The Cart People
I went to bed last night after reading the comments.
I finished my preparations early in the morning and stepped out of the house.
When I arrived at the conference room, Jang Hoseop was sitting there, looking exhausted.
“You’re really something else.”
“Yes?”
“It looked like you were replying to every single comment.”
Judging by his condition, the kid hadn’t gotten much sleep. Since he had a level, staying up for a few nights wouldn't be a problem, but still.
“Ah… you saw that?”
“Not all of it, just the beginning. Were you fighting with people the whole time?”
“That… yes. I’m sorry.”
Jang Hoseop answered with a dejected look. He must have thought I was going to scold him for fighting in the Square.
“I’m not saying anything about it.”
“Yes?”
“If they pick a fight, respond. I don’t know which method is ‘correct,’ but just do whatever you want.”
“Boss…”
Jang Hoseop looked at me with a touched expression.
“No, but some crazy person kept nagging me.”
“Kim Minta? Level 27?”
“Oh? Yes, you know him? That bastard, he must have too many magic stones to burn…”
Then, he started to vent.
“Haa… seriously. He kept cutting into comments where other people were genuinely asking questions.”
“Is that so? But it looked like you were teasing him, too.”
“Ahem. I suppose I did a little. But he started talking down to me first, then asked why I was talking down to him. It’s ridiculous.”
In front of the chattering Jang Hoseop lay his beloved notebook. He had already filled the one he used before, and as far as I knew, this was his third one.
The notebook was open, revealing the notes he had scribbled down.
‘Kim Minta, Level 27, 29 years old, lives in Gangwon-do… what the hell.’
The personal details of a man named Kim Minta were written there. It was the guy he’d been fighting with in the comments.
“I just… found that out while we were fighting.”
Jang Hoseop noticed my gaze and gave an awkward laugh.
“He lives in Gangwon-do?”
“Yes. That’s what he says.”
“Then it’ll be hard to meet him.”
He had a persistent side to him. What was he planning to do by writing down the details of someone he was almost never going to meet?
“I suppose so… Ah, Boss. This is just a thought I had on my own.”
“Go on.”
“The people who keep tackling us… I think they’re just doing it because they’re jealous.”
“Jealous? Of what?”
“I told them Samira is in Seoul. Since the guys living far away can’t come, I think they’re just jealous and trying to get in our way…”
He had no proof, but he was suspicious based on his gut feeling.
“That could be it. Or it might not be.”
“There are some comments from China and Japan that are trashing us, too.”
Conversely, there were also comments expressing regret, asking why Samira was in Korea. So, anything was possible. There were twisted people everywhere, and there were also people who were genuinely, reasonably suspicious of Samira’s intentions.
“Lee Hyun. Did you sleep well?”
“Mister!”
As I was talking with Jang Hoseop, the rest of the group arrived. They all looked like they had checked the Square.
“You, your way of speaking is a bit strange from the start. ‘Good words,’ what kind of good words are those?”
Aunt Sujeong scolded Jang Hoseop. For acting lightly in the comments.
“Samira has an image to maintain, if you act so childishly…”
Jang Hoseop asked for my help with his eyes.
“Auntie.”
“Lee Hyun. I will make sure to warn him strictly…”
“Just leave him be.”
“Yes?”
And I took Jang Hoseop’s side. I could feel him being surprised. Even though he was the one who asked for help.
“Hoseop.”
“Yes!”
“How is the reaction in the Square right now? Briefly.”
I naturally started the meeting. Jang Hoseop organized his thoughts for a moment before speaking.
“Actually, it’s hard to get an accurate read. Since it costs magic stones to comment, there are probably far more people just watching.”
“Right.”
“Just looking at the comments, there are a lot of negative opinions. There are many people who are only sincere about tearing others down.”
Listening to him, it didn’t seem like the atmosphere had changed much from what I saw before I went to sleep.
“However, looking at the number of recommendations, there are also many people who are positive about our post.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. There are probably people who are considering it. It’s important to resolve the current atmosphere, but…”
Jang Hoseop didn’t look particularly worried. Looking at his emotions, it seemed he had a method in mind.
“You have a way to solve it, right?”
“Yes. I do. If I get some help from Sister Bom and you give me some time to focus on the Square today…”
He meant he would write posts in the Square while getting mana recharged by Sister Bom. I told him to do so.
“Leave the Square to Hoseop, and everyone else do your own work. Let’s focus on what we can do until the private comments start coming in.”
Jang Hoseop had experience in managing bulletin boards like the Square. In short, he was an expert. So, I decided to just leave it to him. Taking his side before the meeting started was in the same vein.
“I’ll take care of from here to there.”
“Are you really going alone? At least take some people to assist you…”
“It’s fine. Let’s clear it as quickly as possible and start the work of securing guard posts.”
I was going to clear out monsters while following the outskirts of our influence zone today. Yuna would also lead people to secure a certain area.
After finishing the meeting, I gave Jang Hoseop one final instruction.
“Hoseop.”
“Yes.”
“You can use your own discretion, but keep this in mind.”
“What is…”
Aunt Sujeong hated that Jang Hoseop acted lightly in the Square. It was because she thought her son represented Samira in the Square.
‘But it’s already too late.’
Jang Hoseop had posted the very first post in the Square. The content was “First post, burp,” which was why his nickname had been solidified as “First-Burp.” So, no matter how much he tried to manage his image now, he couldn’t escape “First-Burp.” It was better to focus on substance.
“Don’t lose.”
“Yes? Lose what?”
“Don’t lose to the guys picking fights. Their goal is to hinder us, isn’t it?”
Jang Hoseop was touched again.
“Boss… you think that much of me…”
He seemed to be misunderstanding something. I didn’t say that for Jang Hoseop’s sake. I said it to prevent him from bowing his head or backing down because of people’s reactions.
‘Because it’s better for him to just keep doing what he’s doing…’
It was my personal opinion, but looking at the comments Jang Hoseop wrote, while they might be light, they didn’t feel mean-spirited or devious. So, from the perspective of needing help, Jang Hoseop’s current image didn’t seem bad. Also, people knew. That Jang Hoseop was just a member of Samira, and the real leader was someone else. The essence wouldn’t change anyway. It was clear that Samira was a good place to live.
“Don’t show signs of backing down or compromising. Do as you’ve been doing. Because that is winning.”
“Yes. I understand.”
That also aligned with our intentions. Since Samira was providing for people, Samira always had to stand in the position of the strong.
“We have nothing to lose. Really. You understand what I mean, right?”
“Yes! I will definitely win.”
I patted Jang Hoseop’s shoulder and stood up. As a sign of encouragement not to waver. But it seemed my encouragement had been a bit excessive.
I caught monsters all day. It was work to expand our influence for the installation of guard posts. Surprisingly, the number of monsters I caught alone was far greater than the number of monsters caught by Yuna’s side combined. Thanks to that, we decided to start the installation of guard posts from tomorrow.
‘Should I check the Square?’
I sat in front of the Spirit Stone after finishing my daily routine. And as soon as I logged into the Square, I was surprised.
‘What is this…’
The Square was filled with posts from just one person. It was Jang Hoseop. Even if it didn’t consume magic stones, this was too excessive. Because there was no reason to write this many posts.
‘Did something happen?’
Before going to find Jang Hoseop, I looked around the Square myself. I soon found out the reason.
I examined the Square posts in chronological order. Jang Hoseop and the person named Kim Minta had been fighting all day today as well. The pretext for their fight was this: Kim Minta had first written a post saying that requesting help from Samira could be dangerous, so they should think carefully. Jang Hoseop had countered this by writing a post saying there was no reason for Samira to deceive people.
Their argument gradually strayed from the original reason.
It was obvious to anyone that it was a childish ego battle. Jang Hoseop emphasized Samira’s capacity and kept teasing Kim Minta. Kim Minta countered by saying he also had plenty of capacity. That led to writing posts. Because writing a post consumed far more magic stones than just commenting.
‘Level 27 is definitely high, but…’
So, writing posts in the Square had become a kind of indicator. Having a surplus of magic stones meant they had caught that many monsters, and that was directly linked to safety.
Jang Hoseop also seemed to be utilizing his fight with Kim Minta. He uploaded posts and photos incessantly. What he ate, what clothes he was wearing. Subtly revealing his clean physical condition, and so on. While stimulating Kim Minta, he was simultaneously informing people about what life in Samira was like.
Kim Minta’s posts gradually became sparse and then stopped. Jang Hoseop continued to write posts diligently on his own after that. There were also people who jumped into their argument and teased Kim Minta together. There were also people who frowned upon it.
I exited the Square after confirming that Jang Hoseop had re-posted about the Cart People Project. ‘Did he go to eat dinner?’
I went down to the main building’s cafeteria. I found Jang Hoseop quickly, and after eating dinner together, we moved to the conference room.
“Hoseop.”
“Yes?”
“I looked at the Square roughly, is that right?”
That wasn’t what I meant when I encouraged him.
“Boss. Don’t worry. Everything is going according to plan.”
“What is?”
“Hehe… I also did some work under other people’s names. Did you happen to check all the latest posts?”
I hadn’t seen the latest posts. Jang Hoseop handed me his Level 2 Spirit Stone. He even gave me administrator privileges.
“Would you like to take a look?”
I went back into the Square. Jang Hoseop called out a few posts.
“If you look, there are many comments defending Samira.”
“So there are. Did you do all of this?”
“Yes. At first, I tried to get help from Mr. Choi Minseong, but then mana would be wasted. So I did some grunt work myself.”
Jang Hoseop could change his name through a Level 20 general skill. He could also change his level, limited to levels lower than his own.
“Even the posts where you were scratching at Kim Minta with others?”
“Keuk keuk keuk. Yes. Ah, a few were written by real people.”
Jang Hoseop had posted comments praising Samira under various people’s names throughout the day today. At the same time, he hadn’t stopped pestering Kim Minta. Listening to his explanation, it was at the point where you couldn’t distinguish where the real people started and ended. The entire Square was Jang Hoseop. Kim Minta had been fighting a battle he couldn’t win from the start.
“It was comfortable to show off using Kim Minta as an excuse.”
“It seemed like that.”
“Thanks to that, we only talked about Samira in the Square. Wouldn’t people in difficult situations be more tempted?”
Jang Hoseop said that he could roll the bait on his own if needed next time. As expected, he had a scheme. I felt satisfied that he hadn’t forgotten his purpose.
“And would you like to see the post about me winning?”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a post written by a person named Lee Minwoo.”
I quickly found the post Jang Hoseop mentioned.
First, the author stated that he had no relationship with the two. He was surviving alone after securing a base in Jeju Island. In the author’s view, Jang Hoseop won. It meant he was persuaded by him. Looking at the posts and photos uploaded by Jang Hoseop, one could catch a glimpse of Samira’s capabilities. It seemed they had no worries about food, clothing, and shelter, and had secured a safe foundation. They also seemed to be putting effort into clearing gates. Crucially, they found other uses for magic stones. The author didn’t know much about this either, so he was just speculating. I hope Samira solves the usage of magic stones as well.
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Based on the above, one could easily infer that there was no reason for Samira to gather people and cause harm. Unless they intended to exploit them for labor. If I were in Seoul, I would have knocked on Samira’s door. Perhaps even if I were treated like a slave, it would be better to live in Samira. This place is hell.
[Post Recommend / Not Recommend]
There was someone who grasped our intentions. It received many recommendations.
“How is it?”
“Good. You worked hard.”
I acknowledged Jang Hoseop. Looking at the post about the Cart People Project that Jang Hoseop re-posted, there were no comments slandering us at all. So, as a result, Jang Hoseop’s method was efficient. Because he changed the atmosphere in just one day.
“Boss.”
“Yeah.”
“If I’m a loser if I lose, and a loser if I win… I will become a winning loser.”
Jang Hoseop said in a proud tone. It sounded right, so I nodded inadvertently. Then, a thought crossed my mind belatedly.
“Wasn’t there a way to not be a loser?”
Jang Hoseop chose silence.
The next day at dawn. Jang Hoseop knocked on my door.
“Boss! Boss!”
I hurried out at his urgent voice. In my underwear, holding only a club.
“Ugh? Boss?”
“What’s the matter?”
Jang Hoseop looked surprised to see me. He quickly cleared his throat and spoke.
“It’s up!”
“What’s up?”
“The private comment. A private comment has been posted.”
The first rescue request had arrived.