Chapter 67 Consensus


    Virtual Reality Arcadia''s appearance quickly took root in the world.


    [Next news. It is said that the number of concurrent users of the popr virtual reality game Arcadia has exceeded 100 million. Some say that the total number of subscribers has exceeded 1 billion. This figure is expected to increase over time.]


    Unprecedented rapid growth. Arcadia Co., Ltd. is apany that has been in service for less than a year since it started the overall service, but already has a status as a multinationalpany that no one can deny. That is why thispany, located along the main street of Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul, was an object of envy for young people who dreamed of getting a job.


    “Yes sir. After purchasing the capsule, our engineer will visit and install it in person.....” “


    If there was a bug in the game, you should apply online, not here by phone.....”


    “A n...? That must have been knocked over... Yes. I will check again.”


    “The report on item performance readjustment must have been written by this assistant manager the other day...”


    Of course, after getting the job, there were a lot of people who were exhausted from the massive amount of work that was pouring in every day, but still, they were more concerned with performance than any otherpany. It was also a ce wherepensation was guaranteed hotly.


    “Phew.... Thispany doesn''t give me a chance to breathe.”


    The employees who ran really crazy until thepany called Arcadia was established and started full-scale service. But even so, the daily pouring in of work was telling us that virtual reality services were still far from settling down on the right track.


    “When one project ends, another project emerges. What do you do when you''re obsessed with it? If a previously nned project goes wrong, you have to deal with it separately ande up with preventive measures in the future... They say that nothing is ever done?”


    Assistant Manager Lee Hyun-soo, who was in charge of nning and developing the quest scenario. He expressed the dissatisfaction he had in his heart to assistant manager Choi Min-sik, who was his motivation for joining thepany.


    “The main scenario line and main NPCs are selected and the story is made up, but what kind of quest line is twisted because of the user? No, is that so easy to say?”


    It is not just a single quest, but a story in which hundreds of characters and quests are borately connected. However, he was asked to reexamine all of them, not just some of them, and he felt anger beyond discouragement.


    “Huh... what can I do... If I''m going to peel it from above, I''m going to peel it.”


    “No, the same goes for the bnce team, right? How much did you guys go through when the slime incident happenedst time? Isn''t it really strange how thispany works? You have to keep the line in moderation to some extent, it’s too user-centered.”


    Infinite freedom and infinite possibilities.


    Arcadia, which puts forward these two mottos, was iprehensibly taking care of the convenience of its users. The excessive inefficiency of thispany, which overturns everything when necessary, as if it did not matter how many employees were reced and prepared, was something that Assistant Manager Lee Hyun-soo could not understand no matter how positively he tried to look at it.


    “Hey, no matter how much youin, nothing will change. Let''s be honest, let''s just say thispany sucks no matter how you think about it. So what? Are you going to quit?”


    “That''s...”


    Deputy Assistant Manager Min-Sik Choi, who had been listening to Assistant Manager Hyun-Soo Lee''s muttering words, interrupted him and asked. However, Assistant Manager Lee Hyun-seok can''t easily answer that question. Assistant Manager Choi Min-sik said while looking at the situation.


    “Is there a saying that this life is better even if you roll in dog shit? No matter how fucked up thispany is, whoever holds on is the winner. You know how ridiculous the welfare benefits here are.”


    Ajin Electronics. Silicoff. Argus.


    Arcadia Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between these three conglomerates.


    Thispany, which has users easily exceeding 100 million units, was earning an astronomical amount of cash on a monthly basis from usage fees. A monster-likepany that continues to grow with each passing day, instead of stopping, elerating.


    As if to show off such enormous wealth, the basic welfare benefits provided to thepany''s employees were jaw-dropping.


    Family health insurance that covers all illnesses and injuries. A sry that is more than three times the industry average. In addition, lifetime free support for government officials ording to rank and educational support for 100% of their children''s college tuition were ying the role of shackles that made them never want to leave once they entered thepany.


    “In addition... the rice here is also really delicious.”


    Especially free lunch and dinner served at a hotel buffet level that no one will ever rave about. That was one of thepany''s strengths that even Assistant Manager Lee Hyun-soo could not deny.


    “Ha... that''s right.....”


    Assistant Manager Lee Hyeon-soo sighed at Choi Min-shik''s words and drank the coffee in his hand. However, the bitter aftertaste hidden in the sweet coffee seemed to be felt more strongly today.


    * * *


    Department of Virtual Reality Engineering at Seomin University.


    The department was created with the goal of cultivating talented people who will lead the virtual reality industry for the first time in the world. The students of this department, who had changed their signboard by saying that they wouldpletely overhaul theputer science department, were suffering greatly from each ss and assignment due to Professor Kim Tae-hun, who is famous for being an entric.


    “Aww! No, why the hell did you run this ss so hard from the first semester?”


    “Hey, did you do the assignment the professor gave you?”


    “Reading papers written in the originalnguage and writing reports? Are you crazy! How do you do that!”


    Papers on virtual reality technology are pouring in every day. In addition, the lecture of Professor Kim Tae-hoon, who gives assignments every day to read and read only thetest papers written in English, frustrated countless aspirants.


    “Ha... Was this school originally like this?”


    “I don’t know... I want to stop...”


    Those who were not particrly interested in studying. Seomin University was actually not a school that received such good reviews. It has a reputation that I''ve heard of the name once somewhere, but that''s all, it''s a japdae in Seoul. That is why it was extremely difficult for those who came in with appropriate grades and student records to follow the curriculum of Professor Kim Tae-hoon, who was not spoiled.


    “Jae Jae-young, have you finished your assignments?”


    Jae-Kyun asks Jae-Young with a sneak peek. Jaeyoung answered his question with an expressionless expression.


    “I couldn’t. I have a lot of work these days, so I haven’t had time to do it.”


    Jaeyoung, whose dark circles havee down thickly, perhaps because he is actually tired. Seeing the tiredness on his face, Jaekyun pulled out something sweaty and sweaty.


    “ruler! take this.”


    “....what is that?”


    What he took out of the bag was none other than a thick wad of A4. And Jaekyun said with a kind smile.


    “I read about two papers that the professor asked me to see just in case. You only have to submit one anyway, so you can use the remaining one if you need it.”


    “...?”


    Jae-gyun voluntarily dedicates the assignment without being asked. At his favor, Jaeyoung looked at Jaekyun with an absurd expression.


    “Why are you giving it to me?”


    “Ugh huh? He said he didn''t do the assignment. Don''t you need this?”


    Unlike Jae-gyun, who is obsessed with grades, Jae-young does not put much importance on grades. That''s why he didn''t want to do something shameless, such as taking an assignment written by Jaekyun and submitting it only by changing the name.


    “I don’t want to earn grades while doing that. Anyway, it doesn''t matter as long as the grades are moderate. I didn''t do it anyway except for you and a few girls.”


    In fact, only a handful of people havepleted the task perfectly, and the rest have not done the task at almost twice the level. No matter how much I think about the fact that I can''t say anything about them, Professor Kim Tae-hoon''s assignments that he pours out every week boasted a realistically impossible level of volume and difficulty.


    Papers boasting the level of difficulty that a graduate student aiming for a doctorate degree, not a first-year undergraduate student, can touch. On the contrary, Jaeyoung couldn''t understand Jaekyun, who had prepared a task for himself, not enough to actually do such a task.


    “If that''s what you mean, then I understand.....”


    Jae-kyun puts the assignment back into his bag with a slightly sullen expression at Jae-young''s resolute refusal. And he looked at Jaeyoung slightly and asked.


    “Um... Jaeyoung, there’s an event in Arcadia this time.”


    The only person who knows that Jaeyoung is Dex. In response to Jae-young''s request to keep it aplete secret, he did not bring up the story of Arcadia even in normal times, but this time, as if he couldn''t hold back his curiosity, he looked at the people sitting around the extension and carefully brought up the story.


    “That...is that you?”


    Jae-kyun wanted to make sure that Dex''s impersonation or someone else had done it. In response to his question, Jaejoong nodded quietly.


    “Wow... Awesome...”


    Jaekyun eximed with bright eyes at Jaeyoung’s poet. His eyes were full of respect, as if looking at an object of envy.


    “...Don’t look at me with those eyes. It''s burdensome.”


    “Yes....! sorry. It''s so strange that such a huge celebrity is someone I know...”


    Jae-kyun hurriedly averts his gaze, trembling at Jae-young''s words. Even after that, he couldn''t hold back his curiosity and continued to ask Jaeyoung questions.


    “By the way... what the hell is your job to use such great skills?”


    “Are you close with Casis? They kept talking about something even while they were fighting.”


    “How did you survive the 1st and 2nd rounds other than the 3rd round? No matter how much I searched for the videos back then, I couldn’t find them.”


    Jaekyun continues to ask questions to see if he has so many questions. To his question, Jaeyoung gave him a brief answer with an annoyed yet indifferent expression.


    “ah! that''s right. You took a bamboo spear as your final reward. Did you really get that?”


    While everyone was watching, Jae-young received a bamboo spear from the goblin. As a result, themunity was in a dizzy state with users who were in a frenzy.


    -What is that? Isn''t it a bamboo spear?


    -You''re not going to take that ability as it is, right?


    -lol. Then it''s a scam


    - One shot against any boss mob! That''s the power of the bamboo spear.


    -Can the gamepany just leave it alone? Just looking at it, I''m going to adjust my ability level.


    There was a lot of talk about whether that bamboo spear would be the strongest item in the game or just a souvenir-like item. That''s why Jaegyun also waited for Jaeyoung''s answer with a very nervous face.


    “Ah... that?”


    Jaekyun swallows his saliva and waits for the answer. Perhaps his reaction was funny, Jaeyoung waited for a while and smiled.


    “I don’t know.”


    “what....? hey! Where is that!”


    Jae-gyun protested at the nd answer, but Jae-yeong ignored his reaction.


    ‘Because it''s not good to tell people anyway...''


    Arcadia''s president directly requested a request. Jaeyoung''s method of negotiation with her was the first method.


    “great. The performance of the current item is maintained as it is, but once any object is killed, the bamboo spear that Dex-sama possesses will disappear forever.”


    [Agreement has been reached between the parties regarding the item adjustment.]


    [The item ‘Bamboo Spear'' has been changed to a one-time item.]


    [Acquire a probability of 1000000 as a reward.]


    [Completely against the malicious patch targeting the yer. Immunity will be granted.]


    [Acquire 10000 gold.]


    A huge amount of gold worth 1 billion in cash and exemption from the sniper patch targeting him. There''s even a huge amount of probabilities. He epted because these conditions were impossible to refuse, but Lee Mi-yeon, the president of thepany, handed him one more.


    “What is this....?”


    “If you have any problems, please contact me. If there is anything I can help with, I will help as much as I can.”


    She smiles as she hands over a piece of paper with a number written on it that looks like a real contact number.


    Jaejoong didn''t know at this moment. She is sitting in front of Jaeyoung.


    That he is a person with a powerful influence that cannot be ignored by any imaginable power.