The public opinion was at its worst.
‘Had there ever been a time as a streamer when I was hit with such concentrated criticism?’
“Da-young… Are you okay?”
Even Pepe’s comforting words, now in her usual tone, passed through one ear and out the other.
My brain, overwhelmed by the sudden crisis, couldn’t filter any information.
When something catastrophic happens, reality often feels distant.
Right now, no emotions surfaced apart from the blank shock that left me speechless.
The casual thought of “What kind of content should I plan for the next stream?” had long since vanished.
Instead of feeling drained by emotions over this situation, a practical question popped into my mind: ‘What should I do first?’
I looked up and saw the monitor screen, cluttered with numerous posts.
One caught my eye.
[General] Forming knew about Friedé using hacks all along.
“…Friedé?”
Finally, I snapped out of my daze.
Ah, right. Friedé. What about her?
This issue isn’t mine alone, after all.
‘Is Friedé okay? Should we put our heads together and figure out a solution?’
“Ah…”
Da-young hurriedly sent a message, but Friedé, who usually responded quickly, was unusually quiet today.
When there was no reply even after ten minutes, the looming silence made her feel like the darkness was closing in.
She almost wished she could close her eyes and escape.
“I’m sorry, Pepe. I’m going to sleep for a bit. Let’s talk later.”
‘Things will look better after I wake up.’
She rationalized her decision, convincing herself that anyone would think this way when things get tough.
Eventually, exhaustion won, and she fell asleep within an hour.
***
She woke up at 7 p.m.
It seemed she had passed out for nine hours, sleeping as though unconscious.
For a streamer, this was the peak time for live streaming.
She got up and looked at her computer without thinking, only to find that nothing had changed.
The hope that everything would reset once she opened her eyes was just a dream.
It might be shameless to have expected the firestorm to burn out quickly, considering how much fuel had been added.
The only relief was that, unlike the escalating situation, Da-young herself felt somewhat calmer.
This was a different version of her compared to earlier when she had collapsed onto the bed in shock.
Sleep doesn’t solve everything, but still…
‘It does help steady my mind.’
Da-young decided to check her phone history first.
It had been quite some time since she sent the message, but there was still no response from Friede.
There wasn’t even a “read” notification—a perfect ghosting.
‘What should I make of Friede’s silence?’
‘No, now isn’t the time to dwell on that.’
If Friedé couldn’t be reached, everything else was meaningless anyway.
She shelved her doubts for now.
With trembling hands, she began searching online, clicking through links and examining the situation.
Her mouse cursor hovered over a post, and she clicked it without much thought.
The content was predictably harsh, yet she couldn’t help herself.
[General] Disappointed in Forming
I’ve been following her since her glory days before she dropped off… but this is pathetic.
She used to have better judgment than this, even if she’s a has-been now.
Time to switch to someone else.
[Still not unfollowed? You’re a real sucker.]
[Probably the king of simps. Thick broth of tears, lol.]
[Why bother watching a has-been?]
[I actually enjoyed her streams… even when she was a nobody, I kept watching.]
[But this? This is crossing the line.]
[General] Forming’s face, lmao. How does someone like that even become a streamer?
Caked-on makeup, fancy lighting—these days anyone can be a streamer, huh?
When you wipe off your makeup, do it with my spit, lol. Spits
Some of these comments look like they’re from police station regulars.
I’ve archived everything, lol.
Truly, it’s the era of lawsuits.
Each post she scrolled through sent short gasps of pain from her lips.
Her chest hurt as if she’d been physically struck, even though no one had laid a finger on her.
“Da-young, you’re hungry, right? Here, at least eat this.”
Pepe, struggling with her tiny frame, brought over a bowl filled with an assortment of snacks.
Ah, now that she thought about it, she hadn’t eaten.
Someone once said that appetite disappears during a crisis…
Though she hadn’t eaten for quite a while, the snacks Pepe brought didn’t stir her hunger.
“Thank you.”
Out of consideration for her worried partner, she nibbled on a single chocolate cookie.
The sweetness of the chocolate gently softened her parched mouth.
Ah, Friedé was like that too—a bit like this chocolate.
The last time she saw Friedé …
Friedé had firmly stated that she wasn’t using hacks, and Da-young had decided to believe her.
Sure, Friedé had a slight attention-seeking streak, but from what Da-young knew, Friedé wasn’t the type to engage in such mischief.
‘But… does consuming sugar actually lead to more optimistic thoughts?’
She found herself not resenting Friedé despite the lack of contact.
Instead, she felt an odd sense of amusement at her own willingness to understand Friedé .
‘She must have her reasons for not replying.’
‘She’ll contact me eventually.’
Yes, she chose to believe that.
And in the meantime, she needed to focus on what she could do.
The priority was to figure out where this issue began and why it exploded.
There must’ve been a trigger somewhere.
“Ah, here it is.”
A post by a YouTuber named SUHO. Da-young recognized him.
He was a popular streamer known for his Grand Master-tier gameplay in Soul Warfare.
That made her wonder.
‘Why would a well-known streamer, averaging 10,000 viewers, feel the need to do something like this?’
‘We don’t even have any real connection.’
Da-young couldn’t understand why SUHO would make a targeted broadcast against Friede.
Whether she liked it or not, the first step was to watch the video.
Maybe things would become clear after that.
***
[Not a Hero of Light, but a Hero of Hacks]
A provocative title.
The reputation of being a popular streamer with a Challenger-tier ranking lent credibility to such targeted videos.
Given the popularity of the game, the level of attention was staggering.
The video already had over 500,000 views, a testament to the public’s interest in the issue.
As Da-young watched, she began to understand why it was gaining so much traction and why SUHO had targeted Friedé, causing the fallout to reach her as well.
A 2v2 match at a detour point.
The video highlighted how a player equipped with “Friedé’s Great Scythe” repeatedly fell victim to windmill knockbacks from Friedé and Da-young’s gameplay.
‘Ah, so it was that player.’
From the two consecutive windmill knockbacks, Da-young immediately guessed who it was.
Perhaps they hadn’t recognized her because she was playing with a secondary account.
[Hacks ruining duo matches—Is this what ranked gameplay in Soul Warfare should be?]
The video began with a provocative statement.
Whoever edited the footage had clearly put a lot of effort into it.
“Now, take a look at this section. The reaction speed to my attack is between 0.1 to 0.2 seconds.”
“The response time shown here makes no sense at all.”
“Of course, one might argue that it’s just an insane highlight reel, or that this person has STK Warden-level skills. That’s possible.”
“In this specific match, sure, you might accept that reasoning. But!”
After a dramatic pause, SUHO transitioned the screen to Friedé’s match history.
It displayed an impressive record of 20 consecutive wins, along with replays of key moments from each game.
As the footage rolled, SUHO launched into another fervent explanation.
“Take a look at Friedé’s record. I couldn’t check every game, but I reviewed replays from the last 20 matches.”
“The reaction speed is the same in every single clip, like a program that outputs predetermined results.”
“If someone consistently demonstrates such flawless mechanics across countless games without any variance, doesn’t that raise questions?”
‘Of course.’
Da-young had suspected that Friedé ’s skills—or the perception of her skills—might stir up controversy.
However, she hadn’t anticipated it would escalate to this degree.
SUHO’s campaign to sway public opinion was undeniably effective.
Occasionally, some Grand Masters argued that the developers or GMs would have detected the hacks if they existed, but their voices were drowned out in the storm.
***
‘What could Da-young do at this point?’
Even as the flames raged, she found herself paralyzed, unable to take any action.
It wasn’t just the shock of encountering an obstacle on what had seemed like smooth sailing.
More than anything, she knew that making a single misstep here would only drag her deeper into ruin.
“Sigh….”
Despite having slept deeply, the exhaustion pounding in her head drove her further into the chair.
Nearby, Pepe nervously flapped his wings, perched uneasily on the desk.
The sight of the usually confident green frog—who had remained unfazed even in front of the Demon King—fretting over the internet’s backlash brought a small smile to Da-young’s lips.
“Scared?”
“I’m just worried about you, Da-young.”
Watching the anxious Pepe, Da-young responded with a weak smile.
“Right now, nothing I do would matter, Frogman. Taking action would just be like pouring fuel on the fire. The only answer is to wait it out.”
“But still….”
“Once enough time passes, Friedé will get in touch. And once the public calms down, I can explain things appropriately.”
“And if the Hero of Light disappears?”
“Even if I can’t reach Friedé, I’ll find a way to handle it eventually.”
Pepe’s worried eyes turned toward her, prompting a faint laugh from Da-young.
‘Unless Friedé really did use hacks…’
There was no way she would apologize, no matter how much public pressure she faced.
Whatever the controversy, it was still just a targeted broadcast by one YouTuber.
If she apologized now, she would only cement herself as guilty.
Would people forgive her if she admitted wrongdoing? Not a chance…
‘They’d just tear me apart even more.’
So even if she was insulted for being shameless or called pathetic, she wouldn’t allow herself to be branded a criminal.
Moreover, there was one reason she could never compromise.
‘I’m a Hero.’
As a Hero, she had made a vow.
She had committed no crime deserving of such condemnation and malice.
Not alone, nor alongside Friede.
She needed to hold her ground.
***
While Da-young was firming up her resolve, her silent phone suddenly chimed.
Ding★!
Seeing the sender of the long-awaited message, Da-young exclaimed with excitement.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting!”
***
It had been three days since the controversy over the “Hero Duo’s Hack Usage” had erupted, with Friedé and Forming being dragged through the mud.
The drama was beginning to lose its edge, leaving bored troublemakers restless.
Then, a notification popped up on one particular channel, and people flocked to it.
A new video had been uploaded to Hero Forming’s channel.
[Hello. This is the Hero of Light, Friede.]
Even more shocking, the video was a statement from Friedé herself, the central figure in the controversy.
Sitting arrogantly in an extravagant MS Room, Friedé’s appearance felt unfamiliar to those used to seeing her on casual streams.
“Hello, this is the Hero of Light, Friede.”
“I don’t have a YouTube channel, so I uploaded this on Hero Forming’s channel. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Oh, by the way, I’ll be starting my own streams soon. Since everyone’s so eager to watch, I might as well throw in some ads while I have your attention…”
Her introduction was so nonchalant, so detached from the surrounding controversy, that it left viewers dumbfounded.
Her demeanor clearly conveyed that she wasn’t affected by the situation in the slightest.
“I was away due to personal matters, and it seems an interesting issue cropped up while I was gone.”
“I’m not sure what evidence SUHO claims to have proving I use hacks—but from what I’ve seen, it’s nothing substantial. Surely, he’s not serious about using that as evidence, is he?”
“Getting tilted over two consecutive windmill knockbacks… I get it, but don’t you think this is a bit much?”
“However, being the generous person I am, I’m willing to give SUHO a chance to prove his point.”
Her next statement landed like a bomb in an already volatile situation.
“Since Soul Warfare has a real-time hack detection system, how about a one-on-one in the arena with a GM present?”
Waving a paper that said “Duel Arena,” Friedé smirked mockingly.
“Of course, I’m not suggesting we do this for nothing.”
“If I lose, and if the GM confirms I used hacks, Forming and I will retire from streaming. Not that I’ve started yet, but, well, it’s the same thing. However!”
She pointed directly at the camera, tossing the “Duel Arena” paper with a flick of her hand.
It fluttered lazily across the screen as if taunting everyone involved in the controversy.
“If SUHO loses, he’ll have to delete his channel.”
“If you want to ruin someone else’s career, you should be prepared to risk your own. You’re not going to chicken out, are you? I’ll be waiting for your response.”
Stepping closer to the camera until only her lips filled the screen, Friedé whispered:
“Scared?”
“Scared?!”
Da-young, who had been watching, was horrified.
She had been told the video would counter SUHO’s accusations, so she hadn’t checked the content before uploading it in a rush.
Now, it was too late to retract it.
That woman…
“Why drag my channel into this?!”
It seemed that this spiral of chaos would continue for a while.