Season 2: Chapter 231: Developer’s Power Level (1)
Sang-Hyeon looked around the arcade and intended to try a different game, but the world wouldn't let him.
"Ugh..."
Babam.
Bababam.
The donations continued to pour in.
[TaekwondoFederation has donated 10,000 won.]
[You chose a taekwondo character and lost to a foreigner...]
A voice sounding like an elderly man chastised Sang-Hyeon's sense of patriotism.
— lol Can't stand the foreigners~
— Swim back to Korea when you return~
— lololol
Bababam!
[DoYouKnowClub has donated 10,000 won.]
[Please leave our club, Lord Almond.]
A voice with the tone of an aristocratic maid suggested that he leave a club he had never joined.
— lolol, really?
— DoYouKnow Club but why the tone lol
— Has your nationality already changed to Japanese? lol
— Lord Nut lol
Sang-Hyeon, perhaps too bothered to respond to them individually, brushed it off.
"Yes, thank you for the donation. Seems like a lot of donations come in when I lose. It's all planned~"
— ?
— lololol
— ???
— Let's just say it was all planned~ ^^
— Yes, of course, boss lol
— Such tactics!
Despite his dismissive response, the donations continued to flow in.
[BornToBee has donated 3,000 won.]
[You're not supposed to do it like that...]
— Who's BornToBee lol
— BornToBe, don't cross the line if you don't want to die ^^
— Stay out of it lol
— BornToB not BornToBee lol
At that moment, Sang-Hyeon realized it.
"Yes, thank you, BornToB."
Even a dismissive response to mocking donations would keep them coming as no response was a reaction to these people.
Almond's current expression itself was a reaction for them.
— His expression lol
— This looks like the face of someone about to be purged lol
— You nut, that sulky expression lol
As they had anticipated, what was known as a finishing blow donation appeared.
[Kyakyakya has donated 10,000 won.]
[Feels empty~! Jaw drops~! Feels empty~! Jaw drops~! Feels empty~! Jaw drops~!]
A high-pitched female voice mockingly echoed.
The jaw-dropping reference referred to the last match when his character was struck in the jaw and received an endless combo.
“Feels... empty~ Jaw drops…”
As the voice of the donation continued, Sang-Hyeon's expression grew increasingly stern.
— lololol
— lol
— Jaw drops lol
— Almond is choked up...!
— That expression really looks dangerous lol
— Oh bow down...!
The donation that struck the final blow to his patience won the day.
"Kyakyakya, thank you. Please step out for thirty minutes."
Ultimately, the donor paid a considerable sum of 10,000 won and got banned for thirty minutes.
A long train of donations passed.
Pew-pew!
Pew!
Sang-Hyeon became deeply engaged in a fighter jet game, furiously manipulating the joystick.
— Wow
— He's pretty good?
— Wow
The fighter jet game primarily involved moving the left stick. Dodging the opponent's missiles was exactly what this left-stick motion was for. The right hand simply needed to continually press the firing button. Precise movements were hardly necessary.
Thanks to this, Sang-Hyeon was quite good at it. Moreover, this game required no foresight and a faster reaction time was sufficient to dodge effectively.
"Oh. I won."
He eventually cleared the level, securing a small challenge reward.
— Wow
— He's good at fighter jet games?
— He did this in one try???
— Amazing lol
— Easy mode, so it was actually possible lol
Clearing the easy mode awarded ten chickens to his viewers. If he had cleared the normal mode, he could have won twenty. The normal mode also seemed manageable.
"Shall I try the normal mode too?"
However, Sang-Hyeon was not given such an opportunity.
Zing.
Zing.
[Ju-Hyeok]
A call came from Ju-Hyeok.
"Hey, what's up?"
“Hey, it's almost your turn. You need to come here, okay?”
What? Sang-Hyeon stared blankly at the screen for a moment. A lot of time had passed.
"Have you been standing in line all this time? Get a waiting number."
Ju-Hyeok had been standing in line all this time. Sang-Hyeon hadn’t expected that.
“They don’t do that here. They just told us to line up if we want to play like some restaurant marketing…”
"Ah. Got it. I’ll be right there."
Click.
After hanging up the call, Sang-Hyeon spoke to the viewers.
"I'm heading to the next challenge."
— Wowowow
— Finally going to beat that guy?
— I'm worried, JetPumped is a mess right now...
[RubySword has donated 10,000 won.]
[You can win this time, right? Hehe]
"Ah. Thank you, Ruby. Of course, I have to win... Huh?" Sang-Hyeon responded to RubySword while walking and suddenly paused.
"?!"
He unexpectedly came face-to-face with RubySword, who was right behind him.
She had donated without realizing Sang-Hyeon would turn around so suddenly and hadn't managed to move in time.
— Isn’t that RubySword? lol
— She’s donating from right behind him? Just talk lol
— Ruby Princess! I love you!
— Typical ultra-rich lol
"Ah, you were here?"
"Ah... yes. I... I'll go back there!"
The flustered RubySword quickly ran behind Sang-Hyeon.
'?'
It wasn't like her to be shy. Sang-Hyeon wondered why she acted that way.
— Sorry… Sorry for disturbing the stream…
He could gauge her intention from the chat.
— She didn't want to disturb :((
— Oh~ such viewers!
— I'll remember this! RubySword!
— It's Nutty who’s disturbing Lady Ruby, what are you talking about???
It seemed like she didn't want to disturb Almond's stream and only wanted to watch as a viewer, so she politely donated even though she stood right behind him.
"There was a little mishap just now."
— lol, mishap!
— Mishap (physically) xD
— Almond, I'm so jealous...
"Now, let's really go and meet that infamous summoner."
With a hero's aura as if he was off to slay a demon lord, he headed toward the booth where Kim Yi-Seo was.
— ??
— He’s a developer, right?
— He’s been brainwashed by LIL, LOL
— Summoner???
— That man made a pact with a demon, so he is a summoner
***
Ju-Hyeok had been standing in line and turned around to mutter, "Ah, you arrived just in time."
Following Sang-Hyeon was BornToB, who was panting as he ran over.
"It's your turn. Have you seen the video I sent?"
"I need to watch it right now."
"Ah, really..."
Ju-Hyeok had sent him a video related to JetPumped.
— Cramming lol
— What's he planning to do with no practice at all? lol
— Poor Almond!
Sang-Hyeon stood in line with Ju-Hyeok and watched the video.
"Isn't that Almond?"
"Ah... the manager was lining up?"
"Wow, Almond?"
Some people recognized him. It seemed like they were all JetPumped players. Even though Sang-Hyeon had never played JetPumped, they recognized him more than he expected. He had quite a high public profile.
'Our reputation has really grown.'
While Ju-Hyeok proudly smiled, Sang-Hyeon was oblivious and focused on watching the video as he needed to learn the game quickly.
'The graphics look hilariously bad.'
It was the most ridiculous virtual reality game graphics Sang-Hyeon had ever seen. There were very few polygons and everything felt exaggerated.
'Basically, it's a fighting game.'
It was a 3D game instead of 2D. The game felt like it was based on fighting. However, the difference was that it was faster and focused on striking quick single blows with the addition of jet parts. The style was somewhat of a hybrid between LIL and fighting games.
Just then, a booming voice shouted, "Next!"
'?'
At the resounding shout, Sang-Hyeon instinctively looked up to check.
'Ah. That's the person.'
Someone was shouting into a microphone in the broadcasting booth. From the murmuring around, it seemed that this person was Kim Yi-Seo.
'What? Why is he broadcasting?'
Strange. Wasn't he supposed to fight this person?
Sang-Hyeon poked Ju-Hyeok to ask, "Why is that person commenting? Isn't that Kim Yi-Seo?"
"Ah. It's because it's not his turn yet."
"Eh? Turn?"
"Yeah. Like in the old cartoons, the four heavenly kings fight before the demon lord, right?"
Sang-Hyeon wasn’t going to fight Kim Yi-Seo immediately. In fact, during the ongoing challenge…
"Has anyone defeated the Four Heavenly Kings yet?"
"Hey, what Four Heavenly Kings... It's just a way of speaking. They're other developers working below. Not exactly four, but just two or three."
"So, you mean no one has beaten the two or three heavenly kings yet?"
"That... yeah, that's right. The two or three heavenly kings haven't been defeated yet."
Ju-Hyeok reluctantly acknowledged the existence of these so-called kings and nodded.
— Two or three heavenly kings lol
— Why is it always Nutty's fate to be embarrassed…? lol
— Manager's realization lol
"Now, the first opponent is our head developer, Heo Won-Mu! Will he be able to win?"
As Kim Yi-Seo started commentating, it felt as if he was mocking them.
"By the way, our development team hasn't installed any of the cash-pumped jets that are currently controversial. On the other hand, the players challenging us are using the controversial jets, right?"
Boos erupted from the long line.
"Go die, Kim Yi-Seo!"
"Get ready to be wiped!"
The reaction was unexpectedly fierce. Being a head game developer was like putting one’s neck on the line, but this was quite literal in another sense.
— Wow
— The public opinion isn't good, huh? lol
— Wow, it's like a medieval execution ground
"The atmosphere is heating up."
Sang-Hyeon briefly summarized this to his viewers and turned back to the video. Well, he tried to turn back.
"Hmm. It's so noisy... can't focus..."
Sang-Hyeon was trying hard to watch, but the feeling wasn't quite hitting him. After all, it was just a video. Nonetheless, Sang-Hyeon tried to fully concentrate like during his school days.
A few minutes passed.
"Next!"
The previous contestant was brutally defeated.
"Neeext!"
The contestant before him was also defeated. Now it was Sang-Hyeon's turn.
An attendant gestured toward him.
"Next contestant, please come in!"
"Yes."
Sang-Hyeon entered the capsule with a determined expression.
***
Thunk.
Kim Yi-Seo momentarily turned off the microphone. Then he looked at the tablet to check the incoming contestant's information.
"Why isn't it showing up?"
His tablet wasn't cooperating and the current applicant’s nickname wasn't appearing.
[No information available]
The data they entered during registration was supposed to automatically convert to the user information in JetPumped.
"Ah..."
Not seeing their information didn’t seem like a big deal, but it was significant for Kim Yi-Seo.
"This shouldn't be happening."
He needed that information to understand the user's tendencies and fighting habits. He could then relay this information to the other developers. Yes, that was why the developers had such high win rates.
"Is it missing?"
Kim Yi-Seo decided to check the profile directly written by this applicant.
"Yu Sang-Hyeon... Date of birth... It's all correctly entered."
Everything had been correctly entered, but why wasn't their game information showing up?
"Could it be a lie?"
If the information itself was false, that would explain it. He was about to tell his staff to fetch the correct information when—
"Sir."
Knock, knock.
A staff member knocked on the door as if reading his mind.
"Come in. You came at just the right time. This person's information is incorrect. Get it sorted. It's not showing up properly here. You should have it too. Why didn't you check properly?"
"Ah."
The staff member adjusted his glasses and nodded.
"That's why I came. The challenge might be delayed a bit."
"Why?"
The topic suddenly changed.
"That challenger is currently playing the tutorial."
"What?!"
Yes, this was the challenger’s first time playing the game.
"That's why the information isn't showing. There's no game data because he just registered. Their personal information is entered correctly."
Kim Yi-Seo became silent for a moment. His gaze turned toward the capsule that the challenger had entered.
"This is his first match?"
He felt incredulous at the audacity of a first-timer coming to defeat him.
"What kind of madman is this?"
Yenmazing's Thoughts
I personally think a big inspo for the in-game characters used is from Tekkn, specifically Hwoarang. Search him up! I visually imagined him while translating.