Chapter 72
Chapter 72
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Hoist by His Own Petard (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Early April. A hot potato was tossed into the gaming communities, which for some time had been rife with pessimism about the Korean game industry.
[Nuniweb New Games Board]
<Anyone tried the new game 'POD' that Christian, the solo dev, is now making as a PD?>
-I just played it, and wow, it's absolutely amazing.
The way they turned the process of painting into combat, and the story and direction are on a whole other level, beyond typical Korean games.
↳[Nanayashiki9: I've played it too. Gave me chills for the first time in a while. I really hope Christian succeeds and sounds a wake-up call to the Korean game industry, which only churns out cookie-cutter games.]
↳[1909Bestie: I was in awe the entire time. I'll buy it the second it's officially released, no questions asked. Yep.]
[BestInside's Medieval Games Forum]
<Any of you guys tried the new game from the creator of Forgotten Andersen's Story? lol, it's wild.>
-This guy is a damn good game dev. The Nuniweb folks were overhyping it, so I just gave it a quick try, but I was shocked to find out it was for real.
↳[19PK21: No joke, it was really fun. The direction is fucking stylish too. It's amazing that a company like NB Soft, which only makes generic games, approved something like this. If it releases as is, I'm buying it instantly.]
It was the release of a game demo from PD Jo Hyunsoo, also known as Christian, who had shot to fame with *Forgotten Andersen's Story*.
For the hardcore gamers who constantly browsed the Steam store page looking for something worth playing, this news was like rain in a drought.
Keywords like "Pass On Dream," "PD Jo Hyunsoo," and "Christian" shot to the top of search engine rankings. Famous game developers, streamers, and gaming webzines poured out positive reactions through various media outlets, and soon the entire gaming world was abuzz with talk of POD.
The problem was that the build gamers were playing, which contained the first two chapters of 'POD,' was not a demo version.
"Son of a bitch! What crazy bastard leaked the build file!"
Seo Donghyuk, the Head of Division 1 at NB Soft.
His face turned beet red as he read the flood of posts about POD online, and he slammed his fists on the desk.
The few employees sitting with him in the meeting room couldn't bring themselves to look up, as if they were at a funeral.
"It wasn't us. We may have passed the file around a bit, but no one's stupid enough to leak it to the public."
"Are you kidding me? Then what, did that bastard Jo Hyunsoo leak it himself?"
The employees were from the business department, all aligned with Seo Donghyuk.
A few months ago, they had received a special order from him.
-In April, I'm going to set up a major clash between PD Lee Hyeonho and that Jo Hyunsoo guy. Until then, you guys need to start shaping public opinion within the company.-
Their mission was to create negative sentiment within the company to sabotage POD's first build review in April.
To achieve this, they had organized a campaign on Blind to manipulate opinions and had also been circulating the game build among employees to stir up negative gossip.
They reasoned that since most of the talk on Blind reached President Oh Geoshin's ears, creating a negative atmosphere there would be enough to publicly humiliate the Christian team during the review.
The problem was that POD had somehow been leaked online, and things were starting to spiral in a direction completely opposite to his wishes.
'Thanks to these damn people spouting whatever they want, my entire plan is about to fall apart.'
There were far too many overwhelmingly positive reactions online for him to manipulate the situation using the internal opinion he had cultivated.
Just as he was berating his subordinates.
"Division Head, it's PD Lee Hyeonho."
Lee Hyeonho knocked on the door.
Startled, Seo Donghyuk turned to the seated employees.
"Damn it. All of you, get out. And make sure everyone even remotely involved keeps their mouths shut."
"Ah, yes! Understood, Division Head."
As the employees filed out of the office, Lee Hyeonho walked in and casually took a seat.
"How on earth did this mess happen? The internet is going crazy over that Jo Hyunsoo guy's game."
Lee Hyeonho spoke with a cynical smile, as if he knew exactly what Seo Donghyuk had been up to behind the scenes.
He was the king of cookie-cutter games, but he was also a man who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals and was a veteran of office politics. He had long since figured out that Seo Donghyuk was involved in this incident.
"Things took a bad turn."
"Hah. I'd say this is more than just a bad turn. Weren't you planning to crush Jo Hyunsoo and Division Head Shin Chihwan at this review meeting? That bastard Oh Geoshin already has low self-esteem and loves getting praise from the outside. With all this hype for Jo Hyunsoo, how are you supposed to crush him now?"
"Damn it. The review meeting is tomorrow. What do I do?"
"This is just my opinion, but I think that bastard Jo Hyunsoo leaked the POD build himself."
"Jo Hyunsoo himself? Why would he do that?"
At Seo Donghyuk's question, Lee Hyeonho sighed in frustration and shook his head.
"Isn't it obvious? That bastard figured out what you were doing and struck first. Negative rumors were spreading inside the company, the public review was approaching, and then, just in time, the build gets leaked, creating enough external buzz to completely turn the tables? Whose work do you think that is?"
"Ah."
Hearing that, Seo Donghyuk nodded.
He had been orchestrating the whole thing, so he had assumed one of his lackeys had made a mistake.
But considering the circumstances, Lee Hyeonho's theory was entirely plausible.
"Then, what if we use the leak as a pretext to go after him?"
Lee Hyeonho shook his head again at Seo Donghyuk's question.
"That would backfire, 100%. If, by some chance, he didn't leak it, we'd be the ones caught. And even if he did, he'd just have to write an apology and that's it. Do you really think President Oh Geoshin, who's obsessed with IP expansion and copying other companies, would fire Jo Hyunsoo over a minor data leak? I thought he was just a lucky rookie, but he's a cunning bastard who knows how to play the game."
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do!"
Lee Hyeonho frowned, tapping his forehead with his finger as he continued.
"I don't think you're in a position to be getting angry at me right now. If it were me, I wouldn't have handled this so stupidly."
"You..."
It was absurd for a mere PD to speak to a Division Head like that, but Seo Donghyuk couldn't say a word.
It was clearly his mistake, and he knew full well that Lee Hyeonho was the strongest card he had left to play.
"Since it's come to this, let's just do what we can."
"And what is it we can do?"
"Division Head, you know what's most important at a game company, don't you?"
"Stop beating around the bush and just say it."
"I said it when I joined this company: my goal is to make money with games. A company exists to make money, and once my game is finished, it's going to rake in cash."
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Because it's obvious, we have no choice but to relentlessly attack that point during the public review. The executives in your faction have mouths, don't they? Tell them to hammer him with questions about the BM and shift the battlefield there. Then I can be the one to land the punches on that bastard Jo Hyunsoo."
Lee Hyeonho's strategy was simple, but in the current situation, it was the most effective.
The lack of a business model, a limitation inherent to console games.
It was a strategy to relentlessly exploit that weakness to promote his own project while dimming POD's shine.
'I'll show you that making games isn't everything, you little rookie.'
He smirked, rising from his seat, and tossed out a final remark.
"Well, I'm off to prepare for tomorrow's fight. You should get ready as well, Division Head."
"I will."
The first round between Lee Hyeonho and Jo Hyunsoo, a battle that would decide the direction and future of NB Soft.
It was about to begin.
****
The next day, in the main conference room.
"Good morning, Director!"
"Oh, Division Head Shin Chihwan, you're here?"
"This here is PD Jo Hyunsoo!"
"Ah, hello! I'm Jo Hyunsoo from Division 4."
"Ahaha, I had a lot of fun with the POD build. The direction was absolutely fantastic."
Division Head Shin Chihwan was diligently taking me around to greet the executives.
'Mainly to those who were disgruntled after being cut loose by Seo Donghyuk.'
Most of the people we greeted first were executives with weak standing in the company, the kind whose contracts might not be renewed if things went wrong.
Having lost out in the factional struggles, they had either failed to align with Seo Donghyuk or were on the verge of being cast aside for poor performance. They were desperate enough to grasp at any straw.
And with Division Head Shin Chihwan and I, whose stock was rapidly rising, approaching them first, they must have felt like they were meeting their savior.
'In any case, if we're going to have a showdown in this company, we'll need every ally we can get.'
Of course, this didn't mean I was planning to dive headfirst into office politics.
But I wasn't naive enough to think that everything would be fine as long as I just made fun games.
At the very least, I needed enough influence to avoid being unfairly screwed over while making my games.
That was all I wanted, and thankfully, Division Head Shin Chihwan was capable of handling that much.
'That aside, it seems that bastard Seo Donghyuk really was behind it.'
While greeting the executives, I kept glancing over at Division Head Seo Donghyuk.
His usual arrogance and composure, befitting the company's real power player, were gone, replaced by a look of pure anxiety. Just by seeing that, I could easily tell he was behind the smear campaign on Blind and the internal manipulation, and that he was now trembling with fear because of its failure.
<<Your understanding of Division Head Seo Donghyuk has increased!>>
-Seo Donghyuk is feeling anxious because his scheme against you has failed.
And God Game Maker immediately confirmed that my guess was correct.
Now, what I had to do was clear.
'In this public review you arranged, I'm going to enjoy beating you to a pulp.'
A moment later, President Oh Geoshin entered, and the executives all rose at once, bowing their heads.
"Well now, looks like everyone's here already!"
He sat down with a satisfied expression, and the noisy conference room instantly fell silent.
Oh Geoshin stroked his chin, his eyes darting between Shin Chihwan and Seo Donghyuk, before he spoke.
"We've always had Division Head Seo lead these meetings, so for a change, let's have Division Head Shin take charge today."
"Ah. Are you sure about that?"
"Of course! You're a Division Head, what's the problem? We're discussing PD Jo Hyunsoo's work today too, so it's better if you lead."
At Oh Geoshin's gesture, which blatantly empowered Shin Chihwan, the faces of the executives aligned with Seo Donghyuk twisted almost imperceptibly.
But as if none of that mattered, Shin Chihwan began to speak nonchalantly.
"Ah, we are all gathered here today for the public review of Project 'L' from the Gold Digger team, and Project 'POD' from the Christian team. I'm sure the executives have much to say, but before we begin, I think it would be best for each PD to give a brief presentation on their current build, followed by a Q&A session. Which PD would like to start?"
Division Head Shin Chihwan looked back and forth between me and Lee Hyeonho.
I knew exactly what his subtle glance meant and was about to raise my hand.
"Well, I'll go first."
Lee Hyeonho shot up from his seat.