Chapter 39: War of Words! Korea’s Mocking

At this very moment, a highly provocative post appeared on the Korea region’s forum.

The title read: [No one in China, Long live Korea!]

With such an overtly targeted title, the post immediately began to go viral online.

The main reason the post sparked heated discussion was still because [Lone Ranger] had slain the special boss in Qinggu Town, once again drawing global attention to the China region.

All major server regions were pleading with the China region to reveal the method to kill the special boss, only the Korea region pretended not to care, even claiming on their forums to look down on it, saying Korea could find the special boss on their own.

However, so much time had passed, and they still hadn’t found a single clue. This left the people of the Korea region feeling quite bitter.

Now that the dungeon had opened, and Korea’s “Domination Guild” became the first team in the world to push the progress to 90%, naturally, they began trying to assert their presence.

“Long live Korea! China has a population a hundred times ours, but their strength is so mediocre. As they say themselves, they’re just paper tigers!”

“Exactly! China just happened to stumble upon a special boss because of their numbers. Korea is the one that’s truly strong!”

“Domination Guild is awesome! Completely trampling China beneath our feet!”

“China’s ancestors walked out from Korea long, long ago. Now that their population has grown, they’ve gotten arrogant.”

“The noble bloodline of Korea has been completely lost in China. Look at what garbage they are now…”

A flood of Korea players left comments under the post.

Many China-descended players living in Korea saw the post on the forums and couldn’t help but click in.

The post’s main content stated that Korea’s Domination Guild had reached 90% dungeon progress and claimed they were willing to share the boss data with all other regions except China.

The language used was deeply insulting to China, filled with constant belittling of the China region and over-the-top praise for Korea. Some even claimed that people from China were originally “refugees” from Korea.

Especially in the comment section — hundreds of thousands of replies, most of them were pure vitriol. Some users even held up made-up “evidence” to assert their claims of China being full of Korea refugees.

Even the long-residing China-descended players in Korea couldn’t bear it anymore — the slander of their homeland sparked a surge of fury.

They launched a counterattack in the form of what they called “floral rhetoric” (i.e., colorful insults):

“F**k your mother! Why not say the whole world is yours too?!”

“Braindead morons, shortsighted and self-important. The entire nation is just a puddle of mud!”

“You keep bragging about your noble blood — did you forget how you grovelled like dogs to the Ming dynasty back then?”

“Damn it, if China hadn’t helped during the mega-tsunami of 2205, your country would still be a ruin right now!”

“You mongrels get benefits and still bite the hand that fed you — someone ought to blast you all with a fusion laser!”

The China-descended players fired back rapidly in the comment section.

Originally basking in a sense of superiority and presence, Korea players were enraged to see so many people fighting back with sharp insults.

To them, these “garbage” players dared to retort — how dare they?

Korea players, known for their toxic comment prowess, escalated the exchange with ever more vulgar and inflammatory remarks, once again drowning out the smaller number of China-descended voices.

The number of post comments surged, from hundreds of thousands to over a million, and the momentum wasn’t slowing.

Frustrated China-descended players gritted their teeth and directly reposted the thread to the China regional forum.

In an instant, the China forums erupted like a bomb:

“What the hell?! These Korea trash eat sh*t three times a day or what?!”

“F**k! I haven’t sworn in decades, but today I’m making an exception.”

“Korea people are literal piles of sh*t!”

“These idiots — why don’t they say the whole galaxy belongs to them too?”

“So what if you’re at 90%? You didn’t even clear the dungeon. Acting all high and mighty — you’re just paper, idiots!”

“Just wait till Lone Hero comes back. He’ll clear the Abyssal Sacrifice dungeon in minutes, and we’ll watch them get slapped in the face!”

“Why are you calling him Lone Hero? Isn’t he just Lone Ranger?”

“You don’t get it. Normal folks are called heroes, but extraordinary ones are called great heroes. And Lone Ranger, the walking bug, is a giant hero!”

…

Yunhuang City — Ruins Outside the City

A handsome young man, holding an ornate magic staff, frowned as he looked at the forum post.

“90% progress? What use is that… the hardest part is the final 10%…”

Then his gaze shifted to the ID [Lone Ranger].

His eyes grew more determined.

“Just wait. I’ll reclaim my number one spot!”

…

Yunhuang City — Within a Mountain Valley

Zhou Wang of Chaoge glanced at the post and immediately laughed:

“A bunch of morons. With all that free time, why not kill a few more mobs instead? Once I find two more high-level hidden class players, the dungeon will be a piece of cake.”

Then he saw the ID [Lone Ranger], and saw how many people were petitioning for him to enter the battle…

“F**k that Lone Ranger! He’s just trash. Call for him to fight? I’ll fight your damn mother!”

“If I see him again, I’ll kill him back down to level 1!”

…

Inside the Dungeon

A mage player, holding a sleek crystal staff, chuckled as he read the forum.

The world already knew what kind of people Korea citizens were — there was no point arguing with them.

Still, Lone Ranger was definitely in the limelight. Apparently, he was a solo player too.

Too bad he couldn’t be added as a friend. Otherwise, he would’ve been a great candidate for the guild — someone worth nurturing.

“Sis, are you lovesick? Which man are you thinking of?”

“Lone Ranger.”

The mage blurted out the name, and the next second, her face flushed bright red.

…

Somewhere in China — A Top-Secret Location

Several men dressed in traditional Zhongshan suits sat in a circle, all watching a central virtual projection.

On screen was the image of Jiang Chen in Hope World, along with the footage of the final boss of the Abyssal Sacrifice dungeon.

“All of our elite teams have failed. This young man might be the key to clearing the dungeon.”

“Indeed. According to the data, Lone Ranger is extremely strong, and his gear is far ahead of current players. If we can contact him, our odds will greatly improve.”

“Unfortunately, this young man is a bit of an individualist. Despite his power, he hasn’t shown any intention of aiding others or giving back to the country. Our agents have been trying to contact him — with no success…”

Another man disagreed: “Don’t jump to conclusions. I see great potential in Lone Ranger. In this chaotic world, only people like him can harness immense power. We mustn’t give up searching for him.”

“In fact, I suggest we increase efforts — assign people to every teleport point in Yunhuang City. We must contact him soon and ensure his real-world safety. Let’s expedite his recruitment to China’s special departments. Old Wu, I’ll be counting on you for this…”