Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan

Become Overpowered CEO of Hero Clan – 008

Swooosh…

A crimson aura gently rises from the seemingly ordinary necklace.

It’s an accessory I ordered from the auction house app yesterday. It just arrived by courier.

From its appearance, there’s one unique feature to this necklace.

[Comfortable Pendant]

▶ Category: Equipment ⇒ Necklace

▶ Grade: Normal (Corrupted)

▶ Description: A simple accessory, and a decent fashion item.

▶ Effect: Enhances your charm. (Caution! This equipment is corrupted.)

That’s right, it’s in a ‘corrupted’ state.

Monsters from the Clan of Heroes universe tear through rifts from a land of death called the ‘Otherworld’ to come to Earth. And that Otherworld is full of ‘dark energy’, and sometimes equipment corrupted by this energy appears on the auction house.

There’s a low chance that ‘corrupted effects’, a powerful option, may be added to corrupted equipment, making them expensive, but this necklace doesn’t have that.

I just bought the cheapest corrupted equipment.

Sigh.

[Equipped the ‘Comfortable Pendant’.]

“Ugh.”

So why did I buy this necklace that doesn’t look that great?

[Exposed to dark energy.]

[You will take a minor damage per second.]

Wearing corrupted equipment results in continuous DoT damage.

The moment I tightly close my eyes and put the accessory around my neck, my skin starts to sting, and if I put on this expensive ring I bought separately…

[Forest Keeper’s Regeneration Ring]

▶ Category: Equipment ⇒ Ring

▶ Grade: Rare

▶ Description: A ring imbued with the blessings of the forest, radiant and beautiful.

▶ Effect: If the damage received is low, the ‘Embrace of Nature’ is activated, instantly restoring lost health and suppressing pain.

[Suffered minor damage.]

[‘Embrace of Nature’ healed the damage.]

[Suffered minor damage.]

[‘Embrace of Nature’ healed the damage.]

[Suffered minor damage.]

[‘Embrace of Nature’ healed the damage.]

…………..

……..

The DoT damage caused by the corrupted equipment is perfectly offset.

I continuously harm myself, but the damage keeps getting healed.

Now all I have to do is wait.

‘If it succeeds, this will make things much easier.’

I’m going through all this trouble for a reason.

The activation condition for Isaac’s only combat skill, the Final Finish, is extremely strict.

I spent the whole night thinking about how to compensate for this critical weakness, and this experiment is the result of that problem.

‘In theory, it should work.’

Recalling the last mission, the combat gauge increased when the team members and I took or dealt damage.

And if the combat does not continue beyond a certain point, the ‘combat’ state is reset, and the combat gauge is also reset.

Even if the team members fight tooth and nail to fill the combat gauge to 99%, it won’t be usable in the next battle.

I feel like I could sleep soundly if I somehow solve this horribly inefficient structure.

– Tick-tock, tick-tock.

–

5 minutes, 10 minutes…

Time passed.

My mouth felt dry as the second hand of the clock moved.

‘I received something earlier.’

Getting bored from just waiting, I checked a message from the PR Team Leader. A news article link was attached below the text asking for confirmation.

[The Flame Emperor Side Declares the Evergreen City Beedam Art Hall Terror Incident as “At Least Grade 1”]

[Breaking News – S-Class Hero Flame Emperor Discusses the Truth of the Beedam Art Hall Disaster, what Is the Estimated Capability of Hero Isaac?]

[A High-ranking Executive of the World’s Largest Villain Organization ‘DRR’ Is Defeated by South Korean Heroes]

“……”

It seems the Flame Emperor had given an interview about me. It also looked like he knew ‘Marius’ identity.

My temples throbbed.

Although the Flame Emperor seemed to think well of me, his attention was a great burden.

‘Let’s not think about it.’

I took a sip of coffee.

And just as I put down the coffee cup,

[The combat gauge has slightly increased.]

“Ah!”

A system message appeared that blew away my built-up stress. A thrilling sense of accomplishment washed over me.

It appears self-inflicted damage is categorized as ‘received damage’ in the system.

“Took about 15 minutes.”

It took 15 minutes to accumulate 1% of the combat gauge.

The experiment was a massive success.

From now on, my combat gauge will not reset within 24 hours, and it will even gradually accumulate.

I can consider this a worthwhile improvement in specifications.

“Yes, excellent. Huu—!”

I stretched.

Finding loopholes was quite fun.

***

The good mood was short-lived.

That afternoon,

I had to sit through a two-hour corporate ethics lecture I had been invited to, and I was slumped over my luxurious office chair like a slime.

“Huu……”

A few articles would also be released for show, so it wouldn’t look good if I didn’t attend.

It would be better to endure it, imagining people saying I lack sincerity or that the person with the worst character is missing.

Thud.

As soon as I sat down, I turned on YouTube. I watched some trending sketch comedy to lift my spirits.

‘Hmm, we should also be uploading content…’

The Harmony Clan did have a YouTube account, but it had been pretty much neglected.

Curious, I browsed through other major clans YouTube channels. Channels boasting tens of millions of views were filled with self-produced entertainment content and high-quality music videos.

“It’s not even a comparison.”

My pride was hurt.

How could I have managed such promising members so poorly?

‘I need to bring them over as soon as possible.’

A few competent content-creator NPCs came to mind.

I was already planning to establish a ‘Content Creation Team’ soon. If I could bring in some talented people to lead the team, I wouldn’t have to worry about promotional materials in the future.

Might as well issue the order now.

– Knock knock. –

“Come in.”

Just then, secretary Hwang entered.

She brought me two binders, reports from the PR team and the support team. I first checked the PR team’s data.

‘So, public opinion is like this?’

The PR team’s analysis showed that while veteran fans of the hero forums were busy criticizing Isaac, the general populace seemed to be supportive.

The Shorts videos I had seen seemed to be mainly negative. Has the trend turned over time?

Secretary Hwang chimed in.

“I’ve also done some research. People are really arguing! Hundreds of comments on a single post.”

“For what reason?”

“Um… about whether you did wrong or not.”

“Did I do anything wrong at the scene?”

“No, no! I absolutely don’t think so. But people are saying that you, as the leader, didn’t take the initiative…”

It was a tricky situation. I felt unfairly treated and misunderstood. I would’ve stepped in from the start if I could have.

“So, there’s some good news as well?”

“Yes! You saved the civilians. Especially those who were at the scene, they must think very highly of our clan! Donations have also increased in the past few days.”

Secretary Hwang’s words were a great comfort.

Yes.

I saved civilians.

Even if my combat capability was just a one-trick final finish, I was a hero who took down a high-ranking executive of DRR that day.

Let’s not be too swayed by the criticisms of those who don’t know my situation.

“Secretary Hwang, tell the PR team to contact ‘Hama Studio’ for outsourced content production. I heard they have a talented director.”

“Ah! Yes, I understand.”

I gave the content creation order I had thought of earlier.

‘Hama Studio’ is the place where you can acquire the leading NPC director for domestic promotional materials, ‘Director Hwang In-wook’.

It’ll take some time to complete the chain quests, but there’s no reason not to get in touch.

‘I hope they do a good job.’

The PR team leader seemed competent enough during the strategy meeting. I trust they’ll collaborate well, effectively, and creatively with Hama Studio.

“I’ll take my leave now!”

Secretary Hwang left cheerfully.

It seemed like she also felt the clan was stabilizing.

– Sip.

–

I refreshed my throat with a sip of iced Americano and skimmed through the next file—the mission request list from the support team.

As I scanned the A4 paper, a holographic ‘Mission Window’ appeared. The difficulty level started at ‘Hard,’ and accordingly, the mission fees had increased exponentially.

The inflated reputation has kicked in.

‘In just one day, it’s come to this.’

The clients seem to expect me to perform like an S-grade hero.

The pressure was enormous.

I’m still an awkward newcomer trying to adapt to this world, and I can only rely on my teammates in combat.

Due to these circumstances, I had to reject most of the missions on the list. I can’t take on high-difficulty missions if I don’t meet the specs.

‘Hold on, what’s this?’

… I thought as I scrolled through the pages.

A mission caught my eye.

I felt a shiver down my spine, an intuition telling me I couldn’t just pass it by.

The details were as follows:

〈Mission – Evil Spirit Extermination〉

▷ Difficulty: Very Hard

▷ Content: High school students in the Seoul area are going missing periodically. Among the students, rumors are circulating that it’s due to a ghost’s ‘curse’, while the police consider it the work of a villain. Uncover the truth behind this mysterious case and eliminate the perpetrator.

▷ Service Fee: None

▷ Reward: 500 points

At first glance, it seemed like nothing special.

The service fee was none, but this was a mission that had long ago been engraved in my mind.

“That’s right.”

The Rift boss.

The first monster, or rather, evil spirit, to drop the Hidden Piece.

I had missed out on it forever due to not knowing the Hidden Piece was limited.

“This is a must.”

I immediately instructed the support team to accept the mission.

The request came from the police.

Despite their persistent investigations, they couldn’t solve the case and sought help from multiple hero clans.

One of those was the Harmony Clan.

There was a note at the bottom of the request form that other small to medium-sized clans had taken the mission but later gave it up.

It was to be expected if the perpetrator was a newly emerged evil spirit.

The next day.

The case files transferred from the police were placed on my desk.

Public opinion was still continuously reproducing issues regarding my identity and combat power, but I, fixated on the ‘Hidden Piece’, prioritized completing the evil spirit extermination mission.

After scanning through the documents just once, it felt as if screenshots were neatly stored in my mind.

I fully understood the content by the morning of the day I received the case.

‘If I connect what I remember with this…’

There were only two things I could recall related to the first Hidden Piece.

First, the Rift boss appears at schools.

Second, the Rift boss is an evil spirit.

I applied this to the case.

All the missing students had recently transferred schools.

A hypothesis immediately came to mind.

‘The transferred students did something wrong at their previous schools, and they’re each disappearing because they’re cursed.’

It was also in the mission window.

Among the students, there were rumors that these incidents were happening due to a ghost’s ‘curse’.

Given the circumstances, the probability that this was true was very high.

[We’ve found something peculiar. There’s a student who transferred two months ago whose personal details match what you’ve mentioned… And then the next day.]

I received a call from the support team sent to investigate a few high schools that were suspected to be the next appearance sites of the Rift boss. They had discovered an important clue.

“Good work.”

Based on that clue, I solved the puzzle in just 30 minutes.

I estimated the pattern of the Rift boss and designed a strategy, preparing ample battle items.

With the Corrupted Necklace and the Ring of Regeneration, my battle gauge was also charged to 100%.

So, I’ve completed all the preparations, at least personally.

‘What’s left are the team members.’