Chapter 95
Chapter 95
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 95
Chapter Title: Aren't You Going to Move That Spoon? (2)
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Thanks to the recent success of POD, NB Soft's stock price set a new record, soaring by 40%. As a result, everyone associated with NB Soft, including the shareholders, couldn't wipe the smiles off their faces.
Except for one person.
“What the hell is this, Director Jeong?”
That person being Division Head Seo Donghyuk.
No, far from smiling, he was so furious he felt dizzy.
“How could you just handle things your own way without telling me?”
<>
Recently, after POD's release, the press releases he'd distributed everywhere to get his spoon in had been taken down one by one.
And a few days later, the face of the insufferable Division 5 Head, Shin Chihwan, began to appear in their place.
*'My comments in the interview were completely buried. Tsk.'*
Something about how he hadn't done much himself, and that his only contribution was trusting Producer Jo Hyunsoo and leaving everything to him.
Thanks to that, Shin Chihwan's reputation was soaring. On the other hand...
[NB Soft Blind]
-Man~ one of the higher-ups at our company is so damn shameless lololol. Every game he's released since League of War has been a total flop, and everyone knows he's on bad terms with Producer Jo Hyunsoo, yet he's still trying to get his spoon in. Mmph! He's too high up, so I can't say more! - Anonymous Hippo
└Hey lol, did he even make League of War? In reality, CEO In Taekho and the previous PD did all the work, and that bastard just got lucky and picked it up for a massive hit. If that guy was so talented that the game succeeded, then how do you explain all the games that flopped one after another since then?
In reality, Seo Donghyuk's reputation was plummeting by the day.
While the opinions on Blind didn't directly affect the executives, if these sentiments continued to build from the bottom up, they were likely to turn into a powder keg eventually.
Moreover, Director Jeong, whom he had considered an eternal ally, was now subtly changing his tune.
Seo Donghyuk, who had been parasitically clinging to the pinnacle of power since joining NB Soft, was beginning to feel a sense of crisis.
“Director Jeong! Are you really going to be this cold? I've worked hard to cooperate with the business division so you could achieve results with League of War all this time!”
<<How is that cooperation? We're just both doing our jobs diligently. The development division works hard to make games, and the business division works hard to sell them. That's all there is to it.>>
“Are you seriously doing this to me?”
<<Sigh. Division Head Seo, please give me a break. Do you have any idea how much trouble I'm in because of the mess you made?>>
“A mess? What are you talking about?”
<<Did you really think Jo Hyunsoo wouldn't find out about you using our business division employees to play games on Blind?>>
“He... Jo Hyunsoo knows about that?”
At that moment, Seo Donghyuk felt a chill run down his spine.
Then he understood why Jo Hyunsoo had insisted on catching the person who leaked the game build back then.
*'He knew all along, since back then?'*
His atrocities, like using employees to manipulate public opinion on Blind and leaking the game build.
If Jo Hyunsoo knew about it, that alone was a disaster for Seo Donghyguk.
<<It's not just that he knows; he's gathered all the evidence. If things go south, he's ready to request a police investigation immediately. So what more can I do in this situation?>>
“Uh... uh, it hasn't been handed over to the police yet, right?”
<>
*Click!*
In the middle of their conversation, Director Jeong abruptly cut him off and hung up.
It was such an arrogant attitude that he couldn't believe this was the same Director Jeong who had been so subservient to him just a few months ago.
“Aaaaaaaaargh! Fuck!”
In that instant, rage surged to the top of his head.
Seo Donghyuk slammed his fists on the desk—*bang, bang!*—then ripped out his monitor and threw it to the floor.
It was the act of a true madman, but it did nothing to quell his anger.
Recently, rumors had been circulating that the company had allocated an additional 3 billion won for POD's global marketing budget.
Jo Hyunsoo, who had been nothing more than a mere Gwajang just a few years ago, was gradually becoming an untouchable figure that even Seo Donghyuk couldn't easily mess with.
*'If the Gold Digger team fails now, I'm finished. That bastard, Division Head Shin Chihwan, will take everything from me.'*
The future painted itself vividly in his mind.
The image of Division Head Shin Chihwan sitting in this very office, a pleased smile on his face.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
“I have to somehow coax that bastard Lee Hyeonho into succeeding.”
Seo Donghyuk started racking his brain for a way to make the Gold Digger team succeed.
All the while, he completely forgot why every game from Division 1 had failed until now.
****
June, when the summer heat was just beginning to rise.
Around this time, POD achieved the remarkable feat of selling 6 million copies just two months after its release.
Excluding the OST and other revenue, the game alone had generated over 200 billion won in total sales.
For a team of just ten people, it was an almost excessive result.
Furthermore, debates began to brew within the company, starting from the lower ranks, about how large the Christian team's incentives would be and how much Division 5's influence would grow.
*'It's not a bad thing for these rumors to be spreading. The team members deserve to be adequately compensated.'*
In the past, I would have been wary of such rumors.
But now I knew better.
The world doesn't just take care of those who stand still.
When you achieve something, you have to use it as leverage to get what you deserve and move on to the next step.
That, too, is the role of a leader.
Whenever I had a chance to meet with Division Head Shin Chihwan and CEO Oh Geoshin, I proactively brought up the topics of incentives and performance reviews.
*'If the incentives come through properly, it'll give me some peace of mind when preparing for the wedding with Rokhui.'*
The time was slowly coming to move forward with the marriage talk I'd had with Rokhui.
Once the work Rokhui was currently serializing concluded around July or August, I planned to start discussing it in earnest.
Therefore, if this outcome could fatten my wallet a bit, it would be a big thank you from me.
*'And POD's success isn't just about the money.'*
Moreover, the success of POD had also placed another weapon in my hands.
The fact that we had achieved such significant results with a console game that had an ending, rather than the typical business model.
This was precisely the weapon I needed, I who was dissatisfied with NB Soft and, by extension, the entire Korean gaming industry.
*'Let's use this to try and level the tilted playing field of the Korean gaming industry, even if just by a few degrees.'*
Having made up my mind, I readily accepted the interview requests from the media that I had previously avoided.
Before, I found it embarrassing to act like a celebrity, as if I had some kind of 'star disease,' and I believed it wasn't the essence of game development. But things were different now.
*'If you don't do proper self-promotion when you've achieved something, guys like Seo Donghyuk who try to put their spoon in will keep popping up. Besides, I need to use these interviews to change the values, stereotypes, and perceptions of the gaming industry.'*
Afterward, I continued to engage with the press, sending out the messages I had been wanting to express explicitly through their articles.
[Game Inventory: 'Star PD Meets God Hyunsoo PD!' - June 13, 2021, 22:05]
[Q: We know that NB Soft's business is primarily focused on mobile games. How did you get approval for a console game project like POD?]
[A: To be honest, I had considered leaving the company to become a solo developer. However, Division Head Shin Chihwan, who is now in charge of Division 5, made me an unconventional offer back then: if I could make the Phoenix project a success, he would give me the PD position. I accepted. I did the math right then and there and made my request: that I would create a console game within the company, no matter what.]
[Q: That's quite a dramatic turn of events. Is there a particular reason you chose to make a console game?]
[A: Since I was young, I've always preferred playing console games that have an 'end.' Due to the nature of the medium, they allow for more freedom in storytelling and direction, which is why many so-called 'masterpieces' have come from console games. It might seem a bit contradictory for me, an employee of NB Soft, to say this, but the current trend in the Korean gaming industry is dominated by the mobile random-box-style business model. I thought that by creating POD, I might be able to change that trend a little. The reason I chose a character like Van Gogh in the first place was because I felt the story of the oppression and constraints of reality that make it difficult to achieve a 'dream' resembled the current state of the gaming industry.]
[Replies]
[Silemane: Aww yeah lol. Producer Jo Hyunsoo really nailed it. I wish all those random-box companies would just go bankrupt. All their games are the same, and they treat their users like pigs and dogs.]
[StormPandaMan: Seriously, you can't argue with calling him God Hyunsoo lol. I still don't understand people who play Korean games. Users who spend hundreds of millions of won get turned away at the door without being able to say a word, but for 30,000 won, God Hyunsoo's game gives you an emotional experience that's impossible to compare with that kind of trash.]
[Jangbob: He's a ray of light in a world infested with trash who manipulate drop rates. By the way, the idea that POD is also a message to the entire gaming industry gives me chills lol. Those industry bastards really have no dreams or passion, just chasing money.]
But there's a limit to what one can achieve by doing interviews and talking by oneself.
Since the conversation was confined to gamers, the general public didn't react much. The so-called major media outlets only chattered about how much money POD had made, failing to connect the discussion to a broader critique of the Korean gaming industry.
*'Is this the limit of what a success on the scale of POD can achieve?'*
Just as I was starting to feel a bit powerless at the public opinion that failed to form despite repeated interviews...
Was it truly the help of a god?
A major incident happened to break out at just the right time.
*'The truck protests.'*
Recently, a company had discriminated between its international and domestic users with events and rewards, sparking what became known as the 'truck protests.'
Users didn't just vent their anger on online communities and social media; they began sending trucks with digital billboards to the front of various game companies to stage their protests.
The visual impact and symbolism were so powerful that even mainstream media outlets began to cover it. It frequently appeared on public broadcast news, creating the public opinion that hadn't formed before.
That there was a huge problem with the Korean gaming industry.
[I hope the entire Korean gaming industry goes bankrupt this time! You can make plenty of money by creating good games like Producer Jo Hyunsoo. Isn't it just that you guys can't make them and have no talent?]
[Stop being so greedy, you bastards. If you spend just 10 million won at a department store, they treat you like a VVIP. But you turn away a customer who spent hundreds of millions? Ffs.]
Anger against the Korean gaming industry spread like wildfire.
Just as light shines brightest in the dark, POD garnered even more attention among users. The content of my interviews was mentioned everywhere, creating an atmosphere of near-admiration.
It was a bit burdensome, but I had no intention of refusing it.
I hoped this opportunity would make the gaming industry recognize itself as a group of companies that create content, not just chase money.
Then one day, as I was working in my office as usual, I received a phone call.
<<Hello, is this Producer Jo Hyunsoo?>>
“Ah, yes, it is. Who is this?”
<>
It was a call from a National Assemblyman's office.