Continent Integration.
There were more than a dozen countries playing Athenae, and every country was represented by a continent, just like how the Korean Server was in the Asgan Continent. As such, there were numerous continents in Athenae. In fact, there were even cases where countries had to start in mountainous areas or even under the sea.
With the Continent Integration, Athenae would be connected and united. That was the difference from the other online games. However, would the servers be connected and integrated so suddenly after an update? That was nigh impossible, even for Athenae. After all, the scenarios and episodes that they had created would be destroyed if they proceeded like that. That was also the reason why everyone was already preparing for the Continent Integration at the same time Athenae launched. Right now, the preparations were almost ready, and integration could happen soon.
If that was the case, then what did they need now?
Of course, they needed a spectacular declaration, one that would announce the beginning of Athenae’s second era! This was so the players that had left before this large-scale update would choose to return and play the game again. And Kang Taehoon chose Beyond the Heavens as the vanguard, the frontrunners of this endeavor.
After waiting for a long time, Minhyuk, who had finished washing up, finally came inside the waiting room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No, no. It’s my fault for not contacting you in advance.”
This was the first time that President Kang Taehoon had met Minhyuk in person. He could not help but look at the man in awe, especially with his still-wet hair and large, bright, gentle eyes. Yet, those eyes could turn sharp and fierce like that of a beast in an instant. Even the veins of his forearms were bulging, a testament to how much the man had been working out.
After sitting down, Minhyuk said, “Ah, how about having something to drink…”
“I’m good! It’s alright! No! Really, it’s alright!!!”
“…?”
Minhyuk tilted his head in confusion. He was unaware that President Kang Taehoon was just treated to a tomato party just an hour prior.
Meanwhile, Team Leader Park Minggyu smiled softly and said, “You’ve changed a bit.”
“Yes. It’s a relief, really,” Minhyuk answered with a smile while Kang Taehoon looked at the two alternately in confusion.
“Can I tell him?”
Only after seeing Minhyuk nod did Park Minggyu open his mouth and said, “Back then, you can’t even drink a cup of tea in this place. Even though I lived here for two weeks, I didn’t even drink a cup of basic tea like chamomile or something like that.”
“Don’t tell me the reason is…”
Kang Taehoon whipped his head to look at Park Minggyu in shock. It was Minhyuk who answered.
“That’s right. I can’t stop myself even if it’s just those simple teas. If it was back then, then I would either have probably grabbed the tea in the president’s hands, or sat here sweating in anxiety.”
“Hoo…”
Kang Taehoon looked at Minhyuk in surprise.
‘Are you telling me that it’s a disease where you can’t even drink a cup of tea? Is eating addiction something that terrible?’
Originally, people would never know the pain others were experiencing because they either have not seen it or experienced it themselves. Kang Taehoon wondered, ‘What if I was in his place?’. Just the thought alone made him gulp dryly.
‘He must have felt hopeless every single day.’
But Minhyuk overcame this disease and stood up with his own efforts. He was a living miracle in the medical world.
‘He’s a man that has overcome such a terrible disease with his mental power alone. He’s really amazing.’
Minhyuk looked at Kang Taehoon, who could see from the look in Minhyuk’s eyes that he wanted them to get straight to the point. So, he said, “Exactly forty days from now, on August 22, all of the servers in Athenae will be integrated.”
“So the integration is finally happening.”
Minhyuk could only groan lightly after hearing Kang Taehoon’s words. Server integration meant that they would have a new opportunity to explore a new world and meet other strong people. There were definitely strong people that were on par, or perhaps even stronger than Minhyuk in Athenae. They were just working silently and hiding their existences. This fact was enough to bring both nervousness and excitement in Minhyuk.
“And so, we want the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom to be the main focus in the upcoming trailer.”
“…”
Minhyuk found Kang Taehoon’s words to be shocking. The Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would become the main focus for the server integration? This meant that they wanted them to become the representative of countless players in the world and appear in their advertisements. This was something that anyone would jump at.
However, Minhyuk’s expression did not even change or shake. He only asked calmly, “What are the conditions?”
If the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom would become the main focus of their advertisements, then many people from their kingdom would appear in these said advertisements. Of course, this trailer would be shown in every country where an Athenae Server existed.
“Payment for the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom will be…”
President Kang Taehoon personally handed the envelope containing the contract.
“Twenty billion.”
Twenty billion was an amount that was enough to make anyone moan in ecstacy. If anyone else heard it, they would have definitely let out a startled shout. Even Team Leader Park Minggyu was sweating profusely down his forehead after hearing the huge amount of money. But Minhyuk’s response was even more shocking.
“It’s less than I expected?”
“…Less?” President Kang Taehoon asked in surprise.
Minhyuk placed the contract down on the table after looking at it thoroughly. Then, he placed his hands together and looked Kang Taehoon straight in the eyes. Minhyuk’s father was Chairman Kang Minhoo; this situation was not something that they could just laugh over. This was a situation where they had to talk business for the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom.
“Are you telling me that my Beyond the Heavens Kingdom is just worth twenty billion?”
“…”
“…”
Both Team Leader Park Minggyu and President Kang Taehoon were unfamiliar with the Minhyuk in front of them. He looked completely different from his figure when he shouted, ‘Hehe. The chicken says that if you feel bad, you should go and get chicken!’ that they saw on the monitor.
There were even times when Park Minggyu, who watched Minhyuk through the monitor, would think, ‘Is the Food God an idiot or a genius?’
But now, he finally came to a conclusion. The Food God was a man that was beyond the word genius. He was definitely hiding a tremendous talent as a businessman behind that smile on his face.
“Can you tell me the reason why you think it’s low?”
“As of yesterday, the value of my Beyond the Heavens Kingdom had reached an all time high. In fact, I have received around 38 different advertisement proposals just yesterday alone.”
But that was not the end.
“And it’s not just me. Genie received 29 advertisement proposals, Khan received 20, Alicia received 19…”
Minhyuk continued to list the number of advertisement proposals that his guild members had received just yesterday. But when he came to the final member, Minhyuk had to stop and think about it for a moment, ‘Should I also mention Locke’s dog food commercial…?’ No. Minhyuk decided to skip over him.
“How much profit do you think my Beyond the Heavens will make if we invest a few days and focus on shooting those commercials and advertisements?”
Beyond the Heavens’ commercial value had reached the highest point in the industry. However, none of the guild members shot any kind of advertisement. After all, they were already pressed for time when it came to leveling up, how could they waste time on shooting commercials?
At the same time, what if they all decided to shoot those commercials and advertisements? Twenty billion would just look like it was a laughable amount.
However, it was not that Kang Taehoon had not taken this fact into consideration. He said, “Wouldn’t you also receive honor and reputation?”
The very first kingdom in Athenae would be the main focus of an Athenae advertisement, what more honor could they ask for? This compensation was definitely not unusual. After all, their names would remain in the history of Athenae forever even if their kingdom suddenly faced destruction one day.
But Minhyuk, who was looking straight at Kang Taehoon, said, “Our honor and reputation, we can create and establish that on our own.”
The hairs on Kang Taehoon’s arms stood up the moment he heard Minhyuk's words. He literally got goosebumps, his mouth turning dry at the towering confidence that the Food God, someone that stood at the top of the world, was showing them as of this moment. Kang Taehoon did not see Minhyuk as someone that was cheeky and arrogant, but rather…
“Ha, hahahahahahahaha!”
…He found him both fun and interesting. Others hailed President Kang Taehoon as another god of Athenae. He was someone that had made several memorable and great achievements. And this very same Kang Taehoon liked the confidence that Minhyuk was exuding.
‘I’m very grateful that this kind of person is the one that became king.’
That was right. Kang Taehoon believed that this should be the guy that should lead Athenae.
“Then, what are your terms and conditions?”
“Give us 2% of the total revenue from the advertisement and pay us fifty billion.”
“…Minhyuk!” Team Leader Park shouted in surprise as he turned to look back at Minhyuk.
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Taking a percent off the total revenue was already a huge deal, but he was also asking for another fifty billion on top of that. Putting everything together, the total amount would easily be more than a hundred billion.
A hundred billion for an advertisement? Who would even be able to get something that huge?
But Minhyuk was determined, his will unwavering. He said, “A hundred billion would not amount to much once it’s divided amongst a thousand guild members.”
That was right, especially if they considered the Beyond the Heavens’ commercial value. President Kang Taehoon bowed his head before saying sharply, “In that case, we’ll put a condition of our own. We will give you fifty billion immediately if we achieve the expected average. Then, we will give you a % of the revenue every time we exceed a certain section from the expected average.”
The conditions were not that bad, but President Kang Taehoon was still not yet done with his words.
“However, if we can’t meet the average expected revenue, then we will only give you twelve billion.”
Twelve billion was obviously a loss for the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. After all, they were people that could easily generate twenty billion if they set the same time to film for their own advertisements. But, the bet was worth it. After all, receiving a % of the total revenue everytime they exceeded a certain section of the average expected revenue. This meant that they could very well receive two hundred, or perhaps even three hundred billion.
Then, Minhyuk said, “If that’s the case, then I’ll add yet another condition of my own. We will review the scenario that will be presented in the advertisement. If we find the scenario off, allow us to modify it. You have to accept it unconditionally if we can present a far better scenario than yours.”
In an advertisement, there were a lot of important things. Both the cast and the production were equally important. There were times when talented actors would be gathered together in a cast but when the audience had watched the movie they would find it boring and say, ‘Ah, they used good ingredients but made a shit soup.’
President Kang Taehoon thought, ‘If they can exceed and go above our expected average revenue with their revised scenario, then not only will Beyond the Heavens benefit, even we will benefit.’
In other words, it was a win-win situation.
“Alright. I agree. Let’s write a new contract here.”
President Kang Taehoon wrote a new contract then and there.
“Please sign over here.”
Minhyuk was the king of the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom. That might not be the case in reality but all of the guild members have given Minhyuk full authority with regard to the contracts and deals that the Beyond the Heavens would receive in reality. This went to show how much they trusted Minhyuk and his judgment. Minhyuk signed his name.
Then, the two immediately stood up and shook hands.
“To a good cooperation.”
“To a good cooperation.”
The contract has been signed and sealed.
***
President Kang Taehoon, who was riding in their car on their way back, could not help but burst into laughter every few minutes.
“Can the Beyond the Heavens Kingdom even exceed the expected average revenue?”
“They might be able to exceed it. But I don’t expect them to exceed several of the sections that we will determine. At most they could take 1% of the total revenue. But even that’s a huge amount.”
Team Leader Park Minggyu also agreed with his words.
“Don’t you know it well too?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“There are many people that play Athenae, but in the end there will always be a limit.”
That was right. Athenae might be a game that a lot of people enjoy but there were still a lot of people that did not even want to start playing it. The reason? It was because there were people that were not interested in the game or did not like to play games in the first place. No matter what the team did, they could not change these peoples’ minds. In the end, the number of players that the game and the advertisement could attract would still reach a limit.
Of course, that number was already going to be great for someone that would become the main focus and attraction of an Athenae advertisement.
“Do you think the scenario will be edited?”
“Well, I’m not too sure. But what I do know is that we’ve hired the best screenplay team in our country for this advertisement. Although I wish that we could have left it all to John, that nameless screenwriter that’s popular in Hollywood right now. Unfortunately, he outright rejected my proposal.”
“Screenwriter John? Ah, I also like his movies. I’m actually looking forward to his movie ‘Heroes: The Final War’ that’s going to be released this year.”
“That writer is a genius.”
Screenwriter John was actually an unnamed writer and was only given the name ‘John’ because none of them knew his name, age, or even nationality. There was only one thing that was revealed about him. It was the fact that he was an ‘Asian’. The Hero movie franchise that he released every year in Hollywood had always been a big hit.
As the two rode the car back to their office, they excitedly talked about the Hero movie franchise that Screenwriter John had written.
Meanwhile on the rooftop of Mount Fuji Hospital in Japan, a man was busily tapping away on his laptop. Written on the very top of the man’s document that was opened on his laptop were the words: ‘Heroes: The Returning Hero’. On one side of the man’s screen was a picture showing a boy receiving a baseball glove and ball from a handsome young man in a suit. The man could not help but stop typing for a moment and stare at the picture, a smile blooming on his face.
Then, the man’s phone rang. The name flashing on his phone made the man’s face glow bright.
“Minhyuk, what’s the matter?”
A bright smile bloomed on the man’s face. He looked like he was very happy that he was able to talk with the caller. And over the phone, a voice, Minhyuk’s voice, rang.
[Yuuta’s Dad, can you spare some time to review a scenario for me?]
Minhyuk asked Yuuta’s father, who answered without any hesitation, “As long as it’s for Minhyuk, then I’m always free.”
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