Chapter 18

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Translator: MadScientist

Chapter: 18

Chapter Title: Solve It For Me

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The next day at lunchtime.

I wolfed down my spicy pork stir-fry at the company cafeteria and stepped outside.

My stomach was full, but my mouth felt sticky.

Normally, I would've mixed up a cup of instant coffee, chugged it, and headed to the rooftop for a smoke...

But today was different.

My pockets were loaded.

"Alright, everyone, follow me. Coffee's on me today."

I toothpicked my teeth at the cafeteria entrance and hollered.

The nearby employees stared at me with wide eyes.

"Whoa, what's gotten into you, Min-jae?"

"Hit the lottery or something? You look chipper."

"Min-jae, you sure you're not overdoing it? Payday's still far off."

The staff chimed in one by one and swarmed after me.

A big crowd meant even cheap coffee would add up, but with my five-million-won windfall, it wasn't a dent. I smirked and waved it off.

I led the crew to the budget franchise coffee shop next to the office.

No matter how flush I was, treating the whole team at Starbucks would've been overkill. This was plenty to show off.

They just wanted their caffeine fix anyway—no one was picky about taste.

I strode to the kiosk and swiped my personal card with flair.

"Iced Americanos, large for everyone! Add a shot if you want one—speak up!"

The employees erupted in cheers.

"Not small, not medium—large?"

"Thanks, Min-jae. Gonna enjoy this."

"Our Min-jae's promoted, and look at him changing up."

I heard them buzzing excitedly as they lined up.

I crossed my legs, sat back, and watched with satisfaction.

This is the thrill of spending, huh.

That's when the Team Leader quietly slid into the seat next to me.

She held a takeout cup, gnawing on the straw.

"Thanks for the coffee, Min-jae. But seriously, what's the good news?"

She tilted her head curiously.

Sharp instincts—had she sniffed something out?

I shrugged, keeping a straight face.

"Nothing much. Just coasting lately, feeling good. Nice weather too."

"Hmm, suspicious. And nice weather? It's scorching."

She eyed me skeptically, refusing to drop it.

She scanned me top to bottom, then blurted as if remembering something.

"Oh, right. Min-jae."

"Yeah?"

"What's that game you uploaded to your channel yesterday?"

My mind blanked for a second.

Game?

Oh, right.

Last night, I'd impulsively uploaded the whole gameplay video before bed and crashed.

It had slipped my mind completely.

"Oh, you saw that?"

I asked as casually as possible.

My heart started pounding.

"Of course. I had notifications on—checked it the second my phone buzzed. But what game is it? Graphics were nuts. I tried looking it up to play it myself, but nothing."

"You game too, Team Leader?"

"Tried a bit of the stuff you used to play."

"Gotcha."

So she wasn't a heavy gamer.

If it hooked even her... the quality must've been standout.

"Just... something I stumbled on online and tried. Can't remember the details."

"Come on, no way. You played it and uploaded it—how do you not remember? So what's the name? Comments were going wild."

"Wild?"

Only then did I pull out my phone from my pocket.

Notifications were off, so I had zero clue what was happening.

If the Team Leader said so, comments must've piled up.

I opened the app and went to my channel.

"Thir... thirteen million?"

Thinking I'd misread, I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Maybe '1,300' views?

No, the commas were right.

Six digits after the 13.

And it was ticking up in real time as I watched.

Refreshing jumped it by tens of thousands each time.

This can't be real.

Not a one-minute short—a full eight-hour playthrough.

People skip long videos these days.

Click, see the length, bounce.

Yet in 17 hours, over 13 million views?

That's one in five Koreans.

Likes were insane too: 240k.

Idol MV territory.

My hands started shaking.

Trembling fingers tapped the comments.

English, Chinese, Japanese, German, Spanish...

Every twisted language under the sun flooded the comments.

Tons were untranslatable.

Like a global gamer convention on my channel.

I filtered to [Korean] only.

As expected—no, worse than expected. Total chaos.

The reactions blew past my expectations.

Not just curiosity or saltiness.

Borderline obsessive mania.

Makes sense—the game quality in the video was unreal.

Even I was blown away playing it. Viewers just watching? Forget it.

"Whoa. Total madness."

I'd only meant to troll the viewers a bit.

Nonexistent game, teehee, bet that burns~

Kept scrolling.

Top recommended had unfamiliar badges.

Verified official accounts.

Overseas game mags, top Korean publisher, Steam.

Big names begging for contact.

Not as a random YouTuber—as a genius dev.

They were convinced I made the game.

"..."

Screwed.

Or jackpot, but...

How to handle this?

Say I made it? Or AI did?

AI? They'd call me crazy.

The Team Leader eyed my paling face.

"Min-jae? You okay? You look sick."

"N-no... Coffee's bitter. Too many shots."

I forced a grin and gulped the Americano.

Bitter.

Tongue-numbingly so.

Heart ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hammering out my chest.

But it checked out.

Mind-blowing game, even to me.

I'd have hunted it down too.

Joined the chorus: 'Pls game name ㅠㅠ'

'What now? Ask Eun Ha-min for help?'

Yeah.

Hanbit Soft—that hole-in-the-wall game studio.

Pretend they made it.

Ask during the high-pay gig in two days.