Chapter 68 : Unexpected (3)

“Wait!”

“Oh, there’s someone who can speak Korean.”

I was wondering if I needed to turn on a translator, but luckily, the hassle was spared.

First, I froze the tires and engines of the vehicles the researchers were in, completely blocking any possibility of escape.

It didn’t seem like there were any physically capable individuals or former users mixed in, so just preventing escape by car eliminated any

variables.

‘Well, even if they tried to escape by car, I could just follow and catch them…’

I was getting tired of the repetitive tasks.

I wanted to uncover the truth as quickly as possible and slaughter them all… no, resolve the matter and rest.

If I receive the Amethyst Cave as a reward, I’ll take plenty of naps inside…

“Alright. You, the one who speaks Korean. What’s your name?”

“…I don’t have a name to tell someone like yo…”

The magic that grazed the man’s ear directly hit the head of the fellow researcher next to him.

With a sound like a hard watermelon dropping on the floor, red pulp splattered.

Pieces of what was, until moments ago, their ‘colleague’ scattered inside the car.

Even for those who performed horrific human experiments on kidnapped people, witnessing a colleague’s death firsthand seemed to be a 0

great shock, as screams erupted from all directions.

But when I raised my hand to my mouth and mimed zipping it shut, they all quickly fell silent.

“If you contradict me again, your head will be next to explode. Your name?”

“Your name?”

“…Mei. Pai Mei.”

Mei. It felt familiar, like a common name given to Chinese characters.

“Alright, Mei. There’s a lot I want to ask right now… but I’ll start with the most important thing. I already know your backer is <Red Cliff>.

So, how far has the plan to extract and commercialize ‘Mana Circuits’ progressed?”

“…I don’t know much about that either. I’m just a low-ranking member…”

“Then ask the lab chief behind you. That b*tch must know important information, right?”

I pointed to the woman sitting in the back seat of the most luxurious-looking sedan, the seat of honor, observing the situation with her arms

crossed. Realizing I was talking about her, she finally spoke.

“..What are you saying? Speak Korean if you want to talk to me.”

Simultaneously with a finger point reminiscent of Dooly, the woman’s crossed left leg disappeared.

The interior of the car, finished with luxurious, glossy black leather, was splattered red.

“It hurts! My leg!! My leg!”

Seeing the woman, who had been acting haughty, writhing and screaming in pain was somewhat amusing, but to get answers, I suppose I

should show mercy to keep her at least sane.

A magic circle producing healing effects beyond common sense began to settle on the arrogant woman’s wound.

If the leg had simply been severed, applying <Recovery> while joining it to the wound might have reattached it.

But her leg had already exploded and become one with the desert sand long ago. It merely healed the wound and stopped the bleeding.

As the blood that had been spurting like a fountain stopped, and warm mana spread through her body, some color returned to her face.

“Mei. Translate what I say. And translate all the answers too.”

“Yes! Uh… but, the lab director knows Korean too. Actually, all the researchers know some Korean. It’s a gathering of geniuses who were

quite successful in China…”

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing telling her tha….!!”

One researcher jumped up angrily, but averted his gaze and sat back down meekly when I met his eyes.

Satisfied with the quiet atmosphere, I nodded, signalling permission for her to continue.

“Hehe… After seeing you destroy the guild building, the researchers agreed among themselves that except for me, nobody knew Korean…

They planned to blame me, the lowest-ranking one, for spilling all the information if they got out alive… It was our secret, but I’ve told you

everything, so you’ll let me live, right?”

“…I’ll think about it.”

Indeed, nothing was more effective in making subordinates obey than crushing their leader.

Seeing the lab director, who was like the heavens to them, squirming made them immediately roll over, expose their bellies, and wag their

tails.

‘This is why lowly humans… tsk.’

Feeling momentarily disgusted by Mei’s instantly submissive attitude, I asked for the information I needed immediately.

“What is the research objective you’re trying to achieve, even resorting to human experiments?”

“…That is…”

As expected, it seemed to be a sharp question about important, almost classified inner workings among them, as she stammered.

Of course, the one hesitating whether to speak or not immediately closed her eyes in resignation upon seeing my finger gun and obediently

confessed everything she knew.

“Our goal is simple. To replicate user abilities, and to create an army composed of users and their clones!”

“An army made of users and their equivalent clones…? What’s the goal? Did <Red Cliff> want world domination or something?”

“No, the opposite.”

“The opposite? Did they intend to unite China, which is fragmented into territories of various guilds and self-proclaimed nations?”

“…Of course, that purpose wasn’t entirely absent. The real goal is different, but that was at least the public justification.”

“Then tell me the real purpose.”

“…There was a prophecy.”

“A prophecy?”

A ‘prophecy’ system did exist in <Fantasia>.

It was a kind of job-exclusive skill usable by sorcerer-type classes, including Witches.

However, ‘Prophecy’ was generally treated as useless because it was limited to things users couldn’t influence, like weather, natural disasters,

or in-game events.

It was natural.

If it were truly an ability to predict the future considering all variables, one would have used it to predict lottery numbers and make money.

Weather wasn’t much of a constraint for high-level users with high physical abilities or access to convenience magic; natural disasters were

different but rarely occurred; and for in-game events, one could get more accurate information simply by checking the ongoing event list on

the official game website.

Above all, the prophecies of ordinary sorcerers lacked accuracy.

It was like the Korean Meteorological Administration, unable to accurately predict even if it would rain an hour later.

Therefore, the source of the prophecy was important.

For a guild like <Red Cliff> to firmly believe a prophecy, the person who made it was likely-

“Rank 7, the German Witch. It was her prophecy.”

“-[One year after the Day of Mutation, the Day of Awakening will come. One year after the Day of Awakening, the Day of Judgment will

arrive.]”

“…’Day of Judgment?’”

“Rank 3. Since you were a user, you must know it very well. The in-game event called ‘Day of Judgment’.”

Day of Judgment.

A world event where the Dark God’s energy becomes strongest, a red moon rises, and monsters pour out everywhere.

It was a famous event that also existed in <Fantasia Online>, designed for users to band together and eliminate monsters pouring out of

gates that appeared near populated urban centers.

“‘Day of Judgment’ is happening in reality?”

‘Day of Judgment’ is a raid and monster wave event that occurs regularly every quarter, meaning every three months.

Because killing monsters yielded heaps of experience points, it was a highly regarded event in-game, to the point where many people

stockpiled consumable items just for this period… but this is happening in reality?

Come to think of it, the official game website, which usually announced events, became inaccessible after the day users mutated.

All other communication channels were the same.

Then, the means to check for in-game events is…

‘Only the ‘Prophecies’ of sorcerer-type job classes.’

‘Day of Judgment’ is absolutely not an easy event.

The minimum level required to participate in the event is set at just level 30 or higher.

However, people say the actual perceived difficulty of the event skyrockets to level 100 or higher.

Monsters pour out according to the number of people, and after defeating them, in areas with large gatherings, a powerful demon boss mob

appears, requiring multiple users and combat NPCs to defeat through a raid.

The problem is, the criteria for ‘these gathered people’ also included ordinary NPCs living in typical kingdoms or empires.

Therefore, near the capitals of each country, large cities, and commercial city-states, powerful demons would invariably pop up, block trade

routes, and kill passing NPCs, becoming top priority targets for merchant users.

The criterion for a raid boss mob to appear is a population of ‘1 million’.

If this standard also applies in reality…

‘Oh my god…’

Raid boss mobs will appear equivalent to the number of cities with populations exceeding 1 million.

And with strength that cannot be ignored.

As mentioned before, while it’s a generous event showering experience points, double-digit level users participating in this event constantly

face the threat of death while trying to level up.

It’s an event where even veteran users over level 100 can die if they get greedy and slip up.

Around level 80, if one focuses on escaping, they probably won’t face a life-threatening situation, and rankers within the top 100 like me or

Yejin can slaughter thousands of ordinary monsters alone.

Given time, even tens of thousands are manageable.

But even a ranker ultimately has only one body.

If this event occurs simultaneously worldwide like in <Fantasia Online>, can users protect all the weak and lowly humans, who are fragile

enough to break with a slight touch, while fighting?

My dragonkin’s inherently sharp mind calculates the outcome through various estimations.

The predicted result was bleak.

‘Absolutely impossible.’

The biggest problem is the extremely small number of users compared to ordinary people.

Armies equipped with conventional firearms might show some effectiveness against monsters around the double-digit level range, but they

would be completely useless against raid monsters whose estimated levels far exceed 100.

Nuclear-armed nations might be able to somehow fend them off if they have the guts to launch nuclear bombs on their own territory or

territorial waters.

A nuclear bomb would have more than enough firepower to kill a raid mob appearing in their territory or waters.

‘Of course, that’s only if the raid boss mob stays put to be hit.’

And there remained one more problem that couldn’t be ignored.

It was the issue of how users viewed ordinary people.

Users, though varying by race, had experienced various forms of discrimination and unfavorable treatment.

The likelihood of these individuals, socially and institutionally alienated and likely holding significant resentment, stepping up to become

heroes protecting people was extremely low.

In fact, it was almost a miracle that various national governments hadn’t been overthrown after the Awakening.

It would be fortunate if they didn’t just stand by and mock the dying ordinary people, let alone protect them.

The entire situation is hopeless.

…Of course, I don’t care as long as my family and friends aren’t hurt… but as long as there are valuables to extort from the government, I

didn’t want the country overthrown.

Above all, if the country is overthrown and the social system collapses, the internet will be cut off, and I won’t be able to play games…

‘I’m screwed.’

A reason to absolutely prevent this situation has emerged.