Chapter 45 …
When he looked at them, he wasn’t sure whether he should say his friends were impressively consistent… or just hopelessly the same as ever.
After casually ignoring them, Dohyun finished cooking the stew and even set the table.
He took a light spoonful. The perfectly balanced saltiness and the rich scent of doenjang spread through his mouth.
As expected, his mother’s doenjang jjigae was incredible.
He finished a whole bowl in an instant and then flopped down onto the sofa.
The TV was showing a familiar scene.
Dohyun wasn’t someone who knew much about dramas or variety shows, but this time, it was a channel that was more his specialty than anyone else’s.
“Hey, what’s this? God of Age? You play God of Age too?”
“Who doesn’t play it these days?”
“Huh? Seriously?”
“Yeah. My level’s pretty high too. I’m 71.”
“…What?”
That genuinely shocked him.
Someone who never even glanced at games was playing God of Age? And her level was way higher than his?
“Level 71? You must’ve played a lot. You’re not usually into this stuff.”
“About six months? A friend said they’d bus me through some stuff, so I tried it. It was more fun than I expected, so I kept playing.”
“Hmm. Does it normally take half a year?”
“How would I know? I don’t dump ten hours a day into it like someone.”
“……”
Dohyun shut his mouth.
Well… she wasn’t wrong.
Spending even ten hours and still wondering how to use the time more efficiently—that was abnormal.
Most people just played casually. Especially when becoming a ranker was already out of reach.
I have fun playing like this though.
Dohyun found people like that fascinating, but if he said that out loud, Hyuna would definitely wrinkle her nose and say, “Ugh, you smell like a gaming addict.”
Choosing wisdom over pride, he kept quiet and just watched TV.
—Today’s God of Age Broadcast~! The news we have today is incredibly hot!
The God of Age Broadcast.
It had quickly established itself after the game’s rise, and thanks to fast investment, it had become the most popular program delivering God of Age news.
One of the reasons for its popularity was the great chemistry between MC Jin Hyunmo and Jang Yena.
The two were chattering away enthusiastically as usual.
—It’s not another Top 10 Guild raid story again, right? Viewers are already complaining that it’s “another house raid episode.”
—Haha, I’d love to meet expectations, but unfortunately, today’s news is different! It is guild-related—but not a Top 10 guild. It’s about the Hero Guild!
—Hero Guild? Oh, I know them. Aren’t they super famous?
—You don’t just know them because the guild master’s handsome, right?
—Ahem! No? Well, he is my type, but… I, Jang Yena, know how to separate business and pleasure!
“Huh?”
A familiar guild name made Dohyun mutter without thinking.
“Hero Guild?”
“Huh? What, you know the Hero Guild too?”
“Well… yeah. I know them.”
Hyuna stared at him with a strange look. Then, without warning, she straightened her posture, lowered her voice, and began speaking solemnly.
“Guilds are for the weak. People like that aren’t even worth remembering.”
“…?”
“Where did that guy go? It wasn’t even middle school syndrome—it was worse. I almost died from secondhand embarrassment. You came back from the army and suddenly became normal.”
“…Ah.”
Dohyun tilted his head, then a memory suddenly surfaced.
When he was eighteen—when his middle school syndrome hit late and turned into “high school syndrome.” Back then, when Hyuna asked about Demrock with mild curiosity, he had answered like that out of annoyance.
He’d thought it sounded cool at the time.
Looking back now… it was pure black history.
“Talking about living life as a lone wolf and all that… Every time you said stuff like that, I got goosebumps. I kept thinking games were ruining you.”
“Did I? I don’t remember.”
“I was too scared my friends would see you like that, so I never brought them over.”
…Now he understood why she hadn’t introduced him to her friends.
Even he would’ve been scared.
Though he sounded insane, he did have his reasons.
At the time, Dohyun was rising quickly thanks to his excellent control skills. The better he got, the more players approached him.
Some just wanted to be friendly.
But many more wanted to stab him in the back.
So whenever he saw other players, he instinctively became wary.
When it came to guilds, I was sick of them.
Eventually, entire guilds would pick fights with him.
Anytime something happened, they’d brag about what guild they were from, which officer they knew…
Then they’d bring their guild members along—just like neighborhood thugs calling in their big brothers after getting hit once.
Considering he started as a minor and had to face all that, it wasn’t strange that he developed a cynical view.
…He tried to console himself like that, but it was still black history.
“Ahem. Anyway, I guess the Hero Guild is famous? If they’re on TV.”
He avoided her gaze and pretended ignorance.
After glaring at him for a moment, Hyuna sighed and looked back at the screen. She seemed willing to let it go.
“These days, the Hero Guild is trending among people in their twenties. In terms of popularity, they’re almost on par with Melsal.”
“Really? Why? They’re not even a Top 10 guild.”
“They focus on punishing toxic players… and their concept of becoming heroes is appealing. The average age of their members is young too. And most importantly, the guild master is handsome.”
“…Ah.”
So it came down to looks after all.
They had all the trendy qualities young people liked, but he was sure that last reason played the biggest role.
“Guys seem to prefer Melsal, but most girls like the Hero Guild.”
“I see… that makes sense.”
In short, Melsal fired up the guys, while the Hero Guild master made the girls swoon.
He answered casually, but he understood.
—There are hardly any players who don’t know the Hero Guild. Among large guilds, they’re at the top tier and one of the few challenging the wild dominance of the Top 10 Guilds.
—They’re almost top-tier in PvP and assassination, right? I heard they’re comparable to the Top 10 in that field.
—Yes. From the start, the Hero Guild built its reputation by punishing villains.
—That’s part of it, but honestly, Guild Master Verje is just incredibly handsome. Even guys could fall for him.
On screen, Verje appeared in a short hunting clip.
How should he describe it? Like a beautiful young nobleman.
He’d heard Verje was Korean, but his character customization made his hair and eye color look foreign. He resembled a romantic fantasy aristocrat.
“Isn’t he kind of… too pretty?”
“That’s called ‘handsome-pretty.’ Girls go crazy for that kind of face.”
“……”
Handsome was handsome, pretty was pretty. What was “handsome-pretty”?
Trying to understand would only make him tired, so he let it go.
I should head to the gym.
It was a twenty-minute walk. If he left now, it’d help digest the food.
He’d eaten moderately on purpose.
Just as he started to get up—
—By the way, I heard the Hero Guild issued another execution order today?
“…Huh?”
A familiar word glued him back to the sofa.
—Ah, news travels fast. Those of you on Raven already know—there are especially many players there who enjoy bullying low-level players.
—Right, right. When I was on Raven, I got bullied so badly…
—You didn’t punish them yourself?
—I did consider it if they were handsome, but—is that important right now?
—Haha. Anyway, those bullies shamelessly tried to incite people through forum posts. The news reached the Hero Guild, and things escalated. Let’s take a look at the footage.
The screen showed interviews with players who had been victimized by Assassination Boy and his group.
“They’re complete trash. Just thinking about what they took from me still makes my blood boil.”
“I was new to the game, and they offered to help me. I was so grateful… but it was a trap. That’s how they lure beginners.”
“They reach level 24 but refuse to graduate. Why? Because they enjoy it.”
“It’s just a game, but it’s so unpleasant. Reporting them doesn’t lead to legal consequences. There’s nowhere to vent. It drives you crazy.”
Countless victims vented their anger. Reenactments showed exactly how they’d been bullied.
Then, with grand background music, the mood shifted to the Hero Guild.
Soon, five heroes appeared on screen.
More precisely, five heroes—and Assassination Boy’s group.
Compared to the last time he saw them, their equipment looked pitiful.
They were being slaughtered again and again by the Hero Guild.
“Wow, that’s satisfying. There must be so many trash players like that.”
“That’s just how games are.”
With dramatic editing, it created a strong sense of catharsis.
A handsome-pretty guy punishing villains?
Of course he’d have fans.
If this aired on public broadcast, some might feel uncomfortable. But most viewers of the God of Age Broadcast were young, so they found it refreshing.
“Are all games like that?”
“The ones I’ve played were.”
He’d only played Demrock—famous for its toxicity—and God of Age, but still.
This was why people should live kindly.
If you live badly, you end up getting punished on live broadcast like them.
Hyuna nodded thoughtfully.
“Maybe that’s why ‘punishment’ videos are popular on NewTube these days.”
“NewTube?”
“Yeah. There are tons of videos like ‘We pranked bullies,’ ‘We pretended to be newbies to lure PKers,’ that kind of stuff. Oh, you might not know since you just got discharged. These days, NewTube is basically all God of Age.”
Dohyun’s eyes sharpened.
The content sounded fresh and interesting.
But more than that, what caught his attention was that God of Age had taken over NewTube.
They did say it swallowed most cultural spaces. Makes sense it affected NewTube too.
He did watch NewTube sometimes, but only when needed.
Now that he thought about it, most videos were indeed God of Age.
There was even a huge variety—raid footage, arena fights, prank videos, song covers, fantasy building creations…
“The view counts are all over ten million?”
“Since when are you living in? Popular videos get a hundred million views.”
“…What?”
“Pretty much everyone plays God of Age now. But it’s hard to make it big. Tons of people can’t even get picked up by the algorithm.”
Every market worked on supply and demand.
Demand was high. Supply was high.
But here, supply was too high.
There were so many creators that most videos felt similar.
Naturally, only fresh or highly entertaining ones survived.
“A hundred million views… that must make a lot of money?”
“Probably. Even the Hero Guild master reportedly makes hundreds of millions of won a month from NewTube alone.”
“Hundreds… of millions?”
“People like Melsal? With all their revenue streams combined, they supposedly make a billion won a month. Totally a different world.”
“1… 1 billion…”
His head spun.
Even when he held rank one in Demrock, he’d only made around ten million won a month.
When the game declined, he’d been happy to make just one million.
Near the end, making money at all felt like a miracle.
And now they’re saying one billion…
NewTube?
Back then, he’d just been grateful anyone watched.
He’d never even dreamed of making money from it.
But the world had changed.
“1 billion…”
“Huh? Don’t tell me you’re thinking something weird again? Hey?”
“1 billion… What can you even do with that? How many McDonald’s Big Macs would that buy…?”
Hyuna looked at him suspiciously.
But Dohyun couldn’t focus on that.
That absurd number filled his mind.
For the first time in his gaming life, the existence of NewTube truly registered in his thoughts.
