Chapter 82
Chapter 82
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 82
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Offer
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Yu Han-seong realized something was wrong right after logging out, feeling refreshed.
It was after he saw the countless messages from his guild members on his personal contact list.
[Unread Messages 999+]
“…?”
What’s this?
Staring blankly at the screen for a moment, Yu Han-seong checked the most recent message.
[Guild Master! We're in big trouble!]
[On our guild's message board…]
‘The message board?’
Yu Han-seong’s eyes lit up.
Could it be a message about the broadcasting contract?
Having recently met with producers from various broadcasting stations to discuss a contract, Yu Han-seong had every reason to be hopeful.
But contrary to his expectations, he soon found the guild message board flooded with countless complaints and curses.
-Are you insane? We went all that way to help, and this is what we get? lol
-I've been through some crazy things in my life, but I never imagined being betrayed after being asked for help~ You guys are really something else.
-This is seriously a new low…
“…!?”
…A sight that shocked him to his senses!
There were too many posts to read them all, but through the occasional words like ‘betrayal,’ ‘ingratitude,’ and ‘backstab,’ he could tell everyone was furious.
‘…What is this?’
Yu Han-seong was thrown into confusion.
From the context, it seemed the users who had died during the rescue quest had flocked to their board…
To be honest, he had expected this much ever since their plan went awry.
They had essentially died due to Five Star’s miscalculation, so the complaints themselves were perfectly justified.
However, ‘Is it something to be *that* angry about?’ No matter how he thought about it, the answer was no.
Anyone could see it wasn’t done with malicious intent. Demanding proper compensation was one thing, but he didn’t think it warranted a barrage of insults.
‘Is there something more to this?’
Thinking there might be a misunderstanding, Yu Han-seong began to read the posts one by one.
And the truth he uncovered was this.
The users hadn’t been killed by the estate’s soldiers.
Most had died from the poison in the potions they drank before the quest, and the rest were killed by Lee Si-eun and her companions.
Lee Si-eun had told them, ‘We had no choice. The Five Star Guild Master ordered us to do it.’
So you take responsibility!
“!?!!?”
Struck by this sudden bombshell, Yu Han-seong shot up from his seat.
The chair clattered to the floor from the force of his movement, but Yu Han-seong had no time to worry about it.
He was past feeling wronged; he was utterly dumbfounded.
‘What is this bullshit?!’
It made no sense from a logical standpoint.
No matter how tempting the reward, killing that many users would send one’s notoriety through the roof.
And did it make any sense to make an enemy of a respectable mid-tier guild like Five Star just to get some gear?
What if they put a kill order on them?
Even a child could see that the losses far outweighed the gains.
Unless the person was completely insane…
‘Still haven't grasped the situation? There's no one else who can help you.’
‘How do we escape? Just release all the prisoners.’
‘The city? …Hah. Whether the city burns or not isn't our problem…’
A chill ran down his spine!
“…Gasp!”
Looking back, he realized there had been some unsettling moments.
While talking with them, he’d been startled more than once by their unexpectedly brazen remarks.
‘…No, that can’t be it.’
But Yu Han-seong quickly shook his head.
He reasoned that everyone was just on edge due to the situation. After all, they had helped him until the very end, which meant they had to be good people at heart.
Yu Han-seong logged back into the game.
He needed to talk to Lee Si-eun and refute these ridiculous slanders from the users.
But Lee Shin didn’t answer.
To be precise, he *couldn’t* answer.
[This user has blocked you.]
“What?”
[This user has blocked you.]
[Whisper failed.]
“!!!!!!!”
Because as soon as he received the reward, Lee Shin had dropped his disguise, deleted and blocked Yu Han-seong’s contact info, and fled far, far away.
Only then did Yu Han-seong realize he had been completely and utterly backstabbed.
They had planned this from the very beginning.
‘That crazy…!’
The die was already cast.
* * *
“…Damn it.”
Yu Han-seong had been wallowing in despair for a while, but he couldn’t stay down forever.
The complaint posts were still piling up, and if he didn’t resolve this quickly, it would undoubtedly affect the broadcasting contract negotiations that had been going so well.
The problem was how to solve it.
The culprit behind this whole mess, Lee Shin, had completely vanished, leaving him with no immediate way to clear his name.
But to protect the guild’s image, he had to resolve it as quickly as possible. In the end, there was only one option left for Yu Han-seong.
It was dirty and unfair, but…
He had to apologize first.
* * *
‘We're sorry, we're so sorry!’
‘…*Sob*!’
While the members of Five Star shed tears of blood, apologizing and compensating the victimized users, the mastermind behind it all, Lee Shin, was preparing to go out somewhere other than school for the first time in a while.
He had someone to meet.
“What, are you going out?”
Lee Si-eun asked, seeing Lee Shin bustling about.
Busy moving around, Lee Shin glanced at Si-eun and replied.
“Yeah.”
“Meeting someone?”
“Yeah.”
“That's new. Who is it?”
“A friend.”
“…You don't have any friends. Stop lying just because you can't be bothered!”
Annoyed by Lee Shin’s half-hearted reply, Lee Si-eun went to flick his forehead.
But.
*Grab*!
“…Ack!”
With astonishing reflexes, Lee Shin snatched Lee Si-eun’s wrist as it flew towards him from behind and squeezed.
It was a side effect of sorts, born from the game.
“It hurts, it hurts!”
“Ah.”
At her hand tapping his shoulder, Lee Shin released his grip.
Lee Si-eun rubbed her reddened wrist and glared at Lee Shin.
“Trying to overpower your own sister with brute force…”
“…”
“I raised you on my back, and for what? It was all for nothing!”
‘…Here we go again.’
Lee Si-eun began her lament.
Sensing the start of a long-winded speech he’d heard countless times before, Lee Shin quickly cut her off.
“I don't really know who I'm meeting.”
“Huh? You don't know?”
“I don't. I'll find out when I meet them. I only have their contact information.”
“Oh… really?”
‘What does that mean?’
He has their contact info but doesn’t know who they are.
Lee Si-eun couldn’t understand what Lee Shin meant, but she just let it go.
She figured it was probably something he just didn’t want to talk about.
Or maybe he thought it was something he didn’t need to tell her.
“Alright. Have a good time…”
Waving her hand lightly, Si-eun yawned and lay back down on the sofa.
Waving back, Lee Shin stepped outside and checked his phone.
There was a message that had just arrived.
[Hello, this is Producer Park Pyeong-sik, whom you're scheduled to meet today. Would a cafe near your home be alright for the meeting location?]
“…”
Lee Shin sent a short reply.
[Yes.]
* * *
It had been a week ago.
[Psycho_path's Diary]
While scouting for new talent, Park Pyeong-sik happened to discover Lee Shin's YouTube channel. Recognizing his potential from the short videos, he immediately sent a recruitment offer.
[This is Producer Park Pyeong-sik from OnGameNet. I've attached a proposal. I look forward to hearing from you.]
Up to that point, Park Pyeong-sik hadn’t been worried at all.
He believed that, objectively speaking, the offer he sent was an extremely good one.
The best possible offer a rookie streamer could receive!
He expected them to accept it outright, or at the very least, agree to a meeting.
But his expectations were spectacularly wrong.
“…?”
A day passed with no reply!
Park Pyeong-sik felt a little uneasy, but he didn’t seriously think it was a major problem yet.
It was common for gamers to pull an all-nighter and then be unreachable the next day.
As someone who primarily worked with gamers, Park Pyeong-sik could understand.
So he just figured they were busy and moved on.
‘They probably haven't seen it yet.’
But when one day turned into two, then three, and a new video was even uploaded to the channel, he was forced to change his mind.
‘They must have read it by now…?’
They have the presence of mind to upload a video, but not to check their email?
It didn’t make sense.
Logically, this wasn’t a case of not seeing it, but seeing it and not replying.
Park Pyeong-sik had considered the possibility of rejection, but he’d never imagined being outright ignored. It came as a huge shock.
And that shock soon turned into a question.
‘Why?’
It was clearly a good offer, so why was it rejected?
Is this a sign that I need to show more sincerity?
No, if that were the case, they would have at least met with me…?
Just as one question led to another.
A thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
‘…Or could it be? Have they already received contract offers from other broadcasting stations?!’
It was a sudden assumption, but there was plenty of reason to believe it.
There were only two videos, but that was more than enough to see the potential of the user named Arthur.
If another producer from a different station had seen the videos, and if they had a good eye, it wouldn’t be strange for them to have sent a recruitment offer as well.
‘…No!’
And if that were true, the problem would become serious.
OnGameNet might be a gaming channel with a long history, but simply put, it was a small cable station.
Compared to the major broadcasting companies that had recently been jumping into the gaming industry one after another, they didn’t have much to boast about.
If he had to pick one thing, it was their user-friendly reputation, but…
That wasn’t something a newcomer to the industry would likely consider, so it was out of the question.
In other words, given the current situation, it wouldn’t be strange for them to decide on a contract based purely on the company’s brand name.
Realizing this, Park Pyeong-sik immediately revised the terms of the contract.
He started by drastically increasing the signing bonus, then overhauled the profit-sharing ratio and contract maintenance conditions to be more favorable to Arthur.
It was an unprecedented level of benefits for a rookie, but considering Arthur’s potential, Park Pyeong-sik believed it was worth it and boldly went for it.
And perhaps his earnest efforts paid off.
He finally received a short reply.
[Let's meet and talk.]
“…!”
* * *
Park Pyeong-sik slid the thick contract across the table toward the young man sitting in front of him.
“Take your time reading it, and feel free to ask if you have any questions.”
“Ah, yes.”
While Arthur (he hadn’t given his real name) reviewed the contract, Park Pyeong-sik slowly sized him up.
‘He’s handsome.’
That was his first thought upon seeing him.
And that could be a huge advantage for a streamer.
It was a proven fact how much of a person’s impression was based on their appearance.
Park Pyeong-sik nodded in satisfaction.
*Thud*.
A moment later, after finishing the contract, Lee Shin put the file down.
Park Pyeong-sik asked nervously.
“Have you finished reading?”
“Yes.”
“What did you think…?”
“It’s good.”
It was a simple, honest statement.
Lee Shin didn’t know much about this industry, but even so, he could tell the terms were written to be incredibly favorable to him.
He’d read it very carefully, wondering if there was some hidden poison clause, but he couldn’t find any suspicious parts.
Lee Shin had originally been uninterested in a broadcasting contract, but there was a reason he’d changed his mind and agreed to meet after receiving the second email.
The terms were just that good.
He wanted to hear just what they were thinking, offering terms like these.
“To be honest, I wasn’t planning on coming out today.”
Lee Shin said bluntly.
“Yes.”
“But after you sent the second email, I got curious about something. Why are the terms so good? It’s not like I’m anyone special… It can’t be just out of goodwill.”