NoveLight ™
"Eugene’s editor and thumbnail artists are here for the talk show—now we can finally talk about it! It starts now—!"
"How did this happen...?"
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!
In the spacious outdoor garden of the penthouse, with the Han River right in front, the area solely dedicated to Eugene—a space with wooden benches, cushions, and various seating arrangements—streamers, members of Eugene's team, known as "Eugene's Squad," numbering thirteen, clapped in front of Eugene.
Eugene sat quietly in the back, looking somewhat embarrassed, while the editor and thumbnail artists stared at the drone camera with confused expressions—not that they disliked it. After all, if there were any bad blood or trouble between the editors and streamers, the interview itself would never have taken place.
Holding a microphone that was apparently brought from somewhere, a tall man adjusted the volume and began to speak softly.
"...Ah, hello. It's nice to meet you. Honestly, I didn't think I'd ever appear on a broadcast, but... I'm Editor #1, currently managing Eugene's channel."
"Oh, nice to meet you. May I ask when you first started working with Eugene? I heard he was operating the Tricky broadcasts back when he first started."
"Yes, yes. That's right. Back then, it was a fan space channel..."
With that, the story of the past began to unfold. He had been a university student back then, running a fan channel out of pure fandom, occasionally promoting it in Eugene's Tricky community, and when the time came to hire a formal editor, he had planned to submit his application—only to be kidnapped by Byam just a few days later.
Thus, he became an official editor, paid off his student loans in just a month, and after that, he took another leave of absence and spent about a year as a full-time editor.
"...This fall, I was planning to go back to school, but I told Eugene, and he suggested that I try working as a channel manager instead of focusing on editing. So, I've been learning a lot about that lately."
"Wow, is this your lifelong job?"
"Do you do anything else aside from channel management?"
"Some of the newer editors have a bit of a different editing style compared to the existing ones, so there's a bit of teaching involved, like 'this is how it should be edited here.'"
While not drastically different from others, it still had its unique aspects.
However, the clear fact was... Eugene had a lot of money, and in exchange for ensuring the high quality of his videos, he paid those working under him handsomely.
Business was money, and complaints usually came from insufficient compensation—something Eugene shyly explained.
Of course, once the cat was out of the bag, it wasn’t easily put back, and the specifics came to light through Limit's question.
"By the way, I heard you had quite a bit of student loan debt, but you paid it off in just a month... Did Eugene pay for it all?"
"Oh, not exactly..."
A brief silence.
Then, he smiled and said.
"He bought my entire fan space channel."
"...What?"
"I worked on it out of fandom, so I can proudly say the 15-minute videos I made were of high quality, about twelve of them. The views were pretty significant."
So, Eugene bought it.
The views of the videos, the time and effort spent making them, the fan space channel, and the editor were all factored in. Once the discussion was finished, 15 million won was deposited into the editor's account, solving his financial troubles, and he even bought a gift for his parents.
Thus, the saga of the first editor’s somewhat uneventful career ended. As for the second, third, and fourth editors... the stories weren’t much different, but some unknown facts started coming to light.
The streamers were the first to notice.
"...Eugene?"
"Yes?"
"Your salary... it’s really impressive. Is it because the channel is so huge...?"
When the fact that their monthly salaries exceeded 5,000 dollars was revealed, everyone’s eyes widened.
Eugene just scratched his head and responded.
"Well, I tend to give out a lot of work, so in most cases, it’s hard to keep up with everything. Honestly, I’m thinking of hiring a couple more editors. We’ve just started editing the San Diego episode for the ‘YourSpace Incursion’ scenario... So, yeah, that’s what the salary is for."
"Ah."
"Come to think of it, usually, there’s a video uploaded every day on each of the separate channels..."
"Everyone must be working hard."
At that moment, someone else spoke up.
"Do you give out rewards like a whip to improve productivity... huh? Just kidding, sorry!"
"Do you have some disease that makes it hard to keep those thoughts to yourself?"
In the meantime, DICE was receiving a special Eugene massage and stretching, sprawled out on the floor.
Meanwhile, Harmony was nestled in Laurentina’s arms, fiddling with her cheek, and their eyes met—Shark, with a cold expression, only added that as long as no strange sounds were made, she would let it slide.
Thus, the editor stories came to an end. Returning to his original spot, Eugene, as always, covered his face with both hands, his ears turning bright red amidst the flurry of compliments.
"Next, let's hear from the thumbnail artists. Is there anything you want to ask Eugene or thank him for?"
"Uh..."
A brief silence.
Then, she poured out an unexpected comment.
"...I’ve never been in the military, but now, I think I could draw the structure and shape of a gun, the accessories... I could probably do it with my eyes closed."
"Ah."
"But that doesn’t mean it’s easy, though... Honestly, I almost feel like I’m going to die when I draw the rails. I love guns, but I think it’d be nice if you could do a bit of regular fantasy too..."
A multitude of thumbnails floated in the air.
Intricately drawn guns, and Eugene, shooting excitedly with complex weaponry—not just him, but also Logan, Laurentina, DICE, and Harmony. Of course, it wasn’t just guns. There were also images with various gear, plate carriers, helmets, and more.
Harmony snapped her fingers.
"Come to think of it, our thumbnail artist said the work has gotten a lot tougher lately... Looks like it’s because of the guns and gear."
"Editors are great, but please hire one or two more thumbnail artists who can draw gear well, teacher... We’re gonna die from overwork at this rate... How can you fit three characters in one drawing with that much complexity...?"
Ah.
It was a blind spot I never even thought about.
So, Eugene immediately posted an announcement that he would hire a few more thumbnail artists who could draw military gear, and the talk show turned into a portfolio inspection session for more than twenty people.
It truly was a chaotic ending.
"Oh, right. By the way, I recently updated the Dark Zone. Did you guys see it?"
"Ah, right. Speaking of which, I did get contacted by Icarus about a month ago. They asked if I’d be interested in appearing as an APC or NPC in their game, and I gave them the green light…"
As he spoke, his eyes subtly shifted. It felt like an unpleasant bit of news was coming, and sure enough, Harmony turned her head with a mechanical-like movement, her gaze meeting his.
At the same time, memories started to flood back. A month ago, things had been extremely busy. Specifically, he had been focused on welcoming Logan and Laurentina while fully immersing himself in the Seattle battle. The countless emails that came in during that time—among them, one from Icarus International...
Ah.
"I’m pretty sure I heard I’d be appearing as some sort of final boss in an Escape scenario."
"That was updated a few days ago."
"Wow."
He couldn't help but laugh.
Regardless of the details, the fact that it had been updated just a few days ago meant that others must have had a chance to experience it by now. Harmony, who seemed to know a little about it, gave off a tone that suggested she had some insider knowledge. Deciding to distinguish between those who knew and those who didn’t, Eugene decided to ask further.
The result was almost everyone knew about it. Only a couple of the thumbnail artists, Laurentina, Logan, and he himself were unaware. It was an absolutely shocking result.
With the help of the viewers, Eugene quickly found a post detailing the new patch, and it went something like this:
[Dark Zone: Extraction]
"The fighting in the Unknown Area has been intensifying, with intel about new weapons being passed through UA (Unknown Area) and falling into the hands of the former Artemis mercenaries."
"Gather all the items you can, then head into the research lab to wipe out all enemies and either recover or destroy the new weapon. This applies to all of UA, and you may encounter other PMC members, so be prepared to cooperate or fight."
"Given the difficulty of the mission, you can hire up to three teams for deployment and recovery. All weapons and armor carried into the mission can be recovered up to three times."
"We wish you the best of luck."
"…Where exactly am I supposed to appear in this?"
"Uh..."
Harmony scrolled down with a skeptical expression.
Instead of text, what caught their eyes was a photo that looked like a CCTV shot. But no one there was unfamiliar with the identity of the figure in the photo—bright red mechanical eyes, long flowing hair, pistons and mechanical joints instead of skin, and a long... mechanical snake tail.
It was Mecha-Eugene.
Shocked, Eugene almost laughed before scrolling down further, uncovering the identity of the new weapon—after gathering combat data, it had been modeled after the most formidable enemy operator, resulting in a self-guided machine.
Naturally, he wasn’t offended or anything. His image hadn’t been destroyed, in fact, it had been designed to enhance his image, making him appear extremely imposing.
If anything, all he had to say was:
"…The imagination of the Icarus team is truly something else."
"Hehe, Mecha-Snake... too bad there’s no mechanical shark."
As Laurentina babbled on unexpectedly, Eugene scrolled down a little further.
The phrase that caught his eye was: “Only available in Escape From Unknown mode.” This too, when traced back in his memory, seemed familiar. He vaguely remembered seeing it months ago when he didn’t even know if there was an "Apex Predator" mode. Back then, he and Harmony were going through the PVP modes one by one, and this had been one of the listed modes—4v4 team play, Survival in the Snowstorm in New York, Apex Predator, Team Six, and the 128v128 mode of Great Wars.
And below that, Escape From Unknown mode.
"Hmm."
To put it another way, this meant it was time to start paying attention to the Dark Zone mode again, a mode he had previously overlooked.
Having conquered the Apex Predator mode, tied up his past, present, and future in the Incursion scenario, it seemed only logical to take his third step into this new Unknown Zone mode.
Of course, Harmony had already figured out Eugene’s thoughts.
"So, exactly how does this mode work?"
"It’s a mode that maximizes the root shooting element. Kind of like an MMOFPS..."
The basic narrative of the mode began to unfold.
Unlike the main Dark Zone storyline, where you play as an operator, the Unknown Zone involved being a subcontracted agent sent overseas. Of course, unlike the Icarus Gear, they were given downgraded, mass-produced versions of it.
In this mode, the character was sent into an outlaw zone marked as a "No-Control Zone." They would explore, get stripped of their gear, wake up at a safe location, uncover the secrets of the zone, earn money, gear up, and try to escape.
If that was the narrative, the system allowed players to collect gun parts to customize weapons, buy their own ammunition, and travel through maps engaging in combat to farm high-value items and sell them to vendors. Clearly, the MMO part of the mode was not to be overlooked.
"Sounds fun, right?"
"Yeah, sounds fun. Not sure how much the physical abilities are restricted in there though..."
"They say once you get your Icarus Gear back, you can unlock the system to increase weight limits, stamina, recoil control, and more..."
A brief silence followed.
Harmony hesitated before speaking again.
"...But you’re hardcore, right? I haven’t heard that the hardcore system doesn’t work in the Unknown Zone mode."
"Ah."
Why... is everyone already so scared of me...?
After a brief silence, an editor who had been laughing awkwardly spoke up, bringing the atmosphere back to work.
"Alright, guys. Let’s get back to work."
And so, Eugene Farm.
It was the moment when a new nickname was added to my list.