168. Announcement of the 2nd generation Successful Candidates
“Kyaaah!”
Even as she turned on the stream, Han Yuna cheered inwardly.
100 interns.
Out of them, only 4 had passed, and one of them was her!
“And on top of that.”
- You can keep streaming from now on. But in return, make sure you take the lead in promoting just how amazing our SKY is.
She had even received permission from Yoo Jia, whom she had always admired deeply.......
Wow.
She could hardly believe it.
She was so excited that the corners of her mouth naturally curled all the way up.
- Morning, we also have the announcement for the newly accepted 2nd generation rookies this time, right? It’s a bit hard to hold a press conference for that, so let’s just do it through the stream starting today.
Han Yuna nodded vigorously.
During the month she had trained here, she had realized something.
The real person in charge of SKY was Yoo Jia.
“I’ll put on the best....... No, the greatest broadcast possible! I’m loyal!”
After bowing as politely as she possibly could, Han Yuna immediately turned on the stream.
And that was right now.
[‘Aso Love’ donated 500,000 won.]
[Announce it! Announce it! Announce it!]
[‘Current Reporter’ donated 100,000 won.]
[I’m waiting for the scoop. Hurry up and give it to us. I’m getting dizzy.]
[‘QuestionMarkMan’ donated 300,000 won.]
[Is the 2nd generation going to the national team? Are they holding a separate internal competition?]
Donations poured in one after another.
Of course, to her now, it was not a huge amount of money.
Han Yuna is in SKY now.
Even just a very small portion of the bonus the guild gave out would be enough to feed three generations of a family.
To keep the stream running smoothly, she had set donations to 100,000 won or more only.
“Alright, alright, first of all! This is the first announcement, okay? I’ll do it when we get a few more viewers. Just wait a little.”
She skillfully stalled for time.
There were already plenty of viewers.
[Viewer Count: 121,440]
Already around 120,000.
But instinctively, she knew it.
If she just chatted idly for about 30 more minutes here, about five times as many people, around 600,000, would gather.
“This really makes no sense.”
Among them, more than half would probably be people who normally did not even know what streaming was.
That was how high public interest in SKY was within the country.
And truly.
[Viewer Count: 351,120]
It kept rising.
[Viewer Count: 552,165]
To the point where the server started lagging.
Now the time had come.
Close the room.
And make the announcement.
It did not matter if some people could not get in.
The moment she announced it, it would spread all over the world anyway.
* * *
“Hoo.”
Han Yuna looked at herself on the screen and took a deep breath.
Countless viewers were staring at her, fully focused.
“You’ve all been waiting, right? I’m announcing it now, okay?”
ㄴ Hurry uuuup!
ㄴ First off, did you pass? lololol
ㄴIf she’s streaming, doesn’t that mean she passed? SKY isn’t some small guild.
ㄴGoing by the number of guild members alone, it is a small guild lol. It’s just that every single member is a major figure.
ㄴ For real lol.
ㄴ Let’s go~~~!
ㄴ Let’s go!
“First.”
She raised her thumb, then bent it back to point at herself.
“Of course I passed! Wow, I thought I was seriously going to die!”
ㄴ Kyaa!
ㄴ That’s insane!
ㄴ Yessss!
ㄴReally? You really passed?
ㄴLololol. This seriously makes no sense lol.
“I’m only streaming because CEO Yoo Jia gave me permission too. From now on, I’ll be acting as SKY’s official communication channel, so take care of me!”
ㄴ SKY news source?
ㄴIf Luna’s handling it, it definitely does feel a bit friendlier.
ㄴThat’s crazy.
ㄴ I still can’t get used to it.. My own little BJ... becoming a national team candidate!
A national team candidate.
No one knew whether she would actually be able to participate in the 5th World League, but seeing how quickly Song Yeonhee and Hwang Jiwoo had grown, maybe it was possible after all.
The reaction in the comments was explosive.
The chat window was flooding, and countless donations poured in.
After briefly chatting and summarizing what had happened with Yoo Jia, Han Yuna began introducing her fellow trainees in earnest.
“This is Seo Yiyoon unni!”
Swoosh.
Seo Yiyoon, who had been waiting in the back, stepped forward into view.
ㄴ Oh.
ㄴ No way.
ㄴ Who is she??
ㄴ Seo Yiyoon? She must be an unranked player?
ㄴ First time seeing her, but she’s pretty.
ㄴ As expected, this is SKY class, picking people based on looks!
The idea that they picked people based on looks was basically a meme.
Hong Ari, Oh Sunyoung, Song Yeonhee, Hwang Jiwoo......every single guild member was striking in appearance.
“Hello.”
When Seo Yiyoon smiled softly and waved her hand,
ㄴ Wow.
ㄴThe future of our country is this bright!
ㄴ There’s going to be controversy overseas again.
ㄴ My eyes! My eyes are dazzled! Noona!
The viewers’ reaction was very positive.
After chatting with her briefly in a talk-show style, Han Yuna introduced the next person.
“You all keep going on about faces, but that’s it for the women! Now it’s our brother Daehyuk’s turn! Please come out!”
“Yes.”
The camera zoomed back.
He was so tall and broad that he made Han Yuna and Seo Yiyoon look tiny!
And he was packed with muscle.
“I’m Kang Daehyuk.”
ㄴOoh.
ㄴ This brother looks intense too.
ㄴ But looking at it, isn’t he unranked too?
ㄴ He’s pretty famous in the industry.
ㄴ Fr?
ㄴ Yeah, an older guy I know is in a large guild, and when he saw the list last time, he said someone who deserved to move up had finally moved up, and that his control skills were on another level. I think he used to be in Baekho too?
ㄴAhh!
“And now, the last one!”
Han Yuna turned her gaze.
The last one?
ㄴ So only 4 got picked?
ㄴ Wow, 4 in a year..... It’s hard as hell to get in lol.
“You all know this person too! The Data Machine! Jeong Siu!”
ㄴKyaa!
ㄴ As expected!
ㄴGod Siu!
ㄴ I knew he’d get picked lol.
ㄴ Jeong Siu is absolutely fair.
Everyone reacted like they had expected it.
Because he had been one of the biggest talking points of this test.
That person was Jeong Siu.
Ranked 11th in Korea.
An unfortunate man who had nearly been prevented from ever becoming a national representative because of SKY, stuck forever right at the threshold.
But he had broken his fate and opened SKY’s gates himself.
“So, these three are the fellow trainees who’ll be with me from now on!”
The stream continued.
Han Yuna.
Seo Yiyoon.
Kang Daehyuk.
Jeong Siu.
The list of SKY 2nd generation members spread everywhere in an instant.
* * *
Han Yuna was only allowed to stream during free time.
During training hours?
She had to focus on training no matter what. And train unbelievably hard at that.
“Hoo, huuk!”
The day after passing.
Without even being able to properly raise a celebratory toast, they began physical training.
That was the life of a SKY guild member.
Their daily routine.
But not a single one of them complained. They simply trained the same way they breathed and ate.
More precisely, only those capable of doing that could survive and make it into this place!
However.
“Hmm.”
Watching them from afar, Hong Ari crossed her arms, held her chin, and fell into thought.
“With HunGyo gone.”
They could not provide proper consulting.
Baek Jinwoo, and HunGyo as well, were absolutely indispensable to SKY.
No matter how outstanding the 1st generation was, in the end, they were still Baek Jinwoo’s disciples.
If Baek Jinwoo advised them on which summons suited them, and what combinations they should use?
The guild bought those with guild funds.
And with HunGyo’s training, they drew out their latent potential.
But right now, none of that was possible.
Naturally, the only thing they could do was physical training and basic control drills.
“We did pick them.”
Still, it seemed difficult to throw them straight into the 5th World League.
Because Baek Jinwoo was not returning.
“Or maybe not?”
Then again, who knew.
Hadn’t Song Yeonhee and Hwang Jiwoo also joined around late autumn?
Maybe he would come back later and raise them to the level of rankers right away.
“Hoo.”
She let out a sigh.
“Seriously.”
At the same time, she squeezed her eyes shut.
“When on earth are you coming back, Baek Jinwoo.”
* * *
Iron Bear, Guild Master’s Office.
Thud!
Veskov, having finished his morning training, dropped onto the sofa and looked at a clip.
“SKY 2nd generation, huh.”
It was a video of some Eastern woman laughing and chatting while announcing the successful candidates.
“And this kind of video is trending best.”
It was not just trending. It was becoming a hot topic all over the world.
Apparently people were enjoying seeing the rookie days of future big shots in advance.
Tap.
Unable to stand it any longer, he put down his phone.
The public did not know.
That Rachel, and Baek Jinwoo, had already been gone for three months.
In a world where just being one day late coming out of the Tower of Trials triggered an emergency.
And taking a week meant you were declared dead.
To hide that fact for three months?
“That’s impossible.”
Veskov picked up his phone again.
He dismissed the damned video and opened the group chat for the Five Emperors.
One Heaven, Five Emperors.
Such a ridiculously childish name.
Fortunately, none of them were complete idiots.
[Sugoi: Rachel?]
[Sugoi: Why isn’t Rachel answering?]
[Sugoi: Has anyone tried contacting her separately? She’s not answering her personal phone either.]
After this conversation from before had been left behind, they had sensed that something was strange.
Naturally so.
If it were the usual Rachel, she would have replied immediately.
[Xenos: Looks like Rachel got into some kind of accident.]
[Sugoi: I looked into it too. They’re hiding it really carefully, but apparently no one’s seen her since the Tower of Trials.]
[Baekcheon: My, this is hard to believe. How could something happen to Lady Rachel.....]
That old man.
Still keeping up the same persona.
Heh.
Smirking, Veskov made separate calls.
To Xenos, Sugoi, and Baekcheon respectively.
The leader was dead.
If so, then it was time to choose another leader to guide the world.
Moscowman was simply curious.
What those people were thinking.
* * *
The result of the calls.
— Heh heh, so what you’re saying is that from now on, we should all get along and divide up the league rewards among ourselves?
Baekcheon, Zhuo Longtai, agreed.
— Well, anyone who knows anything already knew that the reward for getting first place in the league was an S-grade summon, right? For Rachel noona to monopolize that was a bit much.
“Exactly.”
— Well, do as you please. But if Rachel returns...... then we’ll have to discuss it again.
“Huhu, that’s enough for me.”
Satisfied.
A reaction like that was enough.
Then what about Sugoi?
In truth, if he wanted to change something, Sugoi’s agreement was the most important.
Because in a one-on-one fight, excluding Rachel, the strongest one was Sugoi.
— Not just Rachel, but Baek Jinwoo disappeared too? Isn’t that a pretty serious situation?
“It is serious.”
— Hmm, your opinion isn’t bad either. But for now, let me think about it some more.
“Fine.”
Veskov did not rush.
Just hearing that one line, your opinion isn’t bad, was enough.
Next, Xenos.
—What kind of dangerous idea is that, Veskov?
Damn.
There was clear displeasure in his voice.
But Veskov calmly continued speaking.
“I’m merely saying I don’t like the way Rachel did things.”
— That’s unpleasant to hear. Divide up the rewards among ourselves? It makes me feel like a communist. I’m an American, Veskov. That way is completely different from the way I’ve lived.
“I see.”
Heh.
Veskov clicked his tongue.
That spineless bastard.
After getting everything taken by Rachel, was he consoling himself by saying she had earned it fairly?
“You’re rather different from the Americans I know. Isn’t America the kind of country that will do anything for its national interest?”
— What?
“If necessary, it starts wars and betrays allies. And you should know very well that even the free market America glorifies so much is ultimately a structure where the establishment sweeps everything away. Right now, we are the strong ones. I’m not talking about communism or ideology, Xenos. I’m simply saying that the strong should share the spoils among themselves.”
— …….
No answer.
Listening to that, Veskov thoroughly sorted friend from foe.
Whether this man would be of use later, or not.
“It’s been too peaceful all this time.”
Well, there was no need for an answer.
“If that’s your opinion, then fine, Xenos. I wasn’t trying to pick a fight.”
He merely had to end things quietly without provoking him.
“For now.”
Click.
As Veskov wrapped things up and hung up the phone, his eyes turned cold.
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