Bankruptcy War (2)
In a shabby semi-basement soundproof booth, a blonde girl clutched her phone and asked in an accusatory tone.
"Why did you do that?"
What is it.
"The PK. You did it on purpose, didn't you?"
To Akgyeon, who answered as if the whole thing was a hassle, Angel pressed again. In response, Akgyeon replied as if her accusation was absurd.
What? PK? What kind of baseless slander is that? I simply used a system that exists in the game.
"......"
The sheer shamelessness left the flustered Angel speechless for a moment. But she soon continued the call in a calm voice.
"Why go out of your way to PK in that exact situation? It couldn't have brought you any real benefit other than earning everyone's antipathy, right?"
Why are you so full of questions? Weren't we under a contract not to interfere with each other?
"But..."
I told you. I absolutely hate doing what I'm told.
"......"
It was an incomprehensible move. She hadn't wanted to drag Yume into the abyss either, yet Akgyeon's actions seemed—at first glance—to be helping Sung Eunha more than her. The controversy that had been laser-focused on Yume because of the PK had now scattered toward Akgyeon instead. Thanks to that, she had managed to stabilize the server and refresh her image, while Akgyeon, who had drawn the public's outrage, became everyone's common enemy.
A completely stupid act with neither gain nor justification. Angel asked him in a noticeably sharper voice.
"...Then what exactly are you planning to do? You must have heard the rumors about Prism."
Anyway, you worry way too much... What can that hypocrite kid even do?
Right now Akgyeon was firmly in Prism's crosshairs. Part of it was because Prism turned out to be more righteous than expected, but the main reason was Akgyeon's indiscriminate PKs. His public favor on the server couldn't even charitably be called good.
At this rate, it was obvious the streamers would gang up on him and drive him straight into bankruptcy. Angel swallowed hard and made her offer.
"...I have a way."
Her tone was far more serious than usual. When Akgyeon stayed silent as if to say go on, Angel continued.
"I'll give you one billion won."
One billion. Roughly six times the current server leader's holdings. The amount far exceeded expectations, and Akgyeon burst into a hollow laugh.
You must be loaded, huh? As expected of a two-million-follower VTuber...
"It's for the bankruptcy server. It's a lot, sure, but if you say you earned it through PKs, everyone will buy it."
A suggestion that didn't sound like Angel at all. Akgyeon whistled, impressed.
Well that's new. I figured you'd hate this kind of thing.
"......"
In truth, this was exactly the kind of behavior Angel despised most. But the situation was too desperate for her to have any other choice.
It's already getting hard to pay the medical bills...
If she could hold on just a little longer, her sibling's treatment would finally be over. Once she started paying off the debt in earnest after that, she might eventually escape this kind of life.
Repeating that self-hypnosis to herself, Angel spoke in a flat tone.
"Use this money to crush Sung Eunha completely."
Her carefully steadied voice trembled faintly.
Posted by: Busybody
Limited liability: Joint account
Corporation: Combining robot
Posted by: Anonymous
Basically, it's super huge companies duking it out in a super robot battle?
Posted by: Anonymous
What the hell is AK Mulsa....
Posted by: Anonymous (222.103)
"Galaxy"
Posted by: Anonymous
Posted by: Anonymous
It was the sixth day on the Bankruptcy Heaven server. One hour had passed since the start of the Bankruptcy War. The situation was the worst it could possibly be.
Galaxy Electronics: 278,500,000 won
AK Mulsa: 1,084,562,100 won
"......"
Akgyeon's cash reserves were beyond imagination. A full one billion won. It was five—no, six times more than what Latte had earned from stocks. Considering corporations paid fifty percent tax, it would take well over two billion won to bankrupt him.
I knew he'd gathered a huge amount through PKs, but...
I never imagined it would reach one billion. And on top of that...
Investment Funds: 142,500,000 won
The other streamers' investment rate is low too.
It seemed people were more reluctant to fight Akgyeon than I had expected. Most players on the server were here purely to enjoy the content. No matter how much antipathy Akgyeon had earned, the vast majority simply wanted to ignore him and stay out of it.
Plus the risk is huge.
If you won, you got back the money you used to buy bonds, but if you lost, you didn't. Corporations even had to pay half of that amount as tax to the server. Even if you won, there was almost no real profit. In short, high risk, no return. Win and you break even. Lose and you lose everything.
In a situation like this, not many streamers were willing to invest huge sums based solely on dislike for Akgyeon.
Of course, the fact that we still managed to gather one hundred forty-two million in investments is already ridiculous.
Akgyeon must have really gone out of his way to make everyone hate him on the server. Even so, it still wasn't enough to face one billion. The biggest mistake from the start had been underestimating Akgyeon's capital by such a wide margin.
One billion wasn't something that could be overcome with streamer investments alone. No matter what we did, it was like charging a giant the size of a windmill with nothing but a single spear.
Prism spoke, full of self-reproach.
"I'm sorry, everyone... I never imagined Akgyeon would have this much money."
"W-what if we try stocks now...?"
At Latte's suggestion, I shook my head.
"No. The war will probably end before we even turn a profit."
"Then coins..."
"You think that'll work? We'd have better odds just gambling."
"GAMBLING????"
"...Please just stay quiet, Noa."
I calmed down Saint Noa, whose eyes were sparkling like she was about to sprint straight to the casino, and went back to thinking. It was impossible to gather money through normal means at this point. Unless I rolled a perfect Yahtzee in the casino like the Gambling Apocalypse Saint Yume, turning two hundred seventy-eight million into over two billion was a pipe dream.
The only way left is to gather more investment funds.
There were around two hundred streamers currently on the server. The only remaining option was to collect every last penny they had. In other words, it was time to gather a Spirit Bomb. That was more or less what Prism had been thinking from the beginning. The only question was how to actually do it...
The viewers' thoughts seemed to have already tilted toward defeat, but I had no intention of giving up here. After a short moment of thought, I broke the silence and spoke to everyone.
"I have a way."
"Really...?"
Prism's eyes lit up as she asked again. Soon after, the previously dejected Saint Noa and Latte both questioned me.
"F-for real?"
"...What are you planning this time."
"I'll head to the square for a bit."
Instead of explaining to them, I immediately started walking. Prism grabbed me and asked.
"W-wait, Yume. What are you going to do in the square...?"
"Of course it's not a bunny girl outfit."
After calming the chat's wild excitement, I turned my mic back on and spoke to Prism.
"I need to earn some money."
It was time to get back to my main job.
...That is, not through law or lawsuits.
"After all, I'm an idol VTuber, you know."
It was time to pick up the mic after so long.