It was late at night in Slumdon Town. A player crouched behind some trees, a mischievous grin stretched across his face. The gamer tag hovering above his character read [Gaara], a prank content creator notorious for his in-game antics, which he frequently shared on his YouTube channel.
He glanced at the floating camera hovering in front of him.
“See, guys, I’ve been watching this area for the past few days, and I know exactly when the gorilla statue is unguarded! Hahaha. Look at that.”
The camera panned toward the iconic gorilla statue-an armored figure, standing proud and imposing, with plants growing across its body. It was a well-known symbol of Slumdon Town, often talked about by both locals and players who frequently visited the town just to take photos with it.
“Alright, here’s the challenge! Hahaha,” Gaara said with excitement. “I’m going to pee on that statue and record it! This is going to be my most daring challenge yet, and I’ll make sure no one notices until the video drops tomorrow morning.”
Gaara watched as the knights switched shifts, then snuck closer to the gorilla statue with a quiet laugh. He set the floating camera to film from behind him, glancing back over his shoulder.
“This is it, time to mark this dumb icon with my personal touch.”
Humming a tune to himself, he prepared to carry out his prank. But-!
Suddenly, the camera went black, and Gaara was instantly killed on the spot.
The next day, Gaara uploaded the video to his YouTube channel, but he spun a different narrative than he had initially planned.
“You’ve gotta believe me! The gorilla statue is alive! It’s not just a statue; it’s a golem! Its gigantic hand came down on me and killed me instantly. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture the best angle, but look at this.”
He pointed to the video, showing a slight movement from the statue just before it attacked Gaara from behind. The footage wasn’t clear, but there was a definite, subtle shift in the statue’s legs.
“I’m not lying! The gorilla statue in Slumdon Town is a golem!”
However, the comments on the video were far from supportive, with viewers accusing him of creating false hype.
“Bro ran out of ideas and now he’s making stuff up.”
“This gotta be the weirdest marketing scheme I’ve seen, Gaara.”
“Bro tried to prank the statue and got pranked himself, hahaha.”
“Next up: ‘Gorilla Statue 2: The Revenge’ lmao.”
“We all know you’re just covering up for a bad prank gone wrong, bro.”
“Gaara’s plot twist wasn’t strong enough for that insta-death [].”
“Plot twist: the gorilla statue subscribes to Gaara’s channel just to keep messing with him [].”
***
Finally, it was time for Broken and the others to head back to the city. Initially, Marlene had suggested that Broken stay behind in the cave if he preferred, since there were still things the others needed to handle. However, she reassured him that he had plenty of time left to hatch the egg, and since he needed to log out soon anyway, he decided to join them on the journey back.
The trip was faster this time, as they retraced their previous route, now less populated with monsters. This was also helped by Broken’s summons, which provided extra support whenever they encountered packs of enemies.
One noticeable difference on this trip was that it wasn’t just Subaru chatting with Broken anymore. Some of the others started talking to him as well, and even patted him on the shoulder after they finished battling groups of monsters.
Broken’s inventory was nearly full by now, and he was eager to offload some items once they reached the city. It would be a great opportunity to earn some extra cash, especially since Hell coins held a different value than Yunatea coins.
By the time they arrived in the city, it was already nearing nightfall. This time, they were allowed into the city with ease. They quickly headed to the inn they had rented and logged out together for the night.
***
Leon stepped out of his gaming room and suddenly remembered it was Saturday night. He had promised to spend some time with Lily today, but when he checked the living room, she wasn’t there. He walked over to her room and knocked on the door.
Lily opened it, looking excited. “Leon, come here! I want to show you something,” she said, grabbing his hand.
She led him to her computer and pulled up a YouTube video. As it played, Leon realized it was talking about Slumdon Town.
“What is this guy doing?” he asked.
“Watch,” Lily replied, continuing the video until the end, before bursting into laughter.
“Damn, do people actually believe that gorilla statue is really a golem?”
“I saw lots of comments saying they don’t believe it,” Lily said with a grin. “But the video was posted yesterday, and Freya told me that Slumdon Town has actually been swarmed by more players because of it. All because of this video.”
“Well, I guess that’s good news,” Leon mused.
“But what if they start demanding proof that the statue is actually a golem?” Lily asked with a smirk.
“Hmm…” Leon thought for a moment. “I don’t really have a reason to keep it a secret. But honestly, I think it would be way cooler if the golem was revealed in some epic, suspenseful moment. You know, when everyone least expects it. That would just add to the
awesomeness.”
Lily giggled at his response.
After chatting for a bit, Lily, who was already dressed up and ready, grabbed her bag.
“I’m heading out,” she said.
“Wait, by yourself?”
“Yes.”
“But didn’t I say I’d take you out to play?” Leon asked, looking a bit puzzled.
“Today is Hazel’s birthday, and she invited me and a few friends to dinner,” Lily explained.
“Oh really? She didn’t invite me too?”
Lily smirked. “Why should she? Well, actually, she did invite you, but I told her you were busy, remember?” She giggled. “You’re too busy with that sexy woman from the Shadow
Wolves.”
With that teasing remark, Lily left the room.
“Lily, who are you going with?” Leon called after her.
“Alfred!” she shouted back from outside.
Broken stayed in Lily’s room for a while, lying down and thinking about what to do with his
evening. Feeling a bit playful, he sat up and opened Lily’s laptop again, revisiting the YouTube video she had shown him earlier. Using Lily’s account, he left a cheeky comment
under the video.
“Hi, yes, I confirm that it’s a golem. I saw the golem walking outside the town once.”
He chuckled to himself, hoping that this comment would stir up even more curiosity and draw more people to Slumdon Town.
After that, Broken started browsing the internet, looking for things to keep him entertained while hatching the demon egg later. Reading books? Maybe. Watching anime? Ah yes, he
could definitely catch up on the latest series.
What else? Playing a game? Damn! Why would he play a game inside a game?
Once he had a few activities lined up for his downtime in the game, Broken got up and prepared himself for another torturous training routine he had planned for the night.