Chapter 124 : Disguised Identity
Chapter 124: Disguised Identity
“My iTube Shorts seem to have hit the algorithm lately; the view counts are getting pretty high.”
“Look at this.” As Jeong Nayeon showed Baek Woohyun her iTube, it was indeed filled with Shorts reaching view counts in the millions.
Previously, they had at most hundreds of thousands of views, often just tens of thousands. The view counts had essentially inflated by nearly ten to a hundred times.
She added that her channel, already rapidly growing through the ‘Hack Tour’ content, getting the Shorts algorithm boost would add even more acceleration.
“Nice.”
It was nothing but good news for Baek Woohyun.
If Jeong Nayeon’s iTube grew, his share would naturally increase as well.
“By the way, I’m also thinking about maybe opening a fan cafe soon. What do you think?”
“Fan cafe?”
Baek Woohyun blinked and asked again.
“Don’t tell me… my fan cafe?”
“Of course yours! Actually, I’d like to make one too, but I’m not at that level yet.”
“…That’s kind of amazing. A fan cafe for me.”
“Most established individual broadcasters have one, so don’t feel burdened. I plan to handle the creation and management, so you won’t need to worry about it separately.”
“Just like it’s been until now.”
“Yeah. Just like it’s been until now.”
True to her declaration when she persuaded Baek Woohyun with a presentation, Jeong Nayeon really took on many tasks so he could just focus on gaming.
Things like managing the iTube or creating and managing a fan cafe—tasks that would require hiring people or daily management.
And one of those tasks was handling contacts and scheduling related to Baek Woohyun’s identity, Hackphysical.
“Since the last broadcast, we’ve gotten emails from all the Tier 1 pro teams. Including DH Empire, of course!”
This time, over twenty emails appeared in front of Baek Woohyun, courtesy of Jeong Nayeon.
From DH Empire, the team of ‘Nicky’ Lee Geon-woo, who he faced in the previous PVP, to teams like Lightning Bullet, STS Raven, E1 Eagles—all were pro teams sending emails.
The content was, as expected, uniform offers to join their teams. After a quick glance, Baek Woohyun pushed the emails away with a displeased expression.
“I got emails too. They were asking if I could arrange a meeting with you?”
“Hmm.”
“Even Seongcheol nim said he got similar request emails!”
That essentially meant everyone who could possibly reach Baek Woohyun had tried contacting him somehow.
It showed the considerable effort pro teams were putting into recruiting him.
“Instead of ignoring them, it’s probably better to give some kind of reply. You never know with people’s affairs.”
“Then nicely turn them down.”
“Okay! I’ll send polite rejection emails. Next is community opinion—”
After that, Jeong Nayeon neatly organized and explained even various miscellaneous tasks to Baek Woohyun.
Watching her, a thought passed through Baek Woohyun’s mind: accepting her proposed ‘Hack Tour’ content was a good decision.
Of course, the influence of Anonymous Viewer 62 had been significant, but now, in a different sense, it was also a huge help.
For example, in terms of bank balance.
‘The profits are higher than I thought.’
This was something Baek Woohyun had overlooked because ‘over there,’ money to feed even his test subject colleagues would come from just a few contractor requests.
‘Here,’ he was merely an ordinary university student, so the period he could be free only lasted as long as his bank balance allowed.
In modern society, even just living required money. If he had rejected the proposal, he would have had to immediately prepare for employment after graduation.
Naturally, uncovering the secrets of ‘Reverse Planet’ would have been delayed that much longer.
‘It’s fortunate.’
The reason he didn’t have to was, as mentioned, thanks to the profits generated through the ‘Hack Tour’ content.
Donations plus iTube settlement payments amounted to well over ten million won, allowing him to focus solely on ‘Reverse Planet’ for the time being.
The question, ‘Couldn’t that have been solved by appearing as a guest on Kang Soyul’s broadcast?’ was meaningless.
A guest was just a guest; usually, they don’t get a share of profit settlements but just receive a set fee. Naturally, the amount deposited in the bank would likely have been worlds apart from now.
Moreover, the gameplay would have to follow the host, so freely uncovering secrets as he pleased now would have been unthinkable.
Solo streaming was the same.
A stream of just playing games without any interaction would never have gained such massive popularity and generated huge profits as it did now.
He wouldn’t have done PVP regularly like now either, so at best, it would have been a brief topic before fading away. Maybe not even that.
‘The fact that profits grew this much is entirely thanks to Nayeon.’
Bringing in a current commentator as a panel to enhance broadcast entertainment was Jeong Nayeon’s idea, and flawlessly leading the content was also her capability.
Although she modestly acted as if she was just riding on Baek Woohyun’s abilities, Baek Woohyun knew very well that that alone couldn’t have produced results like this.
“…Why are you staring so hard?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
“How boring.”
As Jeong Nayeon shrugged her shoulders, Baek Woohyun suddenly posed a question.
“This time, I plan to proceed as I please based on information I looked into separately. Is that okay?”
“Hmm~ In my opinion—”
***
-“—It should be fine! There are probably many people who came in because of the new system anyway. Showing them how far you can push things at a time like this isn’t bad either!”
In the conversation before the broadcast, Jeong Nayeon had casually answered Baek Woohyun’s question like that.
Agreeing with his statement that he wanted to move freely rather than follow the story, she answered that she wanted to see how far he could go.
That was why Baek Woohyun visited the back alley where Manmulsang was located, the center of Seoul’s underworld, wearing the outfit and build he used when raiding Geumsin Electronics.
‘Right about now, they’re probably wondering why I’m here in the studio.’
But Baek Woohyun thought their confusion wouldn’t last long.
From now on, he was going to run as he pleased, almost like going berserk from others’ perspectives, so they wouldn’t even have time to be flustered.
He would also satisfy the malice filling his chest and the vengeful spirits that had begun to howl at some point.
‘As the first step… let’s deal with those guys first.’
Through the mask directly covering his face, not the privacy protection mode mask, Baek Woohyun’s eyes flashed with an ashen light.
His expanded senses clearly felt the presences of those hiding in the alley building windows or the shadows between them, watching him.
Originally, at his current ability level, it would have been impossible to snatch them all at once with telekinesis, but now the story was different.
Having experienced various other ability builds, his ability control had grown significantly.
Swoosh.
“Wha, what?!”
“Telekinesis! An Awakener!”
“Damn it, let go! Put me down!”
As Baek Woohyun lightly waved his hand, all those spying on him were pulled out by telekinesis.
Their startled struggles had no effect on him.
Even with an incomplete build, he had enough power to crush about a dozen ordinary people with telekinesis.
“······.”
When he had come here in the past as an Otherworld Management Bureau agent, Baek Woohyun had left them alone without harming them.
But the current him, evident just from him changing his ability build and outfit, was acting to create a disguised identity.
And for a disguised identity, the greater the difference in words and actions from the original identity, the better. It was best if they were so different it was hard to believe they were the same person.
That way, he could use it longer without being discovered.
For example, like the gap between a merely strong Otherworld Management Bureau agent and a test subject driven mad by vengeance against the research facility.
“······.”
Whoosh!
Baek Woohyun’s eyes, having made a decision, shone ominously.
Then, with a CRUNCH!—a horrific sound—the left arms of those held captive shattered.
“Gyaaah!”
“My arm! My arm!”
The screams of those exposed to the sudden pain of bone-crushing filled the alley. A terrifyingly echoing sound.
But what was even more frightening for them was that despite such agony, they still couldn’t move a finger.
It meant that if this monster in bloodstained test subject attire wished, he could snap their necks just as he had broken their arms.
Of course, Baek Woohyun had no intention of making a complete enemy of the underworld, so he didn’t plan to kill them. It was obvious from the start, seeing as he broke their arms, not necks.
Soon after, he tossed them onto the asphalt ground and spoke in a sharp, metallic voice distinctly different from his usual one.
“If you look at me with those eyes next time, I’ll snap your necks.”
Hearing Baek Woohyun’s warning, the watchers felt chills running down their spines and scrambled to flee.
They didn’t even think of retaliating with clichéd lines like “You’ll see!”—symbols of third-rate thugs like them.
Well, to them, the killing intent Baek Woohyun emitted felt unmistakably genuine.
Wanting to get away from a psychopath who could kill you with a single gesture was hardly strange.
“······.”
Baek Woohyun, who had been coldly watching the fleeing watchers with blazing ashen flames for a moment, turned his head.
His eyes fell on the entrance to Manmulsang, disguised as the iron door of a closed pawnshop.
It was a door requiring a ten-digit password, and while he already knew it, he had no intention of opening it himself.
Even such trivial details were to differentiate himself from when he was an Otherworld Management Bureau agent. He also needed a kind of pretext.
“Do you wish for me to break this door down and enter?”
An answer to the obvious threat did not come immediately.
The closed pawnshop remained silent as if no one was inside.
But Baek Woohyun’s extended senses clearly felt those inside busily moving and aiming their guns towards the door.
After watching their actions briefly, he twisted the corner of his mouth into a smile.
“If you insist.”
Whoosh-
Transparent flames erupting from all over Baek Woohyun’s body!
The flower of annihilation, which only blooms when ability power is drawn to its limit, faintly revealed its form.
It was proof that he was bestowing tremendous force upon the iron door before him, and the resulting outcome could be confirmed soon.
CRREEAK!
With the eerie sound of metal folding, the thick iron door began to warp.
An iron door dozens of centimeters thick was no hindrance before Baek Woohyun. It was merely like a roadside pebble to be cleared as he wished.
The power flowing from his body showed no sign of weakening, so the iron door gradually shook visibly and was being smashed apart.
[Wait!]
What stopped Baek Woohyun’s action was a modulated voice coming through an external speaker. Impossible to distinguish even the age group, let alone gender.
The owner of Manmulsang, who had greeted him when he visited here before as an Otherworld Management Bureau agent, had finally appeared.
With the arrival of the awaited person, Baek Woohyun naturally deactivated his ability. The iron door was already too warped and needed replacing, but anyway.
[Huh, a very impatient guest, I see. Very well. I shall open the door.]
Clunk-
Even though the iron door was practically non-functional, the owner of Manmulsang unlocked it.
It was an action to subtly show that the one who had extended the invitation was the owner himself, and Baek Woohyun was merely a guest.
Apparently having no intention of nitpicking that far, Baek Woohyun tilted his head and pushed the iron door open—it didn’t open properly due to being warped—and stepped inside.
“······.”
“”······.””
Manmulsang’s appearance hadn’t changed from his previous visit except for one thing. It still maintained the neat appearance of a pawnshop.
The one changed thing was the armed guards surrounding the entrance, aiming machine guns—who knows where they got them—at him.
But Baek Woohyun paid them no mind, merely glaring beyond the barrier made of iron bars.
“This is ‘Manmulsang.’ A place that sells whatever our guests desire. Whatever it may be, or whoever it may be.”
The owner of Manmulsang calmly stated.
Implying that if you want to buy something, you should show respect.
As Baek Woohyun had no desire to cause further friction, he answered leisurely.
“I know.”
“Haha. That makes things easier. So, what does our somewhat rough guest desire that brings you to ‘Manmulsang’?”
“A job.”
“…Hoh. Interesting. A job, you say. What kind of job do you desire?”
At the owner’s question, the corner of Baek Woohyun’s mouth twisted fiercely.
With an expression that seemed like a smile at a glance, or perhaps baring fangs, he spoke.
“Anything that can screw over the research facility and the corporations sponsoring it.”