Season 4: Chapter 123. The Battle for Public Opinion (3)

Since the appearance of Paprika Village, the Cheese Village factions became more active than ever, trading words and schemes. The Knights had identified Orange as one of their enemies and were now hatching a grand plan to strike back.

Meanwhile, the Nonghyup Union had its own plans.

“It’s time we begin building up arms,” Donuts declared.

Rumors spread that, under his command, the Nonghyup Union was preparing for war.

“Do we even stand a chance?”

“You saw the Lava Shaman earlier, didn’t you?”

Donuts chuckled. “Lava melts through iron equipment like butter. We can’t possibly win.”

“T-Then, why did you buy all that iron ore?”

“That’s for the Knights.”

He wasn’t bolstering their arms because of an external threat, but an internal one.

“From now on, we’ll have to hand over food to the invaders regularly. The question is: who gives how much, and how do we distribute it? That means someone has to collect taxes!”

Dun dun dun...

The very mention of taxes stirred the entire hall into an uproar.

“What, are you saying we have to pay taxes in a game?”

“

Oi!

Talk of other worlds is forbidden!”

“Still, this is ridiculous!”

“Wow... taxes?”

Who in the world liked paying taxes? Donuts knew this well, which made it the perfect time to sway public opinion.

“Yes, that’s right. Nobody likes taxes, do they? Especially when we barely produce even a fraction of what the Knights churn out.”

That wasn’t true. With their sheer numbers, the Nonghyup Union’s output was nearly on par with the Knights. They were close in sales with slightly slimmer profits, but Donuts just wanted to sound more convincing.

“That’s right!”

“Let the rich pay the taxes!”

“Let the Knights bear the weight of their fertile lands!”

They wanted the Knights to shoulder the burden.

— Hahahahahahaha

— The Union lol

— Finally acting like a Union hahaha

“Exactly. With great power comes great responsibility. With great production comes great taxation. To make this slogan law, we need power! Don’t we?”

“That’s right! We need power!” Pickle, now a fervent supporter, echoed him with zeal.

— Lmao

— Pfft

— Oh man, hahaha

— This is too real

— Beautiful

— Now this is it

— Feels like pre-World War I Germany lol

“We are all farmers! We will defend our rights! Rise, militia!”

“Rise!”

“Militia!”

Donuts’s propaganda successfully unified the once-fractured Nonghyup Union. After all, nobody wanted to pay taxes. It didn’t stop there. He even pulled in support from non-Knight villagers. If one side shouldered the entire burden, they would obviously complain. The justification was that the taxpayers earned the most.

“

Waaaaaah!

”

“Let the rich pay the taxes!”

Horn Ramen and MiddleAgedDetective’s factions all shouted together with the Union. Their roars shook the hall.

Fortune smiled on them in more ways than one.

***

Perhaps it was sheer numbers. Soon, rumors began to spread in their favor.

“What? Donuts of the Nonghyup Union drove off the outsiders?”

“Outsiders? Who?”

Whispers grew even among neutral citizens.

“They say invaders came to our village, terrifying ones, but Donuts drove them off.”

Not everyone had seen the Paprika Village invasion with their own eyes. Nearly thirty to forty percent of the residents hadn’t even been logged in at the time. That made rumors all the easier to twist.

“D-Donuts? That guy can’t even fight.”

“Supposedly, he drove them out with his tongue! Without lifting a weapon!”

“No way!”

“The Union protected us?”

“Meanwhile, I heard the Knights charge for protection. Doesn’t that make them complete opposites?”

“You’re right...”

Villagers retold the scene of Donuts striking a deal with Paprika as if he had single-handedly repelled them. In some ways, that was true. However, the nuance shifted more and more toward Donuts as the hero and the Knights as greedy merchants.

“What exactly do the Knights protect if they demand protection money?”

The truth was, nothing had been decided. The Knights hadn’t even launched their business yet, but rumors spread like wildfire.

“Who knows? Maybe they protect your fields if you pay, but it was Donuts who stood up when danger came. The Knights did nothing.”

“Exactly.”

“Dammit... The Nonghyup, was it you again!? Saving our asses?!” Of course, it was one of their own shouting.

It was impossible to tell the numerous and widespread Union members apart.

— Those damn farmers lol

— Can’t believe it turned out this way

— The Knights really didn’t do anything tho hahaha

— They’re killing me rn

— But Donuts did drive them off

With sheer numbers, the Union’s influence rose higher and higher. Gaining clout in Cheese Village normally wouldn’t mean much, but it did now.

“Send Donuts to Parliament!”

“Yes! Donuts to Parliament!”

The village needed to make united decisions. The people began to agree for Donuts to take charge. This type of power was even stronger than iron swords. On one rooftop, an avatar with a bald head watched the scene unfold.

[Takoyaki]

He sensed a change in the air.

“When unrest fills the land and rebels rise, that is the time when heroes are needed.”

— ?

— What’s he on about?

— Rebels? They’re just farmers lol

— We’re not at that point yet hahaha

— Lmao Takoyaki just wants his scene time...

***

It wasn’t only Takoyaki who sensed the shift in public opinion. Commander Radish Servant noticed as well.

Clatter.

From the second-floor window of the Sweet Radish House, he stared down at the streets below, deep in thought.

“The server chat, the talk about parliament in the square... None of this looks good.”

— Yeah

— The Union is doing better than expected

— Dealing with an old hand like Donuts isn’t easy lol

— The Knights better pick their reps carefully...

Donuts had a gift for reading the broader tide and understanding society. Horn Ramen and MiddleAgedDetective were the same, men with thick calluses from long experience. By contrast, the Knights were just a band of younger players good at gaming.

Radish Servant realized it was time for a different action. Simply offering utility and efficiency wouldn’t win them the popular support. People would gladly buy from merchants, but no one truly liked them.

“

Tch.

”

Thud.

He shut the window and headed downstairs.

“Let’s just fix the door.”

— Lmao

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

— The great War Commander doing handyman work lol

— Recruit some Knights already...

— Hahaha

— Labor Commander

— Radish the Builder lol

The lofty title of Commander meant little. Preparing for battles with other villages was still a far-off business. Right now, Radish Servant was still just Radish Servant. He needed to repair the house’s broken door. Who knew when another raid would occur?

“If it’s the Sweet Radish House, then only Sweet Radish can fix it~” Humming like a middle-aged man, Sweet Radish picked up a hammer.

The explosion had wrecked the place spectacularly, but repairs could be quickly done in the game.

Bang. Bang.

He muttered with a sigh as he stacked materials, “But why did Zelo even attack our place? He said he wasn’t with the Union.”

— For real lol

— That’s the mystery

— And he died himself hahaha

— Seriously, what was that?

Since Almond never admitted to pressing the detonator, most people saw the case as an unsolved mystery. Why had Zelo set off explosives right in front of the Sweet Radish House entrance?

“Look at the blast radius. It started right at our doorway.” Radish Servant paused in mid-repair and frowned at the ground.

The more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

“So, he blew himself up right at the door.”

— ?

— Wait

— Yeah, that’s true

— Too close for an accident...

— Why would he be standing at the entrance?

Radish Servant clapped. “Ah. The house was empty at that time, wasn’t it?”

— Gasp

— No way

— Crazy

— What

— Oh...

Why hadn’t anyone realized? The Sweet Radish House had been vacant. Zelo had walked right up to the front door and blown himself apart. Clearly, he had been trying to blast the door open and failed.

But why? What had he been trying to steal?

“Nothing went missing, though.”

Zelo hadn’t stolen a thing. Maybe he didn’t get the chance because the bomb went off. What was he after?

Clink.

Something bumped Radish Servant’s foot. He bent down and spotted a splintered board.

“Huh?”

He flipped over the sign and froze.

Chills shot down his spine.

[The Union never forgets. The Union never forgives.]

— ?

— Holy crap

— What the!

— Eek!?

— Whoa

— Chills lol

— What IS that???

***

Meanwhile, Zelo had encountered the Paprika villagers again deep inside the mines.

“What do you want? Why approach us again?”

“I think our interests align.”

They waited for him to elaborate.

“I’m a second-tier Miner. This friend here is about to advance too.” Zelo suddenly revealed his profession to them.

“And?”

“Second-tier Miners can mine obsidian. If it spawns, that is.” He sketched out his grand vision for them.

“

Hah?

We know that already. We’re Miners too.” One of them tried to bluff.

Zelo had already seen through it. He was aiming for third-tier, so he understood. These people weren’t after obsidian. They were stuck farming only iron.

‘Yet one of them was a Lava Shaman...?’

That was a fourth-tier split path. One player was fourth-tier while the rest were still stuck at iron. The conclusion was clear.

“You’ve dumped all your coins into one person. What kind of Miners are you?”

They stiffened.

“You’re unemployed.” Zelo had struck at the truth.

Aside from the Lava Shaman, all the Paprika villagers were jobless.

— Wow

— Insane

— So savage

— Holy crap

— This is Zelo!?

— Legendary

“Just protect me while I mine the Obsidian. I’ll share a little with you.”

The deeper mines swarmed with tougher monsters. Zelo and Choco Shroom couldn’t handle them alone, but dragging along random Cheese villagers would only lower profits. In times like this, it was smarter to cooperate with outsiders.

“And next time, just bring those to wear.”

— No way

— He’s gonna sell more like this??? Lol

— Zelo the Visionary

— Genius

— Now the Union will be forced to arm up even better hahaha

— Brilliant

By stoking competition, he was driving demand for war supplies. Zelo was already painting a far bigger picture.