Chapter 20 - Chapter 20

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 20

Chapter Title: Eve Paimo's Predicament

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Movie Soft had chosen to develop this make-or-break project not at their headquarters, where the previous series were made, but in Korea. The reason behind that decision was Eve Paimo.

He was a renowned game developer whom the company had scouted from outside as it struggled to adapt to the capsule era and began its decline.

Now serving as the company's CCO and president of the Korean branch, he had made the bold choice to come to Korea—where localization had always been the norm—for development, citing the country's world-leading capsule penetration rate and its consumers' sensitivity to trends.

There had been plenty of grumbling from the start, but as development progressed, he grew convinced of this series' success and was already preparing for the next one.

And with Shadows in the City confirmed a hit on launch day, the sequel project kicked off at breakneck speed.

It was smooth sailing, literally.

But there was one problem.

The picture he had envisioned was in danger of unraveling from the very beginning.

All because of a single streamer.

Kim Yoon-chan, summoned to the president's office early that morning, spoke cautiously.

"See? I had a bad feeling about this..."

"Quiet. Just explain quickly. Why the hell has Weak Point Detection already been unlocked?!"

"Hahaha. Yeah, I never thought I'd get read like that."

Kim Yoon-chan flashed a bright, innocent smile, piquing Eve Paimo's curiosity.

"'Read'? What do you mean by that?"

"Boss, we figured it'd take users at least a month to unlock Weak Point Detection."

"Honestly, even half a year wouldn't be surprising. It's not easy stumbling on a weapon's grain by accident, recording it, and sharing it with everyone."

"Right? Even if someone took the lead to hunt for it, it'd still take at least—a minimum of—a month."

"Plus, our game has so much else to do that no one would waste time grinding for Weak Point Detection."

Eve Paimo took great pride in the assassination system he'd crafted for Shadows in the City.

"Exactly. With all the other stuff to tackle, who's gonna bother hunting for a weapon-destroying grain? Especially when it relies on luck."

It was content only for the hardcore veterans who'd finish every challenge and feel like something was missing—like a thorn in their throat.

In truth, Musou and grains were designed precisely for them.

"Right. So why was Weak Point Detection unlocked just a week after launch?"

Unlocking Weak Point Detection itself wasn't the issue.

The problem was that it allowed players to pierce one of the overlords, Richard Neville's, heavy armor and take him down in Musou style.

The reason lay in the Fragment of Order rewarded for defeating an overlord in Musou.

They had hidden Easter eggs for the sequel scattered throughout, and the Fragment of Order was one of them.

Collect all the fragments to unlock a short quest tied to the next game.

Then, time the reveal perfectly with a teaser video to drum up hype.

It was his natural, effective way to promote the sequel.

The problem? The teaser video wasn't ready yet, but the fragments were now at risk of being collected.

"The reason it got unlocked? Like I said, we got read."

Eve Paimo suppressed the urge to smack the nonchalant, beaming Kim Yoon-chan.

"Stop beating around the bush and explain properly."

"Yes, sir."

Kim Yoon-chan sent Eve Paimo a clip.

It was from a collab with Alpaca.

"Hm? Clean work."

"Right? This is Seo-jun the streamer recreating someone else's discovery."

"I see. He's got skills."

"And the next clip is that streamer finding and breaking the grain himself."

"What?"

Eve Paimo thought he'd misheard and asked again.

"He found the grain? That streamer?"

"Yes."

Watching the second clip where the shield and sword shattered, Eve Paimo stared at Kim Yoon-chan with wide eyes.

"How... Does this even make sense? Did he have a bug where Weak Point Detection was just there?"

It was so absurd that even Eve Paimo—who always insisted his game was bug-free—was invoking bugs.

"No. We checked for that ages ago."

"Then..."

"I've watched all the collab footage, and as a new fan of streamer Seo-jun, let me explain: it looks like he read the pattern. Hard to believe he figured out the sword path from just two examples while the AI and team got shredded, but hey, if he says so."

I didn't ask about you becoming his fan.

"So what do we do?"

"About what?"

"How long did we allocate for the sequel teaser video?"

"A month."

"If we pull all-nighters starting today to rush it?"

"One week...?"

"What's the chance that streamer collects all the Fragments of Order in that time?"

"Lucky for you, I can say for sure: 100%."

Not lucky at all, you idiot.

"Well, we don't have to release the teaser right away."

"Then the picture falls apart! The picture!"

Eve Paimo habitually pressed his temples, searching for a solution.

Nothing ever went exactly to plan, but this was truly unexpected.

Minor if you wanted to call it that, but he didn't want the sequel project derailed from the start.

"Oh? The stream's starting. Wanna watch together?"

Eve Paimo barely restrained himself from hurling the file folder on his desk and replied politely.

"Out! And I told you no streaming during work hours!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Ha..."

The Fragments of Order weren't even meant to be made in the first place.

If only that guy hadn't insisted on slipping an Easter egg into Musou content for the Musou players...

Come to think of it, that guy was Kim Yoon-chan too.

Frustrated, Eve Paimo kept replaying Seo-jun's videos.

How the hell did he do it?

He messaged Kim Yoon-chan internally for another video: the one neutralizing Richard Neville's heavy armor in one go.

'Took down an overlord without Weak Point Detection?'

This was...

Cool.

Eye candy, you could say.

After that, Seo-jun-related clips flooded in.

Especially when he found Drake's location—Eve Paimo couldn't wipe the pleased smile from his face.

Because the route Seo-jun took was one of Eve Paimo's own ideas.

'So it got revealed like this.'

It felt rewarding.

Players enjoying the game they'd poured their souls into, in their own way.

And that "This works too?" surprise from users.

It was everything he'd hoped for in an open world.

Eve Paimo replayed the clips several times in admiration before quietly hitting follow.

"Hello, everyone."

Seo-jun gave a light wave in greeting.

The chat scrolled rapidly.

The firepower nearing 2,000 viewers was on another level entirely.

He'd heard his room already had lively chat relative to viewer count.

But with more viewers, the pace was incomparably faster now.

So.

"Alright, Joseon's Assassin-nim, Great Defense-nim, Patient on a White Horse-nim—all here?"

Chats with sword icons next to their nicknames popped up at his words.

They were viewers from his first stream.

From past chat logs, they hadn't caused issues despite their nicknames and had watched every broadcast faithfully. So Seo-jun asked them to moderate chat, and they eagerly volunteered.

(Brick Extortion King still hadn't replied, by the way.)

"These folks will moderate from now on, cutting chats that break the rules. Thanks."

In the midst of it, Joseon's Assassin used points for a special effect on his chat.

Is this the aura of wealth?

"And since we now have chat rules, give 'em a quick read."

Chats checking the rules flooded in.

1. Talk only about the stream.

2. If you see spam, don't fight in chat—whisper a manager.

3. You know what not to do, right?

Travel's chat rules varied by streamer since there were no uniform standards.

Some listed strict ones; others just said "No disrespect."

Some even added friendly greetings like "Have fun!"

Seo-jun's were concise because he preferred free-flowing communication.

"What not to do? You know the gist. Unless it's really bad, you won't even get a warning."

He'd already coordinated with the managers.

He might've ignored a plain chat, but a donation demanded a response.

"...Thanks. Nah, not hiring for that."

A broadcast setup helper would be nice, but the emphasis on "settings" felt suspicious.

Not properly started yet, so chats were all over the place.

Seo-jun built hype to steer things.

"Oh, the title? Well, some folks doubted how I found the grains, and I feel bad for not explaining properly. Sorry about that first."

"But I'm not cheating. Nor a game dev."

Seo-jun nodded at the chats as if agreeing.

"Straight to the point: the grain pattern I figured is the spots that wear most when using the gear, traced into easy-to-see arcs."

Far from real-world weak points, but he figured it matched the designer's intent—and it did.

"I was gonna prove it properly today, but now with Weak Point Detection unlocked, whatever I do, folks'll just say I hacked the capsule, right?"

After thanking the donor.

"So I reported myself."

Seo-jun's expression turned serious.

"Me."

Seo-jun pulled up the prepared Assassin's Dawn inquiry log.

"Alright, explanation over. Let's jump into the game."

Seo-jun switched back to his innocent grin like nothing happened and stretched.

"Okay, today's stream... Oh, a mission came in? Thanks, Assassin's Dawn creator-nim."

Seo-jun smoothly accepted the mission via stream settings.

A window popped up in the top-left of the broadcast screen.

The sponsorship reward for completing the mission.

A massive sum for the first mission.

He was planning to hit the Mage Tower anyway.

"For real? Actual creator?"

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