Chapter 129

[Last year, in 2044, the virtual reality game World of Arseria launched by Wearsoft has faced intense criticism due to inadequate responses to an unprecedented esports match-fixing scandal that occurred last month. And at 11 PM, Korean time last night, users finally exploded once more due to a sudden emergency maintenance without any explanation.]

The following interview with a protest leader saw a man passionately urging Wearsoft to change with an impassioned voice.

[In other news, the Seoul Regional Tax Office’s Investigation Division 4 announced that it would conduct a special tax investigation on Wearsoft Korea for three months, and CEO Yoo Jong-won of Wearsoft Korea has been summoned by the prosecution. According to legal circles, the Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is—]

It took less than a day for World of Arseria users to decide to protest against Wearsoft’s reckless management.

While there was already plenty of kindling to ignite the flames, public sentiment favored waiting and trusting the company, due to the fact that their parent company is a foreign corporation and their previously user-friendly policies.

Ultimately, the spark that lit the fuse was NoName.

A lengthy broadcast lasting over 12 hours.

During those 10 hours, NoName targeted Wearsoft’s strategy, igniting the hearts of World of Arseria users worldwide.

Regardless of difficulty, clearing a Nightmare guarantees a player’s place in the top 5% of skill globally.

The 3/3/3 is a gateway essential for those who have stepped into the top 1% Master Tier where infinite competition starts, and even achieving 5/5/5 is seen as a sort of pilgrimage path to reach the pinnacle of World of Arseria.

Because of this, nobody believed that the difficulty of 10/10/10 could be cleared solely through human effort.

So much so that even operators jokingly remarked that if anyone manages to pass the highest difficulty, that person would surely be a being who has reached divinity.

Just as there are always many who challenge unsolvable problems over centuries, many famous professionals and celestial streamers once tried to challenge it but always faced miserable failures.

When it was realized that it was theoretically impossible to clear with mere skill, public interest gradually waned.

Even if it was determined that a certain complex problem had no solution, it was still a kind of proof.

But defying that prejudice head-on, NoName’s actions were nothing short of spectacular.

[Nocturne isn’t that easy to take down, you bastards.]

Mr. Y, renowned as a top-tier game strategy streamer worldwide, was one of the 20,000 viewers watching her broadcast.

Generally, clearing a legendary quest grants up to three character traits, but in Nightmare, the process was streamlined by creating a boss battle with Nocturne Nailinglink in the second part.

Nocturne summons three random bosses.

Each time players defeat them, they can acquire traits symbolized by each boss.

Coincidentally, the bosses that NoName defeated were all specialized in the “Knight” class, possibly influenced by the first part playthrough.

The Twilight Shadow of Mesomia Evening, Dante’s Flicker, and Reinhardt Schpot’s Governing the Nation.

Even a character that started as a healer class had traits specialized in one-on-one that wouldn’t be bad. This means an increase in survivability.

But had it been easy, anyone would have done it.

The commonality among the three bosses was that they could deploy a unique magical barrier that blocks mana.

NoName, who defeated enemies that had fundamentally blocked strategies with pure swordsmanship, was deemed to have reached an astonishing level.

While the boss battle in the second part felt like a fresh shock to only a few people, the third part boss battle greatly resonated even with the general public who were not well-versed in swordsmanship or magic.

[Magic Studies Gallery]

[Question Thread]

[What kind of magic is this?]

(Screenshot of Baaljeb’s defeat.jpg)

The size of the magic circle is bigger than a futsal field?

[Comments]

– It’s a wide-area spell.

– Yep, it’s a wide-area spell.

-(Author): What’s a wide-area spell?

└ It’s a method used when amplifying the output or scale of magic.

└ (Author): So just drawing a magic circle that big makes it wide-area magic?

└ Of course not. A wide-area spell is fundamentally a different kind of magic.

└ To explain it simply, natural number solutions that satisfy x² + y² = z² are easy to find, but if you expand to x³ + y³ = z³, it becomes Fermat’s Last Theorem, right? Most magic where wide-area spell is impossible requires a totally different approach.

└ That’s really complicated;;

[World of Arseria Gallery]

[Concept Thread]

[Hey Jesus, why isn’t the meeting starting?][347]

(Image of the Four Great Saints.jpg)

“Shut your mouth; NoName just caught Baaljeb.”

(Image of a bloodshot-eyed cyberpunk Jesus grabbing someone by the collar, looking furious.jpg)

[Comments]

– Hahahahaha

– The concept thread is being exploited, damn it.

– Where on earth do you find such images? Hahahaha

└ Isn’t it just AI generated?

– Is NoName really a person? After getting three laurels, they’re going wild in a league of their own compared to part one.

– Perhaps the laurels were chains to control the demon known as NoName?

└ For real, lol

– Surprisingly, Adella’s contribution in dealing damage is also pretty noteworthy.

└ Adella’s damage contribution is wow!

– If we had someone like that in our ranks during World War III, it would be reassuring, haha.

└ More than reassuring, it might turn the tide like a soup ladle. Haha.

– High school girl superhumans exist…!

– Namen!

└ Namennamen Namen Namen Namen Namen

└ Namen

└ Oh my…! I praise you! Namen, lol

└ What’s this about?

[Loving Adella gets a thumbs up, haha][85]

I think NoName and Adella should team up to catch Mephisto and film a dense, sticky, mushy scene together, that would be great, haha.

[Comments]

– Hahahaha

– Goodbye, gay person, hahaha

-(Author):???

– Hahahahaha I’ve captured that; I’ve got everything documented in a PPT.

– Don’t take off that armband; I warned you, haha.

-Dad, why do people laugh when they see this post?

└ Son, try to think about why Han Moon-cheol TV has been popular for decades.

└ Is it a situation where a misunderstanding leads you to hit a truck? Hahahaha

– There are still people who don’t realize NoName is a minor.

└ Is it real? Isn’t it some retired officer around 60?

└ I’d rather believe that they went through half-life crosshairs, haha.

The extraordinary gameplay that turns impossibility into possibility has raised the expectations of many people sky high, but those expectations would soon crumble in the worst way.

In the last chapter, with only the final boss remaining, NoName was booted from the game.

Had she succeeded in the strategy, viewers would have been part of a historical moment never to be witnessed again.

But the sense of despair flooding in because they had to end the game without even getting a chance was indescribable.

There was no way to end it like this, doing nothing.

[I’m thinking of doing a one-person protest at Wearsoft; is anyone interested in joining?]

A young man impulsively posted this, but nobody could have predicted this would cause a stir.

The hastily organized protest group ran systematically contrary to people’s worries, and it was reported by foreign media focusing on the unity of the Korean people, gradually becoming an issue.

And the following day, the stock price of the holding company “Intelligence Wearsoft (INCE)” plummeted by 48% compared to the previous trading day, with people naming it “Mephisto’s Wednesday.”

* * *

“I feel uneasy.”

For the past week, it could be said that there had been an utterly eventless series of calm days.

The everyday life, contrasting with my increasingly complicated emotions, felt somehow awkward.

At the Academy, besides announcements about an upcoming field experience, nothing else was discussed.

I had nothing to learn academically, but watching the kids with eager eyes was my only joy in life.

Yuna and Haru seemed to have gotten much closer due to the pajama party. Before I knew it, I found them naturally chatting among the group.

I sent a few more inquiries to Wearsoft, but there was still no response.

When I first received a generic AI-generated response, it was beyond anger to the point of absurdity.

Though my account wasn’t suspended, they requested understanding as my play records could disappear during the server recovery process. Moreover, despite my question being in Korean, receiving an English response was even more annoying.

Once again, the weekend arrived.

When the mind is complicated, seek familiarity.

So, I reread the journals I had skimmed through yesterday from the beginning and spent several hours verifying the 80% of the parts related to Alphonse’s unique magic that remained unverified.

In the end, feeling stuck, I ran a hot bath. Perhaps emptying my mind while soaking would ease my heart a bit.

Swoosh—

The reflection of myself in the mirror looked somewhat alien.

I looked really small.

Everything seemed shrunken, as if a person had been proportionally reduced with Photoshop.

My skin, which hadn’t seen light for a long time, was smooth and marble-like, and I imagined it would feel soft to the touch.

And that delicate, slim neck seemed so fragile that it could burst with just a little pressure from my hand.

The piercing gaze from my enigmatic eyes quietly gazed back. What could possibly be troubling them so much?

Wouldn’t others be frightened if they saw me?

“I guess I should smile a little.”

Forcing a smile, I lifted the corners of my mouth but found it more strange and gave up.

The hot steam rose from the surface of the water.

The bathroom mirror gradually turned foggy. The naked reflection revealed itself, slowly losing form.

“Ah! Hot…!”

As I lightly dipped my toes into the water, I felt the delicate skin turning red and swelling.

I adjusted the faucet back to lukewarm, and while waiting for the water to cool down, I decided to sit on the edge of the bath and distract myself with my phone.

Besides the occasional flirty messages from Semaaru, I realized there weren’t many contacts on my phone.

I hadn’t exchanged numbers with all my Academy Friends, and due to my lifestyle of rarely going out, it seemed a natural consequence.

Confirming that the water temperature was to my satisfaction, I finally slipped into the bathtub and as a last resort, logged into a personal community called Tgeeder.

[NoName Comeback Wish Day 6][8] -❤️

I marked the top post with a heart as a sign of survival.

Immediately, observant viewers began flooding in with new posts.

“This means there’s no way they can avoid streaming.”

[Streaming starts now: 0:00:01 – NoName]