Chapter 119
Chapter 119
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 119
Chapter Title: Immediate Punishment
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Fortunately for Lee Shin, once the work began in earnest, the playful atmosphere from moments ago largely subsided.
“Could you sit here?”
“Like this?”
“Yeah, yeah. Relax your arms a bit. You’ll be sitting for a while, and it’ll be tough if you’re too stiff.”
“Ah, yes.”
The fine arts students gently tapped Lee Shin’s arms.
Lee Shin relaxed his arms and placed them naturally on his knees.
“From there, could you lift your chin just a little more?”
“…”
“Perfect. Are you comfortable in that position?”
“I am.”
“Then we’ll start drawing, okay?”
“Yes.”
Once Lee Shin found a comfortable posture, the session began immediately.
At the same time, the studio fell silent, so quickly that the earlier commotion seemed unbelievable.
Skritch, skritch.
Tick, tock.
Only the sound of pencils scratching against the rough canvas paper and the ticking of the wall clock echoed through the quiet space like background noise.
This, in turn, put Lee Shin at ease.
He found it more comfortable to be treated simply as a subject than to be bombarded with excited chatter.
‘…’
Thanks to this, Lee Shin was able to find his composure.
With nothing else to do but sit still, he relaxed his body and fell into thought.
In the tranquil atmosphere, time flew by quickly.
* * *
Meanwhile, while Lee Shin was away from the game for a short while.
Avala Online was still in the midst of a dramatic upheaval.
And the epicenter of that upheaval was, without a doubt, the Eteun Kingdom.
Countless users were flocking in, trade was booming, and the kingdom was beginning to pulse with vitality.
This was clearly reflected in various metrics.
-Eteun Kingdom’s user count has increased by over 300% compared to last month.
-Gold transaction volume in major cities has increased by over 1000%.
-Item transaction volume has increased by 500%.
Literally staggering numbers!
The Eteun Kingdom was currently a massive hotspot.
And the cause of this phenomenon was, to anyone’s eyes, the main quest.
It was the result of the current main quest stimulating the desires and expectations of many people.
It had generated this much heat even before the specific framework of the quest had been revealed.
This showed just how intense the users’ interest was right now.
But even in this situation, there was a place that was garnering considerable attention without riding the coattails of this fiery topic.
Lee Shin’s personal channel.
- So when is the next video getting uploaded here?
- What’s the owner doing? Is he dead?
These were comments on the latest video, which had been posted six days ago.
Most of them were urging Lee Shin to hurry up and post something, anything!
There were many others as well.
- Looking at the upload schedule, is he planning on one video a week?
⌎ If that’s true, the owner has no sense. Why isn’t he striking while the iron is hot?
⌎ LMAO for real. He needs to push ahead at a time like this.
Although the channel had only been created a short while ago, Lee Shin had already amassed a considerable number of subscribers.
The impact of the first video had been so powerful that it drew in a large number of viewers.
Then, the two subsequent arena smurfing videos managed to convert a significant number of them into subscribers.
It was the result of Lee Shin’s skill combined with Arthur’s expert editing!
Moreover, it wasn’t just a meaningful increase in subscribers.
Sometimes, even with many subscribers, a channel might fail to become active due to low view counts or a lack of buzz, but that wasn't the case for Lee Shin’s channel.
On the contrary, the comment engagement was increasing with each passing day.
- PleaseuploadthenextvideoquicklyIfeelI'mgoingtocollapse!
- I’m holding in my poop until the next video is up, fyi
⌎ The comment above is from 2 days ago, did you end up going?
⌎ He pooped his pants.
⌎ Freaking LOL
- Seriously though, it’s been almost a month since the channel was made, and there are only 3 videos? What is the owner even doing? Did Kim Ha-seong send an assassin after him or something?
⌎ Guess he’s dead.
⌎ Seeing this makes me appreciate Kim Ha-seong, who posts one video a day, all the more…
⌎ What’s with this sudden praise?
⌎ He already got wrecked by the owner of this channel, what’s so great about him? lol
- Hey f*ck, this is Kim Ha-seong. Take down the first video. I’m asking nicely. Before I find you and beat the crap out of you.
⌎ Is that really Ha-seong?
⌎ Ha-seong doesn’t talk like that.
⌎ Ah, damn it LOL
⌎ That’s hilarious LOL
⌎ And the owner even gave a heart only to this comment LOL. What a true villain LOL
…and so on.
At the very least, enough comments were being posted that the section wasn't being overrun by spam like ‘Is the AppleTV rating for real?’ or ‘This is too good to keep to myself… (click).’
Considering that managing such spam comments could be quite a hassle when just starting on YouTube, this was a significant advantage.
Arthur already had a lot on his plate, so this saved him the time he would have spent on comment moderation.
And the reason the channel had become so active was, of course, because the videos were entertaining, but there was another reason as well.
The unique concept.
Lee Shin’s blatantly psychopathic behavior!
Of course, most people assumed it was just a persona, but when a concept is executed this perfectly, it becomes a strength in its own right.
This greatly helped Lee Shin’s channel become known through word-of-mouth in various online communities.
[You guys seen this?]
(Link)
The guy’s name is Arthur. If you haven’t seen it, you have to watch.
He’s a genuine madman LOL
- Just watched it, what the hell was that?
- Is this guy a ranker?
⌎ Probably not? If he were a ranker, he would’ve verified it and posted the video. That would get way more views.
⌎ Ah, true. So he’s not a ranker, but he still destroyed Kim Ha-seong?
⌎ Yup;
⌎ That’s even more impressive LOL
[Wow, but what’s with his personality?]
Isn’t Kim Ha-seong known for having a bit of an attitude? But this guy is even worse. I never imagined someone would do a celebration taunt right in his face lol
- Kim Ha-seong was probably super flustered back then, right? Meeting his superior version.
⌎ Oh really? That broadcast must have been hilarious.
⌎ The people who watched it live were the real winners lol
Thanks to this, Lee Shin was gradually gaining recognition among Avala Online users without any special promotion.
And soon, an event occurred that would pour fuel on this fire.
Lee Shin’s new video was uploaded with this title.
[A Guild Demanding Tolls and Protection Money? Immediate Punishment Begins. EP 1]
* * *
PK (Player Kill).
One of the countless types of interactions that could occur between users.
Through PK, users could steal their opponents’ equipment, lower their level, and inflict a temporary login penalty.
A simple rule.
But the phenomena this single rule could bring about were, quite literally, endless.
A dispute between two individual users might end with one of them dying, but what if a party-level squabble broke out?
Or a guild-level one?
What if they systematically tried to kill each other, steal items, and inflict login penalties to ruin their opponents’ major quests?
The users caught in such a conflict would likely find it difficult to enjoy the game normally.
Was that all?
There was also a very high chance they would lose interest in the game altogether.
It was only natural.
Who could maintain interest in a game where they were constantly being killed, and the gear they had painstakingly grinded for was taken away in an instant?
And from a game company’s perspective, this was something that absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
Each and every user was directly linked to revenue, so losing users in such a futile way was of no benefit to the company.
Thus, after a few trials and errors, most game companies began to either reduce PK elements or exclude them entirely when releasing new games.
It was to prevent users from having unpleasant experiences as much as possible.
Thanks to this, the instances of users suffering due to PK elements had significantly decreased.
However.
When NF Soft developed perfect virtual reality and Avala Online was launched.
This problem was bound to resurface.
[Higher freedom. More vivid sensations. A world indistinguishable from reality!]
[We invite you to a more perfect virtual world!]
In Avala Online, PK was permitted.
This was also unavoidable.
Having adopted the catchphrase ‘indistinguishable from reality,’ they couldn’t block active interactions between users.
After long deliberation, the developers decided to allow PK.
Instead, they also created a restriction to go with it.
The more PKs a player committed, the more their notoriety would increase exponentially, and in turn, they would receive penalties.
They intended to use this notoriety system to control and maintain the number of PKs between users at an appropriate level.
It seemed to be effective.
In reality, the number of PKs between users decreased significantly over time.
But as time passed, a new problem emerged.
While the notoriety system excellently suppressed conflicts between large groups, it failed to prevent groups from controlling individuals.
Tolls. Protection money.
Refuse, and you get PK’d.
Since one or two PKs didn’t raise one’s notoriety by much, the guilds controlling the hunting grounds could threaten users in this way.
Conversely, for the victims, even dying once was a huge loss, making it difficult for them to resist.
This was a common enough occurrence that most veteran players had experienced it at least once.
Because of this, the resentment users felt toward these malicious guilds was beyond imagination.
However, since individuals had no means to fight back, most just endured and moved on.
Teaching such malicious guilds a lesson and exposing them was something ordinary users could only dream about.
But.
[A Guild Demanding Tolls and Protection Money? Immediate Punishment Begins. EP 1]
That wasn’t the case for Lee Shin.
Lee Shin had actually succeeded in perfectly teaching the Black Tiger Guild a lesson, and he had recorded the entire process on video.
Thanks to this, the users’ reaction was explosive.
The impact of this video was on a completely different level from the previous three.
- From now on, any insult, slander, or curse against Arthur will be considered an attack on me. I will not be taking rebuttals.
⌎ All hail the great Arthur
⌎ But how did he summon those knights? Usually when I try to talk to knights, they just glare at me.
⌎ Who knows, just enjoy it~ Feels good, doesn’t it? lol
- Next! Next! Next!
⌎ Isn’t the next video gonna be another week from now?
⌎ I’ll hold my breath until he gives it to us.
- Oh, so the owner was in the Eteun Kingdom too. Did he go for the main quest?
⌎ YouTubers have to ride the hype train. Am I right?
⌎ You right.
⌎ Nah, wasn’t this guy just there from the start? Looking at what he does, he fits right in with the Eteun Kingdom.
⌎ Ah, you think so?
⌎ The fact that seems so plausible gives me the creeps.
⌎ Still, beating up jerks like that is a good thing, isn’t it? I really couldn’t stand them.
⌎ That’s true lol
The view count was increasing explosively!
The number of subscribers also began to grow noticeably, and as seen above, the overall comment reactions were not bad.
Finally, a donation message like this was posted.
[‘StrawberryFlavoredMilk’ has donated ₩99,000 to this video.]
[Hey man, would you consider streaming sometime? lololol]