-...So for now, we’ve stopped the broadcast, and Park Han-young’s PaprikaTV account has been permanently banned. If you just sign the power of attorney, I’ll take care of the rest of the legal measures for you—no need for you to worry about a thing.

At the words of the fan club president—namely, Lee Shin Sect leader Ji Soo-min—Lee Shin listened quietly before speaking.

“I have a guess as to who leaked it. But, if we take legal action, what happens to those two?”

Within the team, the former trainee Baek Ji-soo, who had left recently, was already being suspected as the leaker.

-Even if criminal charges are brought, it would probably end with probation. However, we can claim compensation for invasion of privacy and financial loss. Considering your recognition and the expectations surrounding you, the amount would probably be substantial…

“I’m not particularly interested.”

-Pardon?

“Park Han-young has already been expelled from PaprikaTV, so he’s received a harsh punishment. And Baek Ji-soo isn’t in a position to be penalized or to pay compensation.”

-Ah, well, that’s true. Since Park Han-young was kicked out of PaprikaTV, even if he tries to continue broadcasting elsewhere, he’s lost his entire core fanbase...

“That’s enough. Honestly, the ones most affected were the team’s main players, not me. Let’s just leave the rest to be handled at the team level.”

-Okay, got it. Sigh, Shin-nim, you’re too kind for your own good.

“Enough of that. What happened with the car?”

-I heard someone found a used listing. Some publishing company CEO already licked his chops over it, but with a bit of coaxing, he’ll give it up. I mean, what kind of tiny publishing house CEO who pays peanuts to his staff thinks he deserves a Rolls-Royce?

“How much is it?”

-Hehe, not that much. I was thinking of just giving it to you as a gift...

“Not necessary.”

-Sob, it should be around 400 million won. But since you don’t have a driver’s license, you can’t get it on installments. The insurance alone will cost around 40 million won per year—can you handle that?

“There’s no problem.”

-To hire an experienced driver capable of handling that kind of car, you’ll have to think about paying at least 30 million won a year. Are you really sure you can afford it?

“I said there’s no problem.”

-Yes, yes. Then I’ll bring you good news soon.

After the call ended, Lee Shin fell into thought.

Why had Park Han-young and Baek Ji-soo done such a thing?

It was such an obvious question.

Money. Anxiety about the future.

Even if they had only been trainees living in the dorm for a few years, they must have spent countless hours gaming to reach a level worthy of becoming a trainee.

They must have pulled stunts like that to try to make up for the years they spent ignoring their studies and focusing on games.

Due to their lack of education, they didn’t even know that such actions were punishable or that the money they earned could be taken back—how foolish.

A situation brought about by uncertain futures and financial hardship.

Surely many players and trainees in the e-sports scene were grappling with the same worries.

Even among retired pro gamers, very few had landed on their feet.

Cases where they became coaches, commentators, or star personal streamers were extremely rare—most ended up opening cafes or restaurants, or became unemployed, following a path similar to those who had hit retirement age.

Lee Shin thought deeply.

He loved games.

He loved e-sports, and he wanted the lives of the players who formed its foundation to improve.

Only then would being the best among them mean something.

In the West, there were already many job sectors related to e-sports, offering more career options for retired pro gamers.

‘Couldn’t I create more of those options myself?’

What if he started a business that could make good use of the experience of retiring pro gamers?

Such thoughts briefly passed through Lee Shin’s mind.

‘Looks like I’ll need to work harder on making money.’

Lee Shin began seriously thinking about ways to earn more.

In the end, the incident came to a close with Park Han-young and Baek Ji-soo showing up to apologize.

“I’m sorry!”

“I’m sorry!”

The two of them knelt in the middle of the training room and begged for forgiveness.

The eyes of the MBS players and trainees were cold as they focused on the pair.

Unable to face their former teammates, the two kept their heads lowered.

Coach Bang Jin-ho looked at the two of them with a complicated expression.

He had been furious when the humiliating video of Lee Shin sweeping the floor with the first team had been leaked.

But seeing them kneel like this, he couldn’t bring himself to take any harsh measures. They were still the kids he had once coached.

“So what are you two going to do now?”

Coach Bang asked.

With his head bowed, Park Han-young spoke tearfully.

“I’ve applied to enlist in the military.”

“The army?”

“Yes.”

Baek Ji-soo answered as well.

They had decided to use this as an opportunity for reflection by enlisting, and that soothed Coach Bang’s anger somewhat.

Especially since Park Han-young had already lost everything he had built as a BJ—it wasn’t even worth punishing further.

Coach Bang let out a sigh and said,

“Fine. That’s enough. Just don’t do stuff like this again and live properly, understood?”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

The two finally looked somewhat relieved.

They had been worried about punishment, but even more so, they had felt immense pressure from the way Lee Shin Sect followers had stirred up chaos across every online community.

In fact, that was what had prompted them to choose military enlistment, so they felt some comfort in how things had settled for now.

After the apology, the two left the training room. As they trudged away lifelessly, a voice suddenly called out from behind.

“Wait.”

“Huh?”

“Us?”

The two turned around. Their faces turned pale.

The person who had called out to them was none other than Lee Shin.

Ignoring Baek Ji-soo, Lee Shin stared directly at Park Han-young.

As their eyes met, Park Han-young flinched and quickly lowered his head. He had nothing to say.

“Meet me this evening.”

“T-this evening?”

“Yeah, I’m leaving work early today. Six o’clock.”

“Me too?”

Baek Ji-soo asked. Lee Shin waved his hand dismissively.

“Not you.”

“Okay…”

Baek Ji-soo looked somewhat relieved.

Having already been attacked enough by the Lee Shin Sect, Park Han-young was visibly anxious about what Lee Shin might say to him.

However, that evening, the conversation they had over dinner came as a surprise.

“How much does a BJ make?”

“Huh?”

“Yeah.”

“That really depends. The top male and female cam streamers can rake in several thousand per month.”

“What do you mean, male and female cam streamers?”

“They’re people who earn money with their looks. They don’t get a lot of viewers, but a few obsessed fans throw tons of stardust at them.”

Lee Shin tilted his head. It was a world he couldn’t understand.

“What about you?”

“I’m a game BJ, so my stream has to be fun. Game BJs either need great skills, good talk, or the ability to pull crazy stunts to attract viewers and get stardust.”

“Tell me more.”

“Sure… Well, if you're really good and show off cool plays, viewers are impressed and throw stardust. Also, there’s this thing called a sponsor match between game BJs, and you can win money from those too.”

“Sponsor match?”

“Yeah, it’s a kind of game where viewers arrange a showdown and send stardust to the winner. We used to bet stardust between BJs, but now that’s banned as it’s considered gambling.”

“And you?”

“I was the crazy stunt type. There are so many skilled game BJs, so all I had going for me was talk and overacting. If I had better skills, I wouldn’t have needed to do that stuff to make money.”

“Hmm…”

“But, Sunbae, are you thinking of starting a personal stream?”

Lee Shin shook his head.

“No.”

“Then why are you so curious?”

“…Someone I know is interested in personal streaming.”

“Ah, I see…”

“But if you're good at games, you can make good money even without talking, right?”

“Yeah, but even if you're skilled, if the gameplay is boring like a sleeping pill, people won’t watch. But someone with your style, Sunbae, would be a total hit. Just showing off your Defensive Mine control from last time would get tons of stardust…”

“Flashy plays that look good on camera. That’s not even that hard…”

Lee Shin fell into thought for a moment.

Then, realizing he was lost in thought, he snapped back and noticed Park Han-young staring at him quietly from across the table.

“What?”

“Sunbae, you’re thinking of streaming, right?”

“Not me. Someone I know.”

“Come on, it’s you, isn’t it?”

“I said it’s not.”

“Don’t be like that.”

Park Han-young suddenly stood up and moved his chair closer to Lee Shin.

“If you’re going to stream, I’ll support you however I can, as an apology for what happened. Believe it or not, I used to make over 10 million won a month as a BJ. Though I’ve flopped now…”

At that, Lee Shin looked at him steadily.

“By the way, what are you planning to do with your life now?”

“I don’t know. After the military, I’ll either go back to streaming or find another job. I’ve been kicked off PaprikaTV, so I’ve lost my base, but it’s not the only platform out there.”

After saying that, Park Han-young let out a sigh.

Lee Shin nodded.

“Well, you brought that on yourself. But let me make you a proposal.”

“What is it?”

“First of all, this is a secret.”

“Got it. I’ll keep it.”

“And if you help with this, I won’t take legal action for hacking into my computer.”

“Ah, okay. Just tell me what to do.”

Lee Shin smiled faintly.

“It’s not that hard. For you.”

The Lee Shin Sect rose like wildfire, and every online community was flooded with posts criticizing Park Han-young. They even launched a boycott against PaprikaTV.

As a result, the media highlighted the issue as a social problem, focusing on Park Han-young and other unethical BJs.

Baek Ji-soo remained under the radar, but the well-known BJ Park Han-young was practically socially buried under a wave of intense public backlash.

It was another incident that reaffirmed Lee Shin’s sacred and untouchable status.

Thanks to admitting his guilt and apologizing to MBS, Park Han-young was able to receive forgiveness quickly.

Photos of him walking with Lee Shin around the Yongsan electronics market surfaced, and it was reported in the media.

Furthermore, Lee Shin’s intent to forgive was passed on to the Lee Shin Sect, and they stopped spreading their anger toward Park Han-young any further.

As things settled down, Park Han-young was busy shopping with Lee Shin around the electronics market.

“With computers, the better the specs, the better. Of course you’ll need a good cam and mic too.”

“What’s the best?”

“Obviously, putting together a rig with top-tier components across the board.”

“Then do that. Money’s no issue—just make it the absolute best.”

“Got it!”

In the end, Park Han-young searched around Yongsan and assembled a high-end PC with carefully selected components.

He also set up the microphone and camera, and installed the OS and streaming software.

“Okay, now try logging in. You have a PaprikaTV account, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Ah, what a shame. Someone like you, a global star, would be way better off on an overseas streaming platform. Do you really have to go this far just to keep your identity hidden?”

Park Han-young fiddled with the white mask with a regretful expression.

“Image preservation.”

Giving only that brief explanation, Lee Shin logged in to PaprikaTV.

The username was Player_SIN.