Chapter 194: Big Guy and Little Guy 4

A new captive joined the ranks of the doppelgangers we had caught, captured by the temple knights.

This caused quite a stir among the citizens.

They were initially shocked at the human-like appearance of the doppelgangers, questioning how they could be monsters.

Then, they were even more astounded to learn that a senior adventurer had carelessly fraternized with such a monster and got infected.

If the Magic Tower had been more systematic and open about sharing their knowledge, perhaps this unnamed senior adventurer wouldn’t have made history as the first man to be infected by a doppelganger in such a manner.

His name might be immortalized in the annals of the Magic Tower’s research.

“Ahem… Sir Roland and mage Han Se-ah, are you there?”

“Yes, what is it?”

Such were my thoughts as I rested on the 35th floor, when a priest and a mage came to seek us out.

Instead of heading directly to the 40th floor, our plan had shifted to eradicating the mutated trees producing monsters below the 40th floor, making the 35th floor our base of operations.

A week had passed since we handed over the infected adventurer to the temple and set up camp in a clearing on the 35th floor, starting our grind from the 31st floor.

The Magic Tower was conducting research, and the temple was aiding us in searching for the giant trees, while the viewers were growing restless.

No one seriously blames Han Se-ah, as it was due to my intense 35th-floor clean-up show.

But what can I say?

It seems the forums and community have started calling her fans monkeys.

It’s not a case of ‘the pot calling the kettle black’ but rather, they’ve been dubbed monkeys because they cheer when I effortlessly take down enemies, only to cry out in frustration with how long cleaning up the aftermath takes.

They’ve been portrayed as a monkey cult worshipping an 18+ mecha p*rno girl.

“As Sir Roland suggested, we were able to locate and uproot the trees producing monsters at the corners of the passages.”

“Very interesting creatures indeed! Ahem, Sir Roland! Have you kept any samples…?”

As the temple started moving almost frantically, the Magic Tower and the Adventurer’s Guild pitched in, compelled by the urgency.

With all the major forces of the city mobilized, finding the unusual monsters became quite straightforward.

We discovered information that the mages of the Magic Tower should have identified earlier regarding the enormous trees on the 35th floor, as large as a 63-story building.

On each floor, there are 10-meter-tall trees that absorb the swamp’s toxicity and produce troll bombs.

On every odd-numbered floor, there are 50-meter-tall trees that absorb the mana of the undead to create doppelgangers.

The 300-meter-tall tree on the 35th floor is suspected of absorbing divine energy and endlessly multiplying pale vines.

“None? That’s disappointing. No, I’m not questioning Sir Roland; it’s just that we’ve uncovered some intriguing research findings. When dissecting those creatures that mimic humans, we found their insides to be quite hollow. It seems as though they were designed to allow something to crawl inside.”

Troll bombs are a nuisance to players, but they also allow players to destroy the large trees.

Doppelgangers not only drain players’ wallets but also compel the temple to take action.

So, what about the pale vines produced by absorbing divine energy?

In fact, these weren’t vines but rather parasites or internal organs.

They burrow into the doppelgangers, endowing them with the ability to absorb divine energy, and then utilize this absorbed divine energy.

This is similar to creatures from famous zombie games, where attacking the head reveals a horrific parasite elongating from the severed neck, leading to a secondary transformation.

This was similar to zombies created by the Umbrella Corporation and monsters fleeing from space engineers.

This is a well-substantiated summary by creators who analyze games professionally, complemented by information from the Magic Tower and the temple:

If the floors from the 21st to the 30th were romantic due to the ridable mechas, the floors from the 31st to the 40th floor were outright blasphemous.

They featured the undead, the antithesis of life, doppelgangers mimicking humans, creatures of the Goddess, and infections imitating s*xual reproduction.

“Fortunately, like the evil seedlings eradicated by Sir Roland on the 35th floor, the wicked trees that produce evil creatures and trolls do not regenerate.”

“It’s a relief that the brothers of the Magic Tower are helping us. True to their inquisitive nature, they have discovered so much in such a short time.”

“Haha! All this is possible thanks to the Goddess’s blessing, allowing even us frail mages to conduct extensive research within the tower, right?”

In front of our group, gathered to hear the story, the priest and mage complimented each other.

The priest seemed pleased to have rooted out those who insult the Goddess, the saints, and the martyrs in just a week, while the mage seemed simply happy to have a well-equipped research lab in the tower.

The 35th floor itself is a huge research subject.

They have a fully equipped lab there with research topics that just come to them.

Add to that, they’re given experimental subjects and substantial funding for research.

If anyone is unhappy with this setup, they must be a psychopath…

No, scratch that, not even a psychopath, more like an unintelligent beast, right?

“Anyway, Sir Roland! Thanks to your actions, the temple has regained the honor of the Goddess, and the Magic Tower has been able to ignite a new beacon of knowledge. We are always grateful for this.”

“If, by any chance, as you ascend to the higher levels, you come across those pale vines you mentioned, please make sure to capture them…”

That seemed to be all the information they had, as the priest offered a polite farewell and the mage showed a hint of regret until the end.

For the mage, it seemed that the early conclusion of the holy war or the weakened state of the Demon King’s forces was not a desirable outcome.

At the same time, Han Se-ah’s face lit up with excitement.

“The quest window has updated! …It looks like the kind of quest that should have appeared before destroying the tree on the 35th floor. That powerful force has been replaced, by Roland, or something like that? This means we might be able to skip a few intermediate quests and head straight to the boss quest on the 40th floor.”

There were cheers, as it meant the progression of quests, which had been stalled for a week, has started again.

Whether it’s due to technological limitations or the limits of the human body, time in Heroes Chronicle seems to flow at a 1:1 ratio with reality.

As a result, Han Se-ah has become the top strategist and the most-watched streamer in Heroes Chronicle.

While others need about two weeks to gather capital by accepting requests, Han Se-ah just needs my wallet.

She can handle monster hordes that should take 30 minutes in just 5 minutes with my assistance, and boss monsters are swiftly dispatched – the pace is simply unmatched!

Despite envy towards Han Se-ah’s fortune, posts recommending her streams have spread everywhere, from the game forums to streamer forums and even humor posts on other sites.

“Come on! Just because progress was slow for a week, why attack me like this? Hey, anyone using that article to tease me will get an immediate permanent ban, regardless of the amount.”

The issue seems to be the low-quality malice that follows fame.

Following the doppelganger assault incident, journalists have started blabbering about the dangers of virtual reality games.

It seems that in this parallel world, the nature of viral journalism* remains unchanged.

Anonymous sources armed with low-quality stories, spread them in communities without fact-checking, leading to viral articles that are then replicated with no fact verification – it’s all the same.

Thankfully, Han Se-ah, being accustomed to malice as a fitness streamer, isn’t too bothered by this.

I can’t prevent real-world incidents, only those in the game.

“If we’ve eradicated all those evil trees, does that mean the human-imitating monsters won’t reappear?”

“It seems so. I heard the mages from the Magic Tower expressing their regret in the market district.”

While Han Se-ah deals with malicious viewers, her companions discuss the eradicated doppelgangers and move towards the passage leading upwards.

And I’m staring at the unexpectedly appeared quest window.

So, what’s the reward this time, more divine energy?

*viral journalism… I don’t know what to call this… journalists that follow the trend? click baiters? I dunno kinda like when something is popular people flock to it and make all kinds of articles to attract readers…