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chapter 78
“I’m going to be late.”
After work, Hanbit immediately got on the subway and headed to Jongno 3-ga Station.
He had contacted Yeonwoo and Avantgarde in advance and set the meeting place.
“Hyung!”
As he came out of the exit, Yeonwoo was waiting.
“I told you to go wait at the café.”
“I arrived right on time. But did you check the community?”
“What now? Did something happen?”
“Take a look at this.”
Yeonwoo handed over his smartphone.
On the screen, a list of posts was displayed.
The contents varied widely.
But the important part was something else.
There’s a cave in the western mountains of Ifrit that I’ve never seen before.
Isn’t this a restricted area?
-Oh.
-This is it.
-What’s inside?
└I went in, but it’s blocked.
└Isn’t it just generated terrain?
└Then why are there weird patterns inside?
└Take pictures and upload them.
└If you’re salty, go see for yourself.
“A cave?”
The thread, which had turned into a colosseum, puzzled Hanbit as well.
“You don’t know what it is either, hyung?”
“I don’t.”
Hanbit shook his head.
It truly was unfamiliar terrain, but a thought came to mind.
‘Is it really a restricted area?’
Even after 55 runs, he didn’t remember every single piece of terrain.
But if it were that accessible, the structure should’ve been vivid in his memory.
Given the circumstances, it was highly likely to be a restricted area.
“We should head there once we log in. For now, let’s go to the café.”
The two headed to a café near the exit.
In the innermost partitioned seat sat a man in a suit.
“Avantgarde?”
“Ah, you’ve arrived! Please, sit.”
Avantgarde jumped up to greet them.
After everyone sat down, he pointed at the tablet attached to the table and spoke.
“It already feels like we meet often, which is nice. Shall we order first? Since I asked you out today, I’ll treat you to everything, even the meal.”
“Thank you. I’ll have a strawberry smoothie.”
“Oh, I’ll take a chocolate frappe!”
After ordering, Avantgarde looked at them and asked,
“Did you see the restricted area information? It was a place I’d never seen either.”
“Yes. I think there’s a high chance it’s a restricted area.”
“As expected. Then does that mean you don’t need to use the compass you got as a privilege?”
“Hmm…….”
At that question, Hanbit thought for a moment.
He kept checking the community, but no one had entered the restricted area yet.
Then there were two possibilities.
One was that the restricted area was somewhere else entirely.
The other was that the cave was indeed the entrance, but there was a separate way to enter.
Either way, Hanbit believed the compass would be needed to resolve it.
“Let’s go check the cave first. I’ll decide there.”
“Understood. Since we need to reach Ifrit today, we’ll have to move quickly.”
Avantgarde looked thoroughly excited.
Meanwhile, the drinks arrived, and the conversation continued as they sipped them.
“By the way, is Roper-nim okay? I heard the startup process is quite complicated.”
“Actually, I won’t be logging into the game anymore. I’m starting properly from today. Most of it will be related to videos for the Black Dragon channel.”
“Ah, I see. Then you won’t be streaming anymore?”
“I won’t be streaming directly for a while. I’ll probably act more as a manager.”
Having passed his father’s evaluation, Yeonwoo had immediately founded the company.
Running a company—his original dream.
And properly supporting Hanbit, who would be the main streamer.
“It’s a shame we can’t play together, but congratulations. While moving with Black Dragon-nim, I’ll help with anything I can.”
“Thank you. Since you’re experienced, please teach me a lot about broadcasting. Though I don’t listen very well.”
Their conversation flowed smoothly.
Watching them in disbelief, Hanbit asked a question.
“So how exactly are we doing the joint broadcast?”
“Basically, you’re the main focus, Black Dragon-nim. You can progress the story or show anything else you want. Whatever you do, it’ll be different from an ordinary player.”
“You said you hadn’t cleared any episodes yet, Avantgarde?”
“That was true until yesterday—but not today.”
“…What?”
At the strange answer, Hanbit looked puzzled.
Avantgarde placed his smartphone on the table.
“I’d been progressing the story while watching your stream even before the reset message. Thanks to that, I completed the main quest late this afternoon. I’m still lacking, but being able to reach a proper ending was deeply moving.”
[Achievement: Walking the Path of Truth has been unlocked.]
The reward message displayed on the screen.
Compared to Hanbit, it was about half, with no privileges.
But Avantgarde looked genuinely happy.
Even if he’d referenced Hanbit’s broadcast, reaching a proper ending was something to truly admire.
“You said you stopped midway through the Edlen story, right?”
“Yes. Talking to every NPC and feeling that sense of déjà vu helped. It was difficult, but thanks to you, Black Dragon-nim, I was able to pull things back onto the right track.”
“That’s even more impressive. Anyway, it’s good that you can go to Ifrit with us. The problem is…….”
A concern once again settled in Hanbit’s mind.
There were several goals in Ifrit, but one couldn’t be solved alone.
It was an important matter tied to the episode.
“It seems we won’t be discussing this alone.”
“Is there someone else?”
At Avantgarde’s question, Hanbit stood up.
After finishing his drink, he picked up his phone and said,
“Let’s go pick up Kim Jaeha.”
***
“Have you thought it through?”
“I just need to make the final decision. Funding shouldn’t be a big issue either.”
At Hanbit’s question, Yeonwoo nodded.
Discussions about scouting Kim Jaeha had happened intermittently.
Since Yeonwoo would be the one paying salaries as the boss, his decision was important.
“But didn’t you say you couldn’t reach him?”
“He replied late. He said he’d come by 6:30 at the latest, but there’s still no word.”
The reply from Kim Jaeha, who had gone silent, had come at dawn.
They’d managed to set an appointment, but it was already past 7:30.
“This reminds me of the old days. His official quitting time was probably 6.”
Avantgarde said with a distant look.
He said he’d been an ordinary office worker until three years ago.
“Taeyul-sangsa… it’s this way.”
Leading the way, Yeonwoo searched through the streets.
And after about ten minutes from the station—
A loud shout rang out.
“Hey, Kim Jaeha! Where the hell do you think you’re crawling back from!”
A building bearing the name of Manager Taeyul.
At the stairway entrance below it, a middle-aged man was shouting at someone.
The tired-faced man called Kim Jaeha raised his voice pitifully.
“I’m not crawling back! I told you several times that we needed to bid! If you’d just reported it to the president—”
“You think I don’t know hindsight, hindsight? Who the hell would think someone would throw 100 million on a 10-million Essence of Land! You should’ve persuaded me properly!”
“Corporations, streamers, individual players—everyone was competing to build connections! I sensed the atmosphere and reported it in advance! You were the one who ignored it!”
“This guy’s a complete lunatic. Your job was to butter up Black Dragon even without an auction. Got it?”
Listening, Hanbit grasped the situation.
The others with him did as well.
“That’s about your auction, right?”
“It seems Kim Jaeha suggested bidding. I can roughly see how it played out.”
Many people had seen Black Dragon’s auction as an opportunity.
If someone had judged faster than Luna, Hanbit might have been in contact with them instead.
Kim Jaeha’s prediction had been correct.
“You’re only supposed to handle things that don’t cost money. Whenever money’s involved, you screw up the company. Not that you can screw it up more than it already is.”
“…I clearly warned you back then that it was risky. This time, it was something we absolutely had to do.”
“Hey.”
Thump—
The manager punched Kim Jaeha in the chest.
“Don’t get it twisted. You’re just incompetent. I keep you around by giving you cost-free tasks instead of clearing your desk. You’ve got no sense at all.”
“…….”
The endless barrage of insults reached Hanbit’s ears.
And then the manager crossed a line he never should have.
“Does your wife and kid act like this at their company too? Behave so you don’t embarrass them. If you’re useless, at least do what you’re told.”
“…Why are you bringing my family into this?”
“Oh? You want to hit me? Not unclenching that fist?”
Kim Jaeha’s clenched fist trembled slightly.
The reason he endured was probably his family.
‘Are all companies like this…?’
The image of his own team leader surfaced.
It was identical—even dragging family into it.
Seeing Kim Jaeha humiliated by someone like that, Hanbit saw both Lee Minho and himself reflected.
“Can’t even take advice from a superior—how are you going to take care of your family? You’ll rot in that position forever. I’m the one who took in trash like you—huh?”
As he spewed insults, someone grabbed the manager’s arm.
Looking up, he met Hanbit’s eyes.
“What the hell are you doing? Let go!”
“And who the hell are you?”
“Wow, no home training at all. Talking to an adult like that—ah!”
Mid-sentence, the manager’s expression twisted.
A surge of intense pain shot through his arm.
Crack—
Hanbit applied light pressure with his fingers, crushing the arm.
He knew exactly where and how much force would hurt.
“An adult is someone who acts their age. That’s what my mom says.”
