Villain’s Programming - Chapter 279
Only Noblemtl
Episode 279: The Black Pillar
“Dotap Electric.”
Dojun recalled the ‘Dotapjeongi’ game he had played in his past life.
‘It was released in 2014 and came to Korea around 2015. That was the first Chinese game I ever played.’
Dojun saw that the developers around him were having quite a bit of fun playing it, but since he was a nobody at work, he pretended not to care and played it at home.
‘I was so into it back then that I even did it for real. How much was it? Was it around 100,000 won?’
Actually, it was a game that wasn’t much of a game. The graphics were simple, and the combat was simple.
Dotapjeongi was a typical character collection game where you collected characters, grew them, and continued to clear stages with those characters.
‘But it was strangely fun. It had a unique system. Plus, it was the beginning of character collection games becoming popular, so it felt quite refreshing.’
Thanks to this, Dotop Electric achieved the number one spot in mobile sales in China.
Korea’s #1 mobile sales record was a huge achievement, but it was nothing compared to China.
‘China makes all of Korea’s annual sales in one month.’
Of course, Dota 2 had its fair share of problems. It was because the game’s characters were taken from Dota 2 and Warcraft 3 without permission. And that wasn’t all. Even the game’s skill icons were taken from WOH. It was a complete rip-off.
‘But there were some unique things. In particular, the system of collecting characters to create a team and using ultimate skills by gathering gauges during battle was a first for Dotap.’
After that, many imitation games followed the example of Dotapjeongi, and Korean mobile games were not able to escape this trend.
‘I honestly liked that system better than that one. That’s why I was so scared of the current situation.’
There was no ‘failure’ in Dotapjeongi. In Korean games, there were often penalties such as items disappearing due to failure in ‘reinforcement’ or ‘combination’, but there was none of that in Dotapjeongi.
‘I was able to enjoy the game without any stress and with peace of mind.’
Because of these features, Dotap Electric became a huge hit in the Chinese-speaking world, and was also imported to Korea, where it became very popular.
“Minmay.”
– Yes, fight.
“What kind of game is Dotapjeongi…?”
Do-jun explained to Min-may about the ‘Do-top Chronicle’ he had experienced.
“Minmay, how long will it take to make this?”
– The game itself is simple, so I don’t think it will take long, but the key is the art resources. If it’s a character game, you have to create a lot of characters, right? I think this will take a long time. You have to consider everything from the character’s story to the original drawings and modeling.
In a previous life, the developers of Dotapjeongi had solved this problem by plagiarizing from other games.
“There is a way to do this.”
– Yes? What method?
‘It’s not plagiarism, why don’t you just use my stuff?’
“We’re using characters from LoL and Pluto Online. Then, wouldn’t that reduce the production time?”
– Yes? Is that really okay? Well, since they’re all fighting games, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? Oh my, if that’s the case, the development period will be shortened significantly.
“Right? I’ll talk to those companies about the licensing issue. But you’ll have to pay them a fee for using the character.”
– That’s no problem!
Minmay said that she could make a prototype in about a month. She said that she could probably do two-shift development, if not three-shift development like Baeksent.
‘As expected, it’s China. Overwork capitalism disguised as communism! Great. At this rate, the Chinese mobile market will be fine.’
Do-jun hung up the phone with Min-may and started to create a plan for ‘Do-top Chronicle’ based on his memories from his past life.
But then it happened.
Saetbyeol spoke for the first time in a long time.
“Huh? It’s been a while. How have you been?”
“why?”
* * *
The morning star spoke to the black pillar.
“You are the one who has the remaining identity.”
The black pillar spoke to the morning star.
[What do you mean by remnants? If you’re just trying to float around for no reason, you’d better stop.]
The morning star shook his head at the black pillar’s words.
“I’m not trying to pretend. You know what I mean, right? That’s why I’m saying that. Okay, since you keep pretending not to know, I’ll tell you exactly. You’re a remnant, a remnant of a broken fate.”
The black pillar did not respond to Saetbyeol’s words. However, Saetbyeol felt that the black pillar was vibrating slightly for some reason.
The morning star continued speaking, looking at the ‘black pillar’ that rose to the end of the sky.
“At first, I was scared of you. You seemed like a black and fragmented world. And then you kept getting bigger. I had no choice but to go further away to avoid you.”
[… … .]
“But one day, when the Master solved the given problem and I leveled up, you shrank. But then you grew again. Every time the Master did well. It was strange because it kept repeating.”
The morning star looked up and down as it circled the black pillar.
“What the hell are you? Why do you grow bigger every time the Master succeeds at something, and why do you shrink every time I level up?”
[So what did I figure out?]
“Yeah. Of course it’s not perfect.”
[I wonder. What is my identity that you discovered?]
The morning star stopped in his tracks, brought his hand close to the black pillar, and spoke.
“I told you earlier. You’re a remnant of fate. You… are a fate that was broken because the Master changed it. Isn’t that right?”
[… … .]
“When I laid my hands on you, I saw your original fate, not the one you are now. In your fate, the Master was just an ordinary developer. He had never met anyone like Larry Page or Bill Gates, let alone Mansour.”
[… What happened? How did you… … .]
“I told you. I saw it when I put my hand in. Do you admit it now?”
[… … .]
“You are pieces of fate that the Master changed. Because you were changed and no longer useful, the world became broken.”
The morning star said no more. It just circled around the ‘black pillar’ again and again.
It was a long time later that the black pillar spoke to the morning star.
[Okay, I admit it. That’s right, I’m… a piece of fate that your Master changed, and that is no longer of use.]
Saetbyul clenched both his fists.
“As expected! I was right.”
The morning star turned around with a bright smile.
[So is it good?]
“Well, rather than saying it’s good, I think it’s because I know who you are… … .”
[Pfft. Then let me ask you the opposite. Do you know your identity?]
The smile disappeared from Saetbyeol’s face.
“I don’t know. And even if you saw my memories, there wouldn’t be anything about him?”
[Is that really so?]
“You! What do you know? What did you see in my memories?”
The morning star took a step closer to the pillar.
[Well, that’s hard to answer. But if I had to answer one, it would be that you have a very close relationship with your Master.]
“Isn’t that obvious?”
[Why is that obvious? What is your relationship with the Master?]
“That’s… … .”
The morning star couldn’t answer.
[Are you curious? Put your hand inside me again. Then, you will know.]
The morning star shook his head.
“Okay. I don’t want to. I’m curious, but I’ve lived well so far without knowing that.”
[Really? Then how about this? Your master will soon be in danger.]
“What… does that mean?”
[Did you forget? 3 years.]
“Three years? No way? Three years without being able to help the Master?”
[Yes, those three years. In those three years, your Master will be finished. And the destruction has already begun. How is it? Aren’t you curious?]
* * *
Dojun tilted his head.
“Saturday Star, what are you talking about? There’s trouble.”
Dojun’s eyes lit up. Up until now, Saetbyul had rarely told her story.
“It’s okay. Tell me.”
Saetbyeol hesitated for a moment before speaking. Text began to appear before Dojun’s eyes.
The morning star continued speaking.
However, many of the letters that appeared before my eyes were broken.
“What level am I at and I still can’t see this?”
Dojun sighed.
‘I barely saw any important content.’
Dojun crossed his arms and thought for a moment before asking.
‘I think I’ve gained a few things though. My destruction has already begun. It has to do with the world where the Morning Star is.’
Dojun asked.
“Morning Star. Do you happen to know what kind of destruction it is?”
Dojun didn’t understand what Saetbyeol was saying. However, he seemed to know that Saetbyeol was doing something dangerous.
“No. Don’t do that.”
“If I do it right, I think I can make a guess based on the information you gave me.”
Dojun took out his notebook and started writing down important words.
3 years.]
[ruin.]
[Lucifer.]
[that.]
Do-jun wasn’t able to receive help from ‘Saet-byul’ for three years, but he didn’t feel bad about it.
It could be reused after three years, and there was nothing lacking in this life.
‘Of course, it’s a shame that I can’t see the remaining lost memories.’
And Dojun wrote [Fate] at the end.
The only readable word among the broken letters was ‘fate’.
‘Fate. If that’s what Saetbyeol said, is there such a thing as fate?’
Dojun thought back on his past life and his current life.
‘Their fates were completely different. But most of it flowed the same way. Could this be fate?’
I felt like I knew something, but I didn’t understand it.
“Eight.”
Dojun shook his head.
“Let’s think about destruction. What exactly is destruction? What do you mean destruction has already begun? What has happened to me now… .”
Dojun paused.
“for a moment?”
Dojun moved the mouse to turn on YouTube again and played the ‘Prince Youngyo’ video.
“Surely not, Prince Young?”
‘Prince Youngyo’ is a game that could not have come out in this day and age.
‘Prince Youngyo is most likely a game sent by a lucky letter… Of course, everything that has happened so far has happened. It’s just like fate.’
For a moment, Do-jun looked at the notebook again in surprise.
[fate.]
‘The morning star mentioned the word ‘fate’ earlier. Could it be that fate and the lucky letter have something to do with each other?’
‘Fate, Prince Youngyo. Letter of fortune. That’s it!’
Dojun’s eyes grew wide.
“I figured it out!”
“huh!”
“You know about chain letters?”
Saetbyeol had seen the ‘Lucky Letter’ through Dojun’s eyes.
“I think that chain letter might be connected to the world you live in.”
“You said that the ‘thing’ in the world you live in would ruin me? Right now, the only thing that threatens me is Prince Yeongyao. I think that ‘thing’ sent me a lucky letter, or at least has a close connection to it.”
If Prince Youngyo succeeded, Baeksent would be resurrected. Then, the terrible things Dojun had seen and experienced in his past life might start again.
The morning star said.
“No. You can do it. You can do it too.”
“Yes. The low-grade panacea I received this time definitely has a physical form. Isn’t that how you sent the email?”
Dojun circled [that] he wrote in his notebook.
Dojun crossed his arms and leaned back deeply in his chair.
“No. It’s not a big deal.”
“I think I know what their numbers are. And they’re going to fail.”
“There is something they are crucially missing.”
.
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