Chapter 917

Chapter 917

In four days, the discussions about Minhyuk and Athenaes balance collapse continued to brew and boil over. The public had only seen one side of the story. It was only interested in Minhyuk's ability to kill more than 400,000 enemy soldiers and whether his new armor was indeed a collapse in the game's balance.

The Peiro Allied Nations was an alliance of small and weak nations. And Minhyuk? He listened to what Carron said and worked at an incredibly unreasonable speed when he fought against them. Meanwhile, quite a few people took advantage of this incident and used it skillfully to benefit themselves.

The world-famous Ztuber Donald was a Westerner who had surprisingly obtained Korean nationality and was very fluent in Korean. He attracted many viewers as a foreigner who spoke the language fluently and smoothly. He often shared his criticisms regarding various topics, including celebrity controversies and Ztuber fake videos and manipulations. For Donald, Beyond the Heavens Emperor Minhyuk was a tasty prey.

[Everyone, this definitely does not make any sense.]

Donald compiled various materials. After gathering everything, he edited it into a video and published it. The viewers found his claims extremely credible because he had compiled one of the videos that a paparazzi had caught. This video was of President Kang Taehoon and Team Leader Park Minggyu visiting Minhyuks home.

[Its obvious that Ilhwa Group and Joy Co. Ltd. have a business deal going on here. After all, every time Minhyuk did something like build a kingdom or an empire, the stock price of Ilhwa Group skyrockets, right?]

His words might sound simple, but they fleshed out the idea that a deal was going on. And since Donald was a world-famous Ztuber, his videos easily exceeded a hundred million views. Of course, other Ztubers immediately jumped on his video and began criticizing Minhyuk. Some of the public also liked to ride the bandwagon, so they jumped in and took the lead in shouting and clamoring.

[Joy Co. Ltd. and Ilhwa Group! Explain yourselves!]

[If you were in our shoes, would it be fun to play games like this, huh?!]

[Im so f*cking angry Some of us work hard to level up and get items, yet others get it from the games company.]

[I thought that Ilhwa Group was the best and cleanest company in our country, but in the end, its just a company that likes making money. Ill boycott them.]

[+2222]

[+3333]

Just like that, the Ilhwa Group and Joy Co. Ltd. stock prices fell. On the other hand, the views on Donalds single video continued to climb, helping him generate a considerable profit.

[Hyungs, I will come back tomorrow.]

Bow

Donald bowed politely before ending his broadcast. He then completely changed his tune in private. He clicked his tongue and said, Phew Those f*ckers.

He could not help but chuckle deeply when he saw his profits from the issue he had created.

At that moment, his girlfriend, browsing on her phone, jumped in surprise and said, Donald. Ilhwa Group has published a statement. They said they will maintain a hard stance and respond strongly against all people posting malicious comments and baseless articles, including Ztubers.

But Donald just guffawed. Bwahahahahahaha! A hard stance? Do they think they can put out the spark that had started to catch fire with just that?

Are you going to be fine? Ilhwa Group and Joy Co. Ltd. are the best companies in Korea.

Its going to be fine. Celebrities, famous influencers, and business tycoons often say they will maintain a hard stance and respond strongly against malicious comments and baseless and speculative articles. But in the end, all those things turn out to be real, no?

Even so, you dont have any clear evidence that Ilhwa Group has a deal with Joy Co. Ltd. and have truly received artifacts from them

Donald just chuckled and ignored his girlfriends concern.

Thats not the point here. Donald wagged his index finger. If they cant prove anything, then this will eventually become the truth.

That was what the public was like. They would not believe it unless Minhyuk could provide clear and concrete evidence. However, from what Donald could tell, there was no way for them to prove and convince the public that this was not a collapse in balance. In other words, it did not matter whether his publication was true. Either way, it would bring him more money.

Well then, lets see if were getting more viral?

Whenever someone became a big hit with their posted content, most Ztubers would make similar content and hype the issue more. As the issue grew, most viewers would flock to the video with the most views. In this case, it was Donalds video.

But then, Donald suddenly paused. Whats this?

A video popped up whose views were climbing up at an absolutely ridiculous rate. The uploader? It was none other than Joy Co. Ltd., and its title was The Burden an Emperor Carries.

Click

The video played the moment Donald clicked on it.

***

To be honest, Minhyuk was growing extremely anxious.

The number of players that have left the Beyond the Heavens Empire has increased.

And that was not all. Many players had been asking the Beyond the Heavens Empire to explain the balance break. But the most significant contributor to his anxiety was Ilhwa Groups falling stock prices. The damage he caused himself was much more substantial than he expected, so he could not help but feel anxious.

But Minhyuk still did what he had to. He quickly instructed Ilhwa Groups legal team and called Ilhwa Daily, a subsidiary of Ilhwa Group and one of the country's top three newspaper publishers.

Immediately after, articles about how he would take a hard-line stance against those who posted malicious comments and baseless articles poured out. But before long, jeering and mockery began to rain down on the articles. Even another Ztuber immediately made a video mocking and belittling Minhyuk.

The thought of continuous, intense, and hard labor was enough to make the viewers' expressions grow ugly, but Minhyuk did not stop.

[Day seven.]

[Day eight]

[Day twelve]

[Day fourteen.]

[And.]

The video of Minhyuk swinging his pickaxe like crazy gradually slowed as the final words appeared on the screen.

[Day fifteen.]

Minhyuk smiled a small smile. Then, his eyes fluttered close as he fainted on the spot. Everyone watching the video felt the sweat pooling in their hands.

The scene on their screen changed once again. It briefly showed the blacksmith, who stood beside Minhyuk earlier, swinging his hammer like crazy. Then, the scene where the blacksmith handed over the controversial armor set to Minhyuk appeared on everyones screens. Everyone saw Minhyuks small smile just before the scene changed once again.

On their screen, the video that Carron took himself was being displayed. It showed the figure of a single man rushing toward an alliance of almost two million troops. Anyone who saw the mans back could feel the weight and burden that he was carrying as an emperor and someone who suffered from eating addiction.

[I will protect my empire.]

[I will never fall.]

[I will continue to move forward on my path.]

The white cape on his back fluttered as he ran toward the enemies that flocked toward the broken walls. Then, everything turned dark as the final words appeared on everyones screens.

[I am alive.]

***

After watching the video, Donald realized that his hands were completely covered with sweat. It was not only his hands; his back was dripping with sweat, and goosebumps appeared all over his body.

Ccan a person truly do something like that? This is fabricated, right?

No, there was no way that Joy Co. Ltd. would upload a fabricated video. After all, experts could see this and quickly determine if the video had been manipulated and manufactured.

Donald raised his trembling hands to check the current situation with his mobile phone. He could see that the most searched keyword in portal sites worldwide was The Burden that an Emperor Carries.

And along with that, the publics opinion turned a complete 180.

[Shit, thats crazy I feel very disappointed and resentful of my past self, who criticized the Food God fiercely.]

[Can a person really handle all that?]

[Wow After watching this, I must admit that the balance break is understandable. Tbh, I think its not enough. I think they can give him more, you know?]

[This video fully shows how the Food God, even though he is suffering from eating addiction, has reached his position. I believe this will give hope to many patients suffering from rare diseases.]

[I was very touched when I saw the phrases I wanted to live at the beginning and I am alive at the end.]

[Our Lord, the Food God He ]

[What we consider a balance break appeared because of his efforts.]

Yes, the publics opinion has turned. And Donald? He was left in a very panicked state.

Joy Co. Ltd., Ilhwa Group, and Minhyuk had proven how he had obtained those artifacts. Everything was because of his efforts and hard work, which no other player would want to replicate even if asked to do so. Among those who had watched Minhyuks video, was there anyone who could do it like him?

Meanwhile, Donald posted a video containing the evidence and his confident remarks about an under-the-table deal that caused immeasurable damage to the image of Minhyuk and the two companies.

At that moment, Donald recalled the article that said Minhyuk and his team would take a hard-line stance against those who posted malicious comments and baseless and speculative articles. He realized that he had to move quickly and fix things. Donald hurriedly filmed and uploaded an apology video. Of course, the Ztubers who joined in on the fun and muddied the waters also immediately posted apology videos.

Around three hours later.

The- the Food God has posted a message on his SNS! Donalds girlfriend shouted.

Donald could only hold his trembling hands together and chuckle as cold sweat started to drip down his forehead.

From what I heard, the Food God has quite a good personality. I apologized and even knelt on my knees. Im sure hell accept it.

However, Donald collapsed the moment he checked what Minhyuk posted.

[I will not be lenient.]