The second floor of the WHTS Company building.
This entire district was a place for employee welfare.
If you climb the stairs, you will see a wide view of the gym and swimming pool from the entrance, and next to it, a sauna and about a dozen massage chairs boast their presence.
If you walk to the center of the second floor, you will find a cafe. A barista is always on standby, so anyone can drink coffee for free.
Next to it, there is a sleeping room where you can take a nap, a comic book store, a convenience store, a billiard table, and a retro arcade machine.
In the early days, there were voices of dissatisfaction that there were many facilities to show off the welfare of employees rather than welfare.
But it’s always better than nothing.
WHTS Company employees had already completed their adaptation and were using the facility freely.
“Did you see the entire mail arrived this time? It was not a joke.”
Among those who drink coffee in groups of two or three, a man with a particularly loud voice leads the conversation.
“Is it an in-house game competition or something?”
“Yes, the game created by the newly established game development team… … Did I mention it’s called Battle Royale? It must have already been developed.”
Just then, a female employee who had been listening pretending not to be interested intervened.
“that… … how about the game Is it difficult?”
“why? Are you interested, too? After all, the prize money was so high in the tournament.”
“Oh, no. Not because of the prize money, I just asked because I was bored. It’s real.”
The prize money for the Battle Royale internal competition is 5,000 Acorn Coins.
Since the market price of acorn coins was still around $100, it was a large amount of money that reached 600 million won in Korean currency.
In addition, since the participation qualification was for WHTS Company employees, the competition rate was not high, so even employees who did not enjoy games were showing interest in the competition.
“The game genre is FPS? No matter how easy it is, wouldn’t it be difficult for people who haven’t played gun fighting games before?”
“In the guidebook for the competition, it was written that even absolute beginners could win.”
“Battle Royale is not about shooting and killing a lot of opponents, but surviving until the end, so in theory even a beginner can win. You just have to keep hiding and show up at the end.”
All of a sudden, employees from other departments at nearby tables are also listening with their ears pricked up. As much as that, the battle royale competition was a big concern among the employees.
“Others, please participate in this competition if you can afford it. It’s an in-company competition, so if you’re lucky, you can win.”
“Did our company have 700 employees?”
“There are a lot of new hires this time, so it will be close to 800 people. Still, the game development department said they couldn’t attend, so we should assume that the actual number of participants is around 600.”
“Because team leaders and above will not attend… … The actual number of participants is less than 500, right?”
“wow! If it is 500 to 1, it is a lottery with a fairly high probability of winning, right?”
Just when the conversation has flowed to this point, a voice mixed with laughter jumps out from the side.
“Who is absent?”
The heads of the staff turn to one side almost simultaneously. There, Soyoung Lee was standing holding a heavy paper bag.
“I also participate in company competitions.”
“What? It was the first time I knew today that team leader Lee was playing games.”
“Sometimes I have to take a break and relieve stress and play games.”
Lee So-young’s image in the company was a terrible workhorse, so it was a surprise to participate in the game competition itself.
“What are all those faces? Are you saying you don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe it… … Honestly, it’s a pity that it doesn’t match. I don’t think I can imagine the image of this team leader playing games.”
“It’s because you don’t know my skills yet. The representative was also surprised after trying it together.”
It’s true that I was surprised. I wasn’t surprised because I was good at the game, but I was surprised in the opposite sense.
“I need to see Team Leader Lee’s skills during the competition. No, since you said that, shall we get together this weekend?”
“How about the weekend?”
“There is a weekend gathering to prepare for the Battle Royale tournament. There are close to 40 people, and Team Leader Lee also comes to play.”
I knew that the employees were very interested in the in-house competition, but I didn’t know that they had already organized a meeting and were preparing for it.
‘It wouldn’t be easy to get together on the weekend, but were there so many people who liked games in the company?’
Lee So-young was not happy with the Battle Royale project.
It was because there was already a partnership with Watts, simple payment, and Ohsung Electronics to secure virtual currency users, and it was impossible to erase the idea that game development was a redundant investment.
However, as I saw the employees actively taking action, my thoughts were gradually changing.
‘Maybe the game will bring a bigger change than the existing SNS or simple payment.’
* * *
Detailed rules were set two weeks before the in-house game competition held at WHTS Company.
From noble mtl dot com
-The game proceeds with the Battle Royale Ground Zero beta version.
– Conducted 3 random preliminary rounds to select the top 50 students.
– The final 50 people are awarded all prize money to the final person in the final.
Up to this point, the rules seemed okay, but the rules that followed immediately puzzled the participants.
– The game is played in pairs, and partners can freely invite not only WHTS Company employees but also outsiders.
The reason for this rule was to encourage beginners who are not familiar with FPS games to participate.
However, contrary to the intention of the operating side, the additional regulations bring about a completely unexpected butterfly effect.
“Turn around to Area B and go! To Area B! There are children in the front, so don’t go out.”
A man screaming at the monitor, Viktor is a famous FPS game streamer.
He was a talented streamer who had won the tournament seven times, so hundreds of thousands of viewers always flocked to him whenever he turned on the broadcast.
“Don’t go out there. hey! hey! It’s not really there. There must be a sniper! Oh no! no! no! Come back!”
Even though he shouted as if pleading, the ally bravely charged, and in less than a second a death message appeared.
“sh*t! I told you not to go out!”
Viktor squats on his chair like an angry gorilla and beats his chest.
“If you don’t know, do as you are told! sh*t! Is that difficult?”
Every time Viktor bursts out in anger, the chat window is filled with giggling and teasing chatting.
“Friends, this is not the time to laugh. i’m really mad If you win this round, you’ll go straight to the finals… … under… … The team is really lucky… … i can’t eat sh*t.”
Eventually, Viktor takes off his headset.
I’m not in the mood to broadcast, so I’m about to turn off the camera, but a message emphasized through a paid chat comes in.
-Hey, Victor. Why don’t you go to a battle royale tournament instead? The prize is also $500,000!
Viktor is fascinated by the prize money and puts the headset on his ears again.
“Battle Royale? It’s the first game I’ve heard of. But what prize is half a million dollars?”
jingle.
This time, the video comes out in a paid chat. It was a short edited video of the just-mentioned Battle Royale play.
“Um… … What about the graphics? The gun feedback isn’t impressive either. oh? The gameplay is interesting. The Battle Royale mode is officially coming out, right?”
The reaction of the chat window was also showing interest in the battle royale method of selecting the last person rather than the external part of the game.
“what? Is this an unreleased game? So how are you going to compete? aha. It’s an in-house test competition. I understand.”
Viktor nods, then recalls the prize belatedly and screams.
“wait for a sec! Where is the game company burning 500,000 dollars in prize money for an in-house competition? Is this a game being developed by a Saudi prince?”
-The developer is WHTS Company, famous for Acorn Coin.
“It could be because it’s a company with a lot of money.”
-Are you going to participate? I can invite you to a contest.
“No, I have no intention of going to an in-company competition and receiving prize money. You’re too nasty.”
– You don’t have the confidence to win?
Victor grabs the ship and bursts into laughter.
“hey! i’m victor Did you forget that I only won 7 tournaments? Ordinary people say queek even if a truck comes in! Queek!”
-It’s not just the general public. Rookie Tyler, Martin Puck, Come On Gigi, and Ninja Deb have already submitted their entries.
The mentioned ID was one of the best players in the FPS game.
It was also a rivalry with Viktor, so now I can’t back down because of my pride.
“Okay, I get it. Let’s start by playing what kind of game it is. If it’s a sh*tty game, I won’t play a contest or anything, so I know that.”
* * *
Ahead of the WHTS Company internal competition, the development team opened a temporary server for Battle Royale Ground Zero.
It was a consideration so that contestants could practice games in advance.
However, the number of visitors to the temporary server has been increasing for some time now, and yesterday the ridiculous number of 5,000 people gathered.
“Did you say that there are 5,000 people connecting to the Battle Royale temporary server?”
Upon receiving my question, Han Seok-ho nodded with a face as hard as tree bark.
“That’s more than any mid-table game. Isn’t it great that a game that hasn’t even been released has this much access?”
“As a result of checking the access logs from the development team, it was revealed that a number of IDs that had nothing to do with this tournament accessed.”
“… … .”
In my own way, it was a joke thrown to change the atmosphere lightly, but the person receiving the words continues to report with a serious expression.
“90% of the visitors were illegal users who came in by falsifying the invitation.”
“It’s not like the game was stolen.”
“That’s right.”
If the game itself isn’t stolen, it’s safe for now.
I nodded my head to mean continue.
“First, the user ID suspected of illegal access has been suspended. However, I keep coming in with a new ID… … We need to shut down the server for about a week to completely block access.”
“I know the tournament is next week, but if the server closes, how will it proceed?”
“So I’m going to postpone the tournament schedule for about 10 days.”
The tournament is postponed because of illegal access? This was nothing to think about. I immediately wave my hand.
“Just go ahead. Aren’t those people doing any harm?”
“It’s not possible. If there are many users who enjoy playing the game illegally, it will take a hit later on when it is officially released.”
When the game was released for free, it was natural for sales to drop when it was officially released.
However, Battle Royale is not an ordinary game, but a monster-like game with cumulative sales of 70 million copies.
Does it mean that 5,000 illegal accessors are entering here?
“I see this as an opportunity.”
“Is this your chance?”
“Think about it. A game that hasn’t even been officially released is coming in by tampering with the invitation card? This is not something that is done with any enthusiasm.”
Han Seok-ho nodded as if he agreed with this statement.
“So pretend you don’t know and keep the server open. After a few days like this, you will be surprised.”