Chapter 122
"Was this really a national match?" JiHan asked.
"Yes… It's what happened yesterday."
"How disheartening."
Yoon-sik was at a loss for words. He also felt that their defeat was pitiful. He'd originally planned to persuade JiHan that it wasn't the right time for him to join the national team since he was a Gold.
'We'll keep losing anyway at this rate, so why not give him a chance?'
"Since they're Warriors on the national team, I originally thought one or two would be capable of beating me, but…"
Even though he had a unique stat, there were about 150 levels of difference between them. Not only did people in the top Leagues have better classes, but they also had all sorts of skills. National representatives should've been able to compete with him. Despite that…
"I think I can beat them all," he confidently said as he watched the national team again.
"Ah… B-but isn't that still…"
"I was honestly asking myself how a Gold could become a national representative, but this video makes me think it's doable."
"Ah, then… Are you considering joining the national team?" Yoon-sik asked.
"If I'm selected, then yes. I'd do it."
"Ah…"
Yoon-sik was angry at the national team. Why couldn't they have done a better job in that match?
"Though I understand how this matter could be quite troublesome from the Administration's perspective," JiHan said. "I'm still in Gold, and despite the 300k signatures on the petition, you could face a lot of backlash if I was selected."
"Yes, that's true…"
"I don't want to face that kind of criticism from joining the national team."
"Then…"
"Therefore, I figured I'd make a 'diligent' personal appeal on my guild channel."
'What are you trying to do?' Yoon-sik thought as he gave JiHan a nervous look. It's not like he could tell him, the envy of the world and most popular player, not to.
The Administration and JiHan's relationship had completely flipped after the previous General Manager was fired, after all.
"U-understood…"
Yoon-sik had originally gone to persuade JiHan against joining the team, but all he could do in the end was give a drained response.
* * *
[Distributing Guild Points with the Owner~!]
The Bloom Guild's channel started a stream for the first time in a while.
"Hello~ Everyone~" HaYeon greeted the viewers with a bright smile, waving to the camera.
- Oh~ It's been a while since the last guild stream.
- Watching HaYeon purifies my eyes.
- Please, stream more often!
- Do a vlog, guild master!
HaYeon, who was second in popularity on the channel after JiHan, made a V with her fingers and smiled. "A vlog sounds good~ I'll try it sometime! Now, it's time for our guild's much-anticipated point investment video!"
- Did you already receive guild points?
- It makes sense. Guild points are calculated on the 1st of each month.
- But it's a new guild that just formed a month ago. It's hard for a new guild to get points…
You were initially given 10 points after creating a guild. After that, points were given or taken from a guild by Battle Net each month, depending on the guild's performance.
Several criteria were evaluated to determine performance, but the most important thing was how well the guild members had performed in the top Leagues, though guild channel subscriber count and views were also taken into account.
"We received a whopping… two points!"
- Wasn't the Bloom Guild composed of Silvers and Bronzes until last month? Hahaha.
- They already got points?
- That's probably because so many people subscribed to their channel.
- Still, two points is impressive.
- Isn't it because JiHan won the 'Top 100'?
"Okay, let's bring in the owner to decide how to invest these points! Please applaud!"
JiHan entered the frame as HaYeon clapped.
"Hello, everyone."
- God King JiHan's here!
- I enjoyed today's game~ You're still unmatched~ Of course… Now… You're someone… Who has to be 1st… Always…
The chat flooded with greetings as soon as he appeared.
- Mr. Sung! Please, represent our country! We're going to end up in last place at this rate ㅠㅠ.
- People from The First are acting like this here as well.
- Of course we are. It only makes sense to let him know.
- Firsties, stop.
- Firsties? What's that?
- He's talking about the 'The First' members that spammed that petition.
- For real. How could a Gold become a national representative? They should stop exaggerating.
The chat was in chaos.
'I asked HaYeon to mention it later, but it doesn't look like that'll be necessary.'
They were so passionate that he didn't think there was any need for a set-up.
"I'll discuss the matter of the national team after we invest the guild points," he said.
- He's going to give an official response.
- The gates of hell will open, haha.
- Woah, the viewer count just skyrocketed.
- People aren't interested in how he invests the guild points.
Having announced his intention to speak on the issue of joining the national team later, he calmly opened the guild window.
Member Expansion (5/10) - LV.5
Stat Increase (+5 to Every Stat) - LV.5
Growth Rate (+150%) - LV.15
- ??? What's up with the levels?
- Wasn't Growth Rate at 11?
- Did you already use the points?
- There are a total of 12 extra points added since last time!
They were all confused when they saw the guild window. How could the levels be like that?
Seeing their confusion, JiHan said, "Ah, the extra stats are from an item I got. It gives +4 to each option."
- Ah! So he has an item that increases the level of each option!
- There's no way such an item exists.
- For real. He just earned 12 points.
- Mr. Gates would even pay him $100 million for such an item if it existed.
- 100 million? I think he'd pay more.
"Well, the guild office would burn down if I took it out… Ah, but I can do it like this. Do you all want to see?"
Instead of taking the Phoenix Flag out, he just changed the item's options in his inventory to publicly show and revealed its specs to them on stream.
[Phoenix Flag]
Rank: SSS
- A flag used by the Phoenix's successor, the first Khan of the Wind Kingdom.
- Holds the projected heat of the Phoenix Arrow.
- When planted on the battlefield, increases the stats of nearby party members and allies by 25%.
- As an additional effect, increases all guild buff levels by 4 if the user is the owner or master of a guild.
"The system gave me a pretty good reward after the incident last time."
- Woah.
- That's crazy, hahaha.
- This is the spear he was using, right? The one that invoked that bird.
- It was a phoenix, you $#^%.
- Hyung-nim~ ^^ Do you, by any chance, know a cheat code for Battle Net~ ^^;
- Please share if you do!
Donations poured in after he revealed the item.
Bababam-!
[R.E. Gates has donated 100,000 GP.]
As usual, Gates donated 100K GP.
[Player Sung! Please, sell that item to America First! We'll pay a billion USD for it!]
- LMAO, Gates jumped in right away.
- Who said something about 100 million? I told you there's no way he'd offer just that, right?
- Woah, he's throwing a billion around, lol. He offered JiHan a contract for 300 million last time as well.
- The spear is more expensive than its owner!
The chatroom fell into chaos again, then…
Bababam-!
[Zhang Si Cong has donated 100,000 GP.]
[The People's Association will purchase the Phoenix Flag for two billion dollars. Player Sung, we look forward to your wise decision.]
Things heated up even more with the entrance of a competitor.
- Whoah, the People's Association is joining in?
- The offer was doubled immediately.
- What does it say in Chinese?
- Zhang Si Cong, one of the People's Association's top members… So they're watching the stream, too.
[R.E. Gates has donated 100,000 GP.]
[I apologize, player Sung. It seems that I've underestimated the value of the Phoenix Flag. I'll buy it for three billion dollars. Please, sell it to me!]
[Zhang Si Cong has donated 100,000 GP.]
[In that case, we'll offer four billion dollars. Furthermore, we promise to always pay a billion more than whatever America First offers.]
A game of purchasing power involving the US and China's pride started on his guild channel, and JiHan waved his hand in response.
"I won't sell it, so stop donating."
"But… Mr. Sung," HaYeon said, "there's no need to refuse donations…"
"I can still do it, right?"
"Yes…"
- Ahh! A channel that rejects donations!
- And donations that are 100K each at that, hahaha.
- Look at HaYeon's expression… She seems to regret it more than him.
- Even I'm feeling that way, hahaha. Shouldn't he take advantage of it and earn more foreign money?
- A 100K donation battle…
It would have been a big deal in the past, but money wasn't an issue for him anymore since he'd reached Gold and consistently won high-stakes bets on himself. He was quite wealthy.
"Well… Anyway, back to the main topic. Our guild will go all-in on growth rate. We mustn't forget that we're a development-type guild in the first place."
He closed the Phoenix Flag's description and added the two points to the guild's Growth Rate.
Growth Rate (+170%) - LV.17
True to the guild's original intention, it was a huge boost.
"As you can see, with the additional effect of the Phoenix Flag, we can now accept 20 more members, our Growth Rate is higher than ever, and many of our members are experiencing stat boosts…"
He gave HaYeon the cue, and she spoke up and said, "If you're interested, please contact our guild at any time and I'll sincerely answer!"
Ideally, the stream should have ended there, but JiHan wasn't done.
"About the national representative thing…"
- Ah, is he finally getting to the point?
- It doesn't feel like the main point because of the Phoenix Flag, hahaha.
- For real, what a crazy item!
"I saw a petition from the public asking that I, a Gold, become a national representative. I'm thankful for the interest, but I thought it was still too early…"
- As expected, he won't do it.
- Yes. He'll reach Diamond soon enough anyway.
- Aah… How sad.
- There's no point in him joining right now. He'd end up being criticized.
Rather than being selected while in Gold, people thought it was a better idea to wait to get promoted to Diamond and, that way, avoid being criticized.
There was something that they didn't know, though…
They didn't know how much he craved achievement points.
"Those were my thoughts until I saw our game against Taiwan."
- Huh…?
- The vibe's weird.
"When I saw that, I realized…" He smiled and pointed to himself. "There isn't a single Warrior in our national team right now who's stronger than me."
Next, he challenged the national team itself.
"Please arrange a place for me to prove myself against the Warriors of the national team.
That's how he ended his 'diligent' appeal.
"That's my stance on the matter."
- Woah, hahaha.
- What insane confidence!
- I never imagined he'd say that, hahaha!
- "If you don't like it, come and fight me."
- He just gave the national team an ultimatum to 'meet him outside', lol.
The stream ended up all over the news headlines.