Chapter 140

Chapter 140

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“I see... I had a feeling something was off,” Cha Jin-Hyeok said.

“Keuk...” Kihael covered his face with his hands and sobbed loudly.

Jin-Hyeok looked at him with a hint of pity in his eyes. “It’s sad enough that you and your girlfriend broke up. But your boss, Serchan, actually said it was a good thing and was happy about it?”

“...Yes,” Kihael replied with a sigh.

According to Kihael, the passionate Serchan was a ruthless devil without any compassion. Serchan had said something along the lines of ‘Now you can focus more on your work! Hahaha! It’s music to my ears. Let’s drown in our work!’

“Serchan doesn’t even know why we broke up!”

“Why?”

“It’s all because of that bastard!” Kihael slammed a beer can on the table. He seemed to be harboring a deep grudge against Serchan.

[...#Jerk. #If he had less muscle, I would have hit him. #Damn him.]

“Why is Serchan the reason you broke up with your girlfriend?”

“He ruined my work-life balance! He constantly demands overtime, and if I don’t do it, he treats me as if I am the abnormal one. He acts as if working late is the most natural thing in the world! If he loves it so much, why doesn’t he do it himself instead of forcing it on others?!”

‘Hmmm, he really hates overtime. Back in my government official days, I quite enjoyed the extra hours.’

“Well, you do value work-life balance, which is quite common and sensible among GMs.”

“Exactly. But that jerk thinks he is the epitome of common sense and reason. That’s what pisses me[1] off the most.”

A GM using such language was surprising. Lately, Jin-Hyeok had noticed that GMs, and not just them but also Choi Gap-Soo and Michelle Jang, seemed to use trendy Korean slang quite often.

‘Is it because of my livestream? Could it be that my livestream has become so popular and has a significant influence on people?’

It was a pleasant thought, but Jin-Hyeok quickly shook his head.

‘I’m not some high-tier Streamer, so I probably don’t have that kind of influence. I doubt even Egan Paul, who has a similar number of viewers as I have, has that kind of influence.’

It was essential to dream big but also stay objective.

“I don’t even know what good can come out of this if I keep living like this!” Kihael said.

He vented his frustrations for a while before getting to the main point. “Rather than working my ass off, I might as well leech off you.”

“Leech off me?”

“Do you realize you are now the target of all the GMs?”

“Me?” To Jin-Hyeok, this was an incomprehensible statement. “Why would they target me?”

“Are you serious? After everything you have done, you still need to ask that?”

“What I’ve done?”

‘I just Played intensely. What’s wrong with that?’

“Forget it. You wouldn’t get it. What’s the point in explaining to a crazy bastard?”

“You know, I hate it when people call me that.”

“Then how should I describe you? No, never mind. Fine, you are not crazy. But anyway, you are a target for the GMs. They are waiting for the perfect chance to get rid of you.”

‘Do GMs have that much free time on their hands? Kihael might be exaggerating. They must be extremely busy with the official launch. How can they spend so much energy on a mere Player like me? Maybe Kihael is overinterpreting things because of his issues with Serchan.’

“They will probably try to torment you within legal limits,” Kihael added.

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Does that mean they will raise the difficulty to its maximum within the legal limits?”

“Well...yes.”

Jin-Hyeok smiled. He believed that true Play came out when the difficulty was high.

“Why are you smiling?”

“If the difficulty increases, it means that the thrill also... no, the rewards will also be better.”

***

‘This guy isn’t normal either,’ Kihael thought.

For some reason, the world seemed to be filled with crazy bastards. In such a world, Kihael needed to keep his sanity.

“Regardless, I’ve decided to ride on your coattails.”

Having come this far, Kihael planned to elevate Jin-Hyeok as much as possible and reap the Cha Jin-Hyeok effect. He had even secured a promise for a future job at KimKnowItAllTV, with a promise of a higher salary and better working conditions.

“I will provide you with as much helpful information as I can. Today marks the start of that. You are currently waiting for your Guardian Tree to grow, right?” Kihael said.

Using Broadcaster’s Clairvoyance, Jin-Hyeok examined the branches.

[Unripe Golden Fruit]

At first glance, the Unripe Golden Fruits scattered throughout the tree resembled green apples.

‘That should be the one.’

While the other fruits looked like apples, one looked like a watermelon. It was significantly larger than the others, predominantly green but shimmering in a unique gold hue.

“These fruits look good. I will see if I can harvest them.” He checked the underlined details, but the specifics did not expand.

[Only Harvesting-class Players can view the details.]

[Only Harvesting-class Players can view the details.]

Jin-Hyeok smiled. “It seems like the Golden Guardian Tree is set up in a way that prevents me from harvesting these fruits. This could be problematic.”

Meanwhile, Yu-Mi smiled contentedly, watching the chat window of KimKnowItAllTV.

-IntenseMan is being intense again.

-His voice sounds so calm, yet he thinks the situation is intense.

The viewers found a remarkable calmness in Kim Chul-Soo’s voice.

-He’s like a memory foam mattress, so calm!

-It’s so cute that he really thinks he is being intense.

-Wait, isn’t he genuinely intense this time?

Debate sparked among the viewers again. Yu-Mi timely initiated a poll to channel the debate into an engagement.

[Chul-Soo is genuinely intense this time VS IntenseMan is just being typically intense.]

[1. Chul-Soo is genuinely intense this time.]

[2. IntenseMan is just being typically intense.]

-What’s your take, KingGodGeneral Yumi?

-Let’s bring in our Kim Chul-Soo expert, KingGodGeneral Yumi!

Yu-Mi naturally leaned toward the second option. She prided herself on being able to gauge Jin-Hyeok’s psychological state just by the tone of his voice. However, outwardly, she responded rather seriously. “Doesn’t it seem like he is genuinely, truly intense this time?”

[1. Chul-Soo is genuinely intense this time. (45%)]

[2. IntenseMan is just being typically intense. (55%)]

The percentage of option 1 instantly surged. Highly satisfied with the result, Yu-Mi secretly grinned.

‘The more diverse the opinions become, the more Chul-Soo will feel threatened! Then his content will naturally become richer and more controversial!’

Tilting her head slightly, she said,

“Actually, Harvesting-class Players, what are they called... Foragers? Harvesters? Anyway, without them, harvesting those fruits seems impossible... As Kim Chul-Soo just said, those fruits are consuming too much of the Guardian Tree’s life force. So, finding a Harvester should be his priority!”

Yu-Mi began to speak faster. “You guys know the value of the Guardian Tree, right?”

She shared a few pieces of data she had prepared in advance, which equated the Guardian Tree’s value in monetary terms. According to a report from an American research institution, the Guardian Tree was worth at least several hundred billion dollars.

“To protect such a valuable tree, Chul-Soo is undoubtedly exerting immense effort right now. The Guardian Tree is essentially a shield for Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, and by extension, the entire Korean Server. Chul-Soo is always devoted to its protection!”

-Protect Korea? LOL. That’s a wild exaggeration.

-That’s a major leap. LOL

- We don’t know that. If the Guardian Tree grows significantly and expands its territory, maybe it can truly protect the entire country.

-Calm down with the national pride. LOL. Do you really think that makes sense?

-How can a single tree cover Korea? Korea is larger than you think.

-Yeah, just like your face is huge.

“Huh? Chul-Soo is making a move!”

On the screen, Chul-Soo began climbing the trunk of the Guardian Tree. As it was not that big, Chul-Soo was able to climb it rather quickly.

“Let’s try to harvest some fruits then,” Jin-Hyeok said.

-Huh? He’s not even a Harvester!

-What’s he thinking?

-Did he get sucked into his intense concept? Some things are just impossible.

-Isn’t that overdoing it?

Chul-Soo continued, “Typically, in such cases, one would usually hire a Harvesting-class Player or a Foraging-class Player, but I will try a different method.”

1. In the raws, it says ???, which is a combination of the words ‘king’ and ‘angry.’ It is an online slang, where users use king + any adjectives to amplify the meaning. ?