Hwarang Group headquarters, Gangnam.
A grandfather and granddaughter sat facing one another in the executive office, where the downtown landscape, densely packed with soaring skyscrapers, spread out below like the view from an observation deck.
They usually chatted warmly together, but today, the atmosphere was markedly different.
Joo Yulcheon’s eyes curved with interest as he quietly watched the video playing before him.
“This... is interesting.”
He stroked his chin as he spoke.
“To think it was my little girl who cleared Underground Prison alongside that rumored Player.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
“Ho ho ho! To this old grandfather, Yeonseo will always be my little girl, no matter how old she gets.”
Joo Yeonseo shot her grandfather a faintly disgruntled look, then immediately grew serious.
“So, what do you think, Grandfather?”
“...He certainly is an extraordinary young man. His skill and insight are far beyond his level. On top of that, he possesses courage and quick wits as well.”
Joo Yulcheon was famous for building Hwarang Group into a leading conglomerate in the barren land that was South Korea.
When he founded K1, he had personally built every part of the team from the ground up, and even now, he remained deeply involved in its major decisions.
It was partly because the Player League had become the largest industry in the world.
But it was also because Joo Yulcheon’s inborn eye for talent did not discriminate by field.
Indeed, merely catching his eye was practically enough to mark a Player as a budding talent who would one day become a master of tremendous skill.
Enormous capital and a formidable player roster built upon Joo Yulcheon’s eye for talent.
Those were what had allowed K1 to reign as the K.P.L.’s strongest team to this day.
Of course, age and his late-in-life granddaughter had softened his temperament considerably, but his sharp insight had not gone anywhere.
‘Shin Jaeha, was it?’
This time, his interest had turned toward a single man.
‘Honestly, he’s remarkable. No, he’s a talent so exceptional that the word remarkable isn’t enough.’
It was strange enough to wonder where someone this capable had been before suddenly appearing.
In particular, even he could only chuckle in disbelief at the sight of Shin Jaeha taking over as Leader, placing each teammate exactly where they belonged, and drawing out the team’s full potential.
“If he develops well... he might even become a Player capable of challenging Siwoo’s fortress-like dominance.”
“...!”
At her grandfather’s words, Joo Yeonseo’s eyes widened.
Nam Siwoo.
K1’s Captain and a Player who could be called the current face of the K.P.L.
The finest talent Joo Yulcheon had ever unearthed, and the light of the Korean League.
‘To think he’d give Shin Jaeha that kind of evaluation...!’
Joo Yeonseo suppressed the goosebumps rising over her skin and her smile through sheer force of will.
Her grandfather was not a man who made up words merely to praise her.
Although he was usually a doting grandfather who was soft to a fault with his granddaughter, he was almost cruelly clearheaded when discussing business.
And Joo Yulcheon had just evaluated Shin Jaeha as a Player capable of rivaling Nam Siwoo.
“But that is why it is a pity.”
Joo Yeonseo looked puzzled at Joo Yulcheon’s next words.
“A pity?”
“Yeonseo, Players fall into two kinds. Knights who fulfill assigned roles, and kings who command those knights.”
Joo Yulcheon placed a white chess piece on the table.
It was a King wearing a large crown.
“There are Players who perform best as knights, and Players who reveal their true worth only when they reign as kings. Siwoo is a king. He can bring out his innate ability only when he leads the team himself.”
He then took out another chess piece with his other hand.
This time, it was a black King.
“And Shin Jaeha is a king as well. There is only one situation in which two kings can exist on the same board.”
“When they are... enemies.”
“Exactly.”
Shin Jaeha and Nam Siwoo were both kings.
They could meet as enemies, but they could not both be fielded on the same team.
If Shin Jaeha were to become a K1 Player, Nam Siwoo would inevitably have to surrender his current position.
The position of directing and leading the team.
‘Captain.’
“That is why I call it a pity. Shin Jaeha is a heavyweight. A heavyweight enough to make this old man excited for the first time in a long while. But it will not do to give Siwoo’s place as a replacement to someone who has yet to fully ripen.”
“We can bring him in as a trainee first and raise him well! With ability like this, even if he isn’t the Captain...!”
“Of course, with that ability, he would fulfill the role of a knight well too. But I do not know how far, or for how long, one born to be a king can keep his head bowed.”
“Nngh.......”
“But are we going to give up? If we let him slip away like this, he will surely become a great obstacle to K1.”
“That is why it is a pity, Yeonseo. A treasure stands before our eyes, yet we cannot possess it.”
Of course, Joo Yulcheon had no intention of simply watching Shin Jaeha slip away.
He was not a man devoid of greed enough to let a Player with such enormous potential go without a fight.
“You do it yourself, Yeonseo.”
“...Huh?”
“I will grant you an appropriate budget and authority. Bring that man to K1. Fasten a tight leash around his neck, so he can be handled without trouble.”
Her grandfather’s task.
Sparks flew in Joo Yeonseo’s eyes, which had long thirsted for his recognition.
“Really?”
“This old grandfather does not speak two words with one mouth. Do as you please.”
“Great!”
Joo Yeonseo shot to her feet in excitement.
“Just watch! I’ll bring back that man’s contract!”
No matter how exceptional a man he was, he was still, at most, a Level 6 Warrior.
There was no way he could refuse the sweet offer to become a member of K1.
“I will have the details put together and sent to you. And Yeonseo, you have come after so long. Spend a little more time with this old grandfather...”
“I’ll start preparing right away! Thank you, Grandfather. I love you!”
Her business concluded, she swept out of the executive office like a gust of wind.
“...Sniff.”
Joo Yulcheon swallowed back tears as he watched his granddaughter, who had no eyes for him, then allowed a small smile to form.
“Was Yeonseo twenty-three this year... That short little girl has grown so much already.”
A precious granddaughter he had gained in his old age.
Unlike his son, who had lacked talent to a pitiable extent, she was a lovely child who had inherited his discernment and instincts as though cast from the same mold.
In fact, her inborn ability surpassed even Joo Yulcheon’s.
But Joo Yeonseo still lacked something.
‘Experience. And failure.’
Thanks to her overwhelming ability, she had walked the road of success from a young age.
Having lived many years, Joo Yulcheon understood the nourishment that failure could provide.
That was why he had deliberately given her this task.
A task she could do nothing but fail.
“Shin Jaeha. Another interesting fellow has appeared in my twilight years.”
His soft laughter echoed through the large executive office.
“What the hell did you do in the training room to get billed this much?!”
My older brother, Suhyeok, cried out in shock the moment he saw the bill that had landed in front of me.
“Um... Well... I broke a few reinforced panels.”
“You broke them? Those?”
Player training rooms used specially reinforced panels made by processing Mana Stones.
Otherwise, they could not withstand the transcendent power unleashed by superhumans.
The problem was that they were incredibly sturdy, and that sturdiness came from processing technology that drew upon the full force of modern science.
In short, they were ridiculously expensive.
Even so, few Players held back while training in a training room.
That was how damn sturdy the reinforced panels were.
“I just tapped them a little, and they broke like crackers.”
“There’s no way they’d break from just... No, never mind....”
Suhyeok looked as though he had plenty to say, but he said none of it.
“So how are you going to pay this? Do you have any money saved up?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t be staying and eating at your place, would I?”
“Ha ha ha. I asked an obvious question.”
It was not as though I could not repay that much.
I could simply convert my Credits to cash.
[▶Credits: 66,700]
Thanks to how steadily I had earned Credits lately, it was an amount I could repay without difficulty.
But I wanted to avoid cashing in Credits if possible.
There were several reasons.
‘Credits are at their lowest point right now.’
The value of Credits would only rise with time.
I could get 30 now, but 100 later. Knowing that future, it was a shame to give up Credits at a loss.
‘Besides, Credits can be used for all sorts of things. I want to save as many as possible.’
If there was truly no other way, I would have to cover it with Credits... but it was still a waste.
Riding my current popularity and appearing on broadcasts or streams for an appearance fee was an option too, but as I had resolved earlier, it would not do to waste time on such things.
‘Isn’t there some way? A job that won’t affect my Channel play and can still make me money......’
It felt strange, as though I were asking, ‘Isn’t there a job that doesn’t tire me out, doesn’t require studying, and pays a lot of money?’
“Ummm...... Huh?”
As I racked my brains over it, something caught my eye.
The business card Taeya had given me just before we left Underground Prison.
A light flashed through my mind.
“Hyung, how much do Channel Streamers make?”
“Streamers? Well... it depends on their reach, but even a mid-tier one can make the salary at an ordinary large company look laughable.”
“Really...?”
“Of course, it isn’t easy to make it big. The streaming market is completely oversaturated too. To survive, you need a weapon of your own.”
“A weapon?”
“An entertaining personality or good looks. Or... exceptional skill, perhaps?”
Suhyeok opened a streaming platform and showed me a few examples.
Yuina, who had become a popular streamer through her witty gift of gab and outstanding beauty, or HARU, who had once been a top-ranked skill streamer and was now a player on a K.P.L. first-division team.
“There is no more reliable form of self-promotion than streaming these days.”
“Oh... I see...?”
“But why are you suddenly asking?”
As he grasped my intention, the furrow between Suhyeok’s brows deepened.
“...Don’t tell me?!”
“It’s probably exactly what you’re thinking.”
The perfect option that would not interfere with my Channel play, could make my name known and raise my market value, and would even let me earn money.
“I’m doing it. Channel streaming.”
“Jaeha... being a streamer isn’t easy either. For someone with nothing to make it big, you need public interest—”
Suhyeok cut himself off.
In fact, I already practically had the hardest requirement: public interest.
Because I was the mysterious Level 6 Warrior who was the biggest topic of discussion right now.
I could get a proper initial boost.
“That may actually be all right... But that only means your start will be all right. To keep broadcasting, you’ll need your own weapon. What people call content.”
“I don’t intend to do it for long.”
It was only for self-promotion to raise my market value, and to secure funds until I joined a team.
Once I began my League career in earnest, there would be no need to continue.
‘Still, I do need something if I want to make money until then.’
To be honest, that was not much of a problem either.
At this point in time, how many people could put on a skill-based stream better than I could?
“It’ll be fine~. I’ve got a plan.”
“If you say so, I won’t stop you. Then how? Are you going to create an account right away? Want me to help?”
“That’d be great. Ah, before that.”
Since it was my first broadcast, wouldn’t it be better to work with a professional instead of doing it alone and ride their coattails... no, get their help?
I picked up the business card and immediately called the number written on it.
-Hello. Taeya speaking~.
“Hello, Taeya. This is Jaeha.”
-...Jaeha, sir?! You really called?!
The person on the other end of the phone shouted in surprise.
With a grin, I immediately got to the point.
“I’d like to do a collaboration stream with you. I’ll provide the content.”
As it happened, I had a once-in-a-generation blockbuster of a piece of content.
The Rank Placement Exam.