The God of Liar

”There are around eight hundred players in my group now. They’re handling the trouble pretty well among themselves, but having a leader is important.”

”Do you want me to do it? I can help with that!”

”I want you to be vice-leaders and divide the group into three. Take care of any problems you run into and let me know if you can’t handle it.”

”I will! Roth, Haydall! Come closer, he’s talking now!”

”Huh? Uh…”

”…Yes.”

Haydall and Roth approached them reluctantly. They too were confused by her sudden switch in attitude, even if they knew she dug underdog heroes like Anti-Mainstream.

”You heard him, right?”

”Yes, but… I’m not sure whether those players will listen to us.”

”Of course they will, haven’t you seen the communities?”

”Yes, but…”

Haydall was still unsure. Even though he knew that Seojin had described them as epic heroes, it wouldn’t take a detective to realize that they were not the same heroes from that tale.

”Let’s just say you’re injured and can’t reach your full potential. A curse would work too, since we fought demons.”

”That… could work.”

Haydall was convinced, which meant there was no way to get out of it.

”Odie will be the First Lieutenant, and Roth will be the Second…”

Seojin handed them the authority smoothly, almost as if he was used to that kind of thing. Finally, he whispered to Haydall.

”Can we talk for a second?”

* * *

Haydall ended up talking with Seojin without Odie and Roth.

”What can I do for you?”

”There’s something I need to check with you. Can I reveal that she’s a celebrity?”

”Oh, that…?”

Haydall smirked.

”She’s just lying, she suffers a kind of delusion whenever she plays this game…”

”I heard you saying something about a manager behind my back. It’s not like I’ll leak it, so don’t worry about that.”

”Oh, no, think about it. Would she be able to play games at this hour if she really was a celebrity?”

”She said that she has a lot of free time.”

”Cause she’s unemployed right now. When did you even hear that, by the way?”

”She also said that you’d lock her in the fitness center if she got grounded from the game.”

”Well, staying healthy is important, isn’t it?”

”You also said that it wasn’t your decision. What kind of CEO forces the unemployed to work out?”

”Of course…”

Haydall swept over his face, giving off a sense of defeat.

”This is why I told them it was a bad idea… several times…”

”I mean no harm. I don’t want anything from you. I just want to know whether I can reveal it or not.”

”I’m afraid not. As you can already guess, Seojin, our CEO allowed her to play this game because he didn’t want her to cause any trouble in real life.”

”You two must be her babysitters.”

”Yes, Roth is her manager, and I’m… I don’t even know why the hell I’m doing this.”

Haydall’s words matched up with what Odie told him the other day. Roth was simply an overqualified manager, while Haydall was only there because Odie was such a big shot.

”I was only asking because I was wondering whether I could borrow her name. It’s kind of a shame that I can’t, but it’s fine.”

”That means…”

”That’s all, I didn’t mean any harm. To be honest, I’m not really interested in who she is.”

Haydall still couldn’t bring himself to relax after hearing what Seojin said.

He saw that Seojin didn’t have any ill intentions or care much about celebrities, but people didn’t always remain the same. What if something suddenly hurt his feelings and he decided to blow all of their hard work?

’I usually don’t care about such small fries, but things will be out of my hands if this guy decides to blow it.’

Anti-Mainstream was too big. He was the one who kicked the Ironblood’s ass back when he was still a noob. They could cover it up, but the damage would be significant.

’Hyesun will be permanently grounded from playing games and she’ll snap once she runs out of means to relieve her stress. She’d pop up in Macau the very next day and… no!’

Haydall’s heart sank just remembering those words. It was very plausible that things could turn out that way.

”Seojin, uh…”

Haydall decided to act as a negotiator, who bet everything on the table.

”Yes.”

”Could you add me as a friend? I think we should have a deep conversation about what you want. I’m sure that my CEO will be interested in you.”

”No, you don’t have to…”

With both hands, Haydall held Seojin’s tightly.

”I really want to try it. I don’t think it’ll do any harm to Odie either, or maybe it’ll be a chance for her too. You can record and post videos after reaching Level 100, right? It’ll be a vlog-type thing, or you could do streaming…”

He had only said that to please Seojin at first, but soon began to mean every word.

’Come to think of it, that’s not a bad idea at all.’

It wasn’t exaggeration, or brown-nosing.His years of experience were telling him that it was an opportunity.

’This might be a textbook case of turning crisis into opportunity. ’

Hyesun was a world-class star right now, but each and every world star eventually burned out. No one could stand at the top forever.

’But… you can extend their lifespan at the very least. Maybe she won’t last forever, but she might be able to shine brighter or keep her light much longer at least.’

Odie was only starring in films and showing her face through carefully-selected media right now. Going live was a considerable risk in itself. That was another reason why Odie felt frustrated.

…What if they shot a vlog using VRMMO though?

’There’s even a make-up pack, that’s practically an equivalent to plastic surgery!’

On top of everything, they could erase everything Odie had done by simply changing her appearance.

”You can shoot a vlog while using a make-up pack and use your original face as normal! Roth and I will have to move accordingly, but… it’ll be possible! Considering the ever-growing VR industry, it’s obvious that it will help Odie in the long run!”

Seojin’s very existence was reinforcing Haydall’s conviction. Being a celeb wasn’t a big merit when playing a game, and even could be a disadvantage if what they did in the game cause backlashes.

However, Seojin could change that.

He could make the clumsiest gamers look like gifted pros.

That would work as another weapon in a celebrity’s arsenal. Moreover, they were talking about a game that had more than ten million players!

”Why don’t you contact Ironblood then? They’re even bigger than any small, ordinary enterprise.”

”Oh, well, about that…”

Haydall scratched his head like he was embarrassed.

”I can lead a horse to water, but that’s all. I made an offer to them too, but they refused, saying that they just wanted to enjoy the game.”

”Well, okay, I understand your offer, but there’s still a problem.”

”Sure, such problems are meant to be resolved, what’s up?”

”Why is Odie acting like that? I don’t think she has a dual personality or anything, but…”

Haydall thought about it. Seojin and Odie had only met a couple of times, and it was a bit too soon for her to like him personally. So, Haydall brought up Odie’s taste instead.

”Actually, Odie…”

…had a fantasy about a macho protagonist who stood alone against a huge force A fantasy about a character who never gave in… and Anti-Mainstream had accidentally captured her heart. That was why her attitude changed so quickly after finding out who he was… Haydall explained the situation to him like that.

”That’s the way it is.”

”…The way it is.”

’The way it is, my ass.’

Seojin stared at Haydall before understanding the situation a beat later.

”So, you want to film that with me, right?”

”Yes!”

”After Level 100?”

”You can start using screen capture after Level 100.”

”Don’t you have to ask your agency first?”

Seojin knew that Haydall was one of the higher-ups. It was also ridiculous, however, that he couldn’t propose or decide such big matters by himself. He didn’t even know who Seojin was!

Haydall didn’t even hesitate, however.

”I just asked my boss and he wants me to proceed with it. He liked the idea, and he even wants to meet you. Oh, in real life, I mean. He’s willing to offer you the best conditions… wow, he’s basically handing you a blank check.”

Haydall carried on as Seojin was still busy pondering to himself.

”By the way, he wants to know what you’re doing for a living.”

”Midgard.”

”Yes, I’d do it full-time too if I had your skill and talent. What about before that?”

”…Asgard.”

”Oh, so you were skilled back then too… it was difficult to earn money in that game, but you must have been one of the top players. It’s nice to meet you, by the way. I actually enjoyed Asgard for a long time. I kind of guessed when I heard you talking about demons…”

Haydall rambled excitedly, perhaps because he was finally freed from the burden of keeping such a huge secret. He also was talking to a rare Asgard player.

”…That’s how it was. Our CEO played it, too. Oh, I’m sorry, I think I’ve gotten a bit too excited. What was your nickname, anyway? Maybe we knew each other! Haha…”

He wasn’t wrong at all.

”Uh, I was the top…”

”…What?”

”You were Rank One?”

Haydall’s eyes went wild as he handed three papers to Seojin… along with a quill.

”Ca-can you give me an autograph?”

”…What?”

”No, three, please! Three! For Me, Roth, and our CEO! A few more would be amazing if you have some time…. wait, what am I doing right now?”

This wasn’t the time to be asking for autographs.

”Back then, there was something I really wanted to ask you. Well, during the Battle of Heaven…”

He was eager to hear vivid, behind-the-scenes stories from his idol.