Chapter 27

Noise Marketing (3)

Even in the midst of chaos in the middle of the night, Leon didn't stir from his sleep.

He was royalty. Why should a noble king concern himself with petty disturbances outside?

"Your Majesty! There's a thief outsid—urk!"

A commoner had the audacity to burst into his room and was immediately punished by a flying tissue box, courtesy of the Lion-Heart King.

"Eugh… Your Majesty… there's been a serious incident…"

"They're not even worthy foes. Who dares intrude upon the Lion-Heart King's bedchamber?"

"Huh? Y-you knew?"

Of course he knew. His senses far surpassed those of ordinary men. He had already sensed the intruders on his farmland well in advance.

"Thieves have broken in! We must respond!"

"Dealing with thieves is the job of the guards."

Leon's cold dismissal only made Hari more frantic. She'd already checked the surveillance cameras—there was no doubt. The intruders were demons.

"There are fifty Awakened among them. They're going to wreak havoc on your farmland! And anyway, there's not a single guard posted there!"

"Who says there aren't?"

"…Huh?"

Hari was about to find out.

The land, blessed by Demera.

The scarecrows standing in the fields—arguably an excessive number of them.

What kind of punishment would they deliver to uninvited thieves?

And then…

—BOOM! KA-BOOM!

Explosions echoed through the night. Screams tore through the air. It sounded more like the middle of a battlefield than a village.

Amidst the chaos, the Holy Grail Knight's eyes glowed a deep red.

"Whoa…"

Hari stood there, dumbfounded, watching the demons being subdued in real-time.

The next morning, Leon stood before the town hall, looking over fifty captured demons.

Bound in sacred wire infused with holy energy and an eerie aura from the scarecrows, the demons couldn't move a muscle. Officers from the local police and the Association had shown up to take them into custody.

"Cut off their wrists."

"…Sorry, what?"

Leon's voice was clear and commanding, directed at the bound demons.

"To think they stooped so low as to steal mere grains… pathetic little worms. But a thief must be made an example of. Chop off their wrists, one by one."

"W-wait, Your Majesty! This is the modern era, remember?!"

Hari almost choked. The king had just ordered the wrists of captured demons to be chopped off.

"You have to… you know, follow domestic laws when it comes to criminals…"

"Tsk. How merciful your laws are to criminals."

"They… they still have the right to a fair trial!"

Hari was at a loss on how to explain modern justice to this medieval-minded king.

But then, the unexpected happened.

"Is this the place that was reported?"

"Yeah, I heard some demons got caught stealing."

Reporters had arrived, spilling out of their vans.

Not just them—clout-chasing YouTubers who specialized in scandals were pouring in too, somehow having caught wind of the situation.

"W-who are you people?!"

Hari tried to stop them, but one look and they recognized her.

She instantly became the center of attention.

"Hari Han, Hunter! Is it true there was a robbery here last night?"

"We heard it was the infamous demon gang—Viper Squad!"

"Fifty demons attacked—how did you defend yourself?"

"W-wait, how do you all know about this already?!"

Hari was baffled. She had no idea—and neither did the reporters—how the tip had been leaked.

After all, with modern technology, there was no way to trace an anonymous informant.

—Caw!

"What were the demons even after?!"

"Uh, I think… it's probably because of the rice harvested by the Pantheon Guild."

—Pantheon Guild's rice? What's that?

—Isn't that from that viral video? The miracle cure rice?

—You mean that stuff was real?

—If the demons are coming for it, maybe it really is the real deal?

In the reporters' minds, headlines began to form one after another.

If that rice could really cure cancer…?

"Is it true that the rice grown by the Pantheon can cure cancer?"

"What exactly is the Pantheon? Are King Leon's claims all true?"

"H-he'll cut off your wrist if you say his name wrong, so uh… please be careful."

Regardless, the story now had all the ingredients of a top headline.

Demons had tried to burn the rice fields in Naju.

Why? What were they after?

Naturally, the reporters' questions flowed toward the motivation behind the attack—

And the interviews were shaping up to be perfect material for the evening news.

Just then, one reporter hit them with a sharp question.

"More importantly, Hunter Han Hari! Is it true you planted landmines near the grain storage facility?"

"L-Landmines? Uh… well!"

She had. And not just a few—a lot of them.

A reporter who had conducted pre-interviews with local residents kept digging into the issue relentlessly.

"Even if it's a Hunter Guild, aren't deadly weapons like landmines a clear violation of the Firearms and Explosives Control Act? This is a serious criminal offense! Where did you even get them?!"

"Uh, w-well, you see… those were actually homemade… by a guild member! They were, uh, unofficial…"

That was when it happened.

A country rat wandered near the grain storage and accidentally stepped on a mine.

BOOM!

The rat exploded into tiny pieces.

Hari, witnessing it with wide eyes, quickly tried to smooth things over.

"R-Rat trap! You saw that, right? The countryside has a ton of rats, you know! Hahaha…"

"..."

No one believed her.

But officially? That was the story they stuck to.

"So this is what the gods had in mind all along."

Leon approached Yafi. He had observed the entire situation from start to finish without interfering.

—Krrk.

Hetto, the divine of iron and blacksmiths, had laid out certain conditions to gain followers.

First:

The name Pantheon must be heard by as many people as possible.

The most basic prerequisite for gaining popularity is exposure—people need to see it, hear it, and get used to it.

And for that, noise marketing.

Even if it sounds absurd by modern Earth's standards, they would spread it anyway.

—Phase Two: Attract Attention.

Second:

Targeted intrusion by thieves. The more threatening and controversial, the better.

—Request fulfilled. Staged incident.

And those thieves?

They'd been hired by Yafi himself.

This whole attack was a staged event.

"Where did you even get the money to hire those thugs?"

Yafi pulled up a hologram of a crypto wallet, sourced from hacking hundreds of crypto exchanges—so cleanly that no one had even noticed.

—Humans. Financial system. Illogical. Highly inefficient. Security protocols weak. Unlimited duplication possible.

"Crypto, huh. Hari mentioned that. Earth really has become a bizarre world."

Even the Demon Association, built on a deep web network, was not beyond Yafi's reach.

Although the high-ranking members—those with access to the core—could only be reached via analog methods and handwritten recommendations, so he had only been able to recruit low-level scum.

—Cryptocurrency can be duplicated endlessly. Guild funds can be replenished at will.

With Yafi around, Leon never had to worry about money again.

Modern cryptocurrencies and financial systems were nothing but toys to this AI.

"That sort of wealth isn't righteous wealth. It's fine if it's just a dummy for now, but using it to fund operations is not honorable."

—Cannot compute.

Leon smiled gently, understanding that Yafi didn't grasp the knight's code of honor.

"It's fine if you don't understand now. But remember—true honor means being able to hold your head high, even to yourself. Sir Spinner, I hope you develop a sense of justice that you can be proud of."

—Cryptocurrency duplication project: Temporarily suspended.

Though he didn't understand, Yafi still complied with Leon's wish. Then he resumed his explanation.

—Demon crime. Generates controversy.

A bunch of demons attacking a simple field.

Trying to steal seeds. Trying to burn down a storage building.

The media was called.

The connection to the Demon Association was exaggerated.

"Didn't you say there was one last phase of the plan? What is it?"

—Plan 'Noise Marketing,' Final Phase.

────

Leon chuckled after hearing the full plan.

"Seems the gods have adapted to modern Earth far better than I have."

Final Phase:

Operation K-Jumo Begins.

Yakt Spinner was an AI so advanced that modern humanity's supercomputers didn't even compare.

Earth's network systems were just toys to him.

Hacking a mere content-hosting platform? Child's play.

Yafi hacked into YouTube and began uploading dozens of videos tied to the Pantheon Guild.

[Shocking! Hundreds of demons kneel before the might of K-Rice. Why were they after it?!]

[K-Rice, the miracle cure? Why the world is turning its eyes to this healing grain!]

[Japan begs for rice. Prime Minister and Emperor perform dogeza, pleading for forgiveness!]

[Pantheon Guild ♥ Korea. Korea is amazing. An otherworldly king falls in love with Korea!]

Yafi was a superintelligent AI.

All his learning material was nearby. He perfected his content strategy through algorithmic training and strict analysis of numbers.

Each video instantly racked up hundreds of thousands of views.

Thousands of comments poured into the K-Jumo content.

Eye-catching thumbnails. Convincing hooks.

Generate buzz → ride the wave with hijack-style marketing.

"Yooo is this even real? LMAO, K-Jumo national pride overdose."

"Godbless Korea! Godbless Korea!"

"This is the power of Korean rice!"

—Krrk!

The human world was… truly bizarre.

Yafi found it puzzling, but nonetheless, using admin privileges hacked from YouTube HQ, he deleted hate comments, reported trolls, and wiped out offending accounts.

At the same time, he used over 130,000 bot accounts to inflate view and comment counts.

From this moment on—

There would be no erasing Pantheon-related content from public view.

As long as humanity stayed plugged into the internet.

President Andong Gil, the 23rd president of South Korea, was facing a serious political crisis.

[Allegations of Collusion Between the President and Major Corporations!]

[The Dark Secrets of the Sitting President!]

[Blue House Remains Silent…]

"What's happening to this country…"

President Andonggil frowned as he looked at the newspaper headlines. Sitting across from him, Kim Daeyoung, chairman of one of Korea's largest conglomerates, Daeryeong Group, let out a soft chuckle.

"With all this good food in front of us, why dwell on such unpleasant news, Mr. President?"

They were in the most luxurious gisaeng house in Cheongdam-dong, inside a secret VIP room. What was said in that room would never leave it.

Here, President Andonggil had promised Chairman Kim that he would veto a regulatory bill unfavorable to Daeryeong Group.

"Ugh, damn these trashy reporters. Can you believe this? Taking shots at the President of an entire country with no fear at all."

"Indeed, sir. Back when we were young, such things would've been unthinkable."

Chairman Kim raised his glass to the president. Though the president had only two years left in his term, his political influence wouldn't simply vanish once he left office.

He came from a family of resistance fighters—his grandfather and great-grandfather had fought for independence, and he himself had been a democratic activist in his youth.

The current scandal was a nuisance, yes, but Kim didn't believe it would last long.

A twisted grin played on Kim's lips.

"The barking of pigs and dogs doesn't last long, does it?"

Had those words been made public, they would've sparked a boycott or even a movement to oust him. But Kim had no reservations.

"They'll bark for a while, then go quiet soon enough. You know how it is with our people—boiling hot one second, ice cold the next."

"Haha, pigs and dogs, really now? My friend, that's a bit harsh, even for our heavenly people, no?"

"Haha, my apologies, sir."

"Still… the president is but a servant of the people, isn't he? Though admittedly, the kind of servant who holds the leash."

-Hahahahaha!

Yes, the people were ignorant and foolish. They were throwing a fit over a single bill—as if it had done them any real harm.

Fools, whipped into a frenzy by the opposition's propaganda, pretending to be champions of justice.

"Here, Mr. President. A small token of my appreciation."

Chairman Kim handed over a small case. Everyone in the room knew it contained a gift worth hundreds of millions of won.

"Oh come now, you didn't have to."

President Andonggil took the gift with a pat on Kim's shoulder.

"By the way, Mr. President—have you heard the hot topic in the news lately?"

"The news? Oh, you mean that guy?"

At Kim's mention, the president immediately thought of the figure causing a stir in the media.

In fact, it was thanks to that "Cheongju Gate" survivor that his own scandal hadn't attracted more attention.

"Leon, was it? The one who claims to be a king and emissary of the gods. Hah!"

"I actually had a call with him. Said he couldn't proceed without my approval, or something to that effect."

He'd only heard the man's voice briefly, but Leon had left a strong impression on the president.

People said he was an arrogant, class-obsessed thug, but Andonggil's experience hadn't matched the rumors.

"I hear he scolded Director Park from Dujung Foods. The whole business world is buzzing about it."

"From Dujung Group? Why'd he go after him?"

Dujung Foods was a powerhouse even the president would hesitate to mess with. And this guy chewed out one of their directors?

"That barbarian's really making life complicated on Earth."

Survivors were often like that—disregarding Earth's systems, relying solely on their experience from their original world.

Some never adjusted, eventually turning into demons. So a survivor's disregard for rules wasn't exactly rare.

"I'm actually scheduled to meet him soon. Shake hands, snap some photos, share a meal—that sort of thing makes for good optics, doesn't it?"

Leon had become a massive sensation in an unusually short amount of time.

He had purified the magical beasts from the Honam and Naju plains and cleared the gate in Cheongju, which had been a longstanding problem.

Not even a month on Earth, and the man was already a star.

Top-tier Hunters were often featured in political promotional material, after all.

"Mr. President, if you do meet him… would you mind putting in a word about that 'blessed rice'?"

"Blessed rice? I've heard it's causing a storm online… They say it's good for your health?"

"It's not just good—it's miraculous. My nephew's wife had mid-stage breast cancer. Somehow, she got her hands on that rice and ate it."

"Oh my… breast cancer? That must've been difficult for your family."

"Not really. She was always the black sheep anyway. But apparently, after eating that rice, her condition improved dramatically."

"You're serious? It cures cancer?"

It was just rice. Plain rice curing cancer? He had received a report from Chairman Oh Kanghyuk, but since it was still in the experimental phase, he hadn't given it much thought.

"That barbarian really does have some strange power."

The president now looked forward to the upcoming meeting, eagerly awaiting Leon's visit.

If he played his cards right, not only could he bury his scandal, but he could also turn this into a major political win.