Chapter 257: Reverse City (9)
Murmur murmur.
"Wow, there are a lot of people."
"It's packed."
"This is just the Villain Alliance gathered, right?"
"That's right. Just the Villain Alliance alone and it's this many."
-Even the people who didn't co for the opening are all here lol
-The Hero Association side is three tis this lol
-I heard there are plans for a second and third wave, so gathering everyone in one place is going to be quite an ordeal
-It's not called ultra-large-scale for nothing
"Looks like we won't have to worry about the audio bill."
"Forget breaking even—we should be worried about it exploding."
"Looking for people to go robbing after the eting!"
", !" "Can't miss a robbery!"
The large underground auditorium on the tenth basent floor—where Villain Alliance mbers had gathered on the first day of the 'Reverse City' server.
That place, which would have been sunk in quiet stillness from lack of use, was now buzzing with the chatter of the many villain broadcasters who had gathered in response to the assembly notice.
With nearly a hundred people in attendance, the audio was on the verge of exploding from the sheer volu of everyone throwing out a word here and there.
Well—if even five or six broadcasters with a talent for talking could keep non-stop chatter going endlessly, with over a hundred it was only natural.
"Over here, Boss!"
"Fruits Crew, please co this way!"
One difference from the first day, though, was that certain groups could be seen clustering together.
As social creatures by nature, humans tend to form groups with others—natural enough. It also made pulling iTube content easier.
So, about four days into 'Reverse City', the Hero Association had hero teams and the Villain Alliance had crews ford.
Hero teams aside, crew formation conditions on the Villain Alliance side were quite strict to prevent excessive fragntation—yet even so.
The number of crews that had properly t the formation conditions stood at five in total. Three of them had barely scraped together enough headcount, while the remaining two were the real ones.
The 'Echo' crew led by Ruden—who had made that spectacular pivot in attitude toward Baek Woohyun, ugly as it was—and the 'Hellcat' crew created by Rutty-Nyang and Chaei.
Many were quite surprised that while 'Hellcat' crew placing first was understandable given the Villain Alliance executive's ntion, 'Echo' crew had climbed to second.
Saying they hadn't expected them to get as high as second, even with a considerable gap compared to first-place 'Hellcat.'
"What do you think the Association President will do, Boss?"
"Hmm···."
-Rutty-Nyang being called Boss feels so weird sohow
-She was always just a bottom-tier mber and now look at her lol
-Ahem, this is the Boss of the #1 Villain Alliance crew, please mind your words
-Second place is Ruden's crew so the #1 prestige is basically nonexistent, good luck
Rutty-Nyang trailed off at the villain broadcaster's question.
It was because she did not yet have a clear enough feeling to say anything definitive.
Instead, the answer ca from Chaei, who was sitting beside her.
"Won't we probably side with the Steel Legion and go for destroying Reverse City?!"
"That's probably it."
"Destroying everything was the stated goal after all."
-Seems likely
-There's no reason to oppose them
-But can you actually ally with the Steel Legion??
-Idk
On the first eting with the Villain Alliance, Baek Woohyun had stated that spreading chaos through the destruction of the world—Reverse City—was the goal.
In that case, the probability was high that they would not move to stop the 'Steel Legion's' invasion. Cooperating with them to smash up the city would be the greater advantage.
With Chaei arguing as much, the other broadcasters in the 'Hellcat' crew all seed to think similarly, nodding along.
Even if sothing went wrong, the plan was simply to sweep out the Hero Association and the neutral faction first, then beat the Steel Legion afterward.
"Hmm, I don't think it will go that way."
But Rutty-Nyang shook her head in disagreent.
Setting aside how 'Reverse City' would develop for a mont, in her view Baek Woohyun was not soone who would seize victory in that fashion.
He could if he truly wanted to, but it felt like he would respond with 'why bother?'
"Is that so?"
"Could be."
-With Hackphysical, yeah
-The scene of him saying 'why bother?' cos right to mind
-Did Rutty-Nyang just do a Hackphysical impression there? It was kind of accurate
-Agreed lol, she got the vibe right
And so, while the 'Hellcat' crew was still going back and forth in debate.
Goooo—
···step.
A pitch-black darkness suddenly swept out from the front of the auditorium. A blackness had arrived that made one's head spin just to look at.
At the low sound of footsteps that followed, the broadcasters in the auditorium snapped their mouths shut and straightened their backs as a reflexive reaction. Every single one of them, without exception.
It took no more than a few seconds for a spine-chilling silence to settle over the auditorium that had just monts ago been on the verge of an audio explosion.
But who could bla them? They clearly rembered Baek Woohyun holding the entire room in his grip with that terrifying aura.252
They could say with confidence that anyone brought in front of Baek Woohyun to demand an explanation for their reaction would end up reacting the exact sa way.
Because the absolute boss—one that made even the thought of resistance impossible—was standing right there.
""······.""
-Look at how quiet it got lol
-Did everyone who was just chattering go ho??
-Did a ssage co in saying The End has entered the room, please be quiet?
-Sothing··· sothing is happening···
Unlike the personal broadcasters who had seen, heard, and felt Baek Woohyun's aura up close, viewers through the screen tilted their heads with 'hm, is that all there is?'
The personal broadcasters would then passionately argue back that it really was that much, saying there was a presence you could only feel by facing it directly.
A presence that left you struggling to breathe even when he was standing still, and made you instinctively avert your eyes if they happened to et his—truly indescribable.
The viewers acknowledged that sothing was there, given the near-identical reactions from one personal broadcaster after another, but with their contrary nature they were too busy teasing to care.
They mocked that no matter what, they were getting dominated even in front of weakened teenage-version Baek Woohyun who wasn't even at full power.
Saying that if they t the real thing they might just drop to their knees—that had beco a recurring go-to WWE segnt for personal broadcasters in the Villain Alliance lately.
"······."
Baek Woohyun (teenage version), erging from the darkness alongside Kang Soyul, was radiating the sa ferociously overwhelming aura as ever.
His gaze swept across the villain broadcasters gathered in the auditorium—there was not a single person who dared to et it. What more needed to be said.
Wearing a faint smile, he looked at them and opened his mouth.
"I trust you all know why you've been assembled today."
When Baek Woohyun gestured to Kang Soyul at his side, she swiftly unfolded a holographic tablet and brought up the materials.
The Steel Legion-related materials received at the Nuclear Tourism content ergency eting.
Although they were materials from 'Reverse Planet,' he was confident that this [Steel Legion Invasion] event would be based on them.
Because this event had been generated by Deus—the auxiliary AI for 'Reverse Planet's' developnt.
""···!""
-What? Where did materials like these co from?
-Did Planet Earth send them?
-So the Steel Legion is a mass-produced Etinel lol
-A lot of people can't even beat an interdiate Etinel one-on-one, it's over lol
"The Steel Legion. Quite interesting entities are set to invade Reverse City. Their purpose is likely the destruction of Reverse City."
Ignoring the personal broadcasters and viewers who were startled by the holographic materials, Baek Woohyun continued speaking with complete composure.
Based on the contents of the materials, he walked through his estimations of the Steel Legion's combat strength and likely invasion routes, discussing how they would likely target the city.
It was precisely then that Ruden raised his hand.
"Yes, go ahead."
"You said the Steel Legion's goal is the destruction of Reverse City! Will we be cooperating with them as well?"
"······."
-Let's ally with them, go!
-What do you an ally
-He never even said it was possible
-If we join with the Steel Legion to sweep the Hero Association we're getting absolutely roasted lol
Without answering imdiately, Baek Woohyun sank into calm thought. His ash-gray glinting eyes carried no discernible emotion.
His face showed not the slightest interest in the viewers' debate about whether or not they should cooperate with the 'Steel Legion.'
As Ruden began to sense he had asked sothing wrong and was starting to lower his raised hand with a cold sweat, Baek Woohyun opened his mouth in a firm tone.
"We are villains. And villains never share what is theirs with others."
A low, cool voice.
Carrying a very firm conviction.
"What I am saying is that the destruction of Reverse City must be the achievent of us alone—of the Villain Alliance. Do you understand what I am telling you?"
"Yes! Understood!"
-Villain behavior: everything is mine
-Ally with the Steel Legion? So low-rent~
-Fr lol, what's the fun in piggybacking off another faction to destroy everything
-Don't interfere when we're going for the achievent
"If we join hands with the Steel Legion, the destruction of Reverse City becos their achievent. That is not the ending we want."
Baek Woohyun's declaration carried not rely the destruction of 'Reverse City,' but the conviction that they had to accomplish that destruction with their own hands.
He would not cooperate with anyone for that end. The destruction of 'Reverse City' was a goal to be achieved entirely by the Villain Alliance, without relying on outside forces.
Ruden, who had asked the question, and the other Villain Alliance broadcasters also seed to share his sentint, their faces taking on a look of resolve.
Of course, this was rely the surface-level reason to oppose the Steel Legion. A plausible-sounding excuse.
In reality, comparing the force distribution of 'Reverse City' against the estimated strength of the Steel Legion, his actual assessnt was simply that having the Villain Alliance join that side would result in a one-sided defeat.
With the server less than a week old, having the faction structure set up that way would cause problems in all sorts of directions—making cooperation simply impossible.
"And what of the Hero Association side? ···Nyang."
"Sa goes for them."
Baek Woohyun answered Rutty-Nyang's question without hesitation.
"There is no particular need to cooperate with them. Simply refrain from opposing them. We are villains and they are heroes, after all."
"A temporary alliance."
"What, a temporary alliance?!"
-A temporary alliance between heroes and villains lol
-This, this—could be quite a dangerous combination coming into existence (adjusts glasses)
-You ready, hero? Of course, villain!
-The way they're saying it is so funny lol
"Does anyone else have questions?"
""······.""
No one answered Baek Woohyun's question.
The two questions already asked had made it sufficiently clear how the Villain Alliance would approach the [Steel Legion Invasion] event.
Additionally, the fact that it was not easy to overco the aura and throw out a question unless one was at the level of Ruden or Rutty-Nyang played a part as well.
"Good. Then the detailed plan will be explained by my secretary."
"Alright, first let's divide up the personnel. To start—"
Watching Kang Soyul step forward to continue the explanation, Baek Woohyun quietly stepped back.
He had other things to attend to now.
To confirm firsthand what kind of event Deus had generated.
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