Driving Me Crazy
“I'm going insane, seriously.”
Yeonhwa Gaming, a subsidiary of Yeonhwa Group. Lee Hansol, the eldest daughter of the group chairman and CEO of the company, let out heavy sighs as she stared at her monitor screen.
<Yet Another Upset from Player Black Dragon!>
<Black Dragon Appears Like a Comet. How Did Streamer Roper Spot Him?>
Articles about Record Project were popping up almost by the minute.
There was only one reason Hansol was clutching her head.
Her company had once had a chance to scout him.
“Sorry! We're so sorry!”
The recruitment attempt had fallen through around the time of Lashten's monopolistic grab. The employee in charge of contact had bluntly shown strong suspicion toward Black Dragon and Roper.
Of course, it wasn't their fault, and in the end, the name Yeonhwa had drifted far from the two of them.
“I can't even tell them to report faster...”
Roper aside, Black Dragon's emergence was like a natural disaster. No one could have instantly recognized his value. There must have been too many ambiguous signs for a single employee to judge. Not just anyone could decide to report straight to the CEO out of the blue.
“The contract terms were way off too. And the sponsorship amount...”
The new contract offer and broadcast sponsorship thrown in to put out the fire—they were laughably low considering Black Dragon's worth. It must have been a tough call for a mere manager.
Tap-tap.
Hansol drummed her fingers on the desk, her mind racing for solutions. But from hidden skills to episode resets, Black Dragon had become a towering mountain. Even repeated contact attempts were going unanswered—it felt like the sky was falling.
And now he was joining the company Roper was starting. What if he held a grudge against other companies?
“Haa...”
Bang!
Just then, a loud noise crashed into her ears as she sighed. Turning her gaze, Hansol snapped at the culprit.
“Does my little sister have no sense of time? Kicking the door open at this hour?”
“Sense? Have you ever gone to bed at 4 a.m.?”
The woman who burst in with a kick was a bob-haired girl—her younger sister, Lee Seola. Under her luxurious leather jacket was a blue pajama top.
“Lee Seola, what if someone sees you dressed like that?”
“They saw. But there's no one here but you. Want some?”
“Hey, keep calling your sister 'you' and see what happens.”
“Yes, ma'am. Like this?”
“You little...”
Seola playfully grabbed some snacks from the desk and headed to the wide window. The top floor of the high-rise offered a clear view of Seoul.
“Tomorrow's raid, right? If you've got nothing to do, go home and sleep.”
Hansol, rubbing her temples, spoke as if giving up. And for good reason—her sister Seola was part of Yeonhwa Gaming's elite vanguard team. A strategy session to break through the long-stuck episode was scheduled for lunch.
“You think you can brute-force it by slamming your head against it? No way.”
“You're stuck too. The world's top analysts have been grinding away, and that's the best they've got.”
“I figured out how to clear it.”
“What?”
Hansol's eyes widened at the bombshell confession. She shot to her feet and demanded answers from her sister.
“What's the strategy? No, why didn't you share it sooner?”
“Share with those idiots worse than rocks? They'd just make noise and give me a headache.”
“Not sharing with me!”
“I can tell you after I clear it.”
“No... ugh.”
Hansol swayed at the dizzying response. Sitting back down, she rubbed her temples and muttered.
“How did you end up in our family?”
“Dad said the same, so I stole his wig and bounced.”
“Haa.”
Hansol sighed at her perfectly sisterly antics. But her sister's talent was on another level from her own. Lee Seola, munching snacks in a daze, was the person the word “genius” fit best. Not just in intellect, but a human bundled head to toe in talent across every field.
How did she turn out like that?
Her sister, who'd walked the elite path, had veered off in high school. The scale of her talents matched her rebellion, leaving the whole family no choice but to give up. At least after Record Project launched, she'd settled into one thing.
Founding Yeonhwa Gaming had dumped sister-managing duties on her, though.
“Ah, whatever. I'm busy, so go. No time to babysit you.”
“Because of Black Dragon?”
“...You know, so leave. I need to find a way to reconnect quick.”
The RP world was in chaos, so Seola knew about Black Dragon too. Swallowing her snack, she spun around and approached.
“That's why I came.”
“What? Why you?”
“Got interested. Curious, right?”
“...You? Interested? Curious?”
Hansol's eyes bulged at the absurd story. Her damn genius sister showing interest in a living being. First time since that weird deep-sea fish name.
“Everything about him from one to ten is nuts. The strategy makes no sense. It's not like playing a game, y'know?”
“Webnovel Erport? You got info from that?”
“You believe that? Even if you read the original story, there's way more that doesn't add up.”
Seola's eyes sparkled as she rattled off questions. Before it turned to mania, Hansol cut in.
“I don't know what it is, but this is company business. If you're curious, check the community. Don't stir things up and ruin it.”
“Useless right now. They're just talking hitman stuff.”
Snorting, Seola approached the monitor and tapped the news articles, smirking.
“Think articles will do it?”
“Gotta find another way. Black Dragon'll help somehow.”
Strategies grew insanely complex with each episode. Top vanguards hid all info, so no outside help. Then Black Dragon appeared out of nowhere. Episode 1 was just the start, but what he'd shown was on another dimension. Enough to pin hopes on anything.
“Worst case, I'll contact him directly.”
“Don't. You'll just piss him off. Lashten's got big corps looking bad already.”
Seola flatly rejected her sister's idea. Unable to argue, Hansol scowled and prodded.
“You keep saying no. What's your opinion then?”
“I'm done already.”
“What?”
Hansol blinked at the curveball. Grinning, Seola shoved her smartphone screen forward.
There floated Black Dragon's auction listing.
“100 million won. My own cash.”
***
Leaving the office, Hanbit headed for the emergency stairs.
“Stay calm. Might not be real.”
He closed his eyes. Then slowly opened them and checked his smartphone screen.
<Auction Winning Bid: 100 million won>
<Winner: Luna>
“Whoa, insane.”
The amount nailed right at the end of his gaze. No need to pinch his cheek—this was reality.
“100 million...”
He'd seen the potential on stream and figured he'd hit nine figures someday. But this fast? No way he'd expected that.
The scale of it hit hard.
“Bid in 3 minutes?”
The auction ended three minutes after he posted. No bidding war—just an instant max bid.
“Who's Luna?”
Curious about the winner, Hanbit quickly logged into the community. It was already buzzing about his auction. Guesses flew, but the winner seemed private to others.
“Luna... huh?”
Searching the name pulled up a profile at the top. Yeonhwa Gaming vanguard, female using four main skills. Ice-based from the looks of it.
“Yeonhwa, those guys.”
The scouting offer derailed by Lashten. Maybe feeling bad, they'd kept showing presence after—resending terms, heavy sponsorships.
“But personal, not company.”
Obviously tied as a company vanguard, but not using the name. Mindful of the past mess?
“Hm.”
Anyway, he could guess the intent. Ten times market price. Not small change for a vanguard or corp. Price for some info, probably.
“Still, can't turn down 100 mil.”
No plans to tie to corps, but spitting out incoming cash? Ridiculous.
<Please enter your bank account number to receive auction payment.>
Entering the settlement page, Hanbit input the details as prompted.
Ding-
<Payment completed.>
Updated page and phone alert. Hanbit cautiously opened his banking app.
<Deposit History>
“Holy shit...”
The amount after 1% fee gleamed in its length, drawing an exclamation.
Hanbit quickly called his mom.
Ring-
(What's up? Something wrong?)
The worried voice hit as soon as it connected. Feeling a pang of filial guilt, Hanbit took a deep breath.
“Mom, don't freak out.”
(What? Why?)
“I earned 100 million won.”
(...What?)
A sharp gasp, then silence.
(What'd you say? 100 million? What 100 million?)
“100 million! Well, 99 after fees, but I earned it!”
(What outta nowhere?)
Mom couldn't process it. Hanbit gave her time.
“Details at home. I'll be up early tomorrow.”
(Not at home, what... Oh, yeah! Hold on!)
Customer voices filtered through the noise. Mom sighed briefly, then said quietly.
(Dunno what, but got it. Talk later.)
Click.
Her busy voice cut off.
100 million. Big money, but not life-changing. Priorities first: home. Combined with savings, enough to ditch this monthly rent.
“Heh.”
Checking the balance again brought a grin. After a few more peeks.
Ding-
An alert from the trader site popped up.
Tapping it opened a one-on-one chat.
[Luna: Hi there?]
“Yeah, figured.”
Auction items auto-sent to winner. If she messaged anyway, intent as expected.
[Black Dragon: Hi. You're with Yeonhwa Gaming, right? Tell me what info you need.]
Hanbit cut to the chase. Not stingy enough to take the cash and ghost. Clean deal, no obligations—clear and done.
Ding-
Reply came fast.
But.
[Luna: Info's fine. Wanna chat a bit?]
An unexpected response.