Chapter 46: Blessing in Disguise (4)

Chapter 46: Blessing in Disguise (4)

Sang-Hyeon never even told this secret to his friends during his archery days and treated the matter with utmost seriousness. He told Han Tae-Ho because he believed someone like him wouldn't speak lightly.

‘He'll probably like it.’

Sang-Hyeon kept his story a secret, but most people would find it enjoyable and relatable.

***

‘You used to be an archer?’

Manager Oh couldn't hide his surprise as he repeated Sang-Hyeon’s words. His curious eyes turned to Director Han.

‘This is...’

What would a successful man in their mid-fifties do for fun? They typically turned to a sport or hobby that the masses couldn't afford, so they could avoid mingling with everyday people.

‘Incredible!’

Billiards or Go was a game that anyone had access to, so most turned to golf because it was a sport that required money and time. However, even golf became standardized and everyone played it now.

The wealthy turned to a different sport, which turned out to be archery. Han Tae-Ho was also transitioning from golf to archery.

‘He just hit a home run!’

Han Tae-Ho was already favoring Sang-Hyeon in Manager Oh's eyes. He may have already progressed to the point where the director was planning their next dinner meeting.

“Archery... that's unexpected.”

Han Tae-Ho tried to maintain a poker face, but Manager Oh could tell he was bursting with interest.

"Why did you stop?"

"I had to because of an injury.'

Han Tae-Ho recalled when he shook Sang-Hyeon's right hand.

"Ah... Is it perhaps your right hand? I felt it trembling when I shook your hand."

"Yes."

"That's a shame. What happened?"

"It was from an accident on my way back from winning nationals."

"Oh?"

‘Doesn't that mean he's one of the world champions?’ Director Han thought to himself and looked over to Manager Oh, who nodded in response.

“That’s a shame, Sang-Hyeon. How old were you when that happened?”

“I was 19 years old.”

“19 by the lunar year?”

“Ah, no. I would’ve been 17 by the regular calendar year."

Director Han and Manager Oh looked at each other in surprise.

‘Isn’t that a record?’

Even the uneducated could tell that was an impressive record.

“I didn't give up right away after the accident. I kept it a secret until I was 22.”

“Ah...”

Director Han and Manager Oh sympathized with him when they found out that he pushed on and didn’t give up for three more years.

“I couldn't overcome it in the end and found another job with the help of my coach, which turned out to be with Ahsung Corporation. I didn't get in because of my skills."

“...”

“It didn’t work out since I tried to fit in where I didn’t belong. During that time, I became interested in virtual reality games where I could—”

“Use your right hand!”

Han Tae-Ho accidentally interrupted Sang-Hyeon after becoming too immersed in his story.

Sang-Hyeon nodded.

“Yes... I could shoot properly there. I became infatuated with it instantly. Naturally, I thought of streaming since I needed to make a living.”

“But why did you take an interest in video games so late?”

"I wasn't really interested before because I was busy with work. I also had to take care of my grandmother, so I didn't have the luxury to pursue my own interests. I probably wouldn't have dived into it then even if I found out that my right arm would work properly in video games.”

“I see...”

From Han Tae-Ho's expression, Sang-Hyeon felt like he would be hired if this was an interview.

“Life never goes the way you intend,” Han Tae-Ho said to Sang-Hyeon as he poured him a drink.

“It might sound cliche, but that’s why it’s fun. It might be even more miserable if it all went according to plan. I used to dream of being a jobless bum, but I’d just be some loser right now if I achieved that.”

Han Tae-Ho looked up for a moment as if staring at his past self.

“Thankfully, the world didn’t let me turn out that way. A man has to take responsibility for his family, which made me into who I am today. A jobless bum wouldn’t be able to eat Toji-san’s sushi. Hahaha.”

He laughed as he placed another piece of sushi in his mouth.

“What I’m trying to say is... it’ll all work out for you in the end.”

“Thank you,” Sang-Hyeon replied and sipped his drink.

“You grow stronger when you have a lot on your plate, especially so during times of struggle.”

“Yes, yes, don’t worry Sang-Hyeon. It’ll all work out. I heard you also started a new game? Right, but I heard—”

Manager Oh suddenly stopped himself.

‘This is the perfect time to say it...’

Sang-Hyeon wanted to bring up Battle Large, but Manager Oh wanted to talk about something even more important.

“Do you know what this is?”

“...?”

He took out a tablet that displayed a chart. Sang-Hyeon hoped it was the chart for their stocks because the graph was rising.

“Kingdom Age?sales.”

“!”

“Look at the reviews here.”

Manager Oh scrolled down and showed him the purchase reviews.

— I'm buying this after watching Almond's stream.

— I was watching Almond's stream and this game looks great.

— Emilia and the knight ending was so touching, but I'm purchasing to choose Rosenita!

— Anyone who buys this game can play like Almond, right? If not, I want a refund.

— Oh wow, it's cheaper than I thought. It was high quality. Can you add different types of bows?

— A game where you can flourish as a medieval mercenary, but only if you're Almond.

— I'm buying it because I watched Almond's battle scene. It looks well made. Of course, it's almost impossible to experience it firsthand, but still well-made.

Either all the reviews mentioned Almond or Manager Oh only collected reviews that mentioned him.

“Thanks to this, our input became more valuable to the manufacturer company.”

The graph surprised Director Han as well.

“I didn’t know about this, Manager Oh! As a distributor, it’s important whether our promotions are effective or not...”

“The graph may exaggerate a bit because the sales were originally so low, but the reason for the increase is obvious from the reviews.”

Han Tae-Ho looked at Sang-Hyeon because Almond, Punk's new partner streamer, was undeniably the reason for everything.

“You’re incredible!”

“Thank you.”

“No, I’m serious. If it’s like this, what I said earlier will definitely come true. You’ll succeed for sure.”

“Hahaha...”?Sang-Hyeon awkwardly laughed.

‘Was my stream that effective?’?

He hadn’t been aware of this data at all and felt surprised by how much the sales rose.

Manager Oh added, “He’s got what it takes to be a star, right?”

“Yes, his charm is something else.”

The two were talking about the graph as if Sang-Hyeon wasn’t there.

“I was going to report it tomorrow, but I brought it up today to show Sang-Hyeon.”

“Good job.”

“Ah... but Sang-Hyeon doesn't play this game anymore.”

“Huh? Is that so? I guess you can’t keep playing a single player game forever.”

Han Tae-Ho faced Sang-Hyeon again.

“What game did you choose to play next?”

This was the moment Sang-Hyeon had been waiting for. He calmly responded without missing a beat, “Battle Large.”

“Oh, my son has been playing that too. It’s popular among 20-30 year olds, right?”

“Yes.”

“How’s that going for you?”

“You see...”

The shot was lined up and all he needed to do was fire.

“There’s been a problem.”

***

Assistant Kim Ki-Yeol was summoned as soon as he clocked into work the next day.

‘Fuck, what's going on?’

He felt uneasy because of his recent mistake. The uneasiness didn’t go away as he made his way through the office.

“I heard you called for me.”

He had been summoned to the director's office and the manager was present too.

“Sit.”

He could tell straight away from the director's voice.

‘Ah, I’m fucked.’

Kim Ki-Yeol's mistakes came back to haunt him.

‘I got rid of all the community posts. Did something else leak?’

Fortunately, it was the manager who found out and he wanted to cover it up too. After some time, the users would forget it as well. He would get into some minor trouble, but it would be all over soon. It felt unpleasant, but this punishment was preferable to being written up.

“Do you know where I went this morning?”

“?”

Kim Ki-Yeol felt surprised by the question.

‘Where did you go?’

Only someone even higher could summon the director.

‘He didn't get any reports... but someone called for him?’

Kim Ki-Yeol thought someone below leaked the information, but the director pointed up and indicated that the report didn't leak. Someone higher gave the order. n0vεlUsB.c0m

“The head office.”

“!”

“The higher-ups heard something interesting.”

The manager hung his head with a distressed look.

Kim Ki-Yeol began to shake in fear. He didn’t have the luxury to think about where to look.

“Almond, you know who he is, right?” The director got straight to the point.

No one responded.

"Almond, you know who he is, right? Get ready to be fucked if you make me ask again."

Thump.

The sound of their hearts dropping could be heard. It was unusual for the director to use such language.

Squeeze.

Kim Ki-Yeol's manager sat beside him and stepped on his shoe for him to answer. His shout from the pain turned into a reply, "Yes... I know who he is."

"Hmm. So you know?" The director glared at Kim Ki-Yeol with a deathly expression.

"Then I won't press any further. You'll be gone soon anyways."

"!?"

Kim Ki-Yeol's eyes widened.

"Why are you surprised? Why should I get mad at someone who’s going to leave? I should save my temper for someone worthy."

"But... but, this isn't that big of a deal..."

Slam!

The director slammed the table and interrupted him.

"Do you know where I heard this from?"

"..."

"You don't know, do you? That's why you don't think it's a big deal, right?"

The director showed him a tablet with the following text:

[Punk Partner Streamers]

A list of streamers was displayed underneath that title.

"You could’ve found this out with a simple search, but you didn't even do that and tried to cover it up."

"...!"

A familiar name was under the list of Punk partner streamers.

[Almond/Yu Sang-Hyeon]

‘This can't be...’

Kim Ki-Yeol covered his mouth with both his hands.

'He only had 1,000 viewers. Wasn't he a small-timer?'

He couldn't believe Almond was a partnered streamer with only a thousand viewers.

"You know how difficult it is to get Punk to promote for us even if we make a good game, right? But you go and ban one of their partner streamers? And without any good reason too."

"..."

"This guy apparently increased the sales of Kingdom Age?by five times. No wonder their director called us directly. What do you think?"

"..."

"Now what will you do?"

Kim Ki-Yeol became speechless.

Thud.

The director took back the tablet.

"Covering up your tracks is something that's frequently done in businesses. I always tell you guys that shady things happen, but we have to be way more careful than the average person if we’re going to do that."

"..."

"The way I see it, the two of you don't have what it takes. Just live out of the shade instead of bringing me trouble!"

"D-Director. I—"

"No, I don't want to hear it. Write your letter of apology and get ready to be assessed. I'm going to leave Almond's incident to someone else."

The director turned to his monitor.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to leave? Should I call security?"

"We'll leave."

The director called someone as the two idiots left.

"Hey, Team 2. Is Almond's suspension revoked? Ah, okay. Good job. Punk and Almond are preparing for an event, so have it all ready. I'm looking forward to it. Get rid of all the controversies."