“Why am I so nervous?” the Frost Queen wondered.
“Why are you so nervous?” Seo Jun-Ho remarked.
The Frost Queen walked around the training room and complained to herself. When she had been the size of a palm, her voice was a little small, but as her body grew bigger, her voice seemed to have gotten bigger.
“…I don’t know about that, but could you please go be?nervous in a room?”
“No. Won’t I get more nervous if I’m alone?”
“Why are you so worried? I saw the video and it came out well. It’ll work out.”
She was doing that because she was worried about the response to the video. And all day long at that…
“If you’re curious, just check it out.”
“Oh, no. I will check it out with you in 10 minutes.”
In 10 minutes, the video would have been posted for exactly 24 hours. It seemed the Frost Queen had no intention of letting him train. Eventually, Seo Jun-Ho stood up and asked, “Let me ask while we’re at it. How popular do you want it to be?”
“Of course, wouldn’t it be better for it to be ranked number one? That’s the only way it would suit someone like me.” 𝒃𝙚𝙙𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝒍．𝒆𝒕
“…You sure dream big.”
Not just anyone could be ranked first in the video rankings. No, to be exact, it would be very difficult for a single individual to achieve such a thing.
‘In order for an individual to achieve that, one would need the popularity of someone from the Nine Heavens.’
That was how great of a ripple effect was necessary. In fact, all of the top rankings in the past few years had been Guild-level hunts or raids.
‘There’s no easier way for a Guild to promote themselves than in the video forum.’
This was how the Big 6 and the underdogs who were close behind them advertised themselves to the public. One of the most intuitive means of promoting Guilds in the world was through videos. Targeting stronger monsters and harder dungeons were the most intuitive way to show off your strength.
“The top of the video rankings are called the seats of the guilds,” Seo Jun-Ho informed.
This was because it was always occupied by videos of rankers or high rankers sparring or hunting. No matter how much fun one sought, there was only one top priority for Players in Frontier. It was to become strong and survive. To them, the high-quality sparring and hunting videos made them realize many things. Naturally, such videos could only be viewed by paying a lot of PPs, despite that, the views were always high.
“According to the Players Association, as of currently, in the year 2050, the world’s population is 8.4 billion.”
In 2019, they announced that the world’s population would reach 10 billion by 2050. If Gates hadn’t shown up, their prediction could have been correct.
“And the number of Frontier Players in the last 26 years is…”
There were 2.7 million people. Of course, not all of them were just acting as ‘Players.’
“The number includes reporters, researchers, and other professions that the media raised to level 30 just to send them up to write articles.”
There were even dead and retired people included in that number. Perhaps because of that, the highest number of views ever recorded on the video forums was the “Giant Hunting” taken 9 years ago by the Goblin Guild. The number of views accumulated so far was 2.35 million.
“I don’t know if everyone’s tired of it these days, but I heard they don’t even look at the video forums anymore. So, it’s impossible to get such views like in the past,” explained Seo Jun-Ho.
“…Mmhm.”
The Frost Queen nodded reluctantly. Even when she did a preliminary survey, the number of views on the No. 1 video was only 650,000.
“If you go up the ranking in real-time, they say you can easily reach 200,000 views.”
“That’s right. The last one we posted also got 190,000 views.”
Unfortunately, it did not surpass the 200,000 mark, but considering that it was their first video, it was simply amazing.
‘This time… We’ll get over 300,000 at worst.’
It wasn’t arrogance, but conviction after having watched the Frost Queen’s video. It felt like watching a movie that could attract 10 million viewers.
“S-soon…”
The Frost Queen who was holding the community forums window vibrated like a broken machine.
Beeeeeep!
“Hiiiik!”
When a strange sound suddenly came from the community forums window, the Frost Queen made a panicked sound. Seo Jun-Ho approached her and checked the window.
“Hmm??I got a message.”
It was a message from Skaya, who had left about a week ago. The contents were accompanied by a brief link. When he clicked it, it was her personal community account address.
“Why did she send this… Wait, what?! 1.4 million followers?”
Seo Jun-Ho checked again, rubbing his eyes with his hands. It was clear even after looking at it again. Her personal community account had a huge following.
“What, this is ridiculous…”
Even if she was one of the 5 Heroes, she managed to get 1.4 million followers in just a week? For reference, Seo Jun-Ho only had around 7,000 followers. It was thanks to the people who watched ‘Test’ and followed his account.
“But 1.4 million without doing anything…”
“Contractor, it does not seem like she did nothing…”
“What?”
Coming to his senses at the Frost Queen’s words, Seo Jun-Ho checked her account.
“…What’s all this?”
It was full of photos and photos that were full of emotions nonetheless. With his mouth open in a daze, Seo Jun-Ho checked the most recent post. The photo had a man with a weapon drawn, trying to kill her in the background.
“Why is she sticking her tongue out?” Seo Jun-Ho questioned.
“Is that not cuter? That’s how you are supposed to do social media,” the Frost Queen answered.
“… What is all this underneath the picture, ‘#FiendHunting’, ‘#It’s been 26 years’, ‘#Why are you so weak?’, and ‘#FiendPortrait’.”
“Those are hashtags…”
Seo Jun-Ho stared at the Frost Queen. How did she know about all this?
“Contractor, have you ever made your own social media account?”
“No, I haven’t. You never had your own either.”
“Of course, I do not have my own, but does it not show up often when you watch dramas?”
“…It wasn’t in the drama I enjoyed watching.”
“What was the title of the drama?”
“’My name is Samsoon Kim’ and ‘Secret Garden.’”
“Ugh,?the generation gap,” the Frost Queen shook her head and frowned.
“…Anyway, it seems like she’s been hunting fiends diligently for the past week.”
Seo Jun-Ho looked quickly through the uploaded photos and there were six. This meant that she caught almost one fiend a day.
‘Skaya, isn’t she overdoing it?’
Even though he was worried, his worries melted away when he saw a photo of her happy expression with a dessert.
“…So she gets PP not from videos, but from photos.”
The comments were full of praise and compliments.
Noonim, I love you. You’re cool. You’re pretty. I’ve always admired you. Teach me magic, etc…
There were basically tens of thousands of comments for each photo and more than 100,000 likes. Seeing her great success, Seo Jun-Ho asked in a subtle voice, “Frost, if I start a social media account, could I also…”
“Wake up. There is no way it would work, ” said the Frost Queen flatly. “If it were Specter perhaps… But… the Black Knight Seo Jun-Ho? No chance.”
“…”
It was really upsetting for Seo Jun-Ho to know that the Frost Queen had become one step ahead of him when it came to IT unbeknownst to him.
“Anyway, I’m jealous…”
He wrote a message and sent it straight away.
– Congratulations. You’ve become a superstar.
When he wrote and sent it, an answer came back almost immediately.
– Thanks~ And aren’t you also a superstar?
– Huh? Me? Well, I’m not Specter right now.
– No, no, I mean your video. The responses were really hot I almost burned myself reading the comments~
“Superstar…? What does she mean?”
As Seo Jun-Ho stood blinking and muttering, the Frost Queen shook his sleeve.
“Con-Contractor, it’s time…”
“Oh?”
Seo Jun-Ho quickly entered the video forums but he didn’t check the ranking of the video. After all, you’re supposed to save the best for last.
“Let’s take a look. I wonder how the audience will react to my debut video,” urged the Frost Queen.
As he played the video, comments being posted in real time came up.
***
– Oh, Seo Jun-Ho’s new video came out.
– Is this the video from the kobold hunting competition? My friend went there, and he said it was crazy.
└They’re just Kobolds, such a fuss lol
– Anyway, the title is Salmon in the Mountains? What the heck does that mean?
The video began with loud comments. The beautiful scenery of the Hainal Mountains and the figures of the battalion were captured together. As background music, Schubert’s piano quintet in A major ‘The Trout’ was gently laid. The scene painted a peaceful atmosphere as a whole.
– What, what’s with the video?
– It was categorized as hunting. Why is the atmosphere so peaceful? lol
└The title says salmon, but the song is ‘The Trout’ lololol
└I guess it’s a comedy video?
It was a comfortable video that made the viewer feel relaxed. The moment everyone smiled and watched the video with a light heart, the classical melody suddenly cut off. The point of view was naturally changed to Seo Jun-Ho’s first-person point of view.
“Oh, ohhh!”
“What… What’s this?!”
For a moment the ground fluctuated like a suspension bridge.
“Everyone! Now! Right Now! Down! The mountain…!”
The leading knight shouted in a shrill voice.
Kwaaaaaa!
The voice was buried by the angry sound of the mountain. At the unrealistic situation that seemed basically impossible, the viewers gave a sour response.
– …What, a landslide?
– I see Kobold mages up there. Did they cause this?
└No way. They’re just Kobold mages. How can those animals come up with such a strategy…?
The genre changed in an instant from wellness and healing to a disaster film. The unconventional pace of development led to an increase in immersion.
Boobooboobooom!
Even the editing skills were outstanding. The moment when a reddish brown colored tsunami exploded from the ground, the color began to appear from the center in the black-and-white video. At the same time, time stopped. To be exact, the slow-motion effect made the video play very?slowly.
– …
– …
The never-ending comment window froze for a moment. It meant that the audience was fully immersed at that point in the video. Fear spread like an epidemic across the faces of the battalion. The tsunami engulfed the slow-footed members of the battalion as if it was a hungry pig. Even if they were Players, even if they pushed the boundaries of humanity, in the face of a natural disaster, their efforts would still be in vain. It took only one minute for everyone to realize that.
“…”
The black and white world, and the slow passing of time as if it had stopped. In that quiet and lonely world, only one sound was slowly being amplified.
– This is…
– The sound of a heart?
Thoomp-thoomp, thoomp-thoomp.
It was the sound of Seo Jun-Ho’s heart beating. His heart began to beat faster in the face of the landslide. It was also proof that he was also panicking and nervous, but his heartbeat quickly regained its stability and became quiet. His mind control and concentration were worthy of admiration. Then, a beautiful melody played.
– Vivaldi…
– Winter from the Four Seasons. That’s the first movement.
– It’s a masterpiece.
It was a magical melody that made the audience expect something. At the same time, the slowed time began to normalize.
“S-save me!”
“Barrier!”
“Damn it! It’s the kobold mages’ bombardment!”
“It’s too late to go down the mountain!”
“Dig into the ground and hide!”
Screams and shouts broke out from here and there. Just when everyone was feeling despair and fear and just as they were thinking of running away and hiding in the ground…
– ?~ ?~
A strong violin solo reminiscent of the cold wind began. At the same time, Seo Jun-Ho silently moved, tightly holding his spear. When others went down the mountain, he did the opposite and began to climb the mountain, like a salmon going up the river.
– He’s suddenly climbing the mountain? When a landslide is coming down?
– He’s crazy. What’s wrong with him?
– …Maybe he’s sacrificing himself?
└What do you mean?
└Do you see the kobold army that’s all set up up there? Hiding in the ground is just a stopgap.
└Wait. So, Seo Jun-Ho sacrificed himself for the battalion? Isn’t that too much?
└That’s… I guess we’ll see.
Seo Jun-Ho ran headfirst toward the violent landslide.
1. The word for portrait used for #FiendPortrait is a specific type of photo that’s used for the dead/funerals.