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chapter 67
“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”
Yeonhwa Gaming, a subsidiary of the Yeonhwa Group.
Lee Hansol, the eldest daughter of the group chairman and the company’s CEO, let out a deep sigh as she stared at her monitor.
Articles about Record Project were increasing almost by the second.
There was only one reason Hansol was clutching her head.
Her company had once had a chance to recruit him.
“I’m sorry! I’m really sorry!”
The failed recruitment attempt had happened around the time of the Rashten corporate monopoly incident.
Due to the poor judgment of the employee in charge of contacting him, they had openly expressed strong suspicion toward Black Dragon and Roper.
Naturally, neither of them was at fault, and in the end, the name Yeonhwa drifted far away from the two.
“I can’t even say you should’ve reported faster….”
Roper aside, Black Dragon’s existence was a natural disaster.
It was difficult for anyone to recognize his value immediately.
There must have been many ambiguous points for a mere employee to judge.
Deciding to suddenly report to the CEO wasn’t something just anyone could do.
“And the contract terms were way too lacking. The sponsorship amounts too.”
The revised contract conditions hastily offered to put out the fire, and the donations thrown into his broadcast.
Considering Black Dragon’s value, the price was absurd.
It must have been a deeply agonizing decision for someone at the manager level.
Tap— tap—
Hansol tapped the desk as her thoughts searched desperately for a solution.
But from hidden skills to episode resets, Black Dragon’s presence had grown into a mountain.
Even after repeated attempts to contact him, there was no response—it felt like the sky was collapsing.
On top of that, he was now said to be joining the company Roper was creating.
Had he developed hostility toward other companies?
“Haa…….”
Bang—!
At that moment, a loud noise crashed into her ears as she sighed.
Turning her gaze, Hansol spat out irritably at the culprit.
“Does my little sister have no sense of time? Who kicks the door open at this hour?”
“What sense? Have you ever gone to sleep at four in the morning?”
The one who barged in was a woman with short hair.
Her younger sister, Lee Seola.
Inside her luxurious leather jacket, she was wearing blue sleep pajamas.
“Lee Seola, what if someone sees you dressed like that?”
“They did. There’s barely anyone here besides you. I’m taking this, okay?”
“Hey, are you really going to keep calling your sister ‘you’?”
“I am deeply honored~ Like this okay?”
“You seriously…….”
Answering playfully, Seola grabbed some snacks from the desk and walked toward the wide window.
From the top floor of the high-rise building, Seoul stretched out clearly below.
“Aren’t you doing a raid tomorrow? If you’ve got nothing to do, hurry up and go sleep.”
Hansol, rubbing her brow, said as if she had given up.
And for good reason—her younger sister Seola was one of Yeonhwa Gaming’s pioneers.
A strategy session to break through a long-stalled episode was scheduled from lunchtime.
“You think you can clear it by smashing your head against it like an idiot? Not a chance.”
“You’re stuck too. At least the analysis by the world’s PhDs is better.”
“I figured out how to clear it.”
“What?”
At the sudden confession, Hansol’s eyes widened.
She sprang to her feet and asked her sister,
“What’s the strategy? No—why didn’t you share it in the first place?”
“Why would I share it with people worse than pebbles? Just thinking about the noise makes my head hurt.”
“No, why didn’t you tell me!”
“I’ll just tell you after I clear it.”
“No…… ha.”
At the dizzying answer, Hansol’s body slumped.
Sitting back down, she rubbed her brow and muttered,
“How were you even born into our family?”
“Dad said the same thing, so I stole his wig and left.”
“Haa.”
Hansol let out a sigh at her all-too-typical sister behavior.
Still, Seola’s talent was beyond comparison to her own.
If there was a person the word “genius” suited best, it was Lee Seola chewing snacks absentmindedly right there.
Not just intelligence—talent packed tightly in every possible field.
‘How did she end up like that?’
Her younger sister, who had followed the elite path, suddenly went off the rails in high school.
The scale of her deviation matched the scale of her talent, and eventually, the whole family had no choice but to give up.
At least after Record Project launched, she settled into one thing.
And when Yeonhwa Gaming was founded, Hansol ended up taking charge of managing Seola.
“Ah, whatever. I’m busy, so just go. I don’t have time to worry about you.”
“Why, because of Black Dragon?”
“…If you know, then go. I need to find a way to fix the connection fast.”
Given the chaos in the RP world, Seola also knew about Black Dragon’s existence.
After swallowing a snack, she spun around and approached.
“That’s why I came.”
“What? Why you?”
“I got interested. You’re curious too, right?”
“…You got interested? Curious?”
At the absurd statement, Hansol’s eyes widened.
That damned genius sister showing interest in a living person.
It was the first time since some bizarrely named deep-sea fish.
“Everything about him is fascinating. The strategy makes no sense. It doesn’t feel like he’s playing a game—how should I put it?”
“The Erport web novel? You said he got information from that.”
“Do you actually believe that? Even if he really read the original story, there are way too many things that can’t be explained.”
Seola’s eyes sparkled as she chased questions.
Before that curiosity turned into madness, Hansol spoke.
“I don’t know what it is, but this is company business. If you’re curious, check the community or something. Don’t stir things up and mess it all up.”
“It’s meaningless for now. They’re just talking about contract killers.”
Scoffing, Seola walked up to the monitor.
Tapping the floating news articles, she let out a small laugh.
“You think reading articles will do anything?”
“We have to find another way. Black Dragon will help in some form or another.”
As episodes progressed, strategies became drastically more complex.
The top pioneers hid all their information, making outside help impossible.
And then, out of nowhere, a player named Black Dragon appeared.
Episode 1 was just the beginning, but what he showed was on a completely different level.
Enough to expect possibilities from anything.
“If it really comes to it, I’ll try contacting him directly.”
“If you rush in blindly, you’ll just earn Black Dragon’s resentment. After Rashten, big companies don’t have a good image.”
Seola flatly rejected her sister’s opinion.
Faced with words she couldn’t refute, Hansol frowned and asked,
“You keep saying it won’t work. Then at least tell me your opinion.”
“I’m already done.”
“What?”
At the sudden remark, Hansol voiced her confusion.
Seola grinned and showed her smartphone screen.
On it was the auction post Black Dragon had listed.
“100 million. I used my own money.”
***
After leaving the office, Hanbit headed for the emergency stairwell.
“Calm down. This might not be real.”
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Then slowly opened them and looked at his smartphone screen.
“Wow, holy shit.”
The amount burned clearly into his vision.
No need to pinch his cheek—this was reality.
“100 million…….”
Having seen the potential through streaming, he’d expected to make hundreds of millions someday.
But he had never imagined it would happen this fast.
That was how heavy the meaning of this amount was.
“She bid after three minutes?”
The auction had ended three minutes after Hanbit posted it.
No competition, no hesitation—she had just slammed the buyout price.
“Who the hell is Luna?”
Curious about the winner, Hanbit quickly accessed the community.
The place was already buzzing with talk about his auction.
Judging by people speculating about the buyer, it seemed the winner’s identity wasn’t publicly visible.
“Luna… huh?”
When he searched the name, a profile window popped up at the top.
A female pioneer from Yeonhwa Gaming who used four main skills.
Her specialty seemed to be ice-element skills.
“So Yeonhwa after all.”
The recruitment offer from Yeonhwa Gaming that had gone sour during the Rashten incident.
Perhaps out of guilt, they had continued to show their presence in various ways afterward.
Sending revised recruitment terms multiple times and pouring in sponsorships.
“But it’s an individual, not the company.”
Given she was a company-affiliated pioneer, there was obviously a connection.
Maybe they avoided using the Yeonhwa name because they were mindful of past events.
“Hm.”
Either way, her general intent was easy to guess.
A price ten times the market value.
Whether pioneer or corporation, 100 million was not a small sum.
It was probably the price for some information.
“Still, I can’t refuse 100 million.”
He had no intention of getting entangled with corporations, but turning away money already offered would be ridiculous.
Entering the settlement page, Hanbit followed the instructions and input his information.
Ding—
The refreshed page and the alert ringing from his phone.
Carefully turning on the screen, Hanbit opened his banking app.
“Holy shit…….”
The amount deposited after deducting the 1% fee.
The sheer length of the number drew an exclamation from him.
Hanbit immediately called his mother.
Beep—
(What’s wrong? Did something happen?)
Her worried voice came through as soon as the call connected.
Naturally feeling guilty, Hanbit took a deep breath and said,
“Mom, don’t be surprised.”
(What is it? Why?)
“I made 100 million.”
(…What?)
A moment of silence followed the single-word question.
(What did you just say? A hundred million? What hundred million?)
“100 million! Well, technically 99 million, but I made it!”
(What are you suddenly talking about?)
His mother couldn’t accept it easily.
Understanding that perfectly, Hanbit decided to give her time.
“I’ll explain at home. I’ll wake up early.”
(Not at home—what are you… ah, yes! Just a moment!)
Beyond the noise, faint customer voices could be heard.
Letting out a short sigh, his mother spoke quietly.
(I don’t know what it is, but okay. We’ll talk later.)
Click—
Her busy voice cut off like that.
100 million.
It was a lot of money, but not enough to completely flip his life upside down.
If he prioritized, first was housing.
Combined with what he already had, it was enough to escape this monthly rental.
“Heh.”
Looking at his account balance again, a grin slipped out.
After checking it several more times—
Ding—
A notification popped up from the trader site he had left open.
Tapping it, a one-on-one chat window appeared.
[Luna: Hello?]
“Right. Of course.”
The auction item had already been automatically sent to the winner.
If she went out of her way to contact him, her intention was obvious.
[Black Dragon: Hello. I see you’re affiliated with Yeonhwa Gaming. If there’s information you need, let me know.]
Hanbit got straight to the point.
He wasn’t stingy enough to take that much money and pretend not to know.
What mattered was a clean transaction with no lingering sense of debt.
It was best to end things clearly, without excess.
Ding—
Her reply arrived quickly.
But—
[Luna: I’m fine on information. How about we just chat a little?]
An unexpected response.
