Clunk!
With a loud noise, a man emerged from a capsule. He immediately opened the door and stepped outside.
"Hyung! Hyung! I just saw someone amazing!"
He shouted excitedly at the man sitting on the living room sofa, watching TV.
"Jaehyuk, calm down first and then tell me what happened."
The man watching TV was Kim Jaehyuk, better known by his alias Magus, a pro gamer. He calmed down Jaehyuk, the team's youngest member, who sometimes tended to get carried away—a situation the manager had grown very familiar with.
"Jaehyuk, what exactly did you see to get this excited?"
The manager asked calmly, and Jaehyuk took a deep breath before explaining the situation.
"I'm going to be a commentator for the Battle Hill tournament that Quazijik is hosting."
"Right?"
"I thought I needed a solid understanding of the game to commentate, so I just played a regular match."
"So, that's when you encountered someone who made you this excited?"
"Yes."
Hearing Jaehyuk's answer, the manager silently tried to guess who it might be.
'A famous streamer? Or maybe a pro gamer hopeful?'
Jaehyuk was part of GG's top-tier team, arguably at the peak of battle survival games. If someone could excite him this much, they had to be incredible. The manager, curious, asked what the player's nickname was.
"Uh, Pil…Gong? Probably read as Pilgong in Korean."
"What?"
The manager couldn't believe his ears. The nickname was too familiar.
'But that person only plays PC games…'
While the manager was lost in thought, Jaehyuk excitedly recounted what had happened earlier. The manager didn't fully listen, but internally he decided:
'If it really is him… we have to recruit him.'
Clenching his fists, the manager refocused.
"So, anyway—"
"Jaehyuk, that's enough excitement for now. Have you finished your practice quota today?"
"Ah, not yet."
"Then we don't have time to chat here, do we?"
At the manager's words, Jaehyuk quickly shut his mouth and hurried back to his room. Watching him go, the manager smiled. Jaehyuk brushed his arm across his desk as he entered.
Once Jaehyuk's door closed, the manager launched Quazijik on his phone. Normally, he only used it to monitor the team's streams, but in the past, he had watched broadcasts whenever he had free time. Since becoming the manager of GG's top-tier team, he hadn't watched anything beyond monitoring.
'My old ID and password should still work…'
He typed in the faintly remembered credentials and, luckily, logged in immediately. His old account had a lot of followed streamers, but he didn't touch any of them. Instead, he typed the nickname Jaehyuk had mentioned into the search bar.
'I must've unfollowed them after I stopped watching the streams.'
He thought they'd never return—but, regrettably, they had.
"They're still active…"
Feeling a twinge of nostalgia, the manager clicked on the broadcast icon. A yellow message immediately appeared in the chat:
―Manager 'Hallasan Cheonji' has entered.
[1st Place]
"Wow, that was close."
I exhaled in relief at the message. If I had made even the slightest mistake back there, I would have died.
―Wow, they actually won this
―Honestly, that last part was pure luck
―How did it play out exactly like that?
―Battle Hill isn't a skillless game, it's a luck-based crap game lolol
The viewers were right—my last move was mostly luck. Either Magus or I could have won. But fate sided with me, letting me claim first place.
"Bullet time."
At those words, Magus's hands moved in an instant. In less than a second, he had reloaded. Normally, it would make sense to retreat, but I charged at him anyway.
'If I put distance between us, I'll die from his shots.'
Even if his accuracy wasn't perfect, Magus had consistently aimed at me. Creating distance now would have guaranteed my defeat.
So I attacked. Whether my strike or Magus's would hit first was purely down to luck.
Bang! Crack!
Magus's attack came first. But he made a critical mistake—he shot the arm that was attacking him, not my head or body. Normally, losing both arms would accumulate damage and kill me, but I wasn't in a normal state—I was a werewolf.
Some of the health I had previously gained was still active, allowing me to withstand Magus's attack. Seeing me endure it, Magus hastily cocked the revolver for the next shot. But this time, I was faster.
Crack!
Even after losing my arms, I propelled myself forward, thrusting my head toward him. I bit Magus. My head, now in a wolf form, was strengthened just like my arms. Trusting my jaw strength, I bit down and won.
[1 survivor has been hunted.]
[0 survivors remaining.]
[All survivors have been hunted.]
[Eternal night falls.]
[The werewolf wins.]
"Argh!"
Along with the message, my body moved naturally. I lifted my head and howled like a wolf. My first-person view shifted to third-person, zooming out. The screen darkened, and a yellow message appeared:
[1st Place]
[You are the winner!]
That was what had just happened. Either of us could have won, but I likely succeeded because Magus didn't anticipate an attack from my head.
I was probably sweating more than I realized from concentrating so much at the end.
"I'll head back to the lobby."
I wasn't sure if I could continue streaming in this condition. I'd only been broadcasting for three hours, with just over an hour spent on Battle Hill.
'But at least the ending scene should satisfy viewers.'
It had satisfied me too. Checking the chat to see if it was time to end the broadcast, a familiar yellow message appeared:
―Manager 'Hallasan Cheonji' has entered.
―Long time no see
Hallasan Cheonji was a viewer I remembered. They had watched my broadcasts religiously until right after the capsule's release, and I had given them manager privileges.
'They said they got a job and couldn't watch streams anymore…'
After donating a huge amount, they never returned—so I had filed them away in my memory.
"Long time no see, Hallasan Cheonji."
―Who's that?
―Wow, a named viewer shows up after ages
―Hallasan isn't Cheonji, it's Baengnokdam, right? A kid?
―Wow! A viewer remembered by the host, legendary!
The chat erupted at my direct mention of their nickname. I ignored the excitement and focused on Hallasan Cheonji's messages.
―Haha! I didn't expect to stand out like this and log in. I completely forgot about being a manager lol
Hallasan Cheonji's chat was unusually gentle, though not quite their original tone.
'Did getting a job change them?'
Then, a donation popped up instead of a chat message:
['Hallasan Cheonji' donated 10,000 won]
[Could you please check your PM?]
They had donated a generous amount just to ask me to check a message. From that, I already had a sense of what this was about.
'Business-related, then.'
I didn't know what company Hallasan Cheonji had joined, but this suggested they were here for business, not just to watch. Years of broadcasting experience told me that much.
"I'll check it right after the broadcast ends."
I said that and continued the broadcast. Honestly, it was just chatting a bit more before wrapping up.
"Alright, that's it for today's broadcast. Pilba!"
―Pilba
―Pb
―See you later
―Bye
As viewers saw me off, I ended the broadcast. Exiting the capsule, I wiped sweat from my forehead.
"What a mess…"
I was drenched in sweat, hair messy, looking worse than someone who'd just finished a heavy workout. The capsule's internal cleaning function had already started working.
"Why did I sweat so much?"
Turning my head, I saw the reason immediately.
"The AC broke in summer?"
The air conditioner, working fine before the broadcast, now displayed an error. On top of that, the air purifier was acting up too.
"This is insane."
I muttered, opened the window, showered, and felt the sticky discomfort vanish.
Grabbing a drink from the fridge, I sat at my computer and checked the message Hallasan Cheonji had mentioned.
"Huh? What's this?"
The more I read, the more my face twisted. I wasn't sure if the message was real or why it was sent to me.
'Should I meet them?'
A longtime fan, unlikely to prank me. After considering for a moment, I replied via the email listed in the message.
Meanwhile, after Pilgong ended the broadcast, GG's manager anxiously refreshed his inbox.
Normally, the impatient party loses in such situations, but waiting for a business-related reply from a long-time favorite streamer naturally made him nervous.
"Manager, why are you so fidgety?"
While waiting in the living room, GG's captain, Bang Juhyeon, opened the door.
"Ah, I'm waiting for an email reply."
"An email? Is it someone that important to make you this nervous?"
Bang Juhyeon looked at the manager in awe. The manager hesitated, then answered truthfully—minus the fact that he was a fan and nervous.
"PILGONG? You're trying to recruit him to our team?!"
"You know him?"
"He's been watching our broadcasts even after the capsule launched. Recently, he only watched the replays because of schedule conflicts."
Bang Juhyeon's words surprised the manager. During the decline of PC gaming, Pilgong had fallen from grace, and he never imagined someone had kept track of him.
"So, what exactly did he propose?"
"Huh? Isn't it obvious?"
The manager smiled knowingly.
"To coach."