Chapter 89
‘…?’
Are they suddenly ambush-worshipping me like this?
Of course, there were already a lot of posts worshipping me on the Hunter Gallery.
But isn’t this too out of the blue.
There’s no context at all.
Besides, it wasn’t just the comments.
[As of today, I withdraw my support for the True Ancestor.]
[If there are 7 billion True Ancestor fans in the world]
[True Ancestor, my light. True Ancestor, my love. True Ancestor, me.]
[I visited the True Ancestor-nim Cafe today.]
…
The gallery was starting to get completely plastered with these over-the-top copypasta posts.
‘No. What’s wrong with them today?’
This is almost Climber Community-level over-the-top nonsense, isn’t it?
I didn’t exactly do any new Tower Climbing, nor did I make a personal appearance, so why on earth are they like this?
Furthermore, about an hour passed.
[The requested post cannot be found.]
The drawing post I uploaded was suddenly deleted.
'Huh? Why was it deleted?'
Did the gallery mods cut it because they thought it was trolling?
I wanted everyone to see and boast about the first artwork Auntie Su-Yeon drew with such care.
Tsk. It’s a bit of a shame, but it can’t be helped.
I smacked my lips and put down my Smartphone.
* * *
Republic of Korea Hunter Association.
The place was completely turned upside down due to an unprecedented incident that occurred today.
It was to the extent that a direct face-to-face report went all the way up to the Association President’s line within just a few hours of the incident occurring.
“We will now begin the emergency briefing regarding the unidentified cognitohazardous post uploaded to the internet three hours ago. The title of the post in question was <Everyone, take a look at this dope drawing>.”
Disaster Response Office Director Park Dong-cheol opened his mouth with a heavy voice.
“Immediately after grasping the situation, the Cyber Response Team intervened in the Community server and took measures to delete the post in question. However, the Poster’s IP was heavily routed, making it impossible to specify its source with our current technology.”
He added while flipping to the next briefing screen.
“The post was exposed for just over an hour, but as a result of analyzing the traffic, it is estimated that over a thousand civilians were exposed to the image.”
A Cognitohazard phenomenon is one that inflicts mental damage just by looking at text or a drawing.
Originally, this kind of phenomenon was something that occurred exclusively within the system’s Community, the 'Climber Community'.
This was because research results revealed that the System Window connects directly to the user’s cranial nerves, manifesting the exact same stimuli as actually seeing and hearing.
Therefore, looking at a photo within the system was judged the same as seeing it directly in front of one’s eyes.
Conversely, it was the established academic theory that images transmitted from the regular internet were completely safe outside the system, namely monitors or Smartphone screens, as the effects disappeared entirely.
But this time was different.
Despite the drawing uploaded this time being posted as a common photo file on a regular Internet Community, it caused interference in the minds of countless people.
“How are the victims?”
“Fortunately, no serious side effects have been reported. The exposed personnel are commonly showing symptoms of mild mental contamination, such as writing posts blindly praising the True Ancestor on the internet.”
Kim Tae-Seong nodded carefully and asked.
“How was the original drawing handled?”
“It was retrieved by the Cyber Response Team. This is a degraded version that has been filtered with computer graphics to eliminate the Cognitohazard.”
‘Just what kind of drawing is it?’
Looking at the tablet the director held out, Kim Tae-Seong also felt an inward curiosity.
Due to the nature of his position as Association President, he was fully equipped with the highest-grade mental defense items. If it was a processed image, it was well worth checking out.
He looked at the tablet’s screen.
“…”
What was displayed on the screen was a highly abstract drawing.
Fractal-like red lines were dizzyingly arrayed against a black background.
A shape that looked like a flower, yet also like blood vessels.
If one called it beautiful, it was beautiful; if one called it bizarre, it was bizarre.
Even though it was a reprocessed graphic, it had a strange magnetic pull that instantly captivated the gaze.
‘…It probably wouldn’t be good to look at it for too long.’
Kim Tae-Seong turned off the tablet’s screen.
Then, he suddenly thought of one possibility.
'According to the Analysis Office report this time, they said the Abyss Cult committed a terror attack on the Climber Community.'
An incident inferred to have been committed as a retaliatory measure due to the recent failure of the terror attack on the Saintess.
Could it be that the True Ancestor saw that and uploaded this kind of drawing ostentatiously to a regular Community to show the difference in their levels?
Kim Tae-Seong brought up a System Window.
He decided to try contacting her within bounds that wouldn’t offend the True Ancestor’s mood.
[True Ancestor-nim. I hope you are well.]
[I have confirmed the astonishing drawing uploaded to the internet. It is a drawing rendered in red on a black background… I would like to carefully ask if this was perhaps uploaded by True Ancestor-nim.]
Not long after, a reply came from the True Ancestor.
[True Ancestor: Why do you ask? Is there some sort of problem.]
Kim Tae-Seong politely summarized the matters he had heard in the briefing just before and transmitted them.
It was about how countless civilians who saw the drawing were suffering from mild mental contamination symptoms under the influence of a Cognitohazard, and that the Association side had unavoidably taken measures to delete the post to calm the situation.
The True Ancestor, having read the message, was silent for a moment.
‘Why is she silent.’
Just as cold sweat slowly began to form on Kim Tae-Seong’s forehead as the silence dragged on.
Finally, another message arrived.
[True Ancestor: …The True Ancestor didn’t do it.]
[True Ancestor: My Retainers uploaded that post.]
‘So that was it.’
Checking the reply, Kim Tae-Seong nodded.
As expected, it was something done by the True Ancestor’s group.
And Kim Tae-Seong-Seong had also guessed that it was the action of a Subordinate rather than something the True Ancestor herself had uploaded directly.
In the first place, the title of the problematic post uploaded to the gallery was '<Everyone, take a look at this dope drawing>'.
It was the overly light tone of a Community User, completely different from the antique tone the True Ancestor usually employed.
That also meant that among the True Ancestor’s Retainers, there was someone hidden who was highly proficient in Korea’s Community culture.
On top of that, one more thing.
Even though the Association side had intervened in the gallery server and arbitrarily deleted the post, no particular sign of displeasure could be felt from the True Ancestor’s message.
'Was it just a light amusement.'
Was it a trivial prank intended to show off the difference in level between the Abyss Cult and her own group.
But even with just that, countless ordinary people were affected.
As his thoughts reached that point, goosebumps rose on his back.
What if the True Ancestor became serious?
Didn’t that mean she could scatter truly fatal Cognitohazards across the World all over the internet, rather than just this level of light Mental Attack.
If she did that, it would truly be a disaster on the scale of humanity.
‘Just how much of a monster is she…’
As time goes on, her bottomless combat power continues to be revealed.
Kim Tae-Seong let out a sigh of relief, thinking once again that it was truly fortunate they hadn’t made an enemy of the True Ancestor.
* * *
'Uwaah… What kind of nuisance is this!'
I didn’t know what to do with myself out of embarrassment.
If it weren’t for [Exalted Dignity], I definitely would have been kicking my blankets like crazy.
It was only after exchanging messages with the Association President that I finally grasped the situation.
‘I ended up doing something like the Abyss Cult, didn’t I?’
Mental contamination, seriously.
I just uploaded it thinking it was a pretty rose drawing; I had no idea it would have such a terrifying effect.
Besides… earlier, when replying to the Association President, I even lied cowardly that my Retainers wrote it.
If I got caught writing a post with that kind of tone on the gallery, it would be too embarrassing and my concept would be completely shattered, so I had no choice but to feign ignorance.
Still, it was a huge relief that the Association side deleted it quickly and properly.
When I looked into why on earth this happened.
<Yoon Su-Yeon>
[Charm - Vampirism (Stage 3)]
'I guess it’s because of this.'
In Su-Yeon’s Charm tree, a whopping Stage 3 grace was stamped.
Since I didn’t directly consume Essence of Blood to bestow it, I couldn’t see the exact effects or detailed description.
But I guessed it was an ability to charm people through drawings or mediums.
‘She didn’t have A+ grade potential for nothing…’
Auntie Su-Yeon seemed to have an incredible talent in the Charm tree.
Anyway, last time I got drunk and uploaded a photo to the Climber Community, drawing aggro.
This time, I even ended up dropping a mental contamination pic on the Hunter Gallery.
Isn’t this just being a completely malicious Vampire troll.
‘Ugh… I’ll have to be careful when uploading things like photos from now on.’
If it hadn’t ended at this level and instead made people lose their minds or had side effects that harmed people, I would have been truly sorry for the rest of my life.
Anyway, although there was an unexpected happening, it seemed to have been resolved well without any major problems in the end, so I felt relieved.
I also gained high-potential Retainers on a 1+1 deal.
And I completely resolved all of Ha-Eun’s contract issues and her mother’s magic stone disease issue.
Now it was time to focus hard on leveling up for Tower Climbing again.
* * *
That night.
A shady forum on the Dark Web, completely inaccessible through regular search engines.
<The mental contamination drawing that was uploaded to a Korea Community.jpg>
The problematic photo, which had been erased without a trace from the regular internet due to the Association’s swift action, had been backed up by someone and uploaded there.
Inside a dark room.
A girl with empty eyes sat crouched in a chair, staring intently at the drawing on the monitor.
As if she wanted to touch the drawing herself, she carefully traced the screen with her fingertips.
“…Beautiful.”
It was a work that made her heart pound for the first time in a long while.