Chapter 104 - Chapter 104

Chapter 104

【Read only at hivetoons.org】

Instantly, Park Hyuk-soo turned pale as if he was flustered.

Tae-woo, who had just walked in, did not know what was going on, but said he would order a drink first.

“Uh, uh...”

Watching Park Hyuk-soo only repeat 'uh', Seo-jun laughed.

Saying he wouldn't sign the contract was a joke.

Since they had kept hiding it for a surprise for no reason, he had also played a little joke.

“Seo-jun-nim, please reconsider just once! We only have three days left!”

Then who told them to contact him so late?

They had probably waited until his viewers decreased, which seemed to have made the schedule this tight, and on top of that, it was a minor revenge for hiding the partner in the name of a surprise.

His judgment was correct, though.

If the collaboration partner was Tae-woo, there was no particular reason to decline.

Especially since they had never done a collaboration stream before.

And since they had revealed they were friends in the after-party with Alpaca, many people already knew that fact as well.

“Please reconsider just once! By any chance, did something happen? Did you guys fight?”

The sentence 'This shouldn't be happening' was written all over his face.

“Just kidding. Nothing happened.”

Park Hyuk-soo only then exhaled a deep sigh.

And he muttered in a small voice, which Seo-jun's outstanding hearing caught.

“I thought I wouldn't be able to ride the rising market...”

Rising market?

What kind of rising market was he suddenly talking about?

“Hello. I am streamer Kim Tae-woo. I'm really sorry for being late.”

“It is fine.”

Tae-woo received his drink and sat down.

Unlike Seo-jun, who felt slightly unfamiliar meeting like this for work, Tae-woo did not seem particularly flustered.

And,

Tae-woo whispered in his ear.

“What, why are you here?”

“Because I was also cast?”

“Aha. But why did they set up a meeting with me?”

Um.

This guy had definitely forgotten that it was a two-player cooperative game.

At first, he had said he wouldn't do it as a joke, but he felt like he really shouldn't do it with him...

Just then, Tae-woo opened his eyes wide as if he had belatedly realized a fact he had forgotten, and then said in a sheepish voice.

“Haha. ……Just kidding.”

Who would believe that?

Tae-woo was a streamer belonging to an MCN.

So, he did not need to pay much attention to advertisements.

Because they negotiated all the terms and summarized the content of the advertisements on their own.

The convenience of just listening moderately, making a judgment, and doing what they told him to do—that was the very reason for joining an MCN.

Even so, forgetting whether the game was for two players or one player was a bit...

He felt it all the time, but he was truly curious about how this guy had been a streamer for seven years.

If you look at it, maybe being a streamer is an easy job?

“So, what is the game's story?”

Park Hyuk-soo started the basic explanation again for Tae-woo who had arrived late.

And.

“So you are telling the two of us to play a two-player cooperative game, right?”

“Yes. Also, there will be one more team of streamers playing on the same day.”

“Hmm. And there is no competition with that team?”

“Yes? No, why would you compete?”

“It seems like it would be fun to bet on who clears it first.”

“Haha...”

“So who is that other team? If it's someone I know, maybe we could...”

Park Hyuk-soo spoke hurriedly.

“Well, if it is promoted through competition, it would be good for us, but wouldn't it not have that much of an effect?”

Right. Their goal was promotion. That must not be forgotten.

If they became busy trying to clear it quickly while competing, it would not be easy to show all the charm of the game.

For Park Hyuk-soo, he had to prevent this at all costs.

“It would depend on who they are, but that would probably be the case.”

“Then why...”

“Because it's a fight we will win unconditionally. Hehe. You know his skills.”

Tae-woo was trusting in Seo-jun.

*Sigh.*

A similar sigh appeared on Park Hyuk-soo's face again.

He looked tired.

“Haha...”

“Just kidding. Anyway, it seems like it will be fun.”

“That is indeed... a relief.”

Since Park Hyuk-soo already looked completely exhausted, Seo-jun suddenly felt sorry for joking around earlier.

“Anyway, returning to the topic. The theme of our game's first chapter is horror. Fortunately, you said you are easily frightened, right, Seo-jun-nim?”

“Yes?”

“Yes?”

***

It was one obstacle after another.

His head began to throb.

Park Hyuk-soo suddenly missed his company's CEO.

CEO.

I think we are ruined.

Seriously.

“It is our fault.”

“……”

“Our fault for writing the email in a convoluted way for no reason, not noticing the strange part and thus failing to confirm it, and setting a tight schedule...”

“Come on. It's not like you've done this kind of work before.”

At Tae-woo's comfort, Park Hyuk-soo sighed even more.

“Since it's your first time, you did well for this much.”

Is that so.

“You selected me and this guy, after all. That's as good as done.”

Park Hyuk-soo let out another deep sigh.

Saying he didn't feel horror. Saying he was at a level where he didn't feel it at all!

If it were someone else, he could have brushed it off as showing off, but that streamer had never shown off even once until now.

Looking at his past broadcasting history, everything he said sounded absurd to hear, but wasn't he a streamer who only spoke the truth in the end?

It did not seem like he would show off about this kind of thing either.

Above all, his fault for writing the email incorrectly and sending it was clear.

He should have emphasized 'as a streamer' or asked completely differently.

Whew.

Sicking another deep sigh as if the ground would sink, Park Hyuk-soo slapped both of his cheeks with his palms, slap!

Anyway.

Although they could cancel it now if they wanted to, it was hard to find another alternative.

They had set up other candidate groups, but would they accept?

With a schedule of three days—no, now two days and eight hours left?

‘Let's think positively. It could be better instead.’

Yes.

It was certain that the other team was made up of streamers who easily felt fear.

Perhaps different reactions coming out from each would make a better picture?

Having finished his rationalization somehow, vitality returned to Park Hyuk-soo's eyes.

And he spoke.

“Excuse me for a phone call.”

“Yes.”

Thinking about it, he didn't need to make the decision anyway!

That was the reason vitality had returned to his eyes.

After about thirty minutes, Park Hyuk-soo finished his phone call and sat back in his seat.

“Great.”

“Are you going ahead with it as it is?”

Seo-jun spoke.

“Yes. It doesn't seem bad.”

Since they couldn't change it anyway, let's just push through.

This was the decision of the team members.

Park Hyuk-soo handed over the contract detailing the conditions they had discussed in advance to Seo-jun and Tae-woo.

“The conditions are to stream for more than four hours on the game's release date and upload two videos to ITube within one week.”

“Yes, that's right.”

“Confirmed.”

Fortunately, the meeting was concluded well.

No, he didn't know if it had ended well.

The results would tell everything.

Whether they bought at the top of the bull market, would be delisted, or would break through the previous peak!

“Lastly, there is something it would be good to decide in advance: in cooperative games, the roles are usually divided into the supporting role and the role of directly performing gimmicks.”

Especially in the case of a two-player cooperative game.

“So it would be good to decide in advance which of you two will play the support role.”

Although they switch those roles fairly as chapters progress, within a chapter it doesn't change.

But it didn't really have much meaning.

Although they distinguished roles, it was because in cooperative games, it was not usually that one of the two had to do more work or do more difficult work.

“Oh? I should do the gimmicks. Seo-jun, you do the support.”

“Why? I'm better at it.”

Park Hyuk-soo agreed while listening to their conversation.

There probably was no one better than that streamer.

“What nonsense... though that is true. Right, you probably are better. But originally, the game becomes easier when the person who is better at supporting takes that role.”

“I don't care if it's difficult though?”

“Well, I care.”

In an atmosphere where it seemed a fight was about to start, Park Hyuk-soo told them to correct their misunderstanding.

“Even if it is support, the importance or difficulty is not lower or higher. It really doesn't matter. So...”

Seo-jun spoke.

“Did you hear? So you support.”

“No.”

Hmm.

Were they misunderstanding something?

Park Hyuk-soo questioned the two.

“But why are you both trying not to support?”

“Just because?”

“Because he said he wants to do it.”

The first answer was Tae-woo's, and the second was Seo-jun's.

Aha.

I see.

Park Hyuk-soo smiled brightly.

‘Will this advertisement do well?’

His company's delisting hovered before his eyes.

Please do well.

***

The next day.

[Generating Level 10 AI.]

Training Ground.

Inside the virtual world, a woman summoned the Level 10 AI.

The people qualified to fight the Level 10 AI were only those who had defeated the Level 9 AI.

So, it was obvious that the woman's skill was outstanding.

However,

if one knew the woman's identity, they would agree that simply describing her as outstanding was far too insufficient.

Shin Ha-yeon.

An early-generation pro gamer who had won the world tournament three consecutive times, reclaimed the throne last year, and unfortunately took runner-up this year.

An early-generation pro gamer referred to players who had existed since the tournament was created six years ago.

And the players who had endured from the early days until now were treated as legends.

Six years is a short period, if short.

So, it could be strange that they heard themselves called legends just for enduring that period.

However, in the early days, the number of people was truly small.

In other words, it meant that over the past six years, the virtual reality market had grown explosively from a level where there were very few people to the point of becoming a social phenomenon.

Overwhelming growth.

A talent pool and promising prospects that grew exponentially every year.

Just how many pro gamers had retired because they couldn't withstand that new wave.

That was why people called those who had endured from the start legends.

Among them, Shin Ha-yeon was the icon who had dominated four out of the last six tournaments.

Such a person was now standing in front of the Level 10 AI.

[Jin Seo-jun]

The one who took away the position of the Level 10 AI, which she had defended for the past few years, was a streamer who had not started long ago.

Shin Ha-yeon knew the true identity of that streamer.

“Is it almost done? Or not?”

Tilting her head, she adjusted her grip on the sword.

“If we fight again, I will remember.”

Shin Ha-yeon slowly leaned her body forward, then suddenly charged.

The duel began.

Sword and sword clashed.

She attempted every possible attack.

Recalling how the AI had responded to each one before,

gradually, the AI's health began to deplete one by one from twenty.

In contrast, Shin Ha-yeon's health was not depleted at all.

She had long surpassed the level of the AI.

Yet the reason she had not reclaimed the position of the Level 10 AI.

The tip of Shin Ha-yeon's sword stopped in front of the AI's neck.

[Remaining Health: 1]

“This is not real anyway.”

Winning was meaningless.

She shook her head and stopped the game without finishing it.

“Have all the patterns that can be seen come out at this rate? Just one last time?”

While lost in thought, a message notification popped up in a corner of her vision.

[Baek Do-yul: Hey.]

Baek Do-yul.

He was one of the guys who had taken the victory this year.

Naturally, Shin Ha-yeon's brow furrowed.

[Shin Ha-yeon: ?]

[Baek Do-yul: A certain streamer took a game title that only I had, you know?]

[Baek Do-yul: But I thought you might also be interested in it.]

Shin Ha-yeon alternately looked at the AI stopped in front of her and the message for a moment, and then sent a reply.

[Shin Ha-yeon: No, I'm not.]