Chapter 108

CHAPTER 108

Stream, the game distribution platform and subsidiary of Surface, was a giant corporation that controlled 30% of the global game distribution market.

However, despite its size, it wasn't particularly well-regarded.

Because it had always been second place.

First place belonged to Crown, the traditional powerhouse of game distribution, which held 55% of the market.

Back in the PC era, they had completely dominated game distribution through a devious strategy of constantly running sales—50% off at a minimum, sometimes as high as 90%—making even people who didn't play games open their wallets.

That great company had gone even further and was now recognized as the traditional company that had adapted most successfully to the age of virtual reality.

While other companies lost market share to Surface's subsidiaries, Crown proudly maintained its position as the industry's number one platform.

"Now I'd like to hear the detailed reasoning. Why do you think both of them will fail?"

Crown had missed out on Jin Seojun.

Numerous game studios supported by Crown had approached Seojun with sponsorship offers.

But Seojun hadn't chosen them.

Instead, he had chosen Two Heads are Better, the indie game that Crown had refused to support during its early development, causing it to turn toward Stream.

Regarding that situation, Assistant Manager Kim had said this:

It would fail.

It was fine.

"It's already happened, and we've been too busy for me to ask before, but now I need to hear the explanation."

Was it because the stream's opening was going smoothly?

Or because he sensed some kind of synergy?

Even he couldn't tell, but an inexplicable unease made him press for an answer.

Surface was the absolute ruler of the virtual reality market.

With overwhelming technology, capital, and the advantage of being the first mover, they had pushed aside the old giants with remarkable ease.

Fortunately—

If Surface had made it impossible to develop VR games unless they were distributed through Stream, we'd have been finished.

But interfering with fair competition would have brought antitrust lawsuits crashing down from courts around the world, tearing the company apart and stripping away much of its influence.

For Surface, it would be like getting hit by a speeding truck while bending over to pick up loose change.

So Surface left Stream alone.

And Crown survived.

Still—

"Director, is there something you're worried about? We performed better during this Super Week, didn't we? Several of our games were huge successes."

"Contract workers are always worried."

Game distribution platforms competed through exclusive titles that could only be purchased on their platform.

Who makes better games? Supports them better? Launches them better? Promotes them better?

In that regard, Stream wasn't at a disadvantage.

Even if it was the neglected child, a parent was still a parent.

And Stream's parent was a corporate giant.

Because of that, Stream had been fighting worldwide to steal market share from Crown without ever suffering from a lack of funding.

Korea was one of its most successful regions.

Crown's market share in Korea was 45%.

Stream's was 40%.

A difference of only 5%.

From Crown's perspective, it was a region where the water had already reached their chin.

Dangerous.

"Then let me explain why the game will fail first."

Immediately after missing out on Seojun, Assistant Manager Kim had contacted Monster and obtained the final version of the game.

From Monster's perspective, there was no reason to completely antagonize either Crown or Surface, and requests like this happened all the time.

"First, the reason the game will fail is simple. They never solved the issues we rejected it for in the early stages."

There were fundamental problems.

The barrier of being a two-player game.

The fact that it was co-op rather than competitive.

Its scattered themes across different stages.

And so on.

"No matter how much thought went into every moment and no matter how high they pushed the quality, the game's core characteristics are still niche. It's nearly impossible to cultivate mass appeal on a niche foundation. And from what I saw, there wasn't any special breakthrough."

The director nodded.

They supported niche games as well.

And among those games, only a tiny fraction ever became popular enough to impact platform market share.

Most niche titles ended up with the sort of fate where it was nice to have them, but not a problem if they disappeared.

"So this game isn't any different? A well-made but not mainstream indie game?"

"That's right, Director. I even requested the final build and played it myself. It probably won't fail outright. But I don't think its performance will affect market share."

"Then why did you say the stream would fail?"

That was the truly important question.

They weren't competing based on game quality alone.

Streamers have power.

The power to create an impact greater than word of mouth and countless banner advertisements through a single short clip.

That was why he was wary of the current situation.

"Well... the first reason is half a joke."

"Go on."

"The characters are ugly."

"...What?"

Simply put, it was an isekai game story.

In genre fiction, a game-isekai usually involves a veteran player being transported into a game through some mysterious event.

This game was similar.

The players were two indie developers who had been creating the game.

And the one who sent them into it was the Spirit of the Game.

Why did the spirit throw them into the game?

The story of Two Heads are Better could be summarized in a single sentence.

"They were making a game together, got into a fight, and abandoned it. I remember the proposal. But what does that have to do with ugly characters? Or the stream?"

"Haha. Director, think about it. Inside the game, the players end up entering another game. Story-wise, they're transformed into toy bodies. To make it feel realistic, Monster used a rather unusual graphics technology. It creates toy faces that subtly reflect the players' real appearances."

To make the experience feel authentic.

And perhaps generate buzz through a unique experience.

"The point is that those avatars look ridiculous, and that's definitely going to hurt the broadcast."

A question mark practically appeared over the director's head.

"That streamer is handsome. Extremely handsome. Maybe that's why, but from his previous streams, you can tell he likes playing cool roles. He's probably not used to making a fool of himself."

There were likely many reasons.

"So you're saying he'll spend the entire stream worrying about how ridiculous he looks?"

"Yes."

It sounded petty and trivial.

"But things start going wrong from the very beginning."

It wasn't entirely without logic.

Seojun opened his eyes.

His vision was blurry.

After blinking several times, things gradually came into focus.

"My body won't move, everyone."

Every part of him felt restrained.

As though he had been locked inside a perfectly fitted mold.

He couldn't even turn his head slightly.

Fortunately, his mouth wasn't blocked.

"So we're inside the game now?"

A moment ago, they had watched the intro.

A fairy had appeared and spoken with the protagonist inside a game displayed on a monitor.

The protagonist of the game-within-a-game had complained that the game was unfinished and asked the developers to personally come and complete the world themselves.

The fairy had agreed.

And this was most likely the result.

• Ooh
• Just wait
• lol
• Of course you have to drag runaway developers back in lol
• But what about the graphics? They're inside a game within a game now??? What happened to the streamer's body?
• There wasn't even a trailer, and we still can't see anything lol

"This feels like a toy package box for some reason."

He was fixed in place inside some sort of container.

That was Seojun's current situation.

"Hup."

Whatever was happening, there wasn't much to do except wait.

Even when he tried putting strength into his arms, the restraints wouldn't break.

"I wonder where Taewoo ended up."

Just then—

"What is this?! Hey! Come over here!"

"What?"

"I think one of the newly born toys is defective."

"A defective one? Our factory hasn't produced a single defect since Her Majesty took control of the kingdom!"

"Really?"

"What do we do? If word reaches the Queen that a defective toy was produced, we're dead!"

"Then we have no choice!"

"What?"

"We'll throw it away immediately!"

"Right! Let's throw it away right now!"

Seojun joined in.

"Yeah! Throw it away!"

The toys didn't react.

There was no interaction.

Swoooosh.

A sensation of floating washed over him as he began moving somewhere.

"Feels like I'm riding in a palanquin."

Seojun relaxed and let his body go limp.

• Pretty sure you're being disposed of right now
• So the world inside the game is a toy world lol
• Wait, does that mean we're getting toy versions of the streamers?
• Some games give you completely different avatars, so it's possible
• Normally these transformations are absolutely hilarious lol. What will our streamer look like? lol

"Hm, so the avatar changes?"

Apparently avatar transformations weren't uncommon.

Not just costumes, but entirely different character models.

Still, Seojun was a newcomer who had only played two games so far.

The excitement in chat was obvious.

• Please change, please change
• If that happens I'm buying the game immediately lol
• Ahhh, Heavenly Demon...
• The Demonic Cult followers are devastated thinking the Heavenly Demon might become a toy lol
• Probably. And when games do this, it's usually for comedy

They were dying to make fun of him.

Seojun's thoughts on the matter were simple.

Do they really want to tease me that badly? I don't really care.

Still, for the sake of both the stream's entertainment value and the game's success, he put on a disgusted expression.

"Ah..."

If Taewoo had been next to him, he would have immediately called it out as fake acting.

But since he wasn't around, the stream became even more entertaining.

"Phew. Let's toss it into the scrapyard now!"

"Poor thing. Born defective of all things."

As groaning sounds accompanied the motion, Seojun suddenly felt as though he were on an amusement ride just before a big drop.

And then he fell.

• lololol the streamer panicked
• Since it's a sponsored stream, he can't even rage-quit
• Please, Monster, you can do this!!!!!

A cutscene began.

A scrapyard piled high with mountains of trash.

A hatch above opened, letting in a faint ray of light.

Then a box dropped through it.

That's probably me.

This time, the contents didn't spill out, and Seojun regained control of his body.

"Huh?"

[Damn, that hurt. Where am I? A dump? Why am I here? I was definitely planning a new game yesterday.]

The box hit the ground, and the impact caused its contents to spill out.

A moment later, another hatch on the opposite side opened.

Another box fell.

Narration began.

It was Seojun's character speaking.

The narration continued, and Seojun followed its instructions toward the second box.

"Open it! Please open it!"

"That's Taewoo."

• It's Taewoo
• Taewoo lol
• He's definitely trapped there because the developers intended it, but why does it already feel like he's causing trouble? lol

"Hm. So that's how it is. But..."

"Hurry up and open it!"

"Alright."

Following the prompt, Seojun grabbed the top of the box and opened it.

The moment Taewoo popped out, lights came on throughout the area where they had landed.

Everything became bright.

And then they understood.

"So that's why."

The strange feeling he'd been having finally made sense.

"The narration told me to tear open the top of the box and let him out..."

• Taewoo turned into a toy lol?
• As expected lol he looks hilarious lololol

Their avatars had changed.

Their surfaces now had a texture similar to plastic.

Even the graphics looked different from ordinary games.

Most importantly, their faces.

"Why?! WHY?!"

Their real-life features had been reflected just enough to transform them into toy dolls.

An avatar transformation.

Was this his first real experience with one?

As everyone had hoped, Taewoo's face had become absolutely ridiculous.

But why was Taewoo screaming?

He'd experienced this kind of thing plenty of times before.

And the reason was revealed moments later.

"Why is that bastard... Did you bribe Monster or something?"

A donation from a viewer watching both streams simultaneously provided the answer.

['ThisIsTotally' donated 30,000 won!]

[Isn't this more like 'slightly carved' versus 'completely shattered'?]

It was a refreshing start.