Season 2: Chapter 76. Proof (1)
(English)
— OMG, Hawkeye just lost his job lol
└ he already did years ago...
└ rofl
"They said Hawkeye just lost his job. He already lost it years ago... hilarious," Ju-Hyeok dryly translated the comments after Sang-Hyeon suddenly sat up from bed and asked what was going on.
Although Sang-Hyeon understood almost all of the English, it was still better to confirm it through Ju-Hyeok.
(English)
— whaaat??
— what kinda program is that? any guess?
└ nothing......
└ I haven't seen anything that can perform like that
"What kind of program is that? Do you have any idea? None... I've never seen anything that can do that..."
Ju-Hyeok adjusted his glasses and summarized everything for Sang-Hyeon.
"All the reactions are almost certain that it's a hack. That can’t be helped considering the title of the video..."
"Ah..."
Sang-Hyeon's expression went blank. Everyone thought he used a hack.
"There are also compliments."
"Compliments?"
Could there be someone who didn’t think it was a hack?
Ju-Hyeok scrolled down and tried his best to translate.
— Since when did Chinese guys look so cute?
└ I think he’s Korean...
"Since when did Chinese guys look so cute? He's Korean or something like that."
"..."
The current responses weren't very helpful.
'It's good to get attention, but...'
Being mistaken for a cheater was a great honor for a player. However, everyone also had to realize that he hadn’t cheated.
Sang-Hyeon let out a resigned sigh.
'Will it go well?'
He recalled his account being unjustly suspended when he started playing Battle Large. Back in the days when hacks were rampant, several streamers who were accused claimed to be innocent. Sang-Hyeon didn't think much of it back then, but now he wondered if they had really been wronged.
"Why the face? If we play this right, our channel can take another big leap. There hasn't been much growth since the LIL event."
Ju-Hyeok apparently saw this as an opportunity and looked pleased.
"But suddenly getting suspended like in Battle Large would be a bit tiring."
Ju-Hyeok dismissed Sang-Hyeon's worry with a wave, "Eh, Battle Large was an accident. A single report won't get us suspended. However..."
Ju-Hyeok scanned through the comments.
"I didn't read the harsh ones, but many people seem to be criticizing hackers. Apparently, they've been a big issue for a while. Of course, they’re talking about you in the comments."
"I see."
Sang-Hyeon didn’t care about the insults. Random people on the other side of the Earth cursing in English didn’t impact him much. He just hoped he wouldn’t get suspended.
"These days, aren’t games supposed to be immune to hacks like that? Shouldn’t this game be?"
In response to Sang-Hyeon's question, Ju-Hyeok read a passage from Wikipedia.
"National team battle, a PvP mode where up to 1,200 players clash, requires the most performance optimization. This means they can't catch various minor bugs or illegal programs. In fact, it's impressive that they prevent critical bugs considering the scale..."
Right. Even LIL, which prided itself on being a high-performance game, only had up to ten players fighting.
Civil Empire theoretically allowed up to 1,200 players in battle on one field. The game had to prioritize optimizing all this massive data and bug management. Asking their dev team to also catch illegal programs would be too much.
"Well... they still catch them when hacks are discovered. There's never been a hack so severe that it threatened to break the game. Capsule games make it hard to create such hacks anyway."
Ju-Hyeok read out various other miscellaneous stories. One had to do with how some companies from certain countries sponsored and tried to subtly influence the game's civilization balance.
"Wow. In countries where Civil Empire is popular, companies start putting out ads months before the national competition."
'Interesting, but it's irrelevant to me.'
Sang-Hyeon was currently only playing basic battles, so things like civilization balances or national competitions seemed like far-off tales.
"Alright. Thanks. Let's just sleep for now. I'm really sleepy."
He felt drowsy after waking and staying up. Sang-Hyeon decided to clear his mind and sleep for tomorrow.
***
Ju-Hyeok, Sang-Hyeon, and Ji-Ah headed to a large warehouse store the next day. They had to prepare various things for an upcoming fan meeting. Naturally, Ju-Hyeok drove with Ji-Ah in the passenger seat and Sang-Hyeon in the back.
"Ah, but Almond," Ji-Ah spoke while looking into the rearview mirror. "I just checked the video I uploaded. Someone left a weird comment?"
"A comment?"
What kind of comment?
Ding.
She texted him a link.
[Ji-Ah: (Link)]
[Ji-Ah: This one]
It was one of Almond's YouTube videos she uploaded about two hours ago.
[Ah, this cool and heavy sensation...]
The video featured a strange title. It showed scenes of Almond wielding a bow and massacring the enemy cavalry.
"It's a short, right?"
A short video was under one minute.
"Yeah, it's a process I've been working on lately. First, upload one minute shorts. Then, based on the reactions, edit and make twenty to thirty minute videos from them."
"Ah..."
That was why Ji-Ah uploaded the Civil Empire video so soon as a short.
"That's not important. Look at the comments."
It was obvious which comment she meant without even asking. She was talking about the top comment.
— Mr. Almond, we are the developers of Civil Empire. Your play is unbelievably fantastic. Perhaps that's why many people are questioning...
The comment was awkwardly worded and numerous replies had already appeared below it.
└ lol is this for real?
└ It’s the real deal. Upvote it.
└ Ah Almond, lol ridiculous
└ Why another report again? lol
└ Ah, just let him play! Waaah!
"Should we contact them?" Sang-Hyeon turned to Ju-Hyeok, who was driving.
"Hmm, yes. Let's think about it after today."
Shortly afterward, they arrived at the large warehouse store’s parking lot.
***
Someone approached them on their way from the parking lot to the store.
"Hello, are you Mr. Almond?"
Sang-Hyeon initially thought a fan recognized him.
However, Ju-Hyeok stepped forward and replied, "Ah, yes. That's us. You must have been waiting for a while. We got stuck in traffic... I’m Kim Ju-Hyeok, the manager."
"No, I just arrived. I'm the planner, Jeong Ho-Yoon."
A planner? Ji-Ah and Sang-Hyeon exchanged puzzled glances.
The man introduced himself as a planner and handed his business cards to Ji-Ah and Sang-Hyeon.
"I'm a party planner and space designer. Director Jang told me about you."
‘Director Jang?’
Sang-Hyeon momentarily pondered who that could be before coming to a startling realization. Wasn’t that the main director of Evening Wide?
"Oh, I asked him. I was thinking about who might know someone for this and recalled Director Jang saying to contact him if we ever need help."
"Ah..."
Finally, Sang-Hyeon took a closer look at the planner. Jeong Ho-Yoon had a gentle and somewhat delicate appearance. He seemed like an easy person to work with.
"Shall we go?"
Jeong Ho-Yoon led the way with Ju-Hyeok. Ji-Ah and Sang-Hyeon didn't have much to do in the store. They simply followed from behind and added the necessary party items into the cart.
"We can draw stripes on these balloons and make them look like almonds. There are balloons shaped like rugby balls these days."
"Wow, that looks good. Do you have brown ones?"
"Yes, four of us can draw with thick markers. It should be quick. Handmade decorations make the party feel warmer."
"Ahaha, right."
Ji-Ah and Sang-Hyeon went to choose the food and felt like children tagging along with their parents on a grocery run.
"Let's just choose, Almond."
"Yeah. I want that."
"Wow... Scotch candy almonds..."
"Why?"
"No, it's just..."
Ji-Ah chuckled and picked up the candy.
***
At 2 P.M., Sang-Hyeon found himself all alone in the house in their Hoogye neighborhood. They finished shopping by noon, but Ju-Hyeok and Ji-Ah continued prepping with the planner at a cafe. Sang-Hyeon returned home early for his stream and sat in the chair usually occupied by Ju-Hyeok. He leaned back and spun around.
"Feels like a long time since I've been alone..."
He felt a bit empty in the quiet house and suddenly stopped spinning when he recalled something.
"Right."
Should he start streaming?
"Hmm."
He went to the kitchen, opened the cupboard, and took out some almonds. Instead of streaming, he decided to snack on almonds. After grabbing a handful of almonds and pouring himself a glass of milk, he returned to the computer.
"This brings back memories."
Back when Ju-Hyeok wasn't around, he often snacked like this while watching Bubblegum’s stream alone.
"Let's deal with this."
Instead of watching anything or streaming, he decided to tackle the problem he learned about today. The comment on his YouTube channel.
"Why would they comment on my YouTube?"
Normally, the game company would send a personal message. It was odd that they left a comment on his YouTube channel. Was this a good or bad move?
Sang-Hyeon checked his email and found a message from the game developers.
"Ah, they did send one."
They did email him, but most Koreans rarely checked their emails so they also contacted him in advance through YouTube.
"There’s an in-game message too."
Clicking [Consult] in the game message instead of the link in the comment immediately contacted them.
[Hello, I am the assigned officer, Yu Hye-Won. Are you the user 'Aalmmond' who was reported for illegal program use?]
It was a real-time conversation.
[Yes, that's me. But I didn't use any hacks. I don't even know how to.]
Sang-Hyeon asserted his innocence first.
[Yes, Mr. User. However, your movements were deemed 'difficult to understand' when we monitored your play, which led to this inquiry.]
Sang-Hyeon was confused and hadn't expected such serious accusations of hacking.
"I’m just good at the game..."
Although his skills astounded them, Sang-Hyeon knew his abilities would mean nothing if they banned him. He asserted his innocence again.
[Please check. I have never used such programs. It's just that I'm really good at the game.]
Until now, he hadn't been too worried and thought there was no way they would ban him.
[Yes, Mr. User. We're not doubting you, but there are currently 23 reports against you for illegal program use. We must verify this, so please understand.]
Twenty-three reports? Sang-Hyeon was bewildered and wondered if it was because of that video.
[Alright, how will you verify it?]
[First, our observer will share your screen and watch three games when you log in. You must agree to this.]
'A live observation?'
It seemed like an archaic method that didn’t suit such a cutting-edge game company. Sang-Hyeon recalled what Ju-Hyeok said about the game and the developers. They prioritized performance optimization and often failed to catch various bugs or illegal programs. It appeared that they truly lacked the technology to remotely detect hacks.
Sang-Hyeon promptly agreed to the observation.
[I agree and understand.]
He felt unjustly treated as a streamer and took a snapshot of the conversation.
[Captured screenshot.]
[Sent to Ji-Ah: Look at this.]
Sang-Hyeon sent it to his editor because it would likely garner much attention.
[Ji-Ah: So exciting~]