Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: A Star is Born
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The question came right back at me.
“Me? Modeling?”
“Yes, you.”
“Why?”
What a very Gen Z question.
As I thought that, she continued.
“I’ve looked into game art jobs, you know. Isn’t my position Art Director? Creating concept art, designing, and coordinating the final product. Is it really necessary for me to do the modeling myself?”
She had a point.
It was clear she’d done her research, as she accurately described the typical art process in the industry.
However, Han Seo-rim had overlooked one thing.
“Seo-rim.”
“Yes.”
“How many people are in our studio?”
“Just you and me. Two.”
“And how many people are doing the art?”
“...Just me, right?”
“Exactly. We’re small. Very small.”
What Han Seo-rim had researched was the design process at a corporate-level production company.
Naturally, a small indie studio like ours couldn’t afford that kind of division of labor.
“Of course, we will hire more people. The amount of labor for a 3D game is incomparable to a pixel art indie game.”
Besides, we weren't trying to make a game with a few lumps of clay slapped together.
The playtime would be at least eight hours, and since we planned to use different backgrounds for each chapter, the time spent on modeling would multiply with the number of chapters.
It was a workload Han Seo-rim couldn't handle alone.
Still, setting that aside for a moment...
“For now, you need to be directly involved in modeling. The same goes for the future. Do you think you can properly delegate work in a field you know nothing about?”
Han Seo-rim’s mouth closed shut.
Her brow furrowed slightly.
The reason I asked was simple.
It was because I knew the future Han Seo-rim.
—*I basically learned every step of the art process. I hate telling someone to do something that I can’t do myself.*
That was her answer from a Q&A in a published article.
Han Seo-rim, the mother of *Lost Kingdom*, was an extreme perfectionist and control freak who had to master every skill required for game graphic design herself and would only be satisfied when she could implement them exactly as she envisioned.
Had that part of her personality developed later?
‘No way.’
It was far more likely that she just hadn't figured out her own tendencies yet.
Her answer came quickly.
“...You seem to know me pretty well, senior.”
“We’ve been stuck together for a little over half a year.”
“That's creepy.”
“......”
Han Seo-rim let out a deep sigh.
“You’re right. Now that I think about it, that’s true. I can’t tell people what to do if I don’t know the work myself.”
“So…”
“I need to be able to find flaws, but how can I nitpick if I don’t even know what’s wrong? I forgot about that.”
Why is she so cynical?
“...Anyway, you get what I’m saying, right?”
“Yes, I’ll learn.”
I was glad that was settled.
That was that.
“And ask around your department if anyone needs a part-time gig doing graphic modeling. Tell them we’ll pay well.”
“Huh?”
“I told you, we’re going to add more people to the art team.”
“And you’re hiring university students for that?”
“You’re a university student too. And I’m not looking for someone for a one-off job.”
My plan was to bring them on as part-timers and, depending on their performance, hire them as full-time employees.
It’s best to nurture your own talent.
Finding people out in the world who could adapt to my way of working was never easy.
“Well... okay, I’ll ask.”
“Okay, then we’re done with this topic.”
Clap!
I clapped my hands lightly to change the atmosphere.
“It’s not like we’re starting work right away. We have ten days until the sales are tallied, and game production can start even later than that.”
“So my tasks are modeling and finding people?”
“That’s right.”
“Got it.”
And with that, the conversation ended.
‘Alright, then…’
It was time for me to start planning.
I headed straight home.
* * *
A week passed.
Suddenly, I heard my mother’s voice.
“Yeon-ho! Stop sleeping and get up!”
My mother’s voice woke me.
My eyelids were still heavy, and my whole body ached.
It was only after seeing the scene before me that I realized I had fallen asleep slumped over my desk.
‘Ah.’
I must have dozed off while writing the design document.
The papers scattered messily on my desk were source materials for the next theme I had planned.
A dark beach, a girl and a turquoise butterfly, and the dreamlike yet unsettling atmosphere they created together.
I had been thinking about these things for so long that they seemed to have appeared in my dreams.
‘...I need to get a grip.’
I rubbed my face with my hands to wake myself up.
When I went out to the living room, my father was watching baseball.
Right, the season was supposed to start today.
Seeing his serious expression, I couldn't help but ask.
“Didn’t you say you were never watching baseball again?”
“They say it’s different this year. The manager is different.”
“Hmm.”
It wouldn’t be different.
Looking at the TV, I recognized the game.
In the bottom of the third, the Giants were winning 1-0, but they would eventually give up a comeback hit and lose.
I remembered this game for one reason.
That night, my despondent father had gotten drunk and cried while hugging my mother.
Perhaps I should stop him from watching now to protect his dignity.
‘...No.’
He wouldn't listen even if I told him. What's the point?
If he were the type to stop just because I said so, that mortifying chapter of my past life would never have happened.
Meanwhile, my mother spoke.
“Yeon-ho, come and eat first. Gosh, what’s with you, sleeping during the day and waking up in the evening?”
“I’m busy studying.”
“You’ll ruin your health studying like that. You weren’t even like this when you were preparing for your exams. I don’t know what’s gotten into you.”
Isn’t it natural for a working adult to be busier than a student preparing for exams?
I swallowed my words, sat at the table, and began to eat.
“Are you going out again today?”
“Yes, I have a club activity.”
“You work so hard every evening.”
“I have to live diligently.”
My life pattern was a mess.
It was a pretty disastrous state, reminding me of the time I was developing a game alone at the end of my previous life. My young body was the only reason I was holding up; otherwise, I would have been hospitalized by now.
‘I need to take care of my health, too.’
But for now, there was too much work.
I could only hope my youth would see me through.
“Oh, I’m sleeping out tonight.”
My father immediately asked.
“Huh? You’re sleeping out?”
“Yes, I have plans.”
“Is it a girl?”
It was a girl, but… he had even torn his eyes away from the baseball game, his face full of anticipation.
It would be a pain if he found out.
“It’s a junior from my department. Where would I find the time to date?”
“Tsk, you boring kid.”
“A student should study.”
Suddenly, I remembered living as a bachelor until I was nearly 40.
At some point, my parents gave up on my marriage and started traveling the world with the money they had saved.
‘The way they used to look at me back then was something else.’
There was no way for me to know now how my parents felt as they sighed every time they looked at their son.
It just made me think.
‘Maybe I should consider getting married in this life, for my parents’ sake.’
Of course, that was a story for after I had built a foundation.
Right now, I needed to focus on the task at hand.
I quickly finished my meal and stood up.
“Well, I’m heading out.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“I’m busy.”
It was six in the evening.
Tonight at 11 PM was James Han’s first stream and the day the easter egg would be revealed.
* * *
When I entered the club room, Han Seo-rim, who had arrived before me, waved her hand in greeting.
“You’re here.”
“Yeah. What are you up to? Studying?”
“You told me to.”
Even as she replied, Han Seo-rim’s eyes were glued to her book.
A 3D modeling program was running on her monitor.
It felt strangely novel.
“What are you staring at? Your gaze is making my skin crawl.”
“I’m just surprised you’re working so hard.”
“It’s just my personality. Once I start something, I have to see it through to the end.”
That was something I had already gathered.
Han Seo-rim had a stronger competitive streak than most.
It went beyond just hating to lose; it was more like she hated showing any weakness at all.
Her perfectionist tendencies were welcome, but I needed to keep a close eye on her mental state.
‘I need to find out why she disappeared after making just *Lost Kingdom*.’
Considering the standing Han Seo-rim had in the industry at the time, her sudden departure wasn't due to friction with the industry or her company.
Even after leaving that studio, she was someone who could have picked any place she wanted to work.
In that case, wasn't it right to assume the problem lay with her?
It was something I had to know.
Because Han Seo-rim had to be the art director for my games from now on.
As I was thinking, Han Seo-rim spoke.
“Oh, I found people who are willing to work.”
“You did?”
“My classmate and a senior who helped with the game testing before. Their skills are solid, but if you want, we can test them.”
“I trust you to handle it. Just tell them we’ll schedule interviews separately.”
“Okay.”
Were they the same people who were making such a fuss before?
As long as they did their job well, it didn't matter.
“By the way, the stream is at 11 tonight, right? That’s 3 PM his time?”
“Yeah. Everything’s ready, we just need to do a final test.”
“Use your headphones. I need to concentrate.”
After saying that, Han Seo-rim clicked her mouse and drew on her tablet.
Her class assignment was one of *Hellic*’s wardens.
Just the day before yesterday, it had looked like a lump of clay, but it seemed she had made that much progress in just two days.
She was doing well on her own, so I should just let her be.
I immediately turned on my computer.
A message from James Han was waiting.
[hey, i’m ready.]
He sure was an impatient one.
[ok.]
I typed back and gave him a few reminders.
Then, the pre-broadcast test.
Since I was in Korea, the connection wasn't great, but thankfully, the test stream ran without any issues.
By the time we finished the rehearsal, it was already 10 PM.
“Seo-rim, let’s call it a day. We should watch the stream.”
“Huh? What, is it 10 already?”
Her surprised expression showed she had truly lost track of time.
Her focus was certainly something to be admired.
* * *
In a home in California.
James felt his heart pound with excitement.
‘Today is my debut!’
He grinned just thinking about it.
Meeting Yeon-ho was a miracle that had descended upon him.
By meeting him and talking with him, he had come to realize just how vast the world was.
Calming his racing heart, James went over the instructions one last time.
‘Swearing only as exclamations or screams. For chat feedback, pick the ones that are best for moving the story forward. Set all user nicknames to private. Completely ignore insults or slander. Don’t even react.’
It was about his on-air demeanor.
Yeon-ho had particularly emphasized the last part: ignoring insults and slander.
[The internet is full of all sorts of weirdos. And among them, there will be guys who will say all kinds of nasty things just because they want to see you get upset. Don’t give them an opening.]
‘Got it.’
James moved his mouse and launched the streaming software.
He had bought the necessary equipment with the money Yeon-ho had sent him.
He was quite used to operating it all now.
It didn't take long to start the broadcast.
Beep—
The chat window popped up.
『XX: Yo!
XX: Are you James? You're Asian?
XX: Enough of that, just show us the easter egg!』
The chat messages flooding in proved that the promotion they had done in the communities had been effective.
James felt a thrill at the thought that all these people were paying attention to him.
His heart beat even faster.
His mind felt a little blank.
It felt like he was on drugs.
‘Ah, I need to calm down.’
Yeon-ho had already warned him about this.
[Remember, a star and a clown are not fundamentally different. The only difference is whether you’ve lost control of the show to the audience or not. Which one you become is your choice.]
James thought.
Was it more important to give up control and please these people?
Or was it more important to seize control and receive their looks of admiration?
‘Is there even a need to think about it?’
The answer was already set.
『XX: Hey! Hurry up and start!』
The moment the impatient message appeared, James tapped his microphone with a ‘thump’.
The chat window lit up.
At that moment, a wide, almost-tearing smile spread across James’s lips.
“Hold on a minute. We have to wait for a bigger audience before we can start, don’t we?”
James Han. In a few years, he would rise to the pinnacle of the game streaming industry, the greatest gamer of his generation.
He was a born star.
One whose light no one could ever hope to steal.
* * *
[Alright, you slowpokes! It’s time for the long-awaited easter egg reveal!]
James’s playful voice came through the monitor.
‘About 1,200 people. He drew a bigger crowd than I expected.’
The 10-day marketing period had been worth it.
Considering that he was still the only one to have cleared the easter egg, the anticipation for the stream must have been quite substantial.
“Wow, the chat is really aggressive.”
Just as Han Seo-rim said.
The viewers, all riled up, were typing some pretty harsh things in the chat.
From curses demanding he reveal it quickly, to personal attacks, and even racist insults based on his appearance on camera.
But fortunately, James remained unfazed by it all.
‘Was it because of my warning? No, he probably would have found his footing soon enough even without my help.’
That was just the kind of person James Han was.
He had a natural talent that everyone who remembered his earliest broadcasts praised as ‘innate,’ and a commanding presence that made him a born star.
He was the kind of guy who had once seized control of a network talk show from a host who had been in the industry his whole life. He possessed an overwhelming ability to run the show.
[Alright, let’s start with a countdown! 10! 9!]
With just a few words from him, the mood in the chat room shifted.
Numbers scrolled down at a speed the eye couldn't follow.
[...3! 2!]
And then,
[1! Okay, the easter egg is a weapon! And its identity is…!]
The easter egg was revealed.
[The Cancer Bat! A bat made from the bones and flesh of the Giant!]
The weapon's stats were displayed on the game screen.
At that moment, the chat window was flooded with question marks.
『XX: ?
XX: What?
XX: What the hell is this…!
XX: This is insane!』
Everyone was bewildered.
They had every reason to be.
[Surprised? I almost died laughing when I first saw these stats, you know?]
『Cancer Bat
ATK: 30
Temper: Random』
The property of the easter egg, the Cancer Bat, was none other than ‘Random’.
It was a weapon crafted as a tribute to the hardcore player who had succeeded in the most grueling of challenges.
It could be described as a gag weapon, one that abandoned all efficiency and only served to make the game absurdly more difficult.
[The random option does one thing! When you equip the bat, the weapon’s property changes randomly every 15 seconds! You can tell which property it is by the color of the bat! What do you think? Isn’t it awesome? With this one weapon, you don’t need any others to clear a run!]
James said with excitement.
But the users' reactions were mixed.
The general user base, who had hoped for a cheat item, and the hardcore user base, who were drooling over the weapon's unique gimmick, were at complete odds.
“Isn’t this a bad thing?”
Han Seo-rim asked, her voice dripping with concern.
She was right. If the revealed easter egg was a useless item, it would be a letdown for the general users who made up the majority of the player base.
But it was fine.
“Don’t focus on the weapon itself.”
“What?”
“What’s our goal? Promotion, right?”
“Ri...ght?”
“So we need to focus on the promotion that’s about to happen.”
We had considered from the production stage that the reaction to the weapon would be divided.
That’s why I had hoped the easter egg would remain hidden for a few years, and why, in this situation, we specifically chose to reveal it through a ‘live stream’.
“Watch closely. We’re going to create a star. And then we’re going to make a game for that star to play.”
James began to speak.
[Alright, alright, that’s enough gawking! Now for the main event!]
He reset his run.
[Today’s content is none other than! A speedrun of Hellic using only this weapon!]
A timer started on the screen.
Before anyone could object, James immediately started playing.
About 10 minutes passed.
“Crazy, what is that?”
『XX: What the……』
The chat and Han Seo-rim were in shock.
James was plowing through, flawlessly countering every enemy pattern with a weapon that changed properties every 15 seconds.
That was something that shouldn't have been possible.
*Hellic* was a game where the balance was so meticulously tuned that progression was impossible without matching the correct ‘property’.
In other words, with a weapon that changed properties every 15 seconds, you should have been forced to run away from enemies until you got the property you needed.
“How can he do that…”
In fact, James did run away when he faced an enemy with a mismatched property.
The only difference was that the moment he got the property he wanted, he wiped out all the enemies before the 15 seconds were up.
There was only one reason this was possible.
‘He plays the game by breaking it down frame by frame.’
An overwhelming skill that rendered the game's mechanics meaningless.
That was the weapon of James Han, the man known as the nemesis of all developers.
“This seals it.”
“Seals what?”
“The promotion.”
I pointed to the chat window.
Han Seo-rim immediately understood the atmosphere, which was filled with shock and cheers.
“This is…”
I nodded.
“Right.”
This marketing strategy is ‘idolization’.
We present the limits of this game's potential and make people admire its originator, James, and the spotlight that is focused on him.
And so,
—I want to be like that, too!
We make them think that.
That’s just how people are.
They want to wear a model’s clothes, even if they have a different body type.
They want to copy a celebrity’s hairstyle, even if they don’t have a celebrity’s face.
This is an extension of that same idea.
『XX: …This looks fun?』
If James’s gameplay is so dazzling that it mesmerizes people, those who want to at least imitate him will buy the game.
Somewhere between jealousy and awe, that’s how admiration is born.
* * *
Three days after James's broadcast, a compilation video of his gameplay set North American communities on fire before spilling over into Korean communities.
There were rumors it had spread to a few other countries, but that was still unconfirmed.
Only one fact mattered.
Today was the day the sales were tallied.
[34. Hellic]
The marketing had been a success.
The sales figures were phenomenal.
[143,179]
A total of 140,000 copies.
Considering the price of $4.99 per copy, the net revenue was calculated after deducting platform fees and taxes.
I tapped the numbers into a calculator and showed it to Han Seo-rim.
Han Seo-rim was stunned.
“...Am I seeing this right?”
“Yep, you are.”
To put it in terms of the first digit on the calculator:
“We earned 300 million won.”
A net profit of 300 million won.
That was *Hellic*'s sales revenue for its first month.