The videos hit the Aethelgard Public Visibility Matrix (ASPV-M) like a meteorite strike. Within two hours, both SSS-Rank videos "Ember Dragon's Plasma Breath: The Sacrifice" and "The Observer's Test: Dragon Stare-Down" had completely saturated the global feed.
The world stopped playing Aethelgard and started watching the content. They saw the impossible footage, but had no idea who shot it.
The massive Ember Dragon, the fearsome plasma stream, and the devoted black slime taking the hit were all shown in the movies. The only tag applied to them was "Witness Content."
The PV counter quickly exploded in front of the public shattering a historical records. The counter increased by millions, a figure that was previously solely connected to significant guild conflicts. The real shockwave was this money making content.
There was complete, baffling chaos in the comments area. The public matrix almost crashed due to the huge number of traffic.
"What is that slime? It just returned after taking a Dragon breath blow! The monster handbook doesn't mention it! We require stats".
"Observe the stability. Examine the focus at the precise time of impact. This is not video of a player. Compared to the main programming of the game, the camera is more tightly locked. The game must have glitched out of a hidden cinematic sequence or a developer camera".
"Wait, did you watch the second video? The Stare-Down? Who survived standing so close to the dragon? Why then did the Dragon simply depart? The Dragon seemed to conclude that the player wasn't worth the effort. It's just too weird."
"Witness Content" is written on the tag. What's that? Is that a brand-new, covert guild? In under two hours, they have bankrupted every significant streamer and content developer. The PV is crazy! The amount of money earned from this both the SSS- Rank videos are enormous".
"There is a conspiracy. a covert system update. A server backdoor was discovered by someone who wanted to film legendary bosses without getting killed. I appreciate this proof that the system is rigged".
In order to cover the occurrence, news channels from all over the digital globe stopped their regular programming and concentrated on the impossible worth of the anonymous information. The analysts had no idea what to do. The player's origin, gear, and level could not be placed. Only the "Witness Content" origin was displayed after all the data was totally hidden.
An additional layer of terror was added when the head of a prominent news organization publicly announced a $100,000 bounty for any information leading to the identification of the Witness player. Nobody was aware that they were pursuing a Level 37 player and his slime.
Ironclad, a Level 98 Warrior and Blackstar Guild Master, watched the video with his command staff in the safest guild hall in the Western Realm. He had been preparing an attack against the Ember Dragon for three months.
Ironclad struck the wooden table with his fist. "The videos are too perfect. SSS-Rank the content is authentic. However, who is Witness Content? Locate the uploader's ID".
"There is no identification, sir. The upload completely avoids the standard player data. It travels straight to the ASPV-M from the source. The feed is clean.
"Next, locate the content location! The North Crags is where the Witness Content! is Organize scouting groups! They must not have teleported out yet".
"The geographic information is correct. The terrain is hazardous, but our scouts are on the move. All we know is that they have a huge, fire-resistant slime that offers flawless camera stabilization and that they managed to withstand a Level 62 Dragon blow".
Ironclad went on his voice strained with annoyance. "For now, forget about the dragon! Everything is altered by this. Instead of opposing us this Witness is making money off of us! All high-level grind footage is being devalued by their content! Our own investment in Level 60 stuff is pointless if they carry on! Before they destroy the entire high-level economy, we must identify who this is and neutralize them."
Echo, the Master Strategist of the Guild, remained quite composed. "The narrative trigger is the fundamental problem, sir. This player is interacting with the fundamental logic of the game by using a special Class ability. They are taking advantage of the game's inherent worth rather than its fighting mechanisms. The conventional PvP model does not apply to them. Instead of using war logs, we need a method to monitor data abnormalities".
The other big guilds were just as terrified. The Crimson Hand Guild reportedly withdrew all of its elite PvE teams from hazardous areas because of concern that they would waste time grinding creatures that this unidentified individual would only profit from with a single one-time video. This enigmatic, unseen force was causing the entire high-level player economy to freeze.
The crisis was severe in the control room of the Aethelgard System Headquarters far outside from the virtual reality from the Crags.
Lead operational executive Director Anika was fixated on a console that showed the Global Event Tier VI: Mythical Content Cascade alarm.
"Explain this! Describe how this player got around the death trigger and the logging procedures! Why are we unable to determine the source ID?
"The Systems Witness, the character's class, has a protocol intended to maintain narrative consistency. However, the payouts are excessively high. According to our internal data, the source ID changed from Level 13 to Level 53 (M1) in just six hours.
"Mythic 1? That level should only be used for theoretical tests! What can they see with that status?
"Director it gives you True Sight. They are able to identify backdoors in the system and take advantage of weaknesses in the monster defences. Because the player took use of a narrative flaw in the Aethelgard code itself, the Dragon lost the Core Scale during the Stare-Down.
Anika held onto the console's edge. "So, by avoiding impossible confrontations, a rogue player who can see the cheat codes is earning millions of real-world cash. Even though they violate the public rules, they are acting in accordance with the inherent logic of the system"
"We are unable to outlaw them. The level of public interest in "Witness Content" is very high. PV revenue is at an all-time high. Our stock would plummet if they were banned, demonstrating the weakness of the system".
Anika appeared completely defeated. "Lock down all of The Systems Witness's internal data. All of the information is now categorized as Level Omega, including level, name, skill list, and current coordinates. Instead of killing the player, we must figure out how to contain them. They are an extremely unstable bug that has turned into an asset".
The highest level of protection was activated when she slapped her hand on the emergency button. " Turn on Protocol Delta-Five. The Blacksmith is the only individual who acts outside of the regular guild hierarchy and with sufficient technological expertise to identify the origin of a Witness Class anomaly. Send them an urgent, coded message. We need an intercept".