Chapter 38 : Famous (4)

“They’re gradually coming up towards the capital.”

“The police station where those people turned themselves in… Gumi City.”

“If you draw a line from Busan to Gumi, it’s clear.”

Hyewon said, tracing the movement path drawn on the map with her finger.

If you followed the drawn red line straight, the place it hit was the capital, Seoul.

It was the largest city in South Korea and the place with the highest population density.

“The appearance of a hostile top-tier ranker user in a densely populated area…”

“As you saw with China’s situation, if this continues, a major catastrophe might occur.”

China used to have many top-tier users ranked within the top 1000.

No matter how lacking in talent they might seem, that massive population wasn’t going anywhere, and I remembered that about one in ten

rankers within the top 1000 were Chinese.

Being within the top 1000 rankers is more than enough to be called a one-person army.

Around that level, close-combat classes become strong enough to withstand rifle bullets with sheer physical ability.

If they used skills, a monster would be born, nearly impossible to kill with modern weaponry, whether it be anti-tank cannons or anything

else.

On the other hand, ranged classes like mages or archers were easier to handle compared to those tank-type users, but they also had their own

means of defense.

A mage’s defensive magic, capable of exhibiting defensive power exceeding the physique of a close-combat user if fully prepared, or an

archer’s reaction speed and physical ability allowing them to dodge bullets.

As you can easily tell by now, those bearing the title ‘Ranker’ among users were literally no different from monsters impervious to modern

firearms.

The problem was that China was one of the countries where the persecution of such users was the most severe.

To a degree incomparable even to the discrimination in Korea, they poured all their efforts into expelling the users within their borders.

Frankly, it was comparable even to Islamic states that massacred and beheaded non-human users, claiming ‘Only humans who believe in

Allah can be saved’.

Those who became users faced the obliteration of their human rights, having their citizenship revoked and losing legal protection, or ending

up in concentration camps under unheard-of charges with their fates unknown.

Naturally, they escaped abroad, surviving by begging as illegal immigrants.

Then, amidst all that, the status window normalized, and many users regained their monstrous powers.

What happened next was simple.

A desperate revenge saga began against the Chinese government that had cast them out and abandoned them.

Many major cities like Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin were engulfed in flames and vanished into the annals of history.

The Chinese military was utterly powerless against the users’ attacks.

The users’ assault on China was carried out through a simple yet efficient method of simultaneous surprise attacks on cities.

Naturally, the main battlegrounds became China’s major cities.

Urban warfare ensued between the military and users within the cities, and in street fights dominated by small-scale skirmishes, there was

little soldiers could do against users impervious to gunfire.

They could subdue or kill the weaker ones among the users, but naturally, such cases posed little threat to the top-ranking users who formed

the main force of the ‘Anti-China Army’.

Yet, resorting to ‘drastic measures’ effective even against top-tier users if hit, such as missile strikes or bombing runs by fighter jets, faced a

huge obstacle: the infrastructure of the world’s leading metropolises.

It goes without saying that attacking cities occupied by users with artillery or missiles would inevitably result in huge losses at the national

level.

Mishandling the skyscrapers in cities like Shanghai or Beijing could potentially bankrupt the entire country.

Above all, the inability to abandon the lives of the ordinary citizens living in the targeted cities was also a problem.

Tens of millions of citizens were estimated to live in a single city; ordering a bombing raid on them?

It wouldn’t be strange if public sentiment immediately turned, leading to a rebellion.

But if they let the users’ surprise attacks continue for those reasons, all major cities within China might fall into user hands.

It was literally a no-win, hopeless situation.

The high-ranking officials of the Chinese military faltered in this situation, akin to being besieged on all sides, and eventually, the previously

dominant Chinese government collapsed.

The majority of the leadership who supported the user exclusion policy met their fate, killed at the hands of the users.

The surprising point is that the majority of the users who committed these insane acts were average PvP users not even ranked within the top

ten thousand.

If even ordinary users acting collectively could bring down the giant that is China, what happens when a top-tier ranker capable of

slaughtering such users with a mere gesture, furthermore the world’s 4th ranked player, appears in a city center?

A nightmarish event, potentially the worst disaster in history with more casualties than 9/11, could erupt.

“We have to stop it.”

I said, looking at the red line on the map.

“…I was planning to ask for help from the beginning, but… are you really going to help?”

Captain Kim asked, his face suddenly brightening.

Instead of answering, I turned my head to look at Yejin and Hyerim.

There were specific people to handle this matter.

“…Why, Oppa?”

“No, your home… isn’t it here?”

“…You’re right?”

I pointed to an apartment complex obscured by the red line.

The name of the complex written on the map was Baekhap Apartments.

It was certainly the same name as Yejin’s apartment complex.

I could still vividly picture Hyerim boasting to me about how housing prices were skyrocketing recently.

But it goes without saying, if people die or criminal incidents occur near a house, the property value is bound to fall.

By sheer coincidence, a crazy Princess, indiscriminately slaughtering users after losing her lover, was heading towards this very apartment

complex.

If things went wrong, not only would the property value plummet, but an entire apartment building could be blown away.

The slash of a high-level assassin, even if not quite matching a swordsman’s, could easily cut through concrete and rebar.

Moreover, the ranked Rabbit Princess might even slice an entire apartment building in two.

There were already reports of several apartment buildings being destroyed just in Busan.

“If this goes wrong, the house price is going to plummet, isn’t it?”

Yejin and Hyerim, who had been slumped listlessly on the helicopter seats, shot straight up.

Coincidentally, they were currently being sought after with burning eyes by the National Intelligence Service and the Blue House for joining a

criminal organization and having high ranks.

Thanks to that, the two, needing to hide their identities, currently had no jobs or sources of income.

In such a situation, the value of the house under their names drops?

Without my goodwill, as I would be receiving a hefty reward from the government soon, they might really end up homeless on the streets.

The glint of capitalism entered the eyes of the two.