novelraw Chapter 125 : This is Viral (2)
Chapter 125 : This is Viral (2)
This is Viral (2)
GGG Q-tube Channel.
Alongside the video announcing the latest major update, a making-of film was uploaded.
Strangely, this video was set as a Premiere, scheduled for its first public showing.
- What the—;; The update info is just public, so why make the making film premiere?
- Maybe the channel admin made a mistake?
- There's no way this isn't intentional, lol. They totally meant to!
- What, did they make something so mind-blowing or what the hell
Unsurprisingly, the chat was full of complaints. Even so, the number of people waiting shot up instantly.
The reason was simple.
- The hostage is too good to just ignore this.
- Damn, gGG's really using Purple Coin right, huh? LOL
- Was the story from Companion actually true?
- But they're a major company, they wouldn't bait us, right? LOL
This was all because the video's thumbnail boldly displayed the PerfectPlay channel's logo.
At last, the video began after the long wait.
"Hello! Gunner Ground players from around the world, this is Developer C!"
With a cheerful narration from the GGG manager, the screen brightened. Still, the mood in the chat wasn't so cheerful.
- Here comes the Weight Bias
- LOL just cut to the chase and show us Purple already!
- Yup~ The Weight Bias ruined the balance again, huh?
- Why is this guy still the dev manager? Does he have dirt on the CEO or what?
"Weight Bias" was the nickname for the manager, whose family name was Chu ("Chu" = "balance weight" in Korean). It also implied that any system he touched would become unbalanced.
But since this wasn't a live broadcast, no amount of criticism ever shook the voice in the video.
"You've probably already watched the separate video covering the detailed update notes. Unlike usual, this update was a fresh new challenge for us as well. To commemorate it, we decided to make a making-of film!"
With that, the scene transitioned to the key feature of the update—the Killernoid.
"Killernoid, your powerful new enemy, gunners. In our original plan, we were going to request collaboration from players above the Master tier, crowdsourcing various data for implementation."
- Above Master tier?
- Their balance was doomed from the planning stage LOL
- It's an event mode but newbies can't even join LOL
- Weight Bias at it again LOL
The chat's mood wasn't improving. But the following narration changed everything.
"But that plan was scrapped. Because, as you all know, one person appeared."
The screen went black for a moment.
But the chat seemed to know exactly who was coming.
- ?
- No way?
- So the rumors were true?
- It wasn't just a disgruntled ex-employee venting?
- Damn LOL this is wild
- Here comes the big one!
As if to satisfy all expectations, the next scene appeared.
It featured streamer Purple.
"PerfectPlay—the name says it all. He's performed incredibly."
A montage of Purple's past exploits rolled by, edited like a teaser ad.
It included highlights from his first game, his OTP runs, and duo matches with Genome.
- Freaking nuts, lol
- Damn, still amazes me every time I see it
- Yup, that's what a real warrior looks like
- I still can't hit grenades like that either
- His driving skills were insane for real
- He's the zero-to-hero bus driver, obviously!
- Even the credit is properly marked as Purple Q-tube, lol
The chat was soon filled with awe. And they weren't the only ones impressed.
"Incredible, isn't it? I got chills as soon as I saw it. It felt like fate, if you will. Where else could we find better data for making Killernoid?!"
- Weight Bias is hyped, lol
- His energy's totally different now
- Honestly, anyone would be impressed with that LOL
- Even as a dev myself, I agree LOL If my company was bigger, we would've bought it right away, sigh
- Purple's just too good, lol
The mood in chat softened. No one dislikes hearing their favorite praised.
"I couldn't miss this chance. Even if I had to reschedule everything, I was set on reaching out to Purple. Thankfully, he was glad to cooperate!"
The screen switched again.
[First Internal Test]
With this caption, gameplay began.
"We ran tests against the Killernoid created using Purple's data as a base. We formed teams of ten to twenty, each facing different Killernoid variants."
Split screens showed the battles: gunfire, explosions, smoke, lasers, and plasma flashing everywhere.
"All our staff love Gunner Ground. Testers were all Platinum tier at minimum."
- They're definitely good, I'll give them that.
- Yeah, their shooting and teamwork are clean
- Well, duh, that's all they do at work LOL
- Honestly, wouldn't it be weird if they sucked?
Viewers acknowledged their skills.
But the result was a different story.
"But not a single one survived."
Killernoid held its ground in every split screen. In fact, it slaughtered the testers with ease.
None succeeded in defeating it.
- ?
- None of them won?
- Wait;;; Did they release something they couldn't even beat themselves?
- What kind of gamble is this?
- Why's everyone so mad LOL It says 'first test' for god's sake
- For real, lol It's not even the final version yet but people are triggered
Before the flame war could spread, the narration continued.
"What you just saw was the prototype using 100% of the data. It was much, much stronger than expected."
- So it was 100% Purple's data?
- In that case, failing makes sense LOL
- For sure, if they'd won, that would be the real bug
- So they got wrecked at first, then nerfed it for difficulty LOL
Viewers quickly accepted the situation.
After the first test, a triangle graph appeared next to Killernoid.
[Bodily Control]
[Detection Ability]
[Reaction Time]
Three stats at the triangle's apexes.
And each one maxed out.
Viewers understood what that meant immediately.
- Holy—was that really Purple's stats?
- LOL At first, I thought it was just missing labels
- Did they literally max all the stats?
- Wait LOL Was he capped out from the start?!
- Ah yes, that's the Perfect-stat (nods)
While the chat marveled, the graph shrank and the narration continued.
"To adjust the difficulty, for the second test, we reflected 60% of the original data."
[Second Internal Test]
The second test scene began.
The battles looked similar, but this time, the testers didn't die so quickly.
- Woah, even at 60% it's this tough?
- Well, they're all Platinum, so they can hold out, lol
- Any lower tier would get blitzed instantly
- Still too hard, lol
Of course, it still wasn't easy, and casualties increased over time.
But unlike the first test, it wasn't impossible to win.
"For the first time, the testers won. As a result, they obtained future tech. There were fewer survivors, but the victory rate improved."
The battle scene disappeared, replaced by a results chart showing third, fourth, and fifth test outcomes.
"As you can see, survival rates increased as time went on. Testers gradually adapted to facing Killernoid."
- First encounter's always the hardest, really
- That's why all the smurfers got wiped during the event match, lol
- Even at 60%, if you face Purple, yeah, you die LOL
- But 60% or not, killernoid's carrying future tech—can't ignore that
- If everyone worked together, they could probably win, right?
- Oh, so you CAN beat 60% Purple?
- This totally feels like a challenge now, lol
Viewers focused not on the balance, but on the thrill of possibly beating Purple herself.
But the making film continued.
"Still, I felt a little disappointed. With Purple's supplied data, being only able to use 60% felt like a waste."
The next scene showed the final boss: Annihilator.
Beside it, the previous triangle graph was filled up again.
"So before the event match, I designed Annihilator and applied 100% data. I wondered, could we create a character even stronger than the original Purple?"
- 100%? What are you thinking!?
- Messing with crazy stuff again
- Weight Bias doing what he does best, lol
- Wait;;; How's a regular player supposed to beat full-power Purple?!
- Is this a joke? Is the balance even real?
The mood in the chat shifted.
Maybe he anticipated this.
"But the first test already proved how deadly it was. So, for Annihilator, I made the mechanism so it only becomes active when all survivors have secured future tech. Otherwise, it remains dormant unless approached."
Footage showed an internal test with about 20 survivors, only 4 of whom had future tech.
- Huh, apparently they did put some thought into this
- Oh...... with this many people, might be doable?
- 20 Platinums with 4 future techs? Actually plausible, lol
- If it's Purple himself, probably not, but a bot version's doable, lol
But the situation flipped in an instant.
Annihilator began slaughtering anyone who approached. His sheer physicality rendered all tactics useless.
- LOL, almost fooled us there
- Even if it's a bot Purple, it's still Purple, right?
- Insane, absolutely nuts
- But as a robot, at least he gets shot, lol
- But come on, he's a machine ㅎㅎ ㅋㅋ sorry, lol
- With regular guns, you're just drawing aggro, lol
- Why do the future tech testers suck at aiming?
- How do you shoot something that moves like that?
It seemed hopeless, but not entirely. Thanks to sacrifices by teammates, a sniper with a railgun managed to land a shot.
- Oh!
- He landed it!
- Crazy, they finally brought it down!
- Is the difficulty level insane or what?!
But just when everyone thought the survivors would win, annihilator didn't go down quietly.
Before shutting down, it fired an Ion Cannon at the building where the railgun sniper was located.
- Woah, lol
- Did it react before it died?
- Holy crap, isn't this a bit much?
- So it ends in a draw?!
- Did they program it not to accept losing?
- Even a bot Purple is still Purple, lol
Viewers were dumbfounded as the match ended in a draw.
"I agonized over this result. Was there really no way to use 100% of the data? Should we nerf it? I decided to postpone the decision until the event match, where the original Purple would participate!"
Next, we saw footage of PerG-Day's active participation in the event match.
"Viewers watching this already know the outcome."
- PerG-Day pulled off the impossible!
- Honestly, only Purple can beat Annihilator, lol
- The only one who can take on Purple is Purple...!
- But at 60%, newNunna and Eclipse managed to win
- LOL, genome's on the same team but couldn't do it!
- You can't beat it with shame alone
- You're such a bad guy, lol
- So does this mean you're nerfing it? Or not?
- Kinda feels like it SHOULD be nerfed?
- I might be able to handle Killernoid, but Annihilator's too much;;
- There's no way average players are gonna beat this!
- But don't you want to try fighting 100% anyway?
- lmao, what average player can bring out Godple's abilities at 100%?
The chat grew chaotic with mixed opinions.
As the video faded out, there was no further narration.
It seemed the event would carry on without any nerf.
"Hello, gunners!"
A familiar voice rang out in the darkness.
The screen brightened.
"I'm Purple, a streamer on Tri."
Lee Gyeongbok greeted the camera with a bright smile.
- Why are you here, hyung?
- Purple Hi! Purple Hi!
- LOL, the main man is finally here!
- The hostage is finally released, lol
- They put the channel logo up; of course, they have to show his face!
- Major companies are basically cyber tabloid rakers now, almost said so myself^^
Suddenly the chat was unified by a wave of Purple hype.
"I hope you all enjoyed the event match. I want to take this opportunity to thank the GGG staff for allowing a final special event."
Lee Gyeongbok bowed lightly.
- Oh? Was this shot after the match?
- Who knows, lol, if it's Godple, obviously he expected to win first
- LOL, really reasonable God sense there, huh?
- There's no way, come on LOL
- Oh, look, the subtitle answers it, lol
- They even show, 'thanks for allowing the post-tournament interview'
- Oh right, this must've been filmed right after the win
As viewers debated when this was filmed, Lee Gyeongbok continued.
"As you saw in the making film, the updated Killernoid was made using my data as a base. It was my first time doing something like this, so it felt novel—and being invited to the event match was really fun."
With those words, a subtitle posed a question:
[Q1. How was the event match?]
Lee Gyeongbok answered with an awkward chuckle.
"If you watch my broadcast, you know this was actually my first time in a 4-man squad. Being with good people made it all the more enjoyable."
The chat stirred.
- First time in a 4-man squad?
- Oh...... that's right? He only did duo with Genome before?
- Whoa? He really did! Why didn't I realize?
- He was so good it was hard to believe it was his first time LOL
- Damn LOL Now the 'God-tier-clearing' makes sense
- For real, lol If it's his first squad, of course he'd come up with God-clearing strats
- Squad tournament champion (Squad: first time
- Purple being Purple is only natural, is that a problem?
While viewers were busy marveling at that realization, the next question appeared.
[Q2. How was it, fighting Killernoid?]
Lee Gyeongbok let out a self-conscious laugh.
"Hmm... To be honest, I was really looking forward to it. The character was made based on my data, right? But I don't know if I should say this, but I was as disappointed as I was excited."
The chat was full of question marks. Lee Gyeongbok wrinkled his nose as if he'd read their minds.
"It ended up being way too easy to strategize against. Made me wonder, 'Was I really only this good?' Later I learned only 60% of my data had been reflected, so it made more sense."
- Insane, lol
- 'Was I only this much' LOL
- Yeah, from Purple's perspective, it'd be disappointing, for real
- Can't believe the making-of film is just Purple slamming himself!
- Purple's Emergency Escape! Never let your guard down!
- LOL, truly Emergency Exit, lol
- Purple withdrawal, finally satisfied!
While the chat loved this answer, the third question came up.
[Q3. How did you like the future tech?]
Lee Gyeongbok scratched the back of his head, a bit embarrassed.
"I didn't really need it, so I didn't use it, but if I'd known you'd ask about it, I might've tried it for fun. Ah, but I did try the Laser Sword and railgun! Especially the Laser Sword—I think every guy should handle it at least once."
- Yeah, laser Sword is truly king, lol
- If you grew up with beam sabers, you totally get it LOL
- Come on, it's not a laser sword—it's a light sabre, right?
- If you're Korean, it's gotta be Tropos' Psionic Blade
- The old guys are hyped LOL
- Hey! Old guy? Mobile Suits, stella Wars, and Craft Star are mandatory culture!
As people flooded the chat with references to fictional energy swords, the final question appeared.
[Q4. How was your battle with the final boss, annihilator?]
Lee Gyeongbok clapped his hands lightly.
"That's what left the deepest impression. He was about my build, even moved like me, which was surprising."
- Right LOL No wonder he looked the same size
- They must've designed it like that for full data reflection
- Weight Bias LOL, so detailed with stuff like this
- Just do something about the balance, will you!
But then Lee Gyeongbok furrowed his brow.
"Still, I couldn't help but feel the difference in skill. It was 100% of my data, so why did it feel like that?"
- You can't compare a machine to the real deal, lol
- That's why I hate deus ex machina
- Suddenly, a machine god?
- LOL If it's a robot copy of Godple, it's basically a machine god
The chat thought he won just because he was the original. But his own view was different.
"I guess it's because I signed the contract quite a while ago, so some data was missing. Since it was old version data, its skill level was pretty low."
- ?
- Old version?
- Wow... you're right, that's insane!
- Unreal! He leveled up that much in the meantime!
- Wait;;; Weren't you already perfect, so why did you grow?!
- Why are you leveling up at max level?
- Ah, so THAT's the true perfect-level-up.
The chat reeled with new shock and awe.
"But then I thought—since the character has my name, shouldn't we update with the latest data? Wouldn't it be disappointing otherwise? Maybe it's time for a refresh, for all you Gunners out there!"
- Huh?
- Update with the latest data?
- You mean, make it harder?
- Please, don't judge from a pro's perspective!
- Geniuses, honestly!
Everyone, including GGG, was horrified by his suggestion.
[No, it's fine. It's already enough!]
"Is it, really? I still feel like it's lacking..."
[The care you show for Gunner Ground! All viewers will feel that too!]
With such desperate subtitles, laughter erupted in the chat.
- GGG freaking out!
- Don't ruin the event, lol
- If it updates to the latest version, no one will clear it!
- Purple's so sincere about helping, it's even funnier LOL
- Is this what pure evil looks like?
- Ah! Too scary!
"Understood."
With GGG adamantly refusing, Lee Gyeongbok relented.
"Everyone, please continue to love Gunner Ground, and enjoy the newly updated 'Time Warfare'! With that, I'll take my leave!"
The screen faded to black with his farewell. Recommendations popped up, signaling the true end of the video.
Yet, viewers couldn't tear themselves away.
- It's not even live, but if Purple appears, it's legendary LOL
- Now that I saw Purple, I can't remember anything else LOL
- Can someone summarize in three lines!?
- Killernoid = 60% Purple, annihilator = old version Purple, godple = God
- Summed up cleanly in one go
- Ability-recognition Chu LOL
- Looks perfect to practice for the next OTP in event mode
- Right LOL Gotta clear old version Purple first
- Shouldn't you start with Killernoid then?
- So it's basically step-by-step training?
- What are you even saying?
- Players surviving 》 Killernoid 》 Annihilator 》 Purple in that order
- Is Purple the real final boss, lol
- Damn, the challenge comes together instantly
- Is this a Killernoid challenge now?
- Smurfers are 100% going to try this LOL
- He really is a challenge maker!
Once again, Lee Gyeongbok had created a new challenge without even intending to.
* * *
Game Webzine, metaGamer headquarters.
More specifically, influencer Team Leader and Shin Hyerim were extremely excited.
"Man, can't believe I'm living to see our online game team being asked for collaboration."
"Right, Team Leader!"
Both of them couldn't stop smiling cheek to cheek.
"This is all thanks to Purple!"
"Told you, he's basically a god!"
The team leader laughed jokingly and opened a hologram.
Like the front page of a newspaper, it was MetaGamer's main page.
[Do Killernoids Dream of Perfection?]
It was news about the recent Gunner Ground update. Normally, this was under the online game team's jurisdiction, but not this time.
"Never thought our team would land in the top seat!"
Every part of the headline and details had the Influencer Team's fingerprints all over it.
Because this time, the focus wasn't the update itself but the background—Purple.
"You can tell things have changed lately. Colleagues from other teams are even asking if there's room in ours?"
"Of course! We're not high-turnover like before. Our team's stock is skyrocketing right now!"
"Exactly! So I told them, team morale is through the roof these days."
"Yeah! Walk tall! And this is just a hunch, but in the next salary negotiations, go in hard. Their stickler HR manager even complimented me!"
"Really?!"
When the team leader mentioned that, reporter Shin Hyerim couldn't hide her delight.
"But if we want this to continue, we have to keep focused and get back to work."
"Ah, right! By the way, there's a hiatus notice posted today."
Shin Hyerim was in charge of keeping track of Lee Gyeongbok's schedule. At her words, the team leader nodded after a moment's thought.
"Hiatus? Makes sense."
"You knew he was taking a break?"
"No, I only realized after seeing the making film. It may have been a short interview for him, but I bet his staff worked late."
"His staff?"
"You and I both know what his manager and editor are like. No way he just left everything to GGG after the interview. They probably checked multiple times to make sure there was nothing disadvantageous to Purple."
That explanation made Shin Hyerim understand the situation.
"Ah, right. They probably stayed up until the cut was confirmed."
"Yeah. But Purple's a guy who knows moderation. After all that hard work, he wouldn't force a broadcast just for his own gain. This break is probably to give his staff a rest."
The team leader smiled brightly.
"And this break also gives us the perfect opportunity."
"Opportunity?"
"Yeah! We just got the go-ahead thanks to this buzz!"
Understanding dawned on Shin Hyerim's face.
"V-STAR coverage!?"
"Exactly! Purple's appearance is confirmed! Let's lock down an appointment before someone else does!"
Korea's biggest VR game show.
'V-STAR' was just around the corner.
***
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