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Chapter 63: Five Notes (2)
It looked like a Pause.
‘It’s not that it looks like a Pause, but that
’
It actually was a Pause.
‘Even though I’m not in a dungeon but in a neutral field
’
It wasn’t common for a ‘Pause’ to take effect during everyday life. First and foremost, this ‘Pause authority’ was known to be an extremely expensive authority, one that both Guardians and Streamers couldn’t squander. So I was surprised that a ‘Pause’ state was triggered by using such an authority.
“Senia. What’s going on?”
When I turned around, Senia was there.
‘She really
 would have become a huge success if she was a little more eloquent.’
I thought I’d become accustomed to her appearance from seeing her so many times, but no. I had never seen anyone as beautiful as Senia. The strange aura and feeling of grace she exuded didn’t feel like they were a part of the mortal world. This angel Streamer was a better fit for the word ‘beautiful’ than any other person I’d ever seen.
‘Well, it has nothing to do with me.’
I knew she was pretty, but her beauty didn’t have much to do with me. Whether my Streamer was pretty or not was no concern of mine. The reason I made a contract with Senia was because she was easy to manipulate. And of course, Senia had recognized that I was good quality content.
“Player Kim Hyukjin.”
I already knew what Senia would say. She was going to ask if I had chosen my Guardian.
‘Her channel is closed right now.’
She wasn’t streaming me to the Guardians.
‘She’s scared shitless that I might’ve chosen my Guardian already.’
I couldn’t say for sure, but there was a high chance I was the Player receiving the most attention in the beginner period. Such a Player reached level 30, which meant the time to select a Guardian had come. Of course such an event would inevitably draw a great deal of focus and interest from the Guardians.
“Have you selected a Guardian?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Of course I didn’t.
“
”
Senia’s wingtips trembled.
“
Why did you choose your Guardian without the Intermediate Administrator around?”
“I didn’t hear any notices saying the Intermediate Administrator had to be present for me to pick my Guardian.”
Senia’s face reddened a little. She looked a little mad.
‘I just wanted to see how she would react, but
’
As expected, my prediction was correct.
‘She’s mad?’
For a Streamer as stoic as her, the fact I could visibly see that she was angry meant she was extremely enraged.
“Player Kim Hyukjin is very intelligent. So why did you use a moment while I wasn’t streaming to continue Playing? And something as important as the Guardian selection?”
“
”
I felt pressure from her, a formless energy pressing me down. It felt similar to the ‘fear’ ability used by boss monsters. Right now, Senia was agitated.
“Answer me. Allow me to inform you that I may make an extreme choice depending on your answer.”
Technically speaking, Senia had no grounds to be angry. If I had chosen my Guardian at level 30, that was my natural right.
‘So for her to become that mad despite that
’
Why was she able to get angry without just cause?
‘It’s because she looks down on me.’
I had ten years of experience that others lacked. Right now, those ten years were a valuable wealth of experience you couldn’t buy with any amount of money. I knew what a great number of Intermediate Administrators thought of Players and how they treated them.
‘Well, Senia’s still on the easygoing side.’
It was only because Senia was Senia that she was able to grit out such a polite warning. A nasty-tempered Intermediate Administrator might have threatened me while throwing in f-bombs. There really were a lot of Intermediate Administrators like that.
‘In any case, it’s because she sees me as a way to make money.’
That was why she reacted like this. I didn’t dislike it. To begin with, Senia and I needed each other and were using each other. So I had to make my position more clear and define our relationship in black and white. That was what I, at this point in time, decided was necessary.
I chuckled. It was a very deliberate laugh.
“To borrow your words, I am very intelligent.”
Up until now, I had resolved many difficult situations. I also brought a conflict with another Intermediate Administrator, Neptune, to a good resolution. Senia had seen all of it from start to finish.
“But I really can’t figure out what the extreme choice you mention could be.”
“Player Kim Hyukjin and I have signed an exclusive contract. I have given up on a great deal of profit to exclusively stream you.”
“That’s because each and every action of mine is profitable for you. Don’t try to make it sound like you’ve sacrificed a lot for my sake.”
“
”
Senia, you beginner Streamer. Haah. Looking at this pretty woman who was reduced to speechlessness with a few words actually made me feel a little regret. She was such a rookie that it wouldn’t be odd for her to be eliminated from the competition between Streamers.
“And say things right. You’ve given up on a great deal of profit?”
I snorted again with an intentional sneer, as if to tell her not to say BS.
“You don’t remember your channel getting overloaded?”
“
”
“Your personal server wasn’t able to handle the sudden influx of Guardians.”
“That’s
”
“Was it because you were good at talking? Because you made things fun? Because you yourself make good content?”
No, that wasn’t it at all. The answer was already determined. It was because I was good quality content.
“You yourself know that’s not the case. You’ve experienced a flood of Guardians so intense your personal server couldn’t handle it and you’re still able to say you gave up on profit? Do you have any conscience?”
“
”
I didn’t think I would already be carrying out the ‘Intermediate Administrator Domestication’ that was still a good five years in the making. Several Rankers said that this process was absolutely necessary. If you didn’t make the hierarchy between you and your Intermediate Administrator black and white, many cases of getting dragged along at the Intermediate Administrator’s behest would occur later down the line.
‘There were a lot of cases of that, yeah.’
An Intermediate Administrator had one goal. Coins. That was their first and last goal. They weren’t all that interested in something as insignificant as a Player’s wellbeing. Their eyes were fixed only on whether a Player could make money or not. The more time went on, the more intense the streaming war between the Intermediate Administrators became, the more apparent that fact would become.
“You and I have an exclusive contract, and we’re in a business relationship. You recognize that, yes?”
“
Yes.”
Senia was still kind and pure for a Streamer. After all, there were a lot of Streamers who stubbornly shouted, “Sue me!” and refused to listen. At the very least, it was possible to talk to Senia.
“But in such a situation, you spoke like you were threatening me.”
Up until now, most beginner Players were scared of Intermediate Administrators. That was because most Intermediate Administrators were far more powerful than Players. Because Players didn’t fully understand this System, they couldn’t make real complaints to their Intermediate Administrators.
‘But not me.’
I continued with a serious expression.
“If you use coercive force on me or vent your unjustified rage on me one more time
”
I gave it right back to her.
“Keep in mind that I’m the one who might make an extreme choice.”
“
”
I put the final nail in the coffin.
“There are no Players to replace me, but there are many Intermediate Administrators who can replace you. Intermediate Administrators who would pay the huge contract violation fee for me.”
* * *
[Channel #19207 has been opened.]
Channel #19207 was the channel run by the angel Intermediate Administrator Senia, a Streamer who was focusing her attention on a single Player.
Senia spoke.
“A Pause is currently in effect. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the certain Guardian who gave me the Pause authority.”
She didn’t reveal who that ‘certain Guardian’ was.
“Player Kim Hyukjin will now begin his Guardian selection.”
Guardian selection, and the 1st advancement that would come alongside it. This was the turning point for a Player that occurred when they reached level 30.
I heard a stream of notices.
[Level increased.]
[Current level: 30]
They were all notices I knew about.
[The number of direct messages you can receive from Guardians is limited to five.]
[Choosing the Guardians that can send you a direct message.]
‘It’s
 taking a while.’
It was just a guess, but the Guardians were probably fighting tooth and nail right now in order to secure the right to send me a direct message. Basically, in order to ‘contact’ me.
[Guardian messages will be sent to you in the form of a ‘note’.]
[A note has arrived.]
[A note has arrived.]
[A note has arrived.]
[A note has arrived.]
[A note has arrived.]
Hyukjin trembled unconsciously.
‘I immediately got five notes.’
Could this really be called luck?
‘No. This is absolutely not luck.’
Luck alone could not produce such a result. It was hard work in addition to luck, with a heaping spoonful of talent on top. By now, I was sure of it. I had enough talent to make the average genius look like an ordinary Joe. I just didn’t know how long this talent would last, or what my limit of growth was.
‘Five.’
The past me wouldn’t have even imagined this would happen.
‘There are plenty of Players who can’t even get contacted by one Guardian.’
But I received a whopping five messages.
‘From what I know
’
I combed through my memories. It wasn’t a topic my civil service studying had covered thoroughly. You couldn’t know how many contacts a Player received unless they revealed it themselves, so it was hard to tell exactly.
‘But from what is known, four was the highest.’
There hadn’t been any Players—at least from what I knew—who had received notes from five Guardians.
‘Check the notes.’
I checked the names of the Guardians who won the battle and were able to send notes to me.
[A note from the ‘True Master of the Heavenly Demonic Mountain’ has arrived.]
[A note from the ‘Herdsman of Las Vegas’ has arrived.]
[A note from the ‘Lady of the Scales’ has arrived.]
[A note from the ‘Whispering Devil’ has arrived.]
[A note from the ‘Merchant of Venice’ has arrived.]
Two Guardians who were very famous in the Korean server, one who was extremely famous in the Italian server, and one who was immensely famous in the US server. And then, there was one Guardian even I didn’t know that much about.
‘Five?’
But it was a little unexpected.
‘It’s a little weird.’
The Guardian I had been expecting didn’t send a message.
‘This choice
 wasn’t in the picture I was drawing.’
I didn’t think that Guardian would be eliminated from the competition. The Guardian I was thinking about was none other than the ‘Nameless Observer’.
‘Did the Nameless Observer
 not choose me?’
That could be the case. Because if the Nameless Observer didn’t choose me, I wouldn’t be able to hear the notice about it.
‘For now
 let’s check the messages one by one.’
They were all famous Guardians. I was confident that no matter who I chose, I had a promising future ahead of me.
‘As long as I’m not an early bloomer.’
It all hinged on me being a ‘true genius’ with no early growth limit. After reading the notes, I thought long and hard. I thought over and over about which of the five Guardians who had sent messages to me I would choose.
After a long period of time, Senia asked, “Which Guardian will you set as your contracted Guardian?”
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