A large-scale commercial shoot with 30 rankers gathered.
What I thought would be a difficult shoot from the start went smoothly thanks to the active cooperation of the rest of the rankers.
“This is the taste!”
“Kruuu!”
“Meteorooo!”
“Kill them all!”
Even those who had initially glared at me changed their stance as soon as they logged into the capsule.
They, like us, had restored their old IDs, and they were rampaging like fish in water.
The initial advertising plan was for three teams of ten, including me, Dong-su, and Heo-su, to engage in chaotic battles.
However, once the actual shooting began, the team distinctions became meaningless.The wizards were firing off large-scale magic, and the other job classes weren’t much different.
<Gaia Online> was known for its flashy effects with powerful skills.
Kwaaaaaang!
Flash-!
Thanks to that, this place was now filled with meteors, pillars of fire, lava, lightning strikes, and all sorts of apocalyptic disasters.
<Gaia Online> that captivated the whole world.
It was the best game that countless people played. Among them, only a very few could reach the ranker status.
Their combat power was second to none.
To them, this game was not just a game.
It was their youth and another world.
There’s no buff as powerful as nostalgic enhancement. All the rankers seemed to have gone back to those days.
Though it was different from the original intent, Chief Producer Na didn’t stop them.
Because this scene was grand and attractive in its own way.
I looked around at the rankers and grinned.
It felt like I was participating in an old guild siege battle again.
Back then, I went crazy trying to capture a castle with Dong-su hyung.
But reminiscing was short-lived.
Kwaaaaaang!
A gigantic spear fell from the sky toward me like a meteor shower.
A powerful area-of-effect skill.
It was an unbelievable power for just a single spear, but there was only one person who could wield such power with a spear.
I lightly spread my arms, looking at the sky.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that look. Wow, honestly, if it were me, I’d be so embarrassed by those wings that I’d tear them off immediately.”
“Shut up.”
“You look like a moth right now. Oh, or is it a butterfly?”
Heo-su, with wings of light on his back, was looking down at me from the sky.
Turquoise armor.
And the sacred wings sprouting from his back.
That was Heo-su’s past, known as the Divine Spear.
Even though he spoke coldly, Heo-su seemed thrilled.
It must be the same feeling I had when I logged in as Shia after a long time.
So, I could understand it well.
I crossed my dual swords into an X and smirked at him.
“But why are you so cocky when you’ve never beaten me, are you looking to die?”
The items Heo-su was wearing were also unique in the world at that time.
Was it the Invasion of the Evil Dragon?
The episode right before Apocalypse Dragon, and Heo-su was the player who showed the most outstanding performance in that episode.
Thanks to that, Heo-su also had armor and weapons made from dragon bones.
Of course, I was much superior.
I had killed the Lord of Evil Dragons and made equipment using the Ancient Dwarves, the first dwarves.
If I could sell my account or do real transactions, I would have become a billionaire.
“Sky Breaking Strike.”
Heo-su cast his signature skill and attacked as soon as I nodded.
<Sky Breaking Strike>.
Heo-su’s most powerful area-of-effect skill and a highly destructive technique.
It was strong enough to destroy walls fortified with enhancement magic, but in front of me, it was just a giant spear.
Paaat.
I used <Blink>, a simple movement skill, to leap into the sky.
Then, still holding the crossed swords on my shoulders, I shouted.
“Revenge.”
The special skill that made me the strongest player in PvP during <Gaia Online>.
<Revenge>.
This skill could reflect any attack back at the opponent.
Though it had a drawback of a 3-hour cooldown, it was also the skill that inflicted critical damage on <Apocalypse Dragon>.
Kwaaaaaang!
The X-shaped light from my sword reversed the trajectory of the spear rushing towards me.
The small meteor that was falling from the sky turned around and flew back towards Heo-su.
And then it happened.
“Supreme Barrier.”
Dong-su hyung appeared out of nowhere and summoned a huge shield that could block out the sun, stopping the meteor.
I chuckled at the sight.
“Really brings back memories.”
“Remember? You had a huge fight with Heo-su in our guild headquarters. Because of that, our headquarters was completely destroyed. It took a month to restore it.”
“Who told him to come to the headquarters when he wasn’t even in our guild?”
“He didn’t come to see you. He came to see Dong-su hyung. Speak properly, you idiot…”
“What? Idiot?”
“Yeah, you idiot.”
I guess these kinds of swear words would be edited out, right?
It was time to fix that bastard’s foul mouth.
Uuuuuuung.
When I combined the grips of the two swords, they merged as if they were originally one.
Soon after, a massive black sword was created, and blue flames began to flicker over it.
Dong-su hyung looked at my sword in astonishment.
“Hey, if you use that now…”
Too late.
Although I didn’t usually like wide-area skills, I had no choice but to cast it to leave a deep impression in this chaotic commercial.
Hwareureuk.
The blue flames that engulfed the greatsword began to form a gigantic bird.
I grinned and spoke to Heo-su.
“This time, you block it. You don’t have a counter skill, do you?”
“Honestly, isn’t that cheating?”
“What is?”
“That’s not your skill, it’s an item skill. And you call that skill…”
Kwaaaaaaang!
The phoenix that emerged from the sword quickly grew in size, soon becoming so huge that it blocked the sky.
And then it started to flap its wings towards Heo-su.
“Item skills are skills too, you bastard.”
Rise, Phoenix!
6.
The special commercial shoot, which had been noisy from the start, ended very successfully.
Seong-su hyung reviewed today’s commercial footage with Producer Na and then spoke to the participants with a satisfied face.
“Thank you so much for coming all this way today. Thanks to your generous efforts, today’s commercial shoot went very smoothly. The result is far higher quality than we initially planned, which is very encouraging.”
Despite Seong-su hyung’s repeated praise, the faces of the other participants who emerged from the capsules were full of regret.
Their memories that could only be played here.
The heroes who once ruled the world of <Gaia Online> were no longer in action.
Even the appearance of the participants’ clothing showed it.
Some were in suits, some in work clothes, some in casual wear.
It was only natural because rankers were also people.
However, today’s shoot must have been an incredibly enjoyable experience for them as well.
“Oh, and your appearance fee has been deposited into your accounts, so please check. We’ve ensured it’s much more generous than what was initially set.”
Wasn’t the originally promised fee 5 million won?
A bald man with a good-natured appearance raised his hand and said.
“There’s no need to give us more. It was really nice to reminisce about the old days. Thank you, President Seong.”
In response, Seong-su hyung bowed politely and replied.
“No, I should be thanking you. That’s why we paid a generous amount as a token of our gratitude, so please check it.”
At those words, exclamations burst out among the participants.
“Wow!”
“Ten million won?”
“Wow!”
Ten million won per person…
It was an extraordinary amount for a one-time appearance fee given to ordinary people, not celebrities or special individuals.
And that wasn’t all.
Seong-su hyung continued as if it was the most natural thing.
“And our SD Corporation has arranged a place in advance. Those who wish to stay are welcome to join us for a dinner party.”
Among the people gathered here, there weren’t many like us whose main job was broadcasting.
They all had their own livelihoods to return to.
However, the result was completely opposite to our expectations.
“I took leave just for this.”
“Oh? You did too?”
“We don’t really need a dinner party… can we use the capsules a bit longer?”
“I prefer gaming to drinking.”
True gaming enthusiasts through and through, they chose gaming over a dinner party.
Seeing this, Dong-su hyung and I nodded and said.
“There’s a reason they were rankers.”
“Do you think others saw us like this too?”
“Maybe?”
“When I was raiding intensely, I sometimes didn’t eat all day. Hyung almost died back then.”
I had heard stories that soon after <Gaia Online> was released, the number of malnutrition patients in hospitals exploded.
I chuckled and followed the staff to the prearranged location.
It seemed they had rented out a famous Korean beef restaurant in Gangnam.
There, tables were filled with pre-prepared meat and various drinks.
“Ooh.”
And so, the dinner began.
To be honest, when I first came here today, I worried about getting beaten to death by the old rankers.
But surprisingly, no one said anything to me.
“Um… should I call you <Shia>?”
Just when I was thinking that.
A man with biceps as thick as my head and a beard on his chin approached me.
He had a fearsome look.
No matter how hard I had been working out lately, I didn’t think I could match up to him.
Dong-su hyung and Heo-su, seeing my bewildered expression, laughed and teased me.
“Hey, you’re dead now.”
“Remember, you don’t go far. Again, that place with good spicy beef soup… got it?”
No allies, right?
I took a shaky sip of water and nodded.
“Hello?”
“Do you remember <Dharma>?”
“…I, I’m not sure.”
I felt like I might remember.
As I was struggling to recall, Dong-su hyung clapped his hands and said.
“Oh! <Dharma>! Weren’t you the guild master of the Buddha Guild?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Of course, I remember! You were wiped out by Chan-sik five times… Ahem.”
Ah!
I remembered.
<Dharma>, the master of the <Buddha> guild, which was quite a prestigious guild during the <Gaia Online> days.
He was someone I had a nasty history with.
Why?
Because one of his guild members had a dispute with me, so I went and slaughtered all their guild members.
Every day, for a whole week.
In the end, they tried to assassinate me as a guild, but the result was obvious.
“I have something to tell you in private.”
“To… me?”
“Why? Don’t you want to hear what I have to say?”
The veins in his biceps bulged, and I shook my head frantically, looking terrified.
Heo-su, who was enjoying the situation, chimed in.
“There are so many people willing to bury you, I’m really envious. Want to make a bet with me? Today, you’ll make it out safely or not. I’ll bet you won’t, how about you?”
…I bet my entire fortune that I won’t make it out safely.
You bastard!
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