“Uh, Manager!"

Knock, knock.

A cheery voice accompanied a cautious touch.

“What’s so funny?"

“Ah, Miho?"

It was Miho. She appeared in a ninja cosplay. Indeed, a ninja dressed like that would likely be remembered by any casual observer who caught a glimpse of her even in passing.

“She was laughing by herself, so I asked.”

“Ah... I saw something funny. Are you done with the booth modeling?"

“No, not yet. I just got some time to eat!"

“Ah.”

Lunch had long passed.

“You’ve been working hard."

“It’s hard work, but it’s fun. People have been taking lots of photos.

Hehe

."

Her laughing seemed genuinely heartfelt.

"Wow! What is all that?"

Miho was momentarily distracted by what Ju-Hyeok held in his hand. It was the advertising contracts he had taken out earlier to briefly count.

“You don’t mean... those are for advertisements? How many are there? You decided not to manage me because you were planning a bigger score, weren’t you!?"

Miho’s compliment made Ju-Hyeok blush.

“

Ahaha...

that rejection, that..."

Ju-Hyeok found himself unwittingly grinning. If Ji-Ah had seen him like this, she would probably have beaten him with a door twenty times. Thinking this, he suddenly regained his composure.

“

Ahem.

That’s because I don’t know much about modeling work. It's overwhelming. Yes."

“Aye~ Won’t Sang-Hyeon oppa end up modeling anyway?"

“Sorry?"

“What do you mean, sorry? Sang-Hyeon has already been an advertisement model a few times."

“That was just occasionally."

“With a style like Sang-Hyeon oppa’s, you must have a lot of offers."

“Ah. There were some."

“Because the quotes didn’t come out, right? You thought they wouldn’t help his image or they weren’t beneficial brands."

She was spot on.

"… Yes. That’s right."

“

Hehe.

I know everything~ But if it’s someone like oppa, even luxury brands could come forward if their images align."

“Is, is that so?"

“Of course, that's only possible in a mutually beneficial scenario."

Clearly, Miho knew her stuff.

“But that’s not the kind of lucrative work you like, surprisingly."

“Ah... Yes, that's right. There are other gains besides money in the long term."

‘Have I become someone who loves money? Although it’s true…’

“Yes. That’s right. Like real estate investment."

“Oh. Exactly that kind of vibe. Miho, you know a lot, don’t you?"

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“It’s my job. What about you, Manager? Have you eaten?"

Miho was in quite a good mood. Handsome and pretty people liked being praised for being smart.

“Ah, yes. I ate earlier from that Cuban sandwich truck over there. It was delicious. Hakunamatata, was it?"

“Kyaa!”

Miho suddenly made a dolphin sound.

“That one, that one, right? The one from American Chef? Is it good? How much? You lived in America before, didn’t you?"

She seemed to have a keen interest in food.

“Yes, it felt like it reproduced about 80% of what I had in the US."

The one making it, Popcorn, had been a professional in the US for a long time. He reproduced the taste quite well.

"Wow! Awesome! Thank you! I’ll suggest changing the menu to that for the oppas~."

Miho was about to hurry off.

“Ah, hold on."

“?"

“Miho... You’re still with Bubble Entertainment, right?"

“Ah. Yes, but I don’t know about the renewal yet. Why? Are you starting to prepare for my free agency?"

Miho grinned, her clothes fluttering slightly.

If Ju-Hyeok had been a bit more amateurish, he would’ve tried to offer the industry's biggest deal to her.

“Ah,

ahem.

I can’t afford Miho’s price. But…”

However, Ju-Hyeok still successfully maintained a solid defense as he inquired.

"Bubble Entertainment is a major management company in this field, isn't it?"

"Uh... Yes?"

"How does it seem to you compared to smaller companies?"

"… Ah."

Miho nodded as if she understood the intention behind the question.

"First of all, being in a large company is comfortable. They take care of everything... but there are certain numbers of ads that have to be done, which reduces a bit of freedom. The company needs to survive, right? The bigger the company, the more it needs to consume."

"Ah. I see. Freedom…"

"Yes. In return, they take good care of everything else and help create networks among streamers…"

Miho concluded with an awkward smile.

"To be honest, I’ve only been in major companies. I don't really know about others. Since it’s good, I must have stayed only in large ones. Right?"

"Ah. Yes, that's right. If you can, naturally you would go for a large company—"

"But I think a select elite group definitely has its merits too," Miho added seriously as if she read the dilemma in his mind.

"That's true."

Ju-Hyeok remained silent for a moment before nodding.

"Thank you."

"I’ll post about the sandwich on RuneStar! Like it! Please~"

"Ah, yes.

Haha.

Alright~"

Miho waved as she departed and always wore a dazzling smile.

"You. What did you just say? What’s alright? What’s alright?"

Slap!

Ju-Hyeok slapped his own forehead as he snapped back to his senses.

"That’s a trained smile like an industrial tear gas, like methamphetamine. It's like the phlegm of Satan created artificially by humans…"

While walking and replaying his imagination of getting hit by a door while descending the stairs several times, he checked the message from Sang-Hyeon again.

[Sang-Hyeon: Where are you???]

[Sang-Hyeon: Still in the meeting?]

‘Ah. I forgot to reply.’

That guy used three question marks. It seemed really urgent.

[Ju-Hyeok: I think I'm done with everything. I'm leaving.]

[Sang-Hyeon: Wow, thanks]

***

Ju-Hyeok knew that Sang-Hyeon was really uncomfortable using English. Why? Because he couldn’t speak English? No.

Sang-Hyeon couldn’t exactly be called fluent, but he spoke better than the average Korean. Then, was it because of a lack of confidence? Correct, but not exactly.

What did that mean? It wasn’t that Sang-Hyeon absolutely lacked confidence, but he particularly lacked confidence when it came to English.

Why? Because he was always compared to his colleagues in the same company, especially the bosses and staff of the trade department.

Those people spoke English better than most native speakers. Native speakers would have to be well-educated to speak better than them, so it was natural for Sang-Hyeon to feel less confident about using English in such a company.

"Look. He speaks well."

On the other hand, Sang-Hyeon would often speak English quite well if such people weren’t around. Like now.

"My friend is coming. So… we should… Oh! There!"

Sang-Hyeon waved with a very delighted expression.

"Over here!"

Ju-Hyeok wanted to watch him suffer a bit more from a distance, but unfortunately, it was cut short. He turned back briefly and, as a habit, slapped his cheek.

Slap.

He approached with a bright smile.

"Hey~"

***

"So she’s that famous lady from the old

Civil Empire

video, right?" Ju-Hyeok repeated to himself, unable to believe it.

How could this be happening? Anyway, he relayed their conversation as an interpreter.

"Jessie wants to explore more of G-Star with you, especially the

Civil Empire

booth where there’s a challenge right now."

"The

Civil Empire

challenge? Seems like it started?"

Ju-Hyeok looked at Jessie. She nodded while quickly saying something else.

"Ah. It’s a brief challenge just for the commanders. It seems she wants to watch it and talk with you."

"Why watch it together? Ask if she’s trying to dig into Korea's power level."

"Hey. Shi... How can I ask that?"

"You speak English well."

"Crazy guy. It’s not about that."

— LMAO

— LOL

— You called me here for this, walnut LOL

— LOL, this is hilarious

The viewers were dying of laughter as Ju-Hyeok sweated from Sang-Hyeon's outrageous comments.

"That's all it takes then..."

Wasn’t this also part of the stream?

"Jessie. Umm… he’s wondering why you wanna see the match with him."

"What?"

Jessie shrugged her shoulders as if she really didn’t know.

"Cuz he’s cute. And I don’t have any friends here?"

Ju-Hyeok remained silent for a moment. Being an interpreter wasn’t an easy job in many ways.

— So cute, right LOL

— Nietzsche would be rolling in his grave, damn

— LOL, even Sang-Hyeon can understand this!

— I'm already holding in my laughter, this is infuriating Almond

"So... so... she said she wants to watch with you because you’re cute. That seems to be all there is to it."

"Ah. Well, can’t help it then. Okay. Okay."

Sang-Hyeon sent an okay sign to Jessie, and she laughed.

— LOL, can't help it, huh~

— Is it because I’m cute? (for real)

— LOL

— No LOL

"And! I’d like some…" Jessie added something else.

Ju-Hyeok listened intently and conveyed it to Almond.

"She also wants to talk about

Civil Empire

with you."

"Really, to hear our strategy?"

"No, it’s not about hearing your strategy. She just wants to talk about the game in general."

"Ah..."

"Huh? Oh. By the way, she doesn’t seem to know you’re on the national team?"

"!"

— ??

— Whaat~

— LOL, she wouldn’t know, right?

— Almond's shadow boxing is killing me LOL

— LOL

The Almond she saw was just a complete novice back then. He was a better

Civil Empire

player now, but not someone she would think was on the national team.

"Should I tell her?"

"Ah... no. Not yet. She might suddenly steal our strategies."

"..."

— Today's vibe is seriously annoying LOL

— LOL, this dude’s communication security is too tight for a non-military

— Is he from the National Intelligence Service and not the national team?

— He's from the CIA, not Civil Empire. Please take down this post~

"

Phew...

Yeah, that could happen. Let’s go."

Ju-Hyeok, Jessie, and Almond headed to the

Civil Empire

booth.

***

Meanwhile, many customers were eating Cuban sandwiches in front of a table in a corner of the G-Star venue.

A man and woman were talking at a small food truck.

"What are you going to do with the prize from winning the fighting game challenge?" Popcorn asked.

Eating one hundred pizzas alone seemed a bit much.

"You don’t even stream, right? Give it to me."

"I do stream when I turn it on," Sa-Rang firmly refused.

"Huh? What? Turn on the stream and blabber that the arcade wheelchair girl is JeonJaPa. JeonJaPa is a woman~ Are you going to advertise that?"

Whoop.

His voice was louder than expected and Sa-Rang's gaze sharpened at him.

"

AHAHA…

Hey, no one can hear. They can’t. Would that be heard over all this noise?"

Chiieeeeek.

Popcorn laughed it off as he flipped the meat. After all, the area around his food truck was noisy with music too.

"Yeah. Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll let it pass~"

"Oh? Looks like you're in a good mood because you won recently. It’s in your nature to be a pro gamer~"

"No. It's not just about winning. Um..." She giggled as she whispered, "I just beat Almond."

"…?"

Popcorn was stunned. Not because it was surprising that she beat Almond.

'Does she really like it this much?'

It had been so long since Sa-Rang wore such a bright carefree expression. It was because she beat Almond in a fighting game at that.

That was the first surprise. The second was because of her nature. Well, it was well-known to him.

'Such a crazy girl. What a character...'

No, to be so happy about beating someone with a disability in a fighting game.

‘This girl is for real…’

"Did you want to play against him that bad?"

"Yeah. You sent him, right? Since he was here, I just—"

Ding~!

Suddenly, Sa-Rang's head was pushed far back and returned.

"Ah?! What, what is this!?"

"Oh dear. Dude. You're happy because you won against someone with a disabled arm in a joystick game?"

"…!"

Sa-Rang's eyes were filled with confusion.

"Ah…"

Despite her usually quick reactions, speaking took her about three seconds.

"I didn’t think about it. He always looks fine on the outside…"

"

Tsk…

Obsessed with winning, huh?"

"Uh…"

It was a rare scene. She seemed to reflect for a moment as she looked down. Then, she raised her head and began to look around. Her eyes darted in every direction.

'Uh…?'

Popcorn knew this too well. It was a necessary skill for

LIL

. The pre-symptoms of blaming others. Her skill in blaming others was as good as her gaming skills.

"No, but see…"

The initiating began.

"You said you sent him? Didn’t you also tell me to play a game with him? You shouldn’t have sent him in the first place—"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Sorry? The bathroom? Oh, you should ask about that in your DMs! I'll especially guide you!"

Popcorn dashed out.

"Hey! Where are you going!? I don’t know how to do this! I'll make it up as I go!?"

Ignoring Sa-Rang's threats, he ran all the way to the bathroom.

'Huh?'

He spotted something. Something that could divert Sa-Rang's attention.

Flap─

A huge banner rose above numerous flags.

[Memories of (pseudo) Starleague]

[Civil Empire - Commander's Duel]

'Isn't that the game Almond is playing?'

A game involving Almond. Was it possible to participate just with a keyboard and mouse?

This challenge could capture quite the interest.