Chapter 11

Within the Twin Star Guild HR Department's Third Division Executive Manager's room…

"Pff, hahaha. You asked for his number, and he said… what? He doesn't know his phone number?" Lee HaYeon, the Executive Manager, burst into laughter after she saw the footage Im GaYeong had brought.

"Unlike the young lady, I'm not beautiful… I look like a man, so that's understandable," GaYeong said while making a poker face. 

She was tall and had short hair. Her body had lean muscles and gave off a boyish aura, but those things and 'looking like a man' were completely different. 

'Gosh… it seems like she doesn't know how popular she is.'

HaYeon chuckled and waved her hand. "GaYeong, don't say things like that elsewhere. People will mock you."

"No. I'm well aware of this. Even in high school, only girls liked me."

"You went to an all-girls high school…"

"Well, that's true, but—"

HaYeon clapped. "That's enough. He's the first one. Let's move on."

"But you're the one who made fun of me first…"

"What?"

"Nothing."

HaYeon smiled and typed on her keyboard. "More importantly. After seeing the data you brought, I think we must recruit him at all costs."

"Even if he's a Support?"

"Yes. If he's this capable, we need to have him before other guilds set their eyes on him. Also, I finally remembered who he is."

"You know him?"

HaYeon pointed to the monitor. "Look at this."

"This is…"

A video caught GaYeong's attention. 

- Battle Net fortune teller, Mr. Sung's channel

"Miss… Do you still watch videos like this?" GaYeong looked at HaYeon with cold eyes.

Despite being the daughter of a rich family, why was the lady so obsessed with channels related to gambling? 

Lee HaYeon waved her hand. "This guy is quite accurate. He's not that well-known because he doesn't stream consistently, but if he did, he would be quite famous."

"A prediction community? You mean people that frequent illegal gambling sites?"

"No, this isn't illegal gambling. It involves collecting Battle Net data and making a decision regarding Battle Net game results… It's a field full of sophisticated analysis!"

"Haa… So, what's the connection between this gambler and JiHan?"

"L-look at this." She quickly moved her mouse and scrolled down through Mr. Sung's playlist.

"His face briefly appeared in the seventh video here. I thought he looked better than expected back at the time, but now that I think about it, he resembles JiHan."

"M-miss. Wait a moment…" GaYeong stopped HaYeon, who was quickly scrolling down.

"Hmm? Why?"

"Look at the title of the live broadcast!"

"Huh? It's been a while since he last broadcasted… Eh?"

HaYeon's eyes widened in surprise.

The title of the live broadcast was something she would've never imagined.

[Sword King's brother-in-law and daughter talk about the recent incident. We will reveal the details of the last call and express our position.]

"The Sword King's brother-in-law…?"

* * *

Within the living room of Yoon Sae-jin's penthouse, JiHan, who'd changed into black clothes, was setting up the camera.

'Haa. Convincing her was hard.'

After he'd asked her to donate the Gangnam building her father had left for her to the government…?

- Uncle, are you still drunk…?

Sae-ah's reaction was as expected.

He wouldn't have been surprised if she'd cursed him. Seeing how it ended with just that made him think again that his niece was really kind. 

'I can't tell her that I've seen the future.'

In the end, he told her what could happen.

- Isn't that too much of a leap?

He'd told her all sorts of things to persuade her, such as that there was no way they'd be able to pay the gift tax, that he had a prophetic dream and things could get serious, etc…

- Okay… Uncle, you're my only family now, so I'll trust you.

- Really?

- Yes. Haa. Why didn't you ask me for half? To think that I'd donate this to the government…

She complained, but Sae-ah allowed JiHan to proceed with the plan.

"Ah, it isn't showing up on my phone. Why isn't it working…?" He didn't seem used to setting up the camera.

JiHan tilted his head as he looked at his phone screen and the camera. "This camera worked well last time on Battle Tube…"

Battle Tube was a video streaming platform that existed on Battle Net. It possessed a hyper-technology that allowed one to see and stream videos even with a computer or a smartphone that wasn't connected to the internet. 

Battle Tube had buried all other video platforms that existed on Earth before, and on the other side of the camera…

Sae-ah, who was also wearing black clothes, looked at Sung JiHan in disbelief.

'Since when did he act so well?' Sae-ah had Battle Tube open on her smartphone and saw JiHan pretending to be struggling to turn on the stream there.

- Ah, what's that bastard doing?

- Ugh, how frustrating.

- Isn't he just trying to draw attention?

- But that's really the Sword King's house.

- Yes. I saw it on a Sword King special show before.

The chat window was moving quickly; people were cursing at JiHan, who seemed to be struggling.

It was showing up just fine, so why was he acting like it wasn't?

[Sword King's brother-in-law and daughter talk about the recent incident. We will reveal the details of the last call and express our position.]

The title was too long to be seen at first glance, but many people were entering the streaming room because of it.

- Huh…? That really looks like the Sword King's living room.

- I thought it was a troll, but maybe he isn't.

Rumors started to spread, and the number of viewers was increasing. 

[10,000 active viewers have gathered.]

[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Gather Viewers (1)'.]

[You've earned 1,000 achievement points.]

An achievement point notification popped out while JiHan was acting.

'As expected.'

Battle Tube was also part of Battle Net, so there were also ways to earn achievement points there through the number of views, subscribers, likes, dislikes, total views of a video, and so on.

The achievement points that could be earned on Battle Tube were limitless. 

'Completing the dislike achievement will be hard, but I should be able to get plenty this time.'

Videos with too many dislikes didn't pay as much GP as others, but JiHan didn't care about that because achievement points were more important than GP.

He was in Bronze, so he needed to exploit huge issues to get as many achievement points as possible.

'Besides, everyone will be talking about these things soon.'

Even if they didn't say anything, everyone would be talking about it in a week.

Rather than letting the mainstream media profit, he should get some achievement points, and after two hours of struggling…

[30,000 active viewers have gathered.]

[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Gather Viewers (2)'.]

[You've earned 3,000 achievement points.]

[You've received 10,000 dislikes.]

[You've cleared the normal achievement 'Even If The World Hates You (1)'.]

[You've earned 1,000 achievement points.]

He was able to complete both the concurrent viewership achievement and the dislike achievement. It was understandable that people would dislike him after watching him struggle for two hours.

If it weren't related to the Sword King being taken hostage, 99% of the people would've left, but JiHan was regretting that he couldn't complete the second dislike achievement.

Still, it was time to proceed.

As he pressed on his smartphone, the screen appeared properly.

"Ah… It's on!" JiHan acted happy.

"Wh-what? Why are there so many people?" He put on a genuinely surprised expression.

Sae-ah, who was watching from behind the camera, once again admired her uncle's acting skills.

'His face is good, so he should've given an acting career a try…'

The chat window exploded with insults.

- Haa. It seems like this bastard is finally going to start streaming.

- Woah… I waited for 118 minutes.

- I would've denounced the video and left if it weren't for the title.

- Hey, traitor. Hurry up.

- Be careful with your words. The Sword King is faking things right now to deceive the Japanese government.

- Yes, who's the next traitor in line?

"Haha, I'm sorry for making everyone wait." JiHan bowed toward the camera and sat on a chair behind a table he'd prepared beforehand while making a serious expression.

"Now, I'm the Sword King's brother-in-law, Sung JiHan, here with…"

At JiHan's hand gesture, Sae-ah appeared while making a heavy expression.

She'd been admiring her uncle's acting skills, but hers were great as well.

"The Sword King's daughter, Yoon Sae-ah, and we will discuss our public position."

* * *

As JiHan presented himself, the chat window began moving fast again.

- Sung JiHan?

- He's the one who finished 1st in Gangnam 1's tutorial!

People who worked in guilds and watched everything got excited, but the average person was different.

- Making such a fuss for 1st place in the tutorial...

- He's just a Bronze, right? You should at least be a Gold.

Even if he'd come from Gangnam 1, for normal people, a Bronze was still a Bronze. The Battle Net players they knew were people who were at least in the Gold League or above.

Only industry insiders or League fans looked even further down.

- Yes. What matters right now isn't a Bronze.

Contrary to the guild scouts' excitement, ordinary viewers didn't care about JiHan's achievements. Rather, what they cared about was information on the Sword King. 

The world's ranked 3rd, South Korea's pride…

Had the Sword King really betrayed his country and left for Japan?

That's what mattered.

"First… I'll replay the call between my niece and my brother-in-law." JiHan gave Sae-ah a gloomy look. 

Sae-ah, biting her lips, put her smartphone on the table, and the recorded conversation between Sae-jin and Sae-ah was made public for everyone to listen to. 

[Sae-ah.]

[Dad?! It's you, Dad? What was that interview?! You're leaving for Japan without telling me anything?!]

[I'm sorry. Dad… has fallen in love.]

[What…? Love?]

- Love?

- Woah… What a crazy bastard.

- It… it's indeed the Sword King's voice.

- As a Sword King Fan Club member, I can confirm that's indeed his voice.

The Sword King left for Japan because of love?

People began criticizing the Sword King.

[You're joking… right? Love?]

[It's a Japanese woman. She's the most beautiful woman in the world.]

Sae-jin's voice sounded brighter than ever.

In contrast, Yoon Sae-ah's voice sounded sad.

[D-Dad… please… You're joking, right?]

[…]

[Th-that's right! Remarry! You can remarry… After all, Mom passed away… I'm sure you must have been lonely. Okay. My new mom is Japanese? That's okay…]

Gulp.

Was she trying to get hold of her emotions? She audibly gulped.

Her voice became even sadder.

[You can. It's okay. I'll agree with you remarrying… but… there's no reason for us to go to Japan, right?]

[That's her condition for accepting my proposal.]

[Wh-what…?!]

[And…]

Sae-jin stopped for a moment, and then, as if he'd made up his mind, he kept talking in a firm voice.

[She said that I should leave my daughter in Korea.]

[Leave me…?]

[I'm sorry. I won't ask you to understand me.]

[So… Dad, are you going to abandon me?]

[I'll leave you the Sword Palace in Gangnam. You won't have any trouble living. Once again, Sae-ah, I'm sorry.]

[Dad! Dad! D… ad…]

Click. 

With that, the call was cut, and the recorded conversation came to an end.