The Bait Takes Hold
Late morning the next day. As soon as Kang Hanbit woke up, he checked the RPG community.
"Let's start with the private zone."
The first thing to check was the progress in the private zone. Since he'd uploaded the early parts of the攻略 yesterday, he was curious about the vanguard team's results.
He clicked on one of the popular posts.
The Black Dragon channel dropped the video yesterday, so why no news? Has no one cleared it yet?
-Vanguard teams and corps alike—no one's streaming.
└It's not about streaming. No one's come out since going in.
-All-nighters going strong. Legend status lol.
-What's Odin doing?
└What're you doing?
└Just had lunch.
└Bon appétit, fr.
-Info: Over 20 vanguard teams challenging now.
-But do we really need to rush?
-Just camp till the full攻略 drops gg.
-Wouldn't have spilled the攻略 without Riwei, huh?
└Aren't those Nessto fuckers the real problem?
└Fr, psycho societal trash.
No word yet from inside the private zone. But whether challengers cleared it or not couldn't be known from outside. They might still be investigating while hunkered down in that shifting space.
Anyway, the remaining hints could wait a bit longer.
Scanning the list, Hanbit entered the current top popular post.
Black Dragon stream revealed Snow Drake location.
Guy who finds it first gets the dwarven legacy for sure?
Take it to Gorik and learn Dwarf Blacksmithing.
Highest peak in Ifrite snowfield gg.
Corps guys are digging up all the snow, so sneak in when they're distracted?
-What the hell is this now?;
-Black Dragon hasn't gone yet, right?
└Stream showed he's definitely hunting Dwarf Blacksmithing.
└Snow Drake too.
└That dude says he's getting it, so he will? Cult followers lmao.
└↑That guy's post: Saw Black Dragon攻略, can you really beat Baldor?
Psycho lololol
-Current time 10:32. Vanguard in crevasse just emerged.
└Nah, wrong crevasse~
"It's blowing up."
A simple post with a screenshot of the work site. The thousands of comments were a total warzone.
The fortress location revealed by Gorik's words. More precisely, the path leading there—but the info itself was legit.
"Plenty of bait to use."
He'd known the location would leak, yet Hanbit streamed anyway. Countless players were needed just to enter the Snow Drake's fortress and retrieve the dwarven legacy.
Most would probably swarm for the subjugation. Practically impossible, though.
Scrolling comments, Hanbit grabbed his smartphone and called Kim Jaeha.
(Hello?)
Connected right away—must already be up. Voice still husky like he'd just woken.
"Hyung, when'd you crash?"
(Around 6? Wasn't that late.)
"...That's not even four hours."
(Back at the company, I'd pull less than two. This is refreshing.)
Kim Jaeha added he never needed much sleep anyway. Gorik's training must be in full swing already.
"It's an important skill, so bear with it a bit longer."
(Bear with what? Anything you need...)
Then his voice trailed off mid-sentence. Sensing the weird vibe, Hanbit asked,
"The department head hit you up?"
(...How'd you know?)
"Guy's a constant nag. Daily calls wouldn't be weird."
No way that blackmailer would sit quiet waiting for a reply. Lucky he hadn't shown up in person.
(Sending you the text now. No clue what it's about.)
Bzzz—vibration synced with his words. Hanbit checked his phone.
「Hey, what the fuck you playing at? Tell Black Dragon: If you don't want cops calling, cough up the info first.」
Greed oozed from every word. Hanbit asked,
"That department head browses the community?"
(Since your name blew up, yeah. Dude's got nothing better to do.)
"Then he's seen this too."
Hanbit copied the post link and sent it over. Jaeha checked and let out a baffled sound.
(Whoa, this much traffic?)
He'd half-expected it, watching the chat. Streamed info was bound to spark community fire. Snow Drake and Dwarf Blacksmithing were hot enough topics.
No need to lift a finger.
The plan included screwing over the department head. He'd considered feeding info straight to Taeyul, but they bit the bait themselves.
"Hyung, wanna get some revenge?"
(Revenge?)
"Too lame to end it half-assed. Let's fuck with that department head proper."
(...Huh?)
Caught off-guard by the sudden pitch—revenge hadn't crossed his mind once.
Standing, Hanbit continued. "Meet up quick. Send him messages like I say."
***
"What the hell is this?"
4th floor of Taeyul Corp building in Jongno. RP department. Arriving around lunchtime, Ihojung scowled at his monitor.
Black Dragon stream revealed Snow Drake location.
Guy who finds it first gets the dwarven legacy for sure?
Take it to Gorik and learn Dwarf Blacksmithing.
Highest peak in Ifrite snowfield gg.
Corps guys are digging up all the snow, so sneak in when they're distracted?
The RPG community post shot straight to the top. Thousands of comments in chaos, but players were mobilizing.
"Kim Jaeha, you little shit..."
Ihojung had blackmailed him with assault charges on Black Dragon. Yet this bastard leaked it on stream instead of to him first.
"Fucking worm."
His fat fist clenched. Even if Jaeha swung first, the guy's a born loser. A little pressure and he'd never crawl back.
Click—he scrolled, gauging the mood. Then pulled out his phone and dialed.
Riiiing—old-school ringtone droned briefly.
Click—connected. The boss, mid-golf round.
(What's up?)
"Boss, you hear from Kim Jaeha?"
(Jaeha? Yeah, called. Says he's quitting—what happened?)
Disinterested tone. No full story leaked. Ihojung amped the gravity.
"Truth is, last night..."
End result: 'Jaeha quits.' But heavy embellishment. Hearing the twisted truth, the boss fumed.
(What a psycho prick. Let him off easy even if it tanked business, and now? Says treatment sucks so he quits?)
"Exactly. After all you've overlooked, backstabbing like this? Unbelievable."
(Ha. Treat 'em nice, waste of time. Boss ain't top dog anymore.)
Mood souring as planned. After a beat of silence, Ihojung pleaded,
"Can't just let him walk, right?"
(You know me. Ran student council like a ghost.)
"Of course, hyungnim. Discipline was ironclad back then."
College buddies reminiscing. Thick trust from closeness.
"Boss... hyungnim. Truth is, Black Dragon assaulted me. Jaeha egged him on, laughing."
(What? Beat you?)
"4 weeks injury! Kept it quiet outta shame... But it's insulting Taeyul too. Can't let it slide."
(Ha. Real crazies.)
Boss enraged at the nonsense.
(Calling the law firm. Prep the lawsuit. Thinking media leak too.)
"Hyungnim! Check this first!"
Desperately stalling, Ihojung snapped a screenshot of the monitor and sent it.
(Dwarf Blacksmithing? Why this?)
"Remember Jaeha fucked that up before? Black Dragon might actually snag it."
(Hm.)
Taeyul's infamous flop project. Dragging it up irked the business eye.
(So? What now?)
"You always see the big picture, hyungnim. For the company, one punch? I'll eat it. If Black Dragon delivers value."
(...My vision is broad.)
Flattery landed—self-made pride.
(Project cost? Estimate?)
"Zero investment from us. We're covering his crime."
(Black Dragon know?)
"Hinted. Final warning incoming. Jaeha's a natural loser—relay perfect."
Grinning sleazily, Ihojung typed a message. To Kim Jaeha.
「Hey, what the fuck you playing at? Tell Black Dragon: If you don't want cops calling, cough up the info first.」
Blunt and direct. Didn't matter if no real assault—CCTV busted, no parking nearby anyway.
(Heading to office. Prep your report.)
"Yes! Waiting!"
Click—call ended. Ihojung hammered the keyboard, compiling docs.
"Fuck, why won't this work?"
Always dumped grunt work on Jaeha or underlings—programs stumped him. But this was his glory. Greed glued him to the chair.
Ding—alert mid-struggle. He opened the message.
「Kim Jaeha」
「Relaying Black Dragon's words. Assemble a raid team and head to the coordinates by 3 PM. Move stealthy—no other players.」