SSG 252
by CristaeEpisode 252
People showed a variety of reactions.
<Maybe it just looks similar because they both use huge hammers as weapons?>
There were people who cautiously asked like that.
<Isn’t this just forcing things? Aren’t you just trying to screw over Mad Hammer because you don’t like him?>
Some people took a cynical stance and denied Yuseong’s claim.
But the more Yuseong explained, the more they had no choice but to admit that his argument was quite convincing.
“Now, look at this. Let’s compare it with the earlier video. It’s the same, right?”
“This part as well.”
“This is a really subtle habit that’s hard to notice, but both the black-armored and Mad Hammer do the exact same movement.”
<This really looks the same?>
<Was the black-armored really Mad Hammer?>
<Still, it’s all just speculation in the end.>
<It’s kind of hard to be sure.>
As the viewers admitted that the theory sounded plausible but weren’t fully convinced, Yuseong presented another piece of evidence.
“If this black-armored really is Mad Hammer, then who are the other black-armored? Are they just unrelated people? If they are related, what kind of relationship?”
Yuseong brought up a new video. In it were C.O.T.S. players, specifically those now called the Willy faction.
“You may have heard that Mad Hammer, who used to belong to Apollon’s faction, started hanging out more with his peer, the Willy faction, after the battle with our JeMeotDaero. So just in case, I compared the gameplay of the Willy faction members to the black-armored.”
The video showed a Willy faction player fighting, followed by a black-armored fighting in a similar way.
<Oh?>
<Kind of looks similar?>
<No way, is this really true?>
The videos, carefully edited by Yuseong with Messiah’s help, made it easy to spot the similarities between the players and the black-armored on screen.
“And the finishing touch is this.”
All videos went down, and one new video appeared. It was from when Yuseong first faced the black-armored.
“I’ve found a player who shows the same habits as this guy, too. Does anyone have a guess?”
Most people responded with question marks, but a few caught on quickly.
<LOL if you’re giving the finishing touch after showing all the Willy faction, it’s obvious>
<It’s called the ‘Willy’ faction, but didn’t show one guy yet?>
<Oh right, haha>
“Your guesses are correct.”
The photo that came up on the computer was exactly as people expected.
“It’s Willy himself.”
Yuseong immediately played the footage as evidence.
“By now, you probably have a sense of what to look for from the previous videos, so I won’t say more about this one.”
<Their habits really are the same>
<At this point, isn’t it for real?>
Many people began taking Yuseong’s theory seriously. Even if they didn’t completely believe it, they couldn’t deny there was something to it.
And gradually, they started realizing what kind of impact it would have if Yuseong’s theory was true.
<If the Willy faction are really the black-armored, then they’re the ones who attacked other guilds before?>
<Whoa, you’re right>
<With their skills, it makes sense why the black-armored were so strong>
<There must be a lot of people who got wrecked by black-armored, and if it’s true, there’s no way even C.O.T.S. can act like nothing happened>
But some people still argued against Yuseong’s case.
<But the black-armored showed up when C.O.T.S. was attacked this time, right? Isn’t that a contradiction? The black-armored appeared even while the Willy faction were busy fighting, didn’t they?>
Now that they thought about it, that made sense.
<Guess it’s not true after all>
<If you think about it, it’s a bit of a stretch>
<They’ve got alibis, anyway>
<Tried to screw Willy over and failed, LOL>
The viewers’ opinions began to flip again. Some even started mocking Yuseong. But he didn’t bat an eyelid.
He already knew that was a setup.
“That part bothered me, of course. So I dug deeper.”
He switched to another video.
“I believe that the people who attacked C.O.T.S. this time were also from the Willy faction. I’m sure you’ll say that’s impossible. How could the Willy faction be fighting the black-armored at the same time? But everyone—are you sure this is a video filmed at that time?”
Yuseong played a video showing the Willy faction defending their castle against demons and monsters.
“The only evidence that the Willy faction was fighting is the footage uploaded online. And these videos were posted by the Willy faction themselves. No one else has seen them fighting in person—not other guilds, not even members of C.O.T.S.”
<Are you saying the videos were doctored?>
“Yes. But I don’t think they edited the footage. My guess is they filmed it in advance and cleverly uploaded it at the right time.”
<No way. If they did that, it’d get exposed immediately. Even if the cities aren’t friendly, it’s still a guild city—people go everywhere.>
<The city defended by the Willy faction is actually a Python faction city. Willy doesn’t even have a city.>
“That would be true—unless this city isn’t actually owned by C.O.T.S.”
People were further bewildered by Yuseong’s new claim.
“Okay, let’s look at this again.”
A new video played, but this time the focus was on the background, not any person.
“At first glance, it looks like the same city. Undeveloped cities tend to look alike. But if you look closely, you can spot the differences. This battle took place at the south gate. Right here.”
Yuseong found a video of the south gate from C.O.T.S. promotional materials.
C.O.T.S. hadn’t released footage of every nook and cranny of their cities, so there wasn’t much to compare. But there were enough clips to make small comparisons between the Willy faction’s video and C.O.T.S. materials.
<?????>
<Wow>
<It does look different!>
The difference wasn’t huge—a casual look wouldn’t spot it.
But when compared directly, some small differences clearly appeared.
<So it really was Willy’s group?>
<Why would they go to the trouble unless they did it?>
<You didn’t edit this, right?>
<No, he’s comparing it to videos released by C.O.T.S.! LOL>
<Even if there was editing, C.O.T.S. would be the one to do it>
Yuseong drove the point home.
“In other words, the Willy faction secretly put on the black armor, tormented Python’s faction, and then ran off to help Apollon’s faction when the time was right. In fact, Python’s faction only managed to defeat the enemies after the black-armored suddenly withdrew.”
<I think he’s right>
<Yeah>
<What happened here LOL>
<Why did that bastard Willy do this?>
<With the state that guild is in, it has to be a power struggle>
<Seriously, otherwise, who would attack their own guild?>
<Guilds wrecked by black-armored must be furious>
Yuseong didn’t say anything more. He just answered occasional questions briefly.
He didn’t need to say any more.
People were already discussing things themselves, even without Yuseong’s information.
The snowball Yuseong rolled began to suck in public attention in earnest and grow bigger. Its ripple left his channel and started spreading around the world.
After watching the whole broadcast, Python didn’t say a word. Pattern, who was next to him, asked carefully.
“What should we do? It looks pretty convincing.”
“Come to think of it, wasn’t it that bastard Willy who first suggested we each defend our own cities by faction?”
“Oh!”
“That bastard, from the start….”
Python was quietly furious. He wasn’t yelling or acting violent, but Pattern swallowed nervously.
That was the look Python got when he was truly angry.
“Willy!”
One of Willy’s close associates urgently sought him out. By now, a crowd had already gathered around Willy, having heard the news.
“What the hell happened…!”
Willy raised his hand to cut him off.
“Just about everyone who needs to be here is here, so let’s talk. First, let’s get a grip on the situation.”
“Yuseong’s story is already all over the internet.”
“Can’t we block it?”
“No. Even if we tried to use a PR agency, there’s a limit. They can’t stop this.”
“It’s spreading too fast, as if someone is helping it along.”
“Maybe Utopia’s savior is lending a hand.”
“Damn, you’re not the only one pissed off, so knock off the sarcasm.”
“There’s no point in trying to suppress the rumors now. If Python or Apollon have heard about it, it’s already over.”
“And how are we going to keep the NPCs quiet? We can avoid a formal investigation by using the refugees Willy brought, but if anyone digs deeper, we’re done. They’ll immediately spill that we were gone.”
“How are the other two reacting?”
“Mad Hammer reached out. Apollon’s apparently telling him to explain himself.”
“Shit. That side’s finished.”
“And Python? Has he figured it out yet?”
“Of course he has. No matter how rotten he is, that guy is always at least two steps ahead of Apollon. He must’ve caught on.”
“That guy’s silence is scarier.”
“Of course he’s thinking about a countermeasure. Whatever it is, it definitely won’t help us.”
As they continued assessing the situation, everyone began looking at Willy.
They were demanding a plan.
“…Contact all our teammates.”
“…We’re doing it?”
“We have no choice. That’s the way the situation’s going. Honestly, I never wanted to use this last option.”
The damage would obviously be severe. But right now, they had no choice.
They had no option but to use their last resort.
Willy started issuing orders to his allies.
When Willy was left alone,
He suddenly kicked a chair nearby and shouted.
“Yuseong, you son of a bitch!”
JeMeotDaero guild members gathered again. This was because another general meeting had been called. In the highly individualistic JeMeotDaero, meetings were never this frequent.
But the members gathered without complaint.
They deeply trusted their guild leader Aiden, and they all understood just how significant the recent incident was.
Looking at the assembled members, Aiden spoke.
“You all know about the internal strife in C.O.T.S. that broke out this time.”
“Of course.”
“It’s burning brightly over there, isn’t it?”
“They’re getting what they deserve.”
The guild members basically had the attitude of watching a distant fire. Because they didn’t like the people whose house was burning, they were enjoying it a bit.
“Yuseong did something big this time.”
“His attention to detail is amazing. How did he find all that?”
“Once he rolled the bomb, the explosions just kept going off!”
Since it was Yuseong who’d thrown the spark into the C.O.T.S. conflict, the members praised him and laughed.
Yuseong also gave a small smile in response to those looks. He was starting to be able to smile like this now.
“Everyone, I know you’re feeling good, but please focus for a moment.”
At Aiden’s words, everyone turned their eyes to him again.
“I’m extremely satisfied and relieved too. I’d love to go online and enjoy mocking C.O.T.S. with everyone, but it looks like we’re about to become involved ourselves, so it won’t be possible to laugh as spectators anymore.”