Chapter 165
Chapter 165
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: Planning - Demon's Relic 2 (2)
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A week before the match, back when rumors of the important agenda meeting—a real-life brawl—were just starting to spread throughout the company.
A certain half-bald, weeaboo octopus, now a groom-to-be, proposed an idea.
“Let's livestream the sparring match. We can use it for marketing.”
The suggestion was to livestream the sparring match between the Team 2 directors, which had received a particularly positive response during the last livestream.
In fact, the idea was met with great enthusiasm in the meeting.
Leaving other reasons aside, the very idea of a promotion that could be done in the early stages of development without spoiling the game was a mouth-watering prospect for the business department.
This proposal didn't just come from being swept up in the company's peculiar atmosphere.
The idea was proposed because the two were already being portrayed that way in the fan content for Demon's Relic.
For example.
There were memes of Nishimura and Copson punching users who mistreated the heroine, or memes depicting them as a muscular couple in traditional Korean attire (Copson being the wife), glaring daggers at a user saying, "Please give me your daughter's hand in marriage!" and so on.
Ever since their public appearances, the two had consistently built up a reputation as the "users' terrifying fathers-in-law," and appeared in fan works in related forms.
So, livestreaming this sparring match wasn't an entirely random decision.
No, this broadcast was the final touch on the image the two had built up over time—in other words, it was a process of creating the "directors' personas."
Its importance went without saying.
After all, the trust in a director and the goodwill toward a developer have an immense impact, both internally and externally, on a game's reception.
Just having the title of "a game from someone you can trust" or the sentiment of "he's a likable guy, so let's buy it for now" can boost a game's initial sales to an incredible degree.
Yang Gil-sang said.
“For the title... yes, let's go with something like 'The In-Laws' Spat.'”
If that's how the users saw them, it was right to show them that way.
It would even be possible to create long-term content from this.
There aren't many people in the world who dislike watching a fight.
After all, fighting is a time-honored human entertainment, with a history stretching back in various forms to ancient times before the common era.
Of course, if it were a fight between scrubs, people would get bored quickly.
But Nishimura and Copson—unbelievable as it may seem—had already reached a semi-professional level in their fighting skills.
Because every single match was a crucial matter that determined their future paths, both had trained as if their lives depended on it.
It was to the point where you might have seen them in the Octagon if their main job wasn't being game directors.
“Let's hire professional commentators. It'll be a sight to see with our President as the caster.”
It would cost money.
But that was fine.
Because Hellic 4 was a success!
Money was practically printing itself!
“Our company doesn't have any major release schedules for a while. At most, we have the DLC, which is still in the planning stage. This is the perfect time to use marketing to keep the company's name in the users' minds.”
And so, after all these calculations of profit and benefit, the day had finally arrived.
“Yes! Welcome, viewers! I'm KFC commentator Jeong Bok-su!”
“And I'm Kim Seok-jin, also here as a commentator!”
“...Cheon Yeon-ho.”
A livestreamed sparring match disguised as... a game developers' planning meeting had begun on an online platform.
***
News of Development Team 2's sparring match spread quickly.
The rumor started mainly in online communities related to gaming, and it spread to non-gaming communities in an instant.
It was inevitable.
The topic of 'game directors developing a game with their fists' was already massive clickbait, and it was further seasoned with the fact that this was the development process of the 'nation's only specialized console developer'—a developer full of national pride.
It was the same overseas.
Rewind held a rather unique position in the industry, and consequently, users' curiosity about its developers was quite high.
Thanks to that, the number of viewers broke 80,000.
And that was before the sparring match had even begun.
『―They're actually doing it lololol
―So those bastards are game developers? For real?
―Nishimura! Nishimura! Nishimura!』
The two men finally stepped into the ring.
The commentators spoke in highly excited tones.
“Ah! It's finally starting. I've seen their sparring records up to now!”
“That's right! To be honest, I was shocked! We've seen a lot of performances that you wouldn't expect from ordinary working adults!”
“And fighter Copson's form changes, freely switching between in-fighting and out-boxing, were particularly impressive! It's quite difficult to master both without exceptional training!”
“In contrast, fighter Nishimura is a straightforward in-fighter! A master who has walked a single path! He's a rhino! A rhino!”
“...Sigh.”
“Director Cheon Yeon-ho!!! What is the agenda for today's sparring match?!”
“...It's the in-depth setting of the heroine's character, which will influence the overall game plan. Since the details have not yet been decided, I cannot say more at this time. I ask for your understanding.”
“Ah! Right! But what's a heroine?”
“The protagonist's love interest.”
“Ah! A fight to win love!!!!!”
“Huuu....”
As the commentators forced their energy levels up, Yeon-ho continued to sigh.
The chat scrolled by.
『―lololololol I've never seen Cheon Yeon-ho sigh before lolol
―You're the one who chose these directors. Grit your teeth and bear it.』
Yeon-ho's eyebrow twitched.
Regardless, time passed.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
With the sound of the bell, their stances shifted.
It was the beginning of a life-or-death battle.
***
There were no light jabs to start, no feeling each other out.
Both men already knew each other too well.
They had seen each other as rivals they would have to compete with for a lifetime, accumulating data through repeated victories and defeats.
So, there was no need for petty feints.
There was only heavy, all-out power.
*CRACK—!*
It was Nishimura's straight.
Blocked by Copson's guard.
It wasn't a sound that could be made by one person hitting another.
That's how unrestrained it was.
『―wtf what was that sound ;;;
―Sounded like getting hit by a truck or something;』
Copson gritted his teeth.
His arm was numb.
As expected, you couldn't beat innate punching power—raw talent.
But if he were the type to give up, he wouldn't have come this far.
Development Team 2 would have walked the path of decline under Nishimura's reign.
He was the one who had prevented that.
He was the middle path, justice, and also reason.
If one were to describe Nishimura's fists, they were like a greatsword—each blow heavy, but with a corresponding delay.
In contrast, what was Copson's specialty?
It was the phantom sword, ever-changing in its form.
He switched from an out-boxing style to in-fighting.
If the opponent charged in, he had no choice but to meet him head-on and break him.
He had bulked up for this very purpose.
A worthwhile challenge.
And, that choice was the right one.
*POW!*
Nishimura didn't back down.
With his rhino-like personality, his instinct was to charge head-on if an opponent came at him.
Sensing a surge of inner energy in Nishimura's fist, Copson quickly switched his form again.
He tried to create distance and use his superior reach.
But today, that was a fatal mistake.
“With a wavering fist, you can hit nothing, Copson.”
The whisper arose.
In the moment it took for confusion to well up, Nishimura's fist was already right in front of Copson's face.
*KABOOM!*
“Khk!”
He barely managed to turn his head, but the sound of the fist striking empty air told him it carried enough power to send a chill down his spine.
‘If even one of those lands, it's over!’
A sense of crisis surged, and he scrambled for a solution, but today's Nishimura was particularly strong.
It was only natural.
“Heroines!!! Only become charming when each one is special—!”
Today's match was about whether or not to add depth to the heroines.
Copson, who had measured resources and turned his back on 'sincerity,' could not overcome the power of will.
What is the martial way?
It is to express the ideals dwelling in one's mind through the body, to see one's beliefs through to the end.
A martial artist who has reached the realm of an absolute master can overcome the world with an unbreakable spirit, even in the most dire of circumstances.
“Dual personalities!”
*CRASH—!*
“Two flavors in one bite!!!”
*BOOM—!*
“Multiple endings based on the heroine's groooowth!!!”
*BAAAM—!*
He expressed his desires with his mouth as if they were battle cries.
That will resonated through the microphones and spread across the entire world.
『―??? A heroine with a dual personality???
―Multiple endings for each heroine???』
Most of the people watching this life-or-death battle were gamers.
What resonates in a gamer's heart is the game, and sincerity.
Nishimura's will spread far and wide, shaking the entire world. This was surely the Realm of Nature, where one becomes one with nature and bends the world to their will.
『―Nishimura!!!
―Win! You have to win!!!』
“Aaaah!!! Fighter Nishimura's fierce assault! A relentless barrage of punches continues!!!”
“Fighter Copson!!! He can't seem to recover!!!”
“...Tsk.”
The tide had turned.
Nishimura felt it, and Copson felt it too.
Copson, in particular, felt not just the immense power in his fists, but a will being transmitted through the piercing pain.
‘This guy...!’
He's serious.
The conviction in his fists said it all.
That this choice was absolutely not wrong.
Then how should he counter?
What could he say to plant doubt in him?
No, even if he planted delusion, would these fists waver?
‘...It's no use.’
Not today.
In that moment, Copson let out a faint smile.
An opening appeared in his guard.
His opponent was not generous enough to forgive such an opening.
A straight punch shot through the thread-like gap and landed squarely on his philtrum.
*CRACK—!*
With the sound, his brain rattled.
It felt as if his eardrums were bursting, and his vision flickered before finally turning completely white.
*Thud!*
The match was decided.
『―NISHIMURAAAAAAA!!!!
―LET'S GO DUAL PERSONALITY HEROINE!!!』
The viewers went wild over the unintentional spoiler and the prospect of its implementation.
“Aaaah!!! A clean straight!!! Fighter Copson is knocked down!!!”
“...”
The commentators were ecstatic.
Yeon-ho pressed his temples.
Afterward.
Copson regained consciousness before long.
‘I lost.’
A clean defeat.
As a sense of frustration welled up at how he seemed to lose every major match like this, he turned his eyes and saw Nishimura gasping for breath.
Copson humbly admitted it.
“You won.”
“Yeah, I did.”
“But it will be a difficult path.”
If they went with Nishimura's vision, there would be a lot of work to do.
From the development planning stage to implementation, they would have to add at least several months, if not years, to the schedule.
When he pointed that out, Nishimura replied.
“If it means we can make it even better.”
Nishimura, having taken off his gloves, extended a hand.
Copson's eyes widened in surprise, but he soon chuckled, took off his own gloves, and clasped Nishimura's hand.
Copson stood up and raised Nishimura's arm.
“Ah! Yes, in that case, development is extended by one year!!!”
If it meant they could improve, he would willingly admit his own defeat, he who had sought compromise.
That decision echoed through the microphones.
『―?
―???
―What?
―Why the sudden extension???
―You f—
[Message deleted]
―?????』
The agenda item—deepening the heroine's character—ended with a development extension, and the users erupted in fury.
It was a tragedy.
***
On the day Development Team 2's extension for Demon's Relic 2 was decided.
Development Team 3, in charge of the Hellic 2 remake, who had suddenly become next in line due to the schedule change, was in an uproar.
“As expected of Yuri! Let's just trust in Yuri!”
“Hey, Yuri Jackson! Are you telling me you're the best at development too?!”
“Yuri's Hellic is different! There's something different about it!!!”
The cult leader, terrified of the fanatics and followers who had lost all reason.
...This place, too, was becoming a demonic landscape in its own right.