Witch Hunt
Casino odds rigged. People lost a shit ton of money. Devs went dark, no compensation. Revolution broke out.
Angel appeared in the square exactly five minutes later.
"Sorry I'm a bit late... I mean..."
"But I didn't mean to be late..."
"......"
"......"
"......"
The atmosphere was closer to UFC than I'd expected. Angel immediately stopped making excuses and began explaining to the crowd.
"The truth is, the developers went out of contact this morning..."
"So right now it's extremely difficult to verify the facts..."
At her words, one streamer stepped forward as a representative and asked a question.
"It's your server, right? Don't you have admin rights?"
It was a male streamer with a voice I'd heard somewhere on NewTube before. His name was... Prism, I think. The fact that I recognized him meant he was pretty famous.
Angel answered with a troubled expression.
"Surprisingly, it's true... I don't have the authority to check or modify server data..."
"......"
The viewers were skeptical, but her claim made sense. Subcontractor negligence was a long-standing Korean tradition, after all. Still, going dark after releasing a bug was something that deserved a beating.
Whatever the truth was, the crowd started rioting again.
"You ruined the fun, so take responsibility."
"Revolution!! It's time for a reverse revolution!"
"Huu... I'm as angry as 24 million won in game money..."
Wasn't this supposed to be a capitalist server???
"Right..."
I nodded in disbelief at the viewer's donation. So this is what they call "all paths lead to the same end." They built the ultimate capitalist server, and now people were rising up with sickles and hammers. It reminded me of a certain man who got shot in a very unfortunate place.
Looking at him, Latte noona whispered to me.
"Want to leave now?"
"Huh?"
"I mean... this controversy doesn't involve us. Staying here won't do us any good."
"......"
I agreed with her. My internal downfall sensor was also telling me this controversy was no joke.
'Controversy, trolling, terrorism. And it escalated way too fast.'
Only one person came to mind. Even though I'd only met them once in the server, no one else would pull something like this.
And speak of the devil.
Just then, an unpleasant voice called out from afar.
"Yo, long time no see."
It was Akgyeon.
""......""
A heavy silence fell over the square in an instant. Akgyeon parted the crowd like the Red Sea and approached me, greeting me in an uncharacteristically sweet voice.
"Missed me?"
"......"
At the bizarre sight, people's gazes began to gather on us. Angel silently looked away, and Latte noona quietly hid behind me. I frowned and snapped at Akgyeon.
"What do you want."
"Nothing... I just came to congratulate you."
"Congratulate...?"
At the out-of-the-blue remark, I tilted my head. Akgyeon gave me an ominous smile.
"Heard you hit 10x at the casino yesterday?"
"......"
With those following words, I immediately understood why he'd come looking for me.
His intention was blatantly obvious. Mentioning the casino out of context made his target crystal clear. Whether it worked or not, people started whispering about me.
"Huh? 10x?"
"Holy shit, don't tell me..."
"There was an inside man?"
"No human decency?"
"What do you call it... revolutionary angle, revolutionary angle!"
"......"
The situation wasn't good. Of course, the inside-man controversy was nothing but baseless slander. I'd just gotten lucky. Strictly speaking, I was a victim just like everyone else.
'I can refute this as much as I want.'
The stream had been on at the time, and Saint Noa had been watching. Even Angel had been tied up all day handling Akgyeon's complaints. I was about to open my mouth to refute him when—
But groundless rumors don't need a reason to spread.
"She's got too much money and it's pissing me off, so let's burn her."
Someone in the crowd said it casually.
And then—
"What."
"Ooh."
"Makes sense."
Just like that, the person was elected "Revolutionary of the Month," and the crowd flared up again.
"Boo trash~"
"Holy shit, throw rocks first!!"
"Explain the favoritism controversy! Compensate for this and that!"
"Bring fire and oil!! It's witch-hunt time!!"
"We'll kill you, Streamer Latte!"
"Why me??"
With Latte noona's indignant cry as the final note, the trial began.
In this world, there exists a crime called "being annoying."
Even when they haven't suffered any loss, people can't stand someone else profiting more than them. So sometimes, even when someone hasn't done anything wrong, they create controversies just because they find it irritating.
It was something I was used to. I'd experienced it multiple times in the idol industry. That's why I'd expected things to turn out this way.
"Rape the men, burn the women!!"
"Woo! Woo woo woo! Fire fire fire!"
"Fire catches from the roots, we are the roots, deep in those roots..."
"......"
"......"
"......"
April 4th, 202X. Case number ANG-001, trial record.
Three defendants stood in the center of the square. They were the worst bitches who had committed heinous crimes.
Defendant Angel. Charges: probability manipulation and server neglect.
Defendant Yume. Charges: having too much money and being annoying.
Defendant Latte. Charges: none in particular.
Then a man stepped forward as the representative of the mob. It was the streamer named Prism who had questioned Angel earlier.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Order!! We will now begin the trial regarding the server probability manipulation controversy involving Angel and two others."
His tone reminded me of a certain bald judge from a courtroom game. Latte noona protested indignantly.
"No, why me!! I didn't do anything since I logged in today!!"
"Please maintain decorum in the courtroom."
"This is unfair!!!!"
"Streamer Latte."
"......"
Of course, the trial was WWE. Angel had the probability manipulation controversy, but Latte noona and I were innocent. What kind of streamer would burn another streamer just for being annoying? Unless it was that bastard Akgyeon.
'If I had my way, I'd drag the one who caused all this here and confront them...'
But Akgyeon had disappeared at some point after starting this mess. That piece of shit. True to being Korea's greatest troll, he stirred up trouble and then completely bailed.
But that didn't mean I was going to just sit through the trial quietly.
'I can't just let them do this to me.'
Controversy was nothing new to me now. But that didn't mean I was going to accept a controversy that didn't even exist.
Step.
I walked past Latte noona, who was throwing a tantrum, and stepped in front of the crowd. Just as people were about to say something about my actions, I slammed my hand down on the desk with all my strength.
Bang!!
And shouted.
"Objection!!"
"...What is it, Yume-nim?"
The viewers and Prism reacted. I continued in a calm voice.
"In short, the problem is that the server developers have gone dark, right?"
"Th...at's right."
"Then wouldn't the problem be solved if we just beat those bastards up?"
"Well, that is true but..."
"Is there a way...? We can't contact them right now..."
Angel asked cautiously. I nodded and answered.
"Of course there is."
There was a way. It was a method I'd often used in the entertainment industry. When subcontractors go dark, it's usually just them ignoring messages. Unless there's a special reason, it's most likely just a work slowdown. Things got tangled, they can't handle the cleanup, and they're scared of getting yelled at... So they flip their phones over and act tough. And in that situation, there's one way to make sure these bastards have no choice but to answer.
"Sue them."
"...What?"
Everyone in the room had question marks floating above their heads. At the sight, I added with a sly smile.
"I'm kind of an expert at this sort of thing, after all."
It was time to return as Seong Eunha, the demon of lawsuits.