Chapter 158

Chapter 158

The Great Leader Khan had zeroed in on one irrefutable point.

‘Kim Chul-Soo is not asking me to take responsibility for the invasion at all!’

In Scanorbia, the winner took all that the loser had. Ever since the Thunder Dragon had sided with Chul-Soo, Chul-Soo had become the de facto victor. Being the loser, Khan would have had to yield to all of Chul-Soo’s demands. Thankfully, it seemed that such a situation was unlikely.

‘But... the things he is saying do not feel like they are directed at me...’

So, whom were they meant for? If Chul-Soo was not criticizing Khan’s invasion, then what was this all about? What did Chul-Soo want?

‘Who is he talking to?’

Finally, Khan arrived at a conclusion he could hardly believe.

‘Is he really just mad at the staged livestream, like he says?’

At first, Khan thought there had to be some hidden meaning behind Chul-Soo’s words, but as he listened on, that did not appear to be the case. Chul-Soo was genuinely angry about the staged livestream.

‘Why is he making such a big deal about it?’

Khan was a capable ruler who had unified Scanorbia and prided himself on his skill at reading others. However, he had utterly failed to fathom the depths of Chul-Soo’s mind.

“Manipulating things like that isn’t just, wouldn’t you agree?” Cha Jin-Hyeok said.

‘Wait, is justice a concept that reigns over both his mind and body?’ Khan thought. Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

“Y-Yes, I agree.” Confused, Khan decided to go along with it for the time being.

“So you admit that it was a staged livestream, right?”

“...Yes.”

There was still no mention of the terms of Khan’s agreement with Egan Paul and Humphrey Millen, nor of any benefits Khan might have gained. So, the situation still left Khan bewildered.

“Don’t fall for such dark temptations next time.”

“...I will keep that in mind.”

Only then did Chul-Soo smirk. Finally, he felt a sense of relief.

‘See, Egan Paul, the truth can never be defeated by lies.’

“Oh, and one more thing.”

Chul-Soo had precisely pinpointed why Egan’s staged livestream had succeeded. It was because Egan had perfectly met Khan’s needs. Only because Egan’s and Khan’s interests had aligned so well had a staged livestream been possible.

‘I won’t let that happen again. How dare he try to take my number one spot?’ Chul-Soo thought.

A voice within Chul-Soo, which even he did not recognize, took control of his mind and body. He said, “Document your admission of the staged livestream officially. I want you to provide evidence if you have any.”

“...” Khan’s face visibly darkened. If he were to violate the confidentiality clause first, all promises and assistance from Egan would vanish into thin air. The countless warriors of this land would remain in starvation.

“In exchange, I will take responsibility for your food supply.”

The considerate mad saint, Kim Chul-Soo, had made his official first move.

? ? ?

Jang Michelle, a member of the Trinity Club who was living another life on the Earth Server, was exhilarated. “Can we really deploy these Players into the field this soon?”

This was a golden opportunity for the Players nurtured by the MK Foundation to gain real-world experience.

“I’ve been wanting to develop Players with less popular Jobs anyway.”

Copying what everyone else was doing was no fun. Michelle was actively participating in Play, and sticking to mainstream strategies would make it dull. So she had spared no effort in supporting Players with less favored Jobs, including those related to agriculture.

“This is going to be fun!”

Players with newly awakened talents in farming, based on the Earth Server’s advanced agricultural civilization, were deployed to the Scanorbia Server.

“They’re really giving us land?”

“Yes, they really are!”

A considerable number of Farmer-class Players made their way to Scanorbia.

“I heard the land there is too barren for farming.”

“That’s true, but we do have special Skills related to farming, so it should be okay. They are also giving us land, and they said they will give us subsidies if farming fails.”

“How’s that possible?”

“Apparently, it is.”

“This is your sixth Assassination attempt. You have one chance left. You got it?”

“...Fine.”

Jin-Hyeok carelessly picked up Black Butterfly and threw her out of the window. They were only on the sixth floor, so she would be fine.

“Now, where were we?”

? ? ?

“Aaaaahhh!!” Egan tore at his hair, letting out a wail. “Kim Chul-Soo!!!”

It felt like everything was falling apart because of Chul-Soo. Countless people were mocking and ridiculing Egan’s staged livestream. Moreover, the United States government had shifted all the blame onto him and Humphrey. Egan was at his wits’ end. He had no choice but to forcibly insert the text [This video has been staged with prior agreement] into his past video.

~

-Lol, scripted.

-Scripted, what a loser!

-Too late for a disclaimer, LOL.

-Get this loser out of here!

~

Egan developed a temporary social phobia. It was the greatest hardship of his livestreaming career. For days, he remained cooped up in his room, avoiding all human contact.

Then, one day, Humphrey paid him a visit. “Egan, I have a good idea.”

“Good idea?”

“Remember how the MK Foundation dispatched Farmers to Scanorbia, led by Chul-Soo?”

“...So?”

“What if they were found dead overnight? We could send Chul-Soo into the abyss. It would backfire on him for recklessly pushing this endeavor for his own glory.”

“Wait... That’s a bit...” As much as he despised Chul-Soo, Egan knew where to draw the line. He had no intention of pushing innocent people to death.

“Just imagine, without Chul-Soo, you could be the most outstanding Streamer on the Earth Server!”

“...”

Humphrey pulled a pocket watch from his coat and swung it back and forth.

“What are you doing?”

“I am going to calm your anxious mind.” As if he were casting a spell, Humphrey whispered, “All you need is for Chul-Soo to be gone. Then you will be the most outstanding Streamer on Earth.”

“The most... outstanding... Streamer...” Egan’s eyes began to lose focus.

“Just like on Earth, extremist armed forces also exist in the Scanorbia Server. Using them would make things much easier. If you send me, I will contact them,” Humphrey said.

“Without... Kim Chul-Soo...”

“Yes, without Kim Chul-Soo.”

Egan’s eyes were dyed black.

“To do so, we need to create an event that will divert Chul-Soo’s attention. A sort of decoy operation.”

“...Decoy... operation...”

“The world is currently showering the Farmers with special Skills with expectations and praise.”

“...Uh...Ah...” Egan’s body slumped. Laid bare to Humphrey’s psychic attack, he was almost as good as half-dead.

“But we also have exceptional Lumberjack-class Players in our ranks. They are also armed with special abilities. I know an outstanding Lumberjack. He is from my hometown, and his Level is staggering 200.”

“...”

“Let’s use him to cut down Seoul’s Golden Guardian Tree. If we succeed, it will make headline news, and if we fail, we would still have diverted Chul-Soo’s attention. Either way, it’s a win for us.”

“...Uh... Uh....” Egan twisted his body as if he was resisting, shaking his head from side to side.

However, Humphrey swayed his pocket watch back and forth, whispering, “If only Kim Chul-Soo were not around, you would be the top Streamer.”

“...Uh...!”

“All you have to do is sign off on the operation plan. I will take care of the rest.” Humphrey extended a piece of paper. Then, he lifted Egan’s thumb and stamped the paper with it.

Humphrey took the stamped paper, turned his back, and walked away with a sinister smile.

‘Kim Chul-Sooo... I will never forgive you.`

Chul-Soo was his sworn enemy. Chul-Soo had killed Humphrey’s only friend, Jonprich, and ruined the experiments and plans they had been working on. Humphrey had no intention of forgiving Chul-Soo.

‘I will make you feel that you would rather be dead.’