Season 3: Chapter 46: Turning the Tables (2)
What the hell was going on? This expression suited the situation perfectly. Ji-Ah had thought some faction was cunningly manipulating everything and felt greatly startled.
"It’s all true? What do we do now? They're just waiting to tear into us."
‘Tear into what?’
Ju-Hyeok was so engrossed in the auction that he was unaware of the situation. They discussed the situation for a few minutes.
"Why did you accept an advertisement contract?" Ji-Ah asked with skepticism and still wondered about the transaction.
It seemed like something Ju-Hyeok would do, not necessarily sticking to the rules.
"Ah... The advertisement was a separate deal. It wasn't a trade."
Fortunately, that wasn't the case. Ju-Hyeok had dealt with the advertisement separately and the game awarded many points because Almond performed well. That was what Ju-Hyeok claimed.
'It just sounds so unreliable even when he claims that was the case.'
Even Ji-Ah, their editor, found the situation complicated. Would this argument counter the community's opinion? Would it take hold in a place where a five minute response team would keep degrading Almond? Probably not at all.
'The evidence is true, but the inferred results are false. It looks difficult.'
Didn't they say to mix truth cleverly with lies to lie well? The community's instigating opinion was exactly this. They presented factual evidence with false conclusions. However, it was easy for others to believe the conclusions were true since all the evidence was true.
"So what do we do now? It seems better to handle this quickly."
Ju-Hyeok paused over the phone to consider the issue before speaking, "... Ah, yes. Got it. I'll get ready too."
To flip public opinion in one go, nothing made more of an impact than a video. This time, Ji-Ah couldn't just sit idly.
***
"Haah."
After hanging up the phone, Ju-Hyeok looked around the back seat in disbelief.
"..."
The fundamentalists who had all been shouting and fighting just now had completely disappeared. Where did they go?
Ju-Hyeok hurriedly stepped out of the auction house to look around the venue. At the long table set up in the G-Star lounge, he saw numerous men sitting around. They were all busily tapping on laptops, tablets, and phones.
He recognized a few faces from the auction earlier.
'Those bastards.'
They were the current instigating force and probably the fundamentalist members.
'Really now.'
He wanted to just smash their computers and felt enough anger to resort to physical action, but in the 21st century governed by law, he obviously couldn't resolve matters that way.
'So, can this be resolved by the law?'
No. Surprisingly, few things could be solved by the law in a 21st century legal society. While holding on and stretching the issue could scrape up something tangible, frivolously suing over trivial matters was essentially like spitting in one's own face. Moreover, it could take forever before any punishment was legally enforced.
"... What am I supposed to do now?"
A solution involving legal and physical coercion was impossible.
"It's all about public opinion now."
For a celebrity, public opinion was everything. Even if a proper legal judgment was rendered, the judge would still be criticized if public opinion was negative. That was the reality. If public opinion took their side, they would have all the support.
"First, let's create evidence."
Ju-Hyeok stared at the fundamentalist members busily typing in the lounge from a distance. Then, he turned away.
"I can't go over there."
They knew Ju-Hyeok's face. If their eyes met, it would just give them something else to prepare against. Someone unknown needed to approach them.
He thought of a perfect person for that.
"BornToB."
"Yes?"
BornToB turned around quickly and also curiously inspected the Demian Association.
‘Hmm.’
His face certainly didn't seem likely to arouse suspicion.
"Just one more shoot."
"Yes!"
Ju-Hyeok liked that BornToB followed orders without talking back. He pointed somewhere while tapping BornToB's shoulder. It was the table where the fundamentalist members were fervently typing.
"Zoom in as much as possible to show the content and the faces of the people, but make sure those people don't notice."
"Yes!"
BornToB just unconditionally agreed to what was a suspiciously strange order. It made sense why Kim Chi-Seung had recruited BornToB for the S+ rank run in the past.
***
While BornToB was capturing the fundamentalist members scheming on video, Ju-Hyeok briefly headed to the G-Star office.
"Excuse me? Um... Can I get our exact point details? We're also unaware of how much was received at which booth."
"Um, just a moment?"
The office staff seemed a bit taken aback by the unusual request, but it could be resolved quite simply with their help.
Chwak.
The staff handed over a printed paper.
"Here it is. Would you like it in PDF as well?"
"Oh, yes please. That would be great. Send it to this number..."
Moments later, Ju-Hyeok exited the office through the automatic doors with a smile.
"Just as I expected."
Ju-Hyeok knew the results of the document he just obtained could sway public opinion in Almond's favor. However, the results were better than he anticipated.
Swoosh.
He safely stored the documents in his briefcase and headed toward the Hitman Simulator booth.
"This should be worth checking out."
Going to the Hitman booth could have been pointless. Fortunately, it wasn't with the document.
"Excuse me...?"
The Hitman Simulator booth appeared to be nearly closed with no goods being sold and an almost deserted atmosphere.
The lights in a meeting room were still on, catching Ju-Hyeok’s eye. The manager he had dealt with before and some subordinates were still working, probably talking about something related to Almond.
Ju-Hyeok cautiously knocked on the door.
"Excuse me."
"Oh? Almond’s manager?"
One of the staff recognized Ju-Hyeok's face.
"Ah, yes. I'm sorry to disturb you while you're busy, but could I possibly get an interview?"
"An... an interview?"
The staff thought they had left something. An interview request was unexpected.
"Yes, an interview. I just need a few comments about how and why the challenge points were distributed in such a way."
"Ah..."
This was akin to asking mourners at a funeral how the deceased had died, so the staff's expressions momentarily hardened.
"Cough... Why do you need to interview about that?"
The manager seemed especially uncomfortable and cleared his throat.
Ju-Hyeok had not anticipated this reaction.
‘Was it that painful for them…?’
He felt the need to provide a bit more explanation.
"Currently, rumors are circulating that there was collusion between us."
"Excuse me?"
All the employees felt shocked.
"What collusion?"
"There must be something to gain for it to be collusion, right?"
"Why would we collude for anything…?"
From their perspective, the rumor was absurd.
"It seems to be because we also received an advertisement deal."
"Ha!?" the manager snorted in disbelief.
Ju-Hyeok reassured them with a smile.
"It's okay. The rumor isn't that big yet."
While it was difficult for someone well-versed in community affairs to say that the rumors weren't significant, Ju-Hyeok decided to put on a brave face for just a moment. It wasn’t entirely a lie, after all.
"If we resolve this now, we can manage it. It would be much better if we have the data on how and why the challenge points were distributed in such a way. After all, we're in the same boat now, aren't we? The image of Almond is linked to this company's image."
Technically, if the contract terms were considered, saying they were in the same boat was a stretch since the model would owe them a penalty for significant damage to their image.
However, Ju-Hyeok wasn't saying that the company and Almond were in the same boat. He meant that Almond and the employees here were in the same boat.
The model contract with Almond was something they had pushed for. If Almond's image suffered and led to a delayed model employment, these people would also lose the trust of their boss. Surely, those with experience in the corporate world would understand.
"Well..."
Tap. Tap.
The manager irritably tapped his fingers on the desk.
"... Let's do the interview."
"Wow. Thank you."
Ju-Hyeok grinned and fixed his phone camera on the tripod.
"Then..."
***
A short while later, Ji-Ah sent over two videos.
[Hitman Challenge Points Explanation]
[Demian Association Members' Lounge Work]
Ju-Hyeok attached an additional explanation message.
[Ju-Hyeok: From the title above, you'll know what it's about. The one below shows the Demian Association members in the G-Star lounge currently writing posts on their laptops to sway public opinion.]
Incredibly, he had captured that scene himself. Even so, it could just look like people simply typing on their laptops to outsiders.
"They're diligent, but I wonder if it has any meaning."
She opened the video without much expectation and was taken aback.
"It wasn’t just captured with a phone camera."
BornToB had zoomed in as much as possible with a professional camera. The quality and clarity were overwhelming. The actual text being written by those members was actually visible. Moreover, the video even captured them deliberately writing one post after another to manipulate public opinion.
Additionally, Ju-Hyeok had sent photos from the auction house as supplementary material.
"...!"
The same individuals tapping on laptops in the lounge had been part of the auction involving Almond.
Ji-Ah quickly clicked on the first piece of material. It was an interview with a Hitman staff member.
"... Firstly, the points differed depending on the difficulty level. Mr. Almond was on the elite agent difficulty, which already had a high point potential. It's quite difficult..."
It contained information on how Almond had earned his points. However, there was one problem.
"If we're already suspected of colluding with the company, what's the use of an interview with them?"
The interviewer could be identified as a suspected accomplice.
"Um..."
Meanwhile, the community increasingly focused on related posts as the recommendations grew.
[Today's Hot Posts]
3. Serious Analysis Needed: Is there a problem with the points Almond received at the last challenge booth??
This post had risen to third place among all categories in the community garden. Becoming a hot post across all categories had a different level of impact than becoming a hot post in individual gardens. It seemed like the right moment to release a video was slipping away.
"Uh..."
Ji-Ah was racking her brain. How could she blend this to make it appear convincing? She began to tear up her notes and drafted a storyboard.
***
A few hours later, a notification sounded for all of Almond's channel subscribers.
Ding!
[New video uploaded on Almond’s channel]
[Suspected Because I Played Too Well: Challenge Video]
At first glance, the video title seemed more like a showcase of Almond's superb gameplay rather than a clarification of the current situation. Ji-Ah had intended this. She didn't want to give the impression that it was an explanation. Even if it didn't appear to be an explanatory video, the current interest in Almond's channel meant that word of mouth would spread rapidly.
[Breaking: Almond has posted a video LOL]
[Wow, Almond already posted it, maybe they uploaded it on purpose]
[Video up LOL but it’s a premiere]
[Suspected because he plays too well << it’s funny when he says it himself LOL, let’s see]
[Grinding teeth, getting suspected LOL it’s actually collusion]
The video was not set to play immediately, but had a scheduled premiere time.
[Premiere in 1 hour!]
This was to gather interest first and create a bigger impact at the right moment.
— A premiere damn it
— Wow, Almond is cunning!
— Are these guys purposely dragging the time knowing everything?? LOL
— From the title, seems like they know what's up?
— It’s a premiere we have to wait for, it’ll be super fun to chat and watch together LOL
— Haters gonna hate, 1 hour before the apocalypse!
— Was it collusion or skills? LOL at a crossroads