Chapter 72 : Day of Judgment

“Soon, the world event ‘Day of Judgment’ will begin.”

As expected, the first words spoken after gathering everyone delivered a significant shock.

Everyone present here was a ranker-level powerhouse and a veteran player.

Even Hyewon, the lowest level among them, was outstanding talent positioned at least in the upper ranks.

It was impossible for such individuals not to know about <Fantasia Online>‘s representative event, ‘Day of Judgment’.

Monster waves appearing across the entire world, gates, and even raid boss monsters.

“…That event is happening in reality?”

“How much damage will result from stopping the monster wave…”

“Even if we somehow resolve the monster wave, what about the raid…”

The reason the word ‘Judgment’ (or ‘End’) was in ‘Day of Judgment’ was simple.

Because it was an event that could actually bring about the end of the world.

Endless waves of monsters boasting overwhelming numbers, raid boss mobs that even strong rankers couldn’t easily dismiss, etc.—the risk

level of this event was initially extremely high when it was released.

Well, after the users’ average stats rose significantly, as mentioned before, it was treated as nothing more or less than a super-profitable level-

up event.

“Anyway, without the help of users, society could collapse, and current human society might suffer damage close to a true ‘end’.”

As mentioned earlier, even if firearms have some effect on monsters, this is not a disaster that can be stopped at the level of ordinary people.

If nuclear weapons, various bombing missiles, tanks, howitzers, etc., were utilized to their absolute limit, it might be possible to stop it

somehow, but the damage could be so severe that reconstruction would be difficult.

To prevent that, we needed the connections of those present here.

Yejin and I were formerly Rank 2 and Rank 3, respectively.

Naturally, all ranker-level users were on our friends lists—and we had some degree of real-life acquaintance with most of them.

Sia was the same, and if Hyewon could just gather the disbanded Hellbando guild members, they could form a decent force.

“If Master wishes, I will do my best to gather the users.”

“Me too.”

Seeing the kids pounding their chests, telling me to trust them, put my mind somewhat at ease.

My prediction was that if we formed defense lines with the gathered users and mobilized even the users who had pledged loyalty to state

institutions, we could minimize the damage.

If the content of the ‘Day of Judgment’ event in reality isn’t much different from the in-game version, rankers should be able to slaughter

monsters without significant threat, and the boss mobs for raids should also be defeatable without much trouble.

If users just stepped up, the event could be overcome without many innocent victims.

Yes, if users just stepped up.

Everyone present agreed with my opinion and said we should inform the Ministry of National Defense… but we had overlooked one crucial

part.

We hadn’t considered the widening rift of conflict between ordinary people and users.

After arriving in Korea, we informed the government and the Ministry of National Defense.

Naturally, this information also flowed to foreign governments, and governments of various countries mobilized their full capabilities to

recruit users.

This is an unprecedented crisis threatening the nation’s existence.

The largest battle since World War II will unfold with the entire world as its stage.

Citizens trembled in fear at this astounding news, politicians sought solutions, and the military entered wartime footing.

The only ones showing little reaction to the shocking news were… users like us.

-…I’m sorry. But aside from my family and friends, I can’t find a reason why we should protect anyone else. I’d rather they all just died?

A tanker, who had once broken into the top 30 PvP rankings during his prime, refused recruitment.

Since he was someone I had met through offline gatherings, drank with, and knew personally, the refusal came as a great shock.

Just in case, I contacted others as well.

But the responses from most acquaintances were the same.

-Sorry. Considering what those inferior species did to me, I actually hope their numbers decrease a bit.

-My food source… no, it’s unfortunate that humans, once my kin, are dying, but the Earth is overpopulated anyway~ Isn’t it okay if a few die?

-I lost my job, couldn’t pay utility bills, so water and electricity were cut off. We, who had to experience extreme situations due to societal

indifference, have no reason to sacrifice ourselves now to protect society.

-…I was raped in broad daylight and ignored by this country’s police. Don’t bring that up again.

Refusal, refusal, refusal.

It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand their feelings.

Users were definitely discriminated against, harassed, and suffered when they were powerless in the past.

I myself was a victim of human trafficking.

If I hadn’t Awakened, I would have been dragged away to live life as a rich person’s s*x toy or a laboratory marionette.

It wasn’t just such extreme experiences.

Recalling how this society usually treated me, I wondered if there was any need to protect it.

Cold stares and discrimination, violence and meddling that went beyond indifference.

Remembering that incident on the bus made my blood boil.

I still wake up from dreams about that day.

Is there any need for me to protect this country, teeming with such humans?

I am not the righteous protagonist from a shonen manga.

I wasn’t even a good person.

I felt no obligation to protect this country that rejected and tried to push me away like a pushover.

All that matters is that my sister and my acquaintances are safe.

And I had the ability to protect them alone.

There was no reason to get involved with the state.

I received the Amethyst mine recently and got all the promised valuables, so there was no further business.

In the first place, in most myths, dragons were not benevolent beings.

They were evil.

Dragons were villains who sought to destroy society rather than protect it.

Maybe I was gaslighted by the logic of being a citizen of the Republic of Korea, thinking I naturally had to protect the country where I was

born and raised.

Around this point, I started feeling skeptical too.

Is there any reason for me to sacrifice myself to protect this country?

And that question was soon resolved by a phone call from a government department.

-…If you prevent this national disaster, we will give you full ownership of a state-owned overseas diamond mine. All diamonds mined there

will belong to you, teacher.

“…Yes, I’ll work hard. No, I will work hard.”

Honestly, I had planned to refuse if they offered something like money.

If the country collapsed, money or valuables could just be extorted by force from banks and goldsmiths.

And the money in my bank account and the valuables at home already amounted to a mountain.

I wouldn’t dislike getting what I already have… no, I would like it, but it wasn’t something I’d go through such hardship to obtain.

An overseas diamond mine…

It’s in a location difficult for me to seize by force, and even if I did, managing it, mining the diamonds, and processing them would be

bothersome.

If mined carelessly, it would just be a mine yielding worthless rocks.

But they weren’t just giving me the diamond mine; the state would even handle the mining and processing. It was an offer impossible to

refuse.

Diamonds being duplicated just for me in my own diamond mine?

Any human, no, any dragon who refuses this offer is no dragon at all.

“Anyway, to fully receive the diamond mine, I first need to somehow resolve this situation…”

Lying on the luxurious sofa in my home, which I had returned to after a long time, I turned on the news.

Lying on the plush cushions and watching TV felt good, but the news content wasn’t particularly pleasant.

The news reported that energy waves, previously unobservable, had appeared all over the Earth.

A male anchor in a neat suit pointed to a screen displaying a large globe and continued his explanation.

-Africa, East Asia, Central Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Oceania, North and South America, and even Antarctica. In all these

regions, what user-origin scholars claim are ‘mana waves’ have reportedly emerged. It is highly likely that ‘Gates’ will form in these areas…

Strange weather changes, neither typhoons nor hurricanes, began to be observed worldwide.

Satellites observing those areas malfunctioned and fell to the ground, and seismometers meant to observe earthquakes vibrated strangely,

producing bizarre readings.

It was the precursor to the ‘Day of Judgment’, very familiar to users.