A Strategy Guide I Never Wrote?
It's already been days since that weekend date with Im Ha-rin, and today the high school girl who's supposed to be in class is too busy messaging me instead of paying attention to her lessons.
But the problem was the content of the messages.
What the hell is this? For real? What's going on?
No way they're pulling that same bullshit here too. It can't be—it just can't. The era's different...
With a sense of dread, I clicked the YouTube link anyway.
The strategy video started with a decent enough intro, but from my perspective, it was packed with ridiculous nonsense.
Game service has only been live for two weeks.
This is the kind of video that pops up early on, half truths and rumors mixed together.
You can tell they haven't done any real testing just by looking at it.
The leveling routes are completely subjective.
I didn't think it was worth watching that far...
Ha, what the fuck? Even in this era, people are the same.
Sure enough, when I checked the video, it was true.
The route starting from level 50 was meticulously detailed, nothing like the first 10 minutes of fluff.
Of course it was.
It was scraped together from Kang Min-seo's stream down to the second, so the leveling route had to be perfect.
Kang Min-seo might have okayed it, but that's not the point.
I'm the victim here, thanks to this shoddy, fact-check-free garbage strategy video.
No need to ask why—out of the full 20-minute video, over 10 minutes features me.
It's made from footage of Kang Min-seo's stream, and ultimately, it's the leveling route I guided them on.
What will people who watch this think?
Obviously, they'll assume GutRipper leaked it, especially for the early parts.
Yep, eras change, but people who steal others' posts and turn them into articles or guides never do.
If anything, in this age of internet streaming, they're even more blatant about it: "Borrowing~"
I gave Im Ha-rin a quick reply and decided to look into the situation more.
Yeah, there are the usual positive comments...
As expected, actual gamers saw right through the video—it was getting trashed.
If I leave this be, I'll catch flak too, like a buy-one-get-one-free deal...
Let's check if it's blowing up in the gallery first.
Fuck...
True to form, the gallery was already buzzing about the YouTube video.
No need for deep ego-searching—plenty of posts trash-talking me popped up right away.
I knew this would happen~~! Duh!!!
Anyone seeing "made from a tip-off" at the end would misunderstand like this.
With only Kang Min-seo, me, and Im Ha-rin in the video, who else would they think tipped it off?
The streamer Kang Min-seo? Nah, obviously me.
Most of the sticky posts were like this.
Fuck...
Just to check, I logged in-game and peeked at my mailbox—yep, letters from people asking if I really tipped the strategy, or saying it seems wrong.
This is exactly why I hate getting tangled with these idiots.
Never thought I'd get dragged into mindless plagiarism drama again.
Ha, fine... gotta do what I gotta do.
PlayPeople was like this in my old world too.
Back then, it was a game strategy site infamous for scraping every community post to bulk up.
Eventually they produced their own "journalist" content... but it was always second-rate compared to user-generated info.
Anyway, not exactly unexpected...
"...Posting as anon won't convince anyone. Need a throwaway ID."
Here, same nickname as... nope, duplicate.
"MalaMintPepsi... SellingFemaleGenitals... IfHealed... Ah, what? Why's everything taken."
Not a single one works.
ArticleSuperMan
Super childish nickname, but at least no one'll think it's me.
"Alright then... time to go nuclear..."
No plans to cozy up with PlayPeople types till the sky falls anyway.
And I hate junk mail cluttering my inbox because of them.
(Cool in-game pose screenshot)
Never tipped PlayPeople any strategies—not for 100 million won
PS: Alliance and Demon King routes differ—don't go PVP zones unless dominant server, just dungeon loop instead. If enemy dominant, NPCs all dead, no quests
No need to check more comments.
This should stop the whispers calling my guides wrong.
"Boss... we should take the video down."
"Why? Views are exploding—over 100k already?"
The man scratched his stubbly chin at the pale employee's words.
Ghoul King.
Once known by that name, he was now president of a company called PlayPeople.
"Uh... take a look at this."
The employee showed him Jeong Hana's community post from today.
"This aimed at us?"
"Yeah... And streamers formally complained too. Threatening legal action over copyright..."
Kang Min-seo hadn't even noticed her stream was plagiarized.
But Jeong Hana's viral "not even for 100 mil" capture spread fast, letting her grasp it quick.
Official letter from her MCN—ignoring it was suicide.
Fuck... first vid, need that algo honey bad.
"If their MCN pushes, channel could get nuked for copyright violation, boss."
"I know. I get it."
Ghoul King snapped, scratching his head.
Ffs... tip-offs are all trash anyway, nothing to post...
"Can't we just do race/job selection guides?"
"We gotta— but stuff like that leveling route, unique—no one else does it. That's what pops views."
Ghoul King talked big, but he didn't even play Lost of Fantasy.
"Uh... what about this, boss?"
"This... ArticleSuperMan says if we apologize..."
"Apologize my ass! Get back to your desk and find something—now!"
Ghoul King barked, clicking his tongue as the employee slunk away.
Apologize... over game strats...
Scratching his beard, he furrowed his brows.
But... that guy knew all the real honey spots others don't... Ha... ArticleSuperMan... GutRipper...
One apology might roll out a million-view vid.
Ghoul King sank into deep thought.
Pointless, since Jeong Hana wasn't a pushover—but still.