The Director's Ordeal
Is the guy mentally ill or something? Ias had been placed on the chopping block. Or more accurately, not a chopping block but an executioner's platform. Among all existing MMORPGs, was there even a single game company capable of navigating this minefield unscathed? Perfect balance in an RPG was a mirage that had never existed to begin with. It was an unsolvable homework assignment, an endless chase after an unreachable goal. Everyone knew it could never be attained, yet they were forced to keep pursuing it anyway. When you thought about the manpower and time consumed in the process, all that effort felt even more futile. It was truly unfortunate, but because of this, most RPG companies eventually resorted to shortcuts.
Usually, when a game's balance collapsed, players naturally blamed the company. After all, balancing was the developer's responsibility, and broken balance meant they had failed to fulfill that duty. But companies were clever. They twisted the blame using players' own psychology. Instead of pointing at themselves for failing to balance the game, they redirected the arrows toward whichever class happened to benefit from the broken state. Victims of the imbalance found it far easier to attack the convenient target right in front of them—the other players—rather than pressuring a company that refused to give straight answers. After all, they had the perfect justification: victims versus beneficiaries. In the end, grudges piled up endlessly until players began wishing for nerfs to other classes more desperately than buffs to their own.
That was the history of balance most RPG companies had walked, and Ias had followed the same path without much deviation. Sadly, there was almost no chance this structure would change in the future either. At least, not unless that mentally unhinged helmet girl asked the exact question that struck the bullseye.
Jeon Gangseop unconsciously rubbed his own neck. There was nothing between his shirt collar and skin, yet he felt an invisible noose slowly tightening around his throat. One wrong word and the floor would drop out, leaving him dangling by that single rope. For a moment, tears welled up in his eyes. Why me, seriously? The mythic weapon thing wasn't even my decision as director. Why is this happening to me? If they were going to do this, they should have done it while that guy was still here. Why now?
But he couldn't show tears in this situation. Jeon Gangseop squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed the rising moisture. After drawing a long, deep breath, he finally opened his heavy mouth.
"Yes, of course."
In truth, this was a malicious question disguised as a binary choice—there was only one possible answer. What kind of idiot game company would stand on a stage in front of 4,500 offline attendees, let alone the far larger online audience, and say, "Huh? We're just gonna balance this game like crap, lol~"?
"Naturally… yes, of course the balance needs to be adjusted again. That was an excellent question. I'll address that point right now as well."
Of course, it hadn't been an excellent question for the company. It was a vicious one that drew blood and tears.
"However, as those of you familiar with the situation already know, perfect balance is practically impossible to implement. That said, we will strive to create a balance that comes as close to perfect as possible—one that satisfies the majority of our players."
"Then, when exactly is the patch scheduled to be applied?"
Ah, seriously. At this point, Jeon Gangseop was starting to genuinely resent the crazy woman in the helmet. Yet he couldn't openly blame her either, since she hadn't caused an obvious scene. If she had just started screaming "Give me back my mythic weapon, you bastards!" it would have been different, but this was the kind of question any ordinary player could ask. That was why everyone present, and all the viewers watching online, remained quiet. She hadn't said anything she shouldn't, and honestly, it was something they had all been curious about too.
"We'll open the test server two weeks before the First Clear event and apply the changes to the live servers one week prior."
Two weeks sounded generous, but with the public announcement that Bolekia would launch in three weeks, that left only one week until the test server opening. Even if the god of balance descended, it was impossible in a single week. In reality, they had no choice but to apply a patch that had already been prepared in advance. They would take some flak, but it was only the test server… and if they added that further adjustments would follow, it might soften the blow a little. With two weeks, they could probably produce a patch decent enough to satisfy most people.
In the end, all Jeon Gangseop could do was hold back his tears and dance to the crazy woman's tune. At the same time, it was the moment a fire was lit under the feet of the development team that had just finished a massive update and thought they could finally breathe. They were being forced to do what they should have done anyway, yet the situation was absurdly unfair.
Of course, from Minji's perspective—
Wow, their reactions are delicious. Still, a little disappointing. Maybe I should have pushed a bit harder? No, that might have been too much to handle. What if they actually nerf the Saintess because of this? Nah, no way. If they did, I'd just go full chaos mode without holding back, right? I should be grateful it ended at this level. Yeah. Always be grateful, Ias.
—she was simply enjoying herself and rambling internally.
Thus concluded the winter break update presentation, one that had managed to satisfy the company, the players, and even the helmet-wearing madwoman. The only dissatisfied parties left were the developers who would now have to work overtime.
Fortunately for Jeon Gangseop, Minji did not touch the microphone again after that. While she loved attention, that was only when anonymity was guaranteed. Even with the helmet on, causing a scene while people could see her directly was quite difficult, even for Minji.
Mmm, this is good.
Minji was munching on the snacks laid out on the table. It was a mystery how she managed to eat while wearing a full-face helmet that covered her entire head.
"How the heck are you even eating that?"
Suha, of course, was not the type to hold back her curiosity, and Minji had no particular habit of keeping secrets from her friends.
This? Like this.
Minji flipped up the tinted front section of the full-face helmet with a click. Oh. So it opens like that. She quickly popped a snack into her mouth and clicked the visor back down, sealing it again.
Suha found herself seriously contemplating whether it was worth enduring such inconvenience just to wear the helmet, or if Minji simply couldn't give up on snacks even in that state. But it was far too late to start pondering Minji's eccentricities now.
Suha tore her gaze away from the munching Minji and looked toward the stage, where Jeon Gangseop was still performing his verbal sword dance—or rather, tongue dance. The showcase had been a clear success. The update was so massive that even just introducing it had taken well over an hour. New regions, boss content, balance patches—everything players had been desperately waiting for had been revealed all at once. It was a truly packed and generous update. With this, maybe they really could return to the days when K-RPG had been number one. For Suha, who had made Ias her main game, it was genuinely good news.
"With that, we conclude Part One of the showcase. We'll take a short break and return for Part Two."
Oh, Part One's over.
The showcase was divided into two parts. Part One introduced the roadmap for the winter break update, while Part Two was a kind of talk show addressing various issues from the past six months. Since Part One was essentially the main event, the program was practically over at this point.
Suha, I'm going to the bathroom. The heat inside the helmet's getting pretty bad.
It seemed like perfect timing. Just as she was about to head to the restroom to cool off with a hand fan—
"Huh? Then I'll go with you."
Uh, what? Wait. Huh?
Minji's brain momentarily stopped working at Suha's sudden suggestion to go together. Why? Together… huh?
Thinking about it, it wasn't that strange. Girls often went everywhere together, hand in hand. Suha was no exception. But still, with Minji… it felt different. Even while carrying such a large mass of flesh on her chest, Minji still half-identified as male. The idea of going to the bathroom with a girl felt… quite troubling. Especially when the girl in question was as pretty and cute as Suha. It was hard to handle.
After spinning her empty little head at full speed once more, Minji finally gave up thinking. Why not?! I'm a girl now too! Girls can go to the bathroom together, right? Innocent! Case closed! Of course, if the King of the Underworld had witnessed this scene, he would have struck Minji's head with his gavel instead of the usual one.
Without holding hands, Minji and Suha walked side by side toward the restroom. Suha had actually wanted to hold hands, but Minji's walls were thicker than they appeared. In the end, only one of them was fidgeting awkwardly.
You go in first. I'll wait until you're done.
"Eh? Why not go in together?"
Her conscience wouldn't allow them to enter together, so Minji sent Suha in ahead. As a result, Minji ended up standing alone in the hallway waiting, but at least it wasn't boring—plenty of people were sneaking glances at her. If that counted as fortunate, then it was fortunate.
One genuinely fortunate thing was that Ias had prepared a separate restroom exclusively for streamers. Leaning against the wall in a slightly drowsy daze, Minji suddenly heard a voice.
Hey, wait a second!
The bizarre situation unfolding before her eyes instantly banished all sleepiness.
"Y-yes? M-me?"
Minji grabbed a small woman who was sweating profusely, just like herself, and stopped her. At first glance, the girl looked like a middle or high school student rather than an adult, but Ias was strictly an adult-only game. There were no minors among the staff, so no minors could be present at this event. That meant she was an adult.
Wow, she's tiny. Looking at the girl whose eyes were trembling as she stared back, Minji felt a sudden urge to tease her a little, but she suppressed it. Teasing someone she'd just met would be too much, even for her. Little did she know that "crazy woman" was one of the most common nicknames people used for her.
That's the men's restroom. You went in the wrong one.
The reason Minji had urgently stopped her was because the girl had been about to dash straight into the men's restroom. Her outfit looked… quite warm, but still, no matter how urgent it was, making that kind of mistake was careless. Also, that outfit seemed familiar somehow… or was it?
The moment Minji finished speaking, the girl's face turned bright red. Well, it could be embarrassing, I guess.
"I, um…"
No need to thank me. You looked like you were in a hurry to wipe off some sweat, so go on in.
"No, that's true, but… that's not what I meant…"
What followed was quite… seriously shocking.
"I'm… a guy."
???
What?
Is this person mentally ill too?
While Minji stared at the woman—no, the man?—in front of her like she was looking at a crazy person, Suha emerged from the restroom.
"What's going on? What happened?"
She looked between the two of them. What kind of situation is this now? It was truly a bizarre three-way encounter born from an absurd series of coincidences.