Chapter 214
Chapter 214: Massive-Scale Content
✪ If you think the Otherworld Lord Raid difficulty is insane, upvote lol
I want to crack open the head of whoever designed all these death-fall sections
Everything's a death-fall, everything's a death-fall
Going smoothly then dying in Phase 2 is just...
-You talking about OO right now?
-Just buy a parachute lmao
-Nah, you're just bad
Don't give me that crap
-Also crack open the head of whoever added strong winds as an additional attack effect on the boss
ㄴI second that
ㄴSeriously those two need to be dealt with
ㄴDeath-fall + knockback combo is fucking inhuman??
-Just lower the difficulty and try again
ㄴGoing for high difficulty on first try without knowing your limits then whining lol
-Hackphysical one-tried-one-cleared it, next
After the raid party led by Baek Woohyun cleared the 【Lord of Storms】 Raid in one go.
The raid was opened to other users of 'Reverse Planet.' It was a natural progression since they'd already been preparing with precursor quests beforehand.
Users who had been waiting for this moment couldn't just sit still, so the newly opened raid welcomed an enormous number of challengers—
-"Insane! Is this difficulty for real?!"
-"Watch out for death-falls! Aaaahhh?!"
-"The ones who always say 'be careful' die first."
-"If Epic difficulty is this hard, just how difficult is Mythic difficulty?"
—And it brutally crushed most of them, proving that it was on a completely different level from the previous final raid, the Otherworld Noble Raid.
Those who challenged it with the naive mindset of 'The public raid was cleared in one go so it can't be that hard!' all got thrown out into the void of the Storm Fortress.
The 【Lord of Storms】 mercilessly slaughtered everyone who dared underestimate it, and those who got their noses bloodied after looking down on it posted complaint threads in the community.
✪ What exactly did Planet Earth do so wrong
Did they make the raid boss dozens of meters tall so even dodging one attack is difficult?
Did they make it rain like crazy from Phase 1 to make visibility difficult?
Did they change the battlefield to half safe zone, half death-fall zone the moment Phase 2 starts?
Or did they even give the raid boss a knockback effect to make death-falls happen constantly?
They didn't do any of this so I really don't understand why people curse Planet Earth like this, for real
-I really don't get it either lmao
-Right? Like, there's no way they actually did that lol
ㄴFor real lol
ㄴIf they had any sense they wouldn't do that lol
-Is this for real?
-Planet Earth is legendary
-They tested the raid before releasing it, right??
ㄴThe developers are busy developing new systems
ㄴ"Fully Responsive AI" "Fully Responsive Story System"
ㄴAh...
ㄴNow I understand why the raid turned out like this, thanks
-Hackphysical one-tried-one-cleared it, next
ㄴDon't be mistaken, we're not Hackphysical
As people screamed "Kyaaaah!" at the raid difficulty, one name rose even higher.
The monster who cleared the raid everyone called insane and cursed the developers for losing their minds—'Hackphysical' Baek Woohyun—on his first try.
[General] The reason the raid feels difficult
It's because there's no Hackphysical in your raid party
Same reason the public raid looked easy
What experts do always looks easy
You only realize 'oh this is fucking hard?' after trying it yourself
—Fact) True
—Just because someone does it easily doesn't mean it is easy
└Actually it wasn't even done easily lol Only five people survived when they barely cleared it
└Everyone except Hackphysical was just...haha
—Let's have a moment to praise Hackphysical
└Surprise worship ㄷㄷ
└Damn it, it's Hackphysical again, I have no choice but to praise
└After conquering PVP, now PVE too...
—It's a raid that prioritizes individual skill over cooperation
In truth, this analysis wasn't entirely wrong.
The biggest reason the public raid ended relatively easily was because the 【Lord of Storms】 targeted only Baek Woohyun, establishing a one-on-one structure.
The existence of a tanker-dealer who could hold the raid boss alone was more than enough to dramatically lower the raid difficulty.
Raid parties without him had to survive on their own, which usually led to terrible situations when death-fall sections appeared upon entering Raid Phase 2.
The raid boss moving around wildly, swinging its fists and spewing wind in all directions was truly a disaster incarnate.
The fact that it was a raid boss dealing with 'storms' didn't help, as every basic attack came with the special effect of a raging storm.
[General] The raid mechanics themselves aren't that difficult
If coordination is good, you get used to it in a few tries
There's enough time that one or two people can even drop out?
The problem is that while the mechanics are easy, the raid boss's specs are high and the environmental factors are difficult
Especially the death-fall + knockback combination is just...
—Definitely seems like few cases of failing due to mechanics
└I agree. Only the Phase 1 whirlpool mechanic is tricky, the rest is whatever
└One person died per party but we still succeeded at the mechanics
└Oh so did you clear it?
└Everyone got wiped by the enrage pattern
—The fact that all raid members have to survive on their own
└It's hard to prevent death-falls, and even harder to save people
└It's incomparably harder than previous raids
—At least it's a reliable filter
└So you can't clear the raid if you're bad?
└Lower the difficulty please
—Successfully broke through the forest
└No way this crazy person actually did it ㄷㄷ
└Is a second Hackphysical being born? lol
└Please, instead of chasing Hackphysical now, can't you take the "Daehwang Corporation" route?
A raid with easy mechanics but high boss specs and difficult environmental factors. That was the current consensus among users regarding the 【Lord of Storms】 Raid.
There were those who liked this and those who didn't. Opinions were divided since it prioritized raid members' skills over raid party cooperation.
The reaction would probably have been similar regardless of which aspect they focused on. If it were the opposite, there would have been opinions saying 'Is this virtual reality training or a raid?!'
In a sense, it was fortunate for Baek Woohyun that the 【Lord of Storms】 Raid was designed to receive its current evaluation.
If they had lowered the boss specs and made the environmental factors easier while making the mechanics harder, the roles given to raid party members would definitely have been heavier.
Then, far from clearing on the first try, there was a high probability he would have tasted his first failure in 'Reverse Planet' and Abrasax-Deus would have gained the advantage.
✪ Look at this, you people complaining the raid is hard
(Hackphysical's raid party member list.jpg)
These guys cleared it on first try, next
-Trained for 2 weeks, respect?
-Hackphysical hard carried though lol
-I'd probably clear it too if I got in there
ㄴDefinitely not
ㄴWho are you to judge me
-It's because Hackphysical trained them
-Does learning to use supernatural abilities with no assistance in 2 weeks look easy? Why dismiss them
Additionally, the fact that Baek Woohyun personally gathered people and trained them for two weeks to challenge the no-assistance raid—the so-called 'Hackphysical' difficulty raid—also drew attention.
Although he did directly hard carry in the raid, separately there was plenty of room for the perception that learning from him for just two weeks could enable clearing difficult raids.
His teacher image, solidified through teaching various broadcasters and viewers, became even more solid.
...Jeong Nayeon, who was browsing the community, clearly realized this fact.
'He was already making good use of it.'
Jeong Nayeon recalled the various content where Baek Woohyun utilized his teacher image. From the public disciple audition to selective disciple training, to Team All-In where he served as coach.
Including the raid party added this time, it was an image that had been thoroughly and efficiently built up and utilized.
'But couldn't it be used even better?'
For instance, what if they combined it with another representative image of Baek Woohyun—the final boss?
If they mixed it up somehow to create content— Jeong Nayeon, who had been thinking that far, shook her head. It was because she couldn't feel any distinction from the 'Hack Disciple' content.
She carefully folded the content she'd just been planning and tucked it into a corner of her mind. Even if it wasn't good now, she might use it someday.
Since starting the 'Hack Tour' content, she had planned and discarded nearly hundreds of pieces of content like this.
Using the content's inherent entertainment value, differentiation from previous content, and above all whether Baek Woohyun would accept it as criteria, she had planned and discarded much content.
It was her own desperate struggle to avoid being told she was simply leeching off Baek Woohyun.
"...I'm here."
As Jeong Nayeon pondered whether there was any good plan for raid after-party content, Baek Woohyun appeared in her personal space.
Though he had his usual indifferent expression, Jeong Nayeon, who could claim to be his friend, read the quietly settled emotions within.
His face held a mixture of determination and concern. A feeling of 'I'll try it for now, but is this really okay?'
"What's up? You suddenly asked to meet."
"Ah, I have a favor to ask."
"A favor. Well, let's hear it! This noona will grant everything!"
"Everything? Really?"
"...I'll listen to everything."
"I'll have to check if I can actually do it!" Jeong Nayeon said, stepping back hesitantly as Baek Woohyun chuckled.
Still occasionally tormented by nightmares from 'that side,' realizing how completely different he'd become from the past, Jeong Nayeon was like a thread connecting him to reality.
When exchanging trivial wordplay with her, he felt less like contract worker Baek Woohyun and more like he'd returned to being ordinary college student Baek Woohyun.
"I'd like to do a collaborative content."
"Collaborative content?"
"Yeah. On a large scale."
"How large are you thinking?"
Jeong Nayeon didn't panic at Baek Woohyun's sudden request to host collaborative broadcast content.
Her promise to grant everything was half joking but half serious. She intended to do her best whatever he asked.
If it meant repaying the kindness Baek Woohyun had shown her through the 'Hack Tour' content.
...Though he himself thought it was thanks to her, anyway.
"The bigger the better. Um, I'm thinking at least several hundred people minimum."
"What?!"
However, even Jeong Nayeon with her 'bring it on!' attitude was flustered by what followed.
When he said large-scale collaborative broadcast, she'd been thinking at most something like 'Superstar N (Nuclear, you know~)' level, but then a bomb of several hundred people dropped.
Especially since 'at least' 'minimum' several hundred meant he was looking at even more than that, right?
"That's a super-massive collaborative content?"
"Won't it work?"
"Hmm, what are you planning to do gathering several hundred people?"
"To simplify it, cops and robbers?"
"...Cops and robbers?"
"Yeah."
Jeong Nayeon, who briefly imagined several hundred people playing cops and robbers in her head, let out a hollow laugh.
No matter how you looked at it, it wasn't something worth gathering several hundred people for.
"Don't simplify it, explain properly."
"Okay. First, I'll construct a city as the setting."
"A city? ...No, I won't object. Just explain everything."
"You know 'Reverse Planet' rents out game-based servers, right? I'll use that to construct a huge city as the setting, then..."
"Yeah."
"Release the several hundred broadcasters I recruit into the city. Giving them various roles. The main roles will be cops and robbers, um— heroes and villains, maybe?"
"Heroes and villains..."
"People who don't like that can do something else. Any profession that fits the city would work."
As Baek Woohyun's explanation continued, Jeong Nayeon's expression transformed into that of someone facing an absurd plan.
However, she could guarantee that anyone else in her place would show the same reaction. It was that crazy of a plan.
Renting a 'Reverse Planet'-based server to construct a city, filling it with several hundred broadcasters, giving them professions to operate.
"Starting with renting the server, I doubt it's even possible. Something like that would be incredibly expensive."
"It's fine. There's someone who said they'd support it."
"There is?!"
"Server rental fees, city construction, system establishment, individual recruitment fees, well, everything."
Jeong Nayeon wondered if Baek Woohyun had been scammed.
It was that ridiculous of a condition.
At minimum several hundred million won in cash would be spent, yet someone would support all of it?
"Anyway, what do you think?"
"...If it works out, it would be shocking."
It wasn't like there hadn't been similar content before.
But at most they were only in the hundred-person range, and weren't based on a popular game like 'Reverse Planet.'
That meant if Baek Woohyun's attempt succeeded, it would have tremendous buzz and impact.
Enough that any individual broadcaster would want to participate.
"......"
Jeong Nayeon, who had been thinking it over, closed her eyes then opened them.
She judged it was worth trying whether it succeeded or failed.
She happened to be planning a new sub-content for the 'Hack Tour' content anyway.
"Even if we can't eat it, let's go!"