Chapter 100
Chapter 100
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 100
Chapter Title: I Can't Stand This Filthy Job, XX!
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NB Soft, B1 floor, company cafeteria.
I had come down for a moment and was sitting alone, sipping my coffee.
I was taking a short break after battling it out with the business department all day over POD's merchandise.
Well, even during my break, I was still checking the internet for reactions to POD and the probability regulation bill on my smartphone.
Just then, a strange message arrived.
[Director Shin Chihwan: PD Jo, did you hear PD Lee Hyeonho just caused a huge scene in HR saying he's quitting?]
[Me: Huh? Seriously? Why would he do that?]
[Director Shin Chihwan: I don't know, but it's a total mess now. They'll have to either find a new PD to fill his spot or somehow coax Lee Hyeonho back. Honestly, since it's not my problem, I'm happy~♡]
[Me: Wow. Director Shin, you know what that makes you?]
[Director Shin Chihwan: What?]
[Me: A sociopath.]
[Director Shin Chihwan: You want a beating, PD Jo?]
It was completely unexpected news.
Project S, currently being handled by the Gold Digger team, was about six to seven months away from its scheduled release.
In a typical game company, a PD leaving at such a crucial time was something that would never happen, not even if the heavens were to fall.
But Director Shin Chihwan wasn't the type to make things up.
‘I heard he had a conflict with Seo Donghyuk recently. Is that why?’
The hot-headed Lee Hyeonho and the incompetent Seo Donghyuk.
I couldn't know what words had passed between them.
But with Seo Donghyuk feeling anxious about POD's success and making reckless moves, I could only guess there was some kind of friction related to that.
‘Well, I shouldn't worry about it. It’s not a bad thing for me.’
Thinking it was good timing, I stood up.
Just as I was leaving the cafeteria.
*Ding!*
The elevator doors opened right on cue, and inside…
“Oh?”
...stood PD Lee Hyeonho, the man I had just heard was quitting.
The moment he saw my face, he ground his teeth, shoved past me irritably, and started walking toward the underground parking lot.
Then.
“PD Lee Hyeonho.”
I don’t know why I did it, but I called out to him.
“What.”
He stopped and asked, turning only his head toward me.
“I heard you’re resigning.”
“Thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me?”
“That trashy media interview you son of a bitch gave.”
Ah. It seems that really got on his nerves.
It was true that I had taken a critical stance on gacha items in the interview, which sent a message that NB Soft would be moving away from such practices.
This would undoubtedly have a very negative impact on him, a man who had only ever made such games and was in the middle of making another one.
‘If the company’s direction changes, the business and QA departments will start interfering, focusing on that aspect.’
But Lee Hyeonho wasn't finished.
“And that incompetent bastard Seo Donghyuk, whose head is full of shit. I’m about to lose my mind because of him, so I’m walking out on my own.”
Well, I had to admit, I kind of agreed with him about Seo Donghyuk.
I never thought I'd see the day I agreed with Lee Hyeonho.
But there was no need to say that out loud.
“Come on, what did I do? You’re being too harsh.”
“Listen here, you punk. You should know I’m being polite just by saying this much to you.”
“Hmm. But isn't it irresponsible of you to leave now? The team is in the final stages of development. They’ll be devastated.”
This was an irrefutable point.
A PD in a game company is like the captain of a ship.
If the captain abandons ship mid-voyage, the vessel will be thrown into chaos and will, in all likelihood, sink.
Yet Lee Hyeonho had just jumped overboard without a word to the crew on the same ship.
And all because he couldn't control his temper.
“Shut up, you bastard. You think the world is yours right now, that things will keep going well for you? I’m Lee Hyeonho. The Lee Hyeonho who made games that earned several times more money and were several times more successful than the crap you make while playing the part of some high-and-mighty artist!”
His words didn’t seem to have any impact.
I smiled faintly and said.
“I’m envious, you’re so good at making gacha games. I’ll be rooting for your future success.”
“Are you done running your mouth, you bastard?”
“Haha, I think you’re the one who’s done talking, PD Lee. Well, anyway, since you’re quitting, I wish you the best of luck. You wouldn't do something pathetic like come crawling back to the company, would you?”
“Get lost, you asshole! Why should I listen to a punk like you!”
With those final words, Lee Hyeonho turned and walked away.
Watching him go, I was lost in thought for a moment.
‘Why should I listen to a punk like you? Is that really something to say in this situation?’
It was hard to pinpoint, but that’s how it seemed to me.
Was it because of his last remark, which sounded like, ‘I’ll crush you soon enough’?
I had a strong feeling that Lee Hyeonho wasn't actually trying to quit, but was engaged in some kind of power play.
****
The next day. In President Oh Geoshin's office.
“Director Seo! Is this the best you can do? We’ve already burned through over ten billion won on this project, and now the PD is quitting? What the hell are we supposed to do!”
“I’m sorry, Mr. President. But PD Lee Hyeonho really crossed the line.”
“I don't care if he crossed the line or not! Have we ever made money by playing nice? You knew he had a difficult personality when you brought him in, so you should have handled him carefully and seen it through to launch!”
After news of Lee Hyeonho’s resignation got out, Seo Donghyuk was getting thoroughly chewed out.
The development costs had already surpassed 20 billion won, a considerable amount had been spent on pre-launch marketing, and the game’s release was less than seven months away.
How were they supposed to finish the project and launch it without a PD at this stage?
“I will serve as both Division Director and PD.”
“You’ll be the PD?”
“Yes! I was the one who made *League of War* a success! I believe I can do the same for Project S.”
From a developer's perspective, his words were as flimsy as tissue paper.
A game PD had to be a jack-of-all-trades, knowledgeable enough to coordinate the graphics, planning, and programming departments.
It wasn't unheard of for a division director to also serve as PD, but for Seo Donghyuk, who didn't even have a development background, to step in at such a critical moment and take command of someone else's project?
It would take him months just to get a proper grasp of the work and take control of the team. Nine times out of ten, things would go south.
But if this place operated on basic common sense, it wouldn't be NB Soft in the first place.
“Hmm. Are you really sure you can do it?”
President Oh Geoshin himself had never developed a game, so Seo Donghyuk's words sounded quite plausible to him.
Besides, it was a well-known fact that Lee Hyeonho had been ignoring feedback from the higher-ups and developing the game as he pleased.
If there had been anyone who had ever worked as a PD, they would have knocked some sense into them both.
But in this company, aside from Division 5, anyone like that had already resigned or moved to another company.
“I can. Of course, I can. I am Shin Chihwan, the man behind the success story of *League of War*, Mr. President.”
“Hmm. Well, we don’t have any other options right now. For now, you can take on the PD role as well, and in the meantime, look for someone to take over. POD was a hit, but Project S is a project that must succeed as well.”
“Understood, Mr. President. I will make it succeed. I absolutely will.”
And so, Seo Donghyuk decided to take on the PD role to fill the void left by Lee Hyeonho.
Never imagining it would be his own grave he was digging.
****
Time passed, and a Friday in November arrived.
During that time, sales of the main POD game reached a total of 8 million copies.
There were still a few platforms it hadn't been released on, so there was some room for growth, but the upward trend had slowed considerably, making it difficult to expect much more revenue.
‘Still, with over 200 billion won in revenue, it’s a huge success.’
After deducting platform fees, labor costs, marketing expenses, and so on, POD's net profit was projected to be around 50 to 70 billion won.
Considering *League of War* consistently generated over 200 billion won in net profit annually, it was a small amount, but given that this was a console game and our team was only 15-20% the size of others, it was a monumental achievement.
NB Soft usually calculates incentives as 20% of the net profit.
That meant roughly 6 to 7 billion won would be allocated to our team, and it would be standard procedure to divide this among the 10 of us based on performance.
‘And we still have DLC sales to come.’
Since the April release, we had been working on bug fixes while simultaneously developing a DLC chapter centered on Van Gogh's brother, Theo.
And today was the day the final build for that DLC was due.
“Phew. The work on the Theo chapter DLC is finished as of today, with the final build complete. Everyone worked so hard. With this, all work related to the POD project is officially over.”
“Great work, everyone!”
“Wow. POD is really, finally done.”
“What, were you sick and tired of POD, Mr. Kim?”
“Sick of it, Pateujang? I’m just sad to see it go, is all.”
Everyone had a bittersweet reaction.
I, too, felt good, as if I had cleanly expressed all the messages and ideas I wanted to convey through this game.
Now that I've emptied myself out, I could find new stories to fill myself up again and slowly prepare for the next project.
Just imagining what kinds of fun games I could make with this team in the future was exciting and made my heart pound.
‘Whew. The probability-based item regulation bill should be brought to the plenary session soon.’
And there had been many interesting developments regarding the probability-based item regulation bill.
Over the past few months, gamers' opinions had continued to flare up, and thanks to that, the bill had finally passed the standing committee's review.
Since the National Assembly session started in September, it would soon be brought to the plenary session.
Judging by the atmosphere, it seemed highly likely to pass by December.
Furthermore, in October, Assemblyman Jang Ho and a few other lawmakers held a parliamentary hearing, summoning the CEOs of several major game companies responsible for the truck protest incident.
At the hearing, the CEOs, as if they had all coordinated their stories, spouted all sorts of bullshit like, "If the law changes like this, users' payment attitudes will become delinquent," "We can't know the exact probabilities either," and "Our games do not involve gambling," which only served to worsen public opinion.
Perhaps because I had cooperated with Assemblyman Jang Ho, President Oh Geoshin managed to avoid being summoned to the hearing, and he seemed quite pleased about that.
“Well then, I’ll be heading out first. Everyone, you can head home.”
“See you later!”
On my way to meet Rokhui after submitting the build, I briefly turned on my smartphone and checked NB Soft's Blind feed.
And though I shouldn't have, a small smile crept onto my lips at the scene unfolding there.
[NB Soft]
▶ C8. I want to make something like POD too. Our team is probably screwed lol. The big shot who came in as a replacement is a real incompetent. Knows nothing about development. I had high hopes since he was supposedly the key figure behind *League of War*'s success. - Posted by 1192A
▶ LMAO key figure, my ass. You gotta hand it to the non-devs for running their mouths. I'm out of here as soon as we soft launch. It was way better when PD Lee Hyeonho was here. His personality was shit, but at least development got done. That bastard Seo doesn't even understand the game's structure and is messing everything up by changing things he wants to add. - Posted by NinetyNine
▶ Heard they're forcing in cinematics and a story because they saw POD succeeded with its good story lol? - Posted by SpaceHippo
▶ Yep, and I'm the one writing that story. It's garbage, and it's going to fail! - Posted by SlaveSlave
▶ Aren't you going to get fired, SlaveSlave? I think you could be identified from this lol - Posted by MadGuy
▶ Ah, let them fire me~ Who else is going to do the work if not me? - Posted by SlaveSlave
Ever since PD Lee Hyeonho left, Project S had descended into absolute chaos.