3.

Anyone who had followed Kim Buja's videos from the old days knew. He always claimed that his natural talent was the only thing he had, but that wasn't the whole truth.

—Wow! I haven't seen that smile in ages.

—Is that reporter out of his mind? If it were me, I'd never hand Kim Buja an opening like that.

—Well, to be fair, it's been forever since he streamed games. He's been trying to live quietly and make a living, so I guess some people wouldn't know.

—That smile is pissing me off in the best way. I never thought I'd see it again.

Buja was a master of mind games, an expert who had perfected the art of provoking his opponents and getting under their skin with just a few words.

In a way, it was perhaps the single most important skill in gaming. Even though the world had moved into virtual reality, people still hid behind anonymity. If you could rattle them and make them lose their cool, you were bound to gain an advantage, whether in combat or negotiation.

Of course, he never did it without reason. Even in those moments when it looked like he was just picking a fight out of boredom, there was always an intention behind it.

"Ah!"

As the atmosphere turned icy, Kim Buja let out a small exclamation, his face twisting into a look that practically screamed, 'Oops'.

What was that reporter thinking, making such a brazen statement in a room where over ninety percent of the attendees were players? Curious eyes, full of questions, all turned toward Kim Buja.

He smiled innocently, completely unbothered.

"My apologies. This is my first time at an event like this, so I didn't realize the mic was on."

The room remained silent. The answer was so shameless that silence once again settled over the room.

The reporter who had fired off the question was still locked in eye contact with him. When he saw the corners of Kim Buja's mouth curl upward, he finally understood, and his face flushed red.

Dismissal. Mockery.

It was a ruthless payback for an ill-mannered question and a clear demonstration of just how little he thought of the reporter.

The man couldn't keep his cool. As the reporter in charge of covering the SJ Group, he had decent backing, which was why he could throw out such a question without a second thought. Naturally, hypocrisy was part of his basic toolkit.

Gritting his teeth, the reporter lashed out, his tone sharp. "Did you just call me a trash reporter in front of everyone? I merely posed, as carefully as I could, the question that the public—especially the online community—has been most curious about. Was that really so wrong that I deserve to be insulted like this, Mr. Kim?"

He appealed to his own sense of injustice while cleverly framing it as if he were speaking on behalf of the audience. And if you listened, he had a point. Asking such a question to an ordinary player would be extremely rude; depending on the person, it could easily escalate into a fight. It was a sensitive topic that required caution.

However, it was also true that more than eighty percent of the people watching this interview—both in the room and online—were genuinely curious about the answer.

He had the right to ask. But the person being asked had the right to answer however he wanted.

"Yes."

And Kim Buja exercised that right to the fullest.

There was nothing more to say. The reporter asked his question as a reporter, and Kim Buja answered as himself. They could have left it at that. The reporter had used a public platform to ask a question that was practically taboo among players, and Kim Buja had shut him down cleanly. They could have chalked the insults up to mutual disrespect, and that would have been the end of it.

But if the reporter had been the type to let things go, he never would have voiced the question that everyone wanted to ask but no one dared to.

In the end, the inevitable happened.

"I'm Kim Seok-ho from the Evening Daily. Can you take responsibility for that statement?"

The stiffly spoken words carried enough weight to make everyone in the room tense up.

The 『Evening Daily』 and the reporter in charge of exclusive coverage of the SJ Group.

One could scoff and say, 'So what?', but most of the reporters gathered there clicked their tongues. He could stand there and talk like that in front of a player because he had the clout to back it up.

Though players had transcended ordinary humans, they still lived within society—a society run by ordinary people. In public venues like this, that meant the power of those in authority often outweighed that of the players.

Things would be different, of course, if a player went completely off the rails and rampaged. But this was Korea's number-one guild. Jeong Cheol had just overtaken SJ after the event; there was no way they would do something so reckless. In fact, if they did, it might even make for a juicier story.

The reporter's intentions were obvious.

As the atmosphere grew more charged, the reporters' fingers flew faster over their keyboards. No matter how Buja responded, it would be a headline. Would he back down, or would he charge straight ahead and hand the SJ Guild a juicy target?

Kim Buja's decision was firm.

"I am Kim Buja of the Jeong Cheol Guild. Can you take responsibility for what you just said?"

He slammed his hands on the table and shot to his feet, shouting. Hundreds of reporters flinched in unison.

To ordinary people, players were always a source of fear. They had become too integral to society for people to think of every single one as a ticking time bomb, but the fact remained: in terms of raw power, an ordinary person could never beat a player. Over the past six years, systems of power, authority, and regulation had been built to keep players in check, and they worked reasonably well. But so what? By the time sanctions came down on a player who had gone berserk, the victim would already be dead. And if some bystander got caught in the crossfire, there was no greater loss.

In an instant, an empty space formed around Reporter Kim Seok-ho. His legs were visibly shaking, an image broadcast live through hundreds of cameras.

It wasn't just that Kim Buja had stood up. He was taking one step, then another, closing the distance. The sight of him approaching was a world away from the dismissive comments people had been typing just moments before, calling him just a tutorial player.

He was the rising star who had defeated the world's number one ranked player and continued to break unprecedented records. You could feel that pressure just by watching him walk.

He hadn't even drawn a weapon.

Soon, there was but a single step between them. When they were finally face-to-face, eyes locked at close range, Kim Seok-ho's legs gave out, and he collapsed to the floor.

The smile from earlier was gone without a trace, replaced by an utterly serious gaze.

It wasn't as if Kim Buja had done anything special. He hadn't unleashed some kind of aura like in a novel, nor had he used magic.

He had simply shown the man that he would not be shaken by social power. If you stripped that element away from players, reality was far less dangerous than any dungeon.

"Were you genuinely curious when you asked that? Or did you ask because you think the Jeong Cheol Guild and I are beneath you, and you wanted to stir up controversy with a loaded question?"

There was no hesitation in his voice. This was who he really was. But he also knew how to read the room. If this had been before the event, if all he had done was clear the Legendary dungeon, he probably wouldn't have gone this far. He always had to consider how people saw him.

Now, he no longer needed to tiptoe around. He had money, power, and a decent network. On top of that, he had more than enough justification.

"O-Of course I was curious... I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding. I absolutely did not mean it that way."

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Kim Seok-ho hurried to defend himself. He knew there was no way Kim Buja would actually resort to physical violence here, but the man's unflinching attitude was more than enough to intimidate him. For someone to act like this, even knowing who he worked for and who was backing him, meant he wasn't afraid. And the moment that backing lost its power, Kim Seok-ho would be nothing more than an ordinary man.

"Is that so?"

Once the standoff had run its course, Kim Buja smiled as if nothing had happened and held out a hand. "I thought you were looking down on us, trying to disrespect us in front of all these people, so I overreacted. My apologies. I just came from a team battle where I was fighting a bunch of scary-looking guys, so I guess I'm still a bit on edge."

"N-No, not at all."

"Even though this was my first time participating in an event, my guildmates and I did our absolute best. As anyone who watched knows, I think I've already revealed a fair bit about my class. If I start explaining every little detail, I'll be showing all my cards, and that would be a problem."

The warm, smiling conclusion was almost painfully awkward to watch. However, once he returned to his seat and began answering the following questions with patience and kindness, no one could bring themselves to see Kim Seok-ho as the victim.

It felt like being back in school, when the bully who tormented you behind everyone's backs was so nice to all your other classmates that no one would ever listen when you tried to tell them how unfair it was.

In short, it was the feeling of being completely isolated. For Kim Seok-ho, it was a situation he was not used to.

Instead, his fingers moved quickly, as if to vent his frustration. He might have been humiliated here, but he was still a reporter. He would get his revenge.

He poured all his emotions into the article he wrote.

* * *

His article went straight to the front page. Even if it hadn't, the incident at the interview had spawned countless articles and drawn a huge response. Just as many comments poured in, and heated debates broke out.

The arguments split into two main camps.

[Is that reporter insane? Honestly, even if he'd gotten punched, I'd call it self-defense.]

[First time I've seen someone crazy enough to ask a player to explain their class skills in detail.]

[That guy only ever writes puff pieces for SJ. SJ probably put him up to it, hoping he'd dig up some dirt to drag Jeong Cheol down.]

Those who defended Kim Buja.

[Isn't that going a bit too far? It's a question you can ask. I mean, I was curious too.]

[Yeah, would it kill him to explain a little? Players really are something else.]

And those who thought he had overreacted.

To be fair, he had.

"You did go a bit overboard, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

Even he admitted that much. He couldn't help it. He had done it on purpose. The meaning behind it was crystal clear.

"At least now they won't be able to look down on us anymore."

Up until now, the Jeong Cheol Guild had been stuck ranked third and had been quietly dismissed by many. They might not have been openly mocked, but it still needed to be corrected.

And now they were the undisputed number one guild. On top of that, they attended the event and brought home the honor of first place in the world. They deserved to be treated accordingly.

All he had done was step up and take the hit so that it could happen. Thanks to him, none of the follow-up questions were provocative or sensational. They were all the kind of questions that helped build the guild's image.

"Thank you."

Knowing all of this, Jeong Seora offered her thanks. They had achieved their goal for the first time in six years. And on top of that, he had personally stepped forward and drawn even more attention to them. They had expected and were prepared to endure the inevitable comments about how it was "all thanks to Kim Buja."

What mattered now was how long they could maintain this hype. They had to work harder, keep improving, and a year from now, they had to be able to block SJ's attempt to rise again.

It was a happy problem to have.

"I love you."

One man had changed so much. To her, Kim Buja was perfect.

As Jeong Seora threw herself into his arms, he grinned from ear to ear. The incident at the interview had long since been wiped from his mind.

* * *

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