September.
For so, it marked the start of a new school sester. For others, it was the final month of the third quarter. It was also the beginning of autumn, with the relentless sunlight and oppressive heat finally easing their grip.
In South Korea, where virtually everyone was familiar with the VR ga Dark Zone, preparations were underway for ranking matches, preliminary rounds, and KSM scrims. anwhile, Glory and Honor, a rising star in the gaming world, was busy readying a stadium in Yongsan for the launch of its Korean tournant, set to take place in just one week.
And amidst all this, I received a call from the Glory and Honor division of Icarus.
The topic was... a bit tricky.
“So, if I understand correctly, you’re asking to participate as a guest comntator. But I’m afraid I’ll have to decline.”
“Oh, is that so? If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask why?”
“It’s just that my theoretical knowledge doesn’t go deep enough to catch every nuanced strategic play and turn it into comntary on the spot.”
To put it simply, I wasn’t knowledgeable enough to be a comntator or caster.
The Domination mode in Glory and Honor was, strictly speaking, a strategy ga. It combined individual skill, strategic planning, and the choice of runes and special abilities to counter enemy tactics. The breakdown was roughly 80% individual skill and 20% strategic elents.
Now, so might argue that with an 80% focus on individual skill, the remaining 20% wasn’t worth much. But in reality, the way that 20% was utilized could often make or break a ga.
Professional players devoted imnse amounts of ti to mastering that 20% to crush their opponents. Therefore, a comntator who could understand the value of seemingly ordinary special abilities, classes, and tactical combinations—and explain their impact on a match—was indispensable.
And that person... definitely wasn’t .
“If you’d settle for participating in the finals of the event match during the tournant intermission in mid-to-late September, that’d be great. I was able to handle AP guest comntary last year because I had sufficient theoretical grounding for that, but I also have a few personal commitnts this ti.”
“Ah... I understand. As always, thank you for all your efforts, Strear Eugene.”
“Sure.”
And with that, the call ended.
I slumped back into my chair, mulling over my final words—personal commitnts, huh. Strictly speaking, that wasn’t untrue, but it wasn’t anything significant. My parents were coming to visit Korea again, having returned from the U.S. It was only natural to et them and exchange greetings after such a long ti.
Of course... this wouldn’t be good news for the Korean branch of Icarus. Especially considering my mother’s position as the head of the Managent Diagnostics Team and the fact that this visit was for a pre-audit in preparation for October’s interim audit.
The tournant would go ahead as planned, but I could only imagine the staff would be in for a rough ti.
Thankfully, the motion capture data for the Assassin class had been collected well in advance.
“There’s still plenty left to do, though...”
I flicked my fingers across the keyboard, pushing aside Glory and Honor-related tasks, and opened a new window.
The top-priority Glory and Honor advertisent campaign had successfully taken off. Instead of boring, generic ga intros, focusing entirely on ranked battles had proven to be a brilliant tactical move.
It turned out well—not just because of my involvent but also because many other strears, whether they specialized in gaming or covered a variety of gas, had already played and advertised Glory and Honor. By spotlighting the raw combat that viewers craved, the results were far from disappointing.
Well, the skyrocketing MMR (Matchmaking Rating) made for entertaining viewing, which helped, too.
I checked the advertisent period I had sidelined.
There were about four weeks left until the contract expired. Below that were performance trics for Glory and Honor—things like concurrent users, revenue, and new user acquisition—all tied to incentive clauses in the contract.
Though I hadn’t examined the specifics, the gist was clear: additional incentives would be paid based on these trics’ upward trends.
And since those trics were steadily climbing, I just needed to maintain the current pace.
“All that’s left now is the event match I ntioned earlier.”
As long as I didn’t ss that up, the contract would conclude without issue—not that I planned to ss it up.
This ant I could finally turn my attention to other matters I’d neglected. My inbox was a pri example, overflowing with ssages related to the think tank, Dark Zone, advertisents, and countless other topics.
One email caught my eye.
“ssage from two weeks ago... Camp Henry.”
Of course, Camp Henry referred to none other than our illustrious Senator Henry.
Curiosity piqued, I browsed articles about the recent Democratic National Convention in the U.S. To summarize: Senator Henry had verbally demolished his rivals, securing a clear lead.
Moreover, as the Democratic floor leader, he had championed IT industry funding bills, one of which had significantly boosted Think Tank’s growth. This naturally bolstered his appeal as a presidential candidate.
Icarus International had long funneled money into Camp Henry as a super PAC supporter, and Think Tank was no exception. With less than two months left until the presidential election, his victory seed highly probable.
“After pouring loads of cash into his pockets, it’s payback ti...”
The pre-audit didn’t really require my parents’ visit, yet they were coming anyway.
Henry had started sending covert emails right after his primary victory.
I wasn’t particularly interested in these developnts, but I couldn’t postpone handling them any longer. It was ti to draft an invoice for Camp Henry. Even though the topic was far too mundane for a dinner conversation with my parents, given our social positions, it couldn’t be avoided.
I began drafting an email for Think Tank.
“To the future occupant of the White House: draft the invoice as you see fit. I’ll review it and coordinate with the relevant parties afterward. Make it neat.”
As usual, I delegated the task.
How much Icarus billed was none of my concern, so I shifted focus to my final remaining task.
The current ti was around 3 p.m. in Korea, aning it was about 2 a.m. in the U.S. My parents were likely asleep, so I opted for an email instead of a call.
The ssage was simple:
“Planning a shooting trip in Hawaii or Guam. Any hotel recomndations?”
It was more of a casual text than a formal email.
Satisfied, I closed the ssage window, stretched lightly, and stood up. With no particular goals for the day, I decided to dive into ranked gas and check out the Assassin class that had been gaining traction recently.
It was ti to return to the world of iron and blood.
Thus began another eventful day in September, as the countdown to the Glory and Honor event match drew closer.
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