Chapter 6

===================

Translated by Jinmu

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

Internet Community RPG (Record Project Gamers).

Just like its name, it is a space that represents RP.

At that place where all sorts of topics always rise and fall, a post that could draw attention was uploaded.

A chuunibyou newbie popped up, and this bastard is truly totally bugged out.

He had dozens of recommended skills plus a few hidden skills too.

The guaranteed Hero quest is the route to get Fire attribute magic from Atsbel, look at the screenshot.

If you’re curious, go to Loafer’s stream.

– ? What is this?

– Your photo manipulation skills are what’s bugged?

– For real. Lol. Look at the blurry text over there.

– Who even is Loafer; Don’t do viral marketing for small fry.

– This is real. Go watch the stream.

– Please ban promotions;

In RP, skills and skill trees are the most crucial elements.

And across the two years countless players had poured into it, the number of unlocked hidden skills was extremely few.

Even for a common skill like Fire attribute magic, people didn’t even know the existence of another route.

That’s how hard it was to believe the contents of the post.

“It’s not even funny.”

Kim Jae-ha, a man stroking his tablet, let out a hollow laugh.

He was an employee working in the dedicated RP department of the company.

Obviously items and information, it was natural to reach out for anything that could become money.

He had experienced such absurd attention-seeking posts many times.

“And who is Loafer?”

The name of a streamer he had never heard of before.

It was clearly an unpopular streamer known as a small fry, but he was slightly curious.

It was simply out of mere curiosity to the very end.

Click.

When he searched with the name Loafer, quite a few posts came up.

99 percent were posts about the monster Sloper.

“As for the streamer… all the posts are from today.”

Among them, a few posts concentrated on today’s date.

Every single title had words like Hidden or Hero attached to them.

“Black Dragon?”

The nickname Black Dragon appeared in every post related to that Loafer.

It seemed the comments saying ‘chuunibyou’ were referring to this person.

“Mom critical? A school kid?”

As the dates got closer to the newest ones, keywords like Black Dragon and Mom critical appeared.

Although RP requires parental consent, it’s not a game minors can’t play.

“Hmm?”

Kim Jae-ha’s gaze, which had been leisurely scanning the list, shook little by little.

Keywords about the quest increasing every time he refreshed.

The problem was that proofs of actually receiving it were piling up.

“… Could this be.”

Detecting an anomaly, Kim Jae-ha quickly wore his gear.

His other hand was wandering to find the streamer Loafer’s broadcast.

***

“…”

Left alone, Yeon-woo froze in his spot.

Because Han-bit had dropped the bomb of a guaranteed Hero quest and disappeared.

– Legendary Mom critical. Lol.

– How old is Black Dragon?

– Look at the nick. Lol. He’s just a school kid.

– Going by the feel, he’s probably a sturdy young unemployed adult?

“Huh?”

Yeon-woo’s gaze, which had been grabbing his head, fixated on the viewer status.

Because the number, which was definitely around 50, had now become 800.

“… Ah.”

The eccentricities Han-bit displayed during that short time were unprecedented in RP’s history.

If it spread to a community like RPG, it would become stronger promotion than anything else.

“Welcome! If you wait just a little longer, Black Dragon hyung will come too!”

Even while speaking with a smile, his hands were moving busily.

Because he was diligently sending text messages through a linked smartphone messenger.

‘Please, Hyung. Please.’

Many people would come if he broadcast tomorrow as well, but it was obvious there would be more half-doubting viewers right now.

He had to drive a wedge right now no matter what.

Ding.

At that moment, a message notification linked to his smartphone rang.

Han-bit’s name that popped up on the top.

Urgently moving his hand, he checked the contents.

“Kang Han-bit”

“I’m going first. I’ll be back tomorrow evening, so let’s see each other then.”

‘… I’m ruined.’

His heart sank at the word ‘tomorrow’.

To think the protagonist won’t return in this situation.

He felt a threat correlating to the steadily increasing number of viewers.

– I’m asking when Black Dragon is coming.

– Bring him fast before I start cursing at you.

– Why are there so many people in this room?

– Are they viewbots?

– Glad there’s no one here using emojis.

The chat window, rapidly falling into chaos, reached a point where it was hard to read properly.

Yeon-woo, pondering with absolute focus, eventually arrived at a difficult decision.

“Phew.”

Taking a deep breath, he looked at the camera with a smiling face.

The viewer count had already exceeded the thousands mark.

He wanted to stay calm, but he was a small-fry streamer whom only a handful of people watched until just recently.

“I apologize. Black Dragon hyung says something urgent came up. It seems we’ll have to continue the broadcast starting tomorrow.”

– ?

– What bullshit is this.

– Was it a real mom critical?

– Legend.

– You just dragged aggro completely.

– Small-fry bastards are always like this. Lol.

Blame as sharp as blades poured down like a bombardment.

The method to calm that down was not in Yeon-woo’s hands.

Ding.

At that time, an alarm sound was heard once again.

It was another message that arrived from Han-bit.

“Black Dragon”

For some reason, the sender’s name was changed to his character name.

Feeling that it was strange, Yeon-woo quickly checked the content.

“Ah.”

A sigh escaping from his mouth upon checking the brief content.

His stiffened expression had broken into a smile before he knew it.

“Now, now, viewers. Please calm down for a moment. Black Dragon hyung has left a gift behind before leaving.”

– A gift?

– Don’t give me that bullshit.

– Are you the talks-a-lot duo?

– Let’s at least hear what it is.

– Acknowledged.

At the word ‘gift’, the fervently burning chat window started to neutralize little by little.

It was to the point where some aggressive chats were quickly buried.

“There might be some of you who will immediately proceed with Atsbel’s quest, right? But you probably have no clue on how to get the cure.”

Regaining his composure, Yeon-woo unfurled his words as if seizing the initiative.

A Hero grade guaranteed skill quest.

This alone was enough to make players’ eyes spin.

“So, Black Dragon hyung has told us how to get that cure before leaving. You’re curious what it is, right?”

– ?

– He went after telling you that?

– Would he really?

– This level of baiting;

– Even my dog wouldn’t take the bait.

An extraordinary content stating he told them the actual method, not even a hint.

Naturally, the viewers couldn’t fully believe it.

However, even that doubt was enough to buy them the empty time until tomorrow evening.

“Well, believing it is free up to you guys. I’ll post the contents of the message as a channel announcement. Then I’ll end the broadcast and see you tomorrow!”

Finishing his sentence, Yeon-woo immediately ended the broadcast.

And he uploaded the screenshot of Han-bit’s message he had captured in advance as an announcement.

“Black Dragon”

“The cure for the quest can be obtained from ‘Bomb Slimes’. If anyone clears it before I come back, I’ll let you know a special piece of information.”

***

The next morning.

Han-bit, who had woken up early from sleep, finished the meal his mother prepared and left the house.

Boarding the bus that arrived just in time, he headed to his destination, Songdo.

“Phew.”

A complex spread out like a village in a place slightly apart from the city center.

On the top of the central building, the name ‘Enk Technology’ was embedded.

It is a well-known mid-sized enterprise even among semiconductor companies.

‘I passed pretty easily somehow, though.’

Even if it was an experiential internship, they undergo a designated recruitment process.

The problem was the interview that was strangely too simple.

In fact, it was practically at the level of just reciting the contents written in the documents verbatim.

‘Let’s go for now.’

Tidying his clothes, Han-bit stepped inside the building.

When he arrived at the guided design department, people were already moving busily.

“What is this, you still haven’t fixed this?”

“Excuse me? Didn’t the team leader say to look at this circuit first?”

“Hey, who was the person who went to the lab yesterday?”

There was no room to squeeze into a scene resembling a battlefield.

However, it seemed like no one would notice him if he just waited.

Contemplating for a moment, Han-bit decided to greet everyone.

“Hello. I am Kang Han-bit, starting work as an intern from today.”

“…?”

People’s gazes converged at the unfamiliar voice echoing in the office.

A brief silence followed along with strange air.

The first to open his mouth was a man at an inner desk.

“Ah, the intern was coming today? Why didn’t the HR department tell us clearly?”

“Um… It was in the notices during the meeting.”

“Is that so?”

The man reacted awkwardly to his subordinate’s remark.

Then, turning his gaze back to his documents, he followed up with his words.

“Lee Min-ho can be his mentor. Take him right now and start by setting up the conference room.”

“Understood.”

The employee who was in a seat near the entrance stood up from his spot.

Approaching Han-bit, he cast a greeting with a fatigue-stained face.

“I am Lee Min-ho, tasked as your mentor. If there’s anything you don’t know, feel free to ask comfortably.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“You can use this side for your seat, and I’ll guide you through the contracts and paperwork processing later. We don’t have time right now, so let’s just drop off your bags and move immediately.”

Putting his bag down, Han-bit moved together with him to the conference room.

The inside was scattered with trivial trash and documents.

“I couldn’t drop by the office yesterday due to outside work. I’ll clean up the tables, so Han-bit-ssi, please clean up the whiteboard.”

“Was everyone else working outside as well?”

“No. Because this is my job.”

“… I will clean it quickly.”

At the answer that seemed to contain many things, Han-bit immediately began working.

Cleaning up the conference room busily for a while like that.

“What, why are there two of you today?”

A middle-aged man holding a coffee cup revealed himself.

“Hello, Team Leader. The intern I reported on a few days ago is starting work today, so we were cleaning up together.”

“Ah, there was something like that, wasn’t there?”

The Team Leader, sipping his coffee, looked Han-bit up and down.

Then, clicking his tongue, he sat at the head of the table.

“Your school? Do you attend in Seoul?”

“I attend Yeonju University in Incheon.”

“Ah, Incheon?”

The Team Leader, who checked his college before his name, seemed to lose even more interest.

“What do your parents do?”

“My father passed away, and my mother works at a restaurant.”

“Is that right?”

Completely losing interest, he turned his gaze to the meeting materials placed on the desk.

Though it was an explicit attitude, it didn’t deal any blow to Han-bit at all.

“I haven’t introduced myself yet. I’m Kang Han-bit. I’ll work hard while observing and learning during my internship.”

“There’s nothing to work hard on. Throw away that passion, and only do what you’re told.”

“…?”

The remark to not work hard was somewhat strange.

Reading that question, the Team Leader sighed and opened his mouth.

“Experiential internships are just for show. It’s a system where the more the company teaches, the more of a loss it is, so don’t try to go out of your way to learn anything.”

The Team Leader’s explanation was as follows.

Forced recruitment of interns pushed as part of the youth employment policy.

Companies of certain sizes were allotted minimum quotas and received recommendations.

“Team Leader, even so, for the parts I can experience, I will…”

“Hey, Lee Min-ho. If you have time to mind the intern, take care of yourself first. Acting like a senior requires the ability to do so as well.”

“… Yes. I apologize.”

Lee Min-ho bowed his head at the sharp criticism.

As if even that wasn’t to his liking, the Team Leader simply shook his head and lamented.

“Oh? Team Leader, did you come straight here?”

“Good morning, Team Leader!”

“Our Team Leader, as expected. Your diligence is recognized.”

Just then, other employees entered the conference room.

Seeing them each adding a flattering comment, he roughly saw the structure of this department.

“What are you doing? Leave if you’re done cleaning up.”

“Understood.”

At the Team Leader’s instruction accompanied by a nod of his chin, Han-bit exited the conference room.

Returning to the corner seat of the office and sitting down, he leaned his back against the chair.

‘I can already see the future.’

He knew very well that experiential internships were closer to part-time jobs.

He applied with the thought of adding just one more line to his cover letter in the first place, after all.

The problem was that he felt desperately certain he wouldn’t even be able to properly get the experience needed to fill that one line.

‘I’ll have to learn on my own.’

Even if no one taught him, his eyes and ears were open.

Compared to the information gathering he undertook risking his life in the other world, this place was almost laughable.

Feeling a slight obstinacy, Han-bit began to slowly organize his thoughts in the quiet office.