Damned System

Chapter 84. Laying the Foundation (9)

– K: If you’re scared, don’t come. Don’t make it sound like I forced you to come out here.

‘When you look closely, K’s personality was quite rough.’

Despite K’s words, Cello insisted on coming to the agreed meeting place. And even now, Cello was repeating the same things talked about in the chat room.

Ethan found it difficult to understand her way of thinking.

Why did she keep bringing up such tiresome topics, expressing constant anxiety despite coming here willingly?

Perhaps she believed someone would empathize with her concerns?

‘There shouldn’t be anyone like that here.’

Everyone present was competent and confident in their skills.

Even if K attacked them, they believed they wouldn’t get overwhelmed. At worst, they had enough skill to escape if needed.

No one here would voice fears about getting ambushed by K.

‘They would have likely formed alliances behind the scenes, just in case.’

In fact, Ethan had received such a proposal too—to join forces if something went wrong.

He declined for various reasons, but it was just logical to take such preparatory measures.

‘It’s foolish to come to a gathering of unknown people without any plan.’

However, behaving like Cello, openly seeking affirmation for anxiety, was unwise, as it could be seen as a lack of confidence.

Consequently, Cello was ignored by other players and left alone.

At that moment, a new player arrived.

“Excuse me, is this the gathering from the group chat today…?”

“What is your codename? I’m Fabian.”

“Oh! I’m Plumeria. Nice to meet you all.”

“Ethan Rembrandt.”

“I’m Lily.”

Thus, nine people had gathered at the meeting spot. There were 13 players in the group chat organized under K’s leadership.

Even discounting those who had died, nine out of 12 players had shown up. More than half had revealed themselves.

Ethan found the situation fascinating.

‘Could I have gathered these people so effectively?’

No, it would have been impossible.

‘I might have tried it.’

Ethan might have reached out to other players and created a group chat like K had done. But achieving this level of participation seemed unlikely.

The success of today’s meeting was primarily because K had initiated it.

One of the reasons they had gathered here was to glean information from K, who was not just a competitor among peers but was in a league of his own, a target to aspire to.

‘They probably think he knows something more.’

And it wasn’t a baseless assumption. The classification of mana skills, the evolution species’ background, the hole between Bihar and Earth—all information they wouldn’t have known without K.

K was someone always a step ahead.

He paved paths others had no choice but to follow.

Having someone like that arrange the meeting inevitably attracted many attendees.

Ethan checked the time on a stopwatch, the item newly introduced since server linkage had been enabled.

‘Ten more minutes.’

It was the time left until the appointed hour. There was still time, but just to be safe, Ethan opened the chat window to send K a message since the host had not yet arrived.

– Ethan Rembrandt: Where are you?
– K: Loborre, why?
– Ethan Rembrandt: It seems like everyone who can come is here.
– K: Already? Are they all on fire or something?
– Ethan Rembrandt: They were nervous, so they came early.
– K: Looks like they’re scared about hunting a boss mob. LOL.
– Ethan Rembrandt: To be honest, I’m a bit scared too.

It would have been a lie to say he wasn’t scared. They were going to hunt evolution species—a creature rumored to have potentially decimated a leading party.

‘It’s not certain, but probably.’

The chat room’s number suddenly reduced yesterday, and the disappeared name was Zebra.

Trying to add through other players only returned a message about deceased players, including the last mission party members.

The conclusion was their annihilation, and opinions suggested they might have encountered an evolution species.

“We must acknowledge the danger.”

“You don’t think something could go wrong with our formation now, do you?”

“So, what about Zebra’s party’s decimation yesterday? It’s not just about bad luck, is it?”

“Jelly’s words hold weight. If their deaths were indeed due to an evolution species, we must stay alert.”

“I agree there’s a degree of danger. But it’s absurd for an entire party to be annihilated, isn’t it?”

“Right, Zebra’s party cleared Level 2 four times. They wouldn’t die so easily.”

Those absent today might have been frightened by that incident yesterday, yet K didn’t bother to reassure them, insisting on pushing forward with the hunt as planned.

This was because today’s hunt wasn’t only to catch evolution species.

‘More precisely, it’s to send a warning to the Russian government.’

The incident stemmed from a message posted in the chat room several days ago during server connection progress.

– Maxim: Things are getting weird. The government seems intent on training players to become soldiers.

Already being monitored by the Russian government and thus quite reliable, Maxim’s information elicited a carefree response from K.

– K: Oh, that’s intense.
– Maxim: This isn’t something to laugh about. My family is under government supervision! You know what kind of country Russia is. They have a history of pushing ahead with things others wouldn’t even dream of doing because of opposition from human rights groups and political factions.

Understanding this more than anyone, Maxim couldn’t hide his anxiety.

– Maxim: You said you’d form a group to represent and protect players’ positions. How about starting with protecting me?

– K: Is that really necessary?

Annoyed by the nonchalant response, Maxim retorted, but K’s subsequent words shifted the chat room’s atmosphere.

– K: Don’t make a fuss. Players already constitute a military force. If we’re active on Earth, we aren’t much different from soldiers.
– K: I think it’s not bad to preform a player military. Administrative procedures and base establishments could be cleared ahead of time. It’s even better if you can secure a position there.
– K: Of course, laying a groundwork to act independently without bowing to government orders is necessary.

Numerous questions followed. K hadn’t yet disclosed information about the hole to them, fearing its misuse. Imagine someone intentionally bringing monsters to Earth.

‘At most, I can’t stop someone discovering it and causing trouble.’

K aggressively refrained from appeasing those questioning his words about the hole, asking them to leave rather than doing so.

– K: If you don’t want to believe it, don’t. Look at how you responded when I was just answering.
– K: No need for your nonsense; get lost. I don’t want to share info with punks like you.

After a long silence, Maxim reopened the conversation.

– Maxim: How exactly can players establish a foundation to act independently of the government? Is there a method?
– K: Isn’t it obvious with the hole opened?

What K implied was to make government officials recognize that improperly handling players might bring grave consequences.

The task was straightforward.

– K: Let’s hunt an evolution species someday.

To bring evolution species beyond the hole, they had to catch it first.

‘It’s truly intense.’

What on earth were they thinking, proposing to send an evolution species to Russia to prove the value of players?

– K: As I said, it’s safe if we transport it with its limbs cut off. It’s a pretty good warning and demonstration method.

Just when Ethan shook his head, chuckling at K’s audacity, a bright light emerged from a nearby teleportation magic circle.

Someone had arrived at the forward base. As the light subsided, seeing the silhouette standing silently on the circle, players with detection-type magic stiffened.

“Yes…?”

Noticing Fabian’s startled gasp, the masked figure stepped closer.

‘It’s K.’

Having already completed the dungeon entry mission, K had amassed significant mana. It was no surprise players with detection magic were taken aback.

“You’re early. Can we keep introductions brief? I’m K.”

Upon hearing the familiar distinct voice, Ethan felt an urge to greet K with a wide smile immediately.

However, he restrained himself because he and K had previously agreed to keep their acquaintance private.

He had to consciously maintain a stoic expression, suppressing any signs of delight.

Whether K knew or didn’t know about Ethan’s silent endurance,

– K: Who are you, looking all clean? Not going to cry today?
– Ethan Rembrandt: I won’t cry!

K playfully teased Ethan, whom he hadn’t seen in a while. Although K’s relaxed demeanor was somewhat unfamiliar, it was also refreshing.

Few players were as close to K as Ethan.

While Ethan engaged in chat with pride and a slightly puffed-up sense of camaraderie, K finished introductions with others and promptly began checking the essentials for the hunt.

“Are you Maxim? Have you found a suitable mission location?”

“Yes, 03-332, average mana in the 40s, and I selected it from the mission list without overlaps, as you mentioned.”

“How about direction and distance?”

“Approximately 40 minutes east.”

“Alright, then head back to Earth and enter from that direction. We’ll start moving along.”

“Alone? What if I encounter monsters…?”

“Just hold them off until we join. Can’t do even that?”

“…”

“While Maxim heads in, we’ll test our synergy within our respective positions.”

“Let’s avoid team kills, alright?”

K clapped to draw attention and spoke flatly, making his point clear. The players began to move promptly per K’s instructions.

* * *

The Russian government hadn’t taken the bizarre phenomenon happening in the past several months lightly.

Thanks to that, they had secured a substantial number of players following the first selection.

Seeing them consistently grow, the government pondered,

“What if we train them into human weapons?”

The Russian elite, endlessly greedy for superior national power, believed that strength was necessary to maintain global supremacy.

To that end, they sought to rigorously control and cultivate players as military force.

One day, at a military facility hosting the gates to other worlds, a terrifying sound echoed,

“Keekekeck!”

It was a cry from a beast spilling black blood, with its four legs severed and jaw ripped apart.

The confusion caused by the sudden situation was fleeting. The soldiers dispatched for surveillance and alert quickly responded.

Meanwhile, Maxim, who had crossed over to Earth with the evolution species, staggered backward.

‘It… actually worked?’

Half-doubting, he was startled by the reality of K’s words. Maxim’s face turned pale.

“Get back! Maxim Bugayev, fall back immediately!”

He was too shocked to respond to the repeated warnings. But at the sound of gunfire in the form of warning shots, he forced himself to pull it together.

– The bullets probably won’t lodge well.
– Use that to implicitly convey how much influence players could wield later. Have them assess what kind of inconvenience we’d cause them.
– Make them realize they have to cooperate with us rather than controlling us unilaterally.

As he stepped back another pace, the advice and warning K had given flashed through his mind rapidly.

With that, Maxim raised his hands over his head and shouted with a stiffened voice,

“There’s a hole… There’s a hole!”

However, instead of heeding his words, the soldiers advanced, aiming rifles and detaining him. Nonetheless, Maxim persisted in voicing what he had to say.

“Those damn monsters can come through!”

The expressions of the soldiers tasked with subduing Maxim hardened at the upper echelon’s orders.