing a process that barely deserved to be called editing, Sungwoo checked over the Part 1 video he’d uploaded before logging in.

And then, he let out a hollow laugh.

[Infinite Tower Floor 1 Strategy Guide 1/4]

- Views: 820,548.

- Likes: 10,546.

- Comments: 1,057.

“Wow... these numbers are insane.”

It hadn’t even been a full hour since the video was uploaded.

Yet the view count had already surpassed 800,000.

That was some insane firepower.

You’d have to be a statue not to smile at numbers like that.

‘The requirement for Mega Streamer promotion was 100,000 subscribers and a total of 1 million video views, right?’

If so, it looked like he’d be promoted to Mega Streamer before the day was out.

Energized by the overwhelming response, Sungwoo decided to tackle the message sorting he’d put off for later.

‘Strike while the iron’s hot. Let’s gooo!!’

Sungwoo’s message-checking marathon began.

---

About ninety minutes later, Sungwoo finally finished checking all the received messages and threw himself onto the bed with a wild yell.

“Uwaaahhh...”

He felt like his eyeballs were about to fall out.

But in the end, he’d managed to check every single message.

‘Just company contacts alone—thirty...’

An utterly staggering number.

Sungwoo was surprised not only by the sheer volume of company inquiries, but also by the existence of so many MCNs—so-called channel management agencies—in the country.

‘All the major ones reached out, plus some I’ve never heard of, even ones founded by celebrities... There are so many.’

Setting aside the majors, even small companies were boldly sending out contact messages, often offering their best terms.

After all, a single successful war-tuber could feed an entire company.

‘Ah, maybe I just shouldn’t do it? Honestly, signing with an agency means splitting revenue, and I’m not sure how I feel about that...’

In this field, the standard settlement ratio with agencies is 7:3.

Some sketchy places demand 5:5, but most stick with 7:3 and provide editing support.

However, if you hire your own editor as a freelancer, you just pay their monthly wage and keep the rest of the revenue for yourself.

But in that case, everything besides editing would fall on Sungwoo’s shoulders.

‘I’ll keep it on hold for now.’

Sure, you’re supposed to row when the tide comes in, but you have to be careful with contracts.

Once you put ink on the signature line, there’s no going back.

Sungwoo stood up from the bed and sat back down at his computer.

He clicked on the ‘Pro Team’ group among the sorted message categories.

‘It’s not just agencies I have to consider.’

As expected, love calls had poured in from the Warlord pro teams as well.

From all ten first-tier pro teams and the ten amateur teams classified as second-tier in Korea.

No specific terms were listed.

Just countless assurances that he’d be treated fairly, better than anywhere else.

‘I heard Chunak got offered 800 million won a year after ranking first...’

In Infinite Tower, the lower your floor, the better the treatment.

Because as your level increases, you get access to more items and skills that can be bought with money.

That’s why Floor 1, the lowest level, is where your character’s raw stats, physical skill, and game sense can be objectively judged.

Sungwoo skipped over the second-tier amateur teams and scanned the first-tier teams.

‘Pro player. Not that I have to, but still...’

Honestly, becoming a pro player wasn’t necessary.

But the esports scene was growing year by year, and it had become as international as the Olympics—good enough that you could win medals and even get exempted from military service just by being great at games.

In any case, he’d be bringing honor to his country through gaming.

For a healthy twenty-year-old like Sungwoo, exemption from military service was not something to ignore.

After scanning all ten pro teams, Sungwoo made up his mind.

‘Okay. Let’s do it this way.’

Decision made, Sungwoo picked up his phone.

After a long stretch of typing, he sent out all the prepared messages and threw himself back onto the bed.

‘Whatever happens, happens.’

He was out like a light in no time, having spent all his energy checking messages.

---

“It’s here!”

“What is?”

“The reply’s here!”

“From that person you said you met last week?”

“No, you idiot! It’s a reply from Revan!”

“Huh?!”

Baek Hyunwoo, head of planning at Open World, one of the top MCN companies, couldn’t hide his excitement at receiving Revan’s message.

‘Knew he’d pick us. Of course he would. Honestly, where else in Korea is better than our company?’

Baek Hyunwoo took immense pride in both his work and his company.

So when the rookie giant Revan appeared, he’d sent a contact message faster than anyone, and had spent the whole day waiting for Revan’s reply.

Lee Hwan, one of his junior staffers, asked, seeing Hyunwoo’s excitement.

“What did he say?”

“He wants to meet in person, says to come by around lunchtime tomorrow.”

“What about the conditions?”

“None. I mean, he’s new, what would he know? But since he’s the hottest thing out there, we’d better prepare something generous.”

“Looks like we’ll be having a team dinner for the first time in a while. We’ll trust you with this, sir?”

“Of course, you punk! And you should’ve seen the video he posted today. What a sight. Looks like he doesn’t know the first thing about editing—he just uploaded the raw footage.”

“Well, that’s how it is if you don’t know how to use editing programs.”

“Okay, everyone, get your hopes up. I’ll make sure we’re eating beef for dinner tomorrow night.”

“Oh yeah! We’re counting on you, boss.”

And it was Open World, no less.

The mere fact that Revan had sent a positive reply to their contact message was as good as a done deal.

Every warloader they’d signed so far had been like that.

Baek Hyunwoo was as excited as a child at the thought of meeting the hottest rookie in person.

The next day, he drove the company car to Sinchon, where the address was.

‘This must be the place.’

The meeting spot was a small café.

He’d left fifteen minutes early to avoid being late.

After parking nearby, Hyunwoo went inside, ordered some tea instead of coffee, and picked a decent seat.

That was when—

“Huh? PD Bae?”

“Huh?”

PD Bae.

Though his official position was planner, Hyunwoo was actually from an editing background and had been called PD much longer.

So for someone to call him PD Bae meant they knew him personally.

Hyunwoo turned toward the voice and was startled.

“Huh? PD Na, what are you doing here? And that’s PD Choi, right?”

Familiar faces.

And not just one or two.

At the table he turned to, several editors he knew were sitting—editors from the leading MCN companies.

PD Choi, seated at the same table, spoke up.

“Looks like another one’s coming.”

“Huh?”

Following Choi’s words, both Na and Hyunwoo turned their gaze.

Sure enough, another PD—PD Jung—was entering, ordering a drink at the counter.

“What is this...”

For PDs to gather together like this, in Sinchon, during work hours no less?

This almost never happened.

A realization flashed through Hyunwoo’s mind.

‘No way...’

Just then—

“Hello?”

Someone greeted them.

With a youthful voice, the PDs sitting nearby all looked in one direction.

It was Sungwoo.

Sungwoo smiled as he greeted them.

“Hello? I’m Revan.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Pardon?”

Their words differed, but their reactions were the same.

After paying for his drink, Sungwoo waved to PD Jung, who was looking for a seat.

“PD-nim! Over here!”

“Oh, yes! Nice to meet you! I’m from ByeBye... Eh? PD Bae? PD Na?”

As Sungwoo called out, PD Jung instinctively pulled out his business card.

But before he could hand it over, confusion appeared on his face—the same as the other PDs.

But Sungwoo, regardless of their surprise, plopped down in the middle of the wide table and greeted them naturally.

“Looks like everyone’s here. Let me introduce myself again. I’m Revan, the streamer running the channel ‘Principles of Physics’.”

Faced with Sungwoo’s cheerful greeting, the PDs were so dumbfounded they couldn’t say a word.

---

“...So you called us all together because you couldn’t decide easily?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Ah...”

Once all the PDs had gathered, they finally heard the story from Sungwoo.

And let out a sigh inside.

‘What kind of situation is this?’

‘Is it because he’s young?’

‘Good grief...’

‘Haha, hahaha...’

They were smiling on the outside, but there was no way they could laugh inside.

Because this kind of meeting was rather disrespectful in the industry.

Of course, Sungwoo had no way of knowing that.

He simply figured that, as he’d learned in school, he could get the best offer by letting the competitors compete.

Sungwoo spoke.

“I got about thirty contact messages after uploading the video. After spending all night picking and choosing, I invited you four here.”

“I see...”

“I looked it up, and your companies are listed as the biggest. That’s why I invited you four, but have any of you watched my video?”

At his question, the PDs gave awkward smiles.

Sungwoo looked so bright and innocent.

And in any case, the one in power here was Sungwoo, and they were the ones on the back foot.

Of course, they could just leave and return to the office, but if they did, their bosses would chew them out. So, having come all this way, they figured they’d at least hear him out.

Baek Hyunwoo spoke.

“You mean the seven-hour video?”

“Yes, as you might have noticed, I don’t know how to edit, so I just uploaded it as is. That’s why I desperately need a company. Honestly, posting videos like that without editing is a waste, right?”

All the PDs nodded at Sungwoo’s words.

“The strategy video is planned as a four-parter. To be honest, Part 2 is just me fighting Black Orc for an hour, so it’s a bit dull. The real highlight is from Part 3, where the Master Orc appears. I want to find a company before then.”

Master Orc!

The moment that name was mentioned, all the PDs’ eyes sparkled.

Because so far, only Chunak had ever encountered the mysterious monster called Master Orc.

In other words, any video featuring the Master Orc was guaranteed to be a hit.

Seeing their eager expressions, Sungwoo smiled and spoke.

“You all seem very interested in my videos. Since we’re all gathered, would you like to hear a secret?”

“A secret?”

“Yes. Honestly, up until Part 2, it’s just normal combat footage, so people might get the wrong idea. But from Part 3, there’s a huge twist.”

“A twist? Like what...?”

“What do you think my class is?”

“Revan’s class? Obviously a blunt-weapon warrior, right?”

“No.”

“Huh? Then what?”

“I’m a mage.”

“What?”

At Sungwoo’s answer, the four PDs froze in their seats.