WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Chen

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◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈

Chapter 36: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (36)

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By the time half of Onik's first summer vacation as a middle school student had passed, the YouTube channel 「Onik Uncle and the Hapless Chief」 had reached 400,000 subscribers.

Legal Hunter found himself stunned all over again each day by the channel's unbelievable growth.

"Is this... for real?"

Of course, the foundation of that growth was Onik's charm and talent.

But that wasn't all.

Another factor that drew so many viewers to the channel in such a short time was the remarkable image surrounding the boy named Jo Onik.

He was the great-grandson of an independence activist and the grandson of a person of national merit, the only male heir of a long-established head family for three generations. Despite the absence of both parents, he was a kind and cheerful country boy growing up while relying on his veteran grandfather, who relied on him in turn.

That image made most viewers feel more easily and deeply drawn to Onik.

It also made them more forgiving of whatever he did, and made them feel admiration and pity, along with a deeper sense of healing, as they watched him.

The glimpses of Onik shown through viewer-participation content such as 「Beat Onik!」 and 「Let's Play with Onik!」 only reinforced that tendency.

For example:

"Is it hard for you to look people in the eye? Why?"

"I don't know! I've just been like that since I was little! It's nothing, so don't worry about it!"

"Ah..."

Onik had only made a vague excuse to hide what was unusual about him.

Yet viewers came up with sympathetic explanations of their own based on the life he had lived.

"Maybe growing up without parents left him with some kind of emotional wound?"

"Even if he seems so bright, there's no way he hasn't suffered..."

"What the hell is his dad doing? He's alive, isn't he? Where is he while leaving his kid like that?"

The main filming location also helped the channel grow. The traditional hanok and its broad natural surroundings were every bit as lovely as a drama set.

Seeing a child like Onik warmly mingle with the village elders added to the channel's reputation as a so-called healing channel.

Its local charm.

Its peaceful atmosphere.

The feeling of a country village that was gradually being forgotten in this day and age.

The lively, bright presence of one boy breathing energy into an aging farming community.

The heartwarming bond between a boy and his grandfather.

Even the old people, who spoke warmly not only to the boy but to the city folk as well.

All of it gave viewers something more to love.

They liked the elderly guests to a strange degree.

Among them, Elder Jo Jeong-ho, with his stern appearance, was by far the most popular.

During a live popularity poll, he even beat Legal Hunter to take second place.

First place naturally went to Onik Uncle, while the Hapless Chief only came in third...

Legal Hunter couldn't hide his shock at the result.

"What? I got third place? What kind of nonsense is that? This Chief got third? Damn it, third place? That's ridiculous! This makes no sense at all!"

As viewers teased Legal Hunter for being hapless, they also said it was time for him to stop freeloading.

They weren't seriously hounding him over it.

Still, people had been saying since the channel's early growth that Legal Hunter was getting a free ride. Onik Uncle did all the impressive work, while the Hapless Chief just rode along on his back.

Legal Hunter had quietly begun to feel a sense of crisis over it.

Honestly, he couldn't say they were entirely wrong.

‘They're joking now, but who knows what'll happen later.’

No matter how small a spark was, it needed to be put out while it still could be.

Half sincere and half acting, Legal Hunter pleaded tearfully with Elder Jo Jeong-ho.

"Granduncle! Everyone's telling me to answer the accusations that I'm freeloading, but this is so unfair! Please say something to everyone! You stole the second-place spot that was supposed to be mine!"

"I stole second place? Me?"

"Yes!"

"Wasn't it mine to begin with?"

"Granduncle! You'll kill me like this! Please save me!"

The old man had developed a little sense for broadcasting through his occasional guest appearances, driven by nothing more than his hope that his grandson would succeed.

His deadpan response filled the chat with laughter, though Legal Hunter moaned that he was dying.

After giving the many people who cared for his grandson a good laugh, the old man sat at the edge of the wooden porch, looked into the camera, and said.

"I've known this Cheol-sang rascal since the days when he was shitting in diapers.

"Freeloading? We aren't strangers. Why should we be so harsh about counting such things? Wouldn't it be nice if neighbors helped and encouraged one another, then all did well together?"

"Elder..."

"And Cheol-sang does more than he looks like he does.

"Not long ago, some wicked people stole the trademark for the program you're watching right now. The one fighting to get it back is this fellow here, the one crying that he's dying. It's a fight that would be difficult for young Onik or an old man like me to take on."

There had always been countless frauds who preemptively claimed other people's trademarks so they could profit from them.

With vicious intent, they kept a close watch on the internet. Whenever they spotted something that looked likely to become popular, they rushed to register the trademark first, then sold it back later for money.

Trademark applications basically followed a first-to-file system, where the person who applied first acquired the rights.

Internet content creators were the easiest targets for people who abused that principle.

Onik and Legal Hunter were no exception.

Legal Hunter had never dreamed their YouTube channel would grow this quickly.

He discovered too late that some stranger had filed to register the trademark before the channel had even reached 100,000 subscribers, and he had practically breathed fire.

"Aaaagh! What kind of bastard is this? I'll never forgive them!"

Whenever money was involved, Legal Hunter became a fierce fighter who never backed down.

His own tax evasion was just a little romance, but theft by someone else was a crime he could never tolerate.

He instantly transformed into an avatar of justice and began legal action with astonishing fighting spirit and drive.

Fortunately, they were still within the period when the rightful owner could file an objection.

Had they responded later, they would have faced a harder fight, filing for invalidation against the thief after the trademark was registered.

"Stealing a trademark from a kid? Those fucking bastards."

"Seriously. Fuckers. They should pull bean sprouts out of a beggar's asshole instead."

As the viewers raged after hearing the story, Elder Jo Jeong-ho calmly shifted the mood.

"This fellow has other problems. Even at his age, he does many things worth scolding him for.

"I worry that our Onik might learn from him, so I ask all of you to keep a strict eye on him."

"Ah, Elder!"

Legal Hunter put on a show of distress again, and viewers laughed at him.

There was no way for viewers to know that the old man's request contained a measure of sincerity.

Likewise, Legal Hunter contributed surprisingly much to the channel in ways viewers did not know.

Aside from serving as the comic sidekick who made Onik Uncle shine, he and his editor daughter were doing their utmost with the channel's overall composition and operation.

Legal Hunter and his daughter were also responsible for sorting through the flood of joint-stream and collaboration requests, deciding which ones were good and which were not.

"Dad. Joint streams aren't always beneficial."

"Why not? If we bring in another streamer, their subscribers will come too. And if celebrities appear, their fans will come too."

"Those are benefits, of course. But when streamers do a joint stream, fights often break out between both sides' subscribers."

"They fight? The subscribers? Why? Because something contentious happens during the stream?"

"Seriously. Do you think people on the internet need a reason to fight? They'll nitpick insignificant things, get offended, split into sides, and stir up trouble. It isn't just a bunch of random people coming in. When groups with different identities get mixed together, fights are likely to happen."

"Hmm... Dad doesn't really get it. Aren't you seeing people too negatively?"

...said the bad adult.

"What are you talking about? Just trust me. I know internet culture better than you do."

"So you're saying we shouldn't do joint streams with other streamers?"

"When did I say we shouldn't? I said we need to choose carefully. We shouldn't just look at the streamer. We have to examine what kind of traits and culture their fans have before deciding!"

"What about celebrities? You know we've gotten a lot of requests from singers and idol groups too."

"It's not that different. No, we need to be even more careful with minor celebrities trying to build recognition by appearing on internet broadcasts. Do you know how often scandals break out with no-name idol groups from small and mid-sized agencies? That side is a minefield. A minefield!"

"Oh, is it that bad?"

"I'm telling you it is."

"They all look neat and pretty enough..."

"Hey! How old are you that you're only looking at their faces? Small and mid-sized agencies are lax from the scouting stage, and they barely manage risks at all! They're the ones who really pick people based only on faces!"

"Huh."

"Listen. What if we bring someone on just to add some bright visuals to our videos, then later they get caught up in a school-bullying or drug scandal? That filth will splash onto our precious Boss Jo Onik too! So watch how you behave!"

"Precious Boss Jo Onik? What about Dad? Isn't Dad precious?"

"You're precious too, just less precious."

"You unfilial daughter. Are you really going to be like this?"

"Yep. I'm going to be like this. Anyway, leave filtering those people to me. Got it?"

"Tsk. Still, it's a shame..."

"Listen to me!"

Onik and Legal Hunter received so many joint-stream and appearance requests precisely because Onik's image was so pure and clean.

Unlike them, the people making those requests had no need to weigh any risk.

If it worked out, it was guaranteed to benefit them.

Minor celebrities who only rarely appeared on regular broadcasts spent every day cycling through small and mid-sized local events, sometimes sang onstage at restaurant opening ceremonies, and even accepted unpaid performances to raise their profile. Naturally, they wanted to appear somehow on a rapidly rising, popular channel with absolutely no risk attached.

Legal Hunter thought it would be an awful waste to turn them down.

‘Our broadcasts are great, but we're out in the sticks, so there isn't any good way to add sophistication or brightness... No matter how much of a broadcasting genius Onik is, viewers could start to find things stale if we don't always work to add something new.’

Introducing new faces gave the channel freshness in itself.

And the better-looking those faces were, the better.

If he could just keep a path open for a steady supply of attractive supporting cast, he wouldn't have to worry about wearing out Onik's image.

After all, it would be their images getting used up instead.

As Legal Hunter racked his brains for a solution, he caught hold of a brilliant idea.

"Then, daughter, what about this? When we do joint streams with no-name celebrities, we push the responsibility onto the viewers!"

"Push the responsibility onto them?"

"We make a list of candidates first, then briefly introduce every one to the viewers and let them vote! We say, 'We'll do a joint stream with whichever person or group you choose from these!' Of course, I'll handle all the introductions and voting! Onik has to stay clean!"

"...So even if an issue comes up later, we can blame the viewers? We can say we only followed their choice?"

"Exactly! That's it! The more choices there are, the lower the risk, right? And if we bring on several at once instead of only one, it'll be even safer!"

"The ones who become just one option among many might feel bad about that."

"So what if they feel bad? Are we the weaker side? They're the weaker side. This is a business deal too, isn't it? In a deal, the side that needs it more is supposed to bend."

"Dad. Why does your mind work so well when it comes to being nasty?"

"Now, now. Don't slander your father, a solid businessman. Your father is so upright he could live without laws."

"Sure you are."

Like this, Legal Hunter rowed with all his strength while the tide was in.

He might have been a bad adult, but he was doing his part well enough not to be ashamed as Onik's older business partner.

The unpopular girl group Truffle Candy had been able to appear on the vacation special 「Let's Play with Onik!」 because Legal Hunter had put so much thought into it.

#

Yu Se-ra, Truffle Candy's leader, doubted her ears after hearing her agency's management division head.

"You want me to seduce Onik? Did I hear that right?"

At Yu Se-ra's question, the division head frowned and answered.

"You heard it just fine, so why ask again? If you sweet-talk a brat with a dick and secure a hot promotional channel as a regular outlet, how much profit do you think that'd bring us? Isn't it obvious?"

Good grief. Yu Se-ra was left speechless for a moment.

Footnotes:

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