Industry Buzz (2)
Here, several people had gathered.
Cafe Blue Rock, somewhere near Pangyo.
Despite a name that somehow made you feel like you ought to be committing murder via soccer, its only real quirk was that the BGM consisted exclusively of blues and rock.
It was the kind of place where people worn down by every variety of development work drifted in — shuffling out with takeout coffee in the morning, cursing under their breath as they grabbed takeout coffee at lunch, and wordlessly collecting takeout coffee in the evening.
That was all it ever was. Today, however, was different.
The first to sense that subtle shift was Je In-soo, former Combat Team Leader of Blue Edge, sitting in the corner.
Click—
It was an ordinary sound of heels, the kind you could hear anywhere — and yet something about the resonance was different. It was the kind of sound effect that made you believe an angel descending to the mortal world might actually take flight.
Je In-soo instinctively lifted his head toward the cafe entrance.
And he saw her.
"Whoa…"
A stride so confident it might as well have been the personification of a career woman. A neatly worn suit, and beneath it a dress shirt whose buttons were screaming under the strain, threatening to burst free at any moment. And then there was the ash-blue secret two-tone hair, fluttering in a way he never expected to see in real life — and yet, somehow, it suited her perfectly.
It wasn't just Je In-soo.
A sudden silence swept through the cafe like a contagion. Amid the gentle blues playing in the background, every gaze converged on a single point.
Into an otherwise ordinary reality, a presence far too unreal stepped forward, each click of her heels carrying a quiet nobility…
"Eek."
"That crazy bitch…"
The death rattles of his teammates rang in Je In-soo's ears, which had been submerged in silence. Only then did he notice her — the all-too-familiar woman trailing behind the stranger.
A nondescript T-shirt that looked like she'd thrown on whatever was lying around. Ripped jeans that looked equally scavenged. A gait that poured pure mania into every single step, utterly indifferent to anyone's gaze but one person's. The undisputed number-one lunatic of Blue Edge.
Yoo Seol was there.
The moment he met those eyes faintly tinged with madness, Je In-soo snapped back to reality. His paralyzed reason gradually returned to its proper place.
And so he saw it — Yoo Seol and the unfamiliar woman approaching together, maintaining a rather close distance.
And so he realized it — he had seen that impossibly unreal face once before.
The live broadcast of Fantasy of Galicia.
Je In-soo had watched it too. Truthfully, he hadn't followed the content at all; only one person had filled the screen, so more accurately, he had watched without listening.
Looking at her again, there was no doubt.
The director who had stolen his hearing and permitted focus on only a single point… Kim Se-rin.
She walked slowly.
Click. Click.
From tables she merely passed by, quiet sighs of regret drifted out. People had clearly been watching too many dramas.
And then, at last…
"Looks like everyone got here first. It's a pleasure to meet you."
The goddess had descended upon the Earth — upon this very table.
Everything after that was somewhat hazy.
A living, breathing hypnosis app had been whispering in a voice far too sweet, and he had been desperately trying to keep his eyes as far from the goddess's chest area as social dignity would allow.
Of course, desire was desire… and reality was reality.
Looking purely at the terms she offered, they were honestly a step down from his current job. No guaranteed team-leader rank — just the kind of package you'd get joining a startup from scratch.
But still.
"I'll join. If I hand over the project I'm currently working on, it should take about a month."
Separate from the financial terms, this could be a turning point in his life.
A chance to work at the only company in Korea developing virtual reality? He had already glimpsed that potential himself. Just this morning, hadn't the whole company been in an uproar over an emergency countermeasure meeting?
An RPG that would completely overturn the RPG paradigm.
Just the thought of participating in its development made his heart race.
"Ah! We're currently running a closed beta — none of you are winners already, right? Once it's over, I'll send each of you a beta key over messenger."
Faced with the goddess's bright smile, the hearts of everyone present — Je In-soo included — began beating three times faster.
This was…
Faith…!
After the meeting ended.
"I'm glad everyone listened so carefully. If we wait a little, Seol, we should be able to lighten your workload too."
Se-rin wore a satisfied smile.
As you could tell from the Pangyo meetup, most of them were already employed at other game companies, continuing their careers. It wasn't Kim Ji-hyun himself who had come — Se-rin had arrived as his proxy of sorts — so how well they'd respond had been an open question.
But Se-rin's gut told her their passion hadn't rusted yet.
Of course it hadn't.
It was virtual reality game development!
What developer could resist that?
I didn't raise my kids to be like that!
"…I don't think it was because of the virtual reality, though…"
Se-rin cleanly ignored Yoo Seol's vaguely unsettled muttering. Yoo Seol had never cared much about company business beyond graphic design work, ssal-meok, and bothering her (Kim Ji-hyun) anyway.
She still couldn't understand why someone who already earned a solid salary was so obsessed with ssal-meok — but if that was just her way of enjoying games, so be it.
In any case.
Five employees had declared their intent to join this time. Only one had declined.
I'm currently heading up a project… It's an incredibly attractive opportunity, but how could I abandon the rest of my team and transfer alone? It's a shame, haha.
That was perfectly understandable. So Se-rin had wished him well on his path, and promised that if his project ever hit a snag or his team fell into crisis, he was free to reach out anytime.
Loyalty, it turned out, was a surprisingly important intangible asset.
And with that, the scouting process was more or less wrapped up.
The remaining issue was salary…
"I've got a decent amount saved up."
Naturally, no revenue came in during the closed beta stage. Adding the salaries of the new team members on top of Yoo Seol and Seo Han-ryang, whom she'd already hired, would be a stretch.
So Se-rin had no choice but to dig into her own pocket.
Fortunately, there had been no financial trouble when Blue Edge dissolved, so she could hold out for about a year. Once they officially launched and introduced a proper BM, the profitability problem would resolve itself naturally.
She was still deliberating on the monetization model, but… well. She had seen and learned so much that she could design a full pay-to-win package right now — from mild all the way to extra-spicy.
She just hoped she'd never have to break out the extra-spicy version.
"I'm heading out now."
"Why, got something urgent?"
"Gotta run instances."
"You can do that at the office."
"I can't strip down and climb into a capsule at the office, can I?"
"…Right. Thanks for making time today."
Half exasperation, half gratitude. Se-rin smiled brightly and gave Yoo Seol's shoulder a gentle dusting-off.
Yoo Seol flinched. A complicated mix of emotions flickered across her face.
"Ah, damn… do cousins even share stuff like this?"
Yoo Seol's quiet mutter never quite reached Se-rin's eardrums.
About three minutes after Yoo Seol left.
"Oh no…"
Se-rin belatedly remembered that Yoo Seol had been the one who drove her here — and that "Kim Se-rin" had neither a license nor a car.
Staring at the call taxis that refused to pick up no matter how many times she hit the request button, Se-rin made a miserable face.
Regrettably, the world does not always return goodwill with goodwill.
And as always — when there are five people, one of them needs to be watched.
That was just how the world worked.
Of the six who answered Se-rin's call, and of the five who declared their intent to take the job…
"Director. You have to keep your promise."
"Of course. Think of it as a one-year assignment. When you come back, you'll officially be my successor."
There was one traitor among them.
His special orders: absorb the development know-how of Fantasy of Galicia!
It was, in essence, an industrial espionage mission.
Of course, industrial espionage was strictly illegal. But even if you got caught, the typical ending was to scream about the fine, pay it, and walk away with a suspended sentence or a settled investigation.
And the wealth and prestige promised to the traitor were more than enough to justify taking that risk.
Slip…
One traitor infiltrated Team Galicia.
Around the same time.
Se-rin smiled easily at her friend's concern.
It was an unexaggerated, plain-spoken fact.
Need the know-how? Then she'll teach you…!
But your soul will be permanently bound to Galicia…!
"Heh heh heh…"
After letting out a sinister laugh far better suited to a shadowy mastermind than a goddess, Se-rin left Earth behind and once again immersed herself in the continent of Galicia, which she had abandoned for about half a day.
"Ngh."
A strange sense of omnipotence washed over her as she ascended from a mortal being to an immortal one, sending a shiver through Se-rin's body — and then the scenery flipped in an instant.
Valhalla, paradise of fallen heroes.
A place still teeming with deceased NPCs, where she spent her days diligently looking down upon the lower world and sorting out its problems — and where she had, in keeping with the concept, newly acquired the title of Valkyrie.
"I'm a little late. Were there any special issues?"
As if responding to the voice of Se-rin, who had descended into their midst, everyone offered reverence to their goddess.
Listening to problems the Valkyries found difficult to resolve on their own, proposing solutions or handling them personally — Se-rin faithfully carried out the goddess's backlog of work.
One by one, the Valkyries returned to their posts murmuring things like, "As expected of the Goddess…! She's incredible…!"
"Um, uh, Goddess…?"
One Valkyrie approached her timidly.
A woman who had once enjoyed the honor of being Galicia's finest designer — whose sense even Yoo Seol had acknowledged — and who now handled costume design alongside Yoo Seol.
"Eirene, what is it?"
"Um, well, I don't know if I should call this a problem, or maybe it's not really a problem, but it's a little… ambiguous, I guess…"
At the vague words of the former sewing instructor, Se-rin tilted her head.
But a goddess's duties were set in stone.
"I'm not sure what's worrying you, but let me take a look. Where's the problem occurring?"
"At the Pradera clothing department store… um, it would be best if you saw it yourself…"
"Sure, why not."
Se-rin answered without hesitation.
Thinking, well, it probably isn't anything serious.