Season 3: Chapter 48: Strict Verification (1)
When fights broke out in the community, posts like this sometimes appeared.
[The Real Identities of Those Hating on Almond.jpg]
Upon clicking, it turned out to be a clickbait post. It did not disclose any real identities and only brought up unrelated topics. Typically, this was done to discredit the opposing force by associating them with things that had a bad image.
For example...
[Straight up "The Big Three Telecoms"
Whether the country goes to hell or not, they just try to introduce "Crap Usage Fees" and frame YouTubers or streamers to diminish their influence.
Among the targets is XXXX, who keeps making valid points, so they come in groups to bury it.
As proof, all the IPs of those hating here are from the Big Three Telecoms.]
This post haphazardly associated irrelevant issues to discredit the opponent. The example post was more about making people laugh with its absurd causality than trying to discredit anyone.
— Telecom IP LOL that’s right LOL
— OMG LOL they brought proof
— Seriously, everyone writes with a phone so obviously the IPs are from telecoms. The poster is an idiot
└True
— Crap Usage Fees LOL LOL
Most of these quirky posts were just written for fun. Over time, it became a meme and no serious information ever came from them. Honestly, no one expected it.
[The Real Identities of Those Hating on Almond.avi]
A post with such a title was actually real.
— Expected the Big Three Telecoms when I came here LOL
└ Why not? LOL
└ Where did the Crap Usage Fees go? LOL
— Why is it actually revealing real identities?
└ Really? LOL
— Eh??? LOL they actually caught them?
The video captured the people in the community who were inciting others. This shocked even the community users. The footage was clear enough to even speculate on their personal information.
— OMG are these the guys from the auction??
— Aren't they Demian Association members?? Their clothes look like it.
└ Really LOL
— Those jerks are typing furiously LOL
└ Their posture is like they're being sucked into the monitor
└ The association's back is bent like a bow...
Anyone could tell they were the Demian Association members at the scene.
***
The next morning near the G-Star event venue.
"Uuuugh...!"
Sang-Hyeon stretched and got up. He briefly looked around with a dazed expression.
'What did I do yesterday?'
He slept like he had fainted from exhaustion and couldn't remember yesterday's events.
Sang-Hyeon didn’t dwell on the fleeting memories and asked the person on the opposite bed, "Are you going to sleep more?"
Ju-Hyeok waved his arm in the air and replied, "Huuuuuh..."
"Okay~"
Understanding perfectly, Sang-Hyeon got up from his place.
"I'm going to have breakfast first."
He quickly got ready and headed to the floor, where breakfast was served. Walking on the thickly carpeted corridor felt warm. It was the charm of an old hotel.
As he approached the breakfast buffet, the chatter mixed with the aroma of coffee drifted toward him.
"One, please."
"Yes, I'll show you to your table."
The staff member guided him to his seat with a smile.
Sang-Hyeon casually marked his territory with a few personal items and headed straight for the coffee.
"Hmm."
The aroma of the coffee delighted him and seemed to slowly awaken him.
Now, he decided to think about what happened. He opened his phone and entered the community site. Whenever there was an issue, the community usually had more detailed records than his own memory.
"Wow..."
He marveled at the list of trending posts. Even the protagonist of the movie Memento would regain his memory after seeing these titles.
1. The Real Identities of Those Hating on Almond.avi
2. The Haters of Nuts Utterly Destroyed! LOL
3. Breaking! Almond Would Have Been First Without Playing Hitman LOL
4. Sang-Hyeon <<< This guy is basically a god, upvote
5. Photos of Those Manipulating Public Opinion in the Community Exposed
6. Serious Analysis Needed: Is there a problem with the points Almond received at the last challenge booth??
First to tenth place all featured stories about Almond. They covered everything from the beginning to the end of the controversy.
"Sip."
Sang-Hyeon kept thinking while sipping his coffee. If he had earned money equivalent to the clicks on these posts, he would have made millions by now. Of course, that was just a whimsical thought.
'Let’s take a look at one.'
His thumb moved and touched the top post titled: [The Real Identities of Those Hating on Almond.avi].
The post included a simple description along with a video.
[Real time community manipulation by those who participated in the auction LOL (Video)]
It was unclear how the video had been captured, but it showed men who appeared to be Demian Association members sitting with laptops and busily typing posts in the community.
— Why is this happening?
— Wow, they really gather like this to stir things up; that’s scary
— Using cloning techniques to manipulate comments???
Not only were the circumstances captured, but the video was so high quality that one could clearly see them writing the community posts.
— The quality is almost Netflix documentary level LOL, everything is visible LOL LOL
— (Link) This is the post that guy in the video is writing LOL LOL
└ Wow, shocking
└ It got dozens of upvotes in moments and became a trending post
└ The IPs really are coming from the G-Star area? LOL, it’s real then
— They must have been really desperate to do that right there
└ Timing is everything LOL
— Caught on site doing this? LOL LOL
Usually, allegations trying to stir up or manipulate public opinion from behind the scenes were not easy to prove. From Sang-Hyeon's perspective, he was extremely lucky that such a video existed. With such precise evidence coming to light, public opinion was completely flipped.
— So they were really stirring things up...
— (Link) Check this post LOL, these are the members who got thrashed at the auction
└ Did they lose at the auction and harbor malice to do this???
└ They’re insane
— You are now witnessing North Korea's cyber infiltration operations
└ Why is this happening LOL
— What kind of battles have you been fighting, Great Almond…?
└ Really LOL
└ From now on, anyone who criticizes Almond is considered a North Korean, damn jerks
└ LOL LOL LOL
Almond's image had drastically improved. Consequently, not only did his subscribers skyrocket, but his views soared even more. Not just on his G-Star videos, but also across all his gaming videos. His viewership experienced a 20% increase.
Although he had benefited from controversies a few times before, never had there been such a significant rise. Due to the magnitude of the controversy, the returns were substantial.
Even those who had been criticizing him began to change their stance, leaving comments on every video.
— You've been battling the world’s bias…
— I apologize for criticizing you before. I'll crack open my head and offer you my walnut.
— Son! When you grow up, you must apologize to Almond! Son! When you grow up, you must apologize to Almond!?
Sang-Hyeon had gained a lot from this controversy.
"It really... paid off."
The whimsical thought Sang-Hyeon had earlier became a reality. It was as if the community views were actually being converted into money.
"... Jackpot."
He relaxed a bit and got up to fetch some bread and biscuits. After loading up on almond banana bread, he looked back at his phone.
During his short absence, a notification had popped up.
[A new video has been uploaded to your channel.]
[??? Is this good? I really don’t know.]
Ji-Ah had uploaded another video to strike while the iron was hot. It seemed a flurry of uploads would continue.
Naturally, the video's reception was positive and the views skyrocketed.
— This deception is crazy LOL
— LOL the association's back is bent like a bow, what LOL
— The association’s festival of happiness LOL
— Ah, so the haters were association members?? Now I know LOL
— Wow, Raina's bow is killer
— Wow, I want one too
— You can seriously use this in Legend's Tale???
— Aren't there Almond drops in Legend's Tale?
In such a scenario, YouTube's algorithm seemed to be on their side.
Sang-Hyeon was stuffing bread into his mouth while watching the reactions to the video with a pleased expression.
"Uh. Mr. Almond, right? Are you dining alone?"
"?"
A stranger approached him. No matter how hard Sang-Hyeon tried, he couldn't recall such a face.
"I... gave you my business card before. Haha."
The man once again pulled out his business card while introducing himself.
"That time, our manager went a bit overboard. I'd like to apologize on his behalf. I'm Heo Kang-Yeol from Navi Entertainment."
‘Oh, he’s from an entertainment company. Darn, it was just getting fun…’
Sang-Hyeon glanced briefly at his phone, regretting the interruption. Since someone had addressed him, he couldn't just ignore them and greeted them with a nod.
***
While Almond leisurely enjoyed his breakfast at the hotel, the warlike frenzy at G-Star continued. Although it wasn't as heated as the opening day, the sight of people queuing up to enter was still impressive. G-Star was still bustling with passionate gamers.
"Wow! It's hot at G-Star even before the doors open!"
On this cold day, another person was burning with passion besides the gamers.
"Hello! May I interview you?"
It was a junior reporter covering the event. She had been gathering interviews from gamers throughout the G-Star venue every day.
"Yes."
"Where are you from?"
"I... came from Gwangju."
"Wow! You came from so far away! What brought you here from such a distance?"
"Well, I'm quite good at adapting to new games. I'm here to win some prizes in the challenges and to see some good games…"
"Ah! Challenges! You came for the challenges? Do you have any goals for this challenge?"
"My goal is Mr. Almond…"
The man laughed a bit sheepishly as he trailed off.
"Wow. Mr. Almond set a tremendous record this time. Think you can beat it?"
"No, this guy can't," his friend interjected.
The reporter laughed and turned to the friend.
"What's your goal?"
"I want to try that shooting game Mr. Almond played."
"Ah...? Hitman Simulator! Why?"
"Well, I have to do well in that first before I can even think about catching up to Mr. Almond. I'm pretty good at shooting games."
"But you just said your friend can't do it..."
"He can't, but I can. I'm better."
"Ah. Haha. You really are best friends. Good luck."
After encouraging them, the reporter moved on to another interview. She posed a question similar to everyone else.
"Why did you come to G-Star?"
The responses varied. Some developers came to research new games while others were purely curious about the latest game releases.
However, the answers from those who came for the challenges were all similar.
"I came to try the Hitman challenge."
"Honestly, I think I can do it too."
"That game Mr. Almond played...? I want to try it."
"I'm going to try and match Mr. Almond's points today."
Many people came to chase Almond's points or simply wanted to try the game he played. They didn't know that participating in the challenge at that booth was impossible today.
***
Almond had become a hot topic for his amount of challenge points. Most people still recalled the scenes of him asking for his prize to be multiplied by ten, his gameplay in Hitman Simulator, and his overwhelming scores.
They only focused on the provocative elements and missed the little bit of information occasionally mixed in the community posts.
"... That booth won't be able to operate tomorrow or the day after because of how much they gave away..."
Not many people looked closely at the gossip flowing through the community. Such minor details often went unnoticed.
Many barely read the content of big news and simply looked at the comments. This was a common phenomenon.
Even a cursory glance wouldn't have caused much trouble. This created a little inconvenience for some people.
"Manager? They're asking to open the challenge!"
"What? No, we're not doing it today. Just let them try the demo."
"But there are too many asking to do it..."
"...!?"
A crowd swarmed in front of the Hitman Simulator booth.
The staff, who couldn't have imagined such a scene, felt astounded. They had come to work thinking they would just meet industry folks and chat since they hardly had any visitors the day before.
"Why are there so many people today? There weren't this many yesterday. We can't even give out points..."
"They say it's okay if you don't give points. Just open it! They want to do exactly what Almond did!"
"...?"