Chapter 70 : Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Skylines Headquarters.
As is typical for a developer ahead of a large-scale patch, Skylines had also become one of the lighthouses of Pangyo.
Even though it was close to nine in the evening, the building was brightly lit.
But unlike the bright building, the employees' expressions were dead.
They were all handling their work like corpses with exhausted faces, or enduring by sipping coffee to wake themselves up.
And among them.
The marketing team, led by Team Leader Choi Ho-jun, was, literally, in a state of extreme emergency.
“What's posted? A comment? Reinhardt left a comment?”
“……Yes.”
Choi Ho-jun, who received the report from his team member, felt his head spin.
He had told them to refrain from sudden actions.
He had asked them not to cross the line, saying they would pass it off as a light-hearted incident.
“Did he answer?”
“No, not yet.”
“Good job. The reaction?”
“Everyone's in an uproar. Saying he suddenly stopped answering……”
“Let's go.”
Choi Ho-jun headed to his team member's desk.
He sat in the messy, uncleared seat and stared at the monitor.
ㄴReinhardt: Sir
It was just as the employee had said.
Reinhardt was trying to start a conversation.
The unwritten rule was broken.
The possessed individuals should never talk to each other.
Even if there was a post inducing conversation, they should never fall for it.
Why?
Because it would make things too complicated.
They were already carrying a considerable risk.
Weren't they openly exposing information about the expansion pack?
How much information to reveal and what to hide was being done according to a judgment made after thorough calculation.
The core parts should absolutely not be revealed, no matter what.
Right now, it had unintentionally drawn interest, but the moment everything was laid bare, the users' interest would plummet.
“How many people went home today?”
“Three.”
“So it’s one of those three?”
“They can write posts on their phones too.”
“Then it would show up as from a phone. This was written on a computer. Do I really have to report this to the police? Is this the result of me telling them not to make such a big deal out of it?”
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun scratched his head in annoyance.
He had already reported to the division head that it was all an intended situation.
He had long since packaged it as having assigned the task to one of the marketing team members and just making a bold bet.
But to request an investigation now?
Or to find the culprit through an internal investigation or something?
That would be the same as proving Team Leader Choi Ho-jun's own incompetence.
Not only had he failed to manage his team members, but he would also become a parasite who submitted false reports to cover up problems.
“This bastard……”
Choi Ho-jun felt the fatigue accumulated from several days of hard work wash away.
Anger takes precedence over any other emotion.
To the point where his body and mind entered a state of awakening, at least for a moment.
“Start contacting all the people who went home.”
“Yes. But Team Leader, couldn't it be someone who isn't on our team?”
“Not our personnel?”
“Yes. It could be another team. The development side would be more knowledgeable about the game's internal information.”
Swivel.
Choi Ho-jun turned his chair to look at his team member.
He opened his mouth slightly and narrowed his brow.
There was a possibility. The motive was just unclear.
“Not the marketing team?”
“Yes.”
“So they didn't want to advertise, but wanted to screw over the company?”
“That could be it. They could do it if they wanted to, right?”
“It's possible. It's a possible thing.”
It was certainly a reasonable point.
What [Reinhardt] was doing now was something anyone with access to the game could do.
An employee who participated in internal testing, or an employee who was directly in charge of development, or…….
“It's possible.”
“Yes.”
“It's possible. It's entirely possible. But why? For what reason? What are they aiming for?”
“That…… I'm not sure.”
“Leaving aside who it is, what benefit can they get from doing this? They must know they'll be caught the moment an investigation is requested, right?”
“Maybe they thought they could handle it up to this point.”
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun poked his chin with the tip of his pen.
He looked up at the ceiling, thought for a moment, and then nodded.
“The marketing side is running around with their feet on fire, and the advertising effect was pretty good. So they got more excited and are making things bigger, you say?”
“It's not certain.”
“The only certain thing about this whole affair is that that bastard has made me angry.”
But if so, there is room for damage control.
If it was an individual from another team acting on their own, not a marketing team member.
Then he might even be able to get a 'handled it pretty well' evaluation.
‘The problem is that the probability isn’t 100 percent.’
If it's not 100 percent, you shouldn't bet.
Especially if the price of failure is fatal.
Instead of being greedy, Team Leader Choi Ho-jun accepted the situation.
He cooled his emotions and drew out what he had to do as calmly as possible.
“Okay. Let's watch a little longer. He hasn't crossed the line yet.”
“You said it's okay to expose up to Chapter 1, right? The division head.”
“That's right. Up to Chapter 1. No matter which character you start with, just up to Chapter 1.”
[Reinhardt] was still within the line.
And if he was a thinking person.
If he was an office worker who knew that life is for real.
Then even if he acts mischievously, he would never cross the line…….
Thinking that, Team Leader Choi Ho-jun typed on the keyboard.
ㄴAslan: Yes
ㄴReinhardt: You're answering now. You're in the game too, right?
ㄴAslan: Yes
ㄴReinhardt: What exactly does an oracle from the Truma side mean? In the original work, it didn't seem to have much significance.
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun swallowed hard.
It was an ambiguous question.
It didn't cross the line, but it wasn't a setting that could be coolly laid bare in front of everyone.
‘What is an oracle, he asks.’
As Reinhardt said, it was a system with little meaning in the original work.
In the first place, Soul Calibur was a game where gods and demons were all dragged into the human world to fight.
They weren't human-form NPCs, but just as the demons did, various gods also actively intervened in the world.
Therefore, an ‘oracle’ was ultimately just advice that the gods gave to humans.
But not here.
ㄴAslan: I heard not just anyone can receive it. It's said to be given only to those who have earned the god's recognition.
ㄴReinhardt: So it's a fact that Truma spoke to you directly?
ㄴAslan: That's right.
Choi Ho-jun answered while biting his lip hard.
People were flocking.
Between the conversation of [Reinhardt] and [Aslan], dozens of comments were posted in succession, to the point of interrupting the flow.
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun ignored the other comments.
Focusing only on [Reinhardt], he prepared the best answer he could give at the moment.
ㄴReinhardt: This won't do, I should write a post first. A man named Bishop Dalton said he heard an oracle, you see?
ㄴAslan: Yes
ㄴReinhardt: But that oracle is a lie right now. Anyway, just wait a moment. I'll write a post and come back. You can ask me anything you're curious about too.
Clench.
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun clenched his fist.
It's on the edge.
Very, very much on the edge.
The moment they slipped up here, they would leak a very important system in front of everyone.
One of the systems related to the gods that penetrates the core of the game.
“……What did he say?”
“He said he's going to write a post and come back.”
Team Leader Choi and his team member waited for a moment.
Soon, [Reinhardt]'s serialized post was uploaded.
The content was a record of the Romain conquest.
Ganesha Edropin appeared, Bishop Dalton appeared, and the warlock of Morganes appeared.
Although it was a familiar flow, Team Leader Choi Ho-jun checked the content meticulously, picking apart each sentence.
And, he came to a conclusion.
“He's an insider, that's for sure.”
“Right?”
“Yeah.”
The guide was clean.
It was a guide that would be difficult to produce if one wasn't an insider.
In the first place, he had placed elements in various places that would be difficult for someone playing the game for the first time to think of.
“Or he really went into the game.”
Choi Ho-jun muttered with a dry laugh.
It was true that it was hard to grasp at a glance if it was a game, but if he really entered the world of the game, it was a different story.
There would be things there that couldn't be seen from beyond the monitor.
At the very least, even when talking to someone, there would be clues like their voice or expression.
Of course, it was nonsense.
Choi Ho-jun smiled bitterly and typed on the keyboard again.
This time, he was in the position of leaving a comment on [Reinhardt]'s post.
ㄴAslan: Bishop Dalton received an oracle, then.
ㄴReinhardt: That's right, isn't it?
ㄴAslan: And Truma claimed to have chosen you.
ㄴReinhardt: That's right. No matter how I look at it, it seems like he's lying to his own believer. Right?
ㄴAslan: In my opinion…….
What should he say here.
What was the way to play along with the other person while passing off the situation with appropriate information?
Team Leader Choi Ho-jun, who had been thinking, typed on the keyboard.
ㄴAslan: I think Truma has taken a liking to you. To the point of even lying like that. I've felt this since I came here, but it seems a little different from the original work. The attitude of the gods.
ㄴReinhardt: What do you mean their attitude is strange?
“Team Leader.”
“It's fine. It doesn't matter up to this point.”
A team member voiced his concern, but Team Leader Choi Ho-jun pushed on.
ㄴAslan: They don't seem to feel a sense of crisis. As if they don't know what will happen in the future.
***
Inside the Taton Knights' quarters.
Reinhardt, almost buried in the soft bed, was looking at the community screen with a silly grin.
“Wow, he's spilling the beans, isn't he?”
Reinhardt read [Aslan]'s comments carefully.
Although he had suddenly disappeared, saying he had to go pray, the information he had already provided was a great harvest for Reinhardt.
“So the mental state of the gods is different from the original work. There is no sense of crisis. In other words, they think that the demons will not be a great threat to them.”
He thought he knew what that meant.
So far, the demons were not a direct threat.
At best, only a few warlocks, who were their minions, were roaming around and messing up the world.
It was the same for Truma, Lubra, and Famia.
As the three major orders, they boasted an overwhelming influence, and they could mobilize fearsome holy warriors for battle with just a single oracle.
‘He was just making a pass at me.’
Reinhardt finally grasped Truma's true intention.
He had sent a love call.
Saying he liked him, and asking for his favor next time as well.
It was clear that the process of Reinhardt's conquest of Romain was quite interesting to him.
Because anthropomorphic gods like Truma had emotions similar to humans.
‘Then there's no particular reason for choosing Dalton either. He just used him to get a message to me. He's become a sort of walkie-talkie.’
Truma's intention was only that much, but with this incident, Bishop Dalton gained immense divine power.
The order would also consider it as 'proof of faith'.
It meant that he might soon earn the position of archbishop and rise even higher.
‘Though I have to assume he’ll continue to play the role of a walkie-talkie… anyway.’
There were more things to think about.
As he was staring blankly into the air, Reinhardt turned his gaze.
There was the sleeping Bitdori.
A spirit that had grown subtly larger than before, but was still loyal.
“Bitdori might evolve soon, too.”