Chapter 20
The reason why MobiSoft decided to develop this crucial project in Korea, rather than at the main office where the previous series had been created, was Eve Paimo.
He was a renowned game developer who had been scouted from outside when the company, struggling to adapt to the new era of capsules, was on a downward spiral.
As the CCO of the company and the president of the Korean branch, he made the bold decision to come to Korea and develop the game locally. His decision was based on the fact that Korea had the highest capsule distribution rate in the world and consumers were very sensitive to trends.
There were a lot of opinions from the beginning, but as the project progressed, he became confident of this series’ success and even started preparing for the next installment to expand further.
When “Shadows in the City” was confirmed a success on its release day, the next project started at a rapid pace.
It was supposed to be smooth sailing.
However, there was one problem.
The plan he envisioned was at risk of derailing right from the start.
Because of a streamer.
Kim Yoon-chan, who had been summoned to the president’s office early in the morning, cautiously spoke up.
“Well, I did mention I had a bad feeling about this…”
“Shut up and quickly explain. How did Weakness Detection get revealed so soon?”
Eve Paimo
“Ha ha ha. Yes, I didn’t expect it to be figured out either.”
Kim Yoon-chan smiled brightly, which piqued Eve Paimo’s curiosity.
“What do you mean it was figured out?”
“Boss, we estimated that it would take at least a month for users to unlock Weakness Detection.”
“Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange if it took half a year. Accidentally discovering the pattern that destroys the weapon, and having it recorded and shared with others, isn’t easy.”
“Right. Even if someone was dedicated to finding the pattern, it would take at least a month.”
“And our game has so much content that players wouldn’t usually spend time on Weakness Detection.”
Eve Paimo was proud of the assassination system he created in “Shadows in the City.”
“Exactly. With so much else to do, who would waste their time looking for a pattern to destroy a weapon? It relies on luck too.”
It was a challenge meant for the hardcore players who had completed everything else and were looking for something new.
Indeed, the invincibility and patterns were designed for those players.
“Right. So why was Weakness Detection unlocked within a week of release?”
The issue wasn’t the unlocking of Weakness Detection itself.
The problem was that it allowed players to break through the heavy armor of Richard Neville, one of the rulers, and defeat him effortlessly.
This was crucial because defeating a ruler granted a Fragment of Order.
They had hidden Easter eggs related to the next project, and the Fragment of Order was one of them.
Collecting all fragments would lead to a short quest linked to the next project.
They planned to reveal this teaser video to attract attention at the right moment.
The problem was that the possibility of collecting all fragments opened up before the teaser video was ready.
“The reason it was unlocked is because, as I said, it was figured out.”
Eve Paimo resisted the urge to smack the carefree and cheerful Kim Yoon-chan.
“Stop beating around the bush and explain it properly.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Yoon-chan sent a clip to Eve Paimo.
It was a video from a collaboration with Alpaca.
“Hmm? It’s pretty clean.”
“Right? This was something discovered by someone else, but it was recreated by that streamer, Seo Joon.”
“I see. He’s quite skilled.”
“And the next video shows that streamer finding and breaking the pattern.”
“What?”
Eve Paimo thought he misheard and asked again.
“You mean he found the pattern? That streamer?”
“Yes.”
After watching the second video of Seo Joon breaking the shield and sword, Eve Paimo looked at Kim Yoon-chan with wide eyes.
“How is this possible…? Are you sure it’s not a bug that gave him the Weakness Detection skill by default?”
Eve Paimo, who was confident there were no bugs in his game, was so shocked that he even considered the possibility of a bug.
“No, we already checked for that.”
“Alright.”
“I’ve watched the entire collaboration video and, as a new fan of streamer Seo Joon, I can explain. It seems like he figured out the pattern. It’s hard to believe he deduced it after just two examples, considering the team worked hard on creating the AI and patterns, but if he says so, what can we do?”
I didn’t ask if you became his fan.
“So what do we do now?”
“What do you mean?”
“How long do we need to make the teaser video for the next project?”
“A month.”
“If we work overtime starting today and do it as fast as possible?”
“A week?”
“Then what’s the chance that streamer will gather all the Fragments of Order in that time?”
“I’m certain about this. It’s 100%.”
That’s not good news, you idiot.
“Well, we don’t have to release the teaser video immediately, right?”
“But the whole plan depends on the teaser being released on time!”
Eve Paimo rubbed his temples out of habit, searching for a solution.
Not everything goes according to plan, but this was really unexpected.
It might seem trivial, but he didn’t want the next project to get off on the wrong foot.
“Oh? His stream just started. Wanna watch together?”
For a moment, Eve Paimo almost threw the folder on his desk but restrained himself and replied politely.
“Get out! And no watching streams during work hours!”
“Ah…”
He shouldn’t have made the Fragments of Order in the first place.
If only no one had suggested including an Easter egg related to invincibility for the hardcore players.
Come to think of it, it was Kim Yoon-chan who suggested that.
Feeling frustrated, Eve Paimo kept rewatching Seo Joon’s videos.
How did he do it?
He then messaged Kim Yoon-chan through the company’s messenger for another video.
The one where Richard Neville’s heavy armour was neutralized in an instant.
“Did he defeat a ruler without Weakness Detection?”
This is kind of…
Impressive.
A feast for the eyes.
There were plenty more videos about Seo Joon.
Especially when he found Drake’s location, Eve Paimo couldn’t hide his satisfied smile.
The route Seo Joon found was one of Eve Paimo’s ideas.
“So, it’s revealed like this.”
It felt rewarding.
Watching players enjoy the game they poured their soul into in their own way.
Seeing the players’ surprise with “This works too?”
It was everything they hoped for when creating the open world.
Eve Paimo admired the video a few more times and then quietly clicked the follow button.
***
“Hello everyone.”
Seo Joon waved his hand lightly as he greeted the audience.
– Hi Seo-ha
– Hi Seo-ha
– What’s up with the stream title?
– Hi Seo-ha!
[Viewers: 1,700]
The chat was moving fast.
With nearly 2,000 viewers, the activity was on another level.
His chat was already known to be active despite the relatively small number of viewers.
As the number of viewers increased, the chat became much faster compared to before.
So.
“Okay, are the Assassin of Joseon, Big Defense, and Patient on a White Horse all here?”
At Seo Joon’s words, chats with a sword mark next to the nicknames started appearing.
– Yes!
– Yup. I’ll do my best.
– Leave it to me. I, Jo-am, the owner of 25 million points, will manage thoroughly.
– Only problematic nicknames are gathered here.
– How can the manager names be Big Defense, Patient, and Assassin, lol.
These were people who had been watching Seo Joon’s stream from the beginning.
Looking at past chat records, they hadn’t caused any trouble despite their nicknames and had consistently enjoyed his streams, so Seo Joon asked them to be chat managers, and they gladly accepted.
By the way, the Brick Snatcher King hadn’t responded yet.
“These people will act as managers to filter out chats that violate the rules. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, the Assassin of Joseon used points to add special effects to his chat.
Is this the power of the rich?
“And since there are now chat rules for my stream, please read them.”
– Wow, I’m jealous of the managers.
– I want a badge too.
– I want to wield a sword too.
– Rules
– !Rules
– !Rules
Chats to check the rules started pouring in.
1. Please talk only about stream-related topics.
2. If you see disturbing chats, don’t argue in the chat, just message the manager.
3. You know what not to do, right?
On Trable, chat rules varied from streamer to streamer without a unified standard.
Some wrote very strict rules, while others just wrote “Don’t use informal language.”
Some simply added a greeting along with a note to have fun.
Seo Joon’s chat rules were concise.
He preferred a free and open communication atmosphere.
– Summary: Just be sensible.
– Got it.
– What are we not supposed to do?
“What you shouldn’t do? You roughly know. Unless it’s really serious, you won’t even get a warning.”
He had already discussed it with the managers.
– For real, lol.
– If you write it in detail, some people will just find ways to stir up trouble and then get banned, complaining that they followed the rules.
[‘○○’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Aren’t you hiring a stream setup assistant?]
If they had just chatted, it would have been ignored, but since it was a donation, he had to respond.
“…Thank you. No, I’m not hiring for that.”
Having someone to help with the stream setup would be nice, but the intent behind including ‘setup’ in the sentence was suspicious.
-Hahahaha
-Seo Joon clenched his teeth, lol.
-Thank you.
-The world’s first tech-illiterate streamer. But his skills are amazing.
-So, what’s the stream title?
-Are you playing Dawn of the Assassins again today?
-Please do regular assassinations too.
-Let’s go for invincible!
-Show more weak point detection. I want to get the skill too.
The chat was a mix of random topics since the stream hadn’t started properly yet.
Seo Joon was building up for a smooth progression.
“Oh, the stream title? Well, you see, there are quite a few people who have doubts about how I found the weak points. So, first of all, I apologize for not explaining it properly.”
-Doesn’t seem sorry at all.
-Oh come on, at least bow your head, lol.
“But I’m not a hacker. Nor am I related to the game developers.”
-Why mention hacking?
-Actually, he’s just really good (lol).
-But who seriously believes that a college student is a developer at Movie Soft?
-So how did you really find the weak points? I’m curious.
Seo Joon nodded in agreement as he read the chat.
“To get to the point, the rule I figured out for the weak points was to trace multiple paths where the equipment would be most contacted.”
It wasn’t related to real-life weak points, but he believed that was the rule the developers intended, and it was correct.
-??? I don’t get it even after hearing it.
-Are you a blacksmith? How do you know that?
-How smart are you? Wow.
“Well, I was going to prove it properly today, but since I already obtained the weak point detection skill, no matter what I do, people could just say I hacked the capsule, right?”
[‘Travel Historian’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Hacking controversy is our stream’s longstanding tradition.]
-20, lol.
-His skills are so good that people are suspicious.
-Longstanding tradition (streaming for 4 days).
After thanking for the donation,
“So I reported it.”
Seo Joon suddenly turned serious.
-What did you report?
-What are you suddenly reporting?
“Myself.”
Seo Joon displayed the report ticket he had prepared for Dawn of the Assassins.
[Report for Hacking] [It seems I unknowingly used a hack. Can you check it for me?]
Lol, is he crazy?
-That’s why he turned himself in, lol.
-Oh lol, the game company will prove it for him!
“Okay, since the explanation is over, let’s get into the game.”
Seo Joon stretched and reverted to a cheerful expression as if he had never been serious.
Lol, is this how a person doing an apology stream behaves?
-He’s truly a calm lunatic.
-He’s a broadcasting genius, lol.
“Now, let’s see. Do we have a mission today? Thank you to the creator of Dawn of the Assassins.”
Seo Joon skillfully adjusted the stream settings and accepted the mission.
Then, a window appeared in the top left corner of the streaming screen.
[Clear the Tower Master without using weak point detection. Mission reward: 1,000,000 won]
It was a donation reward if he successfully completed the mission.
-Wow, a million won!
-But does the Tower Master even have weak points? No equipment, right?
-Aren’t they talking about magic?
-So does magic have weak points too? If they know this, are they really the developer? Maybe?
The first mission was an enormous amount.
He was planning to go to the tower anyway.
“Could they really be the developer?”
-No way, seriously?
-How innocent is the streamer, lol.
