Chapter 33

A bus stop.

A man wearing a hood low enough to hide his face stared intensely at one side of the road.

A blue bus approached the station.

He reopened the route search on the internet and checked it again.

"Is it this number?"

Still uncertain, he boarded the bus.

It was his first time using public transportation in years.

[Fare: 1,200 won]

The fare displayed on the screen.

"It used to be 720 won…"

At that moment, Lee Jeonyeong truly realized several years had passed and that he had become an adult.

Even though it had already been two years since he came of age, he had stayed shut indoors the entire time, so he'd never properly felt it.

"It's quiet."

After sitting in an empty seat, he took out his earphones and placed them into both ears.

Then he opened YouTube and entered his watch history.

[What Even IS a Parry? - Dawn of the Assassin Guild (Shadows Within the City) #1]

It was the title of the first video that appeared.

A stream highlight video of streamer Jin Seo Jun edited by someone else.

He had already watched it countless times while doing extra work to send his own edited clips to Seo Jun, but even now, on the way to meet him, he played it again.

The video opened with fast-paced violin music as Seo Jun climbed a clock tower wall.

"This intro's seriously well made."

It was a dedicated Dawn of the Assassin Guild intro another editor had created.

It had also been added into his own edited videos.

The night view of Altheon rapidly shifted across the screen.

It resembled the intro of a superhero movie studio.

Scenes of Seo Jun's gameplay flashed by one after another before forming a single logo.

000

[Jin Seo Jun Itube.]

The stylish intro instantly heightened immersion.

"He said he was experienced… so this is the kind of person I'll be working with…"

Soon, Seo Jun's awkward beginner behavior in conventional games appeared, and chat reactions filled the screen with laughter.

Then came the usernames of the viewers.

White Demon Resurrectionist. Daebammeo.

And his own nickname.

Wall-Mugging Officer.

"Ugh… that's embarrassing."

He reflexively paused the video.

Online, he had proudly used that nickname.

But now that he was about to meet people who knew his identity, it suddenly felt mortifying.

And pathetic.

"Still… this really is insanely well made. I'm jealous."

The comments were positive too.

When he reached his destination, he stopped the video and got off the bus.

"There's still plenty of time."

They had agreed to meet at a café.

As Lee Jeonyeong walked toward the meeting place, thoughts flooded his head.

"This is my first time doing a contract like this… What do I even say? And the other editor seems so talented. Will I even be useful?"

Anxiety consumed him again.

Because he had spent too long trapped inside a safe zone.

"But if I stop here because of thoughts like these, I'll never be able to go anywhere."

Lee Jeonyeong opened the café door.

Then he sent a message in the group chat saying he had arrived.

A woman sitting nearby while looking at her phone began glancing around.

The moment she spotted him standing near the entrance, she waved.

"Hello."

Lee Jeonyeong tried to respond, but the words got stuck.

It had been far too long since he'd spoken to someone outside his family.

"I'm Han Jimin. Nice to meet you."

"Y-Yes. Hello. I'm Lee Jeonyeong."

His voice gradually shrank into almost a whisper.

But before long, the atmosphere completely changed.

"Wow. That actually happened?"

"Seriously. Human nature is terrifying, right? The moment things started going well, his true colors came out. Do you know how hard I worked to grow that channel? The revenue was awful, so I worked part-time jobs alongside editing just to keep it alive."

Han Jimin vented furiously, and Lee Jeonyeong nodded along.

Once he actually started talking to people, Lee Jeonyeong realized conversations weren't nearly as difficult as he'd feared.

"So my point is this. Don't treat yourself like a pushover. Seriously."

"That's… definitely true."

Lee Jeonyeong was 21. Han Jimin was 26.

Despite the age gap, they surprisingly got along well.

To Lee Jeonyeong, Han Jimin felt far older and more experienced than just five years apart.

"And if someone tries to pressure you into accepting terrible pay splits, just refuse."

"But…"

Lee Jeonyeong genuinely wanted to work with Seo Jun, the first person who had acknowledged his skill.

"You edited the second video uploaded today, right?"

"Yes."

"Did you check the reactions?"

"Not really. I'm kind of scared of seeing what people think."

"It looked promising though. I think you'd survive perfectly fine even working elsewhere."

Han Jimin nodded.

"And honestly, for a rookie streamer, properly supporting two editors is hard. Sure, the streams seem to be doing well now, but who knows how long that'll last? The channel barely has any revenue yet. Don't expect too much."

"Then why did you come here?"

"Because if he turns out to be like everyone else, I'm gonna squeeze him dry."

Lee Jeonyeong avoided her eyes, intimidated by the sharpness in them.

She seemed to have accumulated an enormous amount of resentment toward her previous employer.

"Uh…"

Seo Jun probably fights well in real life too.

Lee Jeonyeong swallowed the rest of the sentence.

At that moment, both their phones lit up simultaneously.

A message from Seo Jun saying he had arrived.

"Boss, are you serious? This could seriously be a huge loss for you."

Han Jimin asked the same question for the fifth time.

"I told you, it's fine."

Seo Jun gave the same answer for the fifth time.

"Seriously?"

"There's literally a contract right there."

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

Beside him, Han Jimin excitedly signed the contract.

Lee Jeonyeong stared at her in disbelief.

"What the…"

The conditions Seo Jun offered them were simple.

The two editors would fully manage the channel.

The base salary would remain minimal, but they would instead receive 25% of the channel revenue as incentives.

Unless there was a special issue, the contract would continue long-term.

At first glance, the terms were absurdly disadvantageous for Seo Jun.

Lee Jeonyeong poked Han Jimin's arm repeatedly, wanting an explanation.

Han Jimin answered in an excited whisper.

She looked genuinely thrilled.

"Hyung is a god!"

Why was he suddenly "hyung"?

"You're older than him and you're a woman…"

"That's not what I mean."

"Mr. Wall-Mugging Officer. What are you curious about?"

Seo Jun, who had been quietly observing them, finally spoke.

"Uh, hyung— no, boss. My real name is Lee Jeonyeong…"

"And your ID is Wall-Mugging Officer."

Seo Jun smiled meaningfully.

That expression.

The exact same smile Seo Jun made whenever he teased viewers or acted smug during streams.

Every time his nickname was mentioned, Seo Jun noticed Lee Jeonyeong nervously checking the reactions around him and deliberately said it louder.

Lee Jeonyeong suddenly wanted to punch him.

"Sigh… Anyway, even from my perspective, I don't think you need to split revenue with editors to this extent…"

This was the point Han Jimin had repeatedly tried explaining to Seo Jun.

That he could probably hire editors perfectly fine without giving away a revenue share.

And honestly, Lee Jeonyeong would have accepted even without incentives.

"Right. As long as Mr. Wall-Mugging Officer works hard, it won't be a loss."

Seo Jun had his own calculations.

After all, YouTube revenue was only one source of a streamer's income.

In that case, instead of wasting energy trying to grow a channel he barely understood, wouldn't it be better to leave everything to editors and focus purely on streaming?

There had already been successful streamers who operated that way.

It was the same reason people joined MCNs despite having to share YouTube revenue.

"Seriously though, boss's views already passed 10k. It took me months of uploading to barely break 10k…"

Han Jimin sat beside Lee Jeonyeong, subtly pressuring him to sign.

Lee Jeonyeong awkwardly smiled and signed the contract.

"Let's go celebrate immediately, boss! I still have some money left from the last job I worked! Tonight's on me!"

That day, Lee Jeonyeong drank alcohol for the first time.

"What? I'm an arrogant lunatic? Then that guy's just a full-blown psychopath! Hahaha!"

A handsome man who could easily be mistaken for a nobleman just by walking around in ordinary clothes burst into laughter.

Blood splattered and flesh tore apart across the battlefield.

A grotesque scene unfolded.

Two young-looking men stood surrounded by dozens of enemies.

At first glance it looked like an ordinary battlefield, but strangely, the overwhelming majority hesitated to approach and instead remained tense while watching carefully.

Anyone who knew who those two men were would naturally understand why.

"Shut up and get out of the way."

The eyes of the man who spoke contained the character for "Justice".

Meanwhile, behind the eyes of the beautiful madman smiling arrogantly was engraved the character for "Heaven".

Their identities were none other than the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult and the later-generation genius of the Orthodox Sect — the two greatest powers of the martial world.

They had formed a temporary alliance amidst chaos.

The memory darkened again.

Then, like a zoom-in shot, someone's face appeared.

Eyes overflowing with arrogance and certainty stared directly at him.

"That irritating face still hasn't changed."

"If you didn't exist within the Orthodox Sect, this alliance would've been impossible."

"You lunatic. Are you really Orthodox Sect?"

"We really are alike."

"Did you forget I'm ten years older than you? Brat."

"My oldest friend…"

Seo Jun woke up.

"Ha. What a ridiculous dream…"

Still lying down, he rubbed his forehead.

The memories of his previous life replayed vividly enough to give him a headache.

"And of all things, I had to dream about THAT. Tch."

Seo Jun clicked his tongue.

A terrible dream omen.

And not just mildly terrible.

"Should I just stream today too?"

Seo Jun had taken a day off from streaming yesterday.

Naturally, part of the reason was to leave viewers hanging desperately wanting to see how the quest ended.

Of course.

Totally.

That definitely wasn't the only reason.

It was simply unavoidable because he had to meet the new editors.

There were absolutely no other intentions.

Absolutely.

[Of all times to take a break. Seriously disgusting.]

[Please start the stream already.]

[Open the door, streamer. I'm cold outside…]

[From now on, I swear I'll never complain about anything again! Just come back…]

Well… maybe there had been a little bit of that intention.

Seo Jun grinned while browsing the community posts and opened the group chat.

[Wall-Mugging Officer: Please check 1h 23m and 27m 34s of Day 4 stream.]

[Han Jimin: Got it!]

There were already countless messages inside.

Most were Lee Jeonyeong asking Han Jimin editing-related questions, but whenever it involved Seo Jun's stream footage, Han Jimin was the one asking Lee Jeonyeong instead.

"They're both loaded with talent."

Seo Jun stretched before getting out of bed and washing up.

The clock read 8 AM.

"Too late for the gym."

Beep beep beep.

While casually eating cereal, the front door opened.

It was Kim Taewoo returning from a morning workout for the first time in ages.

Taewoo had followed Seo Jun around since high school, but after becoming an adult he only exercised whenever he felt like it.

"Hey, you crazy bastard."

Why was he acting like this first thing in the morning?

"You know that Lee Eunsu is a professional player?"

"A pro?"

It sounded vaguely familiar.

"She's on the same team as Shin Hayeon."

"Oh, that team?"

It was apparently a famous team that had survived from the old PC gaming era all the way into the modern magic technology era.

"Really? No wonder her movement looked so clean."

"And because of you, she got tortured as a sparring partner."

Not tortured. Educated.

"I got closer to her while trash-talking you. We even shared hot gukbap together."

Seo Jun thought to himself:

Why are friends always like this?

"Oh, and this is secret pro-team info, but apparently Shin Hayeon spent an entire week doing nothing but training mode until she finally beat you."

Naturally, Seo Jun's AI did not possess his exact full skill level.

If Seo Jun fought it himself, he could still defeat it easily.

But it was still stronger than Shin Hayeon.

After all, she had failed to beat it for an entire week.

Yet in the end, she succeeded.

"Hm. Since there's karma involved too…"

That meant she had surpassed her limits and grown stronger.

As someone who was, in martial terms, an overwhelmingly senior predecessor, seeing a junior grow like that made him happy.

Therefore—

"As a senior… I should help her out a little. Heh."

After finishing breakfast, Seo Jun stood up.

"What are you doing? Why are you entering the gym?"

"Eh. Just loosening up a bit."

Seo Jun remained inside virtual training for a very long time afterward.

And it wasn't merely light warm-up training.

For some reason, Kim Taewoo suddenly felt anxious and quickly checked the training-related community site on his phone.

Then he reacted in genuine shock.

"Is this bastard insane? What the hell is he thinking?"

At the top of the training rankings, the name Jin Seo Jun had appeared.