The Second Stream's Ripples (3)
“So… Powell Software wants to meet me personally?”
“Yeah, yeah. The total director wants to make a DLC boss monster based on my combat data. He even mentioned it himself!”
Winter’s voice was buzzing with excitement, hot and eager.
“It wasn’t just talk. The total director, Hayao Misaka, even sent me an email! He wants to meet me soon and talk seriously!”
She bounced around as if she’d actually received the offer, but the fire in her words had no chance of reaching Yujin.
Truth be told, Yujin had no idea why she was this worked up.
Just because the total director mentioned me in a livestream? What’s the big deal?
The total director was neither a close friend nor someone offering him any material gain. Why was he this thrilled over a few lines of game design talk?
“…You don’t feel anything at all? Making an NPC with your combat data is basically every gamer’s dream.”
“I’m past caring about stuff like that.”
Yujin gave a light chuckle.
As someone who’d once been a hero revered across the entire continent, the idea that the total director’s casual livestream remark had this effect on him was almost amusing.
And honestly, the guy reeks of something calculated.
Yujin might not know much about the game industry, but he had twenty years of experience dealing with people.
Back in his hero days, the ones he mixed with and became friendly with were mostly imperial nobles or high-ranking aristocrats.
And their common trait? Every single one of them spoke in coded, layered language—words that sounded simple on the surface but carried hidden meanings.
They were masters of making people lose their minds.
At first it had left him bewildered, but after two decades he’d grown used to it and even learned to play their games better than they did.
That experience made him instantly spot the pattern.
Hayao Misaka might have good intentions, but he was definitely playing his own game.
Well, the title of total director wasn’t exactly a charitable one, so wanting something out of him wasn’t exactly shocking.
“So what do you think? Should we meet Powell Software?”
“Hmmm.”
Yujin paused as if deep in thought, then nodded.
“Sure, meeting them first isn’t a bad idea.”
They could hear the proposal, decide if it was worth it, and accept or reject on the spot.
And in this situation, I’m definitely the one on the stronger side.
At first glance, Yujin and Winter were just streamers while Powell Software was a huge company, so it looked like the underdog was about to meet the big boss.
But looking closer, it was the opposite.
Yujin had carved out a hidden route no one else could follow, thanks to his unmatched physical abilities.
Hayao Misaka himself had even stated in an interview that the way Yujin uncovered the hidden route was completely outside their planned methods.
So Yujin’s real weapon wasn’t the fact that he’d found the hidden route—it was the physical power he brought to the game.
If Powell Software tried to pull some shady deal or any sort of underhanded move, Yujin could simply walk out.
Start over with another game from that exact moment.
With his physicals, he could stir up the same amount of buzz no matter what game he chose.
Nightfall was replaceable. He wasn’t.
“Oh, and Ecclesia publicly offered a merger, too. What are we doing about that?”
“…A merger?”
Yujin frowned.
Winter didn’t bother with explanations. She simply played the video she’d uploaded days ago.
“Interesting.”
That was Yujin’s honest reaction after watching the entire clip.
“And it’s kind of funny too. She clearly doesn’t know her place.”
From what Yujin knew, that streamer—Ecclesia—hadn’t managed to beat Ariandel in the tutorial, even after a hundred attempts.
She’d only managed to injure him, and that was it.
Yet she had the nerve to challenge Yujin to a duel. What on earth was she thinking?
Even if there was a slim chance she could beat him, it was laughably low.
Maybe she’s trying to farm aggro and get more viewers?
Objectively speaking, though, the odds were slim.
According to Winter, Ecclesia was one of the biggest corporate streamers in the country—averaging thirty thousand viewers and peaking at eighty thousand.
Compared to Winter’s still-rising stream, she was already a huge name.
A streamer at that level had no reason to farm aggro just to get attention.
“So… what’s your plan? Are you going to accept the merger? Or ignore it?”
“Well… I don’t think merging with her is such a bad idea.”
Winter clicked her tongue at his indifferent tone.
“No, I mean I’m asking which one to choose—the Powell Software offer or Ecclesia’s merger proposal.”
Neither side had set a meeting date, only asked for an answer soon.
Whichever he picked, the other would have to wait.
So between meeting Powell Software and merging with Ecclesia, which would give him and Winter more benefit?
“Then let’s go with Ecclesia.”
Yujin answered without hesitation.
“Eh? Why? I thought you’d want to meet Powell Software first.”
Just a moment ago he’d seemed completely indifferent about the merger.
Now he was willing to push that meeting back just to merge with Ecclesia?
“As I said earlier, Powell Software is our absolute boss.”
Yujin spoke in a flat tone.
“They probably want to meet me to get my combat data. The sooner the better, but even a few days late isn’t a big problem.”
Even if it was just for a DLC boss, turning out a full game couldn’t be rushed in a day or two.
“But the Ecclesia merger is different.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s trying to lure us in by revealing a hidden route.”
Yujin continued, tone casual.
“Every single person is desperately searching for the hidden route right now. Ecclesia just happened to be the first one who found it.”
Yes, Ecclesia was the top Nightfall expert in Korea, but that didn’t mean other streamers were weaker than her.
In Yujin’s eyes, her method of revealing the hidden route was nothing more than a time-limited bait.
“So merging with Ecclesia comes first. If I drag my feet even a little, I might never get to use her trap.”
Winter nodded in agreement.
“Okay, let’s contact her right now—wait, no, before that, I need to tell her clearly that we’ll accept the merger, but on our terms.”
“…On our terms? Why? Does she have something you want?”
Winter blinked innocently, and Yujin chuckled at her expression.
“I don’t want anything specific. I just want to make it perfectly clear this time.”
“What?”
“That we are the absolute boss, and she’s nothing but an absolute underdog who has to obey when we bark. She made that arrogant offer on a public stream, so she should be ready for this treatment.”
In other words, he wasn’t asking for anything special—just petty revenge.
“No, do you really have to be that rude? You don’t know how famous a streamer Ecclesia is, do you? Plus she has way more followers and subscribers than us—
“So who’s the one who’s really getting screwed?”
“…Ecclesia.”
It was an undeniable fact.
If she wasn’t upset at all, she wouldn’t have fought so desperately to merge with him.
“Want to bet? No matter what we offer, she’ll accept without a word?”
Yujin grinned.
“Let’s make it clear to that arrogant woman who the real boss is and who the real underdog is.”
Yujin didn’t know what Ecclesia’s endgame was, but the fact remained—she had picked the wrong person to mess with.
After all, true heroes were the type who dished out bullying and bragging rights to others.