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Chapter 159

Navigating through the maze-like hallways and passing several magical barriers, he arrived at the meeting room. In the center of the room lay a large crystal orb. When Humphrey touched it, he received a series of notifications.

[Agent 「Humphrey Millen’s」 identity has been verified.]

[Network 「Black」 is now active.]

Humphrey was an agent of Black, an Alliance active across the universe. Hailing from the Seef Server, he had joined the Black Alliance more than a decade ago and took on various field missions. His Level was in the mid-150s, and he specialized in secretive tasks such as infiltrating newly connected Servers to acquire Hidden Items.

Holograms flickered into existence, revealing a few humanly shadowy figures.

-“Is Jonprich confirmed dead?”

-“I guess our mission to tame the Spirit King’s daughter is scrapped then.”

This mission on the Earth Server had been the largest and most crucial one that Humphrey had ever undertaken. Even for a Player in the Level 150s, the project was enormous. Moreover, this mission had become available only due to protocols protecting the new Earth Server, which he and Jonprich were assigned to.

-“Well, I never had high expectations to begin with.”

-“I saw this coming.”

The mission involved meddling with the Spirit King and the Spirit Realm. It was a heavy burden for just two Level 150 Players; even the higher-ups at the Black Alliance did not have much hope.

-“So you\'re telling me that you want to take down the Golden Guardian Tree? And you are asking for military support to provide a distraction?

-“What’s the meaning of that?”

-“You are not planning to use the organization for petty revenge, are you?”

Visibly startled, Humphrey dismissively waved. “How can I dare make suggestions based on such disrespectful intentions? I live for the Black Alliance, and I will die for this organization.”

Humphrey paused before continuing, “The Golden Guardian Tree on the Earth Server has yet to fully take root. It has only just sprouted. Moreover, it is weakened at the moment due to several forced adjustments. We have ample opportunity to take it out and plant it somewhere else.”

? ? ?

A man wielding a pair of enormous axes on his back strolled through downtown New York. The axes were large enough to draw attention, but on a planet where Players had become commonplace, the sight was not entirely foreign.

He took off his sunglasses in a coffee shop. “It’s been a while, Humphrey.”

“Indeed.”

“I thought you never wanted to see me again.”

“I do not like you. That hasn’t changed. But your skills are admirable.”

Named Rumbol, this man was a Lumberjack-class Player with a Level in the 190s.

“Coming into this Server was a pain in the ass, so you better make it worth my while.”

Due to the new Server protection protocol, movements of high-Level Players to a fairly new Server, like the Earth Server, were considerably restricted. The only Server officially connected to the Earth Server was Scanorbia, and breaking into the Earth Server in a shady way required significant resources.

“Here. This is the key to a five-star hotel. You will get the beautiful night view that you wanted.”

“And the escorts?”

“I am going to send one Incubus and two Succubi.”

“Good. Are they all blonde? Like I asked?”

“Yes.”

Seemingly satisfied, Rumbol chuckled before inquiring about the mission. “Is the intel solid?”

“Very. The Guardian Tree has just evolved. We can discuss the details at the hotel.”

Upon arriving at the hotel, Humphrey spread out a map. “This is the area covered by the Guardian Tree.”

“Wow!” Rumbol was shocked by the scale of the area. “That’s over five hundred square kilometers!”

“It’s actually over six hundred. It’s too large of an area for this Level of a Guardian Tree to cover.”

“Never excepted a metropolis of this scale on a Server where the average Level is around 70.” Rumbol grabbed a can of beer from the hotel mini-fridge and said with gleaming eyes, “It would be hard for a Guardian Tree to settle its roots covering a city of this scale.”

He continued, “I think I can chop that tree down. Who is the Planter?”

“Kim Chul-Soo.”

“Kim Chul-Soo? I’ve heard that name before.”

“He is an up-and-coming Streamer.”

“A Streamer is the Planter? This should be easy then. I can just kill him first.”

“Don’t underestimate him. He is stronger than he looks.”

“How strong can a Streamer be? In the end, he is just a Streamer,” Rumbol said with a laugh. “What, you need an army just to cut down a Golden Guardian Tree grown by some Streamer? And you even need a decoy for it? You’ve gotten too scared after Jonprich died.”

“Don’t be cocky. It’s been approved by the higher-ups.”

“Whatever. A Streamer who is also a Planter... What a world we live in, haha!”

The plan was that mid-Level Players dispatched from the Black Alliance would attack Seoul from three directions. In the ensuing chaos, Rumbol would cut down the Guardian Tree. Then some Scanorbian warriors would massacre the Earth Players working in Scanorbia.

“I can’t believe I get to chop down a Golden Guardian Tree myself.”

“Don’t underestimate Chul-Soo. He took down Jonprich.”

“Jonprich was weak. He was born a loser who couldn’t do anything but leech off of other people.”

Humphrey clenched his fist, and Rumbol just laughed.

“What, are you going to hit me now? Try it, and I will cut you in half.”

“...”

Though Lumberjacks were classified as non-combatant-class Players, they were the closest to combatant-class Players among them.

“The higher-ups want a more secure operation. They are going to pair you up with a Scenarist,” Humphrey said. “A Scenarist? Why?” Rumbol scowled as if he did not like where this plan was going. “Sending a Scenarist for a newbie Server with an average Level of 70 is just absurd.”

With Scenarios active, Rumbol’s stats would skyrocket. After all, he was a Scenario Lumberjack, a Player whose abilities were maximized when participating in a Scenario.

“It’s a decision from the higher-ups,” Humphrey said.

“Fine by me. It’ll only make me stronger anyway.”

Scenarists were Players with special abilities. They were rated as the weakest in terms of combat power among all Players and were notorious for dying young due to the stress of their roles. However, they had the authority to forcibly activate Quests and Scenarios with specific narratives. Some exceptional Scenarists were even directly scouted by the System to serve as GMs.

“They’re going to activate a Scenario. The name of the Scenario is going to be the Fall of Yeonhui-dong. Surprisingly, the System approved it quicker than I thought,” Humphrey said.

???

At midnight, Kihael showed up at Cha Jin-Hyeok’s door and said, “A Scenario is about to be activated. It is an unplanned one.”

“You think wearing your hat low like that will keep you from being recognized?”

“They don’t monitor low-level GMs like me, anyway.”

“For a low-level GM, you seem to possess a lot of information.”

Kihael bit his lip tightly. “That’s because I get dumped with all the work! Serchan, that son of a bitch, offloads so much work onto me. It’s unbearable!”

For Kihael, who valued work-life balance, it was a nightmare. “This is all because that bastard is my senior.”

“If you hate it so much, why not just frag[1] him?”

“Have you seen his muscles?” Kihael shook his head, trembling. The mere thought of the overly passionate Serchan had sent chills down his spine.

“Those muscles are just for show,’ Jin-Hyeok said.

“...He benches 400 kilograms.”

“He can’t fight, though.”

“...That’s your standard,” Kihael muttered, clearly dissatisfied. His mood had evidently worsened, probably due to workplace stress. He kept mumbling curses about what kind of Streamer Jin-Hyeok supposedly was.

“Anyway. When a Scenario is suddenly assigned like this, it is usually because a Scenarist is involved,” Kihael explained.

“Hm...”

‘A Scenarist is involved already?’

They were relatively rare to begin with. Moreover, they were usually part of the System’s administrative staff.

“It got emergency approval. The System probably intends to add a sense of crisis to the Earth Server.”

Having Kihael as a spy turned out to be a good decision. He could provide various pieces of information about what was going on with the System.

“You know if I get caught, I will be fired without a severance, right?” Kihael said.

“Yeah, yeah.”

It seemed like Kihael still did not trust Jin-Hyeok much.

“If something goes wrong, I will get you a job at the MK Foundation. Don’t worry.”

At the mention of the MK Foundation, Kihael’s face lit up. It made Jin-Hyeok realize just how much the reputation of the MK Foundation had skyrocketed recently.

? ? ?

The development of the Scenario was abrupt, to say the least.

[The Sudden Scenario 「Fall of Yeonhui-dong」 has commenced.]

Armies of thousands of Players emerged from three different directions—Gimpo-si to the southwest, Nowon-gu to the northeast, and Gangnam-gu to the southeast. They were all Players from other Servers.

-“So these wretches dare show their faces and invade the land I guard? I will show them what true terror is,” the Guardian Tree declared with bravado. However, its confidence did not last long.

-“A few Players in their ranks can be quite problematic for me.”

Jin-Hyeok estimated that these Players included those in the Lumberjack class, who were a natural counter to the Guardian Tree. They seemed to have done their homework on Seoul.

‘How did they mobilize thousands of Players so quickly?’ Jin-Hyeok wondered.

Undoubtedly, a significant power was behind all this. Jin-Hyeok pondered the possible suspects, and one name came up as most likely.

‘Maybe it has something to do with the Black Alliance.’

The Black Alliance was a universal Alliance infamous for its atrocities against new Servers. It was considered a villainous Alliance from the Earth Server’s perspective, and Jin-Hyeok had clashed with the Black Alliance Players multiple times before his regression.

With Scenarists being involved in this situation, Jin-Hyeok had to assume a powerful Alliance, like the Black Alliance, had to be involved.

‘Has the Black Alliance infiltrated the Earth Server? Is their target the Guardian Tree?’

The chances of them aiming for the Guardian Tree were high.

-“I must unleash my true power.”

Soon, a notification popped up.

[The territory of the 「Golden Guardian Tree」 has shrunk.]

Once covering the entire city of Seoul, the Guardian Tree’s territory had shrunk. The news spread globally in real-time.

-The Downfall of the Safety Zone of Seoul.

-Even Seoul Cannot Guarantee Safety Anymore.

The Guardian Tree’s territory had shrunk to a five-kilometer radius. Only a few districts, like Seodamun-gu, Mapo-gu, Eunpyong-gu, Jongno-gu, and parts of Yongsan-gu, remained under the tree’s protection.

-Continuous Dungeon Breaks, Monsters Emerge!

-Abyssal Monsters Swarm the Gangnam Area.

Cities that had once been safe thanks to the Guardian Tree were now enveloped in chaos. Amidst this chaos, Players from other Servers who had initiated the Fall of Yeonhui-dong demanded a path be cleared.

“Our target is only Kim Chul-Soo.”

“Open a path to Kim Chul-Soo.”

“There is no need to spill pointless blood, Players of Earth.”

The successor to the HARD movement, Erin, proclaimed, “This is heaven’s judgment upon Kim Chul-Soo. He must pay for leading countless people astray.”

The invading Players began their simultaneous assaults from three directions, converging toward Chul-Soo. All eyes were on him, yet Chul-Soo didn’t react for a long time.

Erin had to shout, “Where is the overly confident Chul-Soo? He who said growth comes through risky Play is now hiding. He is nothing but a coward and a hypocrite. We must now abandon the misguided standard that is Chul-Soo and seek true justice!”

A day later, Chul-Soo, the Steamer with three hundred million subscribers, finally went live.

[Why did Players from across the universe flee in horror when an ordinary Earth Streamer brought out an SS-tier secret weapon?]

Jin-Hyeok wrote this trendy title at first but shook his head and went for another.

[Annihilation]

‘Simplicity is best after all.’ He preferred it this way.

“Hello, everyone. This is Kim Chul-Soo.” He began with some rather incomprehensible words. “It’s been a while since I greeted you with some Solo Mode content.”

1. Frag or fragging is military slang for when a soldier kills a superior officer. ?