Chapter 124

: Unexpected Fame (1)
 
The Dungeon Attack event that was officially being held by LB Sports.
This event’s rankings were decided based on the score calculation method chosen by LB Sports.
That standard was the same as the next part.
1. Total number of participating users. (300 points max.)

User group evaluation score. (100 points max.)
LB Sports judge panel score. (100 points max.)

With 500 points as the maximum score achievable, the rankings were based on the attacks with the highest scores, and there were a variety of standards of the user group evaluation and the judge panel that were applied for giving scores, such as the actual possibility of being able to use the attack, the amount of sincerity and effort that went into making it, the legibility of it, etc.
However, as expected, the most important part was the number of participating users, where the most points were assigned.
For the attack plan with the most participating players, the maximum was 300 points, and below that, depending on the number of participants in comparison to the first-place attack plan, scores were given accordingly.
Mina, who recently had found entertainment in dungeon attacks during its peak point, was very interested in this Attack King event.
Of course, it was not an interest towards making an attack, but rather one on the information that popped up as attack plans.

It would be nice if there was a lot of decent information…

Mina, a 1st year student in the VR Department of Korea University, was quite a high-level user.
She was now in the early-lv 100s.
Much like the other users in the lv 100 range, her biggest interest lately was the Forlan dungeon.
As she had tried the Forlan dungeon for the first time now, she had failed all five of her attack chances with a deficient score that was nowhere close to the requirement.
Truthfully, there was some fault in her abilities and lack of experience for that, but as the partner whom she challenged with was at a level that wasn’t much different from hers, it was a sequence that was already expected.

I need to have experience clearing once at least in order to find a decent partner… There will probably be a lot of the Forlan dungeon attacks uploaded in the Attack King event, right? If I at least look at attacks, will it be a little better…

Just in time, she had quite a lot of free time between her classes, so Mina opened up her laptop in the department room and began to scan through the attacks that were up on the event bulletin board.

As expected, the dungeon with the most attack plans is the Forlan dungeon. This place is the hottest, though.

Because it was almost a year now since Kailan was released, there wasn’t a small number of users that were around lv 100.
It was an obvious for the initial users, but even the hard users in the last runners were all over lv 100.
Because of that, the Forlan dungeon, which took responsibility for a considerable amount of the outrageous EXP that was required from lv 100-120, couldn’t help but be the interest of many people.

Shall we take a look?

After glancing through the titles of the attacks like that, a title that was exceptionally catchy grabbed her attention.
• Title – The Forlan dungeon was the easiest.
• Subtitle – Everything about the Forlan dungeon as told by the first-place clearing ranker.
• 15-minute clear video attached.

A 15-minute clear video?

Both of Mina’s eyes rounded.

Did a first-place ranker come and sweep through the dungeon? No, from what I know, this is a dungeon that you can’t enter once you’re lv 121.

For her, who hadn’t even been able to see the third phase within the 50-minute time limit, the 15-minute record was too unrealistic.
Truthfully, from what she felt, a record of 15 minutes was even impossible for a first-place ranker.
Either way, in order to confirm the authenticity of it, Mina’s mouse moved towards the title of the bulletin board post.
Click-
And as soon as she went into the bulletin board post, she clicked on the ’15-minute clear video’ that she was most curious about first.

Shall we take a look?

However, she couldn’t help but be taken aback shortly after.
This was because she accidentally hadn’t reduced the sound on her laptop and so an incredibly loud sound rang through the department room.
That was exactly…
• You have entered the ‘Grave of the Forlan Hero’.
As the main character of the video entered the dungeon, the system message that rang out had spread out just like that throughout the department room.
Mina was so flustered that she hurriedly lowered her volume, but it wasn’t like she could pick up and store away the sound that had already rang out.
And embarrassment that swept over her.
‘Ah, this is really embarrassing.’
However, separate from her embarrassment, the many students that were in the department room as it was time between their classes slowly approached Mina’s seat after hearing that noise.
If you were a user that played Kailan, the Kailan’s system message was very familiar.

Yo, Lee Mina. You played Kailan as well?


Yeah, now that you mention it. Although, there aren’t many people that don’t play it in our department.

As her colleagues approached her while saying a word each, Mina wore a bashful expression as she scratched the back of her head.

Yeah, I’m also playing Kailan.


What’s your class?


I’m a Magician.


Oh, what about your level?


I hit three figures recently.


Whoa!

At Mina’s level that was unexpectedly high, everybody had gazes of surprise, but as users that were as high-level as that were quite common, their attention turned back to the video that was playing on the laptop.

Yo, what is that video?


Ah, it’s a Forlan dungeon attack video that was uploaded for this Attack King event, but it seems the first-place ranker uploaded it. Apparently, it’s a 15-minute cut.

At those words, Yoohyun’s jaw dropped, he being the only one amongst the people surrounding Mina that had gone into the Forlan dungeon before.

What? 15 minutes?


Yeah?


That’s possible?


I don’t know either. We’ll find out if we keep watching this now.

As there was no chance that their other friends would have experienced the Forlan dungeon, they had no idea what the two people were talking about, but they began to watch the video with excited expressions.
Everybody’s gaze was fixated on Mina’s laptop, and the video soon began.

Huh? Yo guys, that person there, isn’t that a face we’ve seen a lot before?


Who? The girl?


No, not that female Magician, but that male Summoner.

At those words, Mina’s gaze turned towards the Summoner.
And shortly after, she was able to figure out where she had seen that face before.

Isn’t that Jinsung?


…!


That’s right, Park Jinsung.


That’s the dude that always sits at the very back of the lecture room and sleeps, right?


Yeah, that’s right.

Because the number of people in the VR department was a little less than 50 per year, most of the colleagues were close with each other.
However, just as there was always an outsider in any group, one of the few outsiders of the VR department was Jinsung.
Besides a couple including Yoohyun, they didn’t even know that Jinsung played Kailan.
Either way, as the main character of the video was revealed to be a student in the same major, their excitement increased even more.
And for the 15 minutes that the video played, they couldn’t remove their eyes from the video even for a moment.


What the hell, you’re going to go do another quest?


Yeah. I got caught with an Empire Quest.


…

Herz, who was taking care of the neglected internal affairs of the domain with Ian, wore a flustered expression after hearing Ian’s words, saying that he was going to go down to the southern continent because of an Empire Quest.

Yo, you’re the Lord. I feel starting from some point, you’ve left all of the internal affairs to me…


Still, I bring anything that will be of help back to the domain, dude. That goes for Ollibus Village, too.

At Ian’s words, where there was no part that was false, Herz wore a bitter expression as he licked his lips.

That’s true, but…

The more they looked at Ollibus Village, the hidden seaside town that Ian found while questing, the more precious it was.
The village’s rank was just a ‘Village’, but it was bigger than most decent territories, and it was a perfect place holding a value that even exceeded the Lotus domain when looking at several aspects, such as population, security, etc.
Because the Lotus guild members were greatly invested into the friendship process of Ollibus Village and the Lotus Domain, they would soon be able to merge together.

Anyways, since I’m planning on immediately going down to the southern continent in a little bit, if there’s something that we need to discuss, let’s talk about everything now.


Well, there’s nothing like that right now…

Herz, who mumbled his last words and was thinking of something, opened his mouth again as if he suddenly remembered something.

Ah, come to think of it, today’s the start.


What is?


That Attack King event.

At those words, Ian nodded his head.

Yeah, that’s right. I uploaded a bulletin board post earlier right on time.

Herz asked carefully.

What do you think we’ll rank?

And Ian smirked as he responded shortly.

Why do you even ask? Of course, 1st place.


Whiiiing-.
Jinsung, who finished getting ready for bed and had turned on his computer to check the bulletin board post that he uploaded for the Attack King event, wore a confused expression while looking at his smartphone that was suddenly ringing.

Huh? There shouldn’t be anyone calling me… Who is it?

Nowadays, Harin called occasionally, but checking the number, it was an unknown one.
Jinsung contemplated for a moment.

A loan call, maybe? Should I not pick it up?

However, because it would be somewhat disappointing to just ignore a welcoming(?) phone call when it had been a while, Jinsung picked up his smartphone and took the call.
‘I should bombard them with swear words if it’s a spam call.’

Hello?

And just as expected, he heard an incredibly graceful and beautiful voice of a female through the phone.
• Yes, hello. Is this Park Jinsung?
Jinsung slightly frowned.
‘As expected, is this a spam call?’

Yes, why?

While Jinsung, who had decided that it was a spam call, was thinking about how he should swear, heard unexpected content.
• Ah, so you are Jinsung. Then your Kailan player ID is ‘Ian’, right?
Jinsung wore a flustered expression.
‘What the hell? How does she know that?’
Jinsung cleared his throat before he replied.

Ahem, yes. I am Ian, but what’s the matter?

Then her words continued with a brighter voice.
• Oh, I’ve found the right person. Nice to meet you, I am a named uploader of YouCast called Sojin.

Sorry?

• Ah, do you not watch YouCast regularly?
He somewhat felt like he was getting entangled with a drug peddler-like person, but as conversation about Kailan came out, Jinsung decided to talk a little more with this person.

Well, I do watch it occasionally, but I don’t enjoy watching it. But what business with me did you have…?

• It’s nothing else… But someone had taken a direct shot of the 1:30 territory war battle scene that you showed a couple weeks ago and uploaded it, and I reprocessed that and re-uploaded it.
At her words, Ian was absorbed in his thoughts.
‘By the 1:30 territory war… Does she mean the first match that we had with the Polaris Guild? Firstly, I should hear what the business is.’
Jinsung opened his mouth again.

So?

• I have earned quite a big profit from that video, so I wanted to deposit some of it to you as well.

Huh?

And the explanation of the girl that introduced herself as Sojin momentarily continued.
It was quite a detailed explanation that lasted about 10 minutes, but if it was directly summarized, the content would go something like this.
Because she received everything from the shoot as well as copyright, there would be no problem even if she didn’t give Jinsung a share, but because she wanted to continuously work with Jinsung, she ended up contacting him like this.
It was an offer asking him if he wouldn’t mind signing an exclusive contract with her and continue working with her.
Jinsung wore a slightly bitter expression.
‘No, how many views did she get on the YouCast video for her to say that she gained quite a big profit?’
Because Jinsung knew nothing about the profit structure of YouCast, he asked Sojin again.

So, how much money comes to me as my share from the earnings you made from this video?

At Jinsung’s words, Sojin, who seemed to be momentarily thinking as she was silent, carefully opened her mouth.
• Around… A little less than 2 million Won[1] will be deposited. It’s around 10% of the total revenue.

…?

Jinsung, who suddenly wore a dumbfounded expression, couldn’t say anything while he held the receiver.
‘What the hell, 2 million Won? If 10% is 2 million Won, she made a profit close to 20 million Won[2] through one video?’
More specifically, the profit was about half of that at 10 million Won[3] and that meant the revenue was 20 million Won, but even with that, Jinsung was stunned.
And as Jinsung was silent for a moment, Sojin’s voice was heard again through the phone.
• If by chance you think that 10% is too salty, it’s an obvious. This time, because I didn’t legally make a contract with you and worked, the distribution ratio is small, but if you begin to officially work with me, about 30% will return to you as your share. My share will be about 20%, and the rest goes to production costs and expenses taken by YouCast.
However, different from Sojin’s worries, Jinsung was unable to say anything out of happiness at the unexpected profit.
This was because, to Jinsung, one of Kailan’s highest-ranked players, 2 million Won was not a large sum, but he didn’t expect for this much money to come in with just having one video uploaded.
Either way, he had just gamed, but hadn’t 2 million Won of unexpected money just appear.

Then, if I was to make a contract with you, then how will it proceed from now on?

At Jinsung’s positive reaction, Sojin quickly responded.
• Whenever you play the game from now on, you always need to activate the player camera that is built into the capsule and just game. Every week, you just need to transfer the camera videos to me, and I will edit them and upload to YouCast. A YouCast page will also be set up with your name.
Jinsung’s mind began to race.
‘So, there’s nothing for me to lose, no?’
To transfer files once a week was not a difficult task, and aside from that, he just needed to game diligently.
Sojin’s words continued.
• If you continuously upload videos regularly, I think you’ll be able to take about 5 million Won[4] every month. Of course, I’m also expecting this to be the minimum value. If you become an even more famous player in the future, there will definitely be room for your profit to increase.
Jinsung let out a shout of delight internally.
The reason for Jinsung’s happiness was nothing else.
‘With this, I could live while gaming for the rest of my life!’
Of course, even if he sold the items and goods he obtained within the game, it turned into quite a large sum of money.
However, within the game, Jinsung’s expenses were quite big, and because he used all the money that he saved up to buy better equipment or use it for content within the game, an offer like this from Sojin couldn’t help but feel incredibly charming.
Jinsung, who was about to immediately accept her offer, hesitated momentarily and calmed his excitement.
‘But still, I can’t decide everything just with this one phone call.’
Jinsung cleared his throat as he continued his words.

Ahem-hem, sounds good. I can’t give you a definite answer right now, so then, I wish to meet you and talk more specifically about things like the contract conditions.

And Sojin’s response returned immediately.
• Alright! As a matter of fact, I wanted to ask you for a favour. What time is best for you, Jinsung?
[1] 2 million Won = ~$1768.82 USD
[2] 20 million Won = ~$17688.20 USD
[3] 10 million Won = ~$8844.10 USD
[4] 5 million Won = ~$4422.05 USD