Chapter 269 - Juyoung Hong (1)

It was natural that they did not raise any objection to Smith. They were getting a lot of benefits after they pledged to follow him, and he had increased their reality actualization rate from 120-180%, while others could not increase it by even 1%!

Anyway, after Smith made his decision, the others chimed in with comments.

"Captain! Aren't we in the same boat now?"

"That's right, Captain!"

Led by Smith, the "Second" of his group, Schmidt; the "Third", Julia; the "Fourth", John; and finally the "Fifth", Aaron, were all soon on the plane to Korea. The way they boarded the plane drew the attention of all the players in the world.

In fact, they were notorious for moving secretly, but now they had virtually declared war against Asirante, the absolutely strong man within Revival Legend.

***

At Holdridge Group Headquarters in New York, USA...

There were inevitably some reactions in other places. Holdridge Group, Shaipe Group, and the US Government were well aware that not only monsters but also entities called NPCs appeared as their enemies. They also knew that there were creatures over level 4000 and level 5000 among those NPCs.

At this moment, one of the top five executives at the head table opened his mouth as they were discussing matters. "What would happen if Smith's party clashes with Asirante? I mean, if they clash in reality?"

Suddenly everybody at the conference room became silent at his question. The silence lasted an unusually long time.

Then Austin, the head of Holdridge Group's intelligence department, carefully spoke up, "First of all, we need to remember that Asirante is only strong within Revival Legend. Moreover, Asirante was a latecomer, so when we took into account his participation in the level 300 and level 500 limited quests, we could roughly figure out what his level was. Considering all that, it's impossible for him to be over level 1200."

"Really?'

"Yeah. Smith and his party cannot help but win this time. It is natural for them to win. As you know, it is even hard to estimate the actuality realization rate of Smith and his party. In some respects, they even are more impossible to understand than Asirante."

"Hmm..."

"Um."

When Austin said that, the people in the conference room were a bit disturbed. They were not only uneasy about Asirante's presence, but also the five members of Smith's party.

The main reason they were desperately trying to do better in Revival Legend was because they wanted to gain those capabilities in reality, so the Holdridge Group had no choice but to pay close attention to Smith's group.

One of the top five executives asked loudly into the tense atmosphere, "If that's the case, should we leave him alone?"

"Well…" Intelligence chief Austin could not respond properly. Asirante was the one that the Holdledge Group was watching most closely after confirming that he was an NPC.

The meeting continued, but they couldn't find an answer.

Even thought they couldn't, they wrapped up the meeting with one conclusion: they decided to contact the Myongjin Guild to withdraw. They also reached out to Smith's party, who was special enough to gain their attention.

***

In Seoul, South Korea...

It had been difficult to fly many places in the past, but it was not at all difficult for Smith and his party to get Seoul from Australia after they had demonstrated their abilities fully.

After setting foot in Seoul, Julia was the first to speak. "Captain, what should we do now?"

"We're going to Gangwon Province because that's the place where the Myongjin Guild affiliated with Asirante is."

"What if Asirante doesn't appear there?'

"Then, we have to smash Myongjin..."

"It looks like Asirante moves from one place to another like a bat. He might have run away beforehand, right?"

"It doesn't matter. Since we have no information about him, we have to track down his whereabouts in the past. By the way, it's totally Asirante's responsibility if he doesn't show up at all, and some unfortunate things happen while we're chasing him."

Smith had a hunch that if he didn't kill Asirante this time, he would hugely regret it later. He had decided to get rid of Asirante by all means, no matter how long it took him!

He had obtained a tremendous Trait by following his hunches and trusted in them.

While Smith and his party were heading to Gangwon Province, they encountered a military unit.

Smith and his party prepared for a fight. They knew they were the enemy of the local military, here to kill the world's best talent that Korea kept boasting about.

Contrary to their expectations, they were greeted with an unexpected welcome!

"We the Korean government welcome you with open arms!"

***

"Did you really have to welcome them? They are far from friendly to us. They are not here to help us, either. They are our enemies, here to do harm to our country!" Byonguk Ahn, Director of the National Strategic Security Bureau, spoke to President Kijung Kim at the head table earnestly.

However, President Kim's response was very cold.

"Director Ahn, you told me that before now, some conglomerates controlled important information among themselves, and took all the benefits while keeping governments in the dark, right? This is a crime bordering on treason, and seriously threatens the existence of our country!"

"..."

Director Ahn could not balk at President Kim's sharp rebuke, flushing red tensely. What the president had said was certainly true.

But the problem was that it was the government who gave conglomerates the right to build buildings in the wrong places by taking the bait they threw out. The government had hurriedly gathered everybody involved in Revival Legend to shepherd them, but it was too late. The prime benefits of the game were already taken by giant guilds!

Even if the government helped level up the players of Revival Legend, their gap with the elite players of the giant guilds was too great to catch up now, and it would take too long to raise lesser players to be strong enough for practical use in reality.

Nevertheless, Director Ahn had judged that the government still had an opportunity. The right to control all the armed forces of Korea still rested with the President!

The army could still get rid of most of the monsters. Since that was so, Director Ahn had suggested to the President that the government should reestablish its relationship with the Mirae, Daesung, and Kusan Guilds, and work with them for mutual benefits.

Their thoughts were completely different!

Director Ahn had decided that he should stop the President's efforts by all means.

He had made proposals to him several times, but the President rejected them without any exceptions.

As a result, Director Ahn had no choice but to helplessly watch the meeting in the underground bunker of the Blue House.

President Kim continued, "I have a duty to protect the safety, live and property of the Korean people, and those who interfere with my duty are the enemies of Korea!"

Director Ahn Byung-guk could only feel a sense of emptiness at his announcement.

Of course President Kim had the duty of protecting the people's safety, life, and property, but he clearly seemed to have forgotten that, as if he were an absolute ruler of the feudal or totalitarian eras!