Gourmet Gaming

Chapter 918

[Ilhwa Group’s stock prices recovered and even rose slightly.]

[Minhyuk has submitted a complaint against the malicious commenters and Ztubers that targeted him.]

[He declared: I will not be lenient.]

[How much should world-famous Ztuber Donald compensate Minhyuk and the two global companies, Ilhwa Group and Joy Co. Ltd., for the damage that he had caused to their images?]

Minhyuk clearly stated in an article that he would take a ‘hard-line response’ against these people before the ‘The Burden that an Emperor Carries’ video was released. But he did not sue all of the people who joined in muddying the waters and posting malicious content against him.

There were two kinds of people who spoke against Minhyuk back then: Ztubers and malicious commenters who talked nonsense and criticized and slandered Minhyuk without any solid evidence, and those who stopped posting or deleted their comments when he published articles that he would take a hard-line stance. Of the two, Minhyuk only filed a complaint against the former.

‘If I don’t do this now, these people will continue to appear in the future.’

Minhyuk was the type of person who would step on those who acted maliciously against them to make sure that they would never crawl back up again. If he had eliminated such people from the scene in advance, people would no longer create baseless and speculative articles about Ilhwa Group and Joy Co. Ltd. having under-the-table deals because of a balance break he supposedly created. And there was nobody who criticized Minhyuk for not giving in and maintaining his stance on this matter.

And now? Minhyuk was reading the public’s opinion on the matter.

[Don’t you guys think it’s too much? Why does he have to take down the Ztubers, too? Can’t he just let them go? I’m Donald’s true fan.]

[The commenter above is really f*cking crazy, huh? Hahaha.]

[What’s wrong with going hard on them? Minhyuk was the one that held back the most, you know?]

[Didn’t you see? He only sued and filed complaints against the ones that did not delete their videos and comments and continued to post and spread rumors through their malicious content even after he sent out those articles?]

[If I were in his shoes, I would just sue and file complaints against everyone who slandered me.]

The people were quick to write and reply to the commenter, who was not aware of the seriousness of the situation. But even after all that effort, one commenter did not understand the situation.

[Is this really something that has to be taken seriously?]

[Yep. This is a grave matter. After Donald posted his video, the stock price of Ilhwa Group, a company with a market capitalization of 200 trillion won, fell by more than 3%. There’s also Athenae’s Beyond the Heavens Empire, which is already considered Minhyuk’s property. During that period, more than 2% of their people left. The damage that video alone caused could be said to be over a hundred billion. If Joy Co. Ltd. and Minhyuk did not cooperate and posted a video together, the rumors that Donald had started would be considered as the ‘truth’ and would cause more damage.]

[Hmmm. Is a hundred billion a considerable amount of money? My dad’s assets are around five hundred trillion won.]

[Hey, how old are you, btw?]

[I’m in 2nd grade.]

[...]

[...]

[Ah. My Kumon workbooks just came in. Bye!]

Even if Minhyuk did not step forward to explain, many people spoke up for him. Of course, Minhyuk and the Ilhwa Group did not lose that much money, as mentioned above. However, that would not have been the only outcome had they not clarified the situation. Thankfully, Minhyuk was able to take advantage of the situation and turn the crisis into an opportunity.

‘But more importantly... I wonder how many views it already has? Also, what ranking is the video at now?’

When Minhyuk went to check the video on Ztube, he deliberately avoided looking at the views and the rankings. Of course, he had a gut feeling about it.

‘Around 2% of the players left us, but more than 5% migrated in.’

Besides, the 2% of players who left were mostly those who did not believe in the true potential of Beyond the Heavens Empire and Minhyuk.

‘I think the number of members of my fan club increased by 1.3 million in three days?’

That was right. He was experiencing the video\'s impact firsthand. After all, his overseas fans had also increased in that short amount of time.

However, the reason why he did not check the views and the ratings was that Editor Jackson would come soon. Minhyuk was sitting in a cafe and waiting for him to arrive. After a while, a taxi stopped outside, and a very familiar foreigner got off and stepped inside the cafe.

Minhyuk smiled brightly, looking like the happiest person in the world, as he waved at Jackson.

“???”

Jackson could not help but look at him in confusion.

***

In a tranquil cafe.

Minhyuk stood by the counter and quickly placed his order: “Can I please have two iced Americanos and two tiramisu?”

After paying the bill, Minhyuk happily hummed, “Hehe. You have to eat tiramisu with iced americano.”

“By any chance...” Jackson, seeing Minhyuk’s bright smile, asked, “Were you looking forward to the drinks and the dessert when I arrived?”

“Yep. That’s right! Iced americano and tiramisu is the perfect combi!”

“...”

Even though Jackson knew that Minhyuk was suffering from eating addiction, he still found the man in front of him to be very eccentric.

‘I have never seen this expression on him even after he forced the troops of the Peiro Allied Nations to retreat by himself.’

Jackson could tell that Minhyuk was sincerely and genuinely happy right now. However, when he looked at him, waiting nervously and excitedly by the counter, he could not help but wonder if this man was indeed the world’s best player.

“Here’s your drink.”

Minhyuk received the drinks and the cake and quickly returned to his seat.

“Come quickly. It will not taste good once it loses its cold!”

“Ah. Yes.”

Minhyuk smiled happily, looking at the iced Americano and tiramisu before him. A faint light shimmered underneath the dark Americano after the bright light from the cafe shone on the ice that clinked inside the glass. On the other hand, the tiramisu looked divine, with the dark brown cocoa powder sprinkled on top.

He quickly grabbed a fork and scooped up a mouthful of the soft, sweet tiramisu.

“Hiyaaa....” Minhyuk sighed as his smile grew even deeper.

The cake gently melted the moment it entered his mouth. The tiramisu, a dessert that properly combined the flavors of coffee and cocoa, had a slight yet soft creamy flavor. Of course, Minhyuk did not forget to take another sweet bite.

“Kghhk...”

The name of the delightful dessert, tiramisu, literally meant to “cheer you up.” And it did.

Minhyuk quickly took several sips of the slightly bitter yet cold and refreshing iced americano the moment he felt the somewhat greasy sweetness from the tiramisu start to overwhelm him.

Sluuuuuuurp–

“Kghhhhhhk...”

Minhyuk felt extremely refreshed with the treat that he had just devoured.

After confirming that Minhyuk had finished enjoying his coffee, Jackson asked, “Have you checked the video’s number of views? How about the number of your subscribers?”

“No. I deliberately avoided it and have been waiting for you.”

Minhyuk knew he couldn’t do anything but check the number of views if he looked at it.

The one in charge of editing the video was Jackson, an editor who had edited a video that ranked 243rd in the world regarding Ztube views. It had to be known that the current number one Ztube video had 7.5 billion views.

“Our total number of views in just three days has reached 380 million.”

“...!”

Minhyuk was very surprised when he heard the results. The current world’s population was around eight billion. In other words, almost 4% of the current population had seen the video in the three days since its release.

“Athenae also experienced a 5% increase in new subscribers during these three days. Your subscriber count has increased from the previous 610,000 to 2.02 million.”

Minhyuk, who only sometimes broadcast what he did, still had around 610,000 subscribers. But now, that number had more than tripled.

“The speed at which our number of views is increasing far exceeds Korea’s ‘Oppa, Hongdae Style.’ This video will reach the top ten in the charts and rankings within a year.”

“Oh...”

“I’m confident this video will generate hundreds of billions in profits. And as the number of views continues to grow, the migration rate of the Beyond the Heavens Empire will also grow.”

“Woaaaaah, that’s really amazing!” Minhyuk said. However, his eyes were not on Jackson but the empty plate of tiramisu in front of him. “...Slurp.”

“???”

‘No, what’s this?’

Jackson could see that Minhyuk’s facial expression had not changed much. The only thing Jackson could see on the man’s face was regret for the tiramisu. Based on what he had seen earlier, the tiramisu seemed worth more than the hundreds of billions of profits he would gain in a year.

Jackson quickly left the thought behind. Then, he said, “Ah. I also have a favor to ask of you.” His tone grew cautious. “Please ally with the Roarke Kingdom.”

Jackson was aware that the Roarke Kingdom had nothing to offer for an alliance to be formed. If the two nations became allies, they had to provide reinforcement when the other was in danger. If they truly allied, it was no different from putting the Roarke Kingdom under the rule of the Beyond the Heavens Empire. To put it simply, they would just be a burden.

Even so Minhyuk still viewed this in a positive light. After all, if he took the Roarke Kingdom under his care, he would receive territories and migrants. But at times like this, there was one thing that Minhyuk had to do.

“The conditions?”

Godly Editor Jackson answered, “I will sign a contract with the Beyond the Heavens Empire and become your exclusive editor.”

***

Editor Jackson, or Carron, was riding a taxi headed to Joy Co. Ltd.

“Haha.” Carron unknowingly chuckled when he recalled Minhyuk eating his tiramisu happily. He truly enjoyed his meeting with Minhyuk. Not only that, but he was also able to confirm something.

‘This contract with Beyond the Heavens Empire...’

Before he knew it, the taxi stopped before Joy Co. Ltd.

‘...And this cooperation with Joy Co. Ltd. is very good for me.’

That was right. Carron did not only sign a contract with Minhyuk. His contract also included Joy Co. Ltd., which he detailed to Minhyuk.

Team Leader Park Minggyu, who came from the headquarters, greeted Carron. “I will say this in advance. Thank you for accepting our offer.”

But after hearing those words, Carron, with a firm tone, said, “I did not sign a contract with Joy Co. Ltd. because of your offer. I signed it because of Minhyuk.”

He drew a firm line on this. Of course, Joy Co. Ltd.\'s proposal was strict but also very generous. However, Carron would not sign an exclusive contract with anyone. He only accepted their offer because the target was ‘Minhyuk.’ This contract was quite a huge deal for all parties involved–Beyond the Heavens Empire, Joy Co. Ltd., and Carron.

Although Carron\'s words could be considered ungrateful and harmful to the one who offered the proposal, Team Leader Park Minggyu said, “Ah. Even so, it is still very worth it for us.”

Team Leader Park Minggyu seemed to readily agree that Carron only signed the contract with them because of Minhyuk. After walking with him for quite a while, Carron finally entered Joy Co. Ltd.’s conference room.

President Kang Taehoon and several executives were already waiting inside. The moment they entered, Team Leader Park handed over the materials for this project to everyone while Carron sat in his designated seat.

Team Leader Park then turned off the lights and began his presentation, using a laser pointer to highlight the details of the project. “Our stock prices fell by -5% while the controversy regarding the balance break was at its height. But after publishing the video ‘The Burden an Emperor Carries,’ our stock prices recovered and increased by 3%. Please look at the table over here. Thanks to ‘The Burden an Emperor Carries,’ our sales have drastically increased.”

The executives did not know the exact details of the conversation between President Kang Taehoon, Carron, and the Beyond the Heavens Empire. However, they were still amazed at Minhyuk’s video’s impact.

“I want to be a player like Minhyuk. This sentiment has brought back many players to our game. And that’s not all. Thanks to the well-made and edited video we published, our new subscriptions have also increased greatly.”

Finally, Team Leader Park presented the critical point of this meeting: “Our Joy Co. Ltd. has decided to produce ‘advertisement videos’ centered on the Beyond the Heavens Empire. Mr. Jackson, over here, would be in charge of editing the videos.”

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

The executives of Joy Co. Ltd. were very shocked when they heard that. Some even raised their hands to voice their concerns.

“But if we make ads centered on Beyond the Heavens Empire, wouldn’t it negatively impact us? This time, it’s no longer a rumor. There will truly be a transaction between Beyond the Heavens Empire and Joy Co. Ltd.”

Team Leader Park smiled. “I believe there’s nothing for us to worry about regarding that matter, no? Various celebrities often film commercials shown on TV, right? I believe it’s only natural that a game company would advertise with its best players and an emerging empire. Would we be blamed for doing something like that?”

The executive immediately realized his concern was too shallow and could only cough to hide his embarrassment.

Minggyu continued, “Many people have commented that our Joy Co. Ltd. is a company that is good at making things and gimmicks but is not good at making advertisements.”

It was the truth. Joy Co. Ltd. had always topped all viewers’ consumption ratings categories. But ironically, plenty of rumors said they were terrible at making ads.

Kim Dae-Il raised his hand and asked, “What are our next steps?”

In response to his question, Team Leader Park pointed to someone else. “Mr. Jackson will be the one to explain this part.”

Jackson stood up and explained, “In the first phase of this project, the ads that we will make will tell the stories of the people many of the players are very curious about, Minhyuk’s vassals.”

“...Oh.” Manager Kim Dae-Il sighed in awe.

That was right. All of the players were very, very curious about Minhyuk’s vassals.

Then, Jackson continued, “Once we’re done making the ads about them, we will continue with a large-scale ad that will use the entire Beyond the Heavens Empire.”

“So, we’re going to tackle it one step at a time?”

“That’s right. We will make an advertisement that will generate curiosity in our viewers. We’re going to produce ads that raise the question, ‘Wow, I wonder what the next ad will be? When will it come out?’ and not the question, ‘Ah, this ad again?’

A flash of interest appeared on all of the faces of the executives present in the conference room.

Meanwhile, Manager Kim Dae-Il raised the most important question. “Who will be the first target?”

Jackson looked at each of the executives before pointing at one of the graphs in front of them.

“Our first target is the one that has an overwhelming amount of player votes and has sat on the number one rankings for a very long time.” Jackson continued calmly, “He is an NPC that has sat on the number one in rankings in several categories, including ‘NPCs that players wanted to keep as their vassals,’ ‘NPCs that players are most afraid of,’ and ‘NPCs that can deal an attack with the greatest damage.’”

“So, who is it?” Kim Dae-Il asked in frustration.

On the other hand, Jackson remained calm as he said, “It’s Spear God Ben.”