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chapter 26
“Right?”
(Not ‘right’—have you been doing everything like this until now?)
“I didn’t write it exactly as-is. If I revealed everything, it’d be a loss for me.”
There was no falsehood in what he’d written after much deliberation.
However, the experience accumulated over an immense span of time was difficult to unravel into explanations.
There were clear limits to putting abstract and vague things into writing.
Especially the spirit-related parts—his head hurt just writing them.
3. Spirits
Honestly, spirits are an area of talent.
There’s no guarantee that effort alone will yield results.
Still, the wind spirit Sylph is a playful one, so take your time and try to attract its interest creatively.
The recommended location is the cliffs outside Edlen. I’ll list the methods below.
1) Playing a flute while falling off a cliff (the stranger the music, the better).
2) Dancing and singing while falling off a cliff (doing both at once is best).
3) Collecting unusual winds while falling off a cliff (use Calibo’s Glass Bottle).
4) Throwing toys to Sylph (pinwheels, flags, paper airplanes, etc.).
…….
-This is insane, seriously.
-Why do you keep falling off cliffs;
-Are we even talking about RP?
-Isn’t Calibo’s Glass Bottle crazy expensive?
-That’s not interest, that’s just hardcore aggro.
-Summary) Become a clown.
The listed methods weren’t easy to accept.
Thinking they were absurd was only natural.
Yet surprisingly, in Hanbit’s experience, they were the easiest and most effective approaches.
(Hmm……)
Yeonwoo, who had been reading on, let out a troubled sound.
After a moment, he spoke in a slightly uneasy voice.
(I know it’s really hard, but isn’t it kind of dangerous? What if even one person actually tries to copy everything?)
“Well, there could be a genius. This is an area of talent too.”
Combat and technique are both heavily influenced by talent.
Even in his past world, Hanbit had seen a few people who showed astonishing aptitude in specific areas.
Still, none of them had reached his overwhelming level of accumulated experience.
Especially in a game, where title effects stack on top, it was like an invisible wall being erected.
‘Still… maybe a little.’
Setting spirits aside, the swordsmanship guide wasn’t bad.
If someone with the seed of talent existed, perhaps they could climb this mountain.
“Vanguards are basically talented people, right?”
(The vanguards are, but there are also hidden masters who pop up now and then. Many of them aren’t interested in the story.)
Hundreds of millions of players were active in RP.
Only a tiny fraction appeared in communities or broadcasts.
From experience, those who never stepped into the spotlight had limitless potential.
Everyone had different goals and talents—it wouldn’t hurt to place some hope there.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter if someone follows it. No—actually, they should. That’ll raise the credibility of my information.”
(Well, that’s true. If someone succeeds, the atmosphere will change completely.)
What mattered to Hanbit was increasing the value of his information.
One essential element underpinning that value was trust.
Information that benefits no one risks becoming ambiguous.
That was especially true in areas tied to individual capability.
“…But is this really okay? If no one can follow it, that’s a problem too.”
As he reread the content, a sudden worry surfaced.
Even recalling old memories, teaching was truly difficult.
Was it really okay to just wait for some raw gem to appear?
Should he give a bit more of a hint?
His thoughts grew increasingly tangled……
(Hyung, it hasn’t even been a day since you posted it.)
Yeonwoo’s voice broke him out of the spiral.
Still reviewing the content, he continued,
(I get that this is part of marketing. So for now, let’s watch for a few weeks and think about it then.)
“A few weeks?”
(Hyung, you need to grasp the weight of a hidden skill. For a while, everyone’s going to cling to it like crazy. Think of it as gathering data.)
Yeonwoo’s summary was clean and precise.
Now that it had entered the realm of business, his perspective was clearly different.
(And starting today, it’d be better if you turned on your own stream. The main character of a hidden skill appearing on someone else’s broadcast doesn’t really work visually.)
“Me? Isn’t that too soon?”
(It’s no different from what you’ve been doing for three days. Honestly, no matter what you do, viewers will like it.)
“Really?”
(I’m sure. You just need to do whatever you want. I’ll be right beside you and help with whatever you need.)
Yeonwoo added that there was nothing to worry about.
Perhaps the donation split was still weighing on him, but Hanbit also thought it’d be better to adapt to streaming sooner rather than later.
“Alright. But won’t the viewers be confused?”
(I’ll write a notice, so it’s fine. Ah, about how to start the stream—)
Yeonwoo rattled off explanations about the technical parts.
They were fairly simple, so not hard to understand.
“Easy enough. Then I’ll see you this evening.”
***
“…What is this?”
After ending the call, Hanbit went straight to his mother.
On the smartphone screen between them was an account balance exceeding 20 million won.
“Look at this too.”
Hanbit played the recorded broadcast footage saved on his phone.
The cleanest way to resolve the vague misunderstanding from yesterday.
Simply show his mother the donations visible on the broadcast screen.
“…….”
Watching the video, his mother closed her mouth with a complicated expression.
It was the look she made when she was shocked—and when something was hard to comprehend.
“They’re giving you this much money? People you don’t even know?”
“It’s the same as selling goods. I tell them information I know, and they donate.”
“There’s more than that. Oh my, oh my, how are they pulling out 100,000 won like spare change…….”
She watched the video with all sorts of reactions.
A complex face mixing amazement and bewilderment.
It was a scene far removed from working in the real world.
The gap must’ve felt even bigger to her than to him, who’d only done an internship for a day or two.
“Hoo.”
As the playback ended, his mother let out a deep sigh.
After a moment of thought, she took her eyes off the screen.
“So why did you show me this?”
“You were surprised even by three million won before. I wanted to show you how I earned it.”
“That’s not all. You have more to say, don’t you?”
“…….”
Seeing right through him, Hanbit fell silent.
Scratching his head, he continued with the main point.
“Up until now, I was appearing on Yeonwoo’s stream, right? But starting today, I think I’ll be doing my own.”
“Your own? You’re going to stream? By yourself?”
“No, Yeonwoo will help beside me. But things like the account name, and splitting donations and prize money……”
Hanbit went on explaining various points, borrowing what Yeonwoo had told him.
His mother then asked worriedly,
“But is streaming really okay? I heard there’s a lot of swearing in the chat.”
“Actual swearing is rare. Most of it’s just exclamations.”
“Exclamations?”
After a bit of embellishment, his mother looked doubtful.
There might be differences in interpretation, but it wasn’t entirely false.
“It’s true. You saw how much they donated earlier.”
“Well, that’s true, but…….”
Even giving 100 won feels wasteful to someone you truly dislike.
That simple truth was something his mother couldn’t deny either.
Rewinding the video, she shifted to another concern.
“What about the company you’re working at now? Won’t streaming make you too tired?”
“I’ll just do it for a few hours after work. It’s not much different from now.”
“At first, you’ll be busy learning things. Are people at the company teaching you well? They’re not bullying you or anything, right?”
At the last question, his breath caught in his throat.
The team leader and a few faces flashed through his mind, but he focused only on Lee Minho’s kindness.
“Everyone’s been good to me. It’s a trial internship anyway—I’m mostly just watching and learning.”
“That’s a relief. These days, with all the workplace issues……”
At that moment, his mother’s expression hardened as she continued watching the video.
An instinctive sense of danger.
Hanbit swallowed and tensed.
“You.”
She looked away from the screen and into her son’s eyes.
Then, pointing at ‘Black Dragon’ on the screen, she asked,
“What’s with this face?”
“Face?”
“In the game, this looks exactly like you. Did you do that on purpose?”
“Ah.”
He was momentarily at a loss for words, having forgotten about it.
Blaming it on a goddess would only complicate things further.
“When you make a character, a mirror pops up first. I based it on that, so it looks similar. No one can recognize me outside anyway. The clothes and weapons make the vibe totally different, right?”
“No one can recognize you? Then what about me?”
“Well, you’re my mom. And if you look closely, it’s a bit different.”
“Hmmm…….”
Narrowing her eyes, she examined the Black Dragon character again.
Watching her, Hanbit emphasized once more,
“Really, absolutely no one will recognize me.”
***
“Isn’t this Hanbit?”
“…….”
Cleaning the conference room, Hanbit froze.
On Lee Minho’s smartphone screen was the Black Dragon character.
Looking back and forth between it and him, there was nothing he could say.
‘I was planning to reveal it soon anyway.’
There was a clear reason he was helping Lee Minho with RP-related work.
The process by which the other world manifested as a game.
The goddess’s intentions, the hidden secrets, and the clues.
Finding even the smallest trace would be a major gain.
Following the shared data and opinions along the way, it was only a matter of time before his identity as Black Dragon was discovered.
If he’d already noticed, it was better to just come clean.
“How did you know?”
“It’s just that your appearance and vibe are similar. I didn’t realize you were a streamer.”
“Ah, is moonlighting forbidden?”
“In principle, yes, but since you’re on a term contract, it should be fine. Still, it’d be better to keep it secret. The team leader will definitely make an issue out of it…….”
Lee Minho glanced toward the team leader visible beyond the window blinds.
Once again, his brow was deeply furrowed for whatever reason.
“Ah, for now, please take this.”
Hanbit took out the USB he’d kept in his pocket and handed it over.
Receiving it, Lee Minho asked in surprise,
“You’re already done?”
“There happened to be a good situation for data measurement. If you need anything else, let me know.”
“Thank you. I’ve researched RP quite a bit, but I have zero gaming talent, so it would’ve taken me much longer. You saved me a lot of time.”
Lee Minho looked genuinely relieved.
Being forced to play a game on top of insane workloads and schedules was incredibly harsh.
“How are you planning to interpret the data? You don’t seem to have any time at all.”
“One project ran into trouble, so it’ll pause for a bit. I’ll finish this over the weekend.”
Adding that it was a real relief, Lee Minho spoke on.
Watching him, Hanbit casually asked,
“Could I work on that together with you?”
