Opinion Manipulation

Wednesday, January 18th.

Rena-ttang had prepared a pre-promotion to juice up the vehicle auction scheduled for Saturday. The plan was simple: hop onto the test server on her own stream and give the audience a first look at the items that would go under the hammer.

The vehicle auction was already the hottest keyword in Rena World, so word spread through the communities in minutes. A flood of casual viewers poured into her broadcast.

Rena-ttang beamed at a viewer count that had finally cracked ten thousand again. Come to think of it, I almost never saw her using a virtual avatar these days. She must have decided her real strength as a streamer lay in being a human face on camera rather than a VTuber. That would also explain why she kept showing up offline on Pangea TV's official broadcasts.

Those efforts paid off in the past — that's how she made Partner Streamer. The bar's gotten so high now that they barely hand those badges out to anyone.

Aside from the big virtual agencies that would transfer over from Rabbit TV by 2025, Rena-ttang was the only virtual streamer who ever wore a Partner Streamer badge. Of course, that came with its share of side-eye — whether someone who had effectively abandoned being a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠VTuber still counted as the first virtual Partner Streamer. Looking back, it was a completely pointless argument.

"Today I'll be introducing the looks and specs of the vehicles that will appear in Saturday's auction. Just so everyone knows in advance — if any issues come up, further balance adjustments may be made."

The company fandoms were already sparring in the chat. Riding that heat, Rena-ttang finally unveiled the first vehicle.

"The first vehicle we'll be showcasing at Saturday's auction is the Mini Tractor. Come take a look at it in action!"

Honk-honk!

At her signal, a booming horn blared from across the plains. Something was barreling toward them at a decent clip, and as it drew closer, its shape came into focus.

Huge rear wheels paired with adorably tiny front ones. A blue chassis with a chunky engine housing jutting out the back. The operator riding it parked right in front of Rena-ttang and showed off the Mini Tractor for the viewers.

The first vehicle alone had the chat on fire. It made sense — outside of a handful of companies, every single outfit in Rena World had made the vehicle auction their top priority. Fans who'd sunk deep into their companies were just as invested.

"As for the Mini Tractor's specs — first off, every vehicle is an unbreakable item by default. Weapons won't damage them, and they won't melt even if you drop them in lava. Considering the prices these will fetch at auction, that kind of protection is basically mandatory."

Even as she talked, she kept glancing at chat, reading the room — classic Rena-ttang, forever at the mercy of community sentiment. The mood was still mostly positive. Only then did she relax, smile, and dive into the real specs.

"The Mini Tractor's speed rating is 'Low.' Surprised? Don't be — it's not actually slow. The other vehicles are just that much faster. Compared to a Minecraft character sprinting full tilt, this thing still goes twice as fast."

"Oh! Chat just said almost exactly that. It's not fully automatic, but it does auto-harvest crops as you drive over them."

The second her explanation ended, the chat flooded with snide laughter. At the time, farming was considered an even worse money-maker than mining — more running around, recipes to memorize, pure low-efficiency busywork. So of course people heard the Mini Tractor's special effect and wrote it off as useless.

But the moment I heard that description, I clapped and shouted jackpot in my head.

Hold on. It moves at twice a Minecraft character's sprint speed AND auto-harvests?

That meant when the crop and food price buff patch eventually hit, our Ratatouille farm would more than double its profits — but only for whoever owned the Mini Tractor.

No, not just double. Everyone else has to hold down movement keys AND swing a hoe. A Mini ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tractor user just holds the move key. The fatigue difference is massive.

My eyes were locked on that tractor, naked with greed. This vehicle covered our company's single biggest weakness better than anything else on the board.

If someone with good control drives this thing, they could put out nearly two-and-a-half people's worth of efficiency. We wouldn't be a scrappy seven-person company anymore.

With a Mini Tractor, we could field almost ten people's worth of earning power. Just imagining that future had dopamine flooding my brain.

This vehicle was ours. No question.

After the Mini Tractor came a two-seater classic car and a sports car, but I barely registered either of them.

Think. How do I lock down the Mini Tractor for sure while also screwing over the other companies?

The mind always works better when you're planning something underhanded. My electronic brain kicked into high gear.

"The classic car is a two-seater. See that space in the back? That's where the VIP sits, and the front is for the chauffeur. Its strengths are stability and smooth cornering — a true chairman's ride. And it's fast. Twice the Mini Tractor's speed. Watch this."

Unlike the Mini Tractor, the classic car and sports car were getting rave reviews. The performance gap made the comparison inevitable. Where the Mini Tractor only had farming going for it, these two were fast, came with trunks that doubled as inventory space, and even had a sixty-second-cooldown summon function — absurd convenience. Viewer opinion swung hard toward the two cars. Outside of a few contrarian holdouts, the Mini Tractor was cold leftovers.

Perfect. Exactly what I wanted.

Watching the chat, I started to think this might resolve itself without much effort. But my goal for this vehicle auction wasn't just securing the car I wanted.

I needed to bleed the rival companies dry with the future in mind. How do you drain a company's strength? The answer was simple.

The End-game content that would eventually drop in Rena World — Mythic-grade gear gacha. It demanded enormous capital and absurd luck. If I could vacuum up the other companies' funds at this vehicle auction, their Mythic gear acquisition would get pushed that much further back.

I'm getting a flood of terrible ideas. I'm not usually like this…

The shape of the operation was already forming in my head.

And that evening, I carefully logged into the community on an alt account and set the plan in motion.

Opinion manipulation.

The promotional writing skills I'd honed back in Lucy's day hadn't rusted a bit. The post rocketed to the top of FM Community's hot list and drove the already-poor perception of the Mini Tractor even further into the dirt.

And I wasn't stopping at one day. I'd keep the opinion war running all the way to auction day. No streamer could ignore the sentiment their fans poured into chat.

And this isn't even the end of it. Phase two is still waiting.

Between now and Saturday's vehicle auction, I was going to be very, very busy.