The Hero's Streaming Life with the Saintess-Chapter 72: A fan meeting... No, it’s a company interview...

When news spread that I was creating a foundation and recruiting employees, emails started flooding in from everywhere.

I was about ready to rip my eyes out checking so many emails.

Well, not me — my employee...

[ FeetOfTheHeroLicker: Boss, please save me... my eyes are burning. ]

"Hang in there a little longer... We're hiring more staff soon, remember?"

I was truly the epitome of an irresponsible small business boss.

I casually scrolled past the message my exhausted employee sent me.

"Anyway, why do you think Mom called us over?"

"Who knows... maybe Hanul Guild is planning to sponsor something?"

Lyla and I were now at my parents' house after being summoned by my mother.

— Knock knock...

Even though I knew the passcode, I thought it was polite to knock first.

Soon, the door opened, and my mother appeared.

"Mom~ We're here!"

"My daughter, you’re here? Come on in."

In the living room, Dad was already waiting, and Mom brewed some coffee and got straight to the point.

"I’ve been hearing that you two are up to something good lately?"

"Of course we are."

"Other companies must be reaching out a lot too, right?"

"That's actually kind of my dilemma... It’s obvious they’re just trying to cozy up to us..."

Wasn’t charity supposed to come from genuine goodwill?

But contrary to my thoughts, my mother shook her head.

"Son, companies are profit-driven by nature. Charity work is just another form of marketing to them."

"...?"

"Just think of it as a good thing. Only focus on the fact that they’re offering support."

Yeah, she had a point.

They were offering to help, so it was fine for me to use it however I wanted.

"Hmm hmm..."

Mom cleared her throat to get my attention.

Seemed like she was about to get into something serious.

"You’re going to the event hosted by the World Hunter Association, right?"

"Eh? There's an event like that?"

"...You didn’t get the invitation?"

No matter how hard I thought about it, I couldn’t remember receiving one.

At that moment, Lyla sighed next to me.

"Hero, I told you there was mail delivered to the first floor."

"Oh, sorry... I totally forgot."

"I figured you might, so I brought it upstairs myself."

Lyla smiled wryly at my mom.

And my mom smiled wryly back at Lyla.

"Sweetheart, it’s been over a week since you took her. No returns allowed now."

"I’ll keep her for life."

They laughed together, just like a real mother and daughter.

‘No returns, huh...’

"Anyway, you’re going to the World Hunter Association event, right?"

"Yeah, probably. I actually met the Chairman once in America, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy."

And so it was decided.

We were all going to the World Hunter Association event together.

****

"Hunter— no, should I be calling you President now?"

Attorney Kim Taehyun, sitting in front of me, chuckled.

"Call me whatever’s comfortable. How’s the new job treating you?"

"It’s great. No one breathing down my neck, and I can manage the funds openly and transparently."

He grumbled a little.

Apparently, in his past work, he'd sometimes had to handle dirty cases involving tax evasion.

"By the way, are you really okay with hiring your viewers through your own stream?" freewebnσvel.cøm

"Yeah, it’s fine."

"Heh, of course. We’ve already screened the applications once through documents. Now all that’s left is for you, ‘President,’ to interview them personally."

Man, hiring this guy was such a good decision.

He was seriously capable.

"But the situation’s kind of funny, isn’t it?"

"Huh?"

"I mean, it’s an interview... but it’s basically a fan meeting too, right?"

"Oh!?"

Maybe I should just turn this into a fan meeting while I’m at it?

[ zlSuperStrongHero: Fan Meeting Notice ]

[What the hell, why a fan meeting all of a sudden?]

[Charity work > sudden bullying scandal > staff recruitment > fan meeting???]

[Who's that guy next to you?]

"Oh, he’s the lawyer who helped me out during the incident. I liked him, so I hired him as our Legal Director."

[Whoa, Legal Director ㄷㄷ]

[You really can’t predict this bastard lmao]

[Bro’s just picking up people off the street like stray cats lolol]

[You a stray cat or what lolol]

"Just go with the flow."

[Got it... lol]

[Ah, okay...]

"Actually, those who passed the document screening should’ve been contacted already."

[Thanks lol]

[You bastard, why didn’t I pass?]

[Even the Hero filters people lmao]

"Anyway, since the interviewees are all my viewers anyway, I’m thinking about just doing a fan meeting together with the interviews."

The venue would be the same hotel conference hall where the lawyers had gathered before.

First we’d conduct the interviews, then hold the fan meeting right after.

[Wouldn’t it be better to just do the fan meeting first?]

[Yeah]

"I mean, with interviews right after, who’s gonna be able to eat anything properly during the fan meeting?"

[I could fucking chow down just fine!!!???]

[lol eliminated in round one]

[Loser lolol]

"Anyway, see you all then."

Before ending the short stream, I left them with one final warning.

"If anyone tries to start shit at the venue, I’ll break their skulls on the spot."

[...]

[Crazy bitch...]

[Honestly, he looks like he’d actually do it ;;]

****

Soon, the day of the interviews and the fan meeting arrived.

Lyla, Attorney Kim Taehyun, and I arrived at the hotel first.

When recruiting, the first thing I considered was Lyla’s opinion.

"Hmm... is that Madam's power at work?"

"Something like that."

"Madam" —

I wasn’t a huge fan of the title since it made me feel old, but Lyla seemed to love it.

"Haha, so I guess I got the Madam’s seal of approval too, huh."

There were still a few hours left before the fan meeting, but people were already gathering outside.

And even to a total stranger, it was obvious who was here for interviews.

"Even though I said it was fine to come dressed casually..."

I had posted a notice asking people to dress casually so they wouldn’t stand out too much.

But clearly, that wasn’t how they took it.

Attorney Kim Taehyun smiled slightly, as if he understood how they felt.

"Honestly, even if you tell people to come casually, no one actually does."

"Is that so?"

How uncomfortable must their lives be, to twist my words that literally meant what they said.

‘Maybe I’m just the one who's clueless?’

People wear masks to some extent when living in society.

Maybe it was weird for someone like me, who walked around barefaced, without a mask, in a world like this.

‘Feels like I’m the only one with two eyes in a village full of one-eyed people...’

"Let’s get started."

I sat in the middle, with Attorney Kim Taehyun and Lyla sitting to my left and right.

On the table were the documents, sorted neatly in interview order.

"Alright, we’ll start bringing them in one by one!"

Thanks to the hotel’s help, they had assigned an employee to assist with the interviews.

****

This was driving me crazy.

All I had to do was talk to people.

Even then, it was just a one-sided process of listening to their answers.

"God... this is exhausting. How many do we have left?"

"Sigh, this is the last one."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Unlike me, who was whining from fatigue, Lyla and Attorney Kim Taehyun hadn’t even changed their expressions.

"Honestly, I expected them to be the kind of guys who leave nasty comments in chat all day, but... they all look surprisingly normal."

"Haha..."

Surprisingly, everyone was well-dressed and neat.

There were even some who were so good-looking or pretty that I wondered, ‘Are these really my viewers?’

"President, just out of curiosity... do you recognize which viewer is which?"

"No, I have no clue. Meeting them in person makes it even harder to tell..."

I had clearly instructed in advance: absolutely no one was to write their Twitch username on their resumes.

"Next applicant is ready!"

At the hotel staff’s announcement, we straightened up.

The next interviewee was a woman who came in hesitantly.

Even while seated, she couldn’t quite meet our eyes, taking deep breaths several times.

‘Why’s she trembling so much...? First time doing an interview?’

That was entirely possible.

Most of the applicants were in their twenties.

****

While the interviews were going on, viewers were chatting among themselves out in the auditorium.

Even while talking, no one mentioned their Twitch usernames, keeping the conversations casual and normal.

"Did you see him in person?"

"Yeah, he’s even bigger in real life..."

"The Saintess — the camera seriously doesn’t do her justice."

The atmosphere was so warm and friendly that it was hard to imagine these people had ever left toxic comments in chat.

Some of the viewers who seemed a bit isolated even got approached by others to strike up conversation.

"But isn’t it kinda funny? Hiring your own viewers as employees..."

"Well, I heard some other streamer made their most toxic viewer a mod and even hired them at their company."

— Bzzz...

Hearing her phone vibrate, one woman stepped aside to take the call.

"Uh, yeah... Oppa, where’s Mom?"

Dunno, but when she heard you were going to an interview, she said let’s just eat out for dinner tonight.

"Got it."

Man, you’re hilarious. If I had that kind of money, I’d just live my whole life as a bum.

"I mean, I can’t stay stuck at home forever either."

True. Just rotting at home’s bad for your health. Want me to pick you up after you’re done?

"No, I’ll just grab a taxi. It’s fine."

Alright. Don’t get nervous, good luck with the interview.

"Yeah."

She ended the call and, with time to kill, logged into Twitch to watch a stream.

Since her usual streamer had declared today a break due to the interviews, she tuned into a different stream instead.

[ FeetOfTheHeroLicker has donated 10,000 watts! ]

Broooo how the hell do you get hit by that?? I can’t hold back the backseat gaming anymore lololol