LIGHTNOVELSTORY C27
#27. Forewarned Terror -1-
“What, what do you want? Why are you doing this?”
Park Seong-tae wiped the sweat flowing over his clearly balding forehead with a handkerchief while asking.
In response, Chae Yu-ha patted Park Seong-tae’s shoulder as if telling him not to be tense and said.
“Do you know something? When a war begins, what’s the first thing that should be seized from the enemy country?”
“…Su, supply routes, right?”
In response to Jin Tae-hyun’s answer, Chae Yu-ha laughed brightly.
“That’s important too. But there’s something even more important. What could it be?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Really? Then would you know, unnie?”
Chae Yu-ha asked Nazha, who had already scattered nanomachines within a 30-meter radius to prepare for any possible situation.
“Obviously it’s broadcasting stations. With a few clicks, you can cause more chaos than collapsing a building with a bomb.”
Nazha answered as if it was nothing significant.
“Correct~”
Chae Yu-ha clapped her hands.
“Ohh…So that’s what it was!”
“When you suddenly said you’d take over the broadcasting station, I wondered what you were talking about…”
Seok-ho and Seolhwa reacted next.
“What is this…? Don’t tell me you’re declaring war on Cheongang with just five people?”
In response to Park Seong-tae’s question, Chae Yu-ha shook her head.
“Why would we need to do that? We’re just here to provide entertainment for the citizens.”
“Entertainment…?”
“From your position as branch manager, this isn’t bad news, is it? Recently, pressure from Cheongang has been increasing, right? You probably don’t like that.”
“How…how did you know that…?”
“Well, while Arc Channel’s overall growth shows an upward trend, only the Cheongang branch’s stock is declining. What could be the reason? The advantage of Arc Channel is, above all, its freedom. But uniquely, the Cheongang branch is taking down all videos that become issues, perhaps due to someone’s pressure. How could the stock price record an upward trend?”
“You figured all that out just by looking at that…?”
Of course, since Chae Yu-ha had never looked at stock statistics in her life, it was Nazha and Agio who had analyzed it for her.
Getting good colleagues is also a skill, after all.
Chae Yu-ha swallowed such words internally and continued what she was saying.
“That’s not all. More and more Archers are suspending their activities due to mysterious sniper videos or personal information disclosures. If it’s not Cheongang hiring hitmen to manage public opinion, what else could it be?”
“……”
Park Seong-tae’s face turned serious after hearing Chae Yu-ha’s words.
‘This, I thought it was a crisis, but it might actually be an opportunity?’
In other words, the smell of money, honor, and dopamine was wafting through the air.
“Then I’m even more curious. What kind of entertainment are you planning to do using our broadcasting station’s channel?”
“Ah, about that. I’ll show you now.”
Chae Yu-ha said that and glanced at Nazha, who was handling the broadcasting station’s line.
Beside them, Agio was adjusting the chromakey and camera angle like the experienced professional she was, and seeing that, Park Seong-tae could figure out what they were trying to do.
“Wa, wait!! Are you turning on a live broadcast? On Arc’s official channel?”
“Isn’t this the way to attract more attention from more people?”
Chae Yu-ha gave a sign to Agio.
It was asking if the live broadcast preparations were all done.
“It’s, it’s ready…!!”
In response, Agio made a big OK sign to Chae Yu-ha using both arms.
“It seems the preparations are done.”
“Wai, wait! If you use the official channel, it will attract attention not just from Cheongang but from the entire IBR!”
“That’s the purpose.”
“Wha, what…? You’re crazy!! Branch manager!! We must stop them!!”
Despite Jin Tae-hyun’s protest, Chae Yu-ha walked toward the chromakey with light steps.
Click, with the sound of a button being activated, a virtual hologram based on the scenery of Minos wrapped around the studio.
[On Air]
[Live broadcast started]
White background with a blue logo.
The neat and clean official channel of Ark lit up with a red light signifying a live broadcast.
[Live] Arc, a free broadcasting channel created by everyone
Official Arc.
Currently 16,532 viewers
[Welcome to the live chat. Don’t forget to protect your personal information and comply with Arc Community Guidelines.]
“Tap tap,” a noise that sounds like checking the microphone echoes.
It had a raw feeling never seen in official broadcasts.
At this point, a small number of viewers might have noticed that this was not an official broadcast being intentionally transmitted by Arc.
However, most viewers were busy frowning, wondering what this irritating sound was.
“Ah, can you hear me?”
The chat window scrolled up at a frightening speed.
“Hmm, seems like you can hear me well.”
The next moment, something began to appear on the broadcast screen that had been completely black until now.
“Hello, everyone.”
What appeared on the screen was a young woman with a blue hood pulled over her head and a black cape fluttering.
“I am ‘First,’ a member of the villain alliance ‘Maker.'”
Behind her was the night view of Minos.
And it was a live broadcast being simultaneously transmitted from large electronic displays installed throughout the downtown area.
Meanwhile, in all downtown areas connected to Arc’s line, including Royal Road, Cheongang’s downtown area, near Cheongang Station, and city outskirts:
“What is this?”
“Suddenly the same videos from all the electronic displays…”
“On air? A live broadcast?”
“Is, is a monster invading…!?”
Confusion among citizens was spreading due to Arc Channel’s live broadcast video, which had begun to spread like wildfire.
“Citizens watching the video, do you know where I am right now?”
The hooded woman asked, pointing to the city landscape with her hand.
“Wow, correct! This is the boundary line on the southeast side of Royal Road~ Ordinary people become criminals just by stepping on that line!”
“Citizens! Are you happy with your lives? There’s not much entertainment in the city these days, right? Cheongang Group is only busy cleaning up after issues that keep popping up, and influencers are declaring activity suspensions one after another for some reason.”
“For all of you, I’ve brought an interesting entertainment.”
“In 3 days from now. There will be an airship passing by here. An airship full of high-ranking officials from Royal Road.”
The hooded woman leaned her head slightly toward the camera and grinned.
“To the officials who are watching, are you there? I’ll tell you assuming you’re watching. It would be best not to launch that airship. If you ignore this warning and launch the airship as scheduled…”
-Bang!!!
With that sound, an explosion occurred in the air over the downtown area.
“We will come to you directly.”
“Ah, it’s about time! Then, officials! Please make a wise choice!”
That’s how the unprecedented terror warning transmitted through Arc’s official channel ended.
When the broadcast ended, the line seemed to have been restored, as the advertisements that were originally playing began to flow from the electronic displays.
“Don’t move!”
Afterwards, special police dispatched from Royal Road and Cheongang Group’s security maintenance team belatedly raided Arc Channel’s Cheongang branch.
But all that remained there were the snoring sounds of many broadcasting station employees, including Park Seong-tae and Jin Tae-hyun.
Park Seong-tae, who woke up from sleep, later visited the police station for questioning.
Here, Park Seong-tae lied that by the time he regained consciousness, everything was already over.
Since there was no particular reason to be suspicious, Park Seong-tae soon became a free man.
“What are you thinking of doing?”
Back at the broadcasting station, Park Seong-tae took time to ruminate on Chae Yu-ha’s words with Jin Tae-hyun, who had also experienced the incident.
Terror disguised as entertainment. Or entertainment disguised as terror.
Either way, it was clear that it would receive a lot of attention from people.
“Let’s do it.”
This was Park Seong-tae, who had turned a blind eye to Vitaloid Lexer activities because they might become an issue.
Jin Tae-hyun sighed heavily, as if he knew that would be the answer.
“Are you sure? This time it’s not just some Lexer activity. It’s terrorism.”
“Hey, Jin Tae-hyun. You still don’t know me well enough.”
“What do you mean?”
Park Seong-tae looked into Jin Tae-hyun’s eyes.
Then, as if pondering something, he mumbled before patting Jin Tae-hyun’s shoulder.
“Forget it, what was I about to say?”
“No, what do you mean!! Making me curious!!”
Jin Tae-hyun shouted loudly but Park Seong-tae couldn’t tell him.
The reason he had supported Agio wasn’t simply because the videos she made might become social issues.
It was because the subjects of his videos were targeting the misdeeds of high-ranking officials in Minos.
If that hadn’t been the case, Park Seong-tae wouldn’t have pushed Agio at the risk of danger.
“There are things like that.”
Park Seong-tae left the pantry, recalling the image of his dead wife buried in one corner of his heart, lest his tail be caught.
And Jin Tae-hyun, who had been watching his behavior:
“No, this old man is at it again!!”
Exasperated by Park Seong-tae’s behavior, took out a chocolate milk that had been chilled in the refrigerator and drank it to relieve his stress.