Nuclear Bomb Dropped
A nuclear bomb had been dropped.
Baek Yeon-woo's "That guy, what?" comment detonated across the entire guild world in an instant.
One idiot creates a thousand antis. The more fans you have, the more haters swarm in.
In reality, the Mir Guild had plenty of antis. Or to be precise, unless you were a Yongbung, most people straight-up disliked the Mir Guild.
Setting aside their usual arrogance, the Yongbungs had become an ultra-aggressive super-fandom that now reached beyond Korea and into foreign scenes. To stand against them, you had to hit back this hard or the weight classes would never match.
And the interesting thing about antis is that they have to work just as hard as the fans.
You have to actually know what you're talking about if you want to tear someone down properly.
People who don't understand fandom culture sometimes assume the whole scene runs on nothing but manipulation and fabrication. But fans aren't idiots. If there's no real basis, they'll immediately slap on a "don't feed" warning. That's why proper research and digging are mandatory if you want your manipulation and fabrication to land.
In that sense, the hardcore Mir Guild antis had finally received their reward for all that effort. They'd hooked a massive fish.
The clip spread across SNS, YouTube Shorts, and even reaction GIFs at terrifying speed. Eventually it became so viral that even people with zero interest in the guild scene started using it as a meme.
Naturally, the first major response came from the person in question—the Sword Master himself.
If nothing else, it was true that Park Gwang-seob had fallen into a genuine panic.
First, he had never imagined some crazy bastard would dare mention his career on camera. That was shock number one. Second, the fact that this had come from a rookie who had literally just debuted was shock number two.
What made it even worse was that, no matter how you sliced it, the comment was based on fact.
He had received endless praise as Korea's greatest swordsman and greatest mid-laner. He had swept up countless awards. Yet there was one glaring absence in his otherwise stellar career.
A championship trophy.
The single stain hidden beneath the brilliant glory of the title "Sword Master."
If the immutable law of the guild world was true—that a player's worth is determined by their trophies—then Park Gwang-seob's value was far more fragile than it appeared.
This was exactly why he never publicly brought up his career. It was his reverse scale, his one and only berserk button.
In that situation, Baek Yeon-woo's "That guy, what?" comment was the equivalent of plunging a blade straight into the heart of a man who staked his entire reputation on dignity and public image.
The fans were furious.
Our Sword Master's personality and behavior might be a bit much, and sure, his career had a small blemish, but there was no way he deserved to be insulted by some wet-behind-the-ears brat.
On top of that, the league's hunters began to join the fray.
Some hunters poured in the hatred they felt after losing to Baek Yeon-woo.
Others were jealous of a past connection that had suddenly grown young again.
Those who already held grudges against the Mir Guild simply hated the guild and tore into Baek Yeon-woo. Those without prior grudges still calculated that shaking Baek Yeon-woo's mentality would weaken the guild's overall power.
However, they weren't the real problem.
At least these people still maintained a minimum line of professional courtesy.
But their fans were a different story.
When the hunters they cheered for started taking bites out of the situation one after another, the fans watching couldn't help but think: Oh? The coordinates our hunter marked? That's a delicious restaurant! We can chew and rip into it too!
It took less than a second for the fans to turn into piranhas.
Before anyone realized it, the target had shifted from messages to personal messengers.
Non-existent rumors became treated as fact.
They had crossed a distant line and were now sprinting straight toward pure hatred.
And hatred was an excellent money-making tool.
The anonymous crowd hiding behind their screens was cruel.
They played with Baek Yeon-woo like a toy. Their malice surpassed imagination, and public opinion worsened with each passing day.
Just when it seemed this brutal witch hunt would never end...
The Mir Guild's official broadcast turned on.
"Hello. This is Chae Dong-ha, Vice Leader of the Mir Guild. I have come forward today to clear up some misunderstandings and confusion."
* * *
SS-rank genius leader (acting) Chae Dong-ha.
Lee Shin's right-hand man and the Mir Guild's caretaker.
If so, what did Lee Shin consider Chae Dong-ha's greatest strength?
It was his ability to pierce straight to the core with just the slightest bit of information.
'We can't keep using the Guild Leader forever.'
Lee Shin always said the same thing: it had to stay fresh. Once people got used to it, it stopped being fun. And when it stopped being fun, the charm disappeared.
Of course, sometimes Chae Dong-ha wondered if Lee Shin's charm could ever actually fade. The man's charisma was practically supernatural.
Still, after all the blood and sweat that went into building this empire, they couldn't keep moving the King around indefinitely.
'Above all, to utilize that man at two hundred percent, we need to start managing him properly from now on.'
That was why Chae Dong-ha was standing in front of the camera right now. For an uncomfortable task like today's, he was the right person for the job.
"The words spoken by one of our guild's hunters during a broadcast have become controversial. The Mir Guild takes this matter very seriously and has immediately launched an investigation."
He had learned a lot while following Lee Shin. Rhetoric, phrasing, how to drive people insane. Today, Chae Dong-ha had decided to use those lessons to their fullest.
His gaze was firm. His breathing was short.
His dry atmosphere was the complete opposite of Lee Shin's.
Perfectly businesslike and objective.
While their representative Lee Shin fluttered about like a butterfly, Chae Dong-ha and the guild needed to present a professional image so sharp that not even a drop of blood would come out if you stabbed them.
"First, to get straight to the conclusion, we have confirmed that this incident is a combination of malicious fabrication, a degree of misunderstanding, and circumstances that could not be openly discussed."
"Please look at this first."
He didn't drag it out. The screen began playing.
On screen were Park Su-bin and Baek Yeon-woo having a conversation. It was the exact scene from the problematic broadcast.
"Yeonu, this is just a hypothetical question, but... you do know who the Sword Master is, right?"
"He's a hunter. Isn't that his alias?"
"!!... Hey, hey, he's a ranker!!"
"Ah...? He was a ranker?"
The screen paused.
"If you watch the full video, you'll see that Hunter Baek Yeon-woo did not accurately recognize the title 'Sword Master.' This can be confirmed again later in the footage."
The video resumed.
"Hey, you've met him once before. In North Korea, right in front of that gate."
"Huh? That person was actually really strong?!"
"Haha, stop joking around, Yeonu. You said you watched videos of all the ranker swordsmen."
"I only watched the ones you picked out for me, hyung. Is he really a ranker? I genuinely didn't know."
The screen paused again.
"Due to certain circumstances, we cannot provide a detailed explanation. However, our guild did encounter Sword Master Park Gwang-seob during special training in North Korea. Even so, it is clear that Hunter Baek Yeon-woo did not recognize him at all."
After all this context, the problematic comment finally appeared.
"So he was a ranker. I had no idea. He really was an amazing person."
"Make sure to remember ranker sunbaenim, geez, I'm breaking out in cold sweat."
"So what did that guy do? I'm curious, tell me about it."
When the video ended, the screen returned to Chae Dong-ha's serious face.
"As you can see, the problematic 'That guy, what?' comment was created by maliciously editing the preceding and following dialogue, distorting Hunter Baek Yeon-woo's intentions and fabricating the narrative as if he held ill will."
"I can state this with absolute certainty. Hunter Baek Yeon-woo was simply angry that his teammates were being disregarded. He had no intention of insulting the Sword Master. Because Hunter Baek Yeon-woo knew absolutely nothing about Sword Master Park Gwang-seob."
The tone was completely different from everything currently circulating online.
This was exactly why fact-checking was so important. Park Gwang-seob, who had flown into a rage without knowing anything, the hunters who had joined him, and all their fans had just made complete fools of themselves.
Meanwhile, the live chat was going wild for an entirely different reason.
Every single comment was a masterpiece.
This must be what they meant by a single phrase that could kill with precision.
Chae Dong-ha himself believed he was speaking professionally, but to the Yongbungs, it only looked like he was calmly and methodically tearing their enemies to shreds.
It was a different kind of demonic talent from Lee Shin, who would rip out souls the moment he found an opening.
Of course, not all reactions were positive.
It was a reasonable question, even if it came from an anti. But instead of addressing those reactions, Chae Dong-ha moved straight to the next point.
"Next are the circumstances we mentioned that could not be openly discussed. The reason this broadcast was delayed was because of this. Since it involves Hunter Baek Yeon-woo's personal history, we had to be extremely careful."
Because once he said this, it would all be over.
"Hunter Baek Yeon-woo was suffering from a serious illness until very recently. The disease is called 'Magic Dysfunction Syndrome,' or MDS."
!!
The chat froze. Fans and antis alike stopped typing.
The chat became terrifyingly silent.
"Here is the doctor's official diagnosis. To summarize the full document, it states 'Acute MDS. Currently, there is no known treatment method.' We have attached the document with all personal information redacted."
What followed was pure shock.
"The first place we encountered Hunter Baek Yeon-woo was in a hospice ward. At the time, Hunter Baek Yeon-woo had given up on treatment and was contemplating whether to continue life-sustaining care."
His basal magic power had been attacking his muscles. Until recently, even moving had been difficult. His condition had been so severe that he could not live without a caregiver.
And then the savior appeared—Lee Shin.
"Our Guild Leader determined that the method he had been researching could cure Hunter Baek Yeon-woo's illness. Together with the Olympus Magic Tower, we treated him."
The previously silent chat suddenly exploded with messages.
"Yes, that's correct. Test Subject 1 from the Lee Shin System Theory is Baek Yeon-woo. There's no need to drag this out. Please watch the video."
The video started, showing the author of the thesis—the man who had worked with Lee Shin to treat Baek Yeon-woo.
Gale Potter was sitting there, wearing a hat that read "Genius."
"Baek Yeon-woo was an exceptionally excellent test subject. The disease had progressed to a point where intervention was nearly impossible, and the symptoms were among the worst cases of MDS... You ask if that's a bad thing? That's precisely why it was excellent. Extreme situations yield the best data..."
"As a seeker of magic, I cannot hide my shock that Professor Lee Shin has gotten involved in such trivial matters. Everyone, Professor Lee Shin is a great man. It is a loss to humanity to trouble him with such unproductive work. Please give him to us instead. The Olympus Magic Tower welcomes Professor Lee Shin..."
"Anyway, Baek Yeon-woo is my test subject. Are we done here?"
Then he was busy with experiments, so he had to go.
Gale Potter vanished like the wind.
Regardless, the chat had completely lost its mind.
The game was already over at this point.
Chae Dong-ha delivered the final blow.
"His condition was that severe. At the time, Hunter Baek Yeon-woo—no, young Yeonu—didn't even have the mental capacity to think about becoming a hunter."
"This is why Yeonu had no knowledge of rankers or the league."
People say it's obvious to know about rankers? Baek Yeon-woo was a child for whom nothing was obvious. His breath was fading away with every gasp. How could anyone corner such a pitiful child just because he didn't know something?
"Those who know will understand, but our Guild Leader believes that the league can only thrive when fan culture is free. That is why he is extremely tolerant of insults or demeaning comments directed at himself."
"He also tries to address any controversies in as lighthearted an atmosphere as possible."
Last year's incident was the same. Despite how intense the situation had been, it ended with him only destroying a few YouTubers.
"Our front office had partially agreed with that approach, which is why we stayed silent... but this incident has changed my mind."
For a brief moment, Chae Dong-ha's eyes changed.
His cold, sunken triple-white eyes glared directly into the camera.
"The Mir Guild will respond to this kind of fact distortion and malicious fabrication with a policy of zero tolerance. And that response begins with this very incident."
I'm different from the lenient Lee Shin. I have no interest in being liked by you people, nor do I need it.
So prepare yourselves.
"We will see each other in court soon. This concludes the broadcast."
Chae Dong-ha left without looking back.
In the deathly silent chat, a single message appeared.
It said everything that needed to be said.