Chapter 205 – Trading (4)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
It’s the last drop of water that makes the gla.s.s overflow.
The same was true for the world which had been transformed into a game.
In Kim Woo-jin’s memory, it was in 2025 that the last drop, which had driven the confused world into one filled with chaos, had fallen.
It was the year that Park Yong-wan sold out his country and went to j.a.pan, which then led to the war between j.a.pan and the Messiah Guild.
But Park Yong-wan’s actions hadn’t been the last drop that caused the gla.s.s to overflow.
Instead, it was a drop caused by a different action.
‘The terrorist attack in Paris, France.’
In the New Year of 2025, a terrorist attack was carried out in Paris, France.
An attack orchestrated by Islamic Extremists.
In the chaotic world, human’s belief in G.o.d had descended into madness.
In truth, acts of terrorism had become quite common in this time, and it wasn’t just Muslims, even Christians were involved.
What was strange were the victims of the attack.
‘The headquarters of the third largest guild in France, the Esprit Guild was destroyed in the attack and thirty two players were killed.’
The victims of the terror attack were none other than the players themselves.
Naturally, the impact of this terror attack shook the whole world.
The level of shock exceeding even that of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
But it was only after the attacks that the pandemonium truly began.
The Esprit Guild called on the French government to impose a special player protection law following this event.
In addition to protecting the players’ human rights, the protection law included granting them immunity in cases where the players might need to utilise their abilities in public for self defense.
This request was approved by the French government.
They did not bother to check public opinion before accepting the request.
This bill, which benefited certain groups while ignoring public opinion, was quickly pa.s.sed by the government in a hasty manner because of the interests of certain high-ranking officials.
This had happened in none other than France, the Country of Revolution.
“Protests took place and debates began.’
Unsurprisingly, there were protests, which spread across France, then Europe and then the rest of the world.
Public opinion spread like wildfire that the players were enjoying excessive while neglecting their duties.
Then they said that the players should all act like the Messiah Guild.
‘The wildfire spread to Korea.’
This public opinion quickly spread to Korea, where the Messiah Guild was located, which then led to Park Yong-wan’s defection to j.a.pan.
It was the moment when the water overflowed from the gla.s.s and the situation in the world accelerated towards chaos.
Players acted as they pleased, political and economic turmoil grew out of control, the number of dungeon attacks decreased, which naturally caused the rate that the monsters escaped the dungeons to increase, and the world eventually became a miserable place filled with monsters.
And in that world, the Messiah Guild was revered as the only savior.
-The Esprit Guild headquarters in Paris, France has just been attacked. The victims haven’t been identified yet, but it’s clearly not a normal situation.
But that incident had happened now.
-There were no warning signs. It’s highly likely that they prepared for this long in advance. Dammit, it’s a mess. If this was really an attack on players, it will definitely have a huge impact on the world…
About a year earlier than Kim Woo-jin remembered.
-Are you listening?
“I’m listening.”
What that meant was simple.
-What do you think? Does it look like the Messiah Guild? It’s okay if it’s only a guess, I just want your opinion.
“It doesn’t matter who it is. What’s important is how we will deal with the Messiah Guild’s actions after this. Even if they’re not behind it, the Messiah Guild will definitely take advantage of it. It’s important for us to be prepared for that.”
The Messiah Guild had moved much sooner than Kim Woo-jin expected.
-What do you plan to do?
Kim Woo-jin’s response to that was simple.
“We need to secure the power to counteract the Messiah Guild as soon as possible.”
To sharpen their teeth much more than they had originally planned.
In a sense, the deal with the Lightning King had come at an opportune time.
“So I’ll be targeting dungeons in the Amazon for a while.”
-In the Amazon? Why?
“Because there is no other place that doesn’t have an owner that has as many dungeons that I can attack as I please.”
There was no place better to sharpen his teeth than the Amazon Rainforest.
-For how long?
“Until I get to level 150.”
After hearing those words, Oh Se-chan silently thought for a moment before saying.
-Media activities are virtually impossible in the Amazon Rainforest. It would be hard to play the media in that place. In other words, news of Isaac Ivanov’s activities would go on a temporary hiatus.
Isaac Ivanov’s reputation wasn’t just because of his dungeon attacks, but also because of Oh Se-chan’s expert media play.
In such a situation, taking a break was definitely not a positive factor.
-The Messiah Guild won’t miss this opportunity. They will definitely push Johann Georg and the Ten actively in the media. When you leave Brazil, they will definitely stand in your way.
Following Oh Se-chan’s words, Kim Woo-jin’s reply was quite simple.
“It doesn’t matter.”
-Doesn’t matter?
“Because when I become level 150, I will deal with Johann Georg whether he’s standing in my way or not.”
There was another moment of silence as Oh Se-chan thought of Kim Woo-jin’s words.
-You’re going to declare war.
“It’s better for us to declare ourselves as a rival rather than get swallowed by the Messiah Guild.”
Oh Se-chan no longer asked any questions.
It wasn’t that he was scared.
That was impossible.
-Okay.
After all, Oh Se-chan was the first to learn about the true face of the Messiah Guild and prepare to fight against them.
-Then I’ll prepare accordingly. (TL: Oh Se-chan is like the best wingman)
That was the end of the conversation.
After the conversation, Kim Woo-jin closed the phone and turned his head.
Lee Jin-ah was staring at him with a blank expression before he finally spoke in amazement.
“Were you two talking about something important just now?”
“The situation has changed.”
“That’s pretty serious.”
At that moment, Lee Jin-ah was no longer playful.
However, no one working under Oh Se-chan had a light heart.
“Good.”
He had enough determination and talent to embrace such a situation.
“The time has come to abandon the playfulness and become serious.”
Kim Woo-jin smiled slightly at Lee Jin-ah’s fierce expression.
“How rea.s.suring.”
“Right, there’s no man as reliable as I am. So what do we do?”
Kim Woo-jin answered that question easily.
“Firstly, we need to make your Blessing of the River Styx skill reach transcendent rank.”
“Ah, transcendent rank! Right, my Blessing of River Styx skill…”
At that moment, Lee Jin-ah realised he was saying something weird.
“Hey, the Blessing of River Styx skill only goes up when I’m injured…”
“There’s no need to worry.”
“I don’t have to fight with the soldiers and knights you summon, do I?”
“You don’t.”
Hearing that, Lee Jin-ah was once more filled with vigour.
“Good, then there’s no problem. So what’s the next dungeon.”
“A 5 Floor dungeon.”
“…huh?”
…
“I’m Roberto from Thunderbird, who will be helping Isaac Ivanov’s party this time. In addition to this dungeon, I will also be a.s.sisting you in the future.”
Roberto.
This level 140 player from Thunderbird introduced himself to Isaac Ivanov’s party during their first meeting.
“I will tell you in advance. The Amazon Rainforest is far more dangerous than any dungeon. There are no monsters shooting guns in dungeons, but there are many monsters shooting guns in this rainforest. So please follow my orders at all times.”
He gave a warning.
“If you don’t comply, I will use force. The boss said to put your safety before anything else.”
A warning that he would take the initiative in the event that they did not do as they were told.
“Don’t forget that this is also a test of your abilities.”
At the same time, it was a warning that drew a clear line between who was above and who was below.
Isaac Ivanov didn’t respond to his warning.
Instead, he was reading the dungeon report.
[Black Swamp]
– Floors: 5
– Difficulty: D+
– Maximum number of entries: 195
– Requirements: Level 150 and below
– Conditions: Defeat the Master of the Black Swamp!
– Reward: None
Roberto then said to Isaac Ivanov.
“There will be a total of 75 players in this dungeon, including your party. The estimated time is 40 to 49 days.”
Isaac Ivanov spoke up for the first time.
“We can get it done in three weeks.”
The sudden sentence made Roberto’s expression freeze.
In that time, he realised the ridiculous words he’d just heard.
“That doesn’t make any sense…”
A player who was lower leveled than him that he could finish a dungeon that he, a level 140 player, estimated would take 40 days, in three weeks?
It was similar to a college sprinter who could run 100 meters in 10 seconds hearing a high schooler say he could do the same in 8 seconds. (TL: World Record for 100m sprint is 9.58 seconds)
It was ridiculous.
Isaac Ivanov then gestured with his chin to Kim Woo-jin, who was standing beside him.
So Kim Woo-jin spoke instead.
“Why don’t you go inside and see if it makes sense?”
When responding, the look in Kim Woo-jin’s eyes was clearly different from normal.
‘This is the last year. I can no longer run while looking at the pa.s.sing scenery.’
The times had changed.
‘It’s time to sprint at full power.’