Chapter 636: Through Guile and Artifice, Let Our Treasured Sword Shine to the Fullest
Author's Preface
Wiserue-sama... [*1]
◇
Arthur Pencilgon held a personal theory: gathering people in an online game is akin to running an election.
No matter how hard you struggle, there is an absolute limit to how much physical rewards can achieve based on available resources. However, supporters will freely provide "dreams," "ideals,"... and "romance" all on their own. Of course, this relies on a firm guarantee that you will actually execute them, but in terms of "getting supporters to gather," what she was doing right now was closer to a political campaign than issuing quests.
"What incredible power..."
"That monster just got blown away..."
"What the heck is that weapon! It looks so freaking cool!!"
While the name "Sunraku" didn't ring a bell for many players, hearing the name "Tsuchinoko-san" would bring his existence to mind for a vast number of them. However, that was still strictly limited to players who were reasonably familiar with the game and frequently used the BBS.
But in this upcoming battle... the grand-scale PvP war of the Grand Duke versus the King, Pencilgon deduced that the manpower of hundreds or thousands would ultimately triumph over a single warrior worth a thousand men. And the very manifesto hoisted by the candidate Pencilgon was Sunraku himself.
"Amazing recovery as expected, Comrade."
"Well, I honestly never thought they'd start brawling right in the middle of a city like this."
The original plan was for the RPA to take the lead in preparing "enemies," but she never expected her little brother to resort to such a petty tactic as launching an infiltration mission. Furthermore, she never anticipated that Sunraku himself would summon an absurd monster like the Demon of Slaughter all on his own.
However, snatching an ideal outcome from an unexpected situation was the true test of skill for a player-event organizer, and within Pencilgon's mind, she had already succeeded in constructing a fallback plan exploiting this very scenario.
Sliding casually closer to the beginner players, Pencilgon began explaining the situation in a tone highly reminiscent of an exposition character from a manga or anime.
"That is the Brilliant Scorpion Gauntlets... It belongs to a weapon category known as Re-Legacy Weapon. The type he's wielding allows him to unleash super-firepower attacks like that in exchange for massive recoil and heavily shaving down the weapon's own durability."
"Are you acquainted with him?"
"I sure am! After all, he's a member of the clan I run. Ah, sorry, since we're a close-knit group, we don't have any plans for open recruitment right now, but actually... our clan is currently affiliated with Thirdrema for an upcoming major event event."
"An event? What kind of event!!?"
Hook, line, and sinker. While concealing the gaze of someone looking at a fish snagged on a hook with nerves of steel and perfectly controlled facial muscles, Pencilgon continued speaking.
"Pencilgonnn! Help meeeee!!"
Ignored.
"Hmm? Oh, it's fine to leave him be. He might be saying that out loud, but the truth is, whenever he actually parties up with others, he's the type to secretly think, 'These guys are getting in my way...' inside his head."
"O-Oh..."
While Sunraku was casually subjected to reputational damage, the man himself was far too preoccupied with fighting the Demon of Slaughter to notice. Glancing his way, he had already shifted to an offensive push alongside the NPCs without sparing a single glance in this direction. She had considered stepping in to help if he seemed cornered, but since he still looked like he had plenty of leeway, she shot an eye-contact command to her RPA comrades: "Participate just enough so you don't look like you're slacking, but maneuver in a way that makes Sunraku stand out."
In this upcoming war, she needed Sunraku to serve as the figurehead for the Thirdrema faction—the "treasured sword" wielded by the giant known as Thirdrema. Much like how sports fans wear the jersey of the team they support, the aspiration to stand on the same side as a player like him was the perfect handle for grabbing hold of the masses' hearts.
"Actually, right now, the Grand Duke of this city, Thirdrema, is engaged in a hostile conflict with the King who stands at the pinnacle of this entire Old Continent."
"Is that so!?"
"And on top of that, the opposing side—which is to say, the King on the enemy side from my perspective—is quite a wicked figure... He banished his own father and sister to a danger zone, and even tried to assassinate them on top of it."
She wasn't lying. She was merely taking the truth, weaving in some embellishments, and inflating it like a balloon before passing it on. If she could make them think, "Surely she's just exaggerating," that alone was a net positive. Anyone who thought that would, at the very least, try to break down and understand the information she provided in their own way.
And if they did that, their means of gathering information would naturally be narrowed down to ShanFro-related BBS boards and social media (since anyone in a position to discover this information independently within ShanFro itself would already know the circumstances).
Once they looked there, they would inevitably stumble upon information regarding the Current Royal Government faction that had been meticulously steered by the RPA's intelligence unit... The reality was that, unlike Thirdrema, which operated under a strictly clean policy, the Current Royal Government was gathering active PKers and ex-PKers through rewards and pardons. A coup d'état upstart building a mixed brigade of ruffians versus a father fighting for his daughter. While nothing could be done about players joining the King's side purely for profit, it was entirely possible to draw people in by playing on their emotions.
Just then, a single player approached and spoke up in an incredibly timid manner. Pencilgon could deduce a person's real-life gender with high accuracy based on their gestures and speaking habits. While there were certainly players whose true gender was completely ambiguous, the woman's avatar speaking to her right now seemed to align perfectly with the person inside.
"U-Um! Is that avatar, by any chance... Amane Towa..."
"Ah, you noticed? It's a pretty good replica that looks exactly like her, isn't it?"
"Eh? Ah, ahh, no, you're right. Hahaha... Sorry for asking out of nowhere."
She wasn't lying. The person herself was merely stating, "It's a replica that looks exactly like her, right?" Amane Towa was an existence who carried the dreams and admiration of young girls everywhere. No matter how much she might inwardly think things like, "If push comes to shove, couldn't I just strap bombs to Sunraku and OiKatzo and have them infinite-charge to destroy the Royal Castle? What are the victory conditions anyway? Do we just need to silence the New King?", she still maintained the bare minimum level of thorough deception.
"U-Um, can beginners participate in this event too?"
"Of course! For crafter classes, they're buying items at a premium rate compared to normal times, and I heard they've set things up so that even combat classes have proper roles!"
Reacting to her beaming smile and an attitude that screamed, "That's what I heard, so I'm just passing it along," the RPA comrades behind her exchanged whispered words.
"Comrade is the one who set up all those systems..."
"Comrade seems absolutely determined to insist she isn't the organizer, all as a countermeasure against getting sneak-attacked by Tsuchinoko-san and the others like what happened during the Apocalypse..."
"Ah, makes sense. She's pushing the narrative that the Grand Duke of Thirdrema is in supreme command to divert their crosshairs over there..."
Lower your voices a bit, Pencilgon's ironclad Good-Sociable-Face distorted in anger for a fraction of a second, but she immediately recovered her expression and turned her gaze back to Sunraku.
(I'm counting on you, Billboard... Big names draw crowds. I need you to go completely wild out there.)
And then, she offered a single word to the RPA member who had not participated in the battle even once thus far.
"Are you getting this all on video?"
Author's Afterword
RPA Intelligence Unit
Veteran reply-battlers who have honed their logic, emotional arguments, and provocation skills across countless BBS boards and social media platforms.
Their goal is to manipulate public opinion by criticizing the New Royal Government with a 1.2x exaggeration rate, countering any rebuttals by deploying their trump card: "Is there anything factually incorrect about what I said?"
They all possess provocation skills on par with Sunraku and the others, and some even have pasts where they fought against Pencil Warrior during the End-of-the-Century Round Table before submitting to her army.
Translator's Notes
- [1] Wiserue-sama: A reference to Wiserue, a major antagonist/general from the Super Sentai series Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. Known for his theatrical flair and manipulative showmanship, much like Pencilgon's current performance.
Comments
Post a Comment