[Shinhwa Distribution Appoints a New President]
The article about Shinhwa Distribution was brief.
A new president had been appointed.
Though it was called a large corporation, Shinhwa Distribution had little recognition to begin with. Naturally, people did not show much interest.
Having naturally become the President of Shinhwa Distribution, Choi In-gyun could not hide his bewilderment.
“To think I would become the president of an affiliate so easily…… I am truly benefiting from my son.”
“This is only the beginning. Unlike the prestige of the Shinhwa name, Shinhwa Distribution is lacking in both fame and profit.”
“Yes. Even if you bring in good products, Shin-hyeok, people will hesitate if the distributor is unimpressive. Until you grow further, I will establish a solid foundation.”
“Yes, Father. I’ll trust you.”
But In-gyun did not take the opportunity his son had created for granted.
Instead, determined to help Shin-hyeok, he resolved to turn a company that was nothing without the Shinhwa name into a proper business.
Shin-hyeok grinned at Choi In-gyun, who clenched his fist and displayed such burning determination, then rose from his seat.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to properly get started with Dimension Arena now. Se-jin’s matter has been resolved well, so I should return to my main work.”
“Come to think of it, I have not seen you log into Dimension Arena since the Placement Exam.”
“Yes. Matters in reality are important too, but Dimension Arena is what truly matters.”
He was preparing for Dimension Arena.
Shin-hyeok had been so busy meeting Se-jin and handling everything related to him that he had not even been able to log into Dimension Arena.
But now that all the important, major matters had been settled, it was time to return to his main work.
In-gyun patted Shin-hyeok’s shoulder and gave him generous encouragement before putting on his glasses and beginning his work at Shinhwa Distribution.
He looks good in it. As though it had always been his.
Shin-hyeok held back a smile as he saw the old businessman emerge in his father. He returned to his room and checked his status.
“Status Window.”
[Status Window]
Name: Choi Shin-hyeok
Class: All Master [Singular]
(Stats)
Strength: 49 (+43) Vitality: 47 (+43) Intelligence: 47 (+43) Mana: 47 (+43) Holy Power: 1 (+43)
(Traits)
Versatility
Predation
(Skills)
Necromancy [C], Fist Arts [E], Shield, Integrated Weapon Mastery [D], Tracking [E], Metallurgy [D]
“With this, I can definitely hold my own even in Gold Tier.”
A player’s most important assets were their stats, traits, and skills.
But depending on how well they were used, they could be a pearl necklace around a pig’s neck or a twig placed in a Swordmaster’s hand.
In that regard, Shin-hyeok was the latter.
With all the experience from his previous life, Shin-hyeok was confident that he could make more of what he had been given.
Seeing his stats, boosted by his equipped gear to nearly match his base stats, Shin-hyeok could not hide his satisfaction.
“The armor and sword are good too.”
After checking his equipment as well, Shin-hyeok fell asleep while thinking of the Dimension Arena matches he would begin tackling in earnest the next day.
***
The following morning.
Shin-hyeok woke early, enjoyed the meal his mother had prepared, took a quick shower, and equipped his gear.
The growth-type Armor of Absorption, though it was Normal Grade.
Bang Se-jin’s Well-Made Holy Sword, a Unique Grade item.
Once he equipped the two items, Shin-hyeok could feel the stats that had grown until they nearly matched his base stats. Then, he logged into Dimension Arena.
[Welcome to Dimension Arena.]
[Matching an opponent suited to your Tier and MMR.]
Shin-hyeok entered Dimension Arena while looking at the familiar semi-transparent message window. As he waited for an opponent to be matched, he thought about what he needed to do next.
First, I should start streaming.
The most important thing was the broadcast.
More specifically, it was Dimension Broadcasting, linked to Dimension Arena.
It was commonly abbreviated as D.B.C.
Broadcasting was completely at odds with the nature of players, who needed to hide themselves as much as possible, since it showed viewers everything about them playing Dimension Arena.
But there was a reason most players broadcast.
“Achievement Shop.”
[Welcome to the Achievement Shop!]
[Choi Shin-hyeok currently has 7,000 Achievement Points.]
[Achievement: Achieved First Place in Survival] - 1,000 Points
[Achievement: Achieved Most Kills] - 1,000 Points
[Achievement: Achieved a Perfect Play] - 5,000 Points
The Achievement Shop was the reason.
“The achievements I earned during the Placement Exam are rather rewarding.”
He had not expected to earn achievements during the Placement Exam, making their sweet rewards all the more satisfying.
That was especially true considering that ordinary achievements were worth only ten to one hundred points at most.
And the following were what Shin-hyeok could purchase from the Achievement Shop.
[{Class}, {Trait}, {Equipment}, {Draw}, {Other}]
“The most important thing is still Class.”
Of those, Shin-hyeok paid the most attention to the Class section.
[Class Enhancement Ticket [Normal]: 1,000P]
[Class Growth Ticket [Normal]: 10,000P]
“Normal Grade really is cheap.”
In the Class section of the Achievement Shop, he could enhance or develop his Class.
Naturally, the Enhancement Ticket and Growth Ticket of the lowest rank, Normal Grade, were extremely cheap.
“Singular Grade…… Hah, is this not the same as telling me not to buy it?”
[Class Enhancement Ticket [Singular]: 5,000,000P]
[Class Growth Ticket [Singular]: 50,000,000P]
But to enhance or develop All Master [Singular], Shin-hyeok’s Class, he needed Achievement Points that could not even be compared to the Normal Grade cost.
With a bitter smile, Shin-hyeok clicked his tongue inwardly and closed the Achievement Shop.
The prices in the Class and Trait sections were not very different, and there was no need to check the Equipment section because his equipment was already perfect.
The Draw section was too dependent on gambling to waste his few Achievement Points on it.
The Other section sold a variety of items, but there was nothing Shin-hyeok needed right now.
Around the time he had finished thinking that—
[Matching is complete.]
[The game is beginning.]
“Finally.”
The matching ended, and the game began in earnest.
Shortly afterward, Shin-hyeok disappeared completely from the waiting room.
***
[Theme: Defense.]
[Type: Demi-Human.]
“Defense Theme and Demi-Human Type. Not bad.”
Shin-hyeok, who had vanished from the waiting room, appeared in a crumbling fortress.
He checked the messages in front of him and nodded.
A Defense Theme with a Demi-Human Type.
That meant he had to defend the fortress while killing the incoming Demi-Humans.
If it were Monster Type, monsters would pour forth. If it were Undead Type, undead would pour forth. Compared to those, Demi-Humans were better.
At least, that was how Shin-hyeok saw it.
“Damn it, why is it Demi-Humans?”
“I feel uncomfortable killing things that look like people!”
The players matched with Shin-hyeok this game recoiled at the mention of Demi-Humans.
As the name implied, they had humanlike appearances, so many people felt reluctant to kill them.
But Shin-hyeok had no such problem.
Most of those bastards in the New Humanity Empire were Demi-Humans. I should use this chance to get some practice.
The New Humanity Empire was the reason Shin-hyeok had regressed.
Most of its members were Demi-Humans.
To practice killing those he would meet later, Shin-hyeok drew Bang Se-jin’s Well-Made Holy Sword.
FWOOOOOSH!
“Wow, look at that gear.”
“The armor is crude, but that sword is really…… a work of art.”
Silver Tier players could not yet be considered proper players, but Shin-hyeok’s sword still stood out.
Soon, however, surprise spread across their faces as they recognized him.
“Is that Choi Shin-hyeok?”
“Looks like he received proper backing this time.”
“There was no news from him for a few days. Was he busy getting equipment?”
Shin-hyeok was currently one of the hottest topics in South Korea.
He was the first player to be placed in Silver 1.
It was only natural, since he was clearly going to continue rising all the way to Diamond Tier.
Especially because Shinhwa Group, Korea’s greatest corporation, stood behind him, people were highly interested.
In this world, the number of outstanding players was national power.
The commotion from those who recognized Shin-hyeok lasted only briefly.
“Start broadcast.”
Unconcerned by their attention, Shin-hyeok immediately began streaming.
Once the broadcast began and the semi-transparent streaming screen appeared, Shin-hyeok checked it and closed the screen.
-First!
-Sniff, sniff. I smell a newbie.
-Wow, I thought you would turn it on right after the Placement Exam, but you are only turning it on now.
-Anyway, what are you doing now?
-It looks like Defense because this is a crumbling old fortress?
-Ack, haha. It is Defense, the newbie killer.
He left the chat window open, of course.
Thanks to the weight of Shin-hyeok’s name, a considerable number of viewers had arrived even though this was his first broadcast.
[Achievement: Reached 100 Viewers] - 5 Points
The reward was stingy, but Shin-hyeok confirmed that Achievement Points had come in. Once he saw that a suitable number of viewers had gathered, he began his stream.
“It is good to see you all. I am Choi Shin-hyeok.”
-Now that is a handsome face.
-He has money, talent, and looks…… What does he not have?
-He does not have me, Kim Chang-gi, the forty-second-generation descendant of the Chungnyeolgong branch.
-He would not take that even if you gave it to him.
The viewers cheered when his face appeared on the streaming screen.
It was only natural. There was no one who disliked a handsome face.
Looking at the chat messages streaming past, Shin-hyeok smiled leisurely and immediately explained the current situation.
“This is my first game since the Placement Exam. Luckily, I got the Defense Theme. Ah, and the Type is Demi-Human.”
-???
-Did I hear that right?
-You got the Defense Theme, which is called the newbie killer, and you are calling it lucky?
-Wow, and it is Demi-Human on top of that. That is a Type newbies avoid from the start;;
The viewers were horrified by his explanation.
Defense Theme was commonly called the newbie killer because it had crushed countless new players.
But Shin-hyeok was smiling brightly as though he liked it, so their reaction was only natural.
That was especially true because the Demi-Human Type was also something that made new players uncomfortable.
Despite the viewers’ reactions, Shin-hyeok even added an explanation for those who did not know.
“Defense Theme is a Theme where you stop the incoming waves. It consists of five waves in total, and in the Bronze-Silver bracket, stopping two waves is considered a good result.”
-Ah, haha. But why does that make you lucky? Haha.
-Hard in Bronze-Silver -> I am not at the Bronze-Silver level.
-Well, at Choi Shin-hyeok’s level, he could probably make it to the third wave?
-No, no. You still need to see the level of his matched teammates.
Defense Theme was simple.
Stop five waves suited to the Type.
Of course, stopping all five was not easy even in the upper Tiers, so getting through two was about the limit in Silver Tier.
As the chat window buzzed with agreement at Shin-hyeok’s explanation—
“Now, here is a question. How many waves do you think I can endure?”
Shin-hyeok dropped a bombshell.
How many waves could he endure in a Defense Theme made up of five waves?
When meat that the hyenas in the chat loved to tear into was dropped before them, viewers rushed in like a school of piranhas.
-Three waves?
-Judging from his teammates, that seems about right.
-This is his first game. Do you really think he can do that with these teammates? I am betting on two waves.
-I am betting on two waves too.
Viewers argued over Shin-hyeok’s final wave count, each insisting their view was correct.
Watching them, Shin-hyeok dropped another bombshell.
“By lottery among those who answer correctly, I will give three people a new S5 from Shinhwa Motors.”
-……Insane.
-Does a bare-bones new S5 without options not cost at least fifty million won?
-Yeah;; That is right;;
-Wow, he is putting one hundred fifty million won on a single question.
The new S5.
Shinhwa Motors had recently released this new car model, and Shin-hyeok was not offering one vehicle, but three.
The chat window erupted.
[Achievement: Reached 1,000 Viewers] - 50 Points
[Achievement: Reached 5,000 Viewers] - 250 Points
[Achievement: Reached……]
Viewers began pouring into Shin-hyeok’s first broadcast like mad.
Shin-hyeok’s full-fledged money-flinging madness broadcast was only beginning, but the viewers did not know that.