Chapter 194

—

1.

– Famous streamer Shia throws an arrogant challenge to gamers worldwide!

– It’s impossible to capture Apocalypse Dragon faster than Kan’s raid team.

– If a team clears it faster than our raid, I’ll give each member 10 million won.

– The resurgence of legends.

– Let’s find out the service schedule for !

– I roughly anticipated what the interview would be like… Doesn’t this mean we’re challenging gamers worldwide?

“Mr. Sung-jae.”

– Yes.

“Do you think I’m the kind of person who just throws money away?”

– No, not at all. Ah, so SD Corporation’s request is…

“You said the interview came through SD Corporation.”

Brother Sung-su had a plan for everything.

It was impactful enough for me to take on the interview myself.

I heard I was quite famous among foreign gamers as well.

Thanks to friends like Sharout and his buddies, who always mentioned me first when discussing top gamers globally, my global recognition was very high.

And what about Japan and China, which always use me as a topic whenever they’re bored?

Though they always curse me, the consensus is that no one can compete with me in skill.

While some may not like me taking the lead in , SD Corporation already filmed separate advertisements for Japan and China.

Honestly, not playing this game would be their loss.

– We are continuing constructive negotiations with public entertainment stations, but we have deliberately extended the negotiation period.

Mr. Sung-jae got straight to the point as soon as he called.

His style of quickly getting to the main point always made his calls beneficial.

Moreover, when it came to business matters, he guided me generously while being ruthless to the other party.

He was someone I could fully entrust with contract matters without worry.

“Wouldn’t it be better to finalize the contract quickly?”

– That’s one good method, but usually, you have to let things simmer.

We were in an era where creators were making their way into public entertainment in earnest.

Most creators were quickly entering public entertainment, creating success stories.

But I wasn’t in a hurry.

I had a rough idea why Mr. Sung-jae was delaying the contract.

It was probably to increase my value.

I had one crucial event left that was more important than anything else.

An opening the whole world was watching.

.

Once my life and sole means of livelihood, it was returning under the name of Classic.

‘Shia’ was originally a villain in .

I was the one who made all users fail the Apocalypse Dragon raid and received all their resentment.

Time passed, and I apologized. Thanks to ChickenBox’s extensive media play, that image practically disappeared.

This was a perfect opportunity to completely shatter any remaining negative image and unfold a new story.

– This is the beginning of another chapter for Mr. Chan-sik. From this opening onwards, your position will be stronger than ever.

Mr. Sung-jae had no doubt about the explosive potential of .

It was a perfectly compatible open world where everything could interact.

It was such an immense world, where content consumption was quick, but it was still sufficient to dominate the gaming world for the time being.

– It won’t be too late to negotiate with the entertainment stations after that.

“What if I fail the opening?”

– I don’t think that’s possible at all. Haven’t I known you for quite some time now? And… Apocalypse Dragon is already a familiar opponent for you.

Mr. Sung-jae already knew where my confidence came from.

The Apocalypse Dragon raid was something I had already experienced.

Though I sometimes struggled with new games, I was more confident than anyone when it came to replaying a game.

The patterns of the Apocalypse Dragon were already precisely stored in my mind.

We had also been reviewing the pattern videos stored from years ago with the raid team, and we had revised the previously inadequate strategies.

Preparation close to perfection.

Our coordination was improving daily, and three days ago, SD Corporation announced they would help with a raid rehearsal.

It was almost time.

“Mr. Sung-jae.”

I called Mr. Sung-jae’s name with a slight smile.

He responded quietly.

– Feel free to speak.

“I’ve been really curious about something for a while.”

– What is it?

“When can I comfortably call you ‘hyung’? It feels a bit cold and impersonal always addressing you so formally.”

I knew that Mr. Sung-jae used formal language with me to emphasize the business aspect.

But things were a bit different now.

ChickenBox had recently given me a share of their company stock.

In other words, I was now a shareholder of this company too.

This meant we had become inseparably linked in various ways.

At my sudden proposal, Mr. Sung-jae laughed heartily and then spoke in a much softer voice.

– Sure, Chan-sik.

“Suddenly?”

– You like to dive right in without hesitation, don’t you?

…He knew me too well.

Following his lead, I laughed heartily and then spoke cheerfully.

“So, my contract negotiations have been postponed until after this opening, right, hyung?”

– That’s for the best. If the opening ends successfully… the attention focused on will become your new weapon.

“Whew.”

– We’ve built a good image so far. You’ve even shown the humanity of a charming villain, and that image has influenced public entertainment. We’re just taking it one step further. ᚱ𝐀ＮȫᛒÊⱾ

Mr. Sung-jae continued speaking without pause.

– Didn’t you tell me last time that you really hate winter?

I had.

It’s cold, heating bills are high, and I need to buy clothes.

It was a season where money just kept flowing out.

“Yes.”

What was he trying to say all of a sudden?

– Truly wonderful memories always seep into that season. From next winter onwards, you won’t dislike winter as much. I can assure you of that.

Damn.

I suddenly felt a lump in my throat.

While I remained silent for a moment, Sung-jae’s voice gently resonated in my ears once more.

– Are you ready to spend a warm winter?

“…Uh, yes.”

What on earth was making me feel so emotional?

—

2.

That evening.

I headed to a chicken restaurant located in Gasan, driving my newly purchased car.

It was our regular spot, right in front of the ChickenBox office.

Tonight, we had rented the place out for the entire evening.

“Alright, everyone, cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“Kyaaa!”

It was a gathering of ChickenBox’s streamers, getting together before an event involving most of them.

It had been a while since our last company dinner.

In truth, it was more of a meeting where Sung-su shared the company’s future management policies with the streamers.

“Everyone must be exhausted and busy with , but let’s hang in there a bit longer.”

As always, Dong-su was leading the atmosphere at the drinking party.

“As long as we do well with the opening, we won’t have to worry about our livelihoods for a while. Just play the games that come in as assignments, and in the free time, focus on . Kya! Isn’t it amazing? There haven’t been many good games out lately.”

“There are a lot of anticipated games coming out in the first half of this year. Like Goddess’ War and Throne Game…”

“We can play those alongside.”

“Ah, but that would result in losses.”

“Losses?”

“ losses, sigh.”

The latter half of last year was truly a game drought. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was with no games worth playing.

But this year, the first half had promising games lined up, and with the heavyweight anchoring us, I felt at ease.

For professional game streamers, there couldn’t be a more comfortable situation.

Besides, most of the streamers affiliated with ChickenBox were originally from , so continuous interaction with SD Corporation was also expected.

The alcohol tasted sweet today.

“Although we missed having a New Year’s party, let’s think of today as a replacement. Cheers to ChickenBox this year! Let’s eat well!”

“Let’s live well!”

With Dong-su’s straightforward cheer, everyone drank down their alcohol.

I lightly downed my glass and then slyly asked Na-young, who was sitting next to me.

“Na-young, will you be playing too?”

I felt a bit lonely not being able to game with Na-young often these days.

The main reason was that every time Na-young appeared, the chat box was flooded with toxic comments from obsessive shippers among the viewers.

In response to my question, Na-young took a bite of chicken and slowly nodded.

“Don’t you think I should? I didn’t have a chance to play it back then because I was always studying.”

“Sounds fun. If you find it difficult at any point, ask me. I’ll help you out.”

“I appreciate the thought. But if I get help, there’ll be more talk.”

That’s true.

Especially for female streamers, that issue is quite sensitive.

I should just give her some useful tips, right?

As I was chatting with Na-young for the first time in a while, someone suddenly interrupted.

“Na-young, there’s no benefit in learning from this guy. All he’ll teach you is how to grow illegally, at best.”

“Illegally? Like using hacks?”

“No, this guy used to ambush NPCs for growth. Assassination quests, too. He was probably wanted more often than not in the game.”

Why butt in all of a sudden?

Annoying.

Na-young nodded slightly at the unexpected interruption from Heo-soo.

They had become much closer compared to their initial awkwardness. Heo-soo was generally gentle with everyone except me.

Why he acted like such a jerk only towards me, I had no idea!

I frowned and nudged Heo-soo with my shoulder.

“Why are you butting in?”

“I’m just worried she’ll end up failing if she learns from you.”

“It’s a lot easier than playing like a goody two-shoes like someone I know.”

“A goody two-shoes?”

“Yeah, you goody two-shoes idiot.”

“Watching you two fight feels like watching a couple argue. Se-rin and Yoo-seon mentioned the same thing last time. You two…?”

A horrifying comment slipped from Na-young’s mouth.

I wasn’t the only one shocked by it.

Even Heo-soo, who had been about to rip into me, was left speechless with his mouth agape.

Smiling softly, Na-young glanced back and forth between us.

“You two look good together.”

“…What?”

“Huh?”

“I expect a beautiful love story! Cheers, cheers!”

This girl gets playful when she drinks!

But neither Heo-soo nor I could muster a rebuttal to Na-young’s words. Instead, like we were possessed, we clinked our glasses together.

Phew!

Since it was a pleasant company dinner, I decided to let it slide.

I downed a bomb shot in one go, exhaled deeply, and looked at Heo-soo.

Then he gritted his teeth and said.

“Should I pluck your eyes out?”

“Should I rip out your tongue?”

Someday, I’ll have to settle things once and for all with this guy, Heo-soo.

Anyway.

The drinking party’s atmosphere was heating up nicely.