novelraw Chapter 128: What is Happiness (6)
Chapter 128: What is Happiness (6)
Translator: Dreamscribe
The long-awaited company dinner finally concluded in a cheerful atmosphere. Since all FS Games employees were those who worked on the frontlines for Arsilan, they were treated with genuine hospitality. A few employees bragged about the event through the anonymous community platform, Blinder, and on social media, but Jinwoo just let them enjoy it.
[Title: I'm a new employee who joined this year, and the world's best is truly different.]
FS Games!*******
We had our first full company dinner yesterday.
The Creator God-nim is just on a different level of scale.
He rented out an entire high-end buffet that's trending these days, for a whole day. I want to upload photos, but this platform doesn’t support it.
He even took questions during the dinner. And not only did he remember everyone’s names, he also remembered all the little things we wrote in our resumes.
He even wrote us letters with our gifts.
Handwritten letters, no less. I checked, each one had different content and was clearly written personally.
I cried because I was so moved.
Have you ever seen a CEO like this?
I’m proud of myself for working so hard to get into FS Games.
[Ohsung Motors!.*******]
Welcome to the family! hyung. The folks here have gotten lazy lately, please come whip them back into shape!
└[Nasan Bank!.*******]
Who even are you? The Ohsung Motors guys have always acted cocky, but why don’t they try that with FS Games?
└[Ohsung Motors!.*******]
Money-grubber, hㅇ. Why are you barking at the big brother of the family? Are you stupid?
[NFSoft!.*******]
I'm jealous.
└[Ohsung Motors!.*******]
Shut it! You damn pachinko bastard. Who let you crawl in here? Get lost!
└[NFSoft!.*******]
You fucking bastard! I just said I’m jealous
└[Ohsung Motors!.*******]
Gambling scum dares to talk back?
[Prusoft!.*******]
May I even dare to leave a comment?
└[Ohsung Motors!.*******]
Now here’s a polite kid. Approved.
[GN!.*******]
FS Games is old news. We’ll do better now.
└[Prusoft!.*******]
Didn’t you say you were pulling out of the Korean market? Get lost.
└[GN!.*******]
Something big is coming. Look forward to it. Our chairman is going out to take down FS Games.
FS Games, now considered the best company in the world, was practically being worshipped on Blinder, the anonymous platform for office workers, to the extent that it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say FS Games was holding up the Korean economy. However, FS Games employees only posted ordinary comments and avoided stirring up drama. If they caused trouble and got fired, they knew they’d lose everything they had.
Jinwoo arrived at FS Games.
Perhaps because of the impact from the company dinner, every employee was working harder than usual. Efficiency had increased so much that the update originally planned for this month could now be released this week. Since tomorrow was the “Sealing Day”, it seemed like a good time to go ahead with the update this week.
Han Yong-seon burst into the CEO’s office in a hurry. His face was full of worry.
“CEO-nim! Have you heard the news? GN is announcing a game along with a VR device tomorrow.”
“I see. A bit earlier than expected.”
“You knew about this? Could it be that the Research Lab's technology was leaked?”
Jinwoo smiled slightly at Han Yong-seon’s anxious words.
“What time is the showcase?”
“Tomorrow at 2 PM.”
“Is that so? Sounds fun. Let’s watch it together.”
It was a surprise announcement.
Doing it on Sealing Day also seemed intentional. However, seeing Jinwoo’s calm demeanor made Han Yong-seon’s worries disappear completely.
“Ah! Also, let’s move all our schedules forward too.”
“Understood!”
After Han Yong-seon stepped back, Jinwoo logged into Arsilan Worlds. The competition for the Best ranking in Arsilan Worlds had become more intense than before. That was because the Arsilans had started leaving comments.
The GN topic was also heating up in Arsilan Worlds.
‘A new virtual reality game?’
‘Wasn’t GN the company that pulled out of Korea recently?’
‘Weren’t they the ones who wanted to service Arsilan Saga in their own country and asked for a tech transfer? Then they said they’d make an entirely new version and got shut down.’
‘Even the news is blowing up about it right now.’
GN’s headquarters was located in a country where Arsilan Saga was not serviced. GN had tried to contact FS Games through various channels, but Jinwoo simply ignored them.
GN was a company backed by its government, and it had amassed a large amount of capital.
Famous developers also lined up to transfer to GN, and there was even a major game company that cut off its platform contract with FS Games entirely and went over to GN. Rumor had it that Evan Murkins, who had been making headlines recently, had also moved to GN.
[The world’s greatest virtual reality game is coming! Enough with the boring and childish stuff! D-1, your world will be transformed!]
- GN -
GN uploaded a cryptic trailer on YouTube. The trailer consisted of nothing more than such a phrase, no video, no footage. The comments, possibly manipulated, were full of posts belittling FS Games.
Keeping in step with that, GN promoted their product as having a level of polish that surpassed Arsilan Saga and stirred up all kinds of controversy.
Jinwoo let out a dry laugh and shook his head lightly.
‘I was only trying to gather information at first…’
Soul Link was currently being produced in several overseas factories. The volume of leaked Soul Chips alone was enormous. There were even incidents where special forces units were mobilized to steal entire transport trucks.
Jinwoo had placed traps inside the Soul Chips with the intention of taking them all down in one sweep, and allowed a degree of control over them. At the same time, he collected every piece of technology and data being attempted on the Soul Chips.
When GN began pouring their latest technology and capital into it, Jinwoo decided to let them implement things exactly as they intended, using the Magic Tower for reference.
Once incomprehensible technology was realized, astronomical amounts of capital were invested, enough to affect national economies. Massive plots of land were filled with the most expensive, state-of-the-art facilities, and even top-secret intel was mobilized.
‘I deliberately guided them to design it in a complex way, but I didn’t think they’d pour this much money into it.’
The Soul Chips that GN believed they had developed on their own were actually things Jinwoo had allowed to be completed from the beginning. Without support from the Magic Tower, they would have never been able to access Arsilan.
The only area they could access was the site of the final battleground, and Jinwoo made them believe they had created that space themselves.
Deceiving others was his specialty!
Jinwoo stored all of GN’s information in the Magic Tower.
After leaving them alone for a while, the developers who had gathered at GN managed to create some things that looked quite interesting. And now, they were finally about to present them tomorrow.
Jinwoo headed into Arsilan.
The place used for the final battleground had a barrier placed over it, and the previously empty space was now packed full.
“Not bad. Pretty skilled.”
The designs of the buildings and items were quite elegant. There were plenty of things worth referencing. Unfortunately, they were no longer GN’s content. Now that they were in Arsilan, they belonged to Arsilan.
“I should include these in the next content update.”
Wow! Amazingly, content had been auto-generated!
Jinwoo devoured everything in front of him.
“The Heroes will love this.”
Jinwoo smiled in satisfaction.
* * *
Sealing Day.
As Sealing Day arrived, SockThief lost all energy. She sat in her spacious room and let out a deep sigh. After scratching her disheveled hair, she walked into the living room and sat on the sofa. The living room was filled with trophies, from rookie awards to honors received at international film festivals.
She checked her messages.
[Eun-seo! FS Games finally approved the film production. They’re casting actors right now….]
After the 2nd anniversary event, film production within Arsilan Saga had been officially approved. Many insiders described it as a revolution in the film industry.
By collaborating with FS Games, production costs could be drastically reduced, and various techniques that were impossible in reality could be employed through the many apps within Soul Link.
She lowered her smartphone.
Lee Eun-seo.
Once known as the nation’s little sister, she was now an actress receiving critical acclaim for her acting.
But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about such trivial matters.
Today, GN was livestreaming a showcase of their virtual reality game. It was attracting so much attention that even the renowned Heroes were buzzing.
GN had already secured massive investment and was reportedly preparing to crush FS Games.
Lee Eun-seo entered Haebyul’s stream.
Normally, Haebyul would take a break on Sealing Day, but today she had gone live to watch the showcase with many Heroes.
-Haebyul, FS Games just posted pictures on Arsilan Worlds. Go check it out.
[Oh? Really?]
When Haebyul entered Arsilan Worlds, she found the newly uploaded photos from FS Games.
There were several pictures.
All FS Games employees were gathered in the company’s theater, wearing glasses no one had seen before. They were holding popcorn, and on the giant screen was the GN logo.
[They’re enjoying it.]
-ㅋㅋ the vibe is hilarious
-Why does this feel so cheerful? lol
-Just enjoy it first!
-Their way of watching is just on another level.
All FS Games employees looked genuinely joyful. They didn’t even consider GN to be a competitor from the start.
“Pfft!”
As Haebyul burst into laughter, Lee Eun-seo couldn’t hold back her own laughter either.
After a short wait, GN’s showcase began. As a middle-aged man in a suit walked onto the stage, applause broke out. The camera briefly panned to the audience, revealing a large crowd present at the venue.
GN’s chairman personally took the stage and led the showcase. He imitated Lee Jinwoo’s showcase style, speaking with a confident air.
With his bulging belly and oily face, he wasn’t exactly pleasant to look at.
[At GN, we completed research on the human brain long ago and have been working to apply it in various fields. From minor brain disorders to dementia. We will conquer them soon.]
A chart comparing FS Games’ business and GN’s business appeared on screen.
[Please understand that game development has been somewhat delayed due to our commitment to advancing various beneficial fields for society. GN's technology is the best in the world, and we want to inform you that our development was completed ahead of other companies.]
The GN chairman continued to make baseless claims.
[I won’t try to mesmerize you with fancy videos. Let me introduce it directly! This is the Star Connector!]
Staff members brought elegant-looking boxes onto the stage. The boxes were distributed to everyone in the audience.
[With this Star Connector, you can travel to the world of “Crimson Moon”, where dark conspiracies lie in wait. Crimson Moon is not childish like some games. It’s a dark world made just for you! Everything you’ve imagined can be experienced in Crimson Moon!]
As the GN chairman made his announcement, he even teared up. He looked like a man unveiling a success achieved after many hardships.
Haebyul slammed her desk in anger.
A sound like a shotgun blast echoed through the stream.
[Wow! He’s really talking shit.]
-Did he just insult Arsilan Saga?
-He’s been picking a fight from the start.
-So damn cocky.
“That asshole…”
Even Lee Eun-seo couldn’t help but curse. A chilling glint flickered in her eyes.
Wiping away his tears, the GN chairman held the box containing the Star Connector in his hands and spread his arms wide, acting like he had become the Creator God.
[We currently have 40 million units of the Star Connector in stock. We aim to reach 100 million units by the end of this year, so don’t worry. We’re not some back-alley store that took two years to crawl to market.]
The GN chairman smiled slightly.
[Now, let’s connect together with everyone here at the venue. For those watching online, we will stream the experience separately.]
Woooaaaah!
The audience reaction was explosive.
A thunderous cheer echoed throughout the indoor venue.
As the GN chairman gestured toward the audience, they excitedly opened the boxes containing their Star Connectors.
Majestic music played as the camera zoomed in on the crowd.
[Huh?]
[What is this?]
[Hmm?]
The audience looked confused as they peered into their boxes at the Star Connectors.
The devices looked like toy glasses meant for children. Instead of lenses, there were red and blue semi-transparent sheets, like old-school 3D glasses. The frame was made of cheap yellow plastic.
As soon as the audience lifted the Star Connectors, the frames snapped.
[What the hell! This is...]
[Is this some kind of joke?]
[What the hell is going on here?]
The audience grew restless, and the investors began to show anger.
[No! There must be some mistake! Look at this...]
The GN chairman, flustered, opened one of the boxes himself.
That, too, only contained a pair of toy glasses.
[T-This can’t be!]
The GN chairman rushed off stage and began rummaging frantically through the boxes containing the Star Connectors. Eventually, he found a real one and climbed back onto the stage.
[Look closely! T-This is the real Star Connector. If I connect with it, the footage will display onscreen! Now! Crimson Moon is waiting for you all!]
The GN chairman put on the Star Connector.
[Uwaaaaagh!]
Crackle!
Sparks flew from the Star Connector, and smoke surged into the air. The GN chairman, electrocuted, began trembling violently and wet himself on the spot. All the hair on his head was completely burned off.
With the audience’s screams, the broadcast was abruptly cut off.
[Uh…]
-What did I just watch?
-Is this a movie?
-What…?
Haebyul and the viewers were speechless for a moment.
Lee Eun-seo was no different.
[…Everyone. That was nothing special. I’ll go get some sleep now! I’ve got a ton of backlogged quests to clear starting tomorrow!]
-Nothing… happened!
-Gotta get a good rest on Sealing Day.
-Could this, too, be an event granted by the Creator God-nim?
After Haebyul ended the stream, Lee Eun-seo checked the news. During Sealing Day, breaking news continued to roll in.
‘GN’s Star Connector confirmed to be fake.’
‘GN suspected of investment fraud!’
‘GN makes ridiculous claims, saying this is all FS Games’ conspiracy…’
The world had erupted into chaos.
The video of GN’s showcase was quickly uploaded to Arsilan Worlds. Lee Eun-seo rewatched the footage several times before nodding.
“This company’s staging is pretty entertaining.”
The GN chairman had at least done a good job mimicking the production!
After working out and checking her nutrition levels, Lee Eun-seo powered through all her backlogged tasks at once. She didn’t need to sleep. Once she stayed up through the night, she could just log into Arsilan Saga.
“Ugh!”
Having finished everything, Lee Eun-seo stretched and put on her Soul Link. Like every Hero, she accessed Arsilan Worlds to check the update notice. It was about time for the update notice to go up.
“Huh?”
Instead of the usual update notice, a video had been uploaded first.
She pressed play.
The image of Han Yong-seon, the Director of Salvation Headquarters, appeared.
[Hello, Hero! I’m Han Yong-seon, Director of Salvation Headquarters. Did you have a restful Sealing Day? Episode 3 has already reached its halfway point.]
To Heroes, Han Yong-seon was a familiar face.
While major events like episode announcements or the 2nd anniversary were handled by Lee Jinwoo himself, smaller broadcasts and day-to-day updates were always managed by Han Yong-seon.
[I’m recording this video to show you the current state of FS Games and introduce a new product.]
Han Yong-seon pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on.
[This is the Soul Glass. Shall we take a look?]
The frame was slightly thick, but the design was good enough to pass as stylish fashion glasses.
[If you’re watching through Soul Link, you’ll now be able to see from my point of view.]
When Lee Eun-seo switched her screen, the view shifted to Han Yong-seon’s perspective.
“Wow, what is this.”
Various types of information floated into view, from the weather, to important Arsilan Worlds posts, and even multiple work emails.
[This is the Art Team. They’re currently creating monsters for Episode 3. Let me show you a quick preview.]
The Art Team was designing various monsters. It looked like actual monsters from Arsilan Worlds were standing in the studio. Team members wearing gloves carefully brushed every strand of monster fur with great care.
[This part looks a bit off.]
As soon as Han Yong-seon said that, the feedback was instantly typed and delivered to the Art Team.
[Director! Could you check this real quick?]
[Understood.]
A large file was immediately transmitted to his Soul Glass. With a single hand gesture, holographic work materials floated all around him. As they overlapped with real-world visuals, it felt as if he were actually inside Arsilan.
Han Yong-seon went on to showcase various spaces.
[This is the staff gym.]
Employees were seen working out.
Through Soul Glass, they could enjoy reality quests more vividly. Their body condition appeared, and ongoing quests appeared next to it. They could even chat in real-time with heroes in Arsilan and share screens.
It was a completely different level of technology, something GN couldn’t even begin to imitate.
[If you have a HoloBox, you can sync it with Soul Glass to view all holographic videos from Arsilan Worlds. However, due to the massive data size, you’ll need to use Arsilan’s telecom provider.]
Holographic videos of the Great War's highlight, the Final Battleground, and more began to play. When the video ended, the price and release date of the Soul Glass appeared.
[Now, let’s watch the update video together.]
Lee Eun-seo was startled.
‘Update? Already?’
The screen darkened, and the video began to play.
The Final Battleground appeared.
Seeing the Arsilans and Heroes of the past standing together, Lee Eun-seo smiled faintly. She had also fought in that battle. It was a battleground that ended in their glorious victory. The final scene showing Leon and Hanu was still heating up Arsilan Worlds.
[The brilliant past....]
The scene went further back in time, showing the radiant old landscapes of Arsilan. It resembled the Empire of Evil, but the people were beautiful, and the nobles had dignity.
But Erosion crept in, as if seeping through.
A greedy-looking noble gave a sinister smile and summoned the innocent domain residents. Soldiers bound them up, and the terrified residents begged for mercy, but the noble didn’t even pretend to listen.
The sky turned black and split open.
[I offer everything! Grant me immortality and wealth!]
The noble welcomed the Erosion, offering up his domain and all its people to the massive corruption that poured forth.
[Kyaaaaah!]
[Uaaaagh!]
The residents screamed in agony as they were swallowed by Erosion. Beastkin, Elves, and Dwarves of Arsilan were all horrifically devoured, entering into an unending torment. Soldiers became Mummy Soldiers, and the domain residents became slaves.
The statue of Ella that stood in the domain watched it all and shed tears.
[Heh, hehehehehe!]
The noble laughed maniacally, overwhelmed with joy.
His body transformed, taking the form of a noble seen in the Empire of Evil. Time returned to the present, and his current appearance overlapped. The noble who had sacrificed his domain and its people was now indulging in fine food and luxury.
Lee Eun-seo realized something.
The Empire of Evil was filled with traitors like that.
The screen returned to Arsilan, showing Leon gazing at Hanu’s Sea. Leon took a photo from his pocket, a picture taken with his parents during childhood. Hanu was also in it.
Leon let out a deep breath and dipped his hand into Hanu’s Sea.
The past could not be changed. But if those who had tainted the past with pain were still alive, then they had to pay the price.
Those who sold out their people, who built blood altars by slaughtering tens of thousands, and who handed over an entire nation.
Ella had watched it all through her statue, from the moment Arsilan began being devoured by Erosion until now.
Leon’s Holy Sword shone, and Ella’s statue radiated with golden light. A pillar of light descended, and Aren appeared beside the statue.
[Heroes! Cast the wicked into hell with the power of light!]
Information about the traitors appeared in front of the goddess statue.
[The many traitors who sold out Arsilan will come to fear you!]
In that moment, Lee Eun-seo felt a shiver run down her spine.
[Deliver divine punishment!]
Her heart pounded wildly.
She immediately contacted her agency.
Lee Eun-seo: I’ll be taking a break for now.
Even as messages flooded in, Lee Eun-seo ignored them and logged into Arsilan Saga the moment the server opened.
[Lv.90] SockThief
Title: [-] Criminal
Race: Human
Class: Phantom Thief (2nd Hidden)
[Special Notes]
Wearing Criminal Sticker, Honor -99,900, Tia’s Affinity -40, Heina’s Affinity -20, Arsilan Contribution Points 0 (Penalty Active), Solis Entry Banned (7 days), Solis, Marogo, and Evanth Quests Banned (99 days)...
[You have received a warning from King Leon of Sillion!]
[You have received a second warning from King Leon of Sillion!]
[Upon receiving a third warning, a bounty will be issued, and you will be imprisoned in a detention facility!]
As always, her Status Window was dazzling.
“I’m going to steal the traitors’ hearts!”
Lee Eun-seo no, SockThief, was planning to steal hearts this time instead of socks.
*****
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