Game Opportunities Become Reality Chapter 78
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Game Opportunities Become Reality Chapter 78
22. Monster Subjugation Battle (3)
"Every time I watch, it cracks me up it's such a hilarious broadcast."
Even though it's a Saintess contest, I believe Ibril's channel is the only one providing entertainment value.
Ibril is young and innocent, so she experiences culture shock and gets flustered a lot in the mercenary world she's just set foot in. And perhaps because she's dealt with all kinds of people from a young age through part-time jobs and the like, she's managed to build quite close relationships with the mercenaries.
Sometimes, almost too close.
[Ibril! Ibril! Ibril!]
[We'll protect Lady Ibril's safety!]
Mercenaries even started volunteering to be her Guard, but unlike Ibril, who was embarrassed by it, the viewers' reactions were overwhelmingly favorable.
-Ibril is seriously so cute.
└Agreed. She's fresh-faced, pretty, and way too kind.
└Now I get why Adrian-nim chose Ibril.
└Wait, our Lady Ibril's Sponsor is that Adrian-nim? Damn, our hyung's got good taste.
└Yeah, they've appeared together on variety shows plenty of times.
└Our hyung said it himself if he hadn't discovered her, he never would've stepped into a fight against the world's power players.
└I hope Ibril becomes the Saintess. She's a girl who fits the Saintess image perfectly.
└Agreed.
Exactly like this.
Thanks to all this, Ibril received overwhelming public favor, and her viewership ratings were soaring to new heights.
[Current Contest Channel Viewership Ratings]
1.52% Ibril Barnet
1.16% Lloyd Hielven
0.95% Grace Hielven
0.92% Judy Esther
First place, with a huge gap over second.
Ibril had surged ahead, effectively stealing the elves' viewership.
The former first-place holder, 'Grace Hielven' granddaughter of the Elf Queen had dropped to third place, and even that third-place spot was now being threatened by 'Judy Esther,' who was allied with our Ibril.
This was a trait of the elves.
In the early stages of broadcast appearances, their dazzling beauty captures viewers' attention. But their naturally stoic demeanor makes them focus solely on the tasks, and perfectly executing those tasks turns the broadcast's atmosphere into something like a documentary.
No matter how much of a treat it is for the eyes, if the content is boring, people are bound to get tired of it.
So once viewers figured out each contestant's character, the migration began and the one receiving the most attention became Ibril.
But other candidate camps that treated viewership ratings like report cards viewed Ibril with great disdain.
[Ibril, a Saintess candidate? Absolutely absurd. Evidence suggests she was a schoolyard bully in the past.]
[Ibril is Marquis Lawrence's lover. Rumors say she's a gold digger who specifically targets nobles...]
There were even candidate camps that resorted to such filthy media manipulation.
However, since we'd anticipated that this kind of reaction would naturally arise once Ibril gained attention, we responded swiftly.
[Other candidates' media manipulation has crossed the line. I, Lawrence Adrian, will take active measures against the spread of false rumors targeting Saintess candidate Ibril.]
[The Church's Contest Administration Bureau has issued stern warnings to the candidate camps of 'Rien Castro' and 'Roxanne Iboten.' If further evidence of slander or false rumors toward other candidates comes to light, it will be interpreted as a challenge to the Church and result in a declaration of apostasy.]
A challenge to the Church and a declaration of apostasy?
This was a measure that not only disqualified the candidates but also shook the very power behind their Sponsors.
In a world where the power of the Creator Sepia influences everything, the only apostates are demon worshippers hiding in the shadows.
In other words, being branded an apostate by the Church meant becoming one and the same as them.
That was equivalent to making enemies of the entire world practically suicide.
"With this, two of the fifteen Saintess candidates have been eliminated."
Furthermore, the moment the names of the candidates who received warnings from the Holy Land were mentioned, their contests were as good as over.
The clergy who had supported them would withdraw their backing.
And global condemnation would pour down upon those candidate camps.
"I feel bad for the candidates, but it can't be helped. A Sponsor is just as much a part of the candidate."
Thanks to the Holy Land's firm response, the statements targeting Ibril were never taken as fact.
On the contrary, this incident only generated sympathetic Public opinion toward Ibril, further solidifying her popularity.
Of course, it's clear that my media play played a major role in forming that sympathetic public opinion.
Having driven off those who pulled such foolhardy stunts that were no better than pawns, no one tried any more tricks, and for a "stage of politics" where countless high-ranking power holders had gathered, things were running fairly cleanly.
But with things having turned out this way, there were those who were struggling greatly.
[Why should I have to do that?]
[A Saintess doesn't do such things.]
[This is commoner's work.]
Those were the Saintess and Holy Son candidates from high noble families.
With no troublemaking and watching each other's contests with fair eyes, those from high noble families, steeped in authority and elitism, naturally became the villains.
Among them, the absolute standout was Princess Evelyn Francis, daughter of Duke Francis, who acted however she pleased, keeping in mind that broadcast ratings were no plus factor for becoming a Saintess anyway.
"Leaving your comrades to fight on the battlefield while you have tea time alone. Are party members not comrades but subordinates?"
It was a situation where the question "Is she serious?" naturally arose.
What good is being faithful to the mission as a mercenary?
Everything else is a complete dud.
Whenever I see people like Evelyn Francis, I can only be astonished.
Surely their camps have people who devise strategies. Do they not offer any criticism?
"No, it's simply that my ideology differs from the other nobles."
To them, commoners were not people to be mindful of.
That's why they act so crazily without hesitation.
I shook my head.
"Still, that's just not right."
This isn't a contest to pick a Saintess for the nobles it's a contest to pick a Saintess for the world.
I think I can set aside Evelyn, whom I thought was a strong rival.
With this, Ibril's rivals would be the high elf girl, who though blunt never neglects her duties, and Judy Esther, a commoner backed by Olivia that's about it.
[Lady Ibril! We will protect you!]
As I switched channels watching the broadcasts, I could see mercenaries who, despite Ibril telling them not to follow, volunteered as her guard and trailed her all the way to the hunting grounds.
"What is that?"
Mercenaries couldn't be hired outside the party, but there was no rule against not stopping those who volunteered on their own.
Still, it was enough of an issue for other camps to protest.
Thanks to that, while others were leaders of small mercenary parties, Ibril looked like a Knight Captain of a mercenary band.
* * *
Ibril and her party members set out to hunt, having received a B-rank quest to subjugate five trolls.
"Shield!"
"Fireball!"
"Fire Arrow!"
Ibril's party, with all members except her being Magic Swordsmen, was bound to have flashy battle scenes.
In particular, Lopes, possessing the skills of both a regular Mage and a regular Knight, had combat power on par with an Aura Expert of the upper tier, so their hunting was inevitably more advantageous than the parties of other candidates in many ways.
"Lady Ibril!"
"Yes! Holy Defense!"
But that didn't mean she was just tagging along in the party hunting.
Though the holy magic she could use was limited to just four types 'healing, defense, blessing, attribute enchantment' her Divine power reserve was so large that she rarely tired, and each effect was so outstanding that the 'Angel's Feathers' effect triggered.
Because of this, even as rookie mercenaries, they showed steadiness that didn't feel rookie-like, and with all the various effects exploding, viewers' eyes were naturally delighted.
And they had another secret weapon.
"Lady Ibril! We've gathered the corpses here!"
That was the existence of meddlesome mercenaries.
They waved at Ibril, carrying troll corpses on a floating board.
"Yes?"
"Please use them to clear your quest, Lady Ibril."
Thanks to that, the subjugation quest was completed just ten minutes after entering the hunting grounds.
But Ibril's reaction to the mercenaries' goodwill was pure restlessness and confusion.
The reason was that the trolls they hunted numbered just one, while the mercenaries who voluntarily stepped forward claiming to help had hunted the rest and offered them to her.
"I-Is this allowed?"
Ibril asked the cameraman, but how would he know?
The camera swayed left and right, gesturing that it didn't know.
"I hear the Lord will confirm anyway. Until the results come out, she's been told to just act normally."
"Even if they said to act normally..."
Ibril took in the fierce-looking mercenaries.
At first, they only seemed frightening, but as she kept looking, she grew used to them, and came to realize that mercenaries who lived by the sword were, in the end, no different from ordinary people.
Indeed, when their eyes met hers, the mercenaries all wore simple, honest smiles.
"You all fight to make a living, don't you? Is it really alright for you to waste your time because of me?"
Ibril couldn't help but ask them.
It was true that she had done a good deed by healing them, but even so, their reactions felt far too excessive.
She found it hard to understand why the mercenaries would give up their precious time to help her without any pay.
"Doesn't the world point fingers at mercenaries, saying we're lowlifes who sell our lives for money?"
But the mercenary's reaction that followed was far too earnest.
The mercenary who received her question was the very one she had healed first.
"That's not true. Not everyone is like that."
Ibril shook her head, saying she didn't think so either, but she couldn't deny what the mercenary said next.
"Saying not everyone is like that just means some people are. In truth, the general social image is exactly what I said. You know that, right?"
"..."
At that, Ibril wore an apologetic expression even though she had done nothing wrong.
Then the mercenary grinned and spoke.
"But Lady Ibril is different. You treat everyone without discrimination. I may not look it, but I can proudly say my face is the most fearsome among all mercenaries and someone like you, who came up to me first, cast healing magic on me, and ran off, is no ordinary angel."
An angel, of all things Ibril fidgeted, thinking the analogy was too much.
"Ahem, so we're betting on you."
"Yes?"
"We're betting on you to make Lady Ibril into the Saintess. If you, who received our help, become the Saintess, wouldn't the image of mercenaries change a little?"
Beasts who would abandon all righteousness for money.
Beings who might strike you from behind at any time, anywhere.
His declaration could be interpreted as an attempt to bring even a small change to that common perception.
"I checked the other competition channels, and they're a mess. Regardless of our help, someone like Lady Ibril is who should become the Saintess."
"Well said!"
"Ibril! Ibril! Ibril!"
As the mercenaries chanted her name once more, Ibril wore an awkward expression.
They were actions she had taken without much thought.
But those actions were now producing unexpected results.
Ibril realized that her light-hearted actions could hold great meaning to someone else.
"I-I'll do my best!"
Before the mercenaries chanting her name, she revealed her resolve for the first time.
"It's a coming-of-age drama."
That was the line from Allen Lopez, the Magic Swordsman who could be called the de facto leader of Ibril's party.
Unlike the channels of other candidates, Ibril's channel contained not only entertainment value but also a growth element like a coming-of-age drama.
It was only natural that her popularity was soaring.
[Ibril Barnet, Already Saintess-Level Popularity Who Is She?]
[From a Friendly Convenience Store Part-Timer to Saintess Candidate? Revisiting the Fateful Encounter Between Ibril Barnet and Marquis Adrian Lawrence.]
And this became enough to grate on the nerves of noble-born Saintess candidates who acted as they pleased, thinking commoners' opinions were beneath them.
"Can we really just leave this commoner wench named Ibril alone?"
"But what can we do? The Holy Land has its eyes wide open..."
"Whatever we do, it only matters that we don't get caught, right? The ones who got caught during their media play were just idiots."
"Hmm..."
"Should we keep playing fair?"
Ibril's popularity plunged her into an even greater trial.
"Fair play was originally a rule made for the poor and the powerless. We have no need to follow it."
"That's true. Very well. Then I'll look into finding a way."
"Thank you, Father."