The Empire Strikes Back
A famous British psychiatrist once said:
With the meteoric rise of the monster known as Park Su-bin at the forefront, the Mir Guild had washed away all the anxiety and doubt from their troubled past in a single match of the challenger league. They had stepped into the ranks of undeniable powerhouses.
When our guild—my guild—completely crushed the first set of the second challenger league match, how did the fans feel?
The answer was that they were partying in heaven somewhere above the clouds.
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Miracle icon. Symbol of legend. Ecosystem destroyer. Bullfrog. Evil Empire. Dojo breaker. Record excavator. And so on.
The Mir Guild swept up these titles like collecting trophies as they marched forward.
“Another great morning~!”
Lee Shin energetically opened the guild door and stepped inside.
The guild members who had been working and were about to stand up to greet him were waved back down by his hand gesture.
“Sit, sit. We’re all family here. Oh? Miss Mi-jeong, you got your hair done. Looks fantastic. And Mr. Ji-tae, why does your face look so bright? Marriage life treating you well?”
Lee Shin delivered his playful banter with his signature fluttering gestures.
At first glance, his behavior seemed lighthearted, but the guild members now knew this was simply Lee Shin’s unique way of showing affection. They welcomed this casual attitude and were genuinely grateful for it.
In the guild industry, front office staff were often underpaid and treated like leftovers. Where else in this industry could you find a place with zero hierarchy, genuine care for its administrative staff, and—most importantly—pay this good?
Even his already handsome face seemed even more handsome because of it.
Meanwhile, Lee Shin, now standing in the center of the office, dragged over a nearby box and stepped on top of it.
All eyes naturally gathered on him.
Then Lee Shin spread his arms wide and shouted.
“Alright everyone, we did it! We’ve continued our record-breaking streak in this 10th Round too! Let’s give ourselves a round of applause!”
Wheeeeeew~!
Clap clap clap!
The sound of applause and whistles filled the room.
It had been nearly a year of this record-breaking race, yet this moment always felt fresh and thrilling.
“You should all be proud. Every single one of these records is thanks to me working like a dog and all of you working just as hard. Come on, everyone turn to the person next to you and tell them they did a great job.”
“The raid teams get all the praise from the public, but who’s going to praise us? So let’s praise and hug each other. Dong-ha hyung, you did great.”
Like in many success stories, there were those who stood in the spotlight and those who were overlooked. These people right here were the latter.
In the guild industry, it was considered natural for the raid teams to monopolize all the credit for a guild’s success.
Whether they achieved promotion or racked up winning streaks, people only talked about how great the Mountain King was, how incredible Park Su-bin was, or how genius Yu Ri-ra was. No one ever looked at the front office.
And Lee Shin really didn’t like that.
It reminded him too much of the bad memories from his days as a nobody at the Guro District office.
— “Hey kid, I’ll take care of you next time, sunbae.”
— “Just yield this one to me, Mr. Lee Shin. You’ve got talent, right? You’ll get another chance.”
Anyway, Lee Shin’s philosophy was that if they succeeded, they should enjoy it together.
If you only looked at the actual amount of work done, he and the front office staff here had done far more, hadn’t they?
Everyone here had been coming in at dawn and leaving when the moon rose ever since the league season began. Even when the hunters went out to celebrate after a match, these people stayed behind preparing data and checking supplies for the next game. Who could dare say they hadn’t contributed to this success?
That was why Lee Shin always celebrated like this with the front office whenever a round ended.
“You all know me, right? The only thing I can give you is money. So look forward to it. The performance bonus will be very generous, so let’s all suffer together just a little longer.”
““Yes!””
“Haha, I love that answer. Alright, back to work. Team leaders, please come to the conference room for a moment.”
Soon after, a meeting with all team leaders and above began in the representative’s office.
Lee Shin, seated at the head of the table, took a sip of coffee and spoke.
“Let’s get straight to it. Business team, why don’t you start?”
“Lair Cafe is steadily increasing the number of franchise stores. Thanks to the demand for Ttibuttibuseal stickers, operating profit continues to rise steadily as well.”
The first goal was to secure 700 stores nationwide. At this rate, reaching that target within half a year of launching the business was no longer just a dream.
However, not everything was going smoothly.
“……The problem is that we don’t have any professional experience operating a franchise, so it’s difficult to respond to unexpected issues. We’ve also reached the limit of what our current team size can handle.”
Manpower.
In other words, personnel.
They were short on headcount, experienced staff, and managers—everything.
It couldn’t be helped. At their core, they were still a guild.
But perhaps because this had been anticipated, Lee Shin’s answer was crystal clear.
“I originally planned to stop once we hit the first target anyway. Once we reach 700 stores, freeze new franchises and focus only on managing the existing ones. We’ll be conducting a large-scale recruitment drive once this season ends. Just hang in there until then.”
Once they were promoted to League 2, expansion was inevitable anyway.
Until then, whether it became porridge or rice, they had to make do with this team.
Next was the PR team.
“Home games continue to sell out. Season ticket subscription rates have increased by ten percent. The fan club has grown smoothly to 550,000 members. Even our Nutube viewership has skyrocketed. And here—”
“What’s this?”
“This is a list of broadcasting stations that have offered us broadcasting rights deals.”
“Oho~”
“There are even overseas offers. Serious inquiries have come from Vietnam, the Philippines, and the Middle East. There’s been so much talk lately about the Korean Wave, but I never imagined we’d be the ones benefiting from it like this. Haha.”
“Ohooooo!”
The broadcasting station currently holding the Mir Guild’s broadcasting rights was MBS.
Last year, when Lee Shin first took over as representative and contacted every broadcasting station in Korea to sell the rights, MBS had been the only one to respond.
Of course, even MBS hadn’t expected the Mir Guild to achieve such insane results. They had simply bet on Lee Shin’s star power alone—whether he succeeded brilliantly or caused a scandal—and it turned out to be a divine move.
They had unexpectedly gained exclusive rights to a goose that laid golden eggs at a dirt-cheap price.
It was only natural that other broadcasting stations were losing their minds.
Results? They were setting records everywhere they went.
Stars? The Mountain King, Park Su-bin, Yu Ri-ra, and the superstar Lee Shin.
Fandom? What more was there to say? Mess with those guys and you were finished.
Even their average viewership numbers consistently crushed most League 2 matches.
And they were getting all of that for the price of a mere League 4 broadcasting rights fee.
It was human nature to feel jealous even when a cousin bought land, so of course other broadcasting stations were going crazy watching a competitor hit the jackpot.
The executives who had ignored the Mir Guild’s calls back then were probably getting their asses handed to them right about now.
“Director Jeong Sun-dong.”
“Yes.”
“Take these offers and go negotiate with MBS. Tell them if they want to keep the exclusive rights, they’ll have to pay accordingly. Hmm, this amount should do it.”
“Hup!…… Th-this much?”
“Why? I think it’s cheap. And just so you know, there will be no negotiation. If they say they can’t pay this much, just go to another station. Can you handle it?”
“Understood.”
“Next.”
Last was the logistics team.
“No issues with potion or consumable supplies, right?”
“There are no problems with the products or their quality. However……”
“What is it?”
“……It’s a bit awkward to say, but a few of our suppliers have been dropping hints about whether we might consider running advertisements for them.”
“Hints, meaning they’re not asking directly but testing the waters?”
“Yes. They’re implying that if we just run their ads, they’ll drastically lower the unit price.”
“Whoa~! Everyone, give them a round of applause!”
Clap clap clap.
“We really have grown a lot. Broadcasting stations and suppliers who we used to visit just the other day are now coming to us with all sorts of gifts.”
This was exactly why the guild industry was so often compared to the entertainment industry.
In entertainment, rookie idols, unknown actors, and small agencies had to bow and scrape to PDs and writers just to get on TV. But once they blew up, the situation reversed instantly. The PDs would ask, “Could we maybe book you?” and the writers would beg them to appear in their dramas.
It was the same here.
When you were in the lower leagues, the guild was in the weaker position. But the more results you produced and the higher you climbed, the more you became the one in power.
“We were already thinking about advertisements and sponsorships anyway, so this is perfect. Hand this over to the sales team. Let’s test the waters ourselves. Free is out of the question, but we should figure out a reasonable amount……”
While Lee Shin was discussing prices with the team leaders, the female secretary quietly opened the door, approached him, and whispered something in his ear.
Lee Shin’s pupils visibly dilated.
“Hold on, everyone stop! Stop!”
Lee Shin urgently halted the meeting and turned back to the secretary in disbelief.
“You’re saying they really contacted us from there?”
* * *
Ido Group headquarters.
A meeting led by the Vice Chairman was in full swing when Lee Young-bin, seated at the head of the table, spoke with a lukewarm expression.
“You want to give the Ido Electronics advertisement to the Mir Guild?”