Chapter 125: Controversy
Especially when the changes only affected appearance.
MusclePotato404 himself appeared to have no other problems at all.
His speech was clear and coherent.
He behaved completely normally.
Nothing about him resembled someone who had gone insane or lost control.
To Joo Joowon himself, however, these comments had very little impact.
Since most of the strategies he posted were ultimately based on his own guesses and deductions, there would inevitably come a day when some of those guesses turned out to be wrong.
Even so, up until this very moment, he still believed in his own judgment.
The people uploading those videos looked far too abnormal.
This wasn’t an ability.
This was mutation.
Even from a realistic perspective, it was true that elemental powers or psychic abilities would probably be rarer, while physical enhancements would make up the majority of awakenings.
But when he looked at those people, what exactly distinguished them from the Zombie Chimera they had already encountered?
It felt as though parasites hidden within the rain had entered their bodies and taken root inside them.
Rather than being powers that belonged to them, it felt more accurate to say that monsters had been born from within their flesh.
Perhaps it was because his Mental Power was already unusually high and he possessed no means of defending himself against psychic contamination.
Even through a screen, merely watching those videos left Joo Joowon feeling deeply uncomfortable.
It wasn’t disgust.
Over the past few days, he had already seen so many disgusting scenes that he had long since grown used to them.
Those videos weren’t enough to make him feel sick.
It was simply an overwhelming sense of discomfort.
Almost as though he was being exposed to some kind of mental pollution.
Even so, Joo Joowon had no intention of stepping forward to explain himself to other players.
First, he had no interest in falling into the trap of endlessly trying to prove his innocence.
Second, he genuinely had no evidence to support his claims.
If he tried to explain everything using nothing but words, people would only assume he was desperately making excuses for himself.
In any case, becoming the target of public criticism could also be considered a form of fame.
Besides, it didn’t seem like that many people actually believed him anyway.
It wasn’t necessarily because they trusted Joo Joowon.
Most people simply felt that MusclePotato404 didn’t exactly look like a trustworthy person either, so in their eyes neither side was particularly reliable.
The marketplace only stayed open for half an hour each day.
Seeing that Joo Joowon never responded, the other players naturally weren’t going to sit around waiting for him forever.
They gradually returned their attention to the matters they actually needed to deal with.
However, the issue still caused a huge number of separate discussion threads to appear on the marketplace.
Supporters and opponents fought endlessly in the comments section.
Joo Joowon genuinely couldn’t understand how these people still had the energy to engage in fan wars and online faction battles after the apocalypse had already arrived.
Yet while scrolling through the discussions, he suddenly noticed that a brand new thread concerning him had appeared.
[ Suspected Exposure of Ashfall’s True Identity ]
Several videos had been attached beneath the title.
The figure inside those videos looked extremely familiar.
It was footage of him leaping across rooftops and weaving around elite monsters during combat.
The first video showed zombies walking toward him as though they were being controlled, only to be effortlessly killed.
The second video showed elite monsters surrounding and attacking him.
The third video showed the scene where Joo Joowon had set corpses on fire while people around him became agitated and emotional.
However, the person who uploaded these videos wasn’t praising how powerful he was.
Instead, they were using the footage to condemn him.
According to them, Joo Joowon was antisocial and had recklessly started a fire without caring whether there were still survivors nearby.
Perhaps, they claimed, he had intended to burn those survivors alive together with the corpses.
As for Joo Joowon’s actions afterward, when he fetched water and extinguished the flames himself, the uploader simply skipped over that part entirely.
They clearly understood the art of selective storytelling.
...
[ @WhereIsMyEXP ]: Holy crap?! Spider Man?!
[ @MutationOrMagic ]: This is what awakening an ability is supposed to look like! The people next door are just mutating!
[ @ProfessionalHater ]: You’re really forcing this comparison, huh? At least the other side provided some evidence. You’re relying entirely on your mouth. Everyone knows Ashfall has a team behind him. There’s no way he’s out there hunting zombies alone. Honestly, I’d even believe he was backed by the military.
[ @CuriousSurvivor ]: So has the boss in this video seen this discussion yet? Can he come out and explain? Did he really awaken after getting caught in the rain? Or did he run into some kind of class change NPC?
[ @TrustMeBro ]: I can confirm the original poster is telling the truth. This guy might be strong, but his heart is dark. He told us there were no zombies outside and that it was safe to go out. Because of that, several of our companions died and we almost never made it back.
[ @ActualWitness ]: Stop spreading rumors. I was one of the witnesses too. The boss clearly had a plan. The fire was always under control. After the boss left, a bunch of people ran over to the burning area hoping to scavenge some leftovers, but they didn’t find anything. Then they got salty and started cursing. The boss killed those zombies himself and took his own loot. What’s wrong with that?
[ @EliteBootLicker ]: Hilarious. The guy probably hasn’t even seen this video and you’re already licking his boots?
[ @FarawayWolf ]: Stop dumping the blame on me. When we went outside back then, there really weren’t many zombies around. Hyung, specifically told you to keep watch and warn us immediately if you saw zombies starting to gather so we could get out of there. Instead, you opened a bottle of alcohol and got drunk out of your mind, completely ignoring what was happening outside. Did your alcohol addiction really get so bad that you couldn’t tell what was important anymore?
[ @FarawayWolf ]: You got people killed and now you refuse to admit it? If it weren’t for you, nobody would have died. When you ran away, you didn’t even warn anyone and used your teammates as shields while escaping. You’re an animal. Why don’t you just go die?
[ @CityBlacklist ]: Anyone from Sabi City should check my profile for @FarawayWolf’s photo. Be careful and avoid this idiot if you’re looking for teammates in the future.
[ @LookingForCarry ]: Holy crap, same city! Boss from the video, do you need logistics support or teammates? Look at me! I don’t eat much, I can cook, wash clothes, provide professional massages, and I’m skilled in all kinds of basic handiwork! I can do repairs too! Professional auto mechanic here!
[ @JusticeWarrior ]: The original poster isn’t wrong though. With power like that, instead of helping other people level up, he only thinks about hoarding everything for himself. Even if someone this selfish and self centered grows stronger, what good will it do anyone?
...
Despite the explosive title of the post, and despite accidentally hitting surprisingly close to the truth, not a single person actually connected the person in the video to Joo Joowon.