Chapter 580

Heinrich’s Law.

It is a safety management theory stating that before a major accident occurs, there will be 29 minor accidents and 300 non-injury accidents occurring due to the same cause.

This can be applied equally to corporations.

Numerous signs indicated that Wearsoft would soon go bankrupt.

A decline in the number of WoA users, failures in launching new games, excessive monetization attempts, and asset sell-offs.

Decisively, the failure of the Arseria Theme Park and the setback of the IPO led to an abrupt halt of external investments.

The fall of WoA, once called a representative work of the 2040s, attracted public attention.

[Guys, WoA Winter Season pro matches are indefinitely postponed ㄷㄷㄷㄷ]

(Due to various operational issues faced by Wearsoft, we have decided to indefinitely postpone this WoA Winter Season eSports tournament. This decision was also very difficult for us, and we ask for your understanding as we have arrived at this measure after considering various options.)

People are saying WoA will collapse in the 299,792,458th season, and this time is really significant…

[Comments]

– No way WoA goes down before LoL

└ Even though LoL has become unplayable, everyone from kids to old folks still play it.

└ For real, my dad doesn’t know Luna/Giselle but knows Yuumi/Janna well.

└ Does NoName’s hometown look like crap?

– Their operations have been completely ruined for years.

– Why bother with a game that takes two months to fix bugs? Lol.

– What about the pros?

└ They can either find a game in Resonance or stream.

[The rumors of Wearsoft’s bankruptcy should have surfaced sooner]

All ASI experts, capable game developers, and any remaining open world assets have been reassigned to new projects. In this process, they not only received no further funding but also faced wage cuts, leading to significant dissatisfaction and mass resignations.

WoA was already running 90% on external contracts. (They have no idea what they’re selling, lol)

Meanwhile, the management keeps striving for earnings smoothing to go public and exit.

It’s just right that you guys are collapsing.

[Comments]

– Seriously, you’re just copying what we told you not to do, crazy people. Lol.

– Sounds like a complete disaster.

– If you see your employees as disposable tools, this kind of mess will happen.

– But wasn’t Wearsoft already on life support from Chinese capital?

└ If you’re referring to the main shareholder, he’s serving 28 years for state subversion and corruption charges.

└ Totally wrecked, lol. How do all the bad things happen at once?

Many companies had their eyes on Wearsoft.

The vast open world map, though not well-optimized, still held great potential ASI_ even aside from the game itself, served as good assets.

Hyena-like companies waiting for Wearsoft to go bankrupt as soon as possible.

The executives were rushing around the world seeking buyers before filing for bankruptcy.

It might be their last chance.

A girl with a deep attachment to WoA.

[NoName, CEO of Jansol]

“The proposed acquisition conditions are unacceptable. $20 billion is just too much.”

Unable to find a buyer, Wearsoft immediately entered the liquidation process.

* * *

[NoName]

[World of Arseria – Is it a funeral?]

[Broadcast time – 0:10:29]

[Viewer count – 66,295]

I turned on the broadcast and logged into WoA.

The multiplayer waiting room was already brimming with an end-of-the-world atmosphere.

[Anyone want to do 6 healers vs 6 rogues?]

[◆Small loans for workers◆Up to 50 million won◆11 times salary]

[1:1 wall map, beginners only since 2013]

[Today is my first day starting WoA, anyone willing to teach me?]

[Wearsoft’s operations are ■■ like ■■■.]

“Is this a funeral?”

[‘Shenning’ donated 10,000 won!]

– It’s not a funeral; it’s a festival.

– Stop playing cringe games and go live your life, lol.

– No way, even if the game company goes bankrupt, the game itself will remain.

– Isn’t it more beneficial to use open-world and ASI as data research material?

└ Please, don’t say such terrible things…

– How did WoA end up like this all of a sudden? ㄷㄷ

Famous game companies often see their assets and development teams absorbed by other companies during liquidation.

People hoping for the chance that whatever happens to Wearsoft, WoA might live on.

[Rank | Searching for a game]

[Elapsed time: 00:01]

“I received an asset management acquisition proposal from Wearsoft the other day, but honestly, it’s… fixing one or two things won’t really make a difference.”

– ?????

– Huh?

– What’s that supposed to mean…?

– Whoa…!

– NoName is acquiring Wearsoft?

– Dopamine: Is it time? Can I leave now?

└ You should chill out a bit, lol.

With the atmosphere making it almost certain that Wearsoft’s assets would be sold, I could finally speak up.

“Well, first of all, the Arseria theme park in Finland is seeing less than a thousand visitors a day. I don’t even know what the new division is doing. They claim the company has a value of over 30 trillion won, but I guess I just lack comprehension.”

– A company with just one game, and they value it at 30 trillion won?

– That’s seriously outrageous, lol.

– At this point, it’s starting to seem like a group of scammers.

– Fact: They’ve actually partnered with a real criminal organization before.

– They should have gone bankrupt 15 years ago; they just got lucky.

– ???: I lack comprehension (said for real).

The assets and technology remaining at Wearsoft were also essential to Jansol.

The quasi-virtual reality maintained by the Alchemist’s mirror is based on open-world technology.

However, rather than having individual settings for each person for four-circle magic, it would obviously be more efficient to gather them all in one space and process them at once.

We must not become complacent just because we’ve developed new technology; we need to keep progressing to avoid being caught up by other companies.

[Rank | Game discovered!]

[Participating in the game]

“Now that we have the game, let’s try starting a match.”

The rank game was caught surprisingly quickly.

Seeing our team choose a composition of 4 rogues and 2 archers made me doubt my eyes.

“It’s not a casual game… This is a ranked game, right? Everyone’s just playing rogues; how are we supposed to play?”

– Info: It’s a Challenger game.

– Info: NoName is also a rogue.

– Hahahaha.

– This really feels like the smell of a dead game.

– This is legendary, lol.

– The matching system is busted.

– So now everyone’s just going to play for fun, huh? Lol.

Even among our allies, there were two current pros.

When teams are formed, it’s customary to greet each other briefly, but the waiting room was silent.

In a few years, no, even months, the overall atmosphere of the game had turned dark.

Well, what if we have 4 rogues and 2 archers? The opposition probably has similar circumstances.

To lift the mood slightly, I walked toward the center.

“Shall we have a strategy meeting?”

“Ugh, just start already. We all know enough.”

“Someone do the dodging.”

“Let’s go for it! How do we split the people? The composition is a little…”

At least the pros acknowledged my words.

I took off the red bandana from my head and unfolded the map.

“Uh?”

“What? Is NoName the real deal? Wow!”

“NoName! Uh, good luck…!”

“What are you congratulating me for? I’m not in any tournaments right now.”

“I mean, you can congratulate me a little.”

“Whoa! This is crazy! Wooseong-hyung, NoName just popped up in our room. I’m just solo ranked right now.”

Even in the game, quite a heated response erupted.

– This isn’t just an idol, what is this!

– The popularity is insane, lol.

– The great NoName even educates the solo ranked demons.

“Hey, isn’t NoName busy? Isn’t it time to game…?”

“This also falls under my work.”

“Ugh, NoName says it’s work, how dare I contradict that!”

“Thank you so much, NoName. I’ve been suffering from wrist arthritis for a long time, but using the Dream Capsule has really improved it so much. I’m so grateful I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Hey! Don’t monopolize the voice channel!”

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing better. Since we have 4 rogues, let’s quickly rotate A, B, C for item farming and gather at C. Before the objectives spawn, let’s play ambush and catch the enemies.”

“Got it!”

“Oh, and we need a sub-healer.”

“I can heal!”

One of the archers raised their hand.

“Preferably heal only me. Even at full health, keep going.”

It’s better to monopolize good resources ahead of time.

– Oh wow, even controlling the healing? Lol.

– Mildly refined) If anyone else heals, I’ll throw.

– NoName ← The main cause of ecosystem destruction in solo rank.

– I did a wide-area heal in reality, I should be able to receive some heals in the game too~ Let’s have a drink.

– For real, lol.

* * *

Unexpectedly, the opposing team pulled out a standard composition.

But they were no match for our team, which had raised synergy to a pro level.

“This is a loss. Let’s ditch the archer.”

“Since we’re going down, I’ll draw aggro!”

The team members swiftly abandoned their surrounded comrade, while the captured hostage fought back in desperation to buy even a second.

Utilizing the mobility of 4 rogues, we flawlessly executed guerrilla warfare.

We covered the deficit in combat power with a numerical advantage and widened the gap in gold.

At 15 minutes into the game, with 18 kills to 3, we completely seized and shook the control of the game.

“Didn’t it seem like there’s a bug in the warrior tank’s specs earlier? The shield was way too tough when jumping from level 6 to 7.”

Having been given some leeway to chat during the game.

“Wow, did you notice that, NoName? That’s a bug. Since last week, if the warrior tank lands the final blow on an object, its defense increases as if it were one level higher.”

“Oh, I see. No hotfix?”

“There’s absolutely no chance of a hotfix right now; the game is on the brink of collapse. Haa… What are we even supposed to live on now…?”

The rogue spun the dagger while perched on a red roof.

“I’ve loved this damn game since I was little. So I thought I’d live as a pro gamer until the game crashed… I never imagined that moment would come so soon. It’s bittersweet.”

The archer who took down the last enemy flew in using a grapple.

“You’ve had 3 whole years to enjoy it. I debuted last year, and it’s so frustrating.”

“Isn’t it funny how it collapses so suddenly though? The player count has dropped significantly, but it honestly shouldn’t be crashing this much. I should have realized things were going awry when Wearsoft started investing in that strange theme park.”

“Huh? Our room’s viewers are saying NoName is acquiring Wearsoft. Is this true?”

I shook my head.

“I was interested, but due to the financial structure being so weak, I backed off for now.”

“Ah, that’s too bad… Honestly, no one knows WoA as well as NoName does. If the CEO were a challenger, the balance patch team would be working extra hard.”

“But the game itself is good, so it should survive somehow, right?”

“It would be good only if it gets sold to a solid company. Lately, it’s become a trend for game acquisitions to strip away anything related to open worlds. So I’m really worried for the future. Do we wait for a year or switch to Resonance?”

Young people worrying about the future.

Due to a scarcity of open-world offerings, many game companies have vanished without a trace.

As the sunset fell, a brilliant galaxy spread across the night sky.

[The opposing team has surrendered.]

From the colossal World Tree, a blue light burst forth and spread in all directions.

As I captured the falling starlight in my eyes, I murmured in a low voice.

“I hope this night passes and a better tomorrow comes. The conclusion to WoA has always been like this.”

* * *

Developers are people too, with a desire for recognition.

No one wanted to see the world they cultivated for years turn into wasteland.

[After this night, I hope a brighter tomorrow arrives. WoA’s conclusion has always been this way.]

And a single line left by Naame during the broadcast heated up the company’s community.

Public opinion had grown uncontrollably.

Now it even impacted negotiations for the sale of business units.

[World of Arseria developers go on strike: “If the acquisition by Jansol fails, we will leave Wearsoft.”]