NOVEL WEB Chapter 170
“Everyone, come and line up—.”
At Shemarin’s call, the members of Redmonarch’s guild gathered in the space next to the pension’s planning room.
It was clear from their faces that they were shocked by the sudden appearance of Lilith and me.
Whatever, as long as they cooperated with what I needed them to do, it didn’t matter.
What I was about to do required their help more than ever, as it was a large-scale operation that needed their broadcasting rights.
Each of them would act as a kind of camera VJ to capture our rebellion.
“Rudel, what’s the plan?” Akata asked, his eyes bright and eager.
Even though he was now officially part of Redmonarch, it seemed like he had abandoned Shemarin the moment he saw me.
But Shemarin just kept smiling brightly at this.
“Our plan?” I echoed Shemarin’s smile.
“First, we gather everyone. And then—”
I turned to look at everyone.
“We break everything. Completely.”
The performance I had in mind was this:
First, we incite the game characters to gather those willing to rebel against the system.
Then, we make a clear statement that we will no longer play by the rules they set, and we start breaking things indiscriminately.
We continue until what we’re doing becomes a significant issue among the outside world.
Characters aware of the fourth wall rising up against the system? It’s fascinating content, isn’t it?
This will pressure the GMs to come to the negotiation table.
That moment will be the greatest scene in “Ranking of Soul,” a round that will never be repeated.
Therefore, instead of a mechanical broadcast voice, we decided to make the announcement directly with our voices.
For the first and last time, I placed a hand on the round table and declared, ensuring my image was clearly shown on the screen.
[“Last Round, ‘System Annihilation’ starts.”]
* * *
I then took the podium to gain the support of the game characters.
A revolutionary fights for the citizens, not for themselves.
Thus, I needed to justify our actions and gain legitimacy from the ‘citizens.’
With that in mind, I stood alone in front of the screen that broadcast to all characters and grabbed the microphone.
[“Players, I am Rudel, the guild leader of Agasa, who ranked first last quarter.”]
[“You all might be wondering what I’ve been doing during my absence. To summarize, I was sentenced to death for breaking the system’s taboo, but I survived by escaping in advance.”]
I summarized the situation briefly and strengthened my voice.
[“While I was in hiding, I discovered a crucial clue about the world we live in. That clue is the existence of ‘Comments’ and ‘System.’”]
I then continued with the speech I had prepared smoothly.
[“Amazingly, they are beings similar to us. They think and act in ways much like ours. But the critical difference is that we were created solely for their entertainment. Therefore, we cannot defy their words and are always manipulated.”]
[“Of course, the ‘System’ pretends to manage us fairly by imposing ‘rules.’ But they can secretly eliminate us at any time if it suits them. They tried to eliminate me and my guild members in this manner. And it’s not just me; it could happen to any of you.”]
After saying that, I paused to clear my throat.
[“Therefore, I have decided that this world is no longer safe enough to remain complacent. To prevent our personalities and lives from being exploited, I have resolved to rebel against the system.”]
[“Naturally, I can’t do this alone. Akata and Shemarin, as game planners, have joined my cause, and all of Redmonarch has agreed to cooperate. If you too are willing to join us, I will help you reclaim your lives.”]
[“If you do not wish to play the game, you don’t have to. Do not entrust your lives to a game. Isn’t it unfair that you have to die if you fail a round? I promise to create a new game where no one dies. I want to lead this path together with you.”]
Without pausing to catch my breath, I delivered the closing remarks.
[“I understand it might be hard to believe my words, but I will prove that it is all true through our future actions.”]
[“So, if anyone wishes to join us, please express your intention through the communication channels.”]
[“…Even if no one decides to cooperate, it doesn’t matter. I will still change the world.”]
* * *
Reality.
Navigating with his GPS from [Pangyo->Jinan], Hwang Kijun cursed at the estimated travel time of over four hours.
Typical Koreans with their filial piety. Every holiday, the highways are packed to the brim.
Stuck in a traffic jam on the highway, Hwang Kijun killed his boredom by listening to music.
I’d rather live in a game world. At least there, space expands smoothly with just system manipulation.
Hell, it’s not just spatial expansion. They can even teleport.
[‘Ranking of Soul’ Lunar New Year Event Open, Perfect for Viewing on the Holiday Journey]
He frowned at the article title that popped up on his phone screen as he habitually fiddled with it.
They say the son of a chicken restaurant owner doesn’t eat chicken. Similarly, Hwang Kijun, an employee of Mijon Company, had no intention of tuning into a broadcast even during the holidays.
Why are people watching this on the highway? What if they get into an accident?
Forgetting the fact that it was these viewers who had made him wealthy as a company employee, Hwang Kijun grumbled internally.
He turned up the loud music two more notches.
‘At least I can take time off.’
The new holiday event video was far less work to manage than a typical guild interview special.
It only involved covering the Redmonarch guild, who had gained game planner rights. There wouldn’t be any significant battles.
‘Since all I have to do is press the gas pedal, I might as well check the game planner character setup report on my phone.’
Turning on his phone and glancing through the internet portal before opening the report file, Hwang Kijun was puzzled.
The top three real-time search terms were ‘Rangsoul,’ ‘Ranking of Soul,’ and ‘Ranking of Soul Rudel.’
Could a game planner’s live broadcast really generate such a heated response? And why was Rudel, a deleted character, in the search terms?
Ding.
At that moment, an all-hands notice popped up in the company group chat.
**All team members on vacation must return immediately within 1 hour. This is an emergency.**
Frowning, Hwang Kijun pulled out of the line of cars and parked on the shoulder, then tuned into the live broadcast causing all the commotion.
Five seconds later, he hurriedly restarted his car, trying to find an exit from the traffic jam.
But it took him 30 minutes just to get out of the gridlock.
* * *
The viewer count jumped even within the blink of an eye.
‘WTF Rudel??’
‘Resurrection???’
‘Lilith!!! Our baby!!’
‘How did this happen?’
Unahar, wearing a VR headset, monitored the situation through both chat and the screen.
In the middle of the day, in a park, the empty smoking room had essentially become the command center for the guild stronghold.
Kanel ran a comment macro program on his laptop, diligently manipulating public opinion.
‘Whatever it is, this place is lit!’
‘Rudel x Akata, Shemarin x Jail coming back, this is insane!’
‘Is Mijon really pulling a fast one on users like this…?’
‘Mijon’s big picture is insane…’
‘Akata as the mastermind is nuts’
‘How can someone fake a relationship just to get comments?’
‘This must all be orchestrated with Rudel…’
‘Rudel’s speech was impressive’
‘My bank account is being drained, aahh!’
All these comments were written by Kanel. He spread them around the chat rooms and then disappeared.
It was Rudel who had come up with the idea to create a new macro program that didn’t exist in the world and plan to manipulate chat, knowing that viewer chat would be the main stage for public opinion later on.
“Pretty much a success. Those who believe even the AI of game characters are part of a scenario will think this too is Mijon’s intended staging.”
Rudel had already used command codes to set every game space to be ‘destructible,’ so viewers would mistakenly believe even this was Mijon’s intention.
In a way, this content aligned with Mijon’s philosophy of showcasing their AI technology prowess.
Therefore, after the broadcast progresses to some extent, the system likely wouldn’t dare to arbitrarily mess with characters rebelling against it.
‘The game company will have quite a challenge.’