Chapter 88
Chapter 88
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: The Emergency Meeting
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“Ha ha, sorry about that. I was momentarily dazzled and my greetings were late. I’m Producer An Jeongwon.”
“Overall Director Seong Doyul here.”
“Content Planning Team Leader, Ye Seoryeon.”
“I’m Oh Chae-hee, the team leader in charge of this promotion!”
“I... you know me, right? I’m really sorry for calling you out again....”
Soon, five men and women rose from their seats to greet me.
One trying to play it cool, one greeting gruffly, one openly showing annoyance, and one smiling brightly. Their reactions toward me varied wildly, but they all only stood after glancing at Han Jin-tae.
It seemed they still had no idea at Universe that I was ‘Seo Ji-woo.’
I couldn’t quite guess why they were apologizing, but Han Jin-tae’s apology seemed directed at ‘Victoria’ rather than ‘Seo Ji-woo.’
That made their arrogant attitudes somewhat understandable.
Ever magnanimous, I nodded and sat in the prepared chair, offering my own greeting.
“I’m Sukka. My real name is Victoria Chernakoshka.”
I debated revealing that I was Seo Ji-woo but decided to stick with just Victoria for now.
No one would believe me anyway, and I didn’t want to be treated like a lunatic over it.
I still didn’t even know why I’d been summoned, and being labeled mentally ill right off the bat wouldn’t help.
Especially if negotiations were needed—I’d be the one in trouble.
With the awkward greetings finally over, Hwarang stepped forward from where he’d been standing beside me.
Now that I could see his face clearly, he looked like he wanted nothing more than to quit.
“First, let me explain the situation. I apologize for not preparing any materials due to the urgency.”
Hwarang bowed his head slightly and began the briefing.
Since his gaze swept over the others too, it seemed some of them had been dragged in just as suddenly as I had.
But I had zero interest in whatever was going on with Universe.
After all, the only thing I hoped to gain from attending this meeting was making the Morozova sisters invincible.
“As some of you may know, Universe once developed a game called Eastern Battlefield. An accident during testing prevented its release, but it laid the foundation for Frontline Archive. Ms. Victoria here was the model for one of the protagonists back then, ‘Victoria Chernakoshka.’ Since it was still in testing, they used her real name, I heard.”
It was the moment my near-certain guess was confirmed as fact.
As expected, the old Victoria had been the real-life model for the character I’d possessed, and I’d taken over her body upon her suicide as I returned.
Of course, it was a phenomenon beyond human understanding, and raising questions wouldn’t yield any clear answers.
Judging as much, I silently prayed for the old Victoria’s soul and just listened.
“But in this Frontline Archive update, Eastern Battlefield’s data was used. I checked the data earlier, and the full-scale war mode is essentially identical to Eastern Battlefield. We’ve implemented solid safety measures, of course, but it amounts to reusing a game scrapped due to an accident.”
“If it’s safe, then what’s the problem?”
“The issue is reusing the NPC AI unchanged. It looks fine now, but over time, the NPCs will start regaining their memories. That means the NPCs around you, Sukka, will sense something off.”
“Could you explain that more simply?”
“The NPCs will mistake you for someone else—for Victoria Chernakoshka, the protagonist of Eastern Battlefield. You only customized your avatar by 1%. If your face had changed over four years, the NPCs might not recognize you, but according to Director Han Jin-tae, you haven’t aged a bit.”
“Oh dear....”
In short, all my comrades, including Irina, had been revived, and soon they’d recall the memories of our time together.
The anticipation of reuniting with old comrades clashed with the despair of potentially losing them again—a heartbreaking conflict.
I had no idea why they’d pushed through such a reckless patch.
I bit my lip to swallow my rage, knowing any words would unleash a torrent of profanity.
“Then Sukka just shouldn’t do full-scale war mode, right?”
“Pardon?”
A woman with a cold demeanor spoke up, arms crossed.
I hadn’t caught her name since I wasn’t paying close attention, but she was the Content Planning Team Leader.
Her suggestion was so worthless it didn’t even merit a glance.
As I ignored her completely, she pressed on with an irritating attitude.
“Without Sukka, things can proceed as originally planned, no?”
“W-Well, yes, but... Sukka has already suffered because of our company. We can’t force her if it’s just a request.”
“Suffered? What kind of suffering?”
“I heard her acting career was disrupted due to the Eastern Battlefield incident.”
“Hasn’t that already been compensated? She must’ve gotten everything she could. Right, Sukka?”
The team leader tapped the table to get my attention.
It was as if she were demanding, ‘You got compensated, so why make a fuss now?’
But I had no memory of receiving any compensation from Universe.
That might’ve been fine for the old Victoria, but I couldn’t stomach this unfair treatment.
Of course, the two women here—the planning and PR team leaders—likely had no direct involvement in the Eastern Battlefield incident.
Still, since the planning team leader had fired the first shot, I responded with equal sharpness.
“I have no memory of receiving compensation.”
“Really? I saw it before the meeting. The tech director gifted you up to a 5th-gen device, didn’t he? And since it was from the company, doesn’t that count as compensation?”
“I suffer from amnesia. So I really don’t remember.”
“Huh? Amnesia?”
“Yes. Probably from the shock. But no need to worry—I’m getting steady psychological counseling. I don’t plan to make an issue of the stalking caused by Universe either.”
“S-Stalking? What does that have to do with our company?”
“The stalker’s one of the Eastern Battlefield incident victims. He approached after learning I was the character model. He came to my house, left death threat letters, and lately he’s even trying to kill me in-game.”
“.......”
The planning team leader shut her mouth at my response.
She coughed awkwardly and looked away, clearly regretting butting in.
But I had no intention of letting her off that easily.
Leaning back in my chair, I launched into a full interrogation.
“I don’t like this attitude of trying to settle it with compensation either. Is there a law saying I can’t play the game? Seeing me as just a business partner because we worked together once is a problem. A big corporation shouldn’t bully an innocent user like this.”
“A, no... I was just suggesting an easy fix... um....”
“Do you really think that was an easy fix? I stream too, you know. I even collab with a YouTuber who has over 500,000 subscribers. Forcing a user like that not to play—does that sound easy to you? To me, it looks like the team leader made a mistake.”
“I’m sorry... It was a thoughtless comment....”
One slip of the tongue, and the planning team leader was thoroughly dressed down, tucking her tail between her legs.
She’d been a cold career woman moments ago; now she looked like a drenched puppy.
Of course, I could somewhat understand her behavior.
They wouldn’t invite a regular user to an emergency strategy meeting, so she must’ve seen me as a business partner.
Probably planning to guilt me with my past responsibility as a model.
Or maybe she’d underestimated me, mistaking me for a naive little girl.
“V-Victoria! Is it true you’re being stalked? You should’ve told me if something like that happened!”
Then Han Jin-tae jumped in, replacing the cowed team leader.
He seemed worried, perhaps from his closeness to the old Victoria, but to me, it rang false—a mere act.
Especially since he’d been the overall director for Eastern Battlefield; I couldn’t view him positively.
I replied indifferently, face blank.
“Yes, it’s true. One of the Eastern Battlefield testers wants me dead. You even announced to all the testers that I was the model. They must’ve identified my face and identity from that.”
“Uh, w-well... I still have the testers’ numbers in my contacts. Tell me the stalker’s features, and I’ll handle it right away.”
“No need—don’t touch it for now. I have unfinished business with the stalker. Don’t botch it by meddling clumsily.”
“Ah, okay....”
“But thanks for the coffin gift. I’m using it well while gaming.”
“Huh? Coffin? I sent a VR device....”
“Oh, I attempted suicide inside the VR device. Sealed tight, so carbon monoxide poisoning seemed ideal. That’s actually when I lost my memories. Body survived, but mind died—so half a success. That’s why I call it the coffin.”
“.......”
As my explanation ended, Han Jin-tae collapsed to his knees like he’d been struck.
The others just gave me pitying looks.
It seemed Han Jin-tae was the only one here tied to the Eastern Battlefield incident.
Given how the once-famous figure had been demoted to tech director, the rest of the minor players had probably been fired.
Still, having taken down two already secured me a clear advantage.
The Morozova sisters’ safety was now effectively guaranteed.
“So why did you call me here? To dredge up bad memories?”
I asked, mimicking the world’s most annoying uncle.
No pipe handy, so I settled for sucking my thumb like a makeshift substitute.
Old Uncle Stalin had struck this pose when I was truly furious.
I remembered wanting to leap across the table and flick his forehead.
But it probably wouldn’t come off as intended.
Sure enough, mistaking it for an attempt to lighten the mood, Hwarang gave a wry smile.
“We’d like to ask you to act, Sukka.”
“Act?”
“Yes. We’d like you to play Victoria Chernakoshka from Eastern Battlefield.”
“Pardon?”
They wanted me to act as myself.
What kind of wordplay was this?