Chapter 499: The Entire Player Public Relations Department Collapse!
[ Little Gui's Livestream ]
While Little Gui played through the story, she kept a close eye on the live chat.
Seeing countless players denouncing the heinous deeds of the IPC's Marketing Development Department, she nodded deeply in agreement!
"When it comes to the IPC… I definitely have a say in this!"
"Back then, my homeland, Camelot, was completely destroyed by the Antimatter Legion. My brothers, sisters, and I had no choice but to flee to Humboldt-."
"That was a resource planet belonging to the Interastral Peace Corporation."
"Several of my older brothers, along with an old knight who was like an uncle to us, were forced to become miners for the IPC."
"They were forced to toil away endlessly every single day, and on top of that, pay massive taxes!"
"After paying the taxes, they barely had any money left—just enough to scrape by and not starve."
"And that old knight, in the end… passed away due to sheer exhaustion…"
Little Gui's voice choked up slightly.
However, she was now a seasoned streamer.
She quickly adjusted her composure.
At the very least, she appeared to have returned to normal.
She slammed the desk hard!
"So I say…"
"SOME OF THE BASTARDS IN THE IPC ARE TRULY ABOMINABLE!!!"
…
"Well said, Princess Guinaifen!"
"I read this part in Little Gui's character story; she's definitely not making it up."
"Your Highness, please forgive this old retainer for coming late!"
"Line up the employees of the Marketing Development Department and shoot them all—sure, you might execute an innocent by mistake. But shoot every other person, and you'll definitely let guilty ones slip through!"
"Down with the Interastral Peace Corporation! Down with the Marketing Development Department!"
"Amber Lord above, please open Your eyes and look! Under the banner of interastral peace and Preservation, these scoundrels commit every evil imaginable, ruthlessly exploiting and oppressing the cosmos!"
"Players, unite! Boycott the IPC!"
Just as the outrage in the chat grew more and more intense, some unusual voices suddenly appeared!
"I'm an IPC employee, and actually… things back then weren't what the IPC intended to do!"
"Yeah, the higher-ups had no idea about many of those things. It was all rogue actions taken by subordinates~"
"I heard it was done by outsourced personnel and temporary workers."
"WTF! Where did the IPC hire these braindead actors and bots? Boothill's character story explicitly states that Oswaldo Schneider, Head of the Marketing Development Department, ordered the massacre of the natives of Argun-Aparshe! And you're telling me it was outsourced workers?!"
"Do you think I'd believe Feathered Spirit, or an NPC-bot like you?"
"Transfer me to a real human agent!"
"Piece of shit! F*** you!"
"Trying to control the narrative with water armies?"
"Still trying to muddy the waters and pull your old tricks? Let me tell you: no way in hell! Every player now can tell the difference between genuine sentiment and astroturfing bots!"
"Can you IPC dogs just go die in a ditch?"
"Fuck this, I can't take it anymore! Anyone want to join me and take down the IPC!?"
…
Inside the IPC.
Player Public Relations Department.
Looking at the situation across all the major livestreams, the managers were drenched in cold sweat!
The online water army had barely surfaced before being completely swarmed and torn apart by the players!
They had tried to whitewash the IPC's reputation…
Yet, it only added fuel to the fire!
The backlash was growing even more ferocious!
"How about… we ask Aventurine or Miss Topaz to step in and clarify things?" Seeing that the situation was spiraling out of control, an employee made a trembling suggestion.
Immediately, another employee chimed in, "Indeed, both Directors carry a lot of prestige among the players…"
"Our only choice now is to ask for their help…"
However, the manager glared at them furiously!
"Are you an idiot?"
"Or have you never played Honkai: Star Rail?"
"Aventurine would like nothing more than to see the Marketing Development Department burn to the ground! Did you forget the Sigonia Aventurine case?"
"He was sentenced to death for defrauding the IPC, and it was only because Jade protected him that he became one of the Ten Stonehearts today…"
"Topaz is also one of the Ten Stonehearts. The three of them are as tight-knit as a single Cornerstone! How could they possibly stick their necks out for the Marketing Development Department?"
"Hurry up and wake up more bots across all livestreams! Keep whitewashing it for me!"
"If this outrage doesn't die down today, both your performance bonuses and year-end bonuses will be wiped out completely!"
Inside the conference room, a dead silence fell.
It was like the calm before the storm.
On the main screen in front, players' comments were still flooding in endlessly!
More and more players who had been harmed by the IPC came forward to speak up.
Suddenly!
An employee stepped away from his workstation and stood up!
"I QUIT!!!"
"What's so hard about those Marketing Development bastards' lives?!"
"They spend all day squandering public funds on eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling—every single one of them is fat and bloated! And we're supposed to whitewash for scumbags like them, shamelessly defending their image?"
"I feel like a piece of putrid mud rotting on the pavement!"
"I'M NOT DOING THIS SHIT ANYMORE!!!"
The manager's hands trembled with rage!
"Good… Very good…"
"If you don't want to do it, plenty of others will! You're fired!"
"Pack your things right now and go settle your pay with Finance!"
The employee ripped his corporate badge off and slammed it onto the table!
His eyes shone brighter and brighter, as if something buried deep inside him for a long time had finally reawakened!
"Fired? So be it! I'm going online to expose everything that happens here!"
"I will reveal every ounce of injustice and oppression I've suffered under you to the entire cosmos!"
The manager's face flushed crimson.
He overheated with rage, looking as though his shameful secret had been ripped bare in public.
Yet he still forced a haughty, authoritative tone: "You dare? That's a breach of contract! You'll be sentenced to over a century of imprisonment and astronomical fines!"
Hearing this, the other employees, who had been enduring in silence, could no longer hold back!
One after another, they all stood up!
"We quit too!"
"We're humans, we're players, and we're Trailblazers!"
"Why should we swallow our pride and take this abuse from you?"
"How can I stoop and compromise to serve the powerful, and rob myself of a joyful heart?!"
"For a few measly credits, my Trailblaze will has been completely tarnished!"
"Only today can I finally speak my mind!"
"I feel like I've found my true self again!"
"We're going on strike together! If you have the guts, go ahead and imprison us all! Blacklist all of us!"
The manager was completely dumbfounded!
Before his eyes was a sea of people—every single one of them had risen to their feet!
His lips quivered.
He wanted to say something, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single syllable…
His legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees!
"Waaaah… waaaah…"
"Aaaargh! I didn't want to do this either!"
"Wasn't it all for that damn performance rating, those damn Credits, and an empty, illusory future?!"
"My homeworld was bought out by the Marketing Development Department! If I don't hit my targets, my entire family will be sold as slaves to other planets!"
"Damn the Marketing Development Department! I swear an irreconcilable feud against you all!"