This Game Is Too Realistic-Chapter 535.3: The Spark That Ignited The Barrel

"Awa-Awakeners beating an exoframe? That’s absurd and dangerous talk!" he stammered. Lacking real knowledge, he could only parrot something Mr. House once said and turned to Yalek, seeking support.

He swore to himself, if it were some secret bastard son of the City Lord using exoframe to crush the New Alliance, he would have no objections.

He would even shoot a load on the wall in celebration. But no, these scumbags had to write stories the poor liked. Why couldn’t they stick to tales he liked?

The unfairness of it made Kent’s teeth ache.

Yalek had no interest in the yapping of a few mongrels. Kent or Spielberg, they were the same trash in his eyes.

They were pathetic nobodies.

He had to be at the Queen of the Night soon to help his boss impress a few pretty girls. His drinking prowess was essential for that, so he just wanted everything over quickly. He turned to Phyllis and muttered, "These guys gather here every day, spouting off about who knows what. Next thing you know, the assembly line breaks down because of their schemes. Respected Captain Phyllis, maybe it’s time to step in?"

Phyllis didn’t think much of a mere factory security captain, but Yalek’s boss was Vega, and Vega’s boss was the renowned Sid. And that man was not to be trifled with.

Still, he couldn’t just arrest someone without cause, that would risk being sacrificed as a scapegoat to appease the poor.

His squinty eyes scanned the area until they landed on a newspaper on the table. As if discovering treasure, he exclaimed with exaggerated delight, "What’s that?"

Before anyone could answer, Phyllis strode forward, snatched up the paper, and opened it dramatically. His gaze swept over the crowd with sinister arrogance, as if the paper was a sword in his hand. "The Worker’s Daily! Didn’t City Hall outlaw this trash?"

"That’s not the same!" an engineer couldn’t help but protest. "It’s a supplement from Survivor’s Daily! They are completely different!"

"Oh? A Survivor’s Daily supplement?" Phyllis sneered, eyes gleaming. "Even worse. Arrest this traitor!"

Several guards rushed forward, punching Spielberg despite his protests, then dragged him away from the pub in full view of the crowd.

Yalek casually tossed Kent a 25 chip token as a payoff, then waved to his thugs and walked off.

Kent clutched the chip excitedly, bowing toward Yalek’s retreating back before glaring triumphantly at Spielberg’s. "Serves you right, you traitor!"

His voice rang loud and clear, because he was the only one talking.

Kent felt a sudden chill. He instinctively hid the chip, stepping back as he realized all eyes were on him. "What... What’re you looking at me for? I... I did this for you! You don’t want to lose your jobs over that scumbag, do you?"

"Cut the crap," came a voice, interrupting him.

A young man stepped out from the crowd, eyes locked on Kent. "If someone gave you the chance, you’d be licking Malvern’s boots clean. Hell, you would eat his family’s shit and call it dessert. Don’t give us that ‘for our own good’ garbage. You’ve always wanted us dead so you could hoard the work for yourself."

"You, you dare speak Lord Malvern’s name so casually?!" Kent shouted, outraged.

"Yeah, I do. And I’ll say it again. Go call your Lord Malvern to punish us. Maybe throw us in with Spielberg. Honestly, it’s warmer inside anyway. I’ll enjoy hearing the rest of his story in there. But I doubt your lord would bother with you. Dogs only lick their masters’ shoes, and your tongue’s filthier than any dog’s."

"You’re filth! Your whole family’s scum!" Kent roared.

A man with a beard shrugged, unimpressed. "Come off it. Just admit it. You worship your master’s whip. You don’t care about Rudy, or Cassie, or why Bill lost his job. You’ve never cared about anyone here. You just dream of holding that whip yourself."

Someone in the crowd called out, "Hey, he’s never heard of Bore’s story. Those names mean nothing to him!"

Laughter followed.

"Yeah, he’s clueless about Master Stephen’s whip!"

"Doesn’t matter. We know who this bastard is!"

They finally spoke the same language.

Kent’s eyes bulged. "Y-you’re lying! I..."

He really hadn’t read the paper.

And that made him feel irrationally afraid. Like he had been left behind, alone, while the others marched on.

That damn Spielberg... How dare he write about me?!

Except, Spielberg never did. Not once. His name never appeared in any story. But somehow, everyone seemed to know him, like the people had collectively written him into the tale themselves.

The crowd began to move. As if by unspoken agreement, they all knew what to do next.

Kent, panicking, thought they were coming for him. He stumbled backward, fear plastered across his face.

The young man looked at him with sudden pity and raised his hand.

Kent instinctively shielded himself, but the man didn’t hit him or snatch the chip. He just patted Kent’s shoulder and said, "Just admit it. You don’t love Malvern. You don’t love Vega. And you sure as hell don’t care about any of us. You only care about yourself. So don’t talk like you ever did this for our sake. You’ll shit on all our heads if it made you feel taller, but bad luck for you, you were born in a rat hole. And 25 chips don’t make you a prince, they make you one more rat in the nest."

One by one, the people passed him by, each patting his shoulder.

"We don’t blame you."

"Good luck, Kent."

He trembled as he backed away, his shoulders stained with grease, flour, and who knows what else. It came from every hand that touched him, like a curse.

Clutching his chip with all his might, Kent watched the others walk off in the opposite direction. He panicked and yelled, "Where are you all going?! Stop! You’re all... insane!"

"Where are we going?" the young man turned and grinned. "To do what Bore would’ve done!"

"That guy would never abandon a comrade in trouble!"

"He told us to stand together!"

...

“Something big happened!”

In the administrator’s office in Dawn City, in Alliance Tower.

Hurried footsteps broke Chu Guang’s concentration and made him pause mid-sentence. Standing at the door was Cheng Yan, the young man he had appointed to head the Foreign Affairs Department, selected alongside Sun Ruicai as part of the youth talent program.

Originally, Shu Yu would have been more suitable, but the New Alliance needed their best diplomat in Ideal City. No one else could maintain composure like Shu Yu during council meetings.

Both reported directly to Chu Guang, and Shu Yu had no objections. Like Lu Bei, they were among the most loyal members of the New Alliance.

"What is it? Don’t panic. Catch your breath and speak slowly." Chu Guang didn’t blame him for barging in. He looked at Cheng Yan seriously while waiting for him to speak.

"It’s Boulder Town... Something’s happened!" Cheng Yan gulped. "Our embassy sent word. The workers surrounded their guard station, demanding the release of arrested comrades. Either they free them... or arrest all of them."

Chu Guang raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Cheng Yan forced a bitter smile. "The jail filled up."

Silence hung in the office.

Chu Guang sighed, "Did anyone die?"

"No... But many were injured. And because Boulder Town’s guards found our newspaper and letters from our editor, along with 100 chips, they suspect we instigated this."

Cheng Yan glanced at Chu Guang cautiously. "The letter mentioned you... I need to ask, was that your doing?"

"I told him to mention me."

"I see. That makes sense then," Cheng Yan nodded, face clearing up.

If this was part of the administrator’s plan, then all was well.

He had no doubt in Chu Guang’s wisdom but only had one concern. He was worried that the editor might’ve talked too much.

Chu Guang could see it all on his face and couldn’t help but laugh, "This situation isn’t completely unrelated to us, but it’s not what you think. 100 chips to incite a riot with more people than a prison can hold? Even if I told them I did it, they wouldn’t believe me."

Cheng Yan grimaced. "I guess so... But it’s probably not too serious. I get the sense they don’t want to escalate the situation, they’re just warning us not to pull any more tricks."

"And then?" Chu Guang asked.

"That’s it."

"That’s it?" Chu Guang snorted.

"You came rushing in like they shut down our embassy..."

That would’ve earned them a bit of grudging respect. When Yard stormed the New Alliance compound with guns, Chu Guang had let it slide. Hell, he admired Yard’s guts. There was a reason the Honey Badger Kingdom backed that man.

But that just made it weirder. River Valley Province was known for its tough, reckless survivors, yet its elite were weak-kneed landlords. From the Old Leech to Brown, each was more cowardly than the last.

Cheng Yan cleared his throat. "Maybe they’re worried you’ll default on the debt? They wouldn’t go all out over something this small..."

"This isn’t small." Chu Guang sighed, eyeing the scratchpad on his desk and crossing out what he had just written. Those moderate measures he was planning to use probably weren’t needed anymore.

Frankly, things had been going well since the celebration. Boulder Town’s economy even showed signs of recovery. He had hoped they could ride out the Tide next Spring. He didn’t think that things would go so far so quickly.

He didn’t want to speculate about conspiracies either. Not everything had some mastermind behind it. History was often written because of accidents.

Maybe it all started with some idiot flicking a cigarette into a barrel full of gunpowder.

Then Chu Guang remembered something. "Wait... Why did the workers surround their guard station in the first place?"

The question caught Cheng Yan off guard. He paused to think, then answered, "According to the embassy, apparently the owner of a food processing factory bribed the guards to arrest the guy who read the paper out loud every day."

"...Well, shit..." Chu Guang muttered.

Damn it! It really was him!

Now, the chain of events made more sense. Complicated emotions filled his heart.

He had installed the accelerator. He stepped on the gas, but he hadn’t expected the car to spin out so early. His players were all eager helpers, jumping in feet-first. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The New Alliance NPCs couldn’t resist piling on, then the Inner City's nobles, thinking it wasn’t fast enough, stomped the gas harder and welded the doors shut.

And behind it all, it wasn’t just the New Alliance pushing the chaos forward. Other forces had likely gotten involved.

Ironically, Malvern was probably the most clear-headed of them all, and one of the few who genuinely wanted the folks in the outer city to benefit. At least, he wanted it more than his shareholders did. But even he couldn’t stop it. Now he had no choice but to drink from the poison cup Chu Guang had handed him.

The cruelest part?

The one who hit the gas first would be the one most desperate to find the brakes.

"Let’s hope they survive the winter..." Chu Guang rubbed his brow and sighed, "Otherwise, spring’s going to be a real shitshow."

Cheng Yan stared at him in shock. Because of his job, he carried out some investigations. With the help of the embassy, he managed to put together the history of Boulder Town.

In the 200 years of Boulder Town’s existence, there had been similar things that happened. In the end, the unrest was quelled by those old men hiding in the inner city.

Otherwise... The position of their City Lord would have changed hands long ago.

If nothing went wrong... The same would happen.

He couldn’t help but mutter, “I don’t think it’s so serious, right?”