Ex-level Player With the Greatest Civilization of All Time - Chapter 84

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 84

If Top-Jjalal was the go-to community within Korea,
then Spire was the hub that encompassed the English-speaking world.
It was the quintessential site that domestic players visited whenever they wanted to spy on overseas reactions.
And something had sent Spire into absolute upheaval.

[Legendary Weapons are crazy?]
[The options are all monsters.]
[That’s basically a strategic weapon!]

It was, of course, the Legendary Weapons.
Related threads regenerated endlessly, day after day.
Smaller issues vanished without a trace.
The site had become so saturated with the same conversation
that every perspective felt utterly fresh.
The mystique of seeing a grade for the first time.
Performance that defied belief.
The ripple effects these weapons would surely trigger.
The topic swelled across all angles of discussion.

[Real-time Spire reactions.]
[lol I’m dying of envy]
[So Neia still hasn’t posted an update, right?]

And Spire’s reaction became
the perfect gossip material for domestic players.
Wasn’t national pride the cheapest and safest legal drug you could enjoy?
Pure dopamine, consumed without guilt, where nobody lost anything.
The domestic response born from this cycle was exported overseas once more, and the so-called perpetual motion had been spinning for about three days now.

[Spire’s current status. What’s this?]

A single post had appeared on Top-Jjalal.
It was a post with a screenshot capturing the atmosphere of Spire attached to it.
The reactions that followed were these:

[That would be perfect for our Veronica.]
ㄴ You guys already got Yggdrasil’s Breath through Cedric. Let us have this one.
ㄴ That one’s ours. We’re French.
ㄴㄴ No, it’s the Korean government that decides in the end. You don’t get to yield or claim ownership.

[Sword Spirit’s Afterimage Sword doesn’t have much competition]
-Alex could probably fish it up pretty easily.
ㄴ Back off, you bastard!

The mood had shifted, far more brazenly than before.
Whereas they had merely envied it before,
now they were openly speaking as though it already belonged to them.
So domestic players struggled to adapt to this rapidly changing atmosphere.

ㄴ What? Did they all go crazy or something?
ㄴ They’re not offering us anything but now they’re throwing a fit like this?
ㄴ Did they finally lose it?

In truth, domestic attention had been diverted elsewhere due to the Trial that took place yesterday.
That was precisely why the domestic players couldn’t easily adapt to this sudden turn of events.
As a result, they belatedly began searching for the cause,
I found the reason soon enough.

[Could it be because of this?]
[Yeah? There are quite a few similar articles.]
[Ah damn… no wonder something felt off]

Domestic Players had been paying attention to the flood of articles overseas since yesterday evening.

「Korea’s Trial in Danger — Probability of Outside Rescue Request Skyrocketing.」
「High Odds of Obtaining Legendary Grade Weapons in Exchange for Rescue!」
「Must Act Fast to Prepare for Korea’s Rescue Request…」

Articles speculating on Korea’s possible failure of the Trial Floor.
Ambitious scenarios about receiving Legendary Grade Weapons in exchange.
Of course, domestic Players were far from pleased by these articles.

[The Trial just started and they’re already counting their chickens?]
[Wait, does that even make sense? Why would Neia sell it? She never said she’d sell it in the first place. This is hopeful fantasy taken too far]
[I get what you mean about calling them out, but honestly it’s not a completely impossible scenario either.]

And I, too, just now—
stumbling upon this thread on Top-Jjalal, found myself bewildered.
“That’s mine, though….”
Of course, the implication in what they were discussing was based on the assumption that if rescue was demanded in exchange for a Legendary Grade Weapon, Korea’s government would move heaven and earth to obtain it.
“This leaves a bad taste, somehow.”
A Legendary Weapon?
Sure, honestly, I wouldn’t mind selling it.
I’ve thought it over for days.
To be frank, there’s no use for it I could make.
If I could secure a healthy sum of money in the bargain, there’d be no reason not to sell.
But this—this rankled me.
As if they were speaking on the premise that I would fail to clear the Trial even after joining.
There were actually posts like that.
Domestic Players who couldn’t hold back, going in to point out that specific issue.
The problem was they were openly mocked in return.

[Does it really matter if Neia joins?]
ㄴ No matter how talented Neia is, she’s only at around level 20 Player-tier.
ㄴㄴ Hard to turn the tide in one go.
ㄴ Korea’s out of luck, what with Kang Min-hyuk dead.
ㄴ The problem with Korea is the weakness of the mid-tier.

“This sticks with me.”
I myself acknowledged that I was still unready to make a real contribution in the Trial.
But to have others stamp my failure before it happened, to presume and dismiss me—that was something I couldn’t help but resent.
“Neia.”

『Yes, Seon-woo.』

“Analyze the Trial-related footage circulating from yesterday. Run situational simulations for different approaches and report back to me.”

『Understood. Command registered for execution… Problem detected. Information within the Trial field is limited. Analysis at current data levels will increase variable occurrence probability.』

“Do it anyway. We’ll compensate by running dozens, hundreds of iterations to fill the gaps.”

『Acknowledged.』

Neia’s analysis didn’t take long.

『Analysis complete. Results from a total of 361 simulations are as follows.』

I skimmed through the dozens of simulation results Neia had pulled up for me at a glance, then spoke.

“But there has to be a way to solve this, right?”

* * *

The atmosphere in Spire was more chaotic than ever.
New posts were flooding in by the second.
Had the Community suddenly thrived?
Unfortunately, it was a bit much to describe it so simply.
It was closer to being under siege because of Neia’s situation.
Unemployed users with time on their hands descended like a flood, churning out what could only be called garbage posts.

[You all were bored and got lucky.]
[Time-rich billionaires assemble! Infinite garbage dump incoming!]
[Ah, now I understand… the essence of terrorism!]
[From now on, we Manchester United fans are taking over this place.]

It had reached a point where no one could enjoy the Community properly.
If the Community’s purpose was to share any trivial content at all, right now it was operating in precisely the opposite way.
Genuine discourse was useless.
Posts with plausible titles but blank white pages wallpapered the feed.
Promotional posts from celebrity influencers.
Even mysterious raids from Manchester United fans.
It was pure chaos.

[A Korean has poisoned Spire!]
[If you have complaints, say it with words.]
[The Great Emperor’s Jade.]

Of course, the bombardment didn’t last forever.
They were just hyenas chasing novelty.
As boredom set in, they retreated like an ebbing tide.
Within half a day, Spire had returned to normal.

[Now it finally feels like we can breathe.]
[They really were a headache…]
[Yes, exactly! This serious and mature atmosphere—this is what real Spire feels like.]

That didn’t mean everyone had left, though.
Some Korean Players remained, still posting.
They were a different breed from the users who’d simply followed the fun.
They were the ones pointing out logical flaws with relatively thoughtful posts.

[Are you all stupid?]
-Is Neia going to sell a Legendary Weapon to the Association and hand it over to you all? She’d hand it over to a Korean Player instead.
ㄴYou’re the stupid one, buddy. That’s your wishful thinking. What matters is what’s more profitable for Neia. From what I hear, Neia seems pretty committed to staying in Korea.
ㄴI agree with the comment above. You’re saying you’d rather nurture a competitor right next to you out of fear that an outsider’s growth is scary? What kind of logic is that?
ㄴIf anything, there’s no reason for her to sell domestically.

Faced with logical counterarguments, the thread ended with yet another mysterious Manchester United fan being born in real time.
Meanwhile, the mood on Top-Jjalal wasn’t any different from Spire—it had also shifted from its usual state.
Posts worried about the “Trial” in a different sense had made the atmosphere noticeably more serious than usual.

[Does this Trial even have an answer?]
ㄴHonestly, it’s a Trial with difficulty in a different way entirely.
ㄴAgreed. If it’s not just about building a Crystal Tower but also defending it…
ㄴBoth quality and quantity are surprisingly important.

The absence of Kang Min-hyuk is honestly massive.
Though, to be fair, it’s not really about Kang Min-hyuk specifically…
Even if he were here, the situation would be the same.

So why isn’t Neia streaming?
Tell him to declare victory!
That’s asking for a loss flag, though…

It was at that moment, amid the growing tension, that it happened.

Neia’s stream just went live!

The news rippled through the Community like cuckoo calls.
People flooded into Neia’s stream as soon as the word got out.
While she’d always been popular before,
the accumulated confusion and tension brought in an even larger crowd.

— We’ve been waiting for you, Boss.
— We’ve got so many questions. Are you really selling a Legendary Weapon to those foreigners?
— What about the Trial? What’s your take on it?

Neia fielded the barrage of chat messages with characteristic composure.

“Actually, that’s exactly why I’m going live. There seem to be some strange rumors circulating lately, so I wanted to clear things up.”

— Ohhh…
— Our Queen always knows how to take care of us.
— So about the Trial—is it really going to be that brutal?

Neia let the torrent of comments flow past her and spoke.
“You don’t need to worry too much about the Trial.”
I’ve already drawn up a comprehensive plan and we’re in the middle of preparations.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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