Tears of the Kingdom encourages players to use their imagination in a way like no game to have come before it. That's why we've seen everything from podracers to airships mocked up in Hyrule during the game's first two weeks. Some have been focusing Link's newfound creativity on torturing Koroks, but have you considered while you exact your will on those poor little creatures that onlookers can't see the critters at all?
You may have forgotten, or not known to begin with, that most people can't see Koroks, or rather they don't notice them. That means anyone who happens to be passing by as you interact with a Korok is probably wondering why you're just staring intently at nothing. Even worse, if you have been firing Koroks up into space and then laughing maniacally, everyone in Hyrule probably thinks you're a little odd. No wonder they keep claiming they don't know you.
Those most at risk of being Hyrule's number one weirdo are anyone who has been strapping Koroks to crosses and setting them alight. If that sounds like you, that means a humble Hylian or two has likely glanced over to see you dragging a burning cross around, confused as to why you are randomly committing blasphemy. Is that worse than them looking over to see you're burning a living thing alive? Depends on what the onlooker thinks of Koroks, I guess.
While the people of Hyrule might not know you're burning Koroks alive and catapulting them across the map, Hestu does. That's right, the leader (they're the leader, right?) of the Koroks, or rather the actor who voices them, has been watching what you're doing, and they're not impressed. “Voice of Hestu (AOC) here. I see your sins against Koroks,” Cristina Vee Valenzuela tweeted.
Don't feel too guilty about an actual Korok watching you torture their friends. Immediately after Valenzuela let the world know they're watching, they revealed they were transporting a Korok in a horse-drawn carriage when it burst into flames, burning up the Korok inside and the horse along with it. Valenzuela claims a fire fruit was to blame, but I reckon it was an interaction with one of those flamethrower-wanged robots gone wrong. Now, has anyone figured out what we get for finding all the Koroks yet? It's going to be more poop, isn't it?