-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: All Master's Game Broadcast 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gangnam.
Haesung and Hayun, who had shown up in what could be called Korea's most bustling street without exaggeration, cast a brief glance at the overflowing crowds before heading straight to their destination.
"Been a while since I was here too."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. The first place I came to before heading home was Gangnam."
"...Why the hell?"
"No idea."
"What do you mean? Did you seriously not come straight home and mess around in Gangnam instead?"
As if he could've changed the spawn point that had been set to Gangnam upon his return.
But Hayun, unaware of the circumstances, could only assume her missing brother hadn't come straight home and had been fooling around in Gangnam.
"You think I'd do that?"
"...Well, no."
Of course, Hayun knew Haesung well enough to realize he wouldn't have ditched his family—whom he hadn't seen in ten years—just to hang out in Gangnam.
Even so, the reason she'd said it was her resentment toward her brother for using her as a guide—and that sibling DNA etched deep into her bones.
Still, they got along unusually well for siblings, so the two soon set off together toward Trica Korea headquarters.
* * *
Trica Korea.
The branch set up by the foreign company Trica to manage Korean streamers and build servers.
But thanks to the unique Korean knack for gaming skills and diverse talents, Korean streamers had exploded in popularity, giving Trica Korea authority on par with Trica HQ.
It was inevitable.
In a world with VR games and systems that auto-translated almost everything—making borders irrelevant—Korean streamers drawing massive foreign audiences were Trica's golden geese.
Which was how they'd managed to buy out an entire high-rise in Gangnam, where land was the priciest in Korea.
"Damn, it's huge."
"That's 'cause we make them good money."
"Let's head in."
"Yeah."
The two arrived in front of the Trica Korea HQ building and strode right into the first-floor lobby.
"Ah, there you are."
"Han Minwoo Manager?"
"Just call me Han Manager. Haha, you both look way better in person than on cam. Maybe we should upgrade the cams at home first?"
A man in his early-to-mid thirties, dressed in a suit, greeted them warmly as if he'd been waiting.
His naturally affable personality shone through as he bantered amiably even with Haesung, whom he was meeting for the first time—it was downright pleasant.
'Good guy.'
Having lived a long life, Haesung's judgment of character was flawless, and he instantly knew this man was solid.
Someone he could build a connection with no problem.
In fact, someone who could provide major help—Haesung extended a hand for a shake.
"Park Haesung."
"Haha, yeah, yeah. I already know. You must be hungry after the trip—want to grab some food first?"
Minwoo, grinning as if he'd already looked into their backgrounds, took Haesung's hand and guided him and Hayun back outside.
"I'm invisible, huh? Han Manager! That's cold!"
Haesung and Minwoo had eyes only for each other, leaving Hayun to her outburst—
"Mint! Long time no see. As if I'd ignore Trica's little cutie. Perish the thought!"
"...Ugh, embarrassing me out here."
But Minwoo smoothly buttered her up.
Leaving Hayun twisting bashfully like a corkscrew, Haesung exited the building with Minwoo and whispered to him.
"You got a tamer's license or something?"
"Nah, just comes with the job... Heh."
As the two men chuckled quietly about Hayun's prickly fussiness—out of her earshot—
"Oh, by the way, there's one more guest. That okay?"
"Well, no big deal... but is the other side cool with it?"
"Yeah, they requested it first."
"If that's the case, sure... but who the hell wants to join us for a meal? Wait... don't tell me...?"
"Probably who you're thinking of."
Haesung nodded, guessing the guest from Minwoo's faint smile.
"I was thinking I should thank Elbow anyway. Perfect timing."
"Great. He's waiting at the restaurant, so let's head over."
Elbow.
Thinking how he'd be meeting him sooner than expected, Haesung followed Minwoo to a high-end Japanese place.
* * *
Sushi Kou.
An omakase spot divided into private rooms and a main hall—perfect for eating and talking.
If you wanted to watch the chef, the hall worked fine, but with business to discuss, they headed to a room.
A portly middle-aged man already waiting there greeted them warmly.
"Heh heh, nice to meet you. Name's Huh Changsu. Or Elbow to Mint and Haesung, I bet."
Elbow, Huh Changsu.
That was the portly middle-aged man's name.
"Whoa! Whoa whoa whoa!"
"Mint seems pretty shocked... Did you not mention me?"
"Nah, I knew."
"Why didn't you tell me!"
"More fun this way."
"Ugh! I seriously hate you, Oppa!"
Unlike Haesung—who'd gotten a heads-up from Minwoo—Hayun had heard nothing and punched his arm before bolting to the bathroom.
Something about fixing her makeup—unintelligible to us guys. The three men who sat first exchanged greetings again.
"Park Haesung."
"You looked young on stream, but no way you pass for thirty..."
"Must've gotten good care while missing."
"Silver lining to the misfortune?"
"Well, gotta think of it that way to avoid the regrets."
Disappeared at twenty, ten years gone—Earth-wise, Haesung was thirty.
But for Haesung, who'd seized divinity over endless ages and remade himself in his peak form, age was meaningless.
Of course, he couldn't say that, so he just shrugged it off as a silver lining—no one pressed him.
Asking a missing person about their ordeal would've been rude anyway.
"Sorry! Oppa didn't give me a heads-up, so I showed an ugly side."
"Hohoho, ugly? Way cuter and spunkier than on stream. If my daughter grew up like Mint, I'd have no regrets."
Hayun returned from the bathroom, quickly lightening the mood.
Changsu, beaming like a proud dad at her cute giggles and antics, waved it off with praise.
"Heehee, thanks! Oh, and since we're in person, just call me Hayun! You're my senior on stream and older too!"
"Alright then... Hayun. You like sashimi and sushi?"
"Can't get enough~"
"Good good. Eat up. Trica's footing the bill, haha!"
"Eek, didn't Elbow say he'd treat today!"
"Did I? Can't remember... Trica makes bank—this won't even dent it!"
"You bet!"
Minwoo, who'd somehow ended up paying despite sorting out the nicknames, grimaced and nodded.
"...Tch, expense it then. Part of the job."
"Hahaha, that's Han Manager!"
"Don't forget you owe me one later."
"Hm, did I?"
"Keep that up and I'll really get mad."
"Ahem, Han Manager. You know I live off an allowance."
"And you know that allowance tops my salary?"
"...This is why I can't stand sharp Han Manager."
Minwoo didn't back down entirely.
Polished from sales and management, he secured a free meal from Changsu with skilled banter, flashing a winner's smile as Changsu eyed him slyly.
"Abalone steamed and minced into egg custard."
"Oho! Time to eat and chat less."
"Sounds good."
Right on cue, they smiled at the abalone egg custard appetizer and picked up their chopsticks.
Even the best mountains look good after a meal.
They savored the sushi courses, chatting casually about daily life and updates, then dug into the final green tea sorbet before getting down to business.
"Ugh, green tea."
"You love mint choco but hate green tea?"
"Just plain green tea's fine, but ice cream or cafe stuff... meh."
"...You're so weird."
"But this place is good, so it tastes great. Nom."
Haesung apologized lightly to the other two as Hayun, grumbling about no mint choco, shoveled spoonsful of green tea ice cream.
"Sorry. She's still a kid."
"I'm twenty!"
"Twenty's a kid."
"Heh heh, no one's complaining about close siblings. Right, Han Manager?"
"Haha, of course. You two are both so good-looking, doesn't even look like fighting."
"...Thanks for seeing it that way."
The two older, long-time professionals brushed it off casually.
"But you really love mint choco?"
"I'm curious too. Thought it was a gimmick."
"It's real. Family-size mint choco never runs out in the fridge. Like a magic pot or something."
"O... Oppa! Don't spill personal stuff like that!"
"How's having family-size mint choco in the fridge personal?"
Changsu and Minwoo smiled fondly at the bickering duo before cutting to the chase.
"Now that we're done eating, mind if I run through our proposal briefly?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Minwoo nodded cautiously as Haesung gave the okay, finally relaxing as he laid it out.
"First off, sorry. Our screw-up nearly cost days or months. Deepest apologies."
Head bowed so low his scalp showed.
No one there could miss the sincerity.
"Heard it was the A.I."
"Trica handles A.I. management. That's why we take fees from streamers, right? We failed—deserved the backlash. But you two handled it great, so community's mad at the ban and A.I., not Trica."
"...Hm, just one day of streaming, so the ban didn't hit hard... but I'll accept the apology. Lift your head."
"Haha, thank you."
Minwoo awkwardly smiled only after Haesung accepted.
He'd played it cool, but until then, it was like sitting on pins and needles—knowing their fault.
"Apology accepted... You wouldn't come empty-handed after preparing that, right?"
The necessities were done.
Apology for the ban, acceptance.
That was the starting line—now for the finish.
And the other side knew exactly when to negotiate.
"Ever heard of partner streamer?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Read 270 more chapters ahead on NovelDex!
https://noveldex.io/series/all-masters-gaming-broadcast
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━