Season 3: Chapter 49: Strict Verification (2)
On their way to work that morning, the Hitman Simulator staff all shared the same thought.
‘Hehe. Easy peasy.’
‘We’re gonna leave on time today.’
‘It's going to be a relaxing day.’
Yesterday, they had faced all sorts of trials. As the saying went, happiness followed hardship. Having endured all the pain yesterday, they expected today to be much more relaxed.
First off, dealing with customers would be easier since they had no more challenge points. The number of gamers would be significantly fewer.
‘Those damn streamers won't be here either.’
Furthermore, no streamers would come. Streamers only appeared if there was something worth broadcasting. Who would come to a simple shooting game that didn't even offer challenge points?
‘Hehe.’
The staff couldn't help but smile at the thought.
"Ah, thinking about no folks toting cameras around really eases my mind, right?"
"Yeah, yeah. It's a lot to handle otherwise."
Even if it was nothing major, the booth staff always had more to worry about when streamers showed up and started recording. What if something misleading got caught on camera or some issue got broadcasted live? Even a minor controversy could blow up if caught on video. If a well-known game reviewer showed up, it’d be all hands on deck for the staff.
"All the reviewers have already come and gone. It really looks like no streamers will show up now."
No reviewers, no streamers, and not many gamers would show up. Now, they could really enjoy the expo without any hassle. Yes, that was how it was supposed to be.
***
"Wow. It's crazy today too. What's all this line for?"
The manager, who arrived a bit late to work, naturally thought this line had nothing to do with him until he approached the booth.
"What games are around our booth?"
"Uh... mostly mobile games, I think. Maybe they're having an event?"
"G-Star itself is an event. What other event would they need?"
The staff member scratched his head and dismissed a fleeting thought.
"Whatever it is, that booth over there won't be having a good time today!"
"Tell me about it!"
“It's not my problem!”
They laughed and cheerfully made their way to their booth. However, their laughter didn't last long. As they approached their booth, they felt a strange sense of unease.
"Uh... Manager. This seems a bit off..."
Wasn't this line leading to their booth?! The words they dared not speak out loud eventually became a reality as the entrance to the Hitman booth came into view.
"!"
"!?"
The two staff members stopped dead in their tracks, struck by shock. The long serpent line ended right at the entrance of their Hitman booth.
***
Since morning, visitors unexpectedly filled the Hitman booth.
The manager squeezed through and was briefed on the current situation.
"What!? They're asking to run the challenge?! What are you talking about? We don't even have points?"
It became chaos at their booth.
"Just open it even if we don't give points! They want to do exactly what Almond did!"
If they weren’t giving any points, what was the point of the challenge?
"No. What's the point of doing it if we're not giving points?"
"I'm not sure..."
The staff could only scratch their heads.
"Do they just want to try the game?"
"Then they could just play the demo. Why insist on the challenge mode?"
"That's true..."
Asking for the exact challenge system from the previous day didn't seem to be just about trying out the game. Some specifically requested, "The exact thing Almond did."
That was when the manager realized something.
Ping!
A clear sound rang in his mind as if shaking off a heavy hangover.
"Ah! It's just that! That thing!"
That was right! It was that! They definitely chose the right model for their advertisement!
Meanwhile, a staff member tilted his head in confusion.
"That thing...?"
‘Oh boy.’
The manager thumped his chest in frustration.
"Noise marketing!"
Although it wasn't exactly the right term, the gist was correct. The game had become famous due to the controversy surrounding Almond. Now these people came to play the game because of that controversy. To put it simply…
"We've hit the jackpot!"
***
One could question why people would want to play the game amid the controversy. The answer could be somewhat found by approaching those in line who were livestreaming.
"Ah, yes. I've come to try out that game with the controversy involving Almond. Oh, but there seems to be a problem right now..."
Firstly, streamers benefited from engaging with games that attracted controversy and attention. That was the first reason.
"… There aren’t any points left to earn since Almond cleared out all the challenge points, but they said I could still try the challenge! Whether I can get those points or not, let's see."
The second reason was a kind of verification.
Was the level of gameplay Almond showcased truly worth that amount of points? It wasn't clear to a mere observer. Aside from the 4.1 km sniper shot, the extreme difficulty wasn’t clearly conveyed through any other particular scene.
Responses like these appeared in the community:
[Was his gameplay really that great???]
[He just shot them and they fell over, what elite agents?! LOL]
[The game is just easy and Almond found the sweet spots LOL]
[Getting 1st in RunGuys seems harder]
Streamers wanted to verify these claims for content.
The staff felt astounded when they learned of this.
"Wow... they really came because of the controversy!"
"They think it looks easy!?"
"Wow... they want to do what Almond did?"
The staff were naturally dumbfounded. Before Almond, the game had one of the highest failure rates among all the booths.
Such reactions were baffling. Indeed, the media was formidable. Just watching videos of Almond playing made it seem easy.
"… But maybe everyone will soon acknowledge it?"
The manager pointed to the first team that had entered the capsules.
Chiiiik.
Out of the four capsules, three individuals were already coming out with their lids opening.
"Ah! Seriously! Such a waste!"
"Ha. What is this? If you fail the mission, do you just die?"
"Eh? I only got fifty points...? Isn't this a serious bug?"
They came out greatly disappointed. Ironically, two of them were not even elite agents but mere regular agents who hadn't even been assigned the highest difficulty. They had been assigned the trainee difficulty, which was only one level above the most beginner civilian difficulty.
They were essentially filtered out from the tutorial itself.
"Well... that's the average, isn't it?"
"Exactly."
Those players didn’t play bad. They performed as the game company expected from those with average skills.
"Some are managing to hang in there."
Of the four capsules, only one remained.
That person had entered both the infiltration mission and the subsequent sniping mission quite smoothly.
"Hm. That person might last a bit longer, but it's just the trainee difficulty level."
"Ah... right."
Regrettably, surpassing Almond was impossible no matter how well they performed.
The only remaining player had been assigned the trainee difficulty. Moreover, he had failed spectacularly in the sniping mission and was too greedy with the distance.
Although he could have survived after failing, he couldn't handle the incoming enemy agents and ended up riddled with bullets.
Chiik...
After the capsule opened, he wrapped his face in his hands as if in regret.
"Ah...! I almost had it."
“Pfft.”
The staff had to suppress their laughter at his words. After all, the difficulty level itself was so different. What did he mean he almost had it? Even at that difficulty, he hadn't reached anywhere near what Almond achieved.
However, the staff didn't need to personally go up to him and explain that he played terribly. The machine would do that.
Ping!
[Points obtained: 170]
Once the points finished calculating, he would realize it on his own. Compared to the 8,100 points Almond earned, 170 was ridiculously low.
"No. Isn't this a bug? Does this even make sense?"
He approached the staff with a camera in his hand, apparently streaming.
"Wait, how many did I kill? Why only 170 points? Almond got like 10 per person!"
The game's difficulty levels were not intuitively obvious and felt misleading to the players.
"The difficulty level you were playing on was as a trainee. Mr. Almond was playing as an elite agent."
"… Really?"
Another issue was that most people who came hardly knew about the game's difficulty levels or hadn't watched the videos on Almond's channel properly before diving in.
"Different difficulties? There's such a thing?"
"Yes, it's determined at the tutorial by things like your shooting, accuracy, and reaction speed."
"… Ah. What other levels are there besides the one I had?"
"Civilian, trainee, pro, agent, and elite agent in order."
"Ah… trainee was… easy."
The streamer realized that he had been assigned the second easiest difficulty and his expression darkened.
Mocking comments filled his stream chat.
— Haha, made a fuss over baby difficulty LOL
— Hahaha… so sad...
— Ah, knew it from the start tsk tsk
— Almond, here's one more coming up~!
— LOL you really had no chance
While many tried to challenge Almond's record, none could even achieve the same difficulty level before leaving. They always approached the staff with cameras and left with the same expressions after hearing the explanation.
This repeated almost dozens of times.
"Wow… damn. Too many people."
"And they all ask the same thing. Is this hell?"
The staff were gradually drained of energy.
***
A truckload of disheartened streamers and challengers returned.
"Wait. How do you get elite agent? What are the conditions?"
Now, the staff would just respond in a mechanical voice.
"The first two enemies that appear, kill them with headshots. The next three, kill them too. Of course, with headshots. Just remember this. First, you have to get headshots."
Anyone could feel how many times they had repeated these words from their lifeless, monotonous voices.
— LOL just record it
— Are they singing it? Hahaha
— Soulless, haha
After hearing this somber dirge, the streamers were left speechless.
"You have to headshot all the enemies that appear in the beginning? That's too hard!"
A player couldn’t typically showcase such skills while playing for the first time. They had to headshot all the tutorial enemies on their first try? Without wasting a single bullet?
The condition was too difficult.
"That's too hard!"
"That's right. Elite agent is a special difficulty that is originally damn hard! Ah, it’s supposed to be hard!"
After all, the elite agent level was meant to be that difficult. The staff endlessly repeated the same response to the complaining streamers.
"If you can't manage that, then there's no point in challenging the elite agent level. It's futile. Way off, way off. Step back. Step back."
— LOL
— Are they mocking players? Hahaha
— No chance, lol
— Damn, step back
— Might as well sprinkle some salt
The streamers appeared offended by the soulless responses.
"…"
What could they do? They just weren't good enough!
"Sigh."
Their only option was to return. In the end, no one even reached Almond's difficulty level. This was bound to become a hot topic in the community again.
[Breaking: Those who went to verify LOL no one even achieved Almond's difficulty level]