Chapter 26: Marketing (2)
The Manshinjeon YouTuber channel has garnered quite a bit of attention on the internet.
It had ultra-high definition and impeccable professional workmanship but the only problem is that it contained the name of Leon, the survivor of the Cheongju Gate raid.
-There’s a lot of bullshit in this video.
-Eating rice will cure cancer? It doesn’t make any sense.
Of course, a mix of commercials and interviews didn’t make people believe in God.
And there was still no official certification from the Association so naturally people had to pass it off as funny.
“Your Majesty, we have to take the video down!”
Chief Kim Jin-soo saw the video and immediately came looking for Leon, who had confirmed with Ha-ri that he wasn’t in the penthouse, so he came all the way to the Naju Plains where the simple guild building had been erected.
“Chief, please have some barley tea.”
“Uh, thank you.”
He sipped the barley tea that Ha-ri offered and calmed his nerves.
“No, who posted that video in the first place?”
“Lord Spinner.”
“Lord Spinner?”
Kim Jin-soo’s gaze flicked to Yakt Spinner…Yappy…who was using a laptop in the corner.
That killing machine made that video? How the hell?
Leon’s thoughts were the same.
‘I can’t believe the gods would give Lord Spinner such instructions.’
He was told it was a quick way to gather faith but this was something Leon didn’t have the knowledge to discuss since when he was on Earth, as a child, he had only played the War of the Stars, which was all the rage.
The current culture of YouTube and internet broadcasts is unknown to him, as he only remembers the heavy screen of a CRT monitor.
He knew that Yakt Spinner’s powerful artificial intelligence would take care of everything, but he didn’t expect it to be this good.
“What does it mean to take the video down?”
Of course, people aren’t going to believe the video right away since faith is not something that can be spread by a few commercials. But was it really necessary to take the video down?
“As your Majesty knows, the rice that grows in the Naju Plain is far different from the crops of our world.”
Such a miracle crop should have been classified as elixir, not just food.
“Actually, Korea Food and Drug Administration…an organization that verifies the safety of food or drugs, and they do a lot of experiments.”
“It pains me to doubt the blessings of the Goddess, but I suppose you have your own laws and systems.”
“Thank you for your understanding. The blessed rice is of such a quality that there is no problem with its immediate distribution. In fact, I would like you to distribute it.”
Chief Kim distributed rice to the KFDA and other departments, and the results were amazing.
-It’s a revolution in the medical world! With this rice, most doctors won’t even be needed!
-How is it possible to cure an incurable disease that hasn’t even been identified?
-From the moment you eat the rice, something is working in your body to remove tumors… How is this…How is this possible?
From lab rats to people with incurable diseases whose days were already numbered, the Blessed Rice was a crop that would change the medical world forever.
Thousands of tons of this elixir were being produced every year, and humanity was on the verge of overcoming diseases.
Even if the only people who could grow it were the Demera faithful who believed in the goddess of life and fertility it would be enough for the religion to expand.
There was another problem.
“This rice…the moment it is announced, it will be sought after by the entire world.”
Yes, this was the problem. There would be many people like Park Jong-chan who would want to secure their own seeds.
They might not be able to monopolize it, but they could grow it themselves.
With the recent advances in palm farming, the crops can be grown quickly, so it won’t take long for it to be mass-produced.
But what if they realize that only Demera believers can grow the blessed rice?
“The Naju Plains will be overrun by thieves, and they won’t be ordinary humans.”
It’s even more potent than an enhancement potion so all the guilds and even the people from the underworld would want it.
“We’ll cooperate fully once the Food and Drug Administration approves it and we start sowing the rice in earnest. Until then, please be patient.”
“Indeed, I understand.”
At Leon’s nod, Director Kim Jin-soo cheered inwardly: I can finally convince this guy!
“However, there’s a problem.”
“What?”
“You’ve been worrying uselessly, Kim. No one will be able to steal the product of a goddess.”
Leon was smug.
* * * *
The rise of the superhumans after the Cataclysm was the hope of humanity, but not all of them became icons of hope.
Awakenings occurred among young and old alike, and of course there were many who chose a life of crime.
The Fiend Association, this global shadowy conglomerate has become a thoroughly organized crime syndicate, operating on the deep web.
They are involved in all sorts of crimes and are willing to commit murder if the money is right.
And now a request has come in for the Vipers, the third-tier hit squad of the Korean branch of the Fiend Association.
[We want you to secure the rice seeds in the Naju Plain and burn down the granaries]
The payment was in bitcoin, half down payment and half after the mission was successful.
Yue Ying immediately researched the Naju Plain.
-This… it’s real.
-The Hunter’s Association has stopped the rumors from spreading, but there are cases of people taking it everywhere.
-You mean it wasn’t just a stupid commercial?
Anyway, now that they’ve been commissioned and paid, it was time for action.
The Vipers headed straight for the Naju Plains with over 50 minions. They’re only C or D hunters, but they’re way overpowered for something as simple as stealing rice.
If it weren’t for the client’s insistence that they take as many members as possible, they could have gotten by with regular men.
“What the hell. I thought you were going to bring as much manpower as possible because there were a bunch of guards.”
“Are we really just supposed to secure the seeds and burn the granaries?”
Entering the fields with the oil barrels, the Vipers slowly made their way through the fields before stopping.
“Brother, it’s a person…!”
The youngest member spotted something in the darkness and gasped.
At his words, the members drew their weapons, but their faces fell because it wasn’t a person, but a puppet.
“It’s a scarecrow, stupid.”
“Oops…sorry.”
They were barely human shapes, stuffed with wadding and woven with straw, hanging from the pole, dressed in clothes and a hat that didn’t fit but in the darkness, they took on a human form.
“This is weird… I thought it just moved.”
The youngest examines the scarecrow.
Under Leon’s stern orders, the scarecrows have been painted with dye on their faces to give them eyes and mouths.
In this darkness, the spooky is almost creepy.
“Oh, asshole. Put it away.”
“Brother…look at those.”
“…….”
The leader of the Vipers was horrified as the scarecrows were everywhere.
Pieces of cotton, straw, stone, wood…like very old totems moved around the field like puppets.
-Tap, tap, tap.
-Oh, oh, oh, oh.
Is the dull sounds of things moving and rumbling an illusion?
The sound was so subtle that they mistook it for an illusion, so they didn’t pay attention to it but it seemed like a mistake to enter the field.
-Tap, tap.
-Oh, oh, oh.
Suddenly, there was a loud clang, and one of the tense members drew his sword.
“You idiot…! Why are you afraid of a scarecrow?”
“I’m sorry but something’s…off here.”
“You idiot…don’t go around saying you’re a member of the Vipers.”
The leader reprimanded his subordinate and ordered the others to pour oil.
“Calculate the wind direction and burn it as wide as possible.”
“But where will we get the seed?”
“Idiot, we’ve checked the granaries, we can rob them.”
“Aha~”
The men were convinced and poured out the oil from the barrel.
“If this is so good, let’s get some from the warehouse. Mansu and Jintai, you two… Huh? Where did you two go?”
“What? They were following me earlier… Uh, where did Doosan Yi go again?”
This can’t be happening. How can a person disappear in an instant in this open field?
-Tap! Tap!
-Ooooooooo………
The disturbing sound from earlier gradually became clearer and as the pressure seemed to be coming from all directions the Viper Lord looked around…….
“Hey…Was that puppet always this close?”
A scarecrow with a smiling face painted with crimson dye stood in front of them.
“What? Uh…I don’t know?”
“No, it’s weird, it was so far away just a moment ago, and what’s with this clanking sound, and the rumbling-”
As he turned his head to address his subordinates, he caught a movement in the corner of his vision.
“Ugh…!”
He was so startled that he didn’t even take the time to assess the situation before blindly swinging his sword.
“Big brother?”
“Huh… Huh…! Fuck, fuck, fuck!”
It wasn’t until he smashed one of the scarecrows that he understood that they were moving.
“Check your surroundings, you idiots! These things are moving!”
“Huh?”
The unity was the result of the vipers’ survival instincts kicking in. They turned to face each other, their backs to each other, and witnessed the unthinkable.
The deformities become creatures and the scarecrows transform into monsters.
Why hadn’t they seen it before? Why did they see it now?
There were scarecrows, stone figurines, and even roots strewn across the wheat fields like totems, all sorts of unidentifiable creatures moving about in the night.
The scarecrows, made by the shoddy workmanship of the people, were a twisted fantasy, recreating the invasion of the Old Ones.
“Holy shit, they’re monsters, they’re monsters!”
This wasn’t even the area where the dungeon break occurred, so what kind of monsters were they? It was a nonsensical statement, but what was happening now actually defied common sense!
In a panic, the Vipers tore and crushed the dolls but the puppets were able to weave their shattered bodies back together, regenerating like living things, or rather, like something beyond living things.
-Tap! Tap!
-Oooooooooo…………
Unbelievers were not tolerated in the goddess’s wheat field, where her holy power resides.
[Code of Life and Abundance]
Make an image of the goddess from the first of the harvest and offer it to the altar. Do not urinate on the fields. Manure is fine. Build a scarecrow and make sure it has a hat and clothes. When you harvest, sing a song. It’s better if it’s a song of thanks to the goddess. Don’t go hungry, even if you’re in a hurry.
…………
…………
The most important rule number 0 was.
0. Those who break the rules will die.
* * * *
The Viper Lord Heo Sang-man fled, leaving more than half his men in the field.
“Big brother, what the hell is that? I didn’t even see them at the gate!”
“I don’t know, asshole!”
The request was strange to begin with since they were paying that much for stealing rice seeds and setting a fire. But even so, it was hard to predict this situation.
The Vipers were mostly D-class, but they were still Fiends, and how could they not steal a single rice seed?
They recognized that this mission was wrong from the start, and they had every intention of screwing over their client.
They may have come anonymously, but they could use the help of the Fiend Association’s intelligence arm, the Dark Moon, and they’ve been generous with their payments, so they won’t be ignored.
“Uh, big brother, wait!”
“What?!”
Heo Sang-man, irritated by his subordinate’s insistence, spotted the building in front of them.
“This is the granary that is the target.”
A place where residents stack their harvested rice.
Seeing this, he had a realization which naturally led to greed.
“If this rice is real… it’s worth a lot of money.”
He’d lost half his men, and he couldn’t afford to come back here empty-handed.
“Those monsters are only in the fields…there’s nothing in the granaries.”
Common sense tells him that with monsters like that in the fields, there can’t be any in the granary, but his confidence is boosted when a subordinate who actually has good eyesight tells him there’s nothing around.
“Transfer as much rice as possible to the vehicles. Let’s go…!”
There would be piles of threshed rice, and it would be easier to steal it than to harvest it but the moment he stepped into the warehouse.
-Bam!
“Huh?”
Something ominous…a sound that was often heard in war movies.
“Mines──?!”
-Quang!
Heo Sang-man’s body flew into the air.
“Big brother!”
“What, what, landmines, why are there landmines here?!”
He was gasping for breath and shivering as a mine exploded under his feet.
Even though the landmine was meant to blow his legs off rather than kill him, it only tore his left foot off because he was a superhuman.
“Brother, I’m trying to save you…!”
“Stop, you idiots! You don’t know how many mines there are!”
At that, the minions came to their senses.
“Ughhhhhh…save me…….”
Seeing only an illusion of a breathless figure, the subordinates were unable to step forward easily.
Even if they were fiends in the first place, they were third-rate scoundrels who accidentally awakened and fell into a life of crime. Compared to the ‘evil’ fiends, they were just a gang of thugs with a little power.
If they were willing to throw themselves into a minefield to help the boss, why would they join the Fiend Association?
“Run…….”
A member of the group winced at the tingling sensation at the back of his neck as on his back, the blood-red ‘wire’ glowed in the moonlight.
“A wire?”
The members of the Vipers looked around in alarm and they saw a giant spider’s web of steel wire, and a “steel spider” slithering down from it.
Despite its diminished size, there’s no fool who can’t recognize the infamous killing machine from Cheongju.
“Ahhh…….”
They realized it was a trap as the Holy Knight himself descended to capture his prey.
