Freedom Lasted Only Five Minutes
The former rankers—solo players who'd just been booted from the rankings—simply shrugged their shoulders. They weren't armband mods anymore, so why the hell should they be the ones making sacrifices?
Whether the gallery burned or not, none of them cared. Unlike other users, the solo armbands weren't angry about being bounced from the rankings—they were overjoyed at finally quitting the armband job.
And our protagonist Icarus was no different.
And so the protagonist and the other solo armbands basked in an unexpected wave of freedom, drunk on pure happiness.
That seat is your new prison.
But the armbands' joyful flight toward liberty—and the mass hate-image terrorism of the deserting users—did not last long.
Of course it didn't. Barely five minutes after I had gleefully flooded the gallery with freedom-screaming shitposts…
A message to all Commanders.
We have confirmed numerous controversies surrounding the current ranker evaluation criteria. We would therefore like to provide additional clarification.
Until now, event-based ranking evaluations have shown an unacceptably large discrepancy from the actual rankings that Commanders commonly expect.
In particular, we have observed major differences in how clan leaders and primarily solo Commanders are able to respond to each event.
After internal discussions among the development team, we have decided to completely overhaul the ranker system!
Going forward, the ranker system will be changed as follows:
Old Ranker System ⇒ Split into Personal Rankers and Command Rankers
Furthermore, starting with this event, rankings will no longer change through events. Instead, they will be refreshed monthly through internal score evaluations.
Personal Rankers and Command Rankers will each use different systems.
The exact conditions for ranking evaluation will remain confidential.
Additionally, while most Command Rankers will be clan leaders by default, anyone who issues appropriate orders in battles and effectively commands other Commanders will also qualify.
And finally—Commanders ranked within the top 10 of each ranking will continue to receive gallery moderation privileges, just as before!
Our beloved, permanently-weird admin friends dropped a new global notice and dragged every user—including me—back to cold, hard reality.
If that had been the end of it, most of us could have shrugged and said, “Ah, I see,” and moved on.
Unfortunately, the moment that notice appeared, a brand-new event message flashed before our eyes… or rather, a proper Personal Ranking appeared right beside the existing Command Ranking.
1st.Raksha
2nd.Laura
3rd.Icarus
4th. Indefatigable
5th. Menaldo
6th. Koenig
7th. MintChocoLover
8th. Tarantula
9th. Testosterone
10th. GarlicBread
You have become this month's Personal Ranker and gallery administrator! ^^
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.”
“You were so happy just a second ago—what happened all of a sudden?”
I stared at that final little smiley face and felt the admins’ silent message loud and clear: Slave armbands will never escape. I couldn’t help cursing under my breath.
Apparently the other former solo rankers felt exactly the same way.
The invitation arrived the instant the notice went up. I hit Y without hesitation and, at the same time, ordered Jessica—while I was busy chatting—to take every remaining resource we had, hire mercenary companies with it, and use them to seize the “escort outposts” near Daidalos before returning.
“Once the outposts are secured, terminate the mercenary contracts… and have the main force stand by at Daidalos.”
“Yes, Commander. Ah, by the way—when are you planning to relocate the base?”
“I’ll think about it after this conversation.”
“Got it.”
With every order issued, I stepped into that strangely named chatroom, wondering what fresh nonsense would come flying out this time.
And of course, the moment I entered—