Chapter 55: Contract and Milkyway

“Whaaat?!! You signed a contract with MK?!”

When Jaeho, who had just reconnected, told the news, Mei’s jaw dropped.

“That… Is that really okay?”

Samantha was also surprised, but more than that, she was worried.

Given Jaeho’s current level and disposition, the bloody Pro League was never a good fit.

He looked like a final boss on the surface, but—

“Ah, I’m not actually playing in matches. They just wanted to sign me as a player for publicity.”

“Oh.”

Samantha understood right away.

They just wanted to use that final boss aura of his.

“So you’re not really a pro gamer… just a model, right?”

Just like Mei said, Jaeho was simply the Promotion Model for the 1st Gaming Team.

“Hmm… That might not be received well.”

He’d be flaunting his strongest-player aura without actually stepping into matches?

It was obvious the players wouldn’t acknowledge Jaeho so easily.

Unless Jaeho proved his skills himself.

And what if Jaeho did play and ended up losing?

MK’s “final boss” image of Jaeho would crumble just like that.

“Well, they’ll handle it on their end.”

Jaeho answered nonchalantly.

He didn’t care what happened to him, after all.

“What matters is the signing bonus and the salary.”

A signing bonus of 80 million, and a yearly salary of 40 million.

Honestly, compared to what MK offered their other top players, it was a pittance.

But since Jaeho’s contract was more about lending them his face than actual gameplay, there was no helping it.

If anything, it was quite generous for a level 100 newbie.

Jaeho himself felt the contract was more than he deserved.

After all, his face was now known worldwide.

Selling it a little more wouldn’t hurt anything.

The important thing was that he could continue running the Flower House.

Because of the contract with MK, his mother, Eunhye, had finally given Jaeho her full blessing to play the game.

“She said she’d tolerate even an Academic Warning now.”

Mei and Samantha were left speechless by that.

“Hmm? What’s with those faces?”

Jaeho didn’t get the strange atmosphere and just grinned, but the two women said nothing.

To admit Jaeho was still a university student… it was the sort of thing that crushed them with inexplicable self-doubt.

***

Following Jaeho’s suggestion, Giant set up support poles all over Elysia Garden so the Milkway could grow properly.

Because of the randomly placed poles, the scenery turned rather bizarre, and the Elves’ complaints grew louder.

But as soon as anyone said, “Alicia ordered it,” it was all magically resolved.

After all the preparations, Jaeho headed to the Oasis at the heart of Elysia Garden, its lifeblood.

There, he planted two Milkway saplings and took a deep breath.

“Let’s begin.”

<Protection of The Divine Tree>

Gwoooong—

A warm light burst from Jaeho’s body.

[For 10 seconds, the efficiency of all Class Skills is increased by 1000%.]

Jaeho immediately poured all his growth skills—<Skilled Rapid Growth>,<Flute Playing> ,<Florist> , and more—into all the Milkyways.

With the power multiplied tenfold, the Milkways reacted instantly.

Kudududuk—

What started as tiny saplings began to grow wildly, following the guide lines along the poles.

“Ooooh?!”

Not just the Elves watching, but even the Jerluck Association workers observing from afar, all gawked in astonishment at the spectacle.

The city that had looked hideous moments ago was instantly swallowed in vines.

But that wasn’t the end of it.

While Giant was handling his part, Jaeho did what he could for the saplings’ condition, but after they had taken root, things were different.

With such explosive growth, the already-weak saplings couldn’t be expected to hold up on their own.

—Mei! Begin!

—Yes!

At Jaeho’s signal, Mei, who had been waiting elsewhere, answered right away.

Though the vines had grown to a tremendous scale, there were only two roots.

Normal water absorption was impossible under those circumstances, so Jaeho came up with the idea of “Grafting.”

By growing new Milkway saplings in the areas where the city’s Milkway vines clustered and grafting them in!

He’d already tested it with other vines, and it worked well enough.

Currently, Mei was at the first point, growing the Milkway she’d pre-planted there.

“<Rapid Growth>!”

Kudududu—

Even if Mei’s skill efficiency was far below Jaeho’s, any shortcomings were filled by Fonda, the Spirit of Vitality.

[You receive a growth bonus from the abundant energy of the Spirit of Life.]

The grown vine intertwined naturally with the one from the Oasis, becoming one.

“<Grafting>!”

Since they were the same species, the chance of failure was extremely low.

[ <Milky Way> and <Milky Way> grafting successful.]

—There, I did it!

Jaeho, meanwhile, was attempting grafting from the opposite side.

Kududuk—

Naturally, Jaeho succeeded even more easily than Mei.

“Good! It’s working.”

Jaeho sprang up and started running ahead of the spreading vines.

“Amazing! I’ve seen all kinds of New World broadcasts, but this is a first even for me!”

Huka ran along, broadcasting as he went, his voice brimming with excitement.

“It’s like watching a tentacle monster—these vines are growing at insane speed! What Alicia is doing now is grafting, to solve the imbalance of nutrients absorbed from the roots. She’s timing new vines to intertwine naturally with the expanding ones!”

—Eldyd: Why bother doing it this way?

—ham6787: If you’re dumb, your body has to work harder.

“Haha, no, it’s just the most efficient method. Besides, the vines used for grafting were planted days ago, so they’ve already established their roots.”

Huka began sharing the information Jaeho had given him.

—clzls: Excuses, excuses.

Of course, not everyone bought it at face value.

—rnrtn: Still, pretty impressive. Being able to make vines spread on such a large scale?

—qorhvm: What a useless skill. As expected from a Flower House owner.

—hipnyo: But why cover the whole city with vines?

“That’s a great question. As you know, Elysia Garden is the Elves’ city. Giant, its designer, wanted to reinforce its identity as an Elven city, which is why he planned all this.”

—Eldyd: So the whole ‘plan’ is just to cover the city in vines?

—tantanbo: Yeah, I could come up with that myself!

“Ha ha… I’m no expert, so I’m not sure. But once the work is complete, I think you’ll understand.”

Huka deftly changed the subject, chasing after Jaeho, who had already reached the third point.

***

Jaeho and Mei worked quickly, completing all the grafting points in about 10 minutes.

[You have achieved an unprecedented and wondrous feat.]

[Your Fame has increased.]

Honestly, even this wasn’t enough.

It was hard to cover the whole city in vines with just eight roots.

Any shortcomings would have to be resolved with Jaeho’s intensive care.

“Hyuk, hem…! Ah, Alicia-nim!”

Huka finally caught up with Jaeho.

“It’s fine.”

“Y-yes, I’m f-fine… cough!”

He was anything but fine.

For a Jerluck Association member with barely any leveling, no matter how fit he was, it wasn’t enough.

He’d chased Jaeho till he was blue in the face.

A rare chance to do a close-up interview with Jaeho didn’t come often.

He couldn’t approach while Jaeho was working, and when Jaeho was resting, he was always surrounded by Elves.

But now, it was just the two of them!

The viewers knew this, too, so the chat was in chaos.

At last, Huka could do a proper broadcast with Jaeho!

“A-anyway, isn’t this your first time meeting the viewers directly? They’re all saying hi to Alicia-nim.”

“Huh? Oh.”

Not used to live broadcasts, Jaeho awkwardly nodded.

“Uh—hello. I’m Alicia.”

—Eldyd: Hello there!

—ham6787: Hi!!! I’m a fan!

—whrqkf: Kyaaa! You’re so cool, sir!

The chat was exploding, but Jaeho couldn’t see it.

^Well, I think the work is about wrapped up… Did everything go okay?”

“Yes, the goal was achieved.”

“Everyone’s curious—why cover the whole city in vines?”

“Ah, these are Milkway vines. I imagine many of you are familiar with them.”

“What? Milkway?”

—massmind: The ones from the Imperial Garden?

—ekfrqkf: Ah, the ones that glow at night?

—Eldyd: No way. How can you just grow those so easily?

—clzls: Yeah, and I hear they’re incredibly hard to get.

“People are surprised to hear it’s Milkway. How did you get something so amazing?”

“It wasn’t me. Giant got them entirely. The plan is all his as well.”

Jaeho tapped the vines and smiled contentedly.

“It’s still early now, but in time, the scenery will be even more beautiful.”

“Won’t it take a lot of time to maintain all this?”

At Huka’s worried comment, Jaeho shook his head.

“No. There won’t be any further artificial maintenance. I’ll just make paths—after that, I’ll let the Milkway grow freely.”

“Uh… Won’t the whole city turn into a mess of vines then?”

Jaeho knew that would never happen.

All plants have Spirits, and Spirits never cause harm—they’re pure beings… or so an old teacher had said.

“I suppose so.”

If things ever got out of control and started to block passage, he’d just prune them.

—Eldyd: By the way, Alicia-nim, are you not entering the League?

Just then, a message popped up in the chat.

—ham6787: Yeah, it seems like you’d definitely go to the League.

—ekfrqkf: Didn’t you already sign somewhere?

—ckacl: Bet you did, 100%.

Seeing this bait he couldn’t ignore, Huka quickly asked a question.

“Alicia-nim, are you considering joining the Pro League?!”

“The League?”

Jaeho paused, thinking back to his meeting.

‘There weren’t any particular restrictions in the contract.’

They were using Jaeho and Elysia Garden for their own publicity, and in return, Jaeho could promote the Flower House.

“I think this is the first time I’m revealing this here.”

“?!!!”

Huka’s eyes widened.

Something big was coming!

“Recently, I signed a contract with MK.”

“…Wait, where? MK?”

Anyone who liked games would know—one of the world’s top teams!

He signed with them?!

When the news was revealed on Huka’s stream, Huka felt dizzy with excitement.

“I can’t believe this day has come…!”

Drip.

Huka’s tears streamed down his cheeks, and Jaeho quietly moved away.

“Wh-what’s with this guy?”

He felt it was better not to get too close.

***

[(Breaking News) Alicia officially announces MK contract on private broadcast!]

[Through the contract with MK, Alicia’s Korean nationality is confirmed.]

[MK, a global powerhouse, but doubts linger over their first foray into the RPG Pro League.]

The news from Huka’s stream spread across the world in an instant.

And, as expected, the phone at the 1st Gaming Team’s office wouldn’t stop ringing.

“Hey, Dupyouno, you idiot! You ruined our big surprise reveal like this?!”

MK manager Min Gyu, gripping what little hair he had left, shouted.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep it under wraps? Why’d you let him announce it like that?!”

“Uh… Did I not say that…?”

Dupyouno, who’d been flying high after successfully recruiting Jaeho, turned to Junho.

“…I can’t really remember.”

“You too? Honestly, me neither…”

“You fools!! Is that any excuse?!”

At Min Gyu’s roar, Dupyouno protested with a wronged look.

“But, Manager, you told us to meet him face-to-face! He’s seriously, like, super scary! The in-game version doesn’t even compare!”

To make requests to someone like that, one by one?

The image of Taylor, dangling in the vines and getting beaten up, flashed before his eyes…