The Knight King Who Returned with Gods : Chapter 27
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
Episode 27 Buzz Marketing (3)
Despite the night's untimely disturbance, Leon went off
to sleep.
As a royalty, how can he care about trivial things
outside?
"Your Majesty! There are thieves
outside——Kuhh!"
King Lionheart punished the commoner who rashly barged
through the door by throwing a tissue box at her.
"Uh-uhm, Your Majesty, we're in big
trouble......."
"It is nothing big, yet you dare to invade the
sleeping quarters of King Lionheart."
"Yes? Oh, did you happen to know?"
All-knowing. His awareness was even better than the
culprits. He had noticed the intruders all along.
"There are thieves, and we must deal with
them!"
"It's the duty of guards to deal with
ruffians."
Leon's dismissiveness made Hari's nerves flare. From what
she could see through the cameras, it was obvious that they were from Majin.
"There are fifty awakeners. They will wreak havoc on
Your Majesty's land, and there's not a single guard on duty in the first
place!"
"Of course there are."
"Yes?"
Hari would soon find out. The land was blessed by Demera,
and a bit too many scarecrows had been set up there.
Punishment awaits anyone who tries to tamper with the
land.
And so.......
-Bang! Bang!
A loud blasting sounds in the night. Along with human
screams. A particular Grail Knight's eyes glow red in the midst of the
pandemonium, giving the illusion that they were in the middle of a battlefield.
"Wow......."
Hari was dumbfounded as she watched the Majins being
subdued in real time.
The next morning. Leon saw fifty captured humans in front
of the village hall.
Fifty Majin, bound and immobilized by wires imbued with
holy power and by the strange scarecrows. The police and the staffs of the
Association were present to deal with them.
"Slit their wrists."
"Huh?"
Leon said to the captured Majin,
"What a bunch of pitiful lowlifes, ready to steal a
handful of grain. A thief, however, should cut their wrists to set an example.
Slit their wrists one by one."
"Uh, wait a moment, Your Majesty! This is the modern
age..."
Hari was stunned by Leon's order to slit the wrists of
the captured Majin.
"When it comes to criminals... domestic laws should
be followed... uhh......."
"Tsk. What a lenient law for wrongdoers."
"The- they need to be put on trial."
Hari wondered how to explain the modern law system to
this medieval-minded king. But then, some unexpected visitors arrived.
"Is this the place based on the tip?"
"Yes. They said the Majin were caught
stealing."
Reporters hopped out of the cars, and not only them, but
also YubTubers specialized in sensationalism, rushed over to see where the word
had come from.
"Who, who are you guys?"
Hari tried to stop them, but they immediately recognized
her and wanted to interview her.
"Hunter Han Hari, is it true that there was theft
here last night?"
"I heard it was the Vipers, a notorious group of
Majin!"
"A whopping 50 of them stormed in, so how did you
manage to defend yourself?"
"Uh, how did you know all that?!"
Hari was baffled. Neither she nor the journalists knew.
How would they possibly even know about the identity of
the anonymous informant, who could never be 'traced' with the current modern
technology?
-Kririg!
"Why on earth did the Majin attack?"
"That, that's... I think it's probably because of
the 'rice' harvested by the Pantheon Guild."
-Rice from the Pantheon Guild? What is that?
-Oh, you know, that video that's been trending lately,
the panacea rice.
-Was that real?
-Isn't it because it's real that the Majin came flocking
in?
One headline after another began to form in the
journalists' minds. What if the cancer-curing rice was real?
"Is it true that rice grown by Pantheon can cure
cancer?!"
"What's the story behind the Pantheon?! Is everything
King Leon says true?"
"Hey, if you call the King by his name without
permission, your wrist will fly off... Please, please be careful what you
say."
At any rate, the journalists wanted to know if the Majin
tried to burn the rice fields in the Naju Plain.
Naturally, they asked why they would do such a thing, and
of course, their interview would make the evening's news.
One journalist asked a blunt question.
"More than that, Hunter Han Hari, is it true that
they laid mines near the granaries?"
"Mi, mines? Uhm... that, that..."
Indeed. A lot of them too. The journalist, who had
interviewed the residents beforehand, pressed on.
"Even if it is a guild of hunters, isn't a lethal
weapon like a landmine a violation of the Firearms Act? It's a major illegal
offense! Where did they get it from?"
"Uh, well, it's just...! It's handmade by a guild
member, so it's just..."
It was then. A mouse had stepped on a landmine while
scurrying around the granaries.
It exploded into a million pieces. Hari, who watched the
scene, took it in stride.
"Rats, it's a trap for the rats, see? There are so
many rats in the countryside. Ahaha......."
"".............""
No one believed her, but on the surface, they did anyway.
* * * *
"So this is what the deities planned."
Leon stepped in front of Yappy. He had been observing
this whole time.
-Kririg.
Heto, the god of metal and blacksmithing, laid down the
prerequisites for gaining faith.
First. Get as many people as possible to 'hear' the name
of the Pantheon.
The most basic condition for fame was to be seen, heard,
and recognized by many.
Buzz marketing worked for this. No matter how ridiculous
it may seem to the common sense of the modern world, they spread the word.
-Phase two. Attract attention.
Thieves will come after it and try to sneak in. The more
menacing and sensational, the better.
-Commission. Self-initiated.
And it was none other than Yappy who hired the thieves,
meaning the robbery was staged.
"Where did you get the money to hire those
hoodlums?"
Yappy holographically displayed the cryptocurrency it'd
discreetly snatched from hundreds of wallets by simply hacking into them.
-Humans. Financial systems. Strange. Extremely
inefficient. Lack of security. Infinitely replicable.
"Crypto coins. I've heard of them from Hari. Modern
Earth has become a strange world."
The Majin Organization, which was run on the deep web, a
network system, was not immune to Yappy's hacking.
High-level members of the organization were strictly
hired by analogs and referrals, so the only people who could be hired were
low-level ones.
-Unlimited copies of cryptocurrency. Guild funds
available.
As long as he had Yappy, Leon didn't have to worry about
funding. Any modern cryptocurrency or financial system could be hacked by Yappie
if he wanted to.
"No, such is not a rightful possession. It's not a
good idea to make it into a fund, especially if it's imitation."
-I don't understand.
Leon smiled gently at Yappy, who didn't understand the
knight's way of thinking.
"It's okay if you don't understand now. However,
honor requires one to be true to oneself at all times. Sir Spinner, I expect
you to have a strong sense of justice."
-Temporary suspension of the cryptocurrency cloning plan.
Yappy had fulfilled Leon's wish without understanding,
and it resumed its explanation.
-Crime of Majin. Issue can be driven.
The so-called Majin raided a field, trying to steal seeds
and burn down the crops.
The media was called in, and they made a big deal out of
the fact that this was something the Majin Organization was involved in.
"You said there is a final strategy, what is
it?"
-Final Phase of Plan 'Buzz Marketing'.
────
Upon hearing the plan, Leon smirked.
"Apparently, the deities have adapted to this modern
world better than I, a native Earthling."
Final Phase.
Implementing K-Jumo.
* * * *
The Yakt Spinner is an extremely powerful artificial
intelligence that cannot even be compared to the supercomputers of today's
modern humans.
The networking systems of modern humans are mere toys to
it, and hacking a simple entertainment platform is an easy task.
Yappy hacked into YubTube and began posting dozens of
videos of the Pantheon Guild and its related events.
[Shock! Dozens of the Majin were kneeling before the
power of K-Rice. Why were they targeting K-Rice?!]
[Is K-Rice a panacea that cures all diseases? The reason
why the world pays attention to K-Rice!]
[Japan on its knees, begging: "Please sell us some
rice." The Prime Minister and Emperor pleading for forgiveness!]
[Pantheon Guild: "We Love Korea so much. Korea is a
great country. His Majesty the King is of a different world, but he still loves
Korea!"]
Yappy is a powerful artificial intelligence. It learns
through algorithms... and thoroughly applies the results in 'numbers'.
Upload a video to get hundreds of thousands of views.
Like K-pop videos that received thousands of comments.
Stylized, eye-catching thumbnails and compelling content.
Create an issue and hitchhike on it.
-Heyhey~ Is this a true story? I want a bowl of noodle
soup hahaha!
-Korea! Korea! Korea!
-This is the power of Korean rice!
-Lol!
The human race is so strange.
Yappy was puzzled by this reaction, but it proceeded to
delete, report, and even remove malicious accounts with the administrator
privileges it gained by hacking into the YubTube headquarters.
At the same time, it didn't forget to increase the number
of views and comments with the 130,000 accounts it created.
From this moment on.
There will be no end to the exposure of videos related to
the Pantheon.
Unless humanity abandons the network system.
* * * *
South Korea's 23rd president, Ahn Dong-gil, recently
experienced a political crisis.
「Suspicion of
Political Collusion Between the President and A Conglomerate!!!」
「The Dark Side of the
Incumbent President!
「The Silence of The
Blue House.」
「What Will Happen to
Our Country?」
President Ahn Dong-gil frowned at the headlines of the
newspapers. In front of him, Kim Dae-young, chairman of Daelong Group, one of
Korea's leading conglomerates, chuckled.
"Why do you only look at the bad stories when
there's so much good food, Mr. President?"
In Cheongdam-dong's finest restaurant. No one knows what
goes on in the secretive, VIP-only rooms except the people inside.
It was here that President Ahn Dong-gil met with Chairman
Kim Dae-young and promised to use his veto power on regulatory bills that were
unfavorable to Dae-young's Group.
"This is the problem with those stupid people. They
have no fear of the president of Korea."
"That's right. In the old days, that would have been
unthinkable."
Chairman Kim raised his glass toward the President.
Although the President only has two years left in his term, his political
influence won't fade with his departure from power.
In his youth, he was a democracy activist, and his
grandfather and great-grandfather were independence activists.
The scandal would put some pressure on the President, but
Chairman Kim didn't think it would last long.
The corners of Kim's mouth curled wickedly.
"How long can a bunch of dogs and pigs bark?"
It was a vile remark that, had it been published in the
media, would have triggered a boycott and a movement to have him removed from
his position. But Chairman Kim Dae-young was unfazed.
"They can bark all they want, but it will soon die
down. After all, isn't it the nature of the pot to bubble over when it's
boiling, and then quickly subside when it's off the heat?"
"Keuhehe, pigs and dogs. Kehehe... That may be true,
but aren't we under the same sky as the pigs and dogs? Isn't that a bit
harsh?"
"Haha, I apologize for that."
"Of course. Isn't the position of president
something like a servant of the people? Well, it's a servant who holds the
leash and turns the doggies and piggies around."
-Hahahahaha!
'Yeah,
the people are ignorant and stupid.
How
can they be so upset like they lost so much just because of a small thing like
this?
The
stupid ones will fall for the opposition's propaganda and play the role of
justice warriors.'
"Mr. President, this is a small token of my
sincerity."
Kim Dae-young handed over a small box. It was no secret
that it held hundreds of millions of dollars worth of gift.
"Hah hah, what a pleasant surprise."
President Ahn Dong-gil patted Kim Dae-young on the
shoulder as he took the gift box.
"By the way, Mr. President, have you heard of the
hot topic in the news this time around?"
"News? Ah~ That guy?"
At Chairman Kim's mention, President Ahn immediately
thought of someone who had been in the news.
In fact, it was partly because of the survivor who
cleared the Cheongju Gate that his negative news was not so hot.
"The one called Leon. He claimed that he is a king
and an agent of the gods. Hah hah."
"We talked on the phone once. He said something
about how he needed me to approve of what he was doing."
Though he had only heard the man's voice for a moment,
Leon had made quite an impression on President Ahn.
He had heard that he was a classist brute of a man, but
in the President's own experience, he was nothing of the sort.
"I was told that he's been bullying Mr. Park, the
managing director of Doojeong Future Food. It's very viral in the business
circle."
"Doojeong Future Food? Why?"
Doojeong Future Food was a powerful Korean conglomerate
that even the President couldn't treat carelessly. And he said that man mess
with the managing director of such a giant company?
"That barbarian fellow. He's making life on Earth
difficult."
Survivors always did. The survivors always break the
rules of Earth's civilization, relying only on their experiences in their
world.
The haphazard and unmindful behavior of survivors wasn't
a rare sight, and some of them even ended up getting into the Majin because they
were unable to concede.
"I'm going to meet up with him soon. Shake hands,
take a few pictures, have a small lunch together, it'll make for a good
story."
Leon had become quite the topic of conversation compared
to the general survivors.
First, he had cleansed the maso in the Hunan and Naju
Plains, and he had also cleared the gate of Cheongju which had been a headache.
A survivor who had been on Earth for less than a month
suddenly rose to stardom.
High-profile hunters were often used as political
publicity magnets.
"Mr. President, if you do meet him... could you
please do something about the 'blessed rice'?"
"Blessed rice? I heard it's all the rage on the
internet these days... but is it really that good for the body?"
"It's not just about it being good for the body. My
niece was suffering from mid-stage breast cancer, and somehow she got hold of
that rice and ate it."
"Hmm... breast cancer... that must have been very
distressing."
"I wasn't too worried because she's just the
family's failure. Anyway, after eating that
rice, her condition improved greatly."
"What, is it true, that it indeed cures
cancer?"
It was just rice. Cure cancer with just rice? Though the
President had received a report from Oh Kang-hyuk, the chairman of the Association,
he was still skeptical because it was still in experimental stages.......
"That barbarian has very strange powers."
The President looked forward to Leon's visit with great
anticipation.
It was obvious that if he could lure the barbarian well,
it will not only cover up his scandal, but also be of great help to his
advancement.
***
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