Chapter 22

Jin-Hyeok, Jin-Sol, and Jae-Hyeon left the Sareoga Mart Dungeon and sat at one of the nearby cafes. Jin-Hyeok turned off his stream, assuming that such a simple, everyday activity wouldn't make for the most captivating watch for the viewers.

"Do you mean two dealers?"[1] Jae-Hyeon asked.

"We'll need at least two," Jin-Hyeok said.

For starters, they had to be trustworthy and have some sort of guarantee about their abilities.

"Can't you be one of those damage dealers, Hyung?" Jae-Hyeon asked.

"I'm a Streamer, though."

"..."

"We can't have a Streamer fighting on the frontlines, can we now?"

Sure, he could say it again! Jin-Hyeok was no longer the Sword King, but a Streamer.

Jae-Hyeon remained silent for a few moments before speaking up.

"Is that really what you think?"

"Of course it's what I think."

"I've never seen a stronger dealer than you up 'till now."

"That's because we're still in the newbie Fields."

Jin-Hyeok was still convinced that no such thing as a 'Almighty Jack of All Trades' existed in this world. That sounded like a joke.

He could say this with such confidence because he had stood at the pinnacle—at least on the dimension of Earth—of the singular art known as swordsmanship. All of his companions, like him, reached the pinnacle of their respective fields, but were in turn just an absolute embarrassment in some other fields.

"Does being good at soccer translate into being good at basketball?" Jin-Hyeok clarified. He didn't think he'd be able to sustain this level of damage for long. This type of output could only be sustained up to Level 100 at most, if at all.

Without a doubt, Jin-Hyeok was certain of this based on his previous experiences. Regardless, all streamers who attempted to play a combatant class died in battle around Level 100. 

"...We have to get a dealer."

"I noticed things like notice boards and such popping up," Jae-Hyeon suggested.

Indeed, there was an increasing trend of players reaching out to others looking for comrades through a variety of online communities. Egan Paul's Avengers Army was one such example.

"Right... we can start looking at them," Jin-Hyeok suggested.

Someone approached their table at that point: a serious-faced looking plump Westerner.

It was a familiar face to Jin-Hyeok.

'Joseph?'

He was starting out as Egan Paul's manager at the time, but he would eventually be referred to as a "Star Maker" in later years.

Over time, so-called Star Players would amass wealth and prestige, as well as a level of fame that surpassed that of typical celebrities. Of course, their average lifespan was brief, but the point was that Joseph would be the mastermind behind an abundance of future Star Players. The same Joseph appeared in front of him now, accompanied by an interpreter.

"Do you happen to be that famous streamer I've heard so much about?"

'Famous?' Jin-Hyeok contemplated himself.

"Nope."

"Lies. I've seen these two faces, clear as day." Joseph glanced at Mok Jae-Hyeon and Cha Jin-Sol in turn.

"You've seen them? Where?"

"On Eltube. It seems that SSP is integrated with it."

Jin-Hyeok admitted that it surprised him. He had no idea that SSP videos could be viewed on Earth this early after the Catastrophe.

Jin-Hyeok could never completely conceal his identity due to the nature of his job. It was the same story with Mystery Box, who had attempted to cloak himself in darkness. People could find the face behind the screen of any Streamer if they really wanted to.

'However, I didn't expect someone to find me this easily in this day and age...'

Joseph showed Jin-Hyeok his phone. SSP, as he said, was already fully integrated into Eltube.

[LVL 25/ Love, Memories, Longing★/ Scout/ Skills/ Racing Toward a New World]

Jin-Hyeok realized Joseph was most likely here for the 'Race to Find a New Name of Fame.' On the other hand, he couldn't stand reading the Awakened name any longer. Of course, Joseph's original name after Awakening was most likely not in Korean, but in English.

Of course, it is impossible to fully translate the nuances and feelings expressed in one language to another. However, the system made every effort to translate Awakened names in real time. This meant that the system determined that this was the closest equivalent to the original meaning.

Yes, this monstrosity of a name that surely crammed as many words as possible into the word limit, complete with a finishing touch of a star (★).

It didn't end there though. He didn't seem to be all there mentally.

[#glimpsing the makings of a star #this boy's potential touches the sky★ #oh my gosh]

Jin-Hyeok felt he needed to keep some distance from him.

"I'll get straight to the point. Work with me. I will make you a star."

"..."

"A diamond in the rough such as yourself, shines their brightest when they meet an agent that's thoughtful and sensitive to emotion, such as myself."

Jin-Hyeok couldn't believe he had just called himself thoughtful and sensitive to emotion. This was Mr. Love, Memories, Longing plus-a-star speaking.

That was enough of associating with this man.

"You've got the wrong person."

Jin-Hyeok stood up from his seat. Joseph yelled in English, "Wait, wait," but Jin-Hyeok had no intention of getting involved in Joseph's business. Jin-Hyeok, as he had repeatedly told himself, desired to be third place rather than first.

Even if his heart was constantly pleading to him to reach the top, Jin-Hyeok believed he possessed the ability to completely suppress those desires. Naturally, he had no desire to become a celebrity.

He had already been a star in his previous life and knew what a constricting way of life it was. There was no such thing as a private life, and you had to live with the constant feeling that you were being watched every single day.

'In fact, I remember two of the Star Players he does branding for ended up committing double suicide in the previous timeline.'

It was a fairly well-known incident in Korea because the Star Players in question were Koreans, and had the memorable fact of being a pair of twin sisters. 

According to Jin-Hyeok's memory, the Star Players were both assassin class damage dealers with the 8-Star Job Shadow Executioner, or something along those lines.

'Hm?'

While his Broadcaster's Truesight was activated, Jin-Hyeok was taking a quick scan of his surroundings when he noticed two ladies outside through the cafe window.

[LVL 24/ Unnie[2] Shadow/ Shadow Executioner (Right)/ Skills/ Remove the 7th Mark]

[LVL 24/ Dongsaeng[3] Shadow/ Shadow Executioner (Left)/ Skills/ Remove the 7th Mark]

'Speaking of the devils…'

The text of their Jobs were in orange. They both had 8-Star Jobs.

'Okay, let's try talking to them first.'

Without actively seeking them out, players with 8-Star Jobs were difficult to find. According to statistics, they were in the top 5% of Job star ratings.

For Cha Jin-Hyeok, however, it went without saying that they didn't seem all that special because he had previously been surrounded entirely by 9-Starrers. He turned and started walking towards them.

"Wait!" 

Jin-Hyeok felt a presence let out a cry and encroached on him from behind. Jin-Hyeok snatched the approacher's sleeves and raised his entire weight over Jin-Hyeok's shoulder.

'Oh, oops... I accidentally did a shoulder throw without thinking.'

This was why habits were so frightening. Jin-Hyeok had sparred extensively with the Martial King, Kim Jeong-Hyeon, in the past, and much of that time was spent training in hand-to-hand combat as a backup in case Jin-Hyeok was caught without his blade.

Perhaps he lacked in comparison to Kim Jeong-Hyeon, but that didn't mean Jin-Hyeok couldn't overpower more ordinary people, as he was doing right now.

THUMP!

'F*ck, my body is screaming at me.'

Jin-Hyeok was certain he heard a crack from his own hip. With just that one throw, every fiber in his body complained. To be fair, Jin-Hyeok assumed Joseph was a 190 cm tall man with a large frame and a weight close to 110 kg.

'I'm not sure whether I should cry because this was enough to strain my body, or rejoice because I could even throw Joseph in the first place with this untrained Streamer physique,' Jin-Hyeok said. 'I mean, I guess Joseph isn't a combatant class Player, so I got a little sloppy...'

Jin-Hyeok believed that if he was still a combatant class Player, he wouldn't have forgotten to properly establish his center of gravity before attempting the shoulder throw. Plus, if he was still a combatant, he would have done a lot of martial arts-related exercise... and there's a good chance he wouldn't be suffering like he was right now.

'Yeah, that's right... I can cut some slack for myself on this kind of sloppiness. I haven't even exercised or trained properly.'

Even Jin-Hyeok could overlook a weakling like his current self on this occasion.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

When Joseph was flying through the air over Jin-Hyeok's shoulder, it felt like time had stopped.

'Huh?'

A lot of different thoughts flashed by in that moment.

In truth, Joseph had been a wrestling athlete until he graduated high school, and was even a wrestling state champion at one point. No matter how much he may have not expected this situation or let his guard down, he never imagined he would be helplessly tossed about like this.

"My apologies. I don't really like it when people approach me from behind."

Jin-Hyeok offered a hand. With a dumbfounded look, Joseph accepted it and stood up with Jin-Hyeok's assistance.

'Nothing popped up on him excelling in any physical activity when I was doing my research…'

If that was the case, Jin-Hyeok's finesse had come from his prowess and Playing ability as a Player.

However, Jin-Hyeok was a Streamer. His Job, like Joseph's, was of the non-combatant class. Joseph had discovered something at that point, thanks to his almost primal level of intuition and gut feelings.

'He's a dual-class Player!'

His primary Job had to be Martial Artist, so Streamer was his secondary Job. That's the conclusion Joseph made.

Jin-Hyeok was on his way out after apologizing and helping Joseph up. Joseph used his Skill 'Potential Evaluation' to focus on Jin-Hyeok's back.

'Wait a minute, what?'

Joseph felt dizzy all of a sudden. It appeared as if the entire universe had been sucked into a single point, particularly at Jin-Hyeok's back. Only Jin-Hyeok sparkled with dazzling light in this complete darkness, so bright that Joseph couldn't look at him properly.

Before, the twin sisters Joseph saw lingering around seemed to have some significant potential as well... but now, any thoughts about those two had faded from his mind, leaving only Jin-Hyeok.

'This is absurd.'

This was similar to the glow of a firefly being dwarfed by the light of the sun. Jin-Hyeok was the sun, and everyone else, including Joseph, was nothing but pitter-pattering fireflies.

Joseph swallowed. 'I need to recruit him into the Avengers Army. No matter what.'

Egan Paul's Avengers Army—the most elite of teams—began with his selective recruitment of rankers from all over the world, and this Player, Kim Chul-Soo, had to be included as well.

And Jin-Hyeok's potential was not only limited to his ability as a Player.

'With those looks, I see the makings of a massive star.'

Joseph was certain that a new age would arrive once society had adapted to the System and it had become just another part of daily life. And he was equally certain that Jin-Hyeok would be more than a star, but an icon of this new era, embodying its zeitgeist[4].

Though by Joseph's standards, Jin-Hyeok looked far too slender and flimsy for his liking, there was no question that he had the face, the looks, of someone who was simply made for stardom.

But from Joseph's perspective, it seemed that Jin-Hyeok himself hadn't had the self-awareness to realize this yet.

'It definitely looks to be that way, seeing as how he doesn't reveal his face on stream.' Joseph's heart steeled with resolve. 'I'll be the one to make him see. I'll help him break out of this shell he's made for himself and soar.'

Joseph had the confidence to market Jin-Hyeok the right way, and make him into a shining global star. A worldwide hero.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Dealers[1]: An abbreviation of damage dealers, and is a term for classes in games that are focused on dealing damage to enemies.

Unnie[2]: Korean term for a slightly older female that is used by females only. It can be used for both filial and non-filial relationships and friendships.

Dongsaeng[3]: Korean term for someone who is younger, either male or female, and can be used by both genders. It can be used for both filial and non-filial relationships and friendships.

Zeitgeist[4]: A German word that means "spirit of the times". It describes the general trend of thought, feeling, or tastes characteristic of a particular period of time. Zeitgeist reflects the collective mindset and values of society during that period.