Forewarned Terror -1- (Illustration)
Park Seongtae wiped the sweat beading on his glistening bald forehead with a handkerchief and asked, his voice trembling slightly.
“W-what exactly do you want? Why are you doing this?”
Chae Yuha gave his shoulder a few light, reassuring pats, as if to say there was no need to be so tense.
“Do you know what the very first thing you have to seize from an enemy nation when a war breaks out?”
“...The supply lines, I suppose?”
At Jin Taehyeon’s hesitant answer, Chae Yuha let out a bright giggle.
“That’s important too, of course. But there’s something even more crucial. Any guesses?”
“...I have no idea.”
“Really? Then how about you, sis? Do you know?”
Chae Yuha turned to Nadja.
Nadja had already scattered nanomachines across a thirty-meter radius as a precaution against any unforeseen complications.
“Obviously a broadcasting station. A few clicks can cause far more chaos than blowing up a building with a bomb.”
Nadja answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Correct~”
Chae Yuha clapped her hands together with a delighted smack.
“Ooh… so that’s what it was!”
“When you suddenly said you wanted to take over the broadcasting station, I wondered what on earth you were talking about…”
Seokho and Seolhwa chimed in one after another.
“What the hell… Are you seriously declaring war on Cheongang with just the five of us?”
At Park Seongtae’s incredulous question, Chae Yuha shook her head with a soft chuckle.
“Why would we need to do something like that? We’re simply here to provide entertainment for the citizens of the city.”
“Entertainment…?”
“From the branch director’s perspective, this isn’t such a bad deal, is it? Lately, pressure from Cheongang headquarters has been coming in more and more frequently, hasn’t it? I’m sure that doesn’t sit well with you, Director.”
“H-how did you…?”
“Simple. While the overall growth of Channel Ark has been on a steady upward trend, the Cheongang branch’s ratings have been in freefall. Why do you think that is? The biggest strength of Channel Ark is its freedom above all else. Yet for some reason, only the Cheongang branch keeps taking down every controversial video due to someone’s pressure. How could the numbers possibly rise under those conditions?”
“You figured all that out just from looking at the numbers…?”
Of course, Chae Yuha had never once looked at stock statistics in her entire life. Nadja and A.G.O. had analyzed everything for her.
Having good teammates really is a skill in itself. Heh.
Chae Yuha swallowed those words and continued.
“And that’s not all. More and more Akers are suspending their activities because of mysterious sniper videos and doxxing incidents. If Cheongang isn’t using hitmen to control public opinion, what else could it be?”
“......”
Park Seongtae’s expression grew serious as he listened to Chae Yuha’s words.
This… I thought it was a crisis, but it might actually be an opportunity?
In other words, the unmistakable scent of money, fame, and dopamine was wafting through the air.
“Then I’m even more curious. What kind of ‘entertainment’ do you plan to provide using our station’s channel?”
“Ah, that? I’ll show you right now.”
With those words, Chae Yuha glanced over at Nadja, who was tinkering with the station’s transmission lines.
Beside her, A.G.O. was expertly adjusting the chroma key and camera angles like the seasoned professional she was. Seeing this, Park Seongtae finally realized what they were about to do.
“W-wait a minute!! Are you trying to start a live broadcast? On Ark’s official channel?”
“That way, we’ll draw in way more attention, won’t we?”
Chae Yuha gave A.G.O. a signal, asking if the live broadcast was ready.
“I-it’s ready…!!”
A.G.O. responded by throwing both arms up in an enthusiastic, oversized OK sign directed at Chae Yuha.
“Looks like we’re all set.”
“W-wait, Director! If you use the official line, you’ll draw aggro from not just Cheongang but the entire IBR network!”
“That’s exactly the point.”
“W-what… You’ve gone mad!! Director!! You have to stop them!!”
Despite Jin Taehyeon’s desperate pleas, Chae Yuha walked gracefully toward the chroma key setup.
With a soft click, the button activated, and a virtual hologram based on Minos’s cityscape enveloped the studio.
On Air.
The live broadcast had begun.
A clean white background with a blue logo.
A red “live” indicator lit up on Ark’s neatly designed official channel.
[Live] The free broadcasting channel that everyone builds together — Ark
Official Ark. <C.H.>
Subscribers: 8.63 million
Currently watching: 16,532
A soft tapping sound echoed, as if someone were checking the microphone.
It had a raw, unpolished feel that would never appear on an official broadcast.
A small number of viewers must have realized by now that this wasn’t an officially scheduled transmission from Ark.
But the vast majority were too busy frowning and wondering what the annoying noise was.
“Ah, can you all hear me?”
The chat window was scrolling upward at a terrifying speed.
“Hmm, sounds like everyone can hear me.”
The next moment, something appeared on the previously pitch-black broadcast screen.
“Hello, everyone.”
On screen stood a mysterious woman wearing a blue hood and a flowing black cloak.
“I am First, a member of the villain alliance known as Maker.”
Behind her stretched the night view of Minos.
It was a live broadcast being simultaneously transmitted from the massive electronic billboards installed throughout the city.
Meanwhile, in every district connected to Ark’s network—Royal Road, the bustling streets of Cheongang, near Cheongang Station, the outer districts, and beyond—
“What the hell is this?”
“The same video is suddenly playing on all the billboards…”
“On Air? Is this a live broadcast?”
“I-is it a monster invasion…!?”
The chaos among the citizens began to spread like wildfire thanks to Channel Ark’s unexpected live transmission.
“Citizens watching this broadcast, do you know where I am right now?”
The hooded woman gestured toward the cityscape with her hand.
“Wow, correct! This is the boundary line on the southeast side of Royal Road~ The fact that simply stepping on that line makes an ordinary person a criminal is quite something, isn’t it!”
“Citizens! Are you happy with your lives? There hasn’t been much entertainment in the city lately, has there? Cheongang Group is too busy cleaning up after one scandal after another, and influencers keep announcing indefinite hiatuses for one reason or another.”
“That’s why I’ve brought you all something fun to enjoy.”
“In three days, a single airship will pass through here. An airship carrying a large number of high-ranking officials from Royal Road.”
The hooded woman leaned slightly toward the camera and smiled slyly.
“To all relevant parties watching—are you watching? I assume you are, so I’ll speak plainly. It would be best if you do not launch that airship. If you ignore this warning and proceed as scheduled…”
A loud explosion erupted in the sky above the city with a deafening boom!
“We will come find you ourselves.”
“Ah, it’s about time! So to all relevant parties, I sincerely hope you make a wise decision!”
And with that, the unprecedented terror warning broadcast through Ark’s official channel came to an end.
Once the broadcast finished, the transmission lines seemed to have been restored, because the usual advertisements began playing on the billboards once again.
“Don’t move!”
Shortly afterward, special police forces dispatched from Royal Road and Cheongang Group’s security forces belatedly stormed Channel Ark’s Cheongang branch.
But all they found were the loud snores of countless broadcasting station employees, including Park Seongtae and Jin Taehyeon.
When Park Seongtae woke up, he went to the police station for questioning.
There, he lied and said that by the time he regained consciousness, everything was already over.
Since there was no particular reason to suspect him, Park Seongtae was quickly released.
“What do you plan to do, sir?”
Back at the station, Park Seongtae sat with Jin Taehyeon, who had experienced the same incident, and mulled over Chae Yuha’s words.
Terror disguised as entertainment. Or entertainment disguised as terror.
Either way, it was obvious that it would draw massive public attention.
“We should do it.”
Park Seongtae was the same man who had turned a blind eye to A.G.O.’s wrecker activities simply because they seemed likely to become an issue.
Jin Taehyeon let out a deep sigh, as if he had expected that answer.
“Are you serious? This isn’t just some wrecker activity. This is terrorism.”
“Hey, Jin Taehyeon. You really don’t know me at all, do you?”
“What do you mean?”
Park Seongtae looked Jin Taehyeon straight in the eyes.
He chewed on his lip as if debating something, then gave the younger man’s shoulder a couple of light pats.
“Never mind. Forget what I was about to say.”
“No, what is it!! You can’t just leave me hanging like this!!”
Jin Taehyeon shouted in frustration.
But Park Seongtae couldn’t say it out loud.
The reason he had supported A.G.O. wasn’t simply because the videos she made seemed likely to cause a social stir.
It was because the subject of those videos was exposing the misdeeds of Minos’s high-ranking officials.
If that hadn’t been the case, Park Seongtae would never have taken such a risk to back her.
“There’s just something like that, kid.”
Park Seongtae left the break room, thinking of his late wife whose image he kept buried deep in his heart in case anyone ever caught on.
And Jin Taehyeon, who had been quietly watching him, muttered in exasperation.
“Ugh, this old man is at it again!!”
Shaking his head at Park Seongtae’s behavior, he took out a bottle of chocolate milk he had chilled in the fridge and drank it.
It felt like the stress was finally melting away.