Chapter 14
[Shinhwa Distribution Appoints New CEO]
The article about Shinhwa Distribution was brief.
It simply announced the appointment of a new CEO.
Although it was technically called a major corporation, Shinhwa Distribution wasn’t particularly well-known to begin with, so people didn’t pay much attention.
And just like that, Choi In-gyun became the president of Shinhwa Distribution. He couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“I never imagined I’d become the CEO of an affiliate this easily… I really owe this to my son.”
“This is only the beginning,” Shin-hyuk replied. “Shinhwa Distribution, despite the name, lacks both recognition and profit.”
“You’re right. Even if you bring in good products, if the person handling distribution isn’t competent, people will hesitate. Until you grow stronger, I’ll make sure to build a solid foundation here.”
“Yes, Father. I’ll be counting on you.”
But In-gyun didn’t take the opportunity his son created for granted.
Instead, he resolved to turn a company that was practically nothing without the Shinhwa name into a true success—purely to be of help to Shin-hyuk.
Clenching his fists with fiery determination, In-gyun radiated enthusiasm. Shin-hyuk smiled at him before standing up.
“Going somewhere?” his father asked.
“I’m going to start getting serious about Dimension Arena again. Now that Se-jin’s matter is wrapped up, it’s time to return to my main job.”
“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen you log in since the placement test.”
“Real-world matters are important, but Dimension Arena is what really counts.”
Shin-hyuk had been too busy dealing with real-life affairs—especially matters related to Se-jin—to even log into the game.
But now that the major issues were settled, it was time to return.
In-gyun patted his son on the shoulder encouragingly before putting on his glasses and diving into his new work as CEO of Shinhwa Distribution.
‘It suits him,’ Shin-hyuk thought with a small smile. ‘Like it was always his place.’
Seeing his father already exude the presence of a veteran executive, Shin-hyuk returned to his room and checked his status.
“Status window.”
[Status Window]
Name: Choi Shin-hyuk
Class: All Master
(Stats)
Strength: 49 (+43)
Stamina: 47 (+43)
Intelligence: 47 (+43)
Mana: 47 (+43)
Divine Power: 1 (+43)
(Traits)
Versatility
Devour
(Skills)
Necromancy [C], Martial Arts [E], Shield, Comprehensive Weapon Mastery [D], Tracking [E], Metallurgy [D]
“With this much, I could even hold my own in Gold tier.”
For a player, the most important things were stats, traits, and skills.
But in the end, how well you used them determined everything. To some, they were pearls before swine. To others, they were like a mere stick in the hands of a swordmaster.
Shin-hyuk was firmly in the latter category.
With all the experience of his previous life, he was confident he could achieve far more than his current specs suggested.
Thanks to his equipment, his stats were nearly approaching 100.
“My armor and sword are solid, too.”
After finishing his final equipment check, Shin-hyuk went to bed, eager for the serious Dimension Arena grind starting tomorrow.
* * *
The next morning.
Shin-hyuk woke up early, enjoyed the breakfast his mother prepared, took a quick shower, and equipped his gear.
A normal-grade but growth-type Absorption Armor.
And the unique-grade “Well-Crafted Holy Sword of Bang Se-jin.”
With both equipped, he could feel his stats surging close to their former peak.
He logged into Dimension Arena.
[Welcome to Dimension Arena.]
[Matching an opponent suited to your tier and MMR.]
Watching the familiar translucent system messages, Shin-hyuk began planning his next steps.
‘First thing I need to do is start broadcasting.’
More specifically—Dimension Broadcasting, connected directly to Dimension Arena.
D.B.C for short.
Although broadcasting openly conflicted with the typical player instinct to hide as much as possible, there was a very good reason most players did it.
“Achievement Shop.”
[Welcome to the Achievement Shop!]
[Current Achievement Points: 7,000]
Achievements:
Survive to 1st Place: 1,000 points
Most Kills Achieved: 1,000 points
Perfect Play Achieved: 5,000 points
“Those placement test achievements were pretty sweet.”
Considering ordinary achievements usually gave only 10 to 100 points, this was an incredible haul.
And the shop offered the following categories:
[{Class}, {Traits}, {Equipment}, {Gacha}, {Miscellaneous}]
“The most important one is Class.”
Inside the Class tab:
Class Enhancement Ticket [Normal]: 1,000P
Class Growth Ticket [Normal]: 10,000P
“Normal grade sure is cheap.”
However…
Class Enhancement Ticket [Unique]: 5,000,000P
Class Growth Ticket [Unique]: 50,000,000P
“Seriously… are they telling me not to buy these at all?”
To enhance or grow his Unique-grade All Master class required astronomical points.
With a bitter smile, Shin-hyuk closed the shop.
The Trait section was similarly expensive, his equipment was already perfect, the Gacha section was pure gambling, and the Miscellaneous tab didn’t offer anything he needed.
Right then—
[Matching Complete.]
[The game will now begin.]
“Finally.”
The match began, and Shin-hyuk vanished from the waiting room.
* * *
[Theme: Defense]
[Type: Demi-Humans]
“Defense theme with demi-human type… not bad.”
Shin-hyuk appeared inside a crumbling fortress.
Defense meant protecting the stronghold from waves of enemies.
Compared to monsters or undead, demi-humans were preferable—at least in his opinion.
“Damn it, why demi-humans?!”
“They look too human… it feels wrong killing them!”
Many players groaned in discomfort.
But Shin-hyuk was unfazed.
‘Most of the New Human Empire bastards were demi-humans anyway. Good practice.’
He drew Bang Se-jin’s Holy Sword.
The blade shone brilliantly.
“Whoa, look at that gear.”
“That armor’s plain, but the sword is insane.”
Soon, others recognized him.
“Isn’t that Choi Shin-hyuk?”
“Looks like he got proper backing now.”
As Korea’s first Silver 1 placement player, Shin-hyuk was already a hot topic.
Ignoring the attention, he muttered:
“Broadcast start.”
A translucent stream window appeared.
First!
I smell newbie vibes.
Thought you’d stream right after placements lol
Looks like defense theme
LOL the newbie grinder map
Thanks to his fame, viewers flooded in immediately.
[Achievement: 100 Viewers Reached – 5P]
“Hello everyone. I’m Choi Shin-hyuk.”
Damn he’s handsome
Rich, talented, good-looking… what DON’T you have?
He doesn’t have me, Kim Chang-gi
No one wants you lol
He explained the situation calmly.
“First game since placements. Luckily, it’s Defense theme. Type is demi-humans.”
Wait WHAT?
You call that lucky?!
Defense is a newbie killer map!
Shin-hyuk only smiled.
“Defense consists of five waves. In Bronze-Silver, clearing two waves is considered good.”
Then he dropped a bomb.
“So here’s a question. How many waves do you think I’ll survive?”
Chat went wild.
Probably 3
Nah 2 at most
Depends on teammates
“And for those who guess correctly, I’ll raffle off three brand-new Shinhwa Motors S5 cars.”
…WHAT
That’s like 50 million won each
Dude just dropped 150 million on a quiz
Viewer count exploded.
[Achievement: 1,000 Viewers – 50P]
[Achievement: 5,000 Viewers – 250P]
Shin-hyuk’s real “flex broadcast” had only just begun—but the viewers had no idea what was coming next.
