Chapter 20
The reason Movie Soft chose to develop this make-or-break title in Korea instead of at the headquarters that had produced the existing series was because of Eve Fimo.
He was a famous game developer scouted from outside as the company, failing to adapt to the capsule era, was walking the path of decline.
Taking the positions of CCO and president of the Korean branch, he made the bold decision to come directly to Korea—a country that had only been doing localization—and develop here, based on the fact that Korea had the world’s highest capsule penetration rate and consumers sensitive to trends.
There were many murmurs from the start, but as work progressed he became certain of this series’ success, and was even preparing a follow-up title for expansion.
And with the success of *Shadow in the City* confirmed on its first day of release, the next project kicked off at lightning speed.
A literal smooth road was unfolding before them.
But there was one problem.
Namely, that the picture he was painting was in danger of getting warped from the very beginning.
All because of a single streamer.
Called to the president’s office early that morning, Kim Yunchan cautiously opened his mouth.
“That’s why I said I had a bad feeling about this…”
“Shut it. Now explain. Why has Weakness Detection already been unlocked!”
Eve Fimo was—
“Hahaha. Right? I didn’t know I’d be read, either.”
Kim Yunchan gave a bright smile, and Eve Fimo felt a spark of curiosity.
“Read? What do you mean by that?”
“Boss. We set the period for users to unlock Weakness Detection at one month minimum, right?”
“Honestly, it wouldn’t be strange even if it took half a year. How easy is it to happen to touch a grain line so your weapon is destroyed, and have that recorded and shared with people?”
“Exactly. Even if someone took the lead and tried to find the grain lines, really, at the very, very least, it would take a month.”
“And on top of that, our game has so much else to do that people won’t invest time in Weakness Detection.”
Eve Fimo took pride in the assassination system he had created for *Shadow in the City*.
“That too. With so many other things to do, who would, with nothing better to do, go looking for the grain lines that destroy weapons? Especially when you have to rely on luck.”
It was content that only hardcore veterans—those who’d cleared all challenges and would get a thorn in their mouths if there was something in the game they hadn’t tried—would aim for.
Indeed, *Musou* and the grain lines were designed precisely for them.
“Right. So why was Weakness Detection unlocked just one week after release?”
The unlock of Weakness Detection itself wasn’t the problem.
The problem was that obtaining Weakness Detection would allow one to pierce the heavy armor of Richard Neville, one of the rulers, and take him down with Musou.
The reason lay in the *Fragment of Order* dropped when a ruler was defeated with Musou.
They had hidden Easter eggs for the next title here and there, and the Fragment of Order was one of them.
A short quest connected to the next title, progressing when all fragments were gathered.
And releasing a teaser video at just the right time to draw attention and reignite interest.
That was his plan for natural yet effective marketing of the next title.
The problem was that a possibility had opened where all the Fragments of Order could be collected before the teaser video was even ready.
“Well, the reason it was unlocked, as I just said, is because I was read.”
Eve Fimo barely restrained the urge to smack the nonchalantly beaming Kim Yunchan.
“Stop beating around the bush and explain properly.”
“Yessir.”
Kim Yunchan sent a clip to Eve Fimo.
It was footage from a joint stream with Alpaca.
“Hmm? That’s neat.”
“Right? This was discovered by someone else and reproduced by that streamer, Seojun.”
“I see. He’s got good skill?”
“And this next clip is that streamer finding and breaking a grain line.”
“What?”
Eve Fimo asked again, thinking he must have misheard.
“He found a grain line? That streamer?”
“Yes.”
After watching the second clip of the shield and sword being destroyed, Eve Fimo stared at Kim Yunchan with wide eyes.
“No, how… does that even make sense? Isn’t it just a bug on his end that he had the Weakness Detection skill all along?”
The clip was so absurd that Eve Fimo, who had sworn his game was bug-free, was now talking about bugs.
“No. We checked that long ago.”
“Then…”
“Having watched the full joint stream video, and as a now-fan of Streamer Seojun, I’d explain that he seems to have read the rules. As absurd as it sounds that he’d read a sword path mapped out by AI and team members working themselves to death just by looking at two examples. But if he says so, what can we do.”
I didn’t ask about you becoming his fan.
“So what do we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“How long do we have to make the teaser for our next title?”
“A month.”
“Best case scenario, starting overtime today and rushing as fast as possible?”
“One… week?”
“Then what are the chances that streamer will collect all the Fragments of Order within that time?”
“That I can say for sure, thankfully—100%.”
That’s not a relief, you bastard.
“Well, it’s not like the teaser absolutely has to be released right away.”
“Then the picture won’t sell! The picture!”
Eve Fimo habitually pressed his temples and started searching for a solution.
Not everything in the world goes according to plan, but this was truly unexpected.
It might seem trivial, but he didn’t want the next project to go off track from the start.
“Oh? He just started streaming. Want to watch together?”
For a moment, Eve Fimo barely stopped himself from grabbing the document binder on his desk and hurling it. He spoke politely instead.
“Get out! And I told you not to watch streams during work hours!”
“Yessir!”
“Haah…”
He shouldn’t have made the Fragment of Order in the first place.
If only someone hadn’t said it’d be good to distribute at least one Easter egg related to Musou content, for the sake of Musou players.
Come to think of it, the one who had said that was Kim Yunchan too, wasn’t it?
Feeling frustrated, Eve Fimo kept replaying Seojun’s clips.
Just how did he do it?
Then he messaged Kim Yunchan through the company messenger and received another clip.
A clip of Richard Neville’s heavy armor being neutralized in one go.
‘He took down a ruler without Weakness Detection?’
This is a bit…
Awesome.
Like a feast for the eyes, wasn’t it?
After that, a flood of other clips related to Seojun came up.
Especially when he was finding Drake’s location, Eve Fimo couldn’t wipe the satisfied smile off his face.
Because the route Seojun found happened to be one of Eve Fimo’s own ideas.
‘So that’s how it got discovered.’
He felt a sense of reward.
Players enjoying the game they had poured their souls into, each in their own way.
And the user going, ‘Oh, this works too?’ in surprise.
It was exactly what he had hoped for when making an open world.
Eve Fimo replayed it several times, admiring it, then quietly clicked Follow.
* * *
“Hello, everyone.”
Seojun greeted with a light wave of his hand.
- Seoha
- Seoha
- What’s with the stream title?
- Seoha!
[Viewers: 1,700]
The chat scrolled up rapidly.
The firepower of nearly 2,000 people was definitely on another level.
He’d heard that even before, his chat was pretty active for the viewer count, but—
As the numbers grew, the speed of the chat was incomparably faster than before.
So.
“Now then, have Joseon’s Assassin, Great Defense, and Patient on a White Horse all joined us?”
At Seojun’s words, chat messages with a sword mark next to the nickname appeared.
- Yes!
- Yessir. I’ll do my best.
- Just leave it to me. I, Joseon’s Assassin, owner of 25 million points, will manage it thoroughly.
- Their nicknames are all the worst lol
- How are the manager names Assassin, Defense, and Patient lolololol
These were people who had watched Seojun’s stream from day one.
Looking at past chat logs, despite their nicknames, they hadn’t caused trouble and had watched his streams without missing a beat, so Seojun asked them to be chat managers, and they gladly volunteered.
For reference, Brick Extortion King still hadn’t replied.
“These people will be cutting chat messages that violate the chat rules as managers from now on. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, Joseon’s Assassin used points to add a special effect to his chat message.
So this is the dignity of the rich.
“And since my channel now has chat rules, please give them a quick read.”
- Wow, jealous of the managers.
- Give me an armband too.
- I want to wear a sword too.
- !rules
- !rules
- !rules
Chats popped up to check the rules.
1. Please only talk about things related to the stream.
2. If you see an annoying chat, don’t fight in the chat window, whisper the managers.
3. You know what you shouldn’t do, right?
On Travel, chat rules varied by streamer without a unified standard.
Some wrote strict rules, others just things like ‘Just don’t use casual speech.’
Some even left greetings like ‘Have fun and come visit often.’
And the chat rules Seojun set were concise.
Because Seojun preferred a free communication atmosphere.
- Summary) Just handle it yourselves
- Confirmed
- What are the things we shouldn’t do?
“The things you shouldn’t do? You know roughly, don’t you. But unless it’s really severe, you won’t even get a warning.”
He had already spoken with the managers.
- for real lol
- If you list those in detail, people always skirt the rules to troll, then when they get banned they throw a fit saying ‘I followed the rules, why was I banned’
[‘ㅇㅇ’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Aren’t you recruiting a stream settings assistant?]
If it were just a normal chat he’d have ignored it, but it’s a donation, so he can’t not respond.
“……Thank you. I’m not recruiting for that kind of thing.”
Having someone help with stream settings would be nice, but his intentions in deliberately putting the word ‘settings’ in the sentence are suspicious.
- lololololololol
- Clenching his teeth lol
- The ban is delicious.
- The world’s first tech-illiterate streamer. But with insane skills.
- So what’s the stream title?
- We’re doing Dawn of the Assassin Order today, right?
- Do regular assassinations too.
- Let’s go Musou!
- Show us more Weakness Detection. I want the skill too.
Since they hadn’t even really started yet, the chat topics were all over the place.
Seojun began building up to get things going.
“Ah, the title? Well, you see, quite a few people had doubts about the part where I found the grain lines. And since I didn’t explain it properly, it might be my fault too, so first, I’m sorry.”
- You don’t look sorry at all.
- Tsk. At least bow your head lololol
“But I am not using hacks. Nor am I a game developer insider.”
- Why are people talking about hacks anyway.
- Actually used a ‘really-good’ hack (cackle)
- But are there people who seriously believe the nonsense that a college student is a developer for Movie Soft?
- So how did you actually find the grain lines? I’m curious
Seojun nodded as if agreeing with the chat.
“To get to the point, the rule for the grain lines I figured out is that I connected the parts of the equipment that get worn down the most when used, into a path that’s easy to cut.”
Far from real-world weaknesses, but he thought this was the rule the creator had in mind, and it turned out to be a hit.
- ??? I still don’t get it?
- What are you, a blacksmith? How do you know that?
- Just how smart is he, damn
“I had planned to properly prove this today, but I’ve already gotten Weakness Detection anyway, and whatever I do, if people say it’s because I hacked the capsule, then that’s that, right?”
[‘Travel Historian’ donated 10,000 won!]
[Hacking controversy is a time-honored tradition on our stream.]
- For real lol
- He’s being suspected because his skills are so good
- A time-honored tradition (stream’s 4th day)
After thanking for the donation.
“So I reported it.”
Seojun’s expression suddenly turned serious.
- ?????
- Reported what?
- What kind of report, all of a sudden.
“Myself.”
Seojun brought up a Dawn of the Assassin Order support inquiry window he had prepared.
[Hack Report] [I think I used hacks without even knowing it myself. Could you please check for me?]
- lololololol is he insane?
- So that’s why ‘I surrendered myself’ lololololololol
- Ah lol so the game company will prove it for him!
“Now then, with the explanation done, let’s jump right into the game.”
Seojun returned to his innocent expression as if he’d never been serious, and stretched.
- lolololololololol this is the attitude of someone doing an apology stream?
- For real, he’s a quiet lunatic
- Streaming genius lololololol
“Now today’s stream… Let’s see, a mission has come in. Thank you, Dawn of the Assassin Order Developer-nim.”
Seojun skillfully adjusted the stream settings and accepted the mission.
Then a window appeared on the top left of the broadcast screen.
[Clear without using Weakness Detection against the Mage Tower Lord — Mission Reward: 1,000,000 won]
It was a donation reward he could receive upon mission success.
- Wow a million won damn
- Ooh my
- But is there anything to use Weakness Detection on the Mage Tower Lord? He has no equipment
- Isn’t it talking about magic?
- Then can magic get cut too? Seeing as he knows this, is he really a developer? Or what?
Right from the first mission, it was an enormous sum.
He was planning to head to the Mage Tower anyway.
“I know, right. Are you really the developer-nim?”
- As if that’s actually true
- Why is the streamer so naive lolololol