Chapter 33

Bus stop.

Lee Geon-yeong, his face hidden under a pulled-up hood, was staring intently at his phone.

A blue bus approached the stop.

He opened the internet navigation directions again to double-check.

‘Is that the right number?’

Still uncertain, he boarded the bus.

It was his first time taking public transportation in years.

Beep.

[Fare: 1,200 won]

The bus fare was displayed.

‘It used to be 720 won…’

Lee Geon-yeong realized from the bus fare that he had truly become an adult after all these years.

It had been two years since he became an adult, but staying shut up in his room meant he had never really felt it.

‘It’s quiet.’

He sat in an empty seat and pulled out his earphones, plugging them into both ears.

Then he opened iTube and went to his viewing history.

[What’s parrying? – Assassin’s Dawn (Shadows in the City) #1]

It was a title that made him laugh first, knowing all the content from watching Seo-jun’s streams from the beginning.

A video of streamer Seo-jun edited by a different editor.

It was a video he had watched several times while working on additional edits the night before to send Seo-jun his own edit, but he played it once more while heading to their meeting.

From the start, a fast-paced violin background music played as Seo-jun climbed a wall up to a clock tower.

‘This was really well made too.’

It was an intro specifically for Assassin’s Dawn made by the other editor.

It was also included in the video he had worked on.

The screen showing Alteon’s night view began switching rapidly.

It resembled a hero movie company’s intro.

Scenes of Seo-jun playing the game so far flashed by quickly as a single logo appeared.

[Jin Seo-jun iTube.]

The well-crafted intro instantly heightened the video’s immersion.

‘I heard they’re experienced… will I end up working with them?’

Afterward, Seo-jun showed the typical behavior of someone playing a game for the first time, and chat reactions appeared laughing at this.

Then the usernames of the players appeared.

White Horse Bullet User, Best Defense, and his username.

Brick Theft King.

‘Ugh. Embarrassing.’

He immediately paused the video.

That username had been something to be proud(?) of online.

But thinking that the people he was about to meet knew his identity made him feel ashamed.

He also felt pathetic.

‘But man, it really was well made. I’m envious.’

The comment reactions were good too.

He stopped the video when he arrived at his destination and got off the bus.

“I have plenty of time.”

They had agreed to meet at a cafe.

Lee Geon-yeong headed to the meeting place while thinking.

‘This is my first time making this kind of contract, so I don’t know how to handle it, and the other editor is completely skilled, so will I even be useful…’

Anxiety crept in again.

He had become too accustomed to his safe zone.

‘In the end, if I get consumed by these thoughts here and stop walking, I won’t be able to go anywhere.’

Lee Geon-yeong opened the cafe door.

And he sent a message to the group chat saying he had arrived.

The woman sitting by the window looking at her phone began glancing around.

Then she spotted him standing at the entrance and waved her hand.

“Hello.”

Lee Geon-yeong tried to respond but found himself speechless for a moment.

It had been so long since he had talked with anyone other than family.

“Yes… Ahem.”

“I’m Han Ji-min. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes, nice to meet you. I’m Lee Geon-yeong.”

His voice gradually got quieter like a decrescendo.

But before long, the atmosphere completely reversed.

“What?! That happened to you?”

“That’s what I’m saying. She’s a the bad person here, right? I’m telling you, her true nature came out once things started going well. I really went through so much hardship to grow that channel. The income was so low that I worked part-time jobs while somehow managing to endure and barely managed to grow it.”

Han Ji-min exploded in anger while Lee Geon-yeong chimed in agreement.

Lee Geon-yeong realized that once he actually met someone in person, talking comfortably like before wasn’t really that difficult.

“So the point I’m trying to make is this. Don’t voluntarily become a slave. Mm-hmm.”

“That’s definitely true.”

Though Lee Geon-yeong was 21 and Han Ji-min was 26 with quite an age difference, the two seemed to get along well.

To Lee Geon-yeong, Han Ji-min had started working earlier than him and had her own achievements, so she seemed much more mature than their age difference suggested.

“If he tries to force passion pay using profit sharing as an excuse, just don’t do it.”

“But…”

Lee Geon-yeong wanted to work with Seo-jun, who had been the first to acknowledge him.

“The second video that went up today was done by you, Geon-yeong, right?”

“Yes.”

“Did you see the reactions?”

“No. I’m a bit scared of people seeing it.”

“You seem talented, and you’d definitely succeed working elsewhere too.”

Mm-hmm.

Han Ji-min nodded.

“And new streamers will probably try to lowball you rather than properly supporting two editors. The streaming seems to be going well, but who knows how long that will last. The channel income hasn’t even started yet, so there’s no way he’d invest in editors. Don’t get your hopes up too much.”

“Then why did you come here?”

“To scold him if he tries to exploit people like everyone else.”

Lee Geon-yeong found Han Ji-min’s blazing eyes burdensome and looked away.

It seemed like she had a lot of accumulated resentment from being mistreated by her former employer.

“That…”

Seo-jun would probably be good at fighting in real life too.

Lee Geon-yeong swallowed the rest of his words.

And just then, both of their phones lit up simultaneously.

Ding.

It was a message from Seo-jun saying he’d arrive soon.

* * *

“Boss, you’re serious, right? This could be a huge loss for you.”

Han Ji-min asked the same question for the fifth time.

“I told you it’s fine.”

Seo-jun gave the same answer for the fifth time.

“Really?”

“Yes. We even have a contract.”

“Boss! I’ll trust and follow you for life! Loyalty!”

Lee Geon-yeong watched Han Ji-min excitedly signing the contract with incredulous eyes.

“No way…”

The conditions Seo-jun proposed to them were simple.

The two editors would manage the entire channel.

Minimum wage as base pay, with 25% of channel revenue as incentive instead.

If there were no other grounds for breach, the contract would continue—conditions that seemed disadvantageous to Seo-jun at first glance.

Lee Geon-yeong poked Han Ji-min’s arm with questioning eyes that demanded explanation.

Then Han Ji-min spoke in an extremely excited voice.

She looked thrilled.

“You’re a god, hyung!”

Why is she calling him hyung now?

She’s older and a woman.

“Not that.”

“Brick Theft King-nim. What are you curious about?”

Seo-jun spoke up while watching this.

“That, hyung-nim… I mean, boss. My name is Lee Geon-yeong.”

“And your ID is Brick Theft King.”

Seo-jun smiled mischievously.

It was the same expression he made when deceiving during streams or teasing viewers.

He noticed that every time his username was mentioned, he looked around nervously, so Seo-jun deliberately said it loudly.

“Hah… Anyway. Even someone like me who doesn’t know much about this thinks there’s no need for Seo-jun-nim to share profits.”

This was the part Han Ji-min had explained to Seo-jun several times.

That he could probably find editors without sharing profits.

And Lee Geon-yeong would have accepted even without incentives.

“Well. If Brick Theft King-nim just works hard, it won’t be a loss.”

Seo-jun had his own calculations too.

iTube was just one of a streamer’s income sources anyway.

Then rather than spending time and energy trying to grow the channel when he didn’t even know much about it, wouldn’t it be better to leave everything to editors and focus on broadcasting?

This was actually how Alpaca had succeeded.

It was also why people joined MCNs despite having to share iTube revenue.

“Let’s see, boss, your view count has already exceeded 10,000. I had to struggle for months to barely break the 10,000 wall!”

Han Ji-min was giving Lee Geon-yeong looks urging him to sign quickly.

Lee Geon-yeong finally laughed helplessly and signed the contract.

“Let’s go have a company dinner right away. Boss! I have some money I squeezed out of that last bitch. I’ll treat today!”

Lee Geon-yeong, who tried alcohol for the first time that day, got completely drunk.

* * *

“What did you say? I’m an arrogant crazy bastard? Then you’re just a crazy bastard. Hahaha!”

A handsome man who would be treated like a nobleman if he went out on the streets in ordinary clothes laughed heartily.

In a battlefield where blood splattered and flesh was torn.

A strange scene was unfolding.

Two young-looking men and dozens of enemies surrounding them.

At first glance it seemed like an ordinary battlefield, but it was peculiar that the many surrounding the two men couldn’t readily step forward and were instead watching nervously while maintaining tension.

But those who knew the identity of these two men would think this was natural.

“Shut up and clear the way.”

That’s what the person with the character for uprightness (正) on his back said.

Behind the crazy bastard—no, handsome man—who was roaring with laughter was the character for heaven (天).

The identity of the two was the young sect leader of the Demonic Cult, the greatest force in the martial world, and a famous rising star of the orthodox faction.

They had formed a temporary alliance in this crisis situation.

The memory went dark again.

And like a revolving lantern, that bastard’s face came to mind.

Those eyes always filled with arrogance and confidence looked at him.

“That detestable face never ages.”

“If you hadn’t been in the orthodox faction, cooperation in this situation would have been impossible.”

“Crazy bastard. Are you the orthodox faction?”

“We two are far too similar.”

“Did you forget I’m 10 years older? Watch your manners.”

“My old friend…”

* * *

Seo-jun woke up.

“Ah. What a shitty dream…”

He pressed his forehead while still lying down.

His head was throbbing.

He frowned at the memories of his past life that came back vividly like rumination.

“Of all dreams to have, why that one. Tch.”

Seo-jun clicked his tongue.

His sleep had been rough.

Not just ordinarily rough.

“Should I just skip streaming today too?”

Seo-jun had taken a day off the previous day.

It definitely wasn’t because he wanted to torture viewers who were eager to see the quest completed.

Really.

He had simply had no choice but to rest because he was meeting with new editors.

There was absolutely no other intention.

Absolutely none.

[You’re taking a break at a time like this? Seriously annoying]

[Please turn on the stream.]

[Open the door, streamer. I’m cold…]

[From now on I won’t complain about anything you do! So please come back…]

No, maybe there was a little.

Seo-jun smiled and closed the community, then opened the chat room.

[Brick Theft King: Day 4 streaming time 1 hour 23 minutes, 27 minutes 34 seconds, please confirm.]

[Han Ji-min: Confirmed!]

.

.

.

There were many other conversations besides this.

Mostly Lee Geon-yeong asking Han Ji-min about various editing methods, but conversely, Han Ji-min was asking Lee Geon-yeong about parts related to Seo-jun’s broadcast sources.

They’re overflowing with passion.

Seo-jun stretched and got up from bed, then washed up.

The time was 8 o’clock.

“Too late to exercise.”

Ding ding ding ding.

While simply eating cereal for breakfast, the front door opened.

It was Kim Tae-woo returning from morning exercise after a long time.

Tae-woo had originally followed Seo-jun around since high school, but after becoming an adult, he only went when he felt like it.

“Hey, you crazy bastard.”

Why is he like this from the morning?

“Did you know Lee Dong-soo was a Freefall player?”

Freefall?

That sounds familiar.

“The team Shin Ha-yeon’s on?”

“Right.”

A team he heard had maintained their dynasty from the PC era to the current capsule era.

“Really? No wonder he had good sense when moving his body.”

“Thanks to you tormenting that player with sparring.”

It’s not tormenting, it’s teaching.

“He became friends with me by talking shit about you together. We even ate warm soup together.”

Seo-jun thought.

Why are all his friends like this?

“Ah! And this is a team secret, but Shin Ha-yeon apparently didn’t play any other games for a whole week and only did Training Hall to finally beat you.”

“Oh?”

Seo-jun’s AI naturally wasn’t equipped with the same skills as Seo-jun, and if Seo-jun fought again, he could easily win, but it was a higher level than Shin Ha-yeon.

Since she couldn’t beat it for a whole week.

But in the end, Shin Ha-yeon had beaten the AI.

‘Hmm, there must be some connection.’

That meant she had grown beyond her limits.

As a distant senior in martial arts, it made him happy to see a junior growing.

So.

‘As a senior. I should be helpful. Hehe.’

Seo-jun got up after finishing his meal.

“What are you doing? Why are you getting in the capsule?”

“Ah. Just going to loosen up a bit.”

Seo-jun stayed in the capsule for quite a while after that.

It wasn’t just loosening up a bit.

Tae-woo anxiously turned on his phone and went to a Training Hall-related site.

Then he was genuinely amazed.

“Is he crazy? What is he thinking?”

Jin Seo-jun’s name had appeared on the Training Hall rankings.