Chapter 73
Chapter 73
After the interview, Do-Jin had wrapped up everything on his end in real life, and the rest would be handled by the company. Although there had been a lot of buzz from the public, he didn’t really care about that kind of attention. That was exactly why he’d gotten himself an agency in the first place.It’ll probably be announced sometime this week or next, he thought.
Right now, the only thing occupying Do-Jin’s mind was the massive, server-wide World Event just around the corner, something that only appeared in LOST every now and then. Each one was large enough to affect the entire world of Lostania. With something that big, the rewards were always worth chasing, but the risks were just as real.
It was probably the most straightforward event in the game. Back then, no one really knew what they were doing, and players had a rough time figuring things out.
Do-Jin hadn’t experienced it firsthand, but he knew a fair bit about LOST’s very first World Event, the Tower of Trials. Players would be rewarded individually based on how far they made it up the floors. Depending on how far players collectively progressed, the entire server would get an experience boost.
On the surface, it looked like a generous event. It seemed like one of those limited-time giveaways that other MMOs ran where players would just log in, participate, and reap the benefits. However, LOST had never been that kind of game. If progress slowed down or stopped completely, the EXP bonus wouldn’t simply remain stagnant; it would start dropping. If that wasn’t bad enough, a server-wide debuff would kick in. Every single player would feel it, and it would make the game harder across the board.
Whoever was in charge at Möbius had to be completely fucked in the head. There was no other way to explain how they designed this kind of system and called it content.
As long as the tower kept being cleared at a steady pace, things were fine. Players enjoyed the bonus, gained levels, and the server ran smoothly. But if the progress slowed down, or worse, came to a halt, Regenians would start to lose their advantage as “Outsiders,” the only ones capable of standing against the disasters and destruction threatening Lostania.
The player would deal less damage to monsters, take harder hits in return, and earn fewer rewards for the effort. EXP and gold gains would drop, item drop rates would plummet, and the whole system would spiral into a frustrating loop of diminishing returns.
There’s something completely fucked about a game that punishes its players more during events than it does during actual combat.
Despite how it sounded, the penalties were relatively mild in this first event. Later on, things became so extreme that players stopped dreaming about rewards and started planning how to come out of the event with their inventories intact.
Do-Jin had been one of the perpetual losers. Every single time, all he ever walked away with was more debt, and it stacked up like clockwork. The memories of his miserable past life forced a dry laugh out of him. It was the kind of pathetic experience that felt a little different each time he remembered it. In a strange way, it reminded him just how lucky he was to be here again. The sharp, lingering taste of those memories made him appreciate this second chance even more.
Pushing the unpleasant feeling aside, Do-Jin focused on the present. This time, he was determined to come out on top.
“All the prep’s done.”
***
Since the launch of the game, Möbius had never once bothered communicating with the players in any form. Then, out of nowhere, they posted an announcement.
[The Star of Ruin grows brighter as its destined hour approaches. The power of fate strengthens, and inevitability will descend with a colder, sharper edge.]
[The Tower of Trials will open during the World Event period. With each floor conquered, the light of Laves, the Star of Ruin, dims. Climb the tower, defy fate, and seize the rewards that await.]
[If the Star’s light weakens, Regenians will be blessed by Bella. EXP gain will be increased, item drop rates will be increased, and overall stats will be boosted. All bonuses scale based on the World Event’s progress.]
[If the Star’s power grows stronger, Regenians will lose their strength to resist fate and suffer from Laves’ curse. EXP gain will be decreased, item drop rates will be decreased, damage dealt to monsters will be reduced, and damage taken from monsters will be increased. All penalties scale based on the World Event’s progress.]
[You may enter the Tower of Trials up to five times per day. An entry ticket will be provided daily, and additional tickets can be obtained by hunting World Monsters. You may enter via Solo Mode or Party Mode. In Party Mode, monster difficulty adjusts based on the number of participants.]
It was a notice announcing the arrival of a time when the Star of Ruin’s power would grow stronger, disaster would loom over Lostania, and the ones who were meant to stand against that disaster would grow weaker.
Unsurprisingly, the players’ reaction was intense.
└ First announcement in nine months since the game launched. What the fuck.
└ Finally, a real event. It’s about time they give newer players something to catch up with.
└ Give what? Bro, did you even read the notice? The penalties are insane compared to the rewards.
└ Why are you crying about penalties? You think they’re gonna make it too hard? They’ll balance the difficulty just fine, chill.
└ Lmao, that curse stuff’s just lore fluff. They probably threw it in for flavor, don’t be a pussy.
└ ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I blew all my paid leave last month and now they’re dropping an event?! Who the fuck planned this?!
The entire LOST community was in a frenzy, like it had been tossed onto a sizzling hot grill. MeTube was flooded with videos explaining every bit of info about the Tower of Trials. Streamers who focused on gaming content were scrambling to get their footage ready, each one racing to be the first to jump on the hype.
「We’re putting together a union of heavy spenders to take on the Tower of Trials. If any big-shot viewers out there want in, drop a post on my stream board.」
「As most of you probably know, I’m a former pro gamer. So this time, I’m reaching out to other ex-pros and building a serious team. Doesn’t matter which platform you’re from. Yeah, that’s right, I’m putting together a Dream Team.」
「I’m putting together an all-female streamer party to take on the Tower. We’re probably not gonna be the first to clear it, but we’re going to give it everything we’ve got and try to reach the top before the event ends.」
Across the board, people were announcing their race to be the first to clear the tower like it was some kind of competition. At the same time, Rael Entertainment was getting flooded with requests to bring Do-Jin on board.
Ju Kang-Hee let out a sigh as she stared down at the stack of reports in front of her. “Should I even be happy about this...?”
It wasn’t thick because there was a lot to report, but because there were just that many people trying to get in touch with Do-Jin. Kang-Hee rubbed her brow without thinking, already feeling the headache coming on.
Just then, the marketing team leader, who had come upstairs to report to her in person, began speaking overenthusiastically, “After the interview went up, we were worried the sudden event notice might shift all the attention away from him. But turns out we were worried for nothing. If anything, the hype has grown even stronger. People are dying to see what Do-Jin will pull off during this event. Our team thinks that if he joins forces with a well-known streamer and starts broadcasting live, the synergy would be massive.”
Right now, at Rael Entertainment, especially within the planning and marketing division, Do-Jin was being treated like a golden goose. Shaking him once had made the results come pouring out like a vending machine. There was no way they were going to let someone like that just sit around during a time like this.
The marketing team leader stared at his much younger boss with eyes practically burning a hole through her.
Kang-Hee was worn down by that intense stare and conceded, “Okay. We don’t have a lot of time to work with, so we’ll need a quick decision. Give me just a moment.”
As she reluctantly picked up her phone, the team leader watched with barely contained excitement.
This was as good as done. There was no way this would fall through, he thought, waiting with hopeful eyes while she kept the call short and to the point.
“I told his manager to text me as soon as they got an answer.”
“Yes, of course,” he replied automatically, still brimming with expectation.
A moment later, her phone buzzed with a notification. Naturally, his eyes snapped straight to it.
“He said no,” she informed him in a completely flat voice.
The marketing team leader blinked in disbelief. Do-Jin was turning down a golden opportunity without a second thought and hadn’t even bothered to show up for it.
“W-why? This is such a huge chance for him...”
“I don’t know. But if the creator himself said he doesn’t want to, there’s nothing we can do.”
“I-I’ll try to convince him.”
“I get it, but he’s made it pretty clear. Do-Jin said he has no plans to do any live streaming at this time. However, like before, there should be enough footage to work with, so let’s just focus on producing solid videos.”
“Understood.”
Even as he responded, the team leader couldn’t wrap his head around it. Up until now, the main appeal of Do-Jin’s channel had been the so-called “hidden content” that gave viewers an advantage if they found it before anyone else did. But for this particular event, that was not the case. All players would be starting on equal footing.
If they waited to produce a video after the fact, the general audience would have already experienced the World Event live through other streamers. It would be no different from airing footage of a festival that had already ended.
It just didn’t make any sense. No matter how he looked at it, he couldn’t understand why Do-Jin would throw away a chance like this. Also, it made even less sense that his boss was letting him walk away from it without pushing back.
***
A few days had passed since Do-Jin flat-out shut down the live stream offer. Finally, it was officially time for the World Event to begin.
[The Tower of Trials has appeared in Lostania.]
Players all over the server started burning through their entry tickets to take on the Tower.
The first floor was cleared with ease. The second floor went down just as quickly. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors followed without resistance, and the seventh fell not long after that. Each floor had clearly segmented difficulty tiers, increasing in increments of ten levels. For high-level players, their raw stats could simply bulldoze through the early content.
└ LMAO, we don’t even know how many floors there are, but at this rate, someone’s gonna clear the whole thing TODAY.
└ The top-tier players are just too stacked. It’s nuts.
└ We’re talking maxed levels, top-tier gear, and real skill. Of course they’re breezing through.
Viewers hanging out in the raid streams started showing signs of disappointment at how easy it all seemed, with no idea of what was to come.
「Judging by how the monsters have been scaling up since Floor 1, I’d say we’ll probably hit a wall around Floor 10. Anyway, we’re heading into the next one now.」
「We’re on Floor 8 now, right?」
「Yeah. If the pattern holds, this one should have Level 80 mobs. It could get dicey if we try to tank it face-first, so keep your eyes open.」
「Man, we’ve been farming tougher shit than that on the regular. What’s the worry? Alright, I’m opening the door.」
The five-member elite party from the guild Spear had been making the fastest progress out of all the streaming groups and had just entered Floor 8.
[Challenge Floors begin from Floor 8 onward in the Tower of Trials.]
[New penalties will be applied in Challenge Floors, and consumables are disabled.]
They barely had a chance to read the system messages before chaos ensued.
「Aaaaagh!!」
「What the fuck?! Why is it so fas—guhk!」
「It’s not fast! It’s just that we can’t see shit! There’s more than one, ggrrrkk...!」
「Lights! Cast the light spell, now!」
「Fuck, it’s not working! It’s not just dark, there’s some kind of weird bullshit sucking up all the light!」
「Shit, healer’s down! Healer’s down!」
The team of five was completely wiped out before any of them could put up a fight. All the viewers could see was pitch-black darkness, like their screens had been painted over in the darkest color possible.
It was already that dark before they died, so even after the party was wiped, the scene didn’t look much different. As one of the viewers stared into the murky void, they muttered something under their breath, which the VR chat system picked up and displayed as text.
[Fuck. I’m a dumbass for trusting those Möbius fuckers.]