NOVEL NEXT Chapter 701
“What? VariA posted and then deleted a birthday message for NoName CEO?”
Seoul-listed company Senium Tech in South Korea.
They were chosen as a primary partner of Janjeol, reaping the benefits during a booming period.
“Yeah, that’s what I heard. Maybe they confused the time. It’s amazing that VariA made such a blunder.”
“Hold on, my daughter is having dinner first. I’ll make a quick call.”
An executive from Senium Tech urgently contacted the marketing manager.
Just this morning, during the meeting…
[Tomorrow is NoName’s birthday, so I was thinking of posting a congratulations on the company’s social media.]
[Manager, have you ever seen a company celebrate another CEO’s birthday?]
[Well, it might be out there if you look for it?]
[No, no, I think that would just look too pretentious. It would only cheapen the company image.]
“Uh, Manager? Sorry to contact you after work, but do you remember the birthday template you showed me this morning? Can you upload it at midnight later?”
“Uh… I’m not sure if I deleted it or not…”
“I’ll send you 100,000 won privately.”
“Got it. I’ll upload it and send you a text to confirm later.”
If they contact after work, the labor board could slap them with a fine of 100,000 won.
Thus, in such cases, it was customary to give money to the concerned party.
“Sigh. It’s a survival of the fittest era where you gotta be extra about everything…”
VariA, a top-tier company, was working hard like that; why did Senium Tech bother being proud?
And this self-reflection probably wasn’t limited to just one executive from a mid-sized company.
At midnight, Korean time, it finally passed twelve.
*
[VariA]
(Congratulations video for VariA co-CEO.mp4)
[Happy 11th Birthday @NoName 
! While the world is freezing over with cynicism, Earth gave birth to you and proved it a miracle. VariA promises to always create history with you. #HappyNoNameDay]
└ Happy Birthday, NoName 
└ The spark of miracles won’t die for at least 2000 years
└ When did they even shoot this? It warms my heart so much
└ NoName is humanity’s treasure and hero
└ So this is what they were trying to post earlier, lol
VariA’s social media quickly became a hot topic and caught the attention of internet users.
[Current Earth’s 2nd Leader NoName’s official support declaration, lol]
(Vice Chairman A’s birthday celebration video.jpg)
“Yup~ we’re gonna go big on Na-me coin~”
└ Let’s get those revenues soaring~
└ Supporting Na-me means your wealth multiplies, lol
└ Every single line is pure gold
└ If you look at their revenue this year, it’s only natural they go from Na-me Dan to Naslam, right?
Starting with VariA, waves of congratulations flooded in.
At around 12:04 AM on the 11th.
The hashtags related to Na-me’s birthday swept the social media worldwide trends from 1st to 5th.
And after just 6 minutes, they completely dominated the Top 10 trending searches.
While broadcasting companies and corporations around the world rushed to congratulate on their official accounts…
There were even those who went a step further.
[Argentina’s public broadcast, these crazy people, lol]
(Televisión Pública Argentina live coverage.gif)
“Janjeol CEO NoName’s birthday-related hashtags dominate SNS worldwide 1-5 rankings.”
They ran it as breaking news in the middle of an animal documentary because they didn’t have time to write an article, lol
└ Ah, lol
└ This is South America!
└ So full of B-grade vibes, lol
└ They couldn’t even wait for the news program?
└ Absolute chaos, these guys are wild, lol
└ Of all things, the scene was a meerkat too, which is hilarious!
└ Argentina really loves NoName, huh!
└ The fact is that even the Argentine gangs love NoName.
└ “Dreaming Mode makes everyone healthier → More drugs too?? → PROFIT(!!)
[As of now, crawling the official birthday congratulations list (GMT+9 0:45:00)]
– Magazines: TIME, Scientific American, Forbes, and others 14 in total
– Companies: VariA, V-tube, Twish, Samyeon, and others 187 in total
– News outlets: CNN, BBC, Fox News, and others 75 in total
– Celebrities: Yulisis Murphy, Freya Sky, Montana Newsom, Ijo-won, and others 3513 in total
– Government agencies: USA, France, Japan, Argentina, and others 8 in total
– Clans: Sephiron, Katsuhata, Mudang, Jegal, Carnegie, and others 115 in total
Click to see the full list.
└ They could at least post a breaking news article, lol
└ There are 3,000 celebrities not fans, wow
└ Is Jesus back?
└ Even if VariA hadn’t messed up 9 hours ago, there would’ve been a huge reaction anyway.
└ Yep, but everyone was already geared up thanks to VariA, lol
└ Move Ijo-won away!!!
└ Whoa, no South Korea here
└ Whoa
└ Whoa
└ Is the Blue House’s social media manager even working?
While all around the world people were buzzing, the South Korean government was dead silent.
They had no obligation to congratulate NoName’s birthday.
However, it was entirely reasonable to feel disappointed when even the Argentine government on the opposite side of the Earth was congratulating.
But was it perhaps a misjudgment?
At 3 AM, suddenly a gigantic hologram activated over the Blue House.
A video of Na-me’s magic swordsmanship demonstration from last year in Jeju Island started playing.
– Kyaaaaaaa
– Staff arriving early in such a shock, that’s a thumbs up
– This was just recycled footage from the National Exchange Tournament, lol
– Well hey, better than nothing
People shared their joy while watching the stream of congratulatory messages updating in real-time.
The Namessia believers, undeterred, promoted the location they had set up advertising their congratulations.
[✠Summary of current locations celebrating NoName’s birthday✠]
1. South Korea: All subway stations in Seoul and Busan, COEX, Seoul Times Square
2. China: All subway stations in the four major cities, Suzhou Twin Towers
3. Japan: Shibuya Scramble Square, Harajuku Station
4. USA: New York Times Square
(…)
12. Thailand: Siam Paragon
13. Indonesia: Jakarta Bundaran HI
└ How much money do these people have overflowing?
└ It’s no wonder they’re called a religion, wow
└ At this point, they’re on par with or even surpassing top-tier BTS during their prime…!
└ (This is scary, Konkong)
└ It’s suspicious how Na-me Dan has so much money…
Yet, there remained one notable complaint.
[Why isn’t NoName streaming?]
Hurry up and come get your birthday wishes!
Until the sun rose, Na-me’s official channel had not posted a single video or gone live.
*
Kuk-
“Hmm…”
Kuk-kuk-
“Uwooo.”
Something was poking my cheeks persistently.
Even when I flailed my hands, it wouldn’t disappear, so I opened my eyes slightly.
“Nyuuung… don’t, Cheon Saetbyeol.”
“Are you tired? Sleepy?”
“Meow.”
“Why are you sleepy?”
“I stayed up late.”
“Why did you stay up late?”
“Watching the birthday videos.”
“You saw the birthday videos?”
“Meow.”
“But why did you ghost?”
“Cause I gotta sleep. Phew…”
“Good job. Happy birthday. Sleep more coolly.”
“Meow… huh?”
There’s no way Cheon Saetbyeol would easily let me go like this.
I suddenly felt a sense of unease and opened my eyes wide.
“Ugh, light!”
“Hehe, what are you doing alone?”
“Hey, you. Why are you filming?”
“Busted, gotta run!”
I scratched my disheveled hair and got up.
‘It’s my birthday… isn’t it.’
Last year, I remember it being quite quiet due to preparing for the National Exchange Tournament.
This year, it felt like an incredible amount of attention was gathered, almost like a dream.
‘Is this a prank?’
I roughly deduced the reason.
Companies wanting to make a good impression on me, fan clubs that were waiting for this day, and the government that was able to minimize financial loss with Dreaming Mode.
Personally, I liked being the center of attention and receiving public affection.
On the other hand, I was wary of becoming someone who craved public approval.
‘There’s no moment when a person becomes more servile and fragile than when they want public favor.’
My desire to grow stronger and my obsession with not appearing weak had left me unable to go live yesterday.
It might have been an expression of my anxiety.
Having been so consumed with corporate management lately, I lost all my personal training time.
With my weight down to 22.7kg, much of the muscle I had worked so hard to build had also disappeared.
Recently, I had been eating mana capsules weekly again; something I hadn’t done in a long while.
At this rate, it was turning into rehabilitation rather than exercise.
“Ugh.”
The smell of seaweed soup wafted from the kitchen.
Deciding to eat breakfast first helped clear up my chaotic mind.
“Na-me Unni!”
Suddenly, the door burst open with Cheon Saetbyeol rushing in.
She threw a paper bag at my face.
Thud-
“What’s this?”
“Hehe, it’s a birthday gift for you, Unni!”
“Oh, thanks.”
“Open it now quickly!”
Digging through the paper bag, I pulled out some clothes.
“I picked out something with a special texture that I thought you’d really like!”
“Yeah, thanks. But I already have enough underwear.”
It was difficult to find the same material later, so I normally bought several at once.
Suddenly, Cheon Saetbyeol’s eyes widened mischievously.
“Really? I thought you had none in your drawer, so I bought this.”
“No, you see, if you look closely at my third drawer—”
“Not the bottom, the top.”
“Huh?”
“At your age, you should start trying. How long are you planning to only wear one piece of clothing and go around?”
“You can’t be…”
I ripped open the plastic bag.
The top was a significantly short piece that could hardly be called a crop top.
“Let’s start with junior bra level one for Na-me Unni!”
“I don’t need it! I’ll buy it myself when the time comes!”
“Abeoji says it’s time to eat dinner, let’s go, hehe.”
Cheon Saetbyeol swiftly retreated and fled.
Zing-!
“Ugh…”
Grabbing my chest at the sudden and unpleasant pain, it felt like static electricity was coursing through me.
No, it shouldn’t be, it can’t be.