A Lie Has Become Reality

32 – Eterna Hunter (2)

Tokyo, Japan.

In-house conference room of Ahoy.

“Hey Kenzie, is there still no answer from Five Tops?”

“Yes, they didn’t even pretend to hear me anymore.”

“They know it too. That there is nothing we can do about it.”

Representative Director Hiroyuki Shimizu convened a board meeting.

This is a place where we gathered to discuss how to deal with the Korean server that was released under the name of ‘Etherna Hunter’.

“…… What is the level of awareness of Aether and Hunter in Korea?”

“This is the worst. At first, there was an atmosphere of slandering the publisher, Five Tops, but now, we, who neglected this situation, are also tied to the same category.”

“Five Tops…… “

Wondeuk-

Hiroyuki gritted his teeth as he muttered the name Five Tops.

“…… Is it because they are all tied up in one box now?”

“Yes, isn’t it difficult for users to grasp the inner circumstances involved in contracts between companies?”

“Yes, I mean…” “

Hiroyuki pressed his eyes together with a sigh.

Obviously, the beginning of Aetherna X was not like this.

He founded Ahoy with an ambitious mind, with the catchphrase of ‘making games for otaku’.

With a user-friendly system befitting the catchphrase, high-quality game quality, and continuous communication with users, word of mouth gradually began to gain popularity among Japanese users.

In this way, they succeeded in establishing a stable position in the Japanese market, and naturally planned to expand their business to overseas servers as if flowing water.

The Asian mobile game market is contributing the highest revenue in terms of sales, and its size is also overwhelming.

Although the size of the company is still small, it is difficult to open a Korean server under direct management, so we entrusted the opening of a Korean server through an exclusive publishing contract.

I planned to use this opportunity to properly build awareness and to look at the future situation and run my next work under direct management.

“If I cancel the publishing contract now, what is the total amount of penalty that I will have to pay to Five Tips?”

“2 Billion won in down payment and 4 billion won in penalty, a total of 6 billion won.”

A situation without an answer.

I can’t seem to find a hole to overcome this difficulty.

The management of Five Tops was running increasingly messy.

Users in Korea were already exhausted from the management policy that was going to the end, which could not be done without seeing users as dogs and pigs.

The fact that a game he had developed with all his soul was horribly ruined by someone and became an object of hatred by the users made Hiroyuki feel pain as if his lungs had been stabbed.

Only a chilling silence lingered in the meeting room.

Smart-

A man carefully holding his cell phone as if serving a new stock pot opened the door and hurriedly entered.

“CEO, a Korean game company called Leon Play has contacted me regarding a publishing contract for Aetherna X. Would you like to receive it?”

Leonplay.

It’s definitely a familiar name.

Isn’t it a game company that operates a game called Epic of Seven, which is gaining sensational popularity in Japan recently?

The story of a man who took over a game company because he didn’t like the game was a hot topic in Japan.

However, such a company wants a publishing contract for Aetherna X.

Etherna X is not a game that is openly operated in Korea, although it eats away all the swear words.

That means…

“Try to change it now.”

“The representative here says he can’t speak Japanese at all. I think I should be in charge of translating.”

Hiroyuki nodded, and the secretary unmuted and resumed the call in speaker mode.

“Hello. I am Hiroyuki Shimizu.”

-This is Kim Seong-woo, CEO of LeonPlay. The reason I contacted you was to propose an exclusive publishing contract for ‘Etherna X’.

When Hiroyuki spoke, the secretary translated it, and when Seongwu Kim answered, the secretary translated it again and delivered it to Hiroyuki.

It was cumbersome, but the call itself went smoothly.

“Thank you very much for the offer, but Aetherna X has already concluded a publishing contract with Five Tops Entertainment.”

-You must be regretting that choice now. Is that correct?

“…… What’s the point?”

-Eterna X Korean publishing rights, hand over exclusively to us.

“So, by what means… !”

– Penalties. I will pay for it.

“…… !”

Right now, the other party over the phone is saying to hand over the publishing rights to Leonplay as they will pay the penalty.

Hiroyuki doubted his ears.

“I don’t quite understand why they put up such conditions.”

-I have one condition.

What kind of conditions are you putting up with so much time?

I was anxiously awaiting what Seongwoo Kim would say next.

-Do you have a next game currently being prepared for release?

“Yes, it is still a long way off, but we are accelerating the development of ‘Etherna Z’, the successor to ‘Etherna X’.”

-Etherna Z Korea publishing rights will also be taken by Leonplay.

“What is that…”

Etherna Z is a game that has just begun development, literally a blank slate.

I want you to guarantee the right to publish an unfinished game in advance. It’s nonsense.

-There’s nothing I can’t do. It’s just a matter of specifying the period and making an exclusive publishing contract.

“What do you mean we have to trust and entrust the distribution of your next work?”

-If we don’t act, the perception of Ahoy in Korea will hit the bottom and sink into the abyss. Next work? Even if it is released, who will do it? Users are not goldfish.

“In the first place, this whole situation was caused by Five Tops’ arbitrariness… “

– It doesn’t matter. The fact is that Ahoy entrusted publishing to Five Tops, and in the current situation, Ahoy is neglecting Five Tops, ignoring their atrocities.”

Hiroyuki couldn’t come up with anything to refute, so he let out a quiet voice.

A negative perception once embedded is like a stigma.

If Leonplay doesn’t act like he said, the atrocities of Five Tops will become more and more bizarre, and Ahoy will have to watch them while shedding tears of blood.

-I understand your concern, but to be honest, it’s kind of unpleasant. Aren’t you putting Leonplay on the same level as Five Tops?

“This is a misunderstanding!”

I already know about Leon Play.

The life story of a user taking over a game that was in ruins and making it a success is a hot topic in Japan as well.

Kim Seong-wu’s move to give up sales and transform the game into a game only for users was unconventional, and he himself was very impressed with the story.

Comparing Leonplay to Five Tops is an absolute misunderstanding.

“… ….Contract, I will do it.”

-Good. I will visit the Ahoy headquarters in person with the contract in the near future.

“I think we should notify Five Tops right away of the termination of the publishing contract.”

His heart pounded at the thought that he could finally hit Five Tops.

But a resolute voice of refusal came through the receiver.

-No, I have no intention of leaving Five Tops alone.

“Yes?”

I have no intention of leaving you alone.

Are you saying you’re going to have a fist fight?

-I recently started YouTube.

“…… ?”

-YouTube is said to be able to survive only when you push what you are good at into content.

“Yes?”

-Oh, it’s because I’m quite well versed in money.

Hiroyuki was at a loss for words because of Kim Seong-wu who kept talking about incomprehensible things.

With or without it, Seongwoo Kim spat out what he had to say in a soft tone.

-So I’m going to take this opportunity to do some sh*t with money.

Hiroyuki thought to himself.

It is clear that Kim Seong-woo is a properly crazy person.

****

Uploaded the first video of the YouTube channel.

As a result of a long discussion with the team members, we decided to upload a video as the first video of the channel, greeting the viewers and explaining the reason why we started YouTube.

[ I started YouTube. ]

It’s a short video with a simple title, but the ripple effect of the first video I uploaded far exceeded my expectations.

Even the media contributed to the promotion of my channel with provocative headlines such as ‘Hobbies of the 3rd generation chaebol’.

Is it really that surprising that I started a YouTube channel?

My subscriber count was literally sky-high, and I finally broke a record.

[ YouTuber ‘Sungwoo Kim’ achieved 1 million subscribers in 5 days ]

“Is this correct?”

That’s how I became a large YouTuber with 1 million subscribers.

I still can’t believe it, but I guess good is good no matter what.

With Hiroyuki Shimizu, we finished talking about the publishing contract, and briefly briefed on the plan we designed ourselves.

Since enough subscribers have gathered, all that remains is to start the attack in earnest.

I picked up my cell phone and called Kim Ha-yoon.

“Ah, Mr. Ha Yoon.”

-CEO… City… Can we start?…

“Yes, I think you can upload it.”

My plan is so simple and clear that there is no such thing as a plan.

There is only one purpose, to reduce the reputation of Five Tops as much as possible. And to unite the users who have risen as feverishly in the management of Five Tops.

That’s how the conflict between Five Tops and the users is promoted to the highest level.

The important thing here is to coordinate the situation so that Ahoy can be transformed into a benevolent victim so that the users’ anger can be fully poured into the Five Tops side.

To this end, Hiroyuki Shimizu will also actively cooperate.

In that case, there is only one option for Five Tops to choose. Ending the service of Aether or Hunter.

However, the contract between the publisher and the developer is not so lax that the publisher can terminate the service unilaterally.

Of course, in general, if a game collapses to this extent, the developer will agree to end the service.

But what if Ahoy opposes the termination of the service before the contract period expires?

Five Tops has to continue operating the game until the contract period expires.

It is literally a game of chicken.

Unless either of Ahoy or Five Tops runs into catastrophe, the war for cash will not end.

And I am behind Ahoy.

With that, the win or loss has already been decided, and no matter how much energy Five Tops exerts in a battle where defeat is confirmed, the result will not change.

At that time, Five Tops will have to choose between death and death.

Will it lead to catastrophe as it is, or will it resign after receiving a penalty for a slap in the face?

“All I have to do is put a spoon on it.”

Ssiik-

In this kind of mud fight, the side with the ‘justification’ will receive a sympathy vote anywhere.

I will make this edition as large as possible. To do that, you need to pull as much aggro as possible.

“My aggro is the best in Korea.”

Of course, it would be nice if Five Tops surrendered with a white flag at the start, but that won’t happen.

I will write my own evil and surrender.

Everyone has a plausible plan.

Until he gets hit.