Chapter 153: Ji-Ahs Effort (2)
While Sang-Hyeon was busy completing Raina's story mode, the first thing Ji-Ah did after coming home from drinking with Ju-Hyeok was open her fridge.
Gulp. Gulp.
She finished a bottle of pear drink that was supposedly good for hangovers, sat in front of her computer, and blankly stared.
"Hmm..."
Ji-Ah normally started editing right away, but today, she was hesitating.
'Do I really need to study it?'
Since she knew nothing about LIL, she wasn't sure what parts were worth highlighting or how to edit them. Battle Large and Kingdom Age were simple and straightforward, so it was easy for anyone to understand. LIL was different because it involved team play and complicated skills.
'This is a crisis...'
For the first time as an editor, she ran into a crisis.
'I can't give up 20 million won a month.'
She didn't want to give up either. The job was too good. When she imagined the job disappearing, she felt fear run down her spine. She didn't want to lose a job where she could stare at Almond's face all day, earn 20 million won, and not have to go into an office all because of LIL.
Hello?
"Hey, Yeon-Joo. It's me, Ji-Ah."
She called someone right away. Thankfully, they picked up because it was lunchtime.
“Who is this?”
"It's me, Ji-Ah. Seo Ji-Ah."
“Wow! Ji-Ah? Is this a new number? What happened?! Why did you suddenly quit? Was it because of that stupid Supervisor Lee? Huh? You didn't say anything…”
Ji-Ah wanted to hang up at that moment. She felt sorry because Yeon-Joo was one of the few close co-workers in the office, but she didn't tell her about quitting. Instead, she was calling her to ask for help.
'If I ask for help right away, I'll probably get called a bitch.'
Yeon-Joo was normally calm, but had a rough mouth among her friends. Ji-Ah decided to meet up with her to catch up.
"What are you doing after work today?"
“After work? I'm off now. I asked to leave early. I wasn't planning on doing anything. Do you want to meet?”
"Oh, nice. It's better that we meet quickly."
“Did you borrow money from a loan shark or something?”
"Aish. It's nothing like that."
Borrow money? She could lend money now.
***
Ji-Ah asked to meet at a brunch cafe. The cafes near all the offices were expensive, but the place she chose was more expensive than the others.
'Is she crazy? Why did she ask to meet at a place like this...'
Heo Yeon-Joo turned white as she looked around the place. Everyone wore a casual outfit, but she could tell they were expensive clothing. She checked her outfit and looked embarrassed. Suddenly, she didn't like today's outfit.
"For how many?"
A well-dressed staff came up to her. She saw his jawline and thought he fit the bill to work in this cafe.
"I'm with someone. The name should be Seo Ji-Ah..."
"Ah, yes. I think she just went in."
The man smiled and guided her in. She could see a small girl figure in the distance. Heo Yeon-Joo turned white again.
'Is she crazy?'
Seo Ji-Ah looked like she just got out of bed.
"Hey, Yeon-Joo. You're here."
However, she looked calm as if she didn't care at all.
"Have a seat."
"... Are you playing a character? Some rich Chinese?"
"What are you talking about? I just wanted to spend some money. It's been a while since I last saw you."
"No, I get that. But why do you look like that?"
"What's wrong with this?"
Ji-Ah looked down at her tracksuit and made a confused look. She didn't know what was wrong.
"Sigh.?You have such a pretty face too. I feel bad your face ended up with an owner like you."
"You're prettier."
"Eek..."
Yeon-Joo grabbed her heart and made a funny expression. They joked around like this often. Ji-Ah smirked and handed her the menu.
"Just order anything. All I need is an eggs benedict. I don't care about the rest."
"Anything? Everything?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. Let's get married."
"Shut up."
Yeon-Joo didn't order everything. Instead, she ordered one of the most popular dishes and decided to order drinks later. The handsome staff from earlier took their order. Afterward, they started to catch up.
"Hey, do you know how noisy the office was after you left? I'm in a different department and even I heard about you."
"...Why?"
"The girl who refused to leave even after Supervisor Lee caused all that trouble suddenly leaves when he stopped? It's... weird."
"I just found a new job. That's why."
"A new job? Where?"
Heo Yeon-Joo scanned Ji-Ah because it didn't look like she was working at any office.
"It's like a... freelancer job."
"Ah..."
Her eyes were filled with shame and a hint of jealousy. Afterward, they continued to talk about the office.
"The project was a success and Supervisor Lee changed jobs. He went to a bigger company. I'm jealous, but I'm so glad I don't have to see that fucking prick again... He was always trying to hit on every girl..."
"..."
"Ah, s-sorry. Are you okay? It's your ex-boyfriend, after all... Did I screw up?"
"No," Ji-Ah shook her head. "I like it. Keep talking."
“Pfft,”?Heo Yeon-Joo laughed out loud. She continued to badmouth Supervisor Lee, adding stories about his embarrassing past thanks to Ji-Ah's honesty.
"Here's the food you ordered."
"Wow."
Ji-Ah's eyes sparkled more than when they were badmouthing her ex-boyfriend. Nothing had changed about her love for food. Ji-Ah ate for a while without a word. She ordered Colombian coffee as well to revitalize herself with caffeine.
Heo Yeon-Joo started to ask her, "Anyways, why did you ask to meet?"
"Just to see you."
"Don't lie to me."
"You said you're good at?LIL, right?"
‘LIL?’?Heo Yeon-Joo was surprised to hear such a random topic.
"Out of nowhere?"
"You said you reached platinum... you bragged to me."
"Yeah, but I'm gold now... It's still good for a career woman!"
"I didn't say anything. Even if you're bronze, you're better than me, so don't worry. Explain LIL to me."
"... Here? Is that why you wanted to meet?"
She wasn't asking because she felt insulted, but because she was dumbfounded. Suddenly talking about games after she quit the office...
"You..."
Heo Yeon-Joo put her face right up to Ji-Ah's.
"What's your new job? Are you an internet streamer?"
Ji-Ah thought for a moment, but thought there would be no harm in telling her.
"It's something similar. I'm not the streamer. I just edit the videos."
"Ohhh! Really? Who's the streamer?"
"... Someone called Almond. You probably don't know."
"Almond?"
Yeon-Joo seemed to be unaware because he wasn't that famous yet...
"Kyaaaaa!"
Ji-Ah was startled by a sudden scream.
"Ah, ah, I'm sorry..." Yeon-Joo apologized to the next table and grabbed Ji-Ah by the hand.
"A-Almond? Are you really Almond's editor?"
Yeon-Joo's eyes were shining brighter than ever.
"I, I'll help you edit!"
"That would be nice, but I have to do it on my own..."
"I'll help you! If I help you once, you can do it on your own. Before that..."
"?"
"Let's go to a capsule room!"
"Capsule room?"
"It's best to just do that!"
Why was she so enthusiastic? She wasn't like this normally.
Yeon-Joo dragged Ji-Ah out.
***
"Welcome to Tenten Capsule!"
Ji-Ah had been to capsule rooms before. She wasn't a complete beginner like Almond, who had to sign up for his bio code.
She was able to start right away and skipped the tutorial. She started playing against the introductory bots.
[You're so frustrating.]
The champion she chose to play was the poison dart rabbit, Jacky. Just like the name suggested, the rabbit named Jacky shot poison darts.
[Hey, do it properly. Are you trying to blow a poison dart or make out with it?]
The tiny rabbit had quite the mouth.
"Hey, Yeon-Joo... is he normally like this?"
"Huh? Ah, yeah. Don't worry about it. That guy's character is supposed to be annoying. Anyways, try finishing off that tower."
"Alright."
Phew! Phew!
Ji-Ah was blowing into a flute-like object.
'What am I doing...'
She felt strange, jumping around in a bunny suit and blowing a flute. Thanks to actually playing the game, she learned a lot.
"Hey, you're not bad? Even though it's bots, there are lots of people who don't get it at all."
"I used to go to capsule rooms a lot back in the days."
"I see."
"Lee Kyung-Soo liked games."
"Ah... Supervisor Lee liked it..."
It was awkward for a moment. The two kept their mouths shut and focused on the game.
[HeoHeoYeon is on a rampage!]
[HeoHeoYeon is unstoppable!]
[HeoHeoYeon is legendary!]
The game ended in a victory thanks to Yeon-Joo carrying them. All Ji-Ah did was survive Jacky's criticisms. After that, they cleared the intermediate and advanced bots. Ji-Ah now fully understood the basics of the game.
[Never summon me again unless you'll shoot the dart backward.]
Until the end, Ji-Ah didn't hear a single compliment from Jacky.
Ji-Ah complained as she left the capsule room, "It's similar to the office."
"What is?"
"Everything gets solved when I withstand the scolding."
Yeon-Joo giggled again. The poison dart rabbit was also famous for shooting poisonous phrases, so Ji-Ah's shock was understandable.
"This lady is still playing that game. Now, should we go and edit?"
***
"Phew,"?Ji-Ah let out a deep breath after working until morning.
'Thanks to Yeon-Joo, I could finish it in a day.'
She hadn't intended to finish it in a day, but wanted to get as much as possible done when Yeon-Joo was helping her. As a result, she finished the video. It was already the next day though. Two videos had been completed.
[LILmond-0 | Raina OP?]
[LILmond-1 | How to block a Hail of Blades using Raina!]
After she uploaded the videos for a live premiere, Ji-Ah nervously waited. As the video began, 7000-8000 viewers arrived.
— Wow, is it that video?
— LazySoldier was Almond??
— Hail of blades...
— Almond again...
— Raina's OP?!
— Kya~ Almond!
After the premiere was over, the views started going up. It rose to 50k, 100k, 150k, and continued...
'Wow.'
Eventually, it reached #5 on trending. Almond's channel was in the top 5 trending for the first time.
'Top 5!'
It was a new record.
She quickly sent a message to the group chat.
[Check today's video!]
Tap, tap.
Ji-Ah woke up Yeon-Joo, who was sleeping beside her.
"Yeon-Joo, we're fifth in the ranking."
"Huh...?"
Yeon-Joo checked the time to see if it was time for work. Ji-Ah could tell right away because she used to have the same habit.
"Today's Saturday."
"Ah... That's right. That's why I asked to leave early yesterday. Anyway, what are you talking about? Fifth?"
Yeon-Joo rubbed her eyes and barely got up. Ji-Ah’s foldable bed for guests creaked, but Yeon-Joo still slept well.
"The trending videos."
"...?"
Yeon-Joo stared at her phone for a while.
"Wow... wow! Isn't this incredible?!"
"Yeah."
Ji-Ah smirked and made a wide smile. She seemed tired, but seemed even happier because of that.
"Ji-Ah! You're amazing!"
Yeon-Joo excitedly hugged Ji-Ah.
"You made it really well!"
"You helped me."
"I, I just told you how LIL worked and what to do. You stayed up all night doing it!"
"Whatever. Tell me what you want to do or eat."
"Damn. You're so cool."
"Tell me quickly. Or something you want."
"Hmm..."
Yeon-Joo thought for a while. No, she pretended to think. There was something she wanted from the start.
"Do you... meet Almond often?"