novelraw Chapter 135 : The Demon Wears Purple (2)
Chapter 135 : The Demon Wears Purple (2)
The Demon Wears Purple (2)
Late evening.
The webzine MetaGamer provided various game communities. And those communities were not just for capsule and mobile games.
There were also community boards for PC and console games, which had been mainstream before the advent of capsules and now belonged to what is called "classic games."
One of these was the Demon Must Cry community, "Demerk Meta."
[We should be grateful this board is even still up, lol]
[Wow, everyone's left here now ㅠㅠ]
[I'm back after a while, haha. I'm getting married]
[Three months between new posts, huh]
As virtual reality became the mainstream, the number of community users naturally plummeted.
The gap between recent and previous posts was counted in "months," not days, and most of the former core users grew older and started families.
Everyone thought it was a place destined to be forgotten.
[Demerk revival! Demerk revival!]
[Dang, lol, can't believe this place is still alive]
[Wow, haha, all the strategy vids and screenshots are still up]
[I'm back to binge-read the story, haha]
[The community is coming back to life!]
Suddenly, posts began flooding in. The news revealed on V-STAR had summoned those with fond memories of the past.
And it wasn't just console gamers who showed up.
[Is Demerk that freaking awesome?]
[Lol, there's a board like this?]
[Wth, it's a total old dude gathering, lol]
[Haha! Here comes the fresh blood!]
[Boohoo! I'm a baby Deboong! Give me a story summary!]
Gamers who had only ever played virtual reality games began flocking in for information.
Old and new users coexisted, and thanks to that, the time between board posts changed from "months" to "minutes."
Eventually, a post from the admin appeared bolded as a notice.
[All baby Deboongs must read!]
[Wow... I can't remember the last time there were this many people here.
First off, I'm the admin here.
Not that it means much—I only drop by about once a month to delete trash viral ads because real life chews me up. Don't expect me to act special, lol.
Anyway, I'm quite moved, and I want to reminisce and tell old stories, hahaha.
But I know all that'll get me is people yelling, '-boomer-,' so I'll pass.
What the newbies probably want most is the console version story.
Honestly, the best thing would be to play through the series yourself, but it's five games, so that's tough time-wise.
Plus, getting a console right now isn't easy, lol.
I posted a story summary as a notice in the strategy board.
The returning Deboongs should go there and binge too, haha.
Of course, I'm going to do it as well, lol.
And about the new title teasers, I can't explain anything right now, lol.
CAP COMPANY didn't reveal anything, seriously.
Everything in the teaser video is just stuff from the protagonist, durante.
That's literally all there is, lol.
Old users aren't gatekeeping newbies; nobody actually knows anything, lol.
So there's only one thing both old and new Deboongs should do—
What's that?
Binge the story and wait for Purple's broadcast, ok?
Three-line summary for Deboongs who scrolled down:
1. Console game stories are in the strategy board
2. Nobody knows anything about the new title
3. Shut up and wait for Purple's broadcast
Oh, and since there are more people now, any attempts at cliquey behavior get you insta-banned ^^]
[-Let us begin our admin praise!]
[No, but for real—great summary]
[This is why they always say experience matters]
[Lol, sounds like the kind of know-how you get from a job]
[We've all really become old dudes, haven't we, lol]
[Ah, lol, this is another viral ad, isn't it]
[What are you talking about?]
[The story video posted as a notice in the strategy board is from the admin, lol]
[Nuts, lol, what kind of abuse of power is this, lolol]
[Not deleting the viral ad? Admin's not doing his job, lol]
[Caught red-handed immediately, lol]
[So when's Purple's broadcast!?]
[They didn't answer directly on the MetaGam stream, so I'm worried]
[No way—Godple will definitely do it, totally for sure!]
[Hey, don't jinx it with your bad vibes, seriously]
[Can we not feed the trolls, lol]
With the admin's notice, the flurry of posts slowed. Obviously, most newbies had gone to watch the story videos.
Meanwhile, remaining old-timers discussed other things.
[What do you think the new title's going to be?]
[CAP COMPANY is really making people lose their minds, srsly, lol.
Like; can't they at least tell us if it's a remaster, reboot, or sequel?]
Speculation on the next title.
Opinions largely broke into three camps.
[-I'm thinking it'll be a remaster this time.]
[Yeah, lol, I think so too.]
[That makes sense—catches both newbies and old-timers.]
[Just remastering it in virtual reality would make all the Deboongs lose their minds.]
[Honestly, it's still fun even if you know the story, haha.]
A "remaster" version, porting the original console version to capsules.
[-But seriously, a remaster would be a step too far, lol.]
[If CAP COMPANY has any conscience, they'll do a reboot, seriously.]
[Didn't the original console devs already retire?]
[Console controls and VR are totally different, so a reboot's the way to go.]
A "reboot" version, preserving the series' core but starting with a new story.
[-Come on, lol, Bark already set the example, so why even ask?]
[Yeah, didn't you see Ryan Kim in Bark's true ending?]
[You mean you don't follow the Purple channel?]
[Since when did this become a foreigner community?]
[Foreign community, lmao]
[Just because there are no numbers doesn't mean it's not a sequel; continuing the story is the best.]
[CAP COMPANY: Yup, you got it.]
A "sequel" version, continuing the story after the previous titles, like the earlier Bio Crisis entries.
As these three camps debated, anticipation only grew. The end result of the discussion was clear.
[Can't wait to see Godple's broadcast!]
[Holding my breath until the reveal stream!]
[Breaking news: mysterious cases of asphyxiation; Disease Control Center advises "Just breathe, for now."]
In the end, everyone agreed: All they could do was wait for "Purple's" stream.
While all that speculation, anticipation, and excitement simmered, new news arrived.
[MetaGam official news is up!]
[Opening the portal right away, lol
〈The Devil Wears 'Purple'〉
Check out that headline, lol]
Posts went up saying MetaGamer had published an official article.
[-WTF, they put Purple in the headline instead of Demerk, lol]
[-They're totally trying to cash in on Purple Coin, huh?]
[-Wise move, I guess]
[-Eh, it's not much different content-wise from the V-STAR stream]
[-What about news of the contract?]
[-Ehh! Godple! Please just do the homework!]
[-I believe in Godple! Godple will handle it all!]
[-Purplelelujah! Purplelelujah!]
Though a news article had been published, it only made people more anxious. And perhaps due to the article's influence, live users on the community swelled even more.
[Real-time meta community rankings]
[1. Mystic League]
[2. Gunner Ground]
[3. Demon Must Cry]
...
As proof, the community board ranking shot up in an instant. For a console game community to crack the top five was highly unusual.
Amazingly, the momentum was only increasing.
[Crazy, lol, we've got overseas reactions!]
Not long after MetaGamer's article went up, a new post appeared.
Everyone clicked on it immediately.
[A foreign webzine posted the MetaGam article pretty much as-is, lol.
Seriously, looks like CAP COMPANY gave them an exclusive scoop?
I left the main content as-is, but I screenshot and translated some funny comments, lol.
(Demon Must Cry's coming back? Most amazing news of my life!)
(That headline makes no sense. Why is 'Purple' there? The main Demerk color is red!)
(lolol, 'Purple' is a mistranslation. It's actually 'PerfectPlay'.)
('PerfectPlay' is a streamer name? Who the heck is that?)
(Do you live under a rock? You don't know 'PerfectPlay'? He's a god-tier player!)
(Seriously, if you don't know him, you're not a gamer. He utterly trashed Eclipse in EldenSoul and cleared Bark no-damage and without a rocket launcher. Get outta here, you fake gamers.)
(lolol THAT'S RIGHT. Dude's legit, can't argue.)
That's all from the Anglosphere, and below are some reactions from the Japanese side, lol.
〈バカな！これを韓国人に任せるの?〉
(You must be idiots! You're letting a Korean handle this?)
〈あの会社は馬鹿たちしかいないのか?〉
(Is that company full of idiots or something?)
〈バカは韓国さえ見えれば怒る君たちなんだwww〉
(The only idiots are you guys, getting mad just because it's Korean, haha)
〈極右猿たちは、どうか部屋の外に出てきて。〉
(Far-right monkeys, please try leaving your rooms for once.)
〈ああ、また弟に韓国語通訳を頼まなければならないね。〉
(Oh no, now I'll have to ask my little brother to translate the Korean again.)
〈おいおい, エルドンソウルに続き歴史を書くつもりか。〉
(Seriously, are you trying to make history right after EldenSoul?)
Comment sections are blowing up in real time everywhere, lol.
Any Deboongs who know foreign languages ought to go take a look, hahaha.
Seriously, it's a goldmine, lol.]
[-No way, lol, can't believe they translated Purple like that, lol]
[-What kind of brain-dead translation is this?]
[-I guess game webzines have hacks too, huh]
['PerfectPlay' is right there in the article, how could they not know?]
[It's a universal thing to only read headlines, lol]
[Wow, foreigners getting scolded for not knowing Godple—amazing!]
[Stop the hidden camera prank!]
[This is a national prestige boost, right here]
[I feel grandeur swelling inside me, lol]
[Is this the power of culture?]
[Even the richest countries can't compete if they don't have Purple, lol]
[Purple-having nations, lolol]
[Don't you wish your country had Godple? Jealous, right?]
[Meanwhile, Japanese far-right getting roasted by their own people, lol]
[Ridiculed out of existence immediately, lol]
[Forget the Korean Wave! We have the Purple Wave!]
People were visibly delighted by overseas reactions. Not everyone was entirely happy, though.
[-But seriously, won't this make the broadcast kind of a problem?]
[What do you mean now?]
[Those foreigners are all waiting on Godple's broadcast too, haha]
[Which means when the broadcast goes live, chat is guaranteed to be pure chaos, right?]
[Yeah, it's going to be nuts, for sure]
[Aaagh...]
It was a given that foreigners would flock in once the public broadcast began. Purple's stream would be completely different from before.
[-Well, nothing you can do about that, lol]
[But still... Godple is way too epic to stay confined to Korea, right?]
[Yeah, if Godple were a foreigner, we'd never get to see him live on stream]
[So yeah, I'm just grateful]
[???: Always be thankful]
[Heh, just focus on cheering for and supporting Godple]
Even if the stream changed, there was no choice but to accept it. The regret was there, but everyone agreed.
* * *
The next day.
CAP COMPANY KOREA headquarters.
Lee Gyeongbok and Park Juho had come here for the contract signing.
"That guy really didn't get any sleep after all, did he?"
"Exactly."
"I told him to just hire an assistant editor, but he never listens."
The two talked as they remembered their friend Choi Byeonghun, who couldn't be there with them.
Unlike previous streams, the V-STAR tour stream had been notably long, so editing took much longer.
As a result, he was still engrossed in editing even at that moment.
"This way, please."
The two were welcomed and escorted to the conference room. As they entered, three people waiting inside bowed deeply.
"Purple-nim, hello!"
"Welcome!"
"Thank you for coming."
One was the male staff member they'd seen at the game show, and another was a female staff member.
Among them stood a middle-aged man who looked to hold the highest position.
Lee Gyeongbok greeted them back and turned to the female staffer.
"Oh, weren't you here for the first contract...?"
"You remember!"
A look of genuine emotion appeared on her face at his words.
She was the staff member who had visited for the first Bio Crisis advertisement contract.
"First times always feel special, I suppose."
"Ah...! Every single thing you say is just perfect."
"Seriously, I'm supposed to stay professional here."
Park Juho hid a wry chuckle at the scene.
'Is this a business meeting or a fan meeting...?'
The jovial mood was fine, but he kept his focus. No matter how warm things got, the contract itself was what mattered.
Soon the presentation about the upcoming public broadcast began. After hearing the details, Lee Gyeongbok glanced at his friend.
'Just as expected.'
'Yeah.'
Before arriving, Park Juho had predicted what conditions the company would ask for, and the actual request fell within that range.
'Now the important thing is the amount.'
He quickly reviewed the numbers in his head as the holographic contract display slid over.
He'd already prepared an appropriate fee for these requirements. The mental checklist came to mind.
'At the very least, we can demand 20 million won.'
Twenty million won.
That was the average advertisement price for a 1-million-subscriber Q-tuber.
'With the current situation, we could go 3 million higher without trouble.'
The Purple channel had 700,000 subscribers, meaning 15 million won was standard. Park Juho decided they should get at least 5 million more.
As needed, he would try negotiating with 20 million as the lowest limit.
"Now comes the most important part."
The middle-aged man laughed gently. Park Juho braced himself and listened.
But instead of contract documents, what appeared in the hologram were charts and graphs.
As the two looked puzzled, the man smiled.
"Normally, we wouldn't disclose our internal analysis metrics, but we'd like to walk through them with you to avoid any misunderstandings, Purple-nim."
"Internal metrics?"
"Yes, will you take a look at this graph first?"
The male staffer responded in his place and expanded the graph.
[PerfectPlay Q-tube channel trend analysis]
The graph title appeared as it grew larger.
"On the first day of the stream, the Purple channel hit 100,000 in one day. That's an unprecedented record."
The graph was remarkable from the outset.
Its slope was almost vertical.
"After that, you maintained steady growth, and every time there was an issue, your subscriber numbers skyrocketed."
The graph charted a rising line with occasional volcanic peaks.
"Even just this alone is astonishing, but..."
The staff manipulated his Smart Link, and more graphs started appearing.
"We judged that a more multi-faceted analysis was needed."
What they analyzed wasn't just the subscriber count alone.
***
**New Names, locations, skills/Techniques List**