Chapter 97
Chapter 97
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 97
Chapter Title: Game Advertisement
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I almost caused a major incident if things had gone just a little wrong.
It was a situation where either one of them dying wouldn't have been surprising at all.
While I shuddered at the memory of the black-haired man's piercing gaze, the sky suddenly twisted and thunderbolts came crashing down.
─Rumble! Boom!
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Mara Papias bursts into wild laughter. The main culprit made his appearance right away.
"Fuck. Was that you?"
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Mara Papias sheds tears of emotion upon seeing the successor who pulled off a kidnapping hostage drama straight out of a romance novel. "Not a single normal person around me."
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ Mara Papias is left speechless by the successor even more shameless than himself. "No, what the hell is this!"
The moment I spat out those words, the sky reverted to a cloudy night sky as if nothing had happened.
Crackle, crackle.
"Huu—."
Even as the sky crumpled and threw a tantrum, Baeksul, who took after her owner so perfectly, twisted her entire body in my arms to find a comfy spot.
"Poopy cutie. You stuffed yourself good?"
"Tummy full."
"Good girl."
Baeksul lay sprawled across my arms, belly up.
As I stroked her soft, fluffy fur, I voiced the thought I'd been mulling over.
"Baeksul-ah, I'm a gamer. My pride won't stand for this."
The one game I'd truly loved.
Sure, now tons of people adored it like Baeksul and the viewers, but that didn't change the fact that I loved games.
"Me failing the tutorial? That makes no sense."
She seemed to enjoy the petting, lifting a front paw lazily after melting into a puddle.
And then the world turned upside down.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Not stopping?"
"Hoeeng! Heung, save me!"
"This bastard's almost 9th circle. Fucking grand mage."
The prince with his head jammed into my side had bald patches all over his scalp.
"Even academy kids who ignore status don't touch the empire's star. You sane?"
"This fucker started it! You think I'm some punk? I don't throw first punches lightly, asshole."
"...You're insane."
The black-haired man's hand drifted toward the sword hilt at his waist.
"Wait!!"
"What."
Sensing battle countdown, I hit 'em with a quick "stop," and he halted right on cue.
"You got black hair, so you seem like the protagonist."
"What nonsense is that?"
"That's how it usually goes. You the duke's son or something?"
"You know your stuff."
Everything was falling into place smoothly.
"That silver-hair next to you's your lackey or some earl or marquis, right."
"You pulled this stunt knowing that?"
My gaze naturally shifted to the blond upon his confirmation.
Click.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
"This was supposed to be romance. Fuck, a threesome?"
"Mage? What's that?"
The knights crowding me whipped out their swords the second I pulled an item from my subspace.
"What's this? A direct ticket to Hong Kong for fantasy locals, courtesy of Grandpa Kamarr."
"Suspicious item I've never seen. Battle stations, everyone. Prince's safety first."
"I'll shoot softly. Won't hurt."
I pressed the gun barrel to the blond's temple and tossed out the question burning in my mind.
"Hoeang-ah, got any siblings?"
"Y-yes! Two more besides me. So please."
He sold out his siblings without hesitation at my one word. This country's days were numbered.
"You're the dumbass role, one of the other two's pulling black curtain strings in the shadows, and the last one's got zero interest in the throne, right?"
"Exactly right."
"Fucking predictable plot."
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
📜 TUTORIAL COMPLETE 📜 Grasping the Story - Complete Yep. I really was a gamer.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 💬 Stream Chat — ⚔️Leader Hi ⚔️Leader hi — Viewer Baeksul hi — ⚔️Leader Fan ⚔️Han boss dazzling, shades down!! "Why down."
— Viewer ⚔️Need more sleep — Viewer Then go sleep. — Viewer ⚔️Turn off stream to sleep — Viewer lol "These guys are chaotic right from the morning."
Morning greetings with the viewers injected chaos and energy in equal measure.
— Viewer So what today? — ⚔️Han Boss Fan ⚔️Han boss scored some good gear? "Ah, of course. You doubting me?"
— Viewer ⚔️lol trust 100% I switched the zoomed-in screen back to normal, revealing the filming set that had been hidden behind me.
"Ta-da. This is Three Games' headquarters."
— Viewer Why there? — Viewer ⚔️Contracted there before — Viewer Oh leader baller lol "And right here is Three Games' chief director who kindly allowed today's shoot. Give him a hand."
"Hello, viewers. I'm TG Chief Director Park Sung-woo."
— ⚔️Hater ⚔️tch tch tch — Viewer wtf this dude here lol — Viewer tch tch — ⚔️Info Guy ⚔️Shooting day today? "Yeah. Got the call last night that prep was done, so I came straight over."
— Viewer lol look at that hustle After wrapping up greetings with the viewers, I mounted my phone and dove into shoot prep.
"Ga-eul-ssi. Please change into this."
"Sure."
Way more people were involved in the shoot than I'd imagined.
Hair, makeup, wardrobe.
Lighting team, sound team, camera team.
Prop management team.
Dozens hustled around breathlessly.
"Ga-eul-ssi! Too round-faced."
"What do you mean?"
"Looks like an angry baby lamb. This is a battlefield. Sharpen up that vibe a bit."
— ⚔️Lol Guy ⚔️lololol baby lamb — Viewer ⚔️Our leader's cute af lol "Like a snapshot. Forget the camera, act natural."
"Got it!"
The director's instructions poured out like water after that.
The efforts and gazes of countless people zeroed in on me.
"Perfect. Photo shoot for the finale. This'll go top of the Panic Field homepage and the game launcher image."
"Yes! I'll give it my all."
"Great. Haha, loving it. With a model like you, every shot's a magazine spread."
I'd just done as told, but the praise from the director left me quietly pleased.
"Ga-eul-ssi. Photos in this outfit."
I donned the clothes the stylist brought and checked the mirror—surprisingly plain military uniform.
"Director. All changed."
"Whoa. Suits you perfectly."
"Thanks. I actually have a military uniform."
"Pardon?"
"Feels kinda bland. What if we add my name tag and a few patches?"
The director looked baffled, but nodded when I showed him my own uniform.
"Nice idea. Can't use unit crests or insignia, though."
"Figured."
I velcroed on the name tag and jumped straight into photos.
Snap.
"Good."
Snap.
"Perfect."
Shooting wrapped only after "good" started echoing in my ears like an auditory hallucination.
"Huu. Guys, turns out not just anyone can do this. Way harder than it looks."
— Viewer ⚔️Did great tho — Viewer Yeah looked cool leader As I caught my breath post-photos, Director Park Sung-woo approached.
"Ga-eul-ssi, great work."
"I just followed orders. Everyone else busted their asses."
"Creating a good set vibe is a win in itself. Everyone's singing your praises."
"Aw, embarrassing."
— Viewer ⚔️shy — Viewer ⚔️haha shy "And we're not quite done."
"What's left?"
Drained to the bone, I stared as Director Park waved a contract in my face.
"Ga-eul-ssi, we agreed on your character release. Time to record lines."
"Ah..."
— ⚔️Lol Guy ⚔️lolololol — Viewer ⚔️Leader fighting! Chicken hits different today — Viewer ⚔️Gulp watching leader grind makes it digest Thankfully, no super long lines.
Mostly stuff from the script Director Park had given me before—just recite after seeing the character's action once.
"Ga-eul-ssi, your voice is too perfect. That's the problem. Character's playful unlike the ad, so amp up the mischief."
"Got it!"
— Viewer Why we stuck with black screen? — Viewer ⚔️Character release under wraps — ⚔️Whale ⚔️Will 100% buy leader char lol — Viewer Gacha rates tho lol "Kyaha! Double kill! Nyah-nyah! Triple kill!"
Once I got into the groove mid-recording, the director's voice came through my earphones.
─Great work. You can come out now.
"Okay."
Thud.
I pushed open the booth door, and Director Park approached with a grin.
"Solid work. That's really it."
"Ah, thank you."
"Haha. Rough, huh?"
"Yeah. First time, so it's kicking my ass."
As he showered me with praise, he pulled an envelope from his pocket and handed it over.
"What's this?"
"Baeksul's ad fee. Not supposed to hand it cash like this, but no separate contract, so."
A peek at my character model showed a white rabbit perched on its head.
"Oh, thanks."
As I sneaked a glance at the amount inside the envelope, Director Park handed over another item.
It looked like a contract sheaf.
"And this?"
"TG's rolling out a massive RPG patch. Wondering if you'd do a little promo."
"Huh? Like how?"
"Just play it casually on stream. Bonus if you mention stuff you like about it."
"Ah, games are my jam. Easy peasy."
"Awesome, looking forward to it."
Taking the contract jogged a memory of the favor I owed Unnie Euna.
"Director..."
— ⚔️Panic ⚔️Han boss darkening!! — Viewer ⚔️Shades up!!! ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ─Kya! Ga-eul-ah, thanks! Never dreamed I'd land a Three Games ad.
"Yeah. And the contract? Sent it to your MCN or whatever—that celeb agency thing."
─Yup. Manages platform creators.
"They're no scammers, so should be fine."
─Duh, of course. What kinda place is TG?
"Right? Anyway, got the same ad gig, so let's link up once you're bigger."
─Got it! Catch ya soon!
"Onya."
Unnie Euna was way more hyped than expected, putting me in a great mood too.
I ended the call on a high and fired up the stream right away.
💬 Stream Chat — ⚔️Yeller ⚔️Yo leader!! — Viewer ⚔️Han boss keep ghosting we'll be sad? The welcoming viewers doubled my joy.
"Hello, viewers. Gonna play a game today."
— Viewer ???? — Viewer ⚔️Ad? — Viewer ⚔️Homework vibes — Viewer ⚔️That tone screams homework "Fuck, you guys are sharp."
— Viewer lolololololol — Viewer Dude hilarious lol True to their internet-honed instincts, they nailed it the second I opened my mouth.
"Ahem ahem. The instant-flop sequel to Helon Chronicles: Adrine Online! From venerable TG, right?"
— ⚔️Diss Master ⚔️Insane leader it's an ad — Viewer ⚔️Ad co crying their asses off lol — Viewer ⚔️Straight-up roasts game dev lol — ⚔️Apologist ⚔️Sorry sorry sorry devs our kid's new to game ads "Settings while it downloads?"
The homepage auto-played a video with a quick story rundown.
"Goddess Adrine summoning heroes. Wow, sounds fun."
— Viewer ⚔️Why tf give ad to leader? Truly clueless — Viewer Chaos lol While poking around the site with viewers, the install finished with a popup.
Logged in with my usual streamer nickname post-setup.
Han Ga-eul (Silver) is already in use. "Who sniped it."
— Viewer ⚔️Leader ad ad — Viewer lol sniped fast af "Who took it, I say."
Had to make a new one.