Chapter 15

Joanie bowed her head and begged.

“I don’t want the unknown to be revealed. I just want to keep my promise to Kana.”

Joanie’s plea to act as if nothing were happening even in the game spread through various communities alongside the Gravekeeper’s name.

The broadcast of Joanie gained significant traction and sparked a strong reaction.

— “I wasn’t even planning on leaving, so what?”

— “Kana-chan is a precious child… We must protect her…”

— “She’s the only one who can clear it; what else can we do?”

— “Aww, Joanie…”

Even though they were busy backbiting and fighting, perhaps their true nature was kind.

Moved by Joanie’s heartfelt request, people decided to honor her plea, each for their own reasons.

On the other hand, there were naturally those who harbored discontent.

— “Who does she think she is to tell us what to do?”

— “Isn’t it enough to have waited a week? Now she wants us to wait again??”

— “If you want to do as you please, why not just play a single-player game?”

— “Does she think being a streamer makes her a big deal? LOL”

Those who felt displeased by Joanie’s request began to speak out.

Whether their reasons were valid or not, the community quickly turned into a battlefield.

— “It’s not about telling us what to do; she’s just asking us to pretend like we don’t know.”

┗ “Isn’t that telling us what to do?”

┗ “Does this person not understand the difference between a request and an order?”

— “Who said we should wait? She just asked us to act like we don’t know; that’s basic reading comprehension.”

— “If you’re mad, why don’t you become a streamer too?”

┗ “When you do become a streamer, you can do whatever you want, and the haters will shield you, but why not do it???”

┗ “Troll alert!”

With supporters and dissenters, troublemakers and bystanders, and fence-sitters all congregated, the chaotic battleground was truly a sight to behold.

The flames of war blazed on, with moths throwing themselves into the fire. The moths ignited and emitted bright light, drawing in more moths.

It became impossible to distinguish who was who as the chaos continued.

Amidst the burning flames, some began to rise from the ashes, specifically those who had been extinguished by unseen hands.

The spade that had lost its master was once again held in the owner’s hand, and the wooden beam that had been aflame was now a torch.

Those who had turned to ash were reborn from the flames and re-entered the battlefield.

— “They shouldn’t have given us any leeway from the start.”

— “Honestly, I was uncomfortable with that Hawaiian pizza meeting where they said not to try for a week. Is being part of the Purgatory Guild everything?”

— “I knew it would end up like this when the casual players started causing a ruckus, LOL. Sigh…”

In this total crisis, even the unseen hands eventually withdrew, transitioning to bystanders.

The only one who could contain the situation—the manager—had also disappeared from the battlefield.

Just when it seemed like the world might come to an end, someone changed their mind.

— “Hey, do we really need to fight like this?”

— “What?! Are you giving up?”

—No, let’s not fight here; let’s go directly to Silia. We can block the mountain path and kill the streamer, or we can go and cause a ruckus there.”

“…!”

If the advancement of firepower changed the paradigm of actual war, it was a single statement that transformed the paradigm of community conflict.

****

“…What?”

As Joanie was about to log into Silia as usual, she blinked in disbelief.

“War?”

— “Ooooooo!”

— “All-out war!”

— “Air raid warning! Air raid warning!”

— “Right now, the guilds are mobilizing, and it’s chaos.”

“…Why?”

While Joanie, still unable to grasp the situation, logged into the community, she had learned through experience that when events escalated like this, the community was usually the cause.

As expected, the community was in complete disarray.

As Joanie carefully observed the traces of the horrific war, she held her throbbing head.

“This… is this my fault?”

— “No, no, no, not at all. Just the trolls causing trouble.”

— “So you finally realized, huh? Did you think being a streamer gave you some sort of power?”

— “Looks like another troll is here.”

— “Joanie, you’re not at fault! ?”

“Ugh…”

Although she didn’t want this outcome, her words had sown the seeds of conflict.

So, why did it come to this?

Joanie struggled to regain her composure and re-read the messages carefully.

In the midst of the community war, someone’s comment had shifted the thoughts of many toward the mountain where Kana lived.

They likely planned to either set up a blockade to prevent Joanie from entering or, in a childish manner, run to Kana to report.

Disregarding the fact that they’d be sliced by Kana’s sword before they could deliver a message, it was not a bad idea.

But just as there is light, there is darkness; as they came out, the defenders also emerged.

Those who referred to themselves as the Kana Corps drove away the players who had set up camp and took over the space, glaring fiercely.

Then, the opposing side, known as the “Outlaws,” rushed in again.

Once the fighters began requesting support from their respective groups, the numbers began to swell, prompting the opposing side to do the same.

This chaos swelled even further as players who simply enjoyed PvP, bored players, and those who were indifferent joined in, resulting in a war that ballooned like a snowball…

—That was just the prologue to the war.

“How should I handle this…?”

In less than a day, the incident had spiraled far beyond what Joanie could manage.

Even if she shouted, “Everyone, please don’t fight because of me!” would that stop the war?

“Kana will think it’s strange….”

After opening up her heart, it’s natural to think something is off when the other person, who had been consistently present until now, suddenly stops coming.

As Joanie fidgeted, unsure of what to do, a whisper arrived in her ear.

[<Sender> Pine: Are you going to log in now, Joanie?]

The sender was Pine, a fellow streamer with whom Joanie had a certain level of friendship, and the leader of the Hawaiian Engineering Club.

Joanie apologized to her viewers and briefly covered her screen.

[<Sender> Joanie: I was just about to log in…]

[<Sender> Pine: It seems you understand the situation.]

[<Sender> Joanie: Honestly, I don’t fully understand.]

[<Sender> Joanie: I didn’t realize it would escalate to this extent…]

[<Sender> Pine: Don’t think too seriously about it.]

[<Sender> Pine: Isn’t this part of the charm of RPGs?]

[<Sender> Pine: If you don’t like it, you can fight back.]

[<Sender> Pine: That’s what PVP is for, after all.]

Was he trying to comfort her?

Though she couldn’t precisely grasp Pine’s intentions, his words eased Joanie’s mind a little.

[<Sender> Joanie: Are you also fighting, Pine?]

[<Sender> Pine: Yes.]

[<Sender> Pine: Ah.]

[<Sender> Pine: Don’t worry; I’m with Kana.]

[<Sender> Pine: Most of the Perclan Engineering Club is on this side.] Sёarch* The ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

[<Sender> Joanie: Really?]

Wasn’t the Perclan Engineering Club composed of people who wanted to take down Kanaga more than anyone else?

Joanie tilted her head in confusion, unable to comprehend how they were willing to help her.

[<Sender> Pine: The Outlaws started the trouble with us first.]

[<Sender> Pine: A man wouldn’t avoid a fight that’s been thrown at him.]

[<Sender> Pine: Plus, there’s no benefit in bowing down to a group we’re at odds with.]

In short, it was a statement saying there was no need to compromise with a faction that offered nothing but enmity.

‘Well, that makes sense. The Outlaws’ goal is to hinder me.’

From the beginning, their purpose and reason were clear.

Since they didn’t like Joanie, they intended to cause her trouble.

Blockades, wars, snitching—those were merely means to an end.

[<Sender> Pine: Why don’t you log in for now?]

[<Sender> Pine: If you come to our side, I’ll explain everything.]

[<Sender> Joanie: Okay, I’ll log in right away.]

Wrapping up her conversation with Pine, Joanie promptly logged into Silia.

Clang, clang!

— “Kill him! Kill that bastard!”

— “What’s the mage doing? Hurry up and cast your spells!”

While she would usually be greeted by fresh air and the cheerful sound of birds, what awaited Joanie this time was the sharp sound of metal clashing and a menacing atmosphere.

Having logged off not far from the mountains, she immediately witnessed players fighting upon her return.

Seeing so many players gathered, Joanie lowered her voice as much as possible.

“…It’s worse than I thought.”

—It seems all the nearby players have gathered.

—Is it really morning with this many people around?

—Who am I? ‘Time Bill Gates.’

Carefully moving to avoid detection, Joanie successfully approached her allies.

“Joanie! Over here!”

Spotting Pine, who was waving his arms to call her, Joanie hurried toward him.

His armor was splattered with blood and dust, clearly showing he had been fighting just moments before.

“I came when you called… but what about everyone else?”

“They’re all fighting. I just stepped back for a moment to welcome you.”

Pine led Joanie to a makeshift tent he had set up.

“To be honest, the situation isn’t good.”

“Is the front line unfavorable?”

“More than the front line… it’s the victory conditions that are the problem. We don’t have any victory conditions, but they do.”

“Oh….”

“We have to keep holding them back, but they only need to break through once to win.”

“Victory conditions….”

Joanie racked her brain, but no good ideas came to mind.

If she approached Kana and tried to talk to him, what would she even say?

‘There are guys trying to interfere between you and me, so don’t listen to them and just ignore them!’

…That sounds very persuasive.

In the first place, she wouldn’t even be able to say such a long sentence, and even if she did, there was no way he would believe her.

She was the only one who could communicate with Kana; if a bunch of ruffians surrounded him, who would they think was at fault?

‘Then it’s impossible to reveal the truth.’

“I’m streamer Joanie, but I couldn’t help it because of the broadcast. Sorry!”

Even saying that wouldn’t work since NPCs wouldn’t hear it due to the filter, and even if there wasn’t a filter, she’d probably be called a crazy woman.

With no answers in sight, Joanie’s worries grew deeper and deeper.