Chapter 480: Korean Fans
South Korea was a country with a very developed entertainment industry. It also had an impressive status in the Asian film and television circle. In the early years, the TV series produced in South Korea were exported to China and became the favorite of many little girls. At that time, Korean dramas were still quite popular. It was just that later, after the cliché plots of Korean dramas were overused, they were criticized. And after that, as Korean dramas faded out, Korean dramas were no longer broadcast in the country.
But you could also watch Korean dramas online. There were not a few people who watched Korean dramas online.
Yu Linna had some understanding of Korean dramas and also knew about the highly developed entertainment industry in this country. Besides this film and television culture, the most famous thing in South Korea was the esports industry. Unlike the situation in her home country, esports had always been regarded as a mainstream culture in South Korea, and there was no such thing as “electronic heroin.” Everyone supported playing games, which had also driven the esports industry. In its heyday, South Korean esports had dominated the once-a-year LOL World Championship for five years, which showed how terrifying it was.
This time, besides coming for an exchange and to discuss how to export her novels to South Korea, Yu Linna mainly wanted to visit the esports culture of this country. After hearing Yu Linna’s request, the person in charge here had called the boss to discuss it, and in the end, they had said it was okay.
Yu Linna had visited the strongest esports club in South Korea, which was the SKT club. She had gone in and had visited the training room under the manager’s arrangement, and had also watched the players in the youth training camp. In general, it was similar to the esports clubs in her home country, but compared to the environmental facilities in her home country, it was even more complete. Many places were indeed quite complete, and they also tried their best to satisfy the players in terms of diet, and the coach was also first-class. Now in the esports industry, many of the people who worked as coaches were retired players, who continued to stay in this circle with their love for esports.
“Coach Zhang, I wonder if I could do a short interview with the players during their break? My main job is a writer. This time, I came to visit the club mainly to gather material. I want to understand the players’ lives. Don’t worry, I won’t disturb you.”
Yu Linna spoke to the coach in English, with a translator next to her. The coach’s side was a little troubled, but in private, he had still discussed it with everyone for a while. Everyone felt that it was also a good thing for a writer to write about the lives of esports players. If it could be written well, it would also be helpful for outsiders to understand the lives of esports players.
And so Yu Linna had smoothly met with the current players, had briefly introduced herself, had stated her purpose, and had started to ask about their living conditions. It was only after this question that she had learned that the lives of esports players were different from what she had imagined. She had thought that as long as a player kept training every day and didn’t get rusty, they could participate in competitions. She had never thought that training was also so particular, with all kinds of systematic training, targeted playstyles, and also operations like laning and last-hitting. There were even all kinds of professional terms that Yu Linna didn’t know.
Yu Linna was a native-born Chinese. Although she didn’t play games when she was little, she had also heard curses about games from adults. At that time, video games were given the title of “electronic heroin,” and those who played games were said to be not doing their proper job, until esports was listed as the 78th official sports competition by the State General Administration of Sports. And then, with the influx of capital, esports culture had grown wildly. Especially during the Asian Games, when esports was included as a demonstration event, and the professional team representing China had won the championship at the World Championship, only then had esports gradually been recognized by the mainstream.
Of course, this was the situation in her home country. In South Korea, Yu Linna was not clear.
She was taking notes while listening. The members of SKT also tried their best to briefly introduce the esports life in their country. Although that was the case, there were also team members who didn’t particularly like Yu Linna recording their lives there.
“This little sister from America, I don’t know if it’s okay for me to call you that. First of all, I think that the lives of us professional players can only be understood by people in this circle. Outsiders are always outsiders. People who don’t understand this circle can’t describe the people in our circle.”
The one who spoke was a player, and also a famous player in the LCK division. The honors in his hands were also countless. He could also be considered a relatively senior member of the club. His words naturally carried a certain weight.
“So, you think, what is a reasonable description of an esports player’s life?”
Yu Linna did not mind that impolite voice. On the contrary, she had a smile on her face and asked her about the matters of this circle.
“As players, we have to maintain 12 to 15 hours of training every day, with no holidays all year round, only a short break after a competition. And this circle is extremely cruel. To put it bluntly, don’t think that you can just come in and play professionally just because you’re good at playing games. Those who can make a living with this profession are all very talented.”
“Mmm, you continue.”
“In the esports circle, strength speaks. It’s common to be praised when you win and flamed when you lose. Don’t even think about staying in this circle if you don’t have the ability to withstand pressure. Those with a glass heart should also go home early.”
Although what the other party had said was a bit harsh, Yu Linna had carefully written it down and had also thought about many things. After staying at this club for not long, Yu Linna had set off to another club. She wanted to visit the players and the boss of the club, but to be honest, not everyone welcomed her here, especially a foreigner. After Yu Linna had gone in, she had not gotten much of an advantage. The other party also had an indifferent attitude. In the end, Yu Linna had only interviewed one player. The other party was an old player and was willing to share some things about the professional circle with her.
After that, Yu Linna had wanted to visit other clubs, but it had become more and more difficult each time. One club had even directly refused her entry, giving her a closed door. To think that she, Yu Linna, was a popular author in her home country, and there was no one who didn’t know her. Others would ask for her autograph when they saw her. The sponsors even wished they could pull her over for an endorsement, and really wanted to squeeze the last bit of juice out of her. But here, no one bothered with her, and even directly refused her entry. The human world is really unpredictable.
But this way, she also understood her position. She was only popular in her home country or in some of the surrounding countries like Japan. In other places, she was also unknown, especially in South Korea. She was not very famous. If she had run to a well-known esports club in her home country, like IG, RNG, or FPX, they would all have welcomed her arrival. But after coming here, the situation was completely different.
In a word, it was too difficult.
“It’s too difficult for me.”
Yu Linna expressed that she was very tired. Her material gathering plan was not going smoothly. And to say that she would visit esports players and understand the esports culture of this country, it seemed that it would not be so easy.
With the help of the person in charge, Yu Linna had run to many clubs. The other party was also tired. Yu Linna gave up and went back to the hotel first.
…
At the same time, the South Korean pop star, Kang Hyun-ah, after seeing the news about Shion-sensei on Twitter, had become interested and had decided to come and visit her. South Korea naturally also had some people who would pay attention to foreign celebrities. Some people, even if they didn’t like to read novels, would always watch TV series. For example, The Big Sister Head is a Teacher, which had achieved good ratings in Japan a while ago, was also liked by some people in South Korea, and they had also become fans of the series. And Kang Hyun-ah was just one of them.
This day, Kang Hyun-ah had freed up her time and had found Yu Linna in Incheon. After communicating with the staff, she had stated her purpose and had also smoothly met with Yu Linna. It was Yu Linna’s first time meeting a South Korean star. It was said that Kang Hyun-ah was very famous in South Korea, a pop star, with a status equivalent to Zhou Shilan in China. But in terms of Asian influence, she was still a notch higher than Zhou Shilan.
And besides her identity as a pop star, she was also an actress. It could be said that she was an artist who had developed in many aspects.
“Hello, Shion-sensei. I’m your fan. My name is Kang Hyun-ah.”
When Kang Hyun-ah had greeted Yu Linna, she had used Chinese. Although her Chinese was not yet fluent and she also had a bit of an accent, there was no problem with normal communication, and there was also no problem with communication. Yu Linna had also not expected that there would be such a fan, and that she would not need a translator for the entire communication.
“Hello, I’m Yu Linna.”
Yu Linna shook hands with her.
Kang Hyun-ah sat down and took out a white T-shirt. On it was printed a cartoon version of Yu Linna’s “little fists pounding you in the chest” meme. Yu Linna was stunned at that moment.
“Isn’t this cute? I specially had someone customize it. Shion-sensei herself is very cute. We, a group of fans, discussed it for a long time and decided to privately customize such a set of T-shirts. If you don’t mind, can you sign for me?”
“Ah… no problem.”
Yu Linna picked up a pen and signed her name on it. After signing, Kang Hyun-ah was ecstatic, gave it a kiss, and decided to keep it well. Then she looked at Yu Linna with shining eyes.
“Sensei, can I have a hug?”
“Huh?”
“Just for a moment, can I?”
“Mmm, alright then.”
Kang Hyun-ah was overjoyed and hugged this little creature, taking a satisfied breath. As a person in the fan circle, she should be very lucky. It was also a good thing that her identity had brought her help. Otherwise, it would not have been so easy for her to find Yu Linna directly.
“Miss Kang, are there also people who like me in this country?”
“Mmm, there are. Everyone started to like you after watching your TV series. I’ve also read your novels. They’re not bad. But I prefer the TV series. I’ve watched both of the TV series you’ve written the scripts for. I hear you’ve written a movie script. If it can be released in South Korea, I’ll be the first to support it.”
“Haha, I hope so.”
Although that’s what she said, in fact, Yu Linna also knew that the probability was not high. Very few domestic movies could be exported to South Korea. Only action films and police films could be exported. If it were Nangong Ying’s action films, there might be a chance for them to be released on a large scale in South Korea. But for the movies that Yu Linna had written the scripts for, she still didn’t have much hope.
“Idol, you’re here in South Korea this time for promotions, right? Do you want to have your novels published here?”
“That’s one aspect. But there’s another reason, and that is that I want to come and gather material. I’ve been wanting to write a script recently, about an esports theme. But I myself have not been in contact with esports, so I want to go and understand it.”
“Gathering material? That means you have to go to an esports club, right?”
“Yes, but the other party doesn’t seem to welcome me very much. A few of them have directly refused me entry and have even treated me as a liar.”
“Haha. You can just find me for this kind of thing. I have people I know. It’s not difficult to help you go and see an esports club, and also the circle of professional players. Coincidentally, I’ve taken leave. I’ll take you.”
Kang Hyun-ah rubbed her idol’s face, pulled it, and said with a smile. Yu Linna nodded. Although she was a little unhappy in her heart, she endured it for the sake of the other party’s kindness.
