4 years ago.
A few days after the finals of the martial arts tournament.
“Aaron used a cheat.”
GM-only subspace.
Cain, who had called GM Anchovy in-game, spoke in a suppressed voice.
The final a few days ago.
Cain led 3-0 through the third set, but was then reverse-swept after dropping the fourth set.
Although he accepted the result on the day, Cain noticed something strange while replaying the game at home.
“From the 4th set, Aaron used the ‘Millennium Snow’ magic as his main, but there was a bug in the magic coefficient application. This kind of damage shouldn’t come in… … .”
“Umm… … .”
GM Anchovy groaned as he looked over the data presented by Cain.
Upon closer inspection, the damage was definitely strange.
It wasn’t a huge number, but it was true that it was against the principle if it was different from the number announced before the game.
“… … I’ll look into it.”
GM Anchovy nodded while gathering the data. Cain also nodded.
* * *
It took several weeks to go through all the logs from the event.
After the investigation was over, GM Anchovy called Aaron first.
Aaron, who was summoned to the GM-exclusive subspace, was calm.
“Yes, the ‘Millennium Theory’ bug. I knew about it and used it.”
Aaron admitted it coolly.
The attitude was so refreshing that GM Anchovy was momentarily taken aback.
“But? I made a bug. What are you going to do? Are you going to take away my prize money?”
Aaron asked with a sneer on his lips.
Aaron, who had seemed desperate before the competition, now seemed much more relaxed after becoming the champion.
“Can you reverse a competition that ended so successfully? You can’t.”
“… … .”
“First of all, have you investigated the entire log? Then, what about Mr. Cain?”
GM Anchovy’s eyelashes fluttered.
Aaron knew everything.
“There was also a bug in the damage of Musa’s ‘Sura’ counterattack, right?”
“… … .”
“If you’re going to reveal it, you have to reveal it as well, right? Then, Mr. Cain, who made it to the finals by relying on ‘Sura’, should have his prize money confiscated and his pro-gamer status revoked?”
That’s right.
Unfortunately, the two users who made it to the finals had bugs in their jobs.
The swordsman goes to ‘Millennium Theory’, and the warrior goes to ‘Asura’.
The ‘Millennium Theory’ was a bug that increased the intelligence coefficient by about 10%.
‘Sura’ was more serious.
There was a bug where it would always count as a counter when successful. The damage would be inflated by about 1.5x.
Aaron shrugged.
“Well, Mr. Cain seems to have written it without knowing, but if this gets revealed, he’ll get cursed at more than me.”
GM Anchovy let out a sigh.
“… … So you knew everything and did it, Aaron.”
“Well, I was just struggling to win within the circumstances.”
Aaron nodded, pulling the muffler tighter around his neck.
“GM, there were a lot of mistakes when the competition was first held, right? They were just buried because the competition was so popular, but I understand there was a lot of criticism.”
“… … .”
“If this incident were to break out, who would be held responsible? The user who exploited the bug? No. It would be your fault for missing such a small bug.”
GM Anchovy let out a sigh.
“You are also at fault for exploiting it.”
“That’s right. But which side will public opinion bite? You who neglected the bug? Cain who used a bug worse than mine? Or me who won after a fierce battle?”
After winning the finals, Aaron’s popularity skyrocketed.
Even the haters turned into fans because of his determination to win and not give up until the very end.
With the dramatic development of “Pay Pae Pae Win Win Win Win”, it is no exaggeration to say that he is currently the best star in the VR world.
The stream, which began a few days after the win, became a huge hit, and is currently ranked in the top 10 in terms of VR world streaming viewers.
With this upward trend, it would be worth aiming for first place.
Wealth and fame. Everything came into Aaron’s hands in an instant.
“GM, I… … will win. I will continue to do so.”
Aaron said this as he stood up first and left his seat.
“That’s the only way, for me.”
In the subspace where Aaron disappeared, GM Anchovy was lost in thought for a long time.
* * *
Pangyo. Napalm Developer Tower. Conference Room 2.
A meeting of heads of each department at Wings Online to discuss countermeasures.
“Let’s reveal the truth.”
GM Anchovy, Mincheol spat it out with difficulty.
“Are you crazy?!”
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A sharp rebuttal immediately followed.
When Mincheol looked over, Kyunghee Lee, who had just been promoted to team leader, was standing up from her seat.
“You want to throw everything away because of two small bugs? After all, we both used bugs anyway? Isn’t that fair?”
“Aaron wrote it knowingly, and Cain wrote it without knowing… … In any case, denial is denial. Users have the right to know the truth.”
“Absolutely not!”
Lee Kyung-hee shouted sharply.
“Do you know how much the value of e-sports has increased due to this success? Companies are lining up to sponsor and put PPL on the next tournament!”
Mincheol shook his head.
“Users have the right to know the truth. I will take responsibility… … .”
“Responsibility? How are you going to take responsibility?”
“I will step down from managing the martial arts tournament and resign as director… … .”
“No, don’t overdo it! You’re going to throw everything away just because of something this small!”
Although the e-sports division was overseen by Napalm’s e-sports department, it was Mincheol who actually led it.
The game was going very well at the time. Napalm couldn’t afford to lose their director over something like this.
“I’m so sorry. It’s all because of me… … .”
The planning team leader bowed his head in sorrow.
He was in charge of balance.
The skill coefficients applied to the arena are different from those applied to the general field, but this was a mistake made during the input process.
The planning team leader was racking his brain.
“If only we had done a full inspection just once using development AI… … .”
“We hastily implemented the stadium and stage by putting all of the AI into it. Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s my fault for not being able to do a final inspection.”
Mincheol said that and patted the planning team leader on the shoulder.
While preparing for the competition, Mincheol didn’t even sleep two hours a day. He didn’t have time to do things like check his skills.
But as the person in charge, he wanted to take responsibility.
“… … Cain, what about that guy?”
GM Dong-ha, the head of the QA team who had been quiet, suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked in that direction. Dong-ha let out a long sigh.
“If we reveal this… … Cain will definitely be buried.”
“… … .”
Cain, who came in second place, was the victim of a famous match, and while many people cheered him on, he was also ridiculed.
I suffered greatly from malicious commenters.
It was even more frustrating because the winning percentage was 90% in the pre-match prediction. The fact that they were reverse swept was also a big deal.
He even received death threats from those who bet money on him in illegal match prediction gambling.
In this situation, if it is revealed that there was a bug in his main skill… … .
Lee Kyung-hee clapped her hands.
“Yes, Cain! And Aaron too! Are you going to kill such talented and brilliant players?”
“… … .”
“It was our fault for not finding the bug. Okay, I admit it! But are we going to blame the players for that? We have a duty to protect the players!”
Dong-ha said carefully.
“Player Cain, you’re still being ridiculed a lot for losing in the finals. Even if you say you didn’t know, if you say you used a bug to get to the finals… … you’ll get chewed out a lot. You might even be unable to recover.”
“after…….”
Mincheol wiped his face with his hand.
At that moment, GM Saeng-mo-ri, who had been quietly listening to the meeting, raised his hand and spoke.
“Let’s do this. Let’s run the simulation.”
“simulation?”
“Let’s run a simulation with Gaia. Let’s see what happens when they face each other without any bugs. If the results change, we’ll announce it. If the results don’t change… … .”
Shinji glanced at Mincheol.
“… … I think we should just leave it alone. It’s okay for us to get cursed at, but like everyone else said… … the players will get cursed at for no reason. No, they’ll get cursed at even worse.”
“… … .”
Mincheol took off his glasses and touched the tablet PC in front of him.
“Gaia.”
– Yes, father.
World AI, Gaia’s hologram floated over the PC.
“You were listening, right? Please simulate it. The final result when the two skills are applied without coefficient bugs.”
Gaia answered immediately.
– Aaron has a greater than 95 percent chance of winning.
“… … .”
– Since Cain’s main skill is ‘Sura’, if the coefficient is reduced to the normal value… … Cain’s chance of winning will decrease drastically.
Lee Kyung-hee clapped her hands again.
“Okay! So it’s decided?”
“… … .”
“Even if there were no bugs, the final results wouldn’t have changed! Aaron would have won by a landslide. If we reveal this fact, it will only hurt the players, so let’s just let it go quietly. Okay?”
“… … .”
Mincheol didn’t answer. He just rubbed his bare face with both hands without his glasses.
Lee Kyung-hee approached Min-cheol and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Mr. Mincheol. This is for the players and for the company. I understand how you feel, Mr. Mincheol, but let’s not damage Napalm’s image for no reason.”
“… … .”
“Close your eyes and let me ask you this just once. Just once. Okay? Good things are good… … .”
“no.”
Mincheol opened his eyes with a start.
I put my glasses back on and got up from my seat.
“However, all users have the right to know the truth without any exaggeration. Players have the right to play within fair rules.”
“No, this guy is real!”
“No matter what the odds are, if there was a bug, it’s right to replay the game. That’s the rule. I take full responsibility. I’ll protect the players as much as I can. Then, I’ll make an announcement first.”
Mincheol got up from his seat and left the conference room.
Lee Kyung-hee, who had been blankly staring at his back, screamed.
“Hey, what are you doing?! Grab that thing! Stop it! Quickly-!”
* * *
A month has passed since Cain raised his suspicions.
But there was no answer from GM Anchovy.
Cain, who couldn’t stand it anymore, called GM Anchovy once more. However, it wasn’t GM Anchovy who came, but GM Dungchi.
“Hello, Mr. Cain! What’s going on?”
In the GM-only subspace, Cain was greeted by a large GM figure who smiled kindly.
Cain answered indifferently.
“I reported a bug to GM Anchovy before regarding the last competition… … but I haven’t heard a response yet.”
“Ahh… … that one.”
The large GM hesitated for a moment and then smiled broadly.
“There were no bugs, Mr. Cain.”
“Huh? What are you talking about? I even submitted all the evidence to GM Anchovy.”
“I reviewed it. But there were no bugs.”
“but……!”
“This is Napalm’s position.”
The matter eventually made its way to Napalm’s senior management, where Napalm decided to “bury it.”
The finals alone had tens of millions of concurrent viewers. The tournament was a huge hit, and Wings’ concurrent viewership was breaking records every day.
Thanks to this, Napalm’s stock price was also reaching its upper limit.
In this situation, how can you find a bug and restart the game? What if the stock price drops by even a little bit?
This kind of pouring of cold water was absolutely unacceptable to the executives.
Companies run for profit.
No matter how much GM Anchovy tried to act according to his conscience, he was just an employee of the company.
GM Anchovy was eventually forced to step down from all esports-related work and was banned from contacting players.
This was also the reason why GM Dangchi came instead.
‘It’s for you, Cain.’
GM Dungchi thought to himself. If the truth is revealed, it will be Cain who will be blamed.
“Season 2 will open soon, and a new season of the martial arts tournament will begin. This time, if we can win it in style… … .”
“Cut that nonsense out!”
Cain, who had been screaming, grabbed the GM’s big man by the collar.
There was no damage because it was a GM-only subspace, but GM was sweating profusely.
Cain’s two eyes, glaring at him fiercely, were as fierce as a wolf’s.
“There was definitely some infidelity! So why are you trying to bury it!”
“No, over there, that’s… … .”
“Where is the GM anchovy?”
Cain let out a loud roar.
“Bring GM Anchovy! Now-!”
