Chapter 34 : East Egg
Chapter 34: Easter Egg
“I’ll become an Otherworld Management Bureau agent.”
“As expected! I thought you would.”
The reason Baek Woohyun chose to become an Otherworld Management Bureau agent was simple.
If he chose to become a civilian, surely the story would proceed with getting entangled with companies in society and receiving commissions, but he’d already done that to the point of disgust ‘over there.’
It was a path already passed after all sorts of hardships. He didn’t want to walk it again even here. Additionally, he was also curious about internal circumstances of the Otherworld Management Bureau.
And there.
‘Because there are no comrades here who’d laugh seeing me become an agent.’
If Baek Woohyun had intended to take the same route as over there from the start, he would have acted the same from the forest.
Far from following radio content, he would have discarded it and escaped toward a direction where the Otherworld Management Bureau side was lax in vigilance.
Not doing so but advancing straight toward where Otherworld Management Bureau agents were to rendezvous was no different from declaring he’d walk a different path from ‘over there.’
“Fufu! A very wise judgment!”
At Baek Woohyun’s answer, Lee Yujin smiled broadly.
She started spouting even unasked stories saying Baek Woohyun joining Management Bureau would be very reassuring.
To become an Otherworld Management Bureau agent, one must first be an awakener, which was why the number of new entrants had no choice but to be few.
In such circumstances, since Baek Woohyun joined, other agents would welcome him with open arms too.
“Moreover, recently companies keep scouting awakeners too— Ah!”
Lee Yujin, who had been chattering excitedly, covered her mouth in surprise. Because she belatedly realized she’d even spewed unnecessary words.
If someone wanted to belong to companies rather than government, they might reconsider the proposal after hearing her words.
Fortunately for her, Baek Woohyun had already made up his mind.
“Ugh, this isn’t me saying this because I’m a Management Bureau agent…”
Lee Yujin, who subtly gauged Baek Woohyun’s mood, continued speaking as if relieved when he showed no particular reaction.
“I don’t really recommend immediately moving just because companies give lots of money. Even if you do move, at least learn the basics about handling supernatural abilities at the Management Bureau before going.”
“Why should I?”
“Compared to companies that just started operating awakeners, Management Bureau has much more abundant awakener cultivation know-how. The number of awakeners cultivated is incomparably different from the start.”
The Otherworld Management Bureau was a government department newly launched in Korea almost immediately after the international organization ‘Otherworld Response Alliance’ was founded.
Essentially created in early dimensional invasion situation, naturally cultivation of awakeners and Reverse World subjugation know-how couldn’t help but be abundant.
Lee Yujin was talking about exactly that point, recommending to at least learning the basics before leaving when leaving. In a way, she was essentially recommending to utilize everything utilizable before leaving.
“Moreover, even if companies give lots of money, hardship will be much more. As profit groups, they’ll try to squeeze as much as given, no, more than that. So even during time that should be spent growing while training steadily, they’ll try to profit somehow, right?”
“Is that so?”
For Baek Woohyun who performed companies’ commission requests ‘over there,’ it was a story he couldn’t help but relate to.
Actually, companies tried somehow to reduce commission costs, and shamelessly presented excessive demands compared to price. Truly shamelessly.
Even in early days when he just started contract worker work, some even said to rip their bellies saying they wouldn’t pay money.
After Baek Woohyun really ripped that company’s president and executives’ bellies and extorted money, such people didn’t appear well—as you can tell from ‘didn’t appear well,’ they weren’t completely absent.
‘I suffered being chased for a while because of that incident.’
As Lee Yujin said earlier, civilian awakener supernatural ability use in places other than Reverse Worlds is legally strictly prohibited.
Moreover, at the time Baek Woohyun hadn’t long escaped the research facility, so he was even an unregistered awakener not existing in databases.
No exaggeration to say all elements that would make the Otherworld Management Bureau freak out were gathered.
Persistent pursuit continued enough that he couldn’t sleep properly for months, and that only ended when Baek Woohyun faced one team head-on and smashed them.
After confirming battle results, the Otherworld Management Bureau side judged there would be tremendous damage if they really risked lives clashing with Baek Woohyun and ultimately gave up.
For Otherworld Management Bureau, no matter how much it was to solve unregistered awakener’s unauthorized supernatural ability use crime, their main job of Reverse World subjugation couldn’t be strained, so it was an unavoidable choice.
If he’d been even slightly weaker then, Otherworld Management Bureau would have absolutely never given up. Additionally, the fact that the crime’s cause was companies’ arrogance would have played a part too.
‘Come to think of it, was that when I first met Director Kim Cheol.’
“Anyway, from now on you’re my junior. Please take care of me from now on, junior!”
Lee Yujin extended her hand with a broad smile.
After briefly looking at her pure white hand, Baek Woohyun soon responded to the handshake with calm attitude.
“…Please take care of me from now on, senior.”
At the fact that he’d become senior-junior relationship with Lee Yujin, whom he’d at most treated distantly ‘over there,’ Baek Woohyun chuckled without realizing.
As if there’s a law you don’t know about people’s lives, calling senior and junior with someone he once even fought risking life, he couldn’t help but laugh.
If Lee Yujin ‘over there’ had known, she would have shaken her head saying don’t talk nonsense.
Incidentally, the person Baek Woohyun fought most ‘over there’ was exactly Lee Yujin.
Since Baek Woohyun was so strong, only powerhouses counting among fingers in Otherworld Management Bureau could pursue him, and she was Kim Cheol’s successor, essentially Otherworld Management Bureau’s number two.
Almost exclusively handling pursuit, they had no choice but to fight several times!
Until learning she led the research facility raid, even Baek Woohyun hesitated several times whether to kill her, she was such a formidable enemy.
‘If I’d killed her then, I would have regretted it.’
“Good! Then shall we go to the dormitory now? Let’s decide which room to use there!”
“There’s a dormitory too?”
“There’s a separate dormitory for agents. Lots of empty rooms. If junior wants to go out and live separately you can, but—”
Naturally there was no way Baek Woohyun, who just barely escaped the research facility, had money to get a room.
Lee Yujin knowing that well naturally changed the subject.
Since it’d be troublesome if she misspoke here and touched trauma related to research facility life.
“Dormitory facilities aren’t bad either. No, they’re quite good. Since Otherworld Management Bureau itself isn’t very old, all facilities are newly established.”
Lee Yujin, who led saying she’d guide him to follow, chattered ceaselessly even while walking.
For Baek Woohyun who’d only seen her always keeping mouth tightly shut unless absolutely necessary ‘over there,’ it was quite a novel sight.
“From now on junior will receive training as probationary agent without belonging to any team. Then when judged sufficient skills accumulated, you’ll be promoted to official agent and team determined.”
“How is which team to go to decided?”
“I heard team leaders evaluate while receiving training as probationary agent, and select reflecting that. I don’t know exactly either. Since I’m still a team member.”
Lee Yujin, who said she’d tell him when she became team leader someday, smiled brightly.
“If possible, I hope you’ll come to Team 1, junior.”
“I hope so too.”
‘So I can repay the debt I couldn’t repay ‘over there.”
Baek Woohyun didn’t care that even if he did something for Lee Yujin here, it had no connection to ‘over there.’
In any case, repaying debt or whatever was just trivial self-satisfaction.
What would remain from nitpicking that one by one?
“……”
“Here. Room password is four 0s. Change it later. Oh! I didn’t give you work smartphone, right? Otherworld Management Bureau has so much security information we use separate work phones.”
Baek Woohyun received the smartphone Lee Yujin held out. Glancing at it, Otherworld Management Bureau team leaders and members’ numbers were registered in the contact list.
She earnestly requested that even if he separately activated personal smartphone, he mustn’t handle Otherworld Management Bureau related work with that.
Saying be careful since he could be punished for violating security regulations.
‘Can I activate personal smartphone too? Interesting.’
“Rest well in your room until probationary agent training starts. If you want to train quickly, contact the training instructor via smartphone.”
“Understood.”
“Well, then I’m off! Work is so busy!”
Having finished explaining, Lee Yujin waved and left.
Watching her retreating figure, Baek Woohyun soon turned and entered the room, slowly examining it.
As she said facilities were good being newly established, indeed it was just right for living alone and even clean. Basic furniture like bed, desk, closet were also placed.
In any case, he wouldn’t actually live here, so it had no particular meaning though.
[Mission「Join Otherworld Management Bureau」Complete!]
[Your level has increased!]
[You have acquired 1 supernatural ability point!]
Not long after Baek Woohyun entered the room, system messages appeared in succession before his eyes.
System messages containing content that mission was completed, level increased, and accordingly supernatural ability points acquired.
Since they weren’t much different from what he saw when escaping the research facility, he skimmed once and passed.
‘Should I just go receive training now?’
Baek Woohyun, who found training instructor Han Jiwon’s name in the work smartphone, pondered briefly. Contemplation about whether to continue proceeding with the game like this.
However, contemplation wasn’t very long, because Jeong Nayeon’s side hadn’t particularly said anything.
If it was a situation to end, she would have separately given a whisper. Not doing so probably meant it was okay to continue for now.
Judging so, he called training instructor Han Jiwon.
***
“I know I shouldn’t say this, but I can’t stand it. Isn’t Planet Earth really crazy?”
“To be honest, I think so too. Unless crazy, there’s no way they’d do this.”
“Right? It’s not just me thinking this, right?”
-Ditto
-Not exaggeration but really crazy bastards
-Really couldn’t imagine lololol
-Even National Recognition Association can’t help but recognize while clicking tongue ㄹㅇ
‘ThisIsRealMadness’ donated ‘1000 won’!
[World’s #1 developer’s easter egg class ㄷㄷ]
Baek Woohyun didn’t know, but around this time the studio had become quite noisy.
Because not only Cha Seongcheol and Jeong Nayeon, but even viewers were chattering each excitedly.
How excited they were could be felt just by watching chat window speed. Because it was really going up at tremendous speed.
It probably meant game content just seen was that shocking to them.
“Can we even call this an easter egg?”
“In some sense, calling it an easter egg isn’t completely wrong but…”
Cha Seongcheol shrugged.
Easter Egg originally has other meaning, but in the game industry it means trivial pranks developers hide in their games.
Certainly thinking about it, the function they discovered was also a kind of easter egg. In any case, it was a function developers hid.
The problem was.
“…What kind of developer hides ‘Fully Responsive AI’ as easter egg?”
“Seriously.”
-But it actually happened
-Putting insane new tech as easter egg lololol
-Seems deliberately hidden because of resources
-Other developers would have bragged everywhere
The technology revealed through Baek Woohyun’s game, ‘Fully Responsive AI,’ was that the grade was too high to just pass as easter egg.
Because it was technology that would become a considerable topic just by being installed in games.
“Fully Responsive AI means no exaggeration that the experience itself from games becomes completely different. Can we really call this an easter egg?”
“Certainly… it did feel completely different.”
-This isn’t the RePla I knew? (really not)
-This is RePla developer’s madness
-Yigwigwo~
-Fully responsive AI means game’s grade upgrades one level ㄹㅇ