The Game of a Legendary Genius Dark Mage-Chapter 392

3.

The Gapyeong Service Area on the way toward Sokcho was big, so there were a lot of cars and a lot of people.

Since it’s a rest stop you pass through on the way to Gangwon-do, it felt even busier.

Seong grinned when he saw they had pulled into the Gapyeong Service Area.

Come to think of it, it felt like it had been a while since he’d been to a rest stop.

It was a summer day, already hot and muggy, and the residual heat from the parked cars made it feel even more stifling.

You could even see heat shimmers over the parking lot.

You didn’t need anyone to tell you—the heat hit you like a blast.

As Seong stepped out of the car and instinctively frowned,

Yu Mina shook her head and said,

“It’s so hot. Ugh, it’s hot.”

“Right?”

While Seong chimed in, the driver, An Yoo-jin, the one sitting behind her, An Yoo-bin, and Lee Geon-dong, who had been sitting quietly in the third row, all got out and started fanning themselves with their hands from the heat.

Well, the A/C had been blasting in the car.

No wonder it felt even hotter now.

Unable to handle the scorching air, Yu Mina hurriedly said,

“Let’s just go in already.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Sounds good.”

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s hurry.”

Everyone agreed with Mina and headed toward the service area building.

Snacks or whatever could wait—it was too hot, so they headed for the air-conditioned interior first.

Inside, they could see all sorts of food on sale.

It wasn’t even 11 yet.

A bit early to call it lunchtime.

“Should we grab something simple?”

Maybe because no one had eaten breakfast?

Mina’s suggestion felt very welcome.

When everyone nodded, Mina said,

“Then everyone pick what you want and grab a table. Seong, I want jjajangmyeon!”

“...You want me to go order it?”

“Hehe.”

“Fine, fine.”

Seong shook his head like he had no choice and said okay.

And naturally—

“Yoo-bin, I’ll have udon.”

“Got it.”

Yoo-jin also told Yoo-bin her order.

Since their older sister and unni were asking, the younger ones said okay and went to the kiosk to order.

Seong and Yoo-bin ordered the same menus their sister and unni wanted, and added a few things on the side.

They ordered a small sweet-and-sour pork and some sides for something simple, and after glancing around, Lee Geon-dong ordered udon too and came back with them.

When they sat at the table, maybe because the turnover here was fast, the food came out quickly.

Seong and Mina had jjajangmyeon and sweet-and-sour pork, plus fried dumplings; Yoo-bin had tofu-skin udon; and Yoo-jin and Geon-dong had udon with fish-cake skewers.

All five of them shared the sweet-and-sour pork and fried dumplings, and it tasted even better that way.

Slurp, slurp.

“Wow, I’m telling you, jjajangmyeon is the move at a rest stop.”

“It’s udon.”

“They’re both good.”

“Right.”

“It’s killer.”

They could’ve bickered and nitpicked, but they acknowledged each other’s menus and tucked in, and all five of them had a satisfying meal.

Honestly, whatever you eat at a rest stop seems to taste good.

There was no reason to fight over it.

As Seong was eating, something occurred to him and he looked up.

Sensing Seong’s gaze, An Yoo-jin asked like she was wondering what was up.

“What?”

“Mm, it feels a bit wrong to talk work when we’ve come all the way out here, so I’ll tell you later.”

It did feel like a vacation, after all.

When Seong shook his head, saying not now, Yoo-jin said no and replied,

“What are you talking about? It’s fine—just say it. Honestly, the nice thing about our work is we can talk about it this casually.”

“True.”

“What is it?”

“Oh, that?”

When Yoo-jin asked, Mina nodded as if she agreed, and Yoo-bin tilted her head like she was curious.

Naturally, Geon-dong acted like he already knew.

So Seong nodded, thinking all right, maybe.

It wasn’t that serious anyway.

He figured it’d be fine to bring it up lightly, so he did.

“It’s nothing big. I mentioned this to noona and to Yoo-bin last time, but I’m temporarily attached to a deep-layer challenge party in Mugan City, Belhadan.”

“Ahh, the Mugan deep-layer challenge party?”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I hear three parties compete, and usually they go with a full party of six and keep descending—that’s what you mean, right?”

Maybe because she was a guild master?

Her info was fast.

Seong looked at Yoo-jin and nodded.

“I’m working there with Mihael’s party.”

“Mihael—wasn’t he originally 2nd squad in Eclipse Order, that guy?”

“Oh! I think I know who you mean.”

“Yeah, I heard he left. He’s got potential and talent, from what I know—so you went with them?”

Yoo-jin and Mina chatted as they recalled Mihael, and Seong nodded.

And Yoo-bin focused on what Seong was saying.

They had just entered Belhadan yesterday as the backup party, after all.

So she listened closely, thinking this was pretty important.

Seong said,

“The thing I’m mulling over is, everyone there seems like good people, so I’m hiding my identity for now, and I’m wondering what to do.”

“Hm, so you haven’t told them you’re the Demon King?”

“Then how are you appearing on the live?”

“I’m just going around with my face revealed.”

“Huh? Didn’t you used to show only your mouth?”

“Yeah, I did.”

When he was the Demon King, he’d only show his mouth or cover up completely, so you could barely see his expression.

Now he was revealing his whole face.

So when she heard that, Yoo-jin easily grasped what he was worried about.

“So you’re wondering if going public will be a problem for Rapid?”

“Yeah. If I were the only one affected, I honestly wouldn’t care that much.”

“Yeah, that’s very you, Seong.”

“Mhm.”

“Seong is kind of like that.”

Mina and Geon-dong, who knew Seong well, agreed, and Seong deliberately ignored them.

It felt like they were complimenting him, which made him a bit bashful.

Anyway, when Seong asked for opinions,

Yoo-jin asked like there was nothing to worry about.

“How is going public a nuisance for Rapid?”

“Mm, since I’m not revealing my face on the Rapid channel but revealing it on a different channel first?”

“If anything, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) it’ll look like a surprise or a special event—totally fine. Plus, Mihael’s party will probably be over the moon.”

“Hm, that does sound likely.”

Everyone nodded at Yoo-jin’s sharp read.

Seong also nodded at that and thought for a moment.

“Then, if we do a joint live with their stream, wouldn’t that create synergy and increase inflow to Mihael’s party too?”

“With the Rapid Guild live?”

At Yoo-bin’s words, Seong glanced at her like he was a bit surprised, and at the same time, he stole a look at Yoo-jin.

A shared stream meant that when both channels were streaming the same content, the exact same broadcast would be pushed to both channels.

Viewers would be unified, and the combined total would appear on each channel—so Mihael’s party channel would see inflow as well.

Depending on how you looked at it, it could be seen as a loss for the Rapid Guild.

That’s why Seong looked to Yoo-jin.

Unexpectedly—

“That sounds good to me. Mihael isn’t unlikeable—he’s got a great way with words and excellent stream sense. It’ll be a fresh jolt for existing Rapid viewers and create synergy.”

“I think so too.”

“Hm, I haven’t watched Mihael’s stream, but it sounds fine.”

“Rapid’s streams have run in a similar format for a while, so like unni said, it’ll be a fresh jolt—and since Mihael, that guy, is good on stream, I think it’ll synergize.”

With not just Yoo-jin but also Yoo-bin, Mina, and even Geon-dong saying that, Seong blinked.

He hadn’t expected even Geon-dong to chime in so actively—he glanced at him, then chuckled.

Either way, it sounded advantageous, so Seong nodded okay.

Yoo-jin said,

“Once it’s decided, tell us right away. If you tell Geon-dong, he’ll handle it immediately.”

“Yeah, since we live together anyway, if you ping me on messenger, I can link the streams right away.”

“Okay.”

Seong answered, and though he felt a bit sorry for bringing up work after they’d come all this way, he was grateful everyone dove into it so excitedly.

After that, they had an early lunch at the rest stop, loaded up on snacks, hit the bathrooms, and were ready to head out again.

There were amusements at the rest stop, and they considered enjoying them briefly, but with a long way still to go, they chose to get back on the road.

It was a weekday, but maybe because it was Thursday—close to the weekend? There were more cars than expected, and they worried it might soon clog up.

As they drove, they put on some upbeat music, and the ones up front, driver Yoo-jin and Mina, were chatting.

“So you’re saying they’re scheming again this time?”

“Rachel???”

“Yeah, she’ll probably try to drag all the rankers under me.”

“Hm, that is a bit of a problem.”

“Whatever. Let them come.”

Mina said it like it was fine, but Yoo-jin glanced at her with a hint of concern.

A clash was inevitable sooner or later—but they were already banding together.

Listening from the back, Seong tilted his head.

“They’re still picking a fight?”

“They haven’t yet, but it feels like it’ll be soon.”

“Hmm. How long?”

Mina thought for a moment at Seong’s question, then answered,

“About a month, maybe?”

A month in game time was quite a while, so Seong tilted his head at that.

For a Single Ranker, it could take days to gain a single level.

So it made sense.

Then—

“Hmm. In that case, once this Belhadan thing is wrapped up, I’ll come.”

“Huh? Ah! That could work?”

At first Mina reacted like “what do you mean,” then recalled Seong’s power in the Silverrain Territory and nodded.

Even back then, Seong’s power had been tremendous—so after a Belhadan run?

He might surpass the strength of a Single Ranker by a wide margin.

At Mina’s response, Yoo-bin thought a bit, then nodded.

“I think we’ll be able to get our passage permits issued soon, too. Everyone’s learned a Secret Art.”

“Eh? Already?”

“I heard the lowest-ranked team member had advanced to Legendary grade, but you’re already at that point?”

“From what I’ve seen while editing footage, yeah.”

“Oh?”

Surprised, even Yoo-jin, who was driving, asked again, and Mina and Geon-dong reacted as well.

Naturally, Seong listened with interest.

Anyway, once they got their passes issued soon—

“Should we go hunt Single Rankers?”

“That sounds fun.”

“Exactly.”

When Mina said that, Seong and Yoo-bin grinned back.

The new content would come out right away—it was satisfying—while Yoo-jin and Geon-dong smiled, imagining the channel and guild growing bigger as they watched the three.

Chatting like that as they went, before they knew it, they arrived in Sokcho.