Leos's Rising Fame, Darek's Downfall
"What do you mean, a second-stage chain reaction of the Red Gates…?"
When Herisia asked with a grave expression, Leos gave only a brief explanation as he packed their gear.
"During the first chain reaction before, relatively low-threat monsters and mutants appeared. But once the second chain reaction begins, creatures of far higher danger start showing up."
"I've never heard of anything like that…"
"Of course you haven't. I was the one who established the concept of chain reactions in the first place, and every time trouble hit, I almost always handled it alone."
"You're talking about your Gatekeeper days, right? How did you solve something like that by yourself?"
"If you seal the most dangerous gate inside the Red Gate vortex, the chain reaction ends. So whenever one started, my goal was always to find and smash the strongest gate. I killed the mutants myself too. But I won't do it that way this time. I'm not alone anymore, we barely have troops or supplies, and the Empire is hunting us on top of it. I can't afford to act like that."
"Do the chain reactions… keep happening?"
"Don't worry. Even if they continue, I know how to deal with them. Stop fretting over useless things and grab your bags. We're moving out right now. There's no way we can weather a second-stage chain reaction in a cave like this."
Leos took the lead, with Bendict and Herisia falling in behind him.
Just in case, Leos checked his Distance.
Current Points: 3,550
He had only released information on a mere fifty monsters, yet the post had already climbed to the number-one trending rank—and the result was a massive haul of points.
Now that a chain reaction has begun, the value of the shop inside the Interrunner community site has only grown.
Leos slowly reviewed the shop listings.
There were many useful options, but what truly caught his eye were the artifact blueprints.
Buy it right now.
The second-stage chain reaction of a Red Gate brought all sorts of variables, so the more artifacts they had, the better. Herisia already carried plenty in her inventory, but those weren't the combat-oriented kind, and modifying them would take considerable time. If there was a blueprint he could use immediately, prioritizing it was the rational choice.
Purchased for 3,000 Points.
Remaining Points: 550P
He had nearly emptied the points he'd carefully stockpiled in a single purchase, but that was fine.
If, as Herisia said, reaching the trending posts is the condition for earning points, then there are plenty of ways to get more.
Thinking that, Leos checked the window that had appeared on his Distance screen.
"Wh-what is it, Leos-nim?"
Even while trudging along behind him, Herisia craned her neck with open curiosity the moment the man stood staring blankly at his Distance.
Leos answered only with a dazed murmur.
"This actually works…?"
The text on the artifact blueprint window was concise.
Item crafting is possible by consuming byproducts obtained from slain monsters.
Crafting one item will immediately consume the blueprint.
Craftable list: 1,350 types
More than a thousand low-grade artifacts were listed without a single omission. Every time he scrolled the blueprint, familiar artifacts appeared before his eyes.
I still don't know who the operator really is, but this is something I have to exploit. Being able to craft any artifact I want while isolated is an absurdly huge advantage.
Leos thought as much and checked his points again. Having the blueprint was good, yet no matter what he wanted to make, he currently had no monster byproducts stockpiled. That meant he first had to go kill some—so immediate use was impossible.
What a waste of points.
Before their value had been confirmed, watching points pile up in real time and spending them had brought little excitement. Now that he knew what points could do, even a hundred of them felt precious.
The reason the post about monsters hit the trending list is probably because people are completely ignorant about them. Their lives are on the line, yet what they can learn is so limited. In that case, the way to make the next post trend is simple.
While walking and scanning every direction for threats, Leos began composing a new post using voice recognition. The moment he hit upload, a fresh article appeared in the Leos Gallery.
For someone active on a community site, the title and tone were stiff, and the naked bid for trending status was almost enough to invite hostility. It was painfully obvious the post had been written by someone with no real community experience—yet less than an hour after upload, it shoved his own previous number-one post aside and claimed the new TOP 1 trending rank on the Interrunner site.
One hour after the post went up.
Views: 550,125
Recommends: 101,501
Comments: 20,307
Leos was rewriting numbers that had never existed on the Interrunner site before—and on top of that, an overwhelming flood of points began stacking in real time.
Current Points: 7,210P
You have entered the Point Ranking TOP 10.
Additional privileges granted for TOP 10 entry.
With his Distance stuffed in his pocket, Leos was too busy fighting a monster that had suddenly lunged out to notice any of it. He simply thought:
It'd be nice if a moderate amount of points piled up—no more, no less, just about a thousand. That would let me join the auction house and send or receive items. If Herisia or Bendict ever got stranded, I could even help them from a distance.
The man shook his head while dismantling the corpse of the monster lying on the ground.
There's no way I can keep freeloading forever. The information I just released is only the most basic part of Red Gate chain reactions.
It was an infinitesimal fraction of the knowledge Leos possessed. He had no idea that even that tiny amount was enough to send everyone into a frenzy.
And the uproar reached even his former disciples.
"Enas! Hurry up already. Is this still about what I said earlier regarding that bastard Leos? Let it go already!"
Enas ignored the man's words and tapped open a post.
This… no way…
Title: Regarding Red Gate Chain Reactions
Red Gate chain reactions. The only people who knew even a little about the phenomenon were the Gatekeeper administrators. Convinced it was low-tier bait, she clicked—yet the contents were surprisingly detailed.
Why would anyone release information like this for free?
Enas also knew that reaching the Interrunner community trending list awarded points. Even so, the posts uploaded by the user named LEO—especially the earlier one detailing monster traits—were enormously valuable. He could have sold them for money, yet he published the knowledge openly. If there was a reason, it was probably to help someone.
Wait… LEO…?
Something about the author's name felt familiar. She shook her head and let out a sigh.
There's no way. Someone who did that to his disciples would never write posts like this just to help people.
Pushing the uneasy feeling aside, Enas walked forward. Darek grinned as he spoke.
"Enas, perfect timing. I just found one."
"Found what?"
"A mutant."
Following Darek's gaze, she saw a grotesque two-headed monster howling ahead. Darek charged forward boldly and shouted,
"Watch closely! I'll show you I can do the same things that bastard Leos used to do!"
The instant Darek swung his sword in a swift arc—
Clang!
"Wh…?"
Darek's sword shattered cleanly against the monster.