Chapter 33 - Chapter 33

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 33

Chapter Title: The Editors' Contract

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Bus stop.

Hood pulled low over his face, Lee Geon-young stared intently at his phone.

A blue bus pulled up to the stop.

He pulled up the directions he'd searched online one more time to double-check.

'Is that the right number?'

Still unsure, he boarded the bus.

It had been years since he'd last taken public transit.

Beep.

[Fare: 1,200 won]

The fare registered.

'It used to be 720 won back then...'

Lee Geon-young truly felt like an adult for the first time in years from that bus fare alone.

It had been two years since he'd turned twenty, but holing up in his room had kept him from realizing it.

'Pretty empty.'

He took a vacant seat, pulled out his earbuds, and popped them in both ears.

Then he opened iTube and checked his watch history.

[What's Parrying Anyway? - Assassin's Dawn (Shadows in the City) #1]

To him—who'd watched Seo-jun's streams from the very start and knew every detail—the title was hilarious right off the bat.

This was a video of streamer Seo-jun, edited by someone other than himself.

He'd looped through it multiple times the day before while doing extra work to send the edit to Seo-jun, but even now, on his way to meet him, he played it again.

From the jump, fast-paced violin background music kicked in as Seo-jun scaled the clock tower wall.

'They nailed this one too.'

It was a custom intro made by the other editor just for Assassin's Dawn clips.

He'd incorporated it into his own videos as well.

The screen showing Alteon's nightscape began switching rapidly.

It evoked the intro of a hero movie studio.

Clips of Seo-jun's gameplay flashed by in quick succession, culminating in a logo.

The slick intro ramped up the immersion in an instant.

'They said he's a veteran... Guess I'll be working with him.'

Seo-jun then put on a show of being a total newbie to gaming, prompting laughs in the chat.

Viewers' nicknames popped up next.

White Horse Bullet, Great Defense, and his own.

Brick Theft King.

'Ugh. Embarrassing.'

He paused the video on the spot.

Online, that nickname had been his pride(?), but now...

Thinking about meeting people who knew his real identity made him cringe.

And he felt pathetic about it too.

'Man, they really did a great job. Kinda jealous.'

The comments were glowing too.

He stopped the video when he reached his stop and got off the bus.

"Plenty of time."

They'd agreed to meet at a cafe.

As Lee Geon-young headed there, his thoughts wandered.

'First time doing a contract like this. What do I even do? And the other editor's so good—do I even have a place here...'

Anxiety crept back in.

He was too used to his safe bubble.

'If I let these thoughts paralyze me here and stop in my tracks, I'll never get anywhere.'

Lee Geon-young pushed open the cafe door.

He messaged the group chat that he'd arrived.

A woman by the window seat, glued to her phone, started glancing around.

Spotting him at the entrance, she waved.

"Hi there."

Lee Geon-young opened his mouth to reply but froze.

It had been ages since he'd talked to anyone outside his family.

"Y-Yeah... Ahem."

"I'm Han Ji-min. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, hi. Lee Geon-young."

His voice trailed off softer and softer, like a decrescendo.

But the mood flipped soon enough.

"No way, that happened?"

"Right? Total jerk. Success brings out the true colors. I poured so much into building that channel. The revenue was zilch, so I juggled a part-time gig just to keep it afloat."

Han Ji-min vented, and Lee Geon-young chimed in.

Meeting in person, he realized chatting like old times wasn't so hard after all.

"So yeah, point is, don't volunteer to be a slave. Mm-hmm."

"True that."

Lee Geon-young was 21, Han Ji-min 26—a solid age gap—but they clicked.

To him, she'd started earlier, had real achievements, and came off even more mature than the years suggested.

"If they pull the 'revenue share' excuse to push passion pay, just walk."

"But..."

Lee Geon-young wanted to work with Seo-jun, the first to acknowledge his talent.

"That second video up today—you did that one, right, Geon-young?"

"Yeah."

"See the reactions?"

"Nah. Kinda scared to."

"You've got talent. You could thrive anywhere else too."

Mm-hmm.

Han Ji-min nodded.

"Newbie streamers won't properly support two editors—they'll lowball you. Streams are doing well so far, but who knows how long? No channel revenue yet, so no way they're investing in editors. Don't expect too much."

"Then why'd you come?"

"If he tries to exploit us like others, I'll set him straight."

Lee Geon-young averted his eyes from Han Ji-min's blazing glare.

She had a mountain of grudges from her old boss.

"Uh..."

Seo-jun-nim probably fights well IRL too.

He swallowed the rest.

Right then, both their phones lit up.

Ding.

Seo-jun's message: arriving soon.

"Boss, you sure? This could be a huge loss for you."

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

"It's fine, I said."

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

"For real?"

"Yeah. We got the contract right here."

"Boss! I'll follow you forever! Loyalty!"

Lee Geon-young stared in disbelief at Han Ji-min gleefully signing the contract beside him.

"No..."

Seo-jun's proposal was straightforward.

The two editors would handle the entire channel.

Base pay at minimum wage, but 25% of channel revenue as incentives.

No fault on their end? Contract continues indefinitely.

Seemed lopsided in Seo-jun's favor at first glance? No—actually the opposite.

Lee Geon-young poked Han Ji-min's arm, eyes begging for explanation.

She lit up and explained, buzzing with excitement.

"Hyung's a god!"

Why hyung now? You're older and a woman.

"Not that."

"Theft King-nim. What's on your mind?"

Seo-jun chimed in, watching them.

"Uh, hyung—er, boss. Name's Lee Geon-young."

"And your ID's Brick Theft King."

Seo-jun flashed that smug grin—the one from streams when he trolled chat or viewers.

He'd noticed Lee Geon-young glancing around nervously whenever his nick came up, so he said it extra loud on purpose.

Lee Geon-young wanted to smack him.

"Haa... Anyway, even I can tell you don't need to split revenue like this, Seo-jun-nim."

This was the point Han Ji-min had hammered home to Seo-jun multiple times.

He could snag editors without sharing profits.

And Lee Geon-young would've accepted even without incentives.

"Eh. If Theft King here works hard, it won't be a loss."

Seo-jun had his own math.

iTube was just one revenue stream for streamers anyway.

Why waste energy on channel growth when you barely know what you're doing? Better hand it off to editors and focus on streaming.

That was Alpaca's path to success.

Reason folks joined MCNs despite revenue splits.

"Look here, boss—views already over 10k! Took me months of grinding to crack that."

Han Ji-min nudged Lee Geon-young to sign already.

He let out a hollow laugh and finally signed.

"Straight to drinks! Boss! Got some cash I squeezed from that scumbag ex-boss last. My treat tonight!"

Lee Geon-young, tasting alcohol for the first time that day, got smashed.

"What? I'm an arrogant psycho? Then you're just a plain psycho. Hahaha!"

A handsome man in simple clothes— the type who'd pass for nobility on the street—laughed heartily.

Blood sprayed and flesh tore amid the battlefield chaos.

An incongruous scene unfolded.

Two young-looking men surrounded by dozens of foes.

At a glance, a standard skirmish—but the encircling mob hesitated, eyeing each other warily instead of charging.

Anyone who knew those two would've found it natural.

"Shut up and clear a path."

The speaker had "正" emblazoned on his back.

The laughing madman—no, handsome devil—bore "天" on his.

They were the Demonic Cult's young lord—the mightiest faction in murim—and a famed prodigy of the righteous sects.

Temporary allies in crisis.

Memory faded to black again.

Then, like a life-flashing montage, that face surfaced.

Those eyes, brimming with arrogance and certainty, stared at him.

"That punchable mug of yours doesn't age, huh."

"Without you in the righteous sects, cooperating here would've been impossible."

"Psycho. You calling yourself righteous?"

"We're so alike, you and I."

"Forget I'm ten years your senior? No manners."

"My old friend..."

Seo-jun woke up.

"Ugh, what a crap dream..."

Still lying down, he rubbed his forehead.

His head throbbed.

Memories from his past life replayed vividly, like rumination, wrinkling his brow.

"Of all dreams, that one. Tsk."

He clicked his tongue.

Restless sleep didn't cover it.

"Skip streaming today too?"

He'd taken yesterday off.

Not to troll viewers dying for quest progress, of course.

Really.

Just unavoidable with meeting the new editors.

No ulterior motives.

None at all.

Okay, maybe a little.

Seo-jun chuckled, closed the community tab, and opened the group chat.

Lots more chatter besides.

Mostly Lee Geon-young asking Han Ji-min about editing tricks, but on Seo-jun's stream sources, it flipped—her quizzing him.

So much passion.

Seo-jun stretched, got out of bed, and washed up.

Clock read 8 a.m.

"Too late for a workout."

Ding ding ding ding.

As he scarfed down cereal for breakfast, the front door opened.

Kim Tae-woo, back from a rare morning gym session.

He'd followed Seo-jun's lead in high school, but post-adulthood, only when he felt like it.

"Hey, you psycho."

What's with him this early?

"You knew Lee Dong-soo was on Free Fall?"

Free Fall?

Ringed a bell.

"The team with Shin Ha-yeon?"

"Yup."

Heard they'd dominated from PC era to now, capsule age.

"Really? No wonder his moves had that flair."

"You sparring and tormenting a pro like that."

Teaching, not tormenting.

"Bonded over trash-talking you. Even grabbed hot soup together."

Seo-jun thought:

Why are friends like this?

"Oh! Player secret—but Shin Ha-yeon grinded nothing but Training Ground for a week straight and finally beat your AI."

"Oh?"

Seo-jun's AI wasn't his exact skill level, obviously. He'd crush it easily now, but it was above her league.

She couldn't beat it for a week.

But she did eventually.

'Hm. Kinda fateful.'

Meant she'd broken her limits and grown.

As a distant martial arts senior, seeing a junior improve was heartening.

So.

'Gotta help out as a senior. Heh.'

Seo-jun finished eating and stood.

"What're you doing? Why the capsule?"

"Just loosening up a bit."

He stayed in the capsule way longer than "a bit."

Tae-woo, uneasy for some reason, pulled out his phone and checked the Training Ground site.

He was genuinely floored.

"Psycho much? What's he thinking."

Jin Seo-jun's name had climbed the Training Ground rankings.

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