It’s not that kind of malicious broadcast

The broadcasts had originally been irregular.

At some point, there had been some notice given under titles like “Non-Broadcast Notice”, but on many occasions, she would still start a broadcast without warning.

It had become natural for her to disappear suddenly and then reappear. People are inherently adaptive creatures, after all. A vigilante group had even formed to treat those who demanded regular broadcasts as intruders.

Of course, just because people had gotten used to it didn’t mean the thirst disappeared. It was natural for a culture to form around playfully criticizing her for disappearing.

The issue was that those who genuinely criticized, the so-called “haters” often jumped on this bandwagon. However, since the broadcaster herself did not seem to mind, it wasn’t much of a problem. It was, after all, a broadcast without any strict rules or regulations.

So, when ‘GetDevoured’ had been absent for about a week, fans thought, “It’s that time again”, and continued with their usual activities. They spammed the fan club with posts like “『In Search of the Missing Streamer』” searched for records of sub-characters, and snooped around the live broadcasts of those close to her.

The atmosphere started to change around the second week.

A two-week break wasn’t unprecedented. However, her popularity and the level of interest in her were entirely different from the past. Most importantly, she had disappeared after finally doing the much-anticipated face-cam broadcast.

[Could something have happened??]
[The master hasn’t updated her records in two weeks.]
[I think she really quit KoK.]
[Hm… isn’t this a matter of professionalism?]
[This is as infuriating as a 24-hour broadcast.]
[If she turns the cam back on and comes back even now, I’ll go wild with excitement.]

Among the usual posts, genuine worry and anger began to seep in. Fortunately, there were more worried posts than angry ones, as people understood her to some extent.

She had started broadcasting to advocate for the Rogue Revival Movement. Despite the result being a nerf to the rogue class, she had taken it as an opportunity to showcase all kinds of builds, participated in offline protests, and even organized a funeral for the rogue’s demise, summoning the CEO to the event.

Even so, nothing had changed, so it was understandable that she might feel exhausted and want to take a break… that’s how people saw it.

This patience lasted up to two weeks. By the third week, GetDevoured reached an unprecedented streak of continuous absence—an unexplored territory even for her.

The simmering anger began to overflow.

Some of this anger was naturally directed at GetDevoured herself… but it was more satisfying to vent at a target that had stated neither the reason for disappearance nor the time of return—a clear target for their wrath.

The concentrated anger took the form of complaint emails directed at Faraday. Initially sent to the Korea branch, these emails, after being translated, eventually reached the headquarters’ customer service team.

Those still fuming took their translated grievances to R*ddit. Thanks to these efforts, even the massive R*ddit communities began to buzz slightly about the balancing issues.

Then, out of nowhere, statistical data appeared indicating that “rogue win rates were rapidly normalizing despite no nerf patch being applied.”

The fire started by GetDevoured’s fans had now spread to the point where even they seemed like a small spark in it.

『r/faradaygames Current Trending Posts』

『1st Place: The Rogues’ Monthly Average Win Rate Was Already Normal』

『2nd Place: So Many Ways to Ruin an Attractive Game』

『3rd Place: I Hate Using the Word PTSD Lightly, but This Really Reminds Me of Other Damned Games』

『4th Place: Heard They Protested with ‘Screw This’ in Korea, anyone Gathering in Cali?』

『5th Place: Let’s Join the ATM Boycott』

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『10th Place: 5 Reasons Why the Announced Patch Seems to be Introducing New BM』

* * * *

『No ‘Oh Shit’ Unless Your PC FUCKING EXPLODED』

『No “Oh Fuck” Unless Your Computer Exploded』

『NO ‘ATM’, nO EXCEPTIONS』

『No ‘ATM’, no Exceptions』

A massive office with huge slogans on the walls: a relatively old “No ‘Oh Shit'” sign, and for some reason, an A4 paper prohibiting the word ‘ATM’ as well, made for quite an odd scene. Just a few months ago, it was a place of unparalleled peace.

Now, it was a zombie apocalypse, where pale-faced zombies were screaming terminal sounds in their native tongues.

“Why can’t we do this!?”

“Why would we?”

It was a scene close to a nightmare. Who would have imagined a company renowned for its superb work-life balance could turn into something so grotesque?

Certainly, the zombies stockpiling energy drinks hadn’t foreseen it.

Moving beyond the occasionally shrieking office, a new victim fled to the corridor, finding even the break room occupied by corpses. Holding a phone, they repeatedly apologized into the air—

“Honey, yes… sorry. I know… exactly. Listen, the promotion was… you’re right. I understand… what? No, it’s not that. Sorry, I’ll… call you back in a bit, okay? Sorry—”

Only after spotting something turning the corner did they hastily end the seemingly endless call.

Then, as if nothing was wrong, they moved swiftly but quietly back to the office—

“Oh, team leader Nyx. You’re always working hard. So, how’s the progress on the trait tree integration?”

Escaping from the grip of a half-bald zombie was a bit too late.

“I-it’s been picking up speed since the day before yesterday, sir!”

“……The day before yesterday? The speed?”

“The planning department submitted it late. They blamed the delay on a vacancy after firing the planning director… And, because many traits for the Assassin overlapped with those for the Rogue, implementing both simultaneously would break the balance… And also, bugs appeared due to overlapping codes during development… I’m sorry!”

“Really?”

J. Dox, whose appearance had deteriorated beyond recognition by even his wife, scrutinized the expression of the development team leader with hollow eyes.

Having transformed into an imperial CEO thanks to skyrocketing public opinion and stock prices, supported vehemently by investors who had changed their tune, this was only a recent change. However… even he hesitated momentarily when faced with such a look.

Indeed, it wasn’t entirely incorrect… They had been working overtime for several weeks already. It was abundantly clear that pushing the current development speed any further was not physically possible.

He did feel somewhat guilty. If he had recovered his wits a bit more quickly and turned the direction faster, there wouldn’t have been a need to urge such a rushed development.

Nevertheless, such sympathy and guilt were not at all conveyed through his eyes, which gleamed even more brightly despite the fatigue-

“Deleting codes due to the cancellation of Assassin development had unforeseen impacts, and reverting versions… there were too many updates in between. I’m sorry! We’ll check and handle it as quickly as possible.”

The development team leader could only stammer excuses while nervously watching for reactions.

There was no need to clarify such misunderstandings.

“……Alright. Then update the expected schedule on Notion. What’s the status of the Skin Treasure Chests?”

“Oh! That part has been implemented. However, the design team hasn’t sent over the special skins yet…”

“Still haven’t got their act together. See you later, team Leader. The skins will be sent over in two hours, so get ready for testing.”

There were plenty of places that needed to be conquered even if it meant turning everything upside down.

* * * *

『Yoon Ahri: Yena』

『Yoon Ahri: There’s nothing wrong, right?? 😢』

『Yeah, I’m fine』

『Yoon Ahri: When are you going to start broadcasting again??』

『Yoon Ahri: The people looking for Yena are no joke』

『Yoon Ahri: I almost want to tell you not to go outside just in case…😭』

Is it just my imagination, or do I have an unusually large number of people worrying about me?

Putting my sister aside, Ahri, Jinhee, even Revan… This can’t just be a feeling. It’s practically everyone I stay close to.

No matter how small my social circle was, the fact that it was quicker to count the people who didn’t worry about my every move was… a bit concerning, wasn’t it?

Sometimes, I even thought that this might be my special ability from reincarnating in another world. A power that induced concern from those around me – something like that.

Thinking that way made it seem a bit better, but… I knew I shouldn’t.

If I acknowledged having such a power, this place would have become another world.

[It’s okay.]
[I’m already outside.]

After sending a reply to Ahri—

-Thunk.

Oh, raindrops. It wasn’t in the forecast.

… I needed to hurry.

-Buzz

-Buzz

I put the incessantly vibrating phone back in my pocket and picked up the hammer I had temporarily set down.

-Clang!

-Clang!

The stakes, connected to the tent ropes, drove deep into the ground.

Hmm. They went in too easily.

With the rain coming… I should probably hammer them in more securely. I never wanted to experience a collapsed tent or one blown away by the wind ever again.

-Thunk. Thunk-thunk.

But at the same time, the increasing frequency of the raindrops made me reluctant to keep working in this weather.

…Since the rain wasn’t in the forecast, it was likely a shower. Even if the stakes weren’t perfectly hammered in, I thought they might hold for long enough to wait out the rain.

I wasn’t certain. Despite some experience, I wasn’t exactly a seasoned wild camper.

-Thunk-thunk!

… It would probably be alright.

With a hopeful last strike of the hammer, I hurriedly took shelter inside the tent.

-Clang!

I needed to avoid the downpour, at least for now.