NoveLight ™
"Videos of Mecha Yujin are starting to pop up one by one."
It had been two days since I first encountered Mecha Biyam.
The world remained peaceful, but the online world—especially the Dark Zone community—was as lively as ever. The Wiki data on Mecha Yujin, which originally only stated "appears at a low probability in all maps," had been thoroughly updated, and it had stirred up even more noise.
As I thought about it, memories began to pop up one by one in my head. Basic details included: it carries a single gun, radiates plasma in all directions upon appearance, and fires a plasma cannon from its tail about once every minute. Destroying the tail’s concentrator would seal its attacks.
Additionally, it was newly revealed that it used energy to enhance its mobility.
"All the videos are pretty much the same. Guess the data collection method is limited," I mused.
Of course, the data collection method here naturally referred to my own broadcasts.
Leaning back in my chair, I continued my thoughts. There had been a lot of videos I had looked through so far. Not just in Korean and English, but if I looked around a little more, there were videos in other languages too. It seemed like anyone who could enjoy EU had uploaded something.
Anyway, that wasn’t the important part. A lot of people had used my videos without permission, so there was something I needed to address. Fortunately, many well-known channels, especially the ones with a lot of subscribers like "YourSpace," had started emailing me for permission since yesterday.
"Anyway, if any of you who uploaded videos haven't asked for permission yet, I suggest you send me an email quickly. Otherwise, your video will probably be taken down within a week."
Now that I had said it, I expected a flood of request emails to come through in the next day or two. I could probably just set up some automatic acceptance algorithm or something.
Anyway, that’s all for the video talk. I returned to my thoughts. The issue was obviously about hunting Mecha Yujin more reliably. Objectively speaking, my combat power was roughly the equivalent of three or four average players combined, so with a team of five or six, we could probably manage to take it down.
Beating physical violence with numerical violence.
Of course, if we got hit by a plasma cannon, that would be a different story.
Anyway, there was something different from the usual that had caught my attention lately.
The reason was simple. The number of merchants who were supposed to be eight had become seven. As I continued on through the story, it turned out that Maverick, who was originally supposed to be one of the merchants, had become an enemy. Naturally, I had to pay attention to that.
I had heard that Maverick had always been a villain who clashed with other merchants. For example, sending me on errands to dump chemical substances in the sewers. It was said that if you sided with one faction, your favorability with the other would drop drastically.
But in my scenario, that wasn’t where the problem ended.
"By the way, if I kill Maverick, will I lose anything?"
It seemed like there were many things that were actually quite helpful.
However, sadly, I probably wouldn’t meet Maverick again in the EU mode. Since I had just faced Mecha Biyam, my trust with the merchants had skyrocketed, and I felt like they were now openly watching Maverick as a target.
Maybe later, I could create a new character and follow the same quest line as the regular users. That wouldn't be so bad.
Anyway, that was my recent update.
"Anyway, today’s EU session is over. Lately, I’ve been focusing on saving money and upgrading my hideout, so things have been pretty quiet."
What? You just unscrew a few bolts and take it off the tripod. I could carry it based on the system’s rules.
I guess they’ve forgotten that I used to carry a DShK gun and shoot in California. It was really unfair how I had to deal with it. I had the option to take it, so I did... Of course, if I complained about this to Harmony or Dice, they’d probably say something like, "You really need to learn basic common sense."
Anyway, it was a fun experience. I hadn’t shot a .50 caliber in a while, so I had forgotten how to control the recoil, but I was starting to get the hang of it again. The only complaint was that the smoke blocked the sights. If I can solve that problem, I think I’ll use it more in the future.
After chatting for a bit, I ended the EU session. Of course, I didn’t end the broadcast yet—it was about time for the last bit of chit-chat.
I decided to check out the fan art board after a long time.
A new post was highlighted next to the board, and I clicked the mouse cursor on it. About ten or so new fan art pieces had been posted. They had a lot of upvotes, with none below 50. Among them, three or four had over 150 upvotes.
But—
"...Why is the title like this?"
It was exactly as they said.
It wasn’t the fully heated-up image I saw a few days ago... it was an image of the mechanical figure with a flushed face on top of me. It wasn’t too explicit, but it was enough to make me laugh awkwardly.
Naturally, the comments were full of "Biyam hahahaha" jokes. The viewers were something else.
I casually added:
"Who drew this? Please send me an email personally. No particular reason, just curious."
So, unexpectedly, my last chat turned into content about "artist executions." But still, it was well-drawn. Plus, given my past, I could save this image under another name really quickly.
Meanwhile, someone who had likely been watching the broadcast live sent a 50,000-won donation and apologized. Of course, I was fine with it. As long as they weren’t posting overly suggestive stuff, I could let it slide.
After reassuring them via private message, the atmosphere in the broadcast calmed down. The viewers thought I was some crazy Biyam who would immediately ban anyone who stepped out of line. I realized how quickly rumors could spread. Should I cut the root of this?
That aside, I started to remember a few videos that had been popping up on the "YourSpace" channel algorithm. It seemed like a channel drawing suggestive doodles of game characters. I’d heard that "Hotteok" viewers often watched these videos... and I think they were friends with Hotteok? My memory was hazy, but I thought I’d ask next time we met.
For now, I wrapped up everything, leaving a small note offering a pizza for everyone who had drawn something. After that, I started preparing to end the broadcast.
"Thanks for watching today’s broadcast, and tomorrow I’ll probably start a bit later. I’ve got a schedule."
As the viewers who didn’t want the broadcast to end shouted "Keep it going!!!!", I had something else planned for tomorrow.
It was time to meet Dice after a long while.
"Have a good night, everyone."
Of course, no matter how much they begged for more broadcast time, some things just couldn’t be helped.
"Yujin-ssi! Ack!"
"Why are you suddenly jumping at me?"
The next morning, 10 AM, I met Dice in Seongsu-dong.
A few months ago, when I lived in Hongje-dong, it would have taken a while to travel around Seoul and finally arrive at Seongsu-dong, where SSM’s headquarters is located. But now, after moving to a penthouse almost right next to the Yeongdong Bridge, it didn’t take Dice long to come from SSM, where he had been going to work recently.
Specifically, it took about 50 minutes on foot. That wasn’t a short distance, but it was also too close to take a car. Maybe I should get a stealth motorcycle. Now that I think about it, I don't actually own a car.
Maybe I should get one.
"Your skin’s so smooth. Did you put something on?"
"These days, the humidity is rising, so not really..."
"Really, look at your skin. It’s perfect."
"It’s not my skin, you’re touching my tail."
Using the excuse of my skin, Dice was slyly trying to sneak in some much-needed “tail maintenance." He was getting good at slipping into unconscious desires to satisfy his own needs.
Anyway, it was still early in the morning, and I was a bit hungry from walking for an hour. I hadn’t had breakfast yet—though Dice had promised to buy it, so I wasn’t too concerned.
That said, it had been a while since we last met. Actually, it had been a while since I last saw Harmony too. The last time I saw her was at my housewarming party, so it had been weeks.
"Do you want to take a tour of our company? We have a lot of free time today."
"If you get permission, I’m happy to take a look."
Our destination was a restaurant.
It had been a while since I had walked around Seoul.
As I was walking, a sudden thought crossed my mind.
"Come to think of it, I used to be an interim coach for SSM, but I’ve never actually visited the headquarters before."
"Honestly, I haven’t either. Most meetings are done through VR, so I didn’t need to go there. After the final championship, I think it’s been the first time I’ve been back in a while."
"Ah, right. SSM is involved in entertainment as well, right? Broadcasting, idol training... Well, I guess it’s more like nurturing them than training, but you get the idea."
"Exactly."
So began Dice’s endless chatter. He hadn’t said much at the housewarming party, but I guess all that time he was quietly storing up things to say. He went on and on, but it wasn’t boring at all. Hearing about all the celebrities he had appeared with on various shows was interesting, especially the stories about Dark Zone-related... well, let's say 'reckless' celebrities whose spines Dice had bent the wrong way.
You probably couldn’t imagine it. True skills are something you don’t believe in unless you see them firsthand or experience them yourself. Especially in a world where skills aren’t obvious from just appearances.
That said, the stories of breaking spines was pretty harsh.
Before long, we arrived at the Italian restaurant that Dice had reserved.
"Turns out a lot of celebrities are into Dark Zone. Maybe there’s a common denominator. There weren’t really any issues on the talk shows... Anyway, you don’t know the programs I’ve been on, right?"
"As soon as YourSpace uploaded, you kept sending me the link, pestering me to watch. How could I not watch?"
"Ah, seriously. You should have found it on your own."
From what he just said, it seemed like he wanted me to show more interest in his shows. I playfully smacked his head with my tail and immediately... not just one, but a ton of food started being served.
What was going on here?
The tables were being expanded, and soon, about 10 or so dishes were placed in front of us.
When our eyes met, he continued.
"I figured you’d eat a lot, so I ordered about a third of the menu. You can eat everything, but I’ll only sample a little of the pasta, pizza, and risotto."
"That’s an odd but considerate gesture."
And indeed, it was.
Of course, I wasn’t going to hide my amusement.
As we kept chatting, Dice took out his phone and passed me a message.
"Yujin-ssi."
"Yes?"
"They asked if you could take a look at our VR-based coach program. They’ll pay you a million per hour, and they’re asking if you can help us train our pro gamer trainees."
"Haha."
I chuckled lightly before adding.
"Let’s go see the skills of the friends Dice trained."
"Ugh."
It was finally time to act as an Apex Predator once again.