Chapter 135 - Chapter 135

Chapter 135

【Read only at hivetoons.org】

It was the LiOS operations team of Surface Korea, with the tournament fast approaching.

Assistant Manager Lee Yeong-ju.

Her fate for today was already sealed. It was the enemy of all office workers.

Overtime.

However, unlike an office worker facing overtime at quitting time, she spoke up in an excited, loud voice.

“Video setup is complete! It will proceed as a premiere in thirty minutes.”

“Good work. Everyone, disperse now.”

“Understood. Wow! But team leader, I don't think it's everyone?”

“Ah, right. Assistant Manager Kim, stay behind to handle today's schedule, and the rest of us will disperse.”

Three days had passed since the Point civil war ended.

During that time, the operations team recruited the remaining streamers and created the roster reveal video.

And today was the very day of the roster announcement. After that, there was only the simple task of the team leaders filming their evaluations of the team members on the official account.

The auction would begin tomorrow.

‘Promotion had been done sufficiently since weeks ago.’

The other minor balance issues were matters that the streamers would handle on their own during the auction.

As for the big issues, they had already taken care of them just like during Seo-jun's case.

“Good luck with your work, Assistant Manager Kim. Haha. Yay, leaving right on time!”

“Could you please stop that?”

“Yes? What?”

“Approaching me and laughing constantly with that meaningful, triumphant look on your face since that day. I am sorry. I was wrong. I made a mistake. I am sorry.”

Assistant Manager Kim pleaded as if he were sick of it.

“Pfft.”

“No, I'm doing the work Assistant Manager Lee was supposed to do today too. Stop the workplace bullying!”

“Alright~. Good luck with your work!”

Lee Yeong-ju walked straight out of the office and into the elevator.

“Argh.”

Assistant Manager Kim rambled on with his complaints in his mind.

Why did he have to go and beat Spoon?

And with an assimilation rate of 10 at that!

Is the game even playable? Isn't it dangerous?

“Good work, hehe. And who told you to make a bet in the first place?”

“No, who would have thought he would win with Eric in a one-on-one?”

“Assistant Manager Lee knew.”

“Well... that's true.”

Having finished preparing to leave, the team leader passed behind Assistant Manager Kim and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Well, the opinion that we still don't know for sure has resurfaced, so you might have been right, Assistant Manager Kim.”

“Because of that assimilation rate?”

“You could say that. No one knows exactly what an assimilation rate of 10 feels like, but what is certain is that it's extremely, extremely low.”

“That's true.”

“There are probably heroes that would be hard to play, and various other penalties, don't you think?”

“And?”

“I was wondering if you wanted to bet with Assistant Manager Lee again on whether he can perform at an A-grade level...”

At the team leader's suggestion to go for round two with Assistant Manager Lee, Assistant Manager Kim decided there was no need to hear any more.

“Goodbye, team leader.”

I got fooled once, would I get fooled twice?

Look at him trying to pick a fight between others.

How malicious.

Then again.

Come to think of it, the team leader was the general manager in charge of operating LiOS, where streamers fought against each other.

***

A subsidiary of Surface and a game distribution platform.

Section Chief Han walked out of the general manager's office at Stream Korea.

“...Yes, I understand.”

Section Chief Han recalled the previous conversation as he returned to his desk.

-Um, General Manager, what did you decide about that exclusive contract for the streamer?

-As for that, we decided to just wait until Crown makes a move first.

-Just wait? Even though there were clear results this time?

-Yes, well, that's what they want to do.

-Well, Crown might be contacting him behind the scenes, and even if we just move first, there's nothing bad about it, is there?

-In the first place, this idea came from Crown's side, and our goal is just to follow. They said we should just watch and react. Or would you like to leak the details of the contract they are preparing over there, Section Chief?

-Hahaha...

-That's how it turned out.

-Yes, I understand.

“Nothing can be done.”

As Section Chief Han sat down, the team's youngest member asked.

“What did the General Manager say?”

“He just said it turned out well.”

“Of course it did. It has the highest sales among the games released this time! Section Chief, can we look forward to a bonus?”

“Probably?”

“Then how about a team dinner today?”

“No, why do you like team dinners so much?”

And that was coming from the youngest member of the team.

“Because it's free alcohol and free meat?”

“Ah.”

That made sense.

As long as you didn't dislike your coworkers, there was no place quite like a team dinner.

Since no one disliked free stuff.

“I see. But I have an appointment today. Go ahead and eat without me.”

“With the Representative of MONSTER?”

“Yes. I'm sure they've checked the results too, but we still need to meet and talk one more time.”

Section Chief Han handed over a card.

Woohoo!

What was so great about it? The youngest made a strange sound upon receiving the card.

“Then everyone, let's pack up.”

It was quitting time.

Section Chief Han made a phone call after leaving the company.

The recipient was Representative Lee of MONSTER.

[Hello?]

“Hello.”

[Hello, Section Chief. You know today is the day of the LiOS roster reveal, right?]

No, why was this person talking about that as soon as he answered the phone?

Even if they could check it themselves, shouldn't how their own game performed coming from an official's mouth take priority over LiOS?

The fact that the streamer creating issues contributed the most to the game's success was something everyone in the company acknowledged.

That was why it was even more painful.

Because he had heard it directly from Representative Lee.

That there was a streamer whose every moment was a low point.

Therefore, they would likely have to buy him at a high price if they didn't do it now, but those above him were telling him to wait and see.

[How about we go to a quiet restaurant and watch it together today, just like last time?]

Representative Lee sounded lighthearted.

Of course he would.

He had already more than overcome a huge hurdle and succeeded.

“Hahaha.”

[Ah, come to think of it, this LiOS thing.]

“Yes.”

[It's a bullish sign. A bullish sign.]

Man, he should stop talking about those damn stocks.

It made him anxious for no reason.

***

[Starting the stream.]

Seo-jun started the stream in front of his desk.

He had no intention of getting inside the capsule today.

-Seo-hi

-sh

-T-hi

-sh

“Hello, everyone. Ah, what am I doing today? I'm just bored, so I'm going to watch the LiOS roster reveal. Just because I'm bored.”

Seo-jun said while leaning deeply back in his chair. His body felt comfortable.

Maybe broadcasting like this every day wouldn't be so bad?

-Is it really because you're bored? lol

-Why can't you just say, 'I'm appearing, I'm an A-grade!'

-Sure you are

-It's not weird since most streamers are preparing to watch it right now anyway

-But you're appearing, right?

It was just as the viewers said.

Currently, after entering The League category, most of the simplified streaming screens showed a video preparing for a premiere.

The exact same video was on Seo-jun's monitor right now.

It was the dedicated LiOS account on Travel.

“I told you, no comment on my appearance. Oh. Many viewers have gathered in my room today too.”

[Viewers - 25,000]

Seo-jun's viewership class had grown once again.

Defeating Spoon and revealing his assimilation rate played a big part in it.

Of course, the side effects of rapid growth were also formidable.

That was just how the world worked.

-A scrub whose assimilation rate is lower than mine

-You can't play other heroes, can you? lol

-It's obvious he lowered it on purpose to get attention!!!!

-Get a proper certification. Go to a professional medical center or clinic or something

Such were the chat messages visible here and there.

And in an instant, the manager's sword of justice flew at them.

They were guys who came and did that at the start of every broadcast for the past three days, repeatedly getting banned for a day.

“At this rate, I'll memorize all their nicknames.”

Rather than feeling upset, Seo-jun thought it was just cute, so he was only banning them for one day.

Come again tomorrow.

Come back stronger.

-These guys are so consistent lololol

-They should think about how well he does with that assimilation rate, so why do they think he's a scrub?

-Because they have no brains

-Still, if it's low, it really is a sandbag weight...

Over the last three days, indeed a lot of opinions had been exchanged.

Excluding Seo-jun, the generally known lowest assimilation rate was in the 40s.

So the figure of 10 could not help but be shocking in many ways.

Starting from whether gameplay was even possible.

Whether his health was okay, how much alienation he felt, or if he experienced motion sickness.

And.

How on earth he was so good with that assimilation rate.

Whether he was a guy crazy about games.

Or maybe a guy crazy about streaming.

Whether he could perhaps fly in reality.

Truly a countless number of opinions had been exchanged.

And although a conclusion had not been reached yet, fortunately, only Seo-jun's existing viewers were able to reach one conclusion.

[It seems the capsule is telling him to log out quickly because if the room master stays in virtual reality for too long, other gamers will suffer!]

He felt slightly disappointed.

In that world inside the capsule, he only recalled helping others.

“Oh, it's starting.”

As he chatted as usual, time flew by in a flash.

[LiOS Roster Announcement!]

[1 second ago]

Perhaps because it was a premiere, the chat over there was also visible.

-lol you're all dead now

Among the rapidly scrolling chat, Seo-jun caught the chat of a user with the Travel nickname Kim Tae-woo.

For reference, Tae-woo was currently preparing for his broadcast in the room next door.

In preparation for the upcoming conversation between the team leaders.

‘Crazy guy.’

As expected.

One must choose their friends wisely.

-Let's go!

-I think I saw that rascal Tae-woo, but it must be my imagination, right?

-It's starting

-Who was selected?

An exciting BGM flowed out.

And after mixing several letters through editing for about three seconds, the reveal immediately began.

[E!]

A streamer's face briefly appeared, immediately followed by their gameplay.

In that manner, six people were introduced.

Ha Yun-ho was also among them.

Above Ha Yun-ho's name, the words "Team Leader" were visible in small print.

D, C, and B appeared in order.

Finally.

[A!]

-It's A

-The room master is appearing now

-real lol

-What video did they bring?

“Oh, I'm the first one.”

Seo-jun appeared first among the A-grade.

Perhaps because he was a rookie, "new!" was attached above his name in a cute and lively font.

-Wow, handsome

-No, why is only the room master's face so huge? damn, look at them zooming in because he's handsome

-I'm telling you, this kind of unfairness is rampant

-This is the life of a super handsome guy...

Subsequently, Seo-jun's gameplay was shown.

-Wow

-A 4-second Sword of Judgment is insane

At the end, it briefly showed Eric's ultimate skill appearing all over the place before moving on to the next.

“It turned out well.”

In an instant, the video that revealed a total of thirty players from A to E ended by showing one caster and three commentators.

Then, the screen naturally transitioned to a live broadcast.

[Hello! I am Bangju, the commentator in charge of today's eve festival!]

Bangju had secured a spot as a commentator, beating out former professionals.

-Wow!!

-Long time no see, Bangju

-He's having an easy ride just like a certain someone who came here after For Chivalry ended lololololol

-Room Master <-- that certain someone

-You honeybee bastards lololololol

[Now! At the eve festival, we will have time to hear brief one-line reviews and strategies regarding the players. Informing you that the team leaders received the roster yesterday and had time to organize their thoughts in advance, let me introduce them! Please come out!]

Six faces appeared on the screen as if they were having a video chat.

He recognized Tae-woo and Ha Yun-ho, but he did not really know the other four.

[Ah. It is truly a pleasure to meet the team leaders who will lead our tournament. How do you feel about participating as a team leader?]

[Hello. I feel absolutely nice!]

[It is an infinite honor for me, Ha Yun-ho, to be invited to this place...]

[Mom, I'm on broadcast!]

For reference, the one who said "Mom, I'm on broadcast!" was Tae-woo.

-Crazy bastards lololololol

-I'm dizzy already

-This is the flavor lololololol

-Those guys are all experienced hands, so lololololol they don't know what nervousness is lol

Bangju was not flustered.

Because Bangju was also an experienced hand.

Moreover, no matter how large the scale, since it was a tournament for streamers, this kind of amateur vibe had always existed.

[Then shall we get right into it? Now, the first player? Drumroll please. Ah! The man whose balance is controlled by the capsule. It's the streamer Seo-jun!]

When Bangju flipped the slide on the center screen, a photo with a large print of Seo-jun's face, which had been used during the player reveal earlier, appeared.

The phrase written underneath was 'The man whose balance is controlled by the capsule,' and Bangju had simply read it.

[Now, although Jin Seo-jun is a rookie and unranked, he has been assigned as an A-grade. What do the team leaders of each team think of Seo-jun? I would like to hear it.]

And at the same time.

[Not buying.]

[It seems better not to buy him.]

Kim Tae-woo and Ha Yun-ho spoke in turn.