The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 93: Deal (3)

When Kai sent an email expressing his desire to meet, a meeting was immediately scheduled. Pegasus wanted to meet as soon as possible, and Kai had no reason to delay either.

Do we really have to meet here, though?

With a puzzled expression, Kai checked the email again.

Pegasus had requested to meet at the Plaza of Aquaria.

Sure, city plazas are perfect as meeting places, but...

Now that he was at the plaza, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. Soon, a man approached him.

“Hello! I'm Kim Jun-Pyo, your guide for today. It’s a shame I can’t give you my business card since we’re in game. Haha!”

“Ah, hello...”

The talkative man led Kai to the outskirts of the city, making various small talk along the way.

“I really enjoy watching your videos. When will you upload again?”

“Well, I don’t have anything planned yet.”

“That’s a shame. As I mentioned in the email, I’m a huge fan.”

So you were the one who sent the email.

As Kai nodded along to his chatter, Kim Jun-Pyo stopped in front of a small two-story house.

“Please, come in.”

“Yes. Thank you... huh?!”

Expecting a narrow, old interior like Crawford’s house from before, Kai was stunned by the sight before him.

Ring, ring, ring!

“Mr. Park! Please answer the phone!”

“Rewrite these documents. Do you think this will get approval from the higher-ups?”

“Is the bug report not done yet?!”

“It is eighty percent complete!”

“Ahem. Mr. Park, should we take a lap around the hunting ground nearby during lunch? I’m not trying to get boosted or anything, so feel free to say no if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, why would I refuse? I’d be happy to accompany you, sir.”

The vast space didn’t match the exterior of the house.

People in suits sat in partitioned spaces, typing away on keyboards.

No matter how one looked at it, it was definitely a corporate office.

“Kai?” Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo loudly clasped his hands and smiled at Kai, who looked dumbfounded. “Oh, my apologies. I forgot to explain on the way here.”

Frustrated, Kai glared at him. “What do you mean...?”

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Despite talking so much on the way, he still somehow failed to mention something so important.

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo repeatedly bowed his head in apology.

“I’m really sorry. Truly, I am. I’ll explain as we go. This way, please.”

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo walked down the corridor to their left and gestured to their surroundings. “Our employees jokingly call this place the Room of Spirit and Time.”

“Don’t tell me a year here is...?”

“Oh, no, that’s too far-fetched.” Visibly horrified, Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo shivered. “Time here flows at the same speed as it does for other players, which is three times faster than reality.”

“So this place used to boost work efficiency, then?”

Kai was the one who looked horrified now. This exact issue had recently become a social problem.

With the same salary, they can make their employees work thrice as much... I thought only trashy small companies did that.

He couldn’t believe something like this was happening at Pegasus.

Noticing Kai’s uncomfortable expression, Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo hurriedly waved his hands. “Wait, stop! I know what you’re thinking, but it’s really not like that. We’re a major corporation, you know. We’re one of the top five in the world.”

What he said was true. According to the rankings published by Forbes, Pegasus Corporation had secured fourth place in the world's corporate rankings, outranking numerous companies and banks.

“As you know, this is illegal if enforced coercively, but it's not a problem if done voluntarily. We even sign a contract for this upon employment and get paid three times the normal salary. Of course, we can choose to work at the office anytime we want, but...”

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo smiled brightly.

“Working from home has its advantages, and the pay is three times higher, so some employees prefer to work here. Take me for example. There are only a few of us, though—probably just around a thousand. ”

“A thousand? This place is quite spacious, but... can it really accommodate a thousand people?”

“Oh, this is just the first floor. This building has twenty. It can probably hold three thousand people.”

Pegasus Corporation's audacity to build a skyscraper inside the game rendered Kai speechless.

Well, they are developers. It’s only natural for them to pull off feats like this.

Although other companies had set up branches within the game, they unfortunately lacked the technology to turn a two-story house into a twenty-story building. They also had to pay astronomical sums to buy in-game buildings.

So Pegasus Corporation makes money this way too. I learned something new today.

The accumulated funds would offset the losses incurred when players converted gold to cash.

“A thousand employees is actually quite small for a Pegasus branch. From minor fraud and theft to larger PK cases, tens of thousands of incidents happen in MID Online daily. The players even conduct unauthorized guild wars, a feature that hasn’t been implemented yet. Without the staff working here, MID Online would have shut down long ago. I’d bet on it.”

“Still... what if a passing player or NPC opens the front door?”

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo cheerfully laughed, then tapped the ID hanging around his neck. “That won’t be a problem. Even the interior of this building just looks like a regular house to anyone who doesn’t have this employee ID.”

The two stepped onto a teleportation magic circle.

“Twentieth floor.”

Their surroundings changed in an instant.

Noticing Kai looking at the employee ID enviously, Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo quickly hid it. “It doesn’t work outside this building, so please stop staring at it. You're scaring me.”

“That’s a shame.”

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo led Kai to the end of the twentieth-floor hallway and knocked on a door made of pure white material.

“Impressive door, isn’t it? It’s made of solid mithril. If they give me even just the handle when I retire, I won’t even need a retirement package...”

Upon hearing a polite voice from inside the room, his endless chatter finally stopped.

“Oh, he’s calling for you. This is where I take my leave. It was nice meeting you.”

Assistant Manager Kim Jun-Pyo winked. In response, Kai quickly entered the room, seemingly trying to escape from him.

The moment Kai saw the man sitting at the desk, his eyes sparkled.

... He has to be Kang Min-Gu, the branch manager of Pegasus Korea. I’ve seen him in the newspapers before.

Who would have thought that he would meet face-to-face and negotiate with someone he had only seen in the news and newspapers?

As Kai was reminiscing about the past, branch manager Kang Min-Gu walked over to him and extended his right hand.

“Nice to meet you. I am Kang Min-Gu, the branch manager of Pegasus' Korean branch office.”

“I’m Kai—Han Jung-Woo, I mean.”

“Please use whichever you prefer. I’m fine with anything.”

“I’ll go with Unknown, then.”

A strange light flickered in Kang Min-Gu's eyes, then quickly disappeared.

Kai calling himself Unknown was a warning not to forget who held the power in this negotiation.

Interesting.

Kang Min-Gu instinctively felt that Kai would be difficult to handle.

“Please, have a seat.”

Drawn by his now more polite tone, Kai sat down and said, “I don’t think there’s a need for a lengthy conversation, so if you don’t mind, shall we get straight to the point?”

“... Let’s do that.”

Only Kang Min-Gu's eyes showed his nervousness, the rest of his face emotionless.

Since becoming a branch manager, he had never had to make a concession to anyone. It had been so long since he had last dealt with someone who could push him without giving him any room.

“As I’m sure you already know, Kai—no, Unknown, I called you over because of the instance dungeon record you set.”

“If Pegasus suspects it’s a bug as well...”

“We don’t see it as one. As developers, we can verify that much. You combined the effects of Undying Will and the Magic Conch, correct?”

Kai nodded. “Yes.”

“Currently, many players are asking if it’s a bug. We feel obligated to promptly respond to their inquiries.”

Obligated, my butt. You’re probably doing this because of the shareholders.

Kai decided to play along with the obvious act. “I see. So you want my personal gameplay videos, right?”

“Yes. Of course, your demands will be positively considered in return.”

“Hmm...”

After pondering for a moment, Kai prepared to leave. “I’m calling this deal off, then.”

“What? Wait, what do you mean...?”

Kang Min-Gu’s mask shattered, revealing a bewildered expression. He hurriedly stood up and followed Kai, who had declined the deal before they could even discuss the specifics.

Kai sighed quietly. “I’m not here for you to positively consider my demands. I want you to absolutely meet them. You know what skills like Undying Will mean to us players. This is a rightful demand, not greed.”

“But our position—”

“Just as you prioritize Pegasus’ stance, I’m prioritizing mine. If our interests don’t align, I’m backing out of this deal.”

“Hmm...”

Frustration enveloped Kang Min-Gu’s face. Although he had already known that Han Jung-Woo was exceptional for his age, a part of him still underestimated the twenty-two-year-old.

I thought he’d just nod along if I sweet-talked him...

However, upon meeting him in person, he quickly learned that Kai should not be taken lightly.

Now aware that he wasn't just dealing with some ordinary kid, he bowed ninety degrees.

“I apologize for our inadequate preparation. I swear on my name that your reasonable demands will be absolutely met. Can we continue our discussion?”

Reasonable demands, huh?

Although Kai didn’t get exactly what he wanted, he did reaffirm to himself and his opponent that he held the upper hand in this negotiation.

Eventually, Kai reluctantly nodded and sat down.

“It’s disconcerting to see you bowing like that, Branch Manager. Please, take a seat.”

Kai treated Kang Min-Gu, the owner of the room, as if he were the guest!

Suppressing a bitter laugh, Kang Min-Gu quietly sat down.

“How about we start with what Pegasus has prepared in exchange for my videos?” Kai asked.

“As you wish. Initially, we prepared monetary compensation...” Reading the disinterest in Kai's eyes, Kang Min-Gu quickly changed direction. “... but we decided it would be better to provide information only our developers would know.”

“That sounds good.” Kai slightly leaned forward and smiled broadly. “Whether our deal succeeds or not will depend on the value of that information.”

“... I hope it meets your expectations.”

Kai was clearly trying to get the most out of this opportunity!

Facing Kai, who openly displayed such a predatory look, Kang Min-Gu forced a smile. “We are planning an event.”

“What kind of event?”

“MID Online has about seventy million concurrent users right now, and our total player count will soon exceed seven hundred million. We plan to hold an event to celebrate reaching seven hundred seventy-seven million seven hundred thousand users.”

“... And the information you’re giving me is about this event?”

“Yes. Depending on how you utilize this information, you can obtain items, levels, fame, and whatever else you desire to your satisfaction.”

“Hmm.”

It wasn't a bad offer. Having exclusive access to information unknown to seven hundred million users and using it to gain additional benefits was as easy as pie.

But it’s not enough. It would be too disappointing if that information was all I could get from this deal.

After all, this would likely be the last time he’d get to be in such an advantageous position against Pegasus Corporation.

Phew... this is driving me crazy. I want to get more out of this, but if I push too hard, I might antagonize Pegasus.... Should I push further or pull back?

While Kai was deep in contemplation, struggling with a once-in-a-lifetime dilemma, something happened that neither he nor Kang Min-Gu expected.

[“Bargaining” skill activated. You can now partially identify the other party’s feelings.]

[Kang Min-Gu: Restless, Anxious. ???, ???.]

At the same time, Kai made the dumbest expression he had made since entering Kang Min-Gu’s office.

“... Huh?”