Chapter 17: There is no such thing as noble or base occupation

The stay of overseas branch managers at Yeryo Hotel was more important politically within the Yeryo Group than for the hotel’s actual performance.

The main objective was to give the impression that Jeong Hwayoon was managing the hotel well.

It was necessary to ensure the hotel received a good evaluation through meticulous service and flawless management.

If this stay turned out to be unsatisfactory, it would negatively affect Jeong Hwayoon’s evaluation.

“It’s better not to stir up unnecessary trouble.”

It was understandable that Jeong Doyoon, from another affiliate, personally wanted to inspect the VIP rooms.

Perhaps he was worried about Jeong Hwayoon.

Even as a child, Doyoon had quietly looked out for his younger sibling.

I didn’t expect him to ask me for guidance, but on second thought, it was actually a good opportunity.

This allowed me to become acquainted with Jeong Doyoon and use both his and Jeong Hwayoon’s reputations to preemptively manage any unnecessary risks.

“Will you be okay handling field work?”

“Yes, I’ll be fine.”

After accepting Jeong Doyoon’s request, I glanced at Jeong Hwayoon beside me.

His face looked somewhat displeased.

Even so, he didn’t voice any complaints, so I was able to brief them on the way to the hotel.

Upon arriving at the hotel’s VIP floor with both of them, I walked down the long hallway alongside the head of the room management team and the facilities manager.

The texture of the carpet.

The lighting on the walls.

The arrangement of the flower pots.

My explanation continued uninterrupted.

While inspecting the hotel corridors and room details, I occasionally gauged their reactions, and subtly voiced a few concerns.

“There’s one matter I’d like to bring up—if that’s okay.”

“A matter?”

“Yes.”

When I said I had a suggestion regarding the VIP stay, Jeong Hwayoon nodded.

A few steps away, Jeong Doyoon also silently observed me.

“I think it would be best to strengthen the security team’s shifts during the branch managers’ stay.”

The globally popular idol group Sunrise and the overseas branch managers would have overlapping stays.

Additionally, friends of Sunrise or obsessive fans could show up at the hotel, potentially causing disturbances.

Those were the only two reasons I gave to justify enhancing the security team’s presence.

Anything more was still just personal concern and didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

“…That makes sense. We should probably talk to the security team.”

“Yes. I’ll contact them now.”

It was a preventive measure in case anything happened.

The best outcome would be that nothing happened at all.

It was preferable not to need the “insurance” of the security team.

But if something did occur, we would simply make use of the insurance we’d put in place.

What mattered most was preventing any disruptions that could taint the Yeryo Hotel brand.

Assume the worst-case scenario, but take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen.

That was the simple conclusion.

“Good evening. I’m Kang Seohyuk, the head of the security team.”

“I’m Yoo Seoa, junior manager from Planning Team 1. Regarding the stay of the overseas branch managers, we’d like to—”

In front of Jeong Doyoon and Jeong Hwayoon, I consulted the hotel’s security team about reinforcing their duty schedule.

While the details would need to be worked out later, I successfully established a direct connection. From now on, I could contact them myself.

Perhaps because the two executives were present behind me, even exchanging emergency contact info went smoothly.

Is this what people mean by “backing” or connections?

They used to be just kids back then…

It felt strange thinking I was using Jeong Doyoon and Jeong Hwayoon as my connections.

Still, since everything was handled smoothly, I supposed I should be grateful.

“…Good work.”

As I finished the inspections and was about to head home, the dry voice made my ears tingle slightly.

Maybe it was because this was my first time seeing Jeong Doyoon, unlike the few times I’d met Jeong Hwayoon before.

Parted, permed hair.

Eyes so expressionless they seemed numb.

Handsome, but with a cold aura.

Though I used to know him well long ago, the one clear difference now was that I could no longer look down at him.

To meet his gaze, I had to look up—this change clearly marked the passage of time.

Maybe that’s why—

“Please, try to get along. He’s your only sibling, after all.”

The words slipped out—more like something from Lee Seon than Yoo Seoa.

As Yoo Seoa, Jeong Doyoon was now a difficult person to deal with.

A quiet stillness followed.

Jeong Doyoon, standing a few steps away, remained silent, as if trying to understand my real intention.

It was just a simple, sincere statement.

Maybe he didn’t catch the meaning.

“Well then, I’ll be off.”

Leaving Jeong Doyoon, who only watched me without saying a word, I walked away.

It wasn’t Doyoon’s turn yet. I had to finish with Hwayoon first.

For now, I just left a little room—

Enough for him to remember who I was, who Yoo Seoa was.

Just enough so that when he heard my name, he would recall my face.

Beep-beep-beep-beep.

Ding-dong♪

By the time I returned to my officetel, it was already 6:30 PM.

Maybe because I went straight home without returning to the office, I got back a little earlier than usual.

I took off my white blouse first, headed to the bathroom, and turned on the warm water.

Round droplets flowed down the edges of my body.

I stood under the water for a long while, body relaxed.

I needed to sort through my tangled thoughts.

Creak.

By the time I dried off with a large towel and came out, the sun had completely set.

Just a while ago, I could still see the sunset.

The sun always sets so quickly.

I changed into a comfortable oversized T-shirt and began stretching my slightly stiff body.

“About 30 minutes left, huh.”

Today was my joint stream with Seoyeon.

In other words, my first live broadcast.

Since we had a Battle of Legends duo planned, I wanted to warm up a bit before getting on the VR treadmill.

Just as my body was loosening up—

Bzzz. Bzzz.

Seoyeon called.

“Hello.”

[ Ah, unnie. Where are you? Are you off work? ]

“Yeah. I’m home.”

What I heard from Seoyeon on the other end of the phone was simple.

First, put on the VR headset.

Then, connect to the program called Discord that Jung Yoo-hyuk had installed last time.

[ Just give a super short self-intro, and then stay on the call with me while we play Battle of Legends. ]

“Okay.”

[ I’m going to keep talking to you during the match, so answer whatever you can. The audio can’t cut out.]

“Got it.”

At first, we thought about having Seoyeon come to my place to stream together.

But that seemed like too much of a hassle.

She’d have to bring all her VR gear, and there would be a lot to deal with.

So we decided to just meet online.

Still, one of Seoyeon’s stream managers would be managing my chat window, so there shouldn’t be any problems.

[The title of your stream is ‘Putting Archers in Their Place,’ so check when it goes live, okay~.]

“???”

There was a problem.

Who’s putting whom in their place?

The stream title practically demanded clarification.

[It’s just a clickbait title, nothing serious.]

“Don’t you think using clickbait like that ruins the image of archers?”

[How could it get any worse than it already is?]

Another problem.

For the first time in my life, I lost to Seoyeon in a logical argument.

I was so stunned I couldn’t reply—utterly defeated.

I realized I needed to sway public opinion.

This can’t go on.

“I’ll show you how good archers really are.”

[Sure~ No matter how much you try, archers are still trash~ Not even the pros use them these days~]

“You lost to that so-called trash, remember?”

[Whatever~ TV~]

“…? What’s TV got to do with anything?”

[Ugh, you’re so out of touch with modern lingo.]

And with that, the call ended, with her telling me to just focus on getting ready for the stream.

Something about it still bugged me.

…Fine.

I’ll prove it with results.

Just like I always have.

Archers are good characters.

This idea that they need to be “put in their place” is slander.

From now on, as a streamer, I had a duty to restore the image of archers and bring it closer to reality.

If I played archer all the way to Grandmaster, people would see them differently.

And with that high rank, I could give Seoyeon meaningful advice too.

A win-win.

Two birds with one stone.

Ding.

[BetterToBegForgiveness]

Emerald 1P

I logged into my account.

I had finally ranked up to Emerald on Sunday evening, and the softly glowing green badge welcomed me.

Next, I connected to the “Bbzzt” channel I had pre-linked and started the stream.

My stream nickname was the same as my Battle of Legends name:

“BetterToBegForgiveness.”

For things like this, intuitive names are best.

[BetterToBegForgiveness has started streaming.]

ᄆ 1

LIVE) Archers Are Awesome

#BattleOfLegends

“Ah, ahhh.”

I cleared my throat after confirming the stream was broadcasting correctly, then joined the Discord call with Seoyeon.

Soon, Seoyeon’s voice came through in her “Maru Mode.”

『Hi hi~ Maru is here~』

There was a previously announced special guest.

Today’s stream content.

The moment had come to reveal who the special guest was—and the stream was officially underway.

『Say hi to the viewers, unnie unnie.』

“…Hello. This is BetterToBegForgiveness.”

– Hello

・Bitni ᄒᄋ

• Wow, that voice

— Is that Maru’s unnie??

– LOL that stream title

– Unnie, are you starting your own channel now?

– Oh, she’s Emerald rank

“Maru’s stream looked fun, so I decided to try it too. Please support me.”

***

For Seoyeon, doing a collab stream with her sister Seoa was great content.

The news that “Bitni”—a nickname that had previously drawn attention—was now streaming, gave Maru’s channel a big boost in viewers.

(LIVE) Putting the Archer Champ in Their Place (with Unnie)

Viewers: 2,132

#BattleOfLegends #Baole #Maru

‘T…two thousand viewers?!’

Seeing the viewer count starting with a “2” even before the game started, Seoyeon clutched her chest with excitement and kept chatting with Seoa.

Seoyeon’s tone was slightly unfiltered—for the sake of the stream’s entertainment.

“How did you end up maining a garbage champ like Archer?”

『There’s no shame in any job. Archers are a perfectly good class.』

“If Archers were good, their pick rate wouldn’t be that low! How did a smart unnie like you become an Archer simp…”

When the match started, Seoa and Seoyeon picked Archer and Warrior, respectively.

Normally, picking Archer would’ve gotten tons of backlash—but the chat was quiet.

Because all the teammates were Maru’s stream snipers.

“MommaMaru, LuMaruLu, BabyMaru… I’ve seen these names before. Geez.”

・They’re not even trying to hide it anymore LOL

– Are they all actors?

・Give Bitni the royal treatment~

ᆞMaru, your unnie’s nickname is way funnier LOL

— I’ve seen that nickname somewhere before…

– The Sister Bot Duo: Let’s Go, Let’s Go

That’s how the beginning of the game started.

Surprisingly, Yuseo-ah’s archer showed stable play.

She barely missed any minions, and her movement to dodge the enemy’s harassment was impressive.

Thanks to this, Yuseo-yeon’s warrior was able to handle the laning phase without difficulty.

Viewers in the chat were also focused on Yuseo-ah’s play, saying things like, “Oh, she’s good at laning,” and “Emerald rank really is Emerald.”

But then, about four minutes into the game—

『Unnie, I’m going top.』

“Huh? What did you say?”

Right as everyone was focused on the laning phase and preparing for a mid-temple skirmish, the archer—who needed to safely scale into the late game—suddenly vanished.

Her portrait began drifting upward, moving toward the top lane.

“Hey, unnie! Where are you going? Aren’t you farming CS?!”

A desperate cry into the void.

No response from Yuseo-ah—only waves of “ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ” flooding the chat.

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

• If she dies doing that, it’s gonna get political real quick
• She’s just playing for fun, let her drink
• What an… interesting playstyle
• She said she wants top CS too~
  ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
• What if she runs into a rogue?

Yuseo-yeon couldn’t take her eyes off the minimap, filled with unease.

Her sister’s archer finally settled on a cliffside path leading to the top lane.

Then, a moment later—Yuseo-yeon couldn’t believe her eyes.

Fwit!

Pew pew! Pew pew! Pew pew!

That was the beginning.

For over a minute, her sister’s archer relentlessly fired arrows solely at the enemy top laner.

Trying to farm?

Arrow.

Trying to cast a skill?

Arrow.

Trying to retreat behind the turret?

A slowing arrow.

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): ???]

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): What’s with the archer?]

The arrows always flew at the worst possible moments, in the most irritating way—like being stalked.

Eventually, the enemy top laner lost his cool and overcommitted to a fight, only to be easily killed by

Yuseo-yeon’s team’s knight.

But her sister’s torment didn’t stop there.

As soon as the enemy warrior respawned and began slowly returning to lane, a barrage of arrows rained down along his path—clearly waiting for him.

“W-What even is this…?”

• ????
• What is she doing?
• This is some serious griefing
• ???

  Kyaaaaah!

• That’s some toxic gameplay lol

In the end, the enemy warrior was left in tatters, dying again shortly afterward to the knight.

He couldn’t even start laning properly—his HP was constantly chipped away, and even the healer’s support couldn’t make up for it.

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): GG]

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): I’m opening mid]

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): This rogue bastard must’ve played too much RPG in heaven]

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): What, my ancestors are supposed to gank for me now?]

[(All) PenguinGuy (Warrior): Our bot’s 3v2 and still can’t push. Hah lol]

Yuseo-yeon watched it all unfold, mouth agape.

A chill ran down her spine.

This wasn’t normal play.

It was a clear, calculated move to completely shatter someone’s mental state.

The sister who was always so kind… was playing in the filthiest way imaginable in-game.

The “not even human” emote came to mind unprompted.

And yet, her voice from beyond Discord remained calm, calling it “strategy.”

『I looked up that guy’s match history—he often gives up mid-game. His account shows frequent quits and early surrenders. If we keep getting under his skin, there’s a high chance he’ll throw again.』

“What… What kind of logic is that…?”

『This is the most efficient strategy. In team games, losing a player is the biggest risk. When one teammate gives up, the whole team’s morale collapses.』

A voice with no emotion, just like always.

To put it bluntly—it sounded psychotic.