Chapter 283
Chapter 283: Reverse City 15
It was a delivery as though reading from a school textbook — acting so awkward it couldn't have been more so.
It was fair to say it plainly revealed that Jeong Nayeon had never had any intention of deceiving anyone to begin with. The viewers knew that very well, which was why they were snickering.
The joy that the identity switch had surely gone through as hoped — and that Reverse City would therefore appear more frequently — must have played its part in their enjoyment as well.
"Well, anyway, that's how it happened!"
- Alright guys, that's how it is
- If that's the case, what can ya do!
- So the two people of unclear identity sneaked in and didn't get caught? (genuinely don't know)
- Not 'didn't' — 'couldn't'
"Ahem! It's not that we didn't catch them, it's that we couldn't!"
"Ahem! It's not that we didn't catch them, it's that we couldn't!"
Truly, no proverb fit better than 'pulling wool over someone's eyes' for this exchange.
No one was being fooled — only the person trying to fool existed.
"There's good news too. Today Woohyun is with us!"
"Hello."
- Hackha~
- Ohhh you're here
- Hey hey
- Saying the two people of unclear identity are gathered here so come arrest them is a bad thing no no no
User 'ㅇㅇ' donated 10,000 won!
[Hackha! Good to see you!]
"Yes, good to see you too."
Baek Woohyun appearing with a greeting on cue from Jeong Nayeon.
Naturally, viewers cheered at his appearance — and thanks to having set it up in advance, he could see it clearly for himself.
Unless one had a genuinely contrary personality, it was impossible to dislike people cheering for you. That was true for him as well.
Wearing a faint smile, he looked over the chat with a noticeably softer gaze — thinking, as he rarely encountered it, that it wasn't bad at all.
That viewers became boisterous at his smile — from someone who had always worn nothing but a cool, expressionless look through the hologram footage — went without saying.
They hammered away at the chat excitedly, stirred up by the situation of hearing from him directly after so long.
- You brat··· finally smiling
- If you came more often we could make you smile more
- Please start broadcasts from the studio!!
- Fr lol Let's have Q&A time regularly
"...I'll try."
"Don't worry. Since Woohyun's main story is almost wrapping up, I think increasing the weight of PVP content means we'll be able to spend more time together."
- Nice lol
- Nice~
- Jeong actually knows what's up
- Good good lol
'Hmm.'
Baek Woohyun, having quietly stepped back a little, wore a complicated expression. As Jeong Nayeon had said, the fact that the main story's end was approaching was something he had been anticipating too.
The research facility had already been completely annihilated, and once the Corporate Alliance's director driving Project: Transcendence was dealt with, it would be similar to just before he had returned from the 'other side.'
Even if the man's location had yet to be pinpointed, no one could deny that the story was nearing its conclusion.
That was precisely why he had gone out of his way to consult Jeong Nayeon to resolve the matter relating to Captain Jeong Beomu as quickly as possible.
Regrettably, despite thoroughly combing through the Last Stronghold research facility's computers, he had come away with very little — even though he had expected something, given that those were the pieces of information the research facility had carried with them to the very end.
'I need to resolve it before Season 2 starts.'
Of course, everyone — himself included — understood that even when the main story he was currently running reached its end, it would not be a complete ending.
With so many plot threads still vividly alive and breathing, Season 2 was a certainty. 'Reverse Planet' was a live-service game — it was only natural.
No matter how much the PVP side had flourished, there was no way to completely abandon the PVE that was its foundation.
'On top of that.'
Circumstances outside the game — known only to Baek Woohyun and no one else — made it equally clear that there had to be a Season 2.
The duel between Isaac and Deus over the divine throne of 'Reverse Planet' was not yet over, so ending things as they stood in Season 1 was impossible.
The two gods' fight would continue until one of them was completely dead.
The question of whether that meant the matter of Captain Jeong Beomu's betrayal could be handled at leisure was someone knowing only one side of the story.
On the 'other side,' the faction the captain had betrayed the Avengers to join was the Corporate Alliance. In other words, it was a place that necessarily had to be dealt with before moving to Season 2.
If he had no desire to have things become needlessly tangled, he had to resolve it in advance.
'The location is also a concern.'
And there was another problem on top of that — the location in which 'Reverse Planet' Season 2 would take place.
Many had collectively speculated that the season would leave Earth behind and make the Otherworld its main setting. That a counter-invasion of Earth would trigger a second dimensional war.
Chloe had even uploaded a video about how the self-proclaimed Otherworld God had cooperated with the research facility to bore a hole in the dimensional barrier and open a passage to the Otherworld toward that end.
Either way, if the setting shifted from Earth to the Otherworld, it would inevitably become more distant from resolving the problem at hand.
It meant that, without fail, before Season 2, he had to uncover the reason for Jeong Beomu's betrayal, resolve it, and steer things in a good direction.
Even if Jeong Beomu were to betray — as long as he was there, the same catastrophe as on the 'other side' wouldn't happen. But still.
"Now, while we were all chatting merrily away, the patch finished! Shall we log into Reverse City now! Let's go, Woohyun!"
"...Yeah."
- Let's go
- The two people of unclear identity appear lol
- But what faction did they join?
- Neutral probably
User 'ㅇㅇ' donated 1,000 won!
[Wouldn't it be legendary if Hackphysical went Hero and Jeong went Villain lol]
"Sadly, that's not the case~ We're both neutral faction."
Viewers expressed their disappointment at Jeong Nayeon's answer.
They groaned that bits like 'I, the head of the Villain Alliance, becoming a newbie Hero' or 'There's no way the leader of the Hero Association becomes a villain! Impossible! (or was it?)' had been cut off.
In truth, they didn't know that the reason she had chosen neutral faction over a role swap in the first place was precisely to prevent drawing excessive attention in that way.
- Neutral is genuinely fun though
- Neutral is genuinely fun though
- Fr heroes vs villains is good but once you get a taste of neutral chaos you can never leave
- Lol neutral chaos is irresistible
- Irresponsible pleasure fully possible lol
Heroes and villains who possessed supernatural abilities and clashed with opponents.
In contrast, the neutral faction who had to live as members of the city with no supernatural abilities.
At a glance it seemed as though heroes and villains were the leads of the city, with neutral faction as nothing more than supporting actors who assisted them — but in reality, that wasn't the case.
Because the most powerful and leading faction currently in Reverse City was the neutral faction — the group that called themselves the city's citizens.
The reason was simple: there was far too great a difference in numbers. Right then, of the second-round invitees, all but 30 were neutral faction.
With numbers nearly ten times greater, the advantage of supernatural abilities alone wasn't enough to hold out. Even more so because of the presence of clear arch-enemies.
The neutral faction, looked at carefully, was also subdivided into those leaning toward the hero side, those toward the villain side, and the genuinely neutral — but however you divided them, their absolute numbers were just overwhelming.
[By any chance are you showing a powerless person beating up heroes and villains?]
- Oh that sounds good
- How to beat an awakener without abilities let's go
- Should be possible with good equipment
- The strongest powerless person lol what kind of novel is this lol
'How to catch an awakener without supernatural abilities?'
"Hmm."
Baek Woohyun stroked his chin while watching the chat buzzing excitedly at the mention of neutral faction.
Running the numbers in his head, it didn't seem particularly impossible. The supernatural abilities in Reverse City were also weakened compared to the main game.
On top of that, there was quite a range of anti-equipment to stop neutral faction from being one-sidedly overwhelmed by heroes and villains.
Of course it wasn't easy, so considerable preparation would be needed — full equipment from head to toe, properly put together.
"A long-awaited — no, first-ever visit to Reverse City!"
- Wait 'long-awaited'?
- You clearly said you were a new arrival
- Suspicious, very suspicious
- A new arrival with prior experience
Jeong Nayeon slapped her own mouth.
Not that it helped — the viewers who had already caught the slip descended on it voraciously.
"That was a slip! A slip! Anyway, having entered Reverse City for the first time——"
"......"
"What do we do now?"
- So what now
- Spectate first for starters
- For neutral faction you need to get citizenship first fr
- What occupation are you going with??
Just as the Villain Alliance and Hero Association existed for their respective sides, the neutral faction also had people who guided new arrivals from the moment they started — the city hall of Reverse City.
Under the pretext of issuing citizenship, they called new arrivals in and gave them a basic orientation.
As a side note, this was also why the neutral faction called themselves citizens of the city. Unlike heroes and villains, they had citizenship to their name fair and square, apparently.
However, Baek Woohyun and Jeong Nayeon had no intention of going there. Even if they did, they planned to go much, much later.
With the news of their identity switch to participants, their current viewer count had nearly hit one hundred thousand — if they went there, things would become enormously chaotic.
The personal broadcasters on their first day entering Reverse City who needed to listen carefully to orientation would end up suffering for it.
"Shall we first decide what faction to go with?"
"Faction, hm."
- For neutral, hospital is the best
- Emergency responder is good
- Taxi driver and bus driver are already saturated;
- Self-employed could work too
"From the research I've done separately, in the current neutral faction——"
The neutral faction of Reverse City had as wide a variety of groups as its large population.
Factions that could be said to hold the lifeblood of the city — hospitals, driving academies that dominated road transport, associations of self-employed business owners banding together, and so on.
Adding in the various smaller factions that had spread out here and there, along with hero/villain-adjacent factions like the police or gangs, the number grew even larger.
For now, joining one of them and receiving an occupation was the most pressing thing. Only then would functions unlock and support come, enabling them to actually do anything.
Occupation was essential within Reverse City's system. Medical treatment was exclusive to hospital-affiliated characters; charging fees through driving was exclusive to drivers.
Unless one's occupation was fixed from the start like heroes and villains.
"Do we really have to join a faction?"
But Baek Woohyun seemed to have a different idea, throwing the question at Jeong Nayeon out of nowhere.
Jeong Nayeon tilted her head and answered.
"For now, yes? You need an occupation for functions to unlock. We can't do anything right now."
"What about just creating our own faction."
"Create our own faction?"
- New faction declaration!!
- The founding of a neutral faction masterminded by Hackphysical
- Suddenly getting exciting lol
- Ah lol so not going to be a small fry then
"What kind of faction are you thinking of making?"
"A private military company."
User 'ㅇㅇ' donated 1,000 won!
[Wait PMC founding??]
'That way we can catch awakeners without supernatural abilities.'
Private Military Company.
His eyes gleaming, Baek Woohyun proposed founding a new faction — the kind known by its abbreviated name, PMC.