GAVS22

Chapter 22 — Joint Broadcast (1)

Dojoon quickly called Lee Junseong to get advice about the collaboration proposal.

“What—!? You got a collab request from that guy!?”

‘That guy’ was one of the nicknames viewers used for VirtuKing.

Junseong, clearly a fan himself, sounded extremely hyped.

“Dude!! You absolutely have to do it. If you get into his virtual group, your fanbase is gonna solidify overnight!!”

“So, it’s the right move to accept?”

“Of course!! Wait… hold on. But do you even have any content that fits a collab?”

“They mentioned a rough idea. Here, I’ll read it to you.”

[Hello, Phantom.
I’m VirtuKing, a streamer on Switch.
I recently saw your Lost Land content and wanted to invite you as a guest.
The plan is to have a live session where you walk viewers through your strategies in Lost Land and interact with them.
Let’s discuss the details over a call.]

Junseong went quiet for a moment, thinking, then finally responded.

“Yeah, you should meet up and talk it through. But honestly, just that content might not be enough. His streams are usually pretty long.”

“Really? Then I better reply soon.”

After hanging up, Dojoon immediately sent an email accepting the offer.
Having just become unemployed, he wanted to grab any opportunity that came his way—and fast.

Not long after, he received a response.

[Please join the link I sent at 1 p.m.]

It was already 11 a.m.—only two hours left.

Dojoon had expected to hear back by tomorrow, so the fast response took him by surprise.

“They’re quick with their planning.”

The link was to Distalk, a voice chat platform widely used for streaming and online meetings—by far the most dominant platform in the field.

At the scheduled time, Dojoon clicked the link and entered the room.

Tdong~
A cheerful notification sound announced his entrance.

VirtuKing was already waiting.

“Hello, VirtuKing. This is Phantom speaking.”

“Ah, nice to meet you. Thanks for accepting the invitation.”

“Not at all. I’m the one who’s grateful—you’re giving a newbie like me a chance to collab.”

Anyone could see that Dojoon stood to benefit most from the partnership.

As someone with big dreams, he truly appreciated the opportunity.

“I have a good eye for talent. I think you’ll blow up soon, so I figured I’d build a connection early.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Shall we dive into the main topic?”

“Of course.”

VirtuKing’s tone, which had been casual, turned noticeably more businesslike.

“You may already know this, but since I primarily do virtual content, you’ll need a virtual avatar.”

“I’m aware.”

“I assumed you didn’t have one yet, so we whipped up a temporary model for you. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine. I actually just finished building one myself.”

Dojoon had sped up his avatar project specifically in preparation for this meeting.

“Oh, that’s great to hear. Honestly, that was my biggest concern—glad it’s out of the way.”

In the era of full-dive VR capsules, things had evolved far beyond the simple 2D avatar days.

Now, once synced with a capsule, the virtual avatar automatically replaced the user’s appearance across all gameplay, creating a more immersive and expressive experience.

It was essentially a dynamic character skin.

“So, here’s the plan. As mentioned, the first part of our content will be you walking us through your Lost Land gameplay. You good with that?”

“Absolutely. That won’t be a problem.”

“Though, to be honest, that alone might not fill the whole stream. So I’d like to propose a second segment: playing a game with another streamer.”

Just as Junseong had predicted, one segment wasn’t enough.

However, the idea of playing a new game gave Dojoon a bit of pause.

“Hmm… I’m really focused on Lost Land right now, so I’d prefer something light. Nothing too heavy, if that’s alright.”

Dojoon made sure to express his concerns honestly.

But VirtuKing simply laughed.

“Don’t worry—it’s just a casual horror game.”

“In that case, no problem at all.”

“There’s a challenge event running with that game. The prize pool has already passed 3 million won. If you clear it, the whole prize is yours.”

“Wait, seriously!?”

Dojoon was genuinely shocked.
The challenge seemed too easy for that much reward.

“Absolutely. But… it won’t be that easy. No one’s cleared it yet.”

“It’s that hard?”

“Not really. The game itself isn’t super difficult, but the mission conditions are… Let’s just say, you’ll find out once you play. If I spoil it now, it won’t be fun.”

“Got it. So, what time’s the stream?”

“How about 9 p.m. tonight? I was going to do more Lost Land content anyway, but the servers are under maintenance, so I had to scrap it.”

“Works for me. I just became a ‘streamless’ jobless man anyway—you’ve saved me.”

Dojoon cracked a light joke, making VirtuKing chuckle.

“Haha, glad I could help. Just make sure your capsule’s set up by 9 and hop back into this same Distalk room.”

“Will do. See you at 9.”

Tdong~
VirtuKing logged out.

Dojoon closed the app and got to work preparing for the collab.

★

“Buh-hi~! Welcome, everyone!”

VirtuKing’s stream always began around the same time—roughly 8:30 p.m.

To him, keeping promises with viewers was essential to being a beloved, long-running streamer.

And it showed. Even at the start, over 7,000 viewers were already tuned in.

Proof that the first-gen veteran was still going strong.

Buh-hi~
On the dot, as always. Never lost that day-one spirit!
Lost Land’s down tonight. What’s on the menu?
Feels like Phantom’s taking over Lost Land lol
┗ Still, we should play a bit more
┗┗ Honestly, even with backup from other virtual streamers, it’s too hard. It’s a full-on physical game now.

Clearly, the audience had been following the scene closely and were discussing the current shift in popularity.

“I said it from the start—this one’s just on another level. Honestly, I’m half ready to give up.”

VirtuKing opened with a dramatic bombshell, and the chat blew up.

Whoa, don’t give up so soon! You’re our physical + brainy king!
Okay okay, we won’t call you an old man anymore, chill…
Who’s gaslighting our man!?

As the chat got rowdy, VirtuKing stepped in.

“It’s not that I’m being gaslit. It’s just—yeah, the game’s really tough. Some of the other virtual streamers have been venting too. Still, we’ve all had fun grinding for a month, right?”

True, but it still feels kinda bittersweet
You and that strategy master used to be the top two, but now Phantom’s dominating…
That strategy guy dropped off fast. Phantom’s impact is wild
Hey, what if we recruit Phantom to the Virtual Fam?

┗ No way he’d join lol
┗┗ Wait, actually… might be a great idea

While chatting, VirtuKing checked the time.
They were getting close to 9, meaning Dojoon would be joining soon.

‘Looks like Phantom’s ready.’

Dojoon had already sent a message saying he was on standby in Distalk.

Time to drop the bait.

“If we bring Phantom into the Virtual Fam? I’d love that. Honestly, I wanted to recruit him the moment I saw his content. Should I just go ahead and ask?”

You serious!?
Wait, what?
For real?? Now!?

Before the audience could fully react, VirtuKing called out.

“Ah, ah. Phantom, can you hear me?”

“Yes, loud and clear.”

Phantom’s voice suddenly rang out through Distalk, and the chat erupted.

Whoa, it’s real!?
You tricked us! He was already lined up!?
So tonight’s collab is with Phantom!!
Execution, initiative, drive—our king delivers as always ♥

Dojoon also started up his own stream.

【Phantom’s Game Stream】
▶▶ Analyzing Lost Land gameplay with SwitchTV Big Three’s VirtuKing! ◀◀
<Current Viewers: 1,047>

From the jump, over 1,000 people joined—clear proof of the attention he was getting.

But regardless of the numbers, Dojoon had just walked into a psychological trap.

“So, Phantom—wanna join the Virtual Family?”

The Virtual Family was VirtuKing’s streamer collective.

It included many virtual content creators, the most popular being the breakout hit ‘Miracle Idol.’

Dojoon suddenly found himself in a tight spot.

Most new streamers would jump at this opportunity.

But Dojoon wasn’t most streamers.

His goal was to reach, at minimum, VirtuKing’s level.

He had no plans to join any groups—but was open to collaborations.