Chapter 74 074

"Everyone."

That one word had a tremendous effect. Nobody made a sound as they focused on Seojin.

"Don't keep watching me like this… don't you have anything else to do?"

"…"

No one answered. It was natural as no one would come out easily in front of so many eyes like this.

"Over there, the one with the blue cross-decorated shield. Do you have anything to do right now?"

"Huh… me?"

"Yes, Are you busy?"

"…No, I'm not!"

"Help me out then."

The knight's eyes widened

"M-me?"

"Yes, if you're busy, never mind."

"No way! Trust me! You can leave it to me!"

The knight ran straight up to Seojin and drummed on his shield.

Seojin nodded and turned his eyes back toward the crowd.

"Is there anyone else who's not busy?"

"Me!"

"I'm not busy either! I can take a day off tomorrow!"

"You'll need a priest, too! I specialize in healing…"

"I can heal too! I'm also a buffer!"

Hundreds of players began to shout, creating an almost deafening roar. It was almost surreal that they all went silent as soon as Seojin waved his hand.

"Calm down, I need as many volunteers as possible. Don't you think that the residents will be surprised if you all scream like that? Do you think that I can do this quest if the residents start panicking because of you?"

"…"

"Let's keep the mood but only with our voices low. Come forward if you're interested."

The players split into two groups. There were those who remained glued to the spot because they were shy, and those who stepped forward passionately.

"For those who won't help, well, you can go on as usual."

"Well…"

"Yes, you, the one with the golden staff."

"Is there anything a terrible actor can do?"

A nervous-looking girl, who was wearing the attire of a nun, asked and Seojin realized that they took his words to mean that he needed expert actors.

"Do you even need to act? You already look like the sacred maiden from an RPG hero's party. Come this way!"

Seojin corrected the miscommunication as the players wavered once again.

"I'm not asking you to act like pro actors. The residents want people they can trust and rely on, and I want you guys to be those people. Knights, you can use your swords, and production classes, you can help the town's economy."

"Well, if that's the case…"

"I'll help you, too."

Most of the remaining players flocked forward, being considerate enough to keep the noise down as they did so. It looked like they had taken Seojin's warning pretty seriously.

"And what about you all?"

"…I'll be on my way."

"Sorry for interrupting."

'They left, but still, there's no less than two hundred players here.'

Seojin spoke without trying to pressure them.

"I'll sort you guys out first. First of all, by class. Knights, this way… we'll sort you guys by level a little later on."

The players moved in perfect order under Seojin's guidance.

"I'll make a raid group now… can two hundred people fit in one group?"

"Yes! That's po… My bad, it's possible."

Seojin nodded as one man shouted back reflexively.

"Okay, I'll send out the invitations now."

1 party joined the group.

2 parties joined the group.

…

42 parties joined the group.

Total Members: 219

Two hundred and nineteen players were standing there with shining eyes, ready to help Seojin. After thinking to himself for a moment, Seojin distributed the roles.

* * *

Sitting in the Churai Islands Resort, Haydall showed Roth a community webpage.

"This is him, right?

"I think so too."

"I can't believe he was Anti-Mainstream… no wonder he was so confident. Does she know about this?"

"She probably doesn't. She should be chugging down one beer after another right now in frustration."

"That's one good thing about Midgard. You can log in whenever you could use some alcohol. That aside… what should we do?"

Haydall thought long and hard about whether they should tell Odie.

'Should I tell Odie or not? It's not like it'll soothe her pain or anything.'

Seojin rejecting her the first time was bad enough, but he had also done so after she revealed her identity. So basically, she got overkilled.

'He probably didn't believe that she's actually Hyesun. If I was in his shoes, I'd think she was lying too. Meeting a top celeb actor in this game? So suddenly? It was even a self-proclaimed!'

Of course, it was a relief for Haydall. He thought Seojin had rejected her friend request because he did not believe her. There was no shortage of fanatics who would gladly give her their heart. There was no way he could've stayed calm if he really believed her, even if he had no interest in celebs. Even hillbillies who had been living under a rock would recognize Hyesun Kim's name.

Haydall let out a deep sigh.

"I think it'd be better to tell Odie."

"I'm not sure about that one."

"Hey, don't back down like that! You're the smart one here!"

"The only thing I know is that whatever I learned in school didn't mean shit in real life."

"That's… true."

Roth had graduated from a top university yet he ended up babysitting top-class celebrities. Haydall couldn't grill him any longer upon hearing that statement.

"I should tell her though…"

At this rate, it could even start to harm Hyesun's work. In order to prevent such a thing, it was best to appeal that Seojin was an incredible person and a gigantic game geek who had no life.

"Odie."

Click. Haydall finally entered the room to stop Odie from drinking alone. He expected her to look disheartened, but it turned out that he was wrong.

"Hey!"

"What?"

"This was him! Anti-Mainstream!"

"Oh, did you see that? I was just coming to tell you about it. He's quite the nutcase."

"Nutcase? Don't be too harsh, don't you know how amazing he is?"

"…What?"

"He just went head-to-head against Ironblood! That mega-guild, Ironblood! Isn't that great? Who would've thought that kind of person actually exists…?!"

Haydall had a hunch that he was doomed.

'Odie knew that much about him?!'

That was one of Odie's favorite fantasies, being the underdog and standing their ground against an overwhelming force. That was why many of the films she starred in had similar themes.

"He's asking for assistance! We should go too!"

"Do we really have to? They're saying that there are hundreds of people there already…"

"Of course! I have to go! How did he manage to control all of them without any assistance?"

"…He might have a way, it's him, after all."

"Everyone has a weakness. He might be flawless when it comes to battling enemies, but he'll need some help when it comes to this kind of work. What else can we supporting actors do if not?"

'Well, I'll be damned.'

There was no way he could get away from this one. Odie, oblivious to what Haydall thought, dragged him and Roth off to find Seojin.

* * *

Hundreds of players were spread throughout the Southern Island, ready to carry out Seojin's orders. The combat classes killed monsters while some of the better ones played other roles. Specialists like cooks or blacksmiths took over from the panicked NPCs. Everyone was working voluntarily, and gladly so.

'I don't believe that everyone here is a good samaritan.'

Seojin was not that naïve. Midgard simulated the real world, which wasn't that pretty in the first place, rather well. They were helping Seojin because they also wanted to be like Odie, Haydall, and Roth.

Seojin described them as heroic warriors in his review, almost at the same level as him. It was only natural that other players wanted to be like that too.

'Of course, not every player is like that, but that'll probably be the case for those who sought me out.'

Why else would they have come to find him? The number of such players was also increasing over time.

"Newcomers! Come here! I'm sure you already understand the basics. This island needs to remain peaceful and there are countless places that need help."

By sunset, Seojin had an additional one hundred and seventy people in his raid group. They took care of the trolls by themselves, even risking the loss of their karma by PKing for Seojin. The Southern Island recovered steadily thanks to them all.

"It might be better to do some more promotion and increase our manpower."

In this situation, hiding his identity would be no use. He just could use another makeup pack upon arriving at the next settlement.

'I'll have to call BunnyRabbit.'

And at that moment…

"Haha, Seojin! How are you?"

"Well… I'm so sorry about the other day!"

Finally, the guests he had been waiting for arrived. It was Haydall, Odie, and Roth, the heroes from Seojin's tale that everyone looked up to.

'What's wrong with her though?'

Haydall and Roth were no different than usual, but Odie's attitude was strange. She was hesitating as if she felt genuinely apologetic toward Seojin.

"Miss Odie?"

"Yes?!"

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Not at all! Well, I'm so sorry about last time…"

"You don't have to apologize again."

Seojin gave Haydall a puzzled look, but he was simply staring far off into the distance like he was deaf.

'What's wrong with her? Well, it makes no difference to me, I'll just have to play along and give her some work.'

Seojin thought so, but it didn't take a quarter of an hour before Seojin realized the change was bigger than he imagined.

"If you're not interested in TV, it's understandable that you might not know me… you don't watch movies, do you?"

"I know who Hyesun Kim is…"

"That's okay, I understand… but weren't you scared when you fought Ironblood? They're a bunch of toxic bastards! It must not have been easy to confront such dinosaurs by yourself!"

'It's like her personality has changed. Is that even possible?'

It wasn't just weird; it was almost suspicious.

'Why do those two look so defeated?'

Haydall and Roth were staring at Odie and Seojin with strangely calm eyes, almost like they had reached some kind of zen after deciding not to care anymore.

It was definitely acting, though. They both were pretending they couldn't control their pathological liar of a sister rather than making any lame excuses. Of course, Seojin interpreted the situation completely differently.

'Have they reached the stage of acceptance? Maybe they're confident that the agency will be able to take care of it…'

But either way…

Seojin spoke without a moment's notice.

"Help me first. You're just in time, there's a perfect spot for you three."

They were still the same laboring force as any others to Seojin, anyway.