The Terms
No matter how bad their relationship was or how fiercely they competed, anyone would waver if presented with an offer like: "I'll give you a hundred gold every month and bring you all the ingredients you need! Plus, you get absolute first dibs on any equipment!"
"Besides, now that the Guild Alliance has reformed into an official coalition, we have to send them a ton of food. We need all the chefs we can get. Or what, do you want to do all the cooking yourself?"
"N-No, not really..."
"I'm joking. Besides, you can't cook for shit."
"..."
The guild member's face stiffened at Chao's dismissive remark. Chao truly had a knack for making even the most ordinary words sound incredibly obnoxious.
"Fine. Go over there and pitch the offer."
"Huh? Me?"
"Then who? Me? Huh?"
"Understood..."
The guild member slumped his shoulders and trudged forward.
"Excuse me, I'm from the Restaurant Guild—"
Shshshk!
Paz, who had been kneeling on the ground, sprang up like a coiled spring and threw a handful of salt.
"Argh!"
"What kind of cheap tricks are you bastards trying to pull now?"
"W-What do you think you're doing?!"
"What does it look like? I'm driving away suspicious pests! Anyone else might get a pass, but you lot are definitely up to no good! Stay back! Who knows if you're trying to poison the food!"
As Paz bellowed, the surrounding chefs recoiled, their eyes widening. Wait, is that a Restaurant Guild member? They quickly backed away. It was a natural reaction, given the guild's notorious track record!
"I didn't come here to see you! Get out of the way!"
"Liar! You're trying to poison my dish! Or maybe you're planning to mess with my ingredients!"
"No, I came to see Ju Hyeon—"
"What?! You were planning to poison Ju Hyeon-yeong's food too?!"
"..."
The gathered chefs began to whisper among themselves.
"What? The Restaurant Guild was trying to pull another fast one?"
"That's what they're saying. Apparently, the reason they weren't around earlier was because they got caught trying to do something dirty during this event."
"Oh my god! How could they do such a thing?"
Hearing the commotion, Ju Hyeon-yeong quietly took a few steps back to put some distance between them.
The Restaurant Guild member stretched out his hand, looking utterly pathetic.
"No, that's not it at all...!"
To be fair, they had done things like that in the past, but this time they truly hadn't. Or rather, they hadn't been able to! But no one was willing to listen to his excuses.
Click.
Stepping out of his capsule, Tae-hyun noticed Kim Tae-san stealing glances at him.
"?"
"Ahem. Cough, cough."
"...?"
"Son, come over here for a second."
Feeling a growing sense of unease, Tae-hyun walked over to his father.
"Are you having a hard time lately?"
"...Excuse me?"
"Like, is someone bullying you at school...?"
"I don't even go to school right now."
"Then is someone bullying you in Pandemonium Online...?"
"????"
Tae-hyun tilted his head. What on earth was this about?
"Didn't you get PK'ed by the Guild Alliance?"
"No, never."
"?"
"?"
Kim Tae-san and Tae-hyun stared at each other. Kim Tae-san realized immediately that Tae-hyun was telling the truth. Tae-hyun wasn't the type to lie about something like this.
So he really didn't die! Seriously, what is wrong with those Guild Alliance bastards? Why are they so incompetent?
Human psychology was a funny thing. When he first heard that his son had been PK'ed, his immediate reaction had been, No way, that's impossible! followed by, How dare those bastards touch my son! But now that he knew it was a lie, a different thought crossed his mind: Man, you'd think they could succeed at least once. What a bunch of useless hacks.
"Are you... disappointed right now?"
"W-What? No, I'm not! Who said I was disappointed?"
Kim Tae-san's voice lacked any shred of conviction.
"Anyway, I'm so glad you didn't get PK'ed!"
"Wow. That was completely devoid of emotion."
"Shut it. Oh, right. And, uh..."
Kim Tae-san trailed off, hesitating. Should he say it or not?
"I heard the farming in your territory is going incredibly well. Is that true?"
"I guess it is..."
"And they're selling ingredients from there?"
"Yeah, they are."
"...Are you going to list more on the auction house?"
So far, the culinary ingredients coming out of the Archisus Church's territory had been top-tier. Most of them were Advanced-grade or higher, and they were incredibly fresh. Naturally, the moment they were listed, bloodshot-eyed chefs bought them up at a premium. But the quick-witted players had already put two and two together.
Between the freezing cold and the rabbit infestations, crops grown by farmer players in other regions were barely enough to satisfy the local chefs. In such a dire situation, the Archisus Church's territory—which was churning out massive quantities of wheat, rice, and barley—was bound to be the center of attention.
"We'll list them as they come. There's no point in hoarding them anymore."
"Any interest in selling them before they hit the market?"
Kim Tae-san asked slyly. Once items went up on the auction house, bidding wars would drive the prices up exponentially. It was far better to negotiate beforehand and make a private deal. Of course, other players had no idea who was listing the items and could only stare at the auction house website, but Kim Tae-san was different. The seller was his own son!
Tae-hyun splayed his fingers.
"Five?"
"I'll sell them for five times the current market price."
"Wow, you absolute thief of a s—"
Kim Tae-san caught himself just in time. If he finished that sentence, he would be insulting himself.
"Isn't that a bit too much?!"
"Well, the Old Man is currently trying to corner the market, so if I put them on the auction house, five times the price is practically the baseline."
"It is not the baseline! It would only reach that after a fierce bidding war! Still, five times is... Wait, who did you say is cornering the market?"
Kim Tae-san doubted his ears. There was only one person Tae-hyun would refer to as "the Old Man." But Chairman Yoo wasn't the type of person to do something like that.
"That's none of my business. Either way, I'm not accepting anything less than five times."
"...You little... @#$%..."
Kim Tae-san did some rapid calculations in his head. To buy or not to buy?
"Fine! I'll take it!"
Decision made! Kim Tae-san was decisive and precise when it came to these matters. He figured it was much better to buy them directly now rather than compete with a horde of ravenous chefs on the auction house.
Even if the farmers in Tae-hyun's territory list their crops, other bastards will just sweep them up instantly. I should count my blessings that I can secure this much volume right off the bat.
"Haha. Thank you. And there's one more thing you could do for me."
"What?!"
"If the Guild Alliance bastards invade, let's fight them together, Father."
"Hmph. Why should I? You're the one who drew their ire, not me."
"Come on, you might not have drawn as much as I did, but you definitely have some bad blood with them too. Put your hand on your heart and tell me honestly. While maintaining your territory in the Auston Kingdom, did you or did you not attack other players?"
"..."
"Since I sold you the crops so cheaply, you should at least do that much."
"Ch-Cheaply?! You call that cheap?!"
"For that quality, it's practically a steal."
"Ugh..."
Kim Tae-san groaned. He actually agreed that they needed to keep the Guild Alliance in check. If left to their own devices, they would grow too large for Kim Tae-san's guild to handle alone. He wasn't new to gaming; he understood that much. The only problem was...
This kid is just so incredibly obnoxious!
"I'll think about it. Hmph."
"Haha. You do that."
It's basically a done deal. Tae-hyun could tell just by looking at Kim Tae-san's face. If anything happened, they would be fighting side by side.
Tae-hyun grimaced in disgust when he read the text. What kind of lunatic would send a message like that?
...Ah, it's CEO Lee Dong-pal.
The head of SI Entertainment, the agency Tae-hyun was signed to.
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
"..."
Tae-hyun stared at Lee Dong-pal with a look of utter disbelief. The moment Tae-hyun walked through the door, Lee Dong-pal had burst into a loud, enthusiastic round of applause.
"Our treasure has arrived!"
"Please, just call me by my name."
"I can't do that when you did so incredibly well this time! Even though my niece was cursing you out the entire time!"
"It's fine. I cursed out Lee Se-yeon plenty too."
"..."
Lee Dong-pal froze. Even the great Lee Dong-pal was left speechless by Tae-hyun's bluntness.
"Well, that's... Anyway, take a seat. Do you have any idea why I called you here today?"
"Uh, is it about a broadcast?"
"Ah. Of course, that's part of it. We have several offers lined up, so you can go on air whenever you want."
"Can we push it back a bit? I'm pretty busy right now."
"How long do you plan on delaying this?! You have to strike while the iron is hot! You need to make an appearance while your popularity is peaking so you leave a lasting impression!"
"Well, if my popularity fades, I can just stop doing—"
Mph!
Lee Dong-pal lunged forward and covered Tae-hyun's mouth with his hand.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Anyway, the tournament just ended, so it's fine to wait a bit longer, but keep in mind that you'll have to go on eventually. You did so well last time, so why the hesitation? Huh? The PD was singing your praises."
The footage of Tae-hyun beating up pro players had been edited out, but even without it, Tae-hyun had come across incredibly well. If Tae-hyun had actually watched the broadcast, even he would have been impressed. The seamless transition from chatting excitedly about Pandemonium Online with the actor Kim Chun-sik straight to Yang Seong-gyu's interview was a masterclass in editing!
By cleverly editing out the parts where Tae-hyun was beating people up and highlighting his image as a highly athletic individual, the editors had created a masterpiece. It was a perfect edit that left both the gym's fighters and Tae-hyun completely satisfied.
"Is that so?"
"After that aired, we got a ton of calls from physical variety shows. Usually, people only get cast in one specific genre, so receiving such a diverse range of offers is truly remarkable. You should be grateful."
In reality, when pro gamers appeared on television, they were mostly restricted to game-related shows. It was extremely rare for someone to receive calls from such a wide variety of programs like Tae-hyun did.
"Diverse? What else is there?"
"Ah. Because of that trivia thing from before, there was even a mention of having you on the quiz show 1 vs. 99. If you're confident, you could give it a shot."
"...I'll pass on that."
Tae-hyun declined with a lukewarm expression. It wasn't that he lacked general knowledge or awareness of current affairs, but he certainly didn't have the confidence to win a televised quiz show.
"Right, right. That's not the important part anyway. Oh, by the way, the PD asked if you gave him the wrong number. He said he couldn't get in touch with you."
"Really? There must have been some kind of misunderstanding."
Tae-hyun feigned ignorance. He had intentionally given them a fake number to prevent the PD and Kim Chun-sik from contacting him about future collaborations!
"So, I gave him your real number."
"...Son of a..."
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"It's nothing."
"Anyway, moving on to the main point... Actually, there are two things, not just one. An overseas team reached out. They want to get in touch with you, Tae-hyun. Honestly, it's not that surprising."
Overseas esports teams usually prioritized contacting players from their own countries first, simply because it was easier. But after keeping a close eye on the scene, the first major international player had finally made a move.
"The New York Lions. A historic and prestigious gaming organization with massive financial backing... I mean, if even I know who they are, that says it all. So, when do you plan on meeting them?"
"Can I just... not meet them?"
"...You're not serious, right?"
"It's a hassle..."
"You should at least hear them out before you reject them!"
Lee Dong-pal said, looking utterly flabbergasted. Tae-hyun was treating an opportunity that others would die for like a common pebble on the side of the road.
"If I join an overseas team, I have to move abroad, don't I?"
"I suppose so. Even though the game is played inside a capsule, most professional teams operate out of a shared gaming house."
"Going abroad is a bit..."
"...Just because of that?"
"Hey, where I live is a very important matter."