Chapter 418: Confront and Protect (5)

Raising My Precious Absolute God

The first virtual reality game in human history—
a global phenomenon that drew in hundreds of millions of simultaneous users.

It had long surpassed the limits of being just a game;
it had become a culture, another reality.

A Great First Step.

That was the theme chosen for the game’s major update.

A world where anyone could build their own kingdom—
the New World.

Founding a Kingdom.

Just hearing the title made the hearts of hundreds of millions of players race.

The New World already offered endless adventures,
but—

“A full-scale war is something else entirely!”

The thrill of becoming the protagonist,
facing rival players or standing against powerful NPCs,
was beyond description.

<But… doesn’t it sound a bit boring?>

And yet, perhaps the expectations had been too high.

-----

– There aren’t many visible changes, are there?
– Obviously. Come on, no matter how many players there are, we’re just a drop in the bucket in the New World.
– A drop in the bucket? Not really.
– Either way, we’re not even organized. How are we supposed to found kingdoms and go to war like this?
– “The Great First Step” is the kind of update that takes time. Even if we push hard, we probably won’t see any stable kingdoms until next year.  

-----

The expected change never came to the New World.

Sure, countless prominent players and alliances were already moving in secret, quietly laying the groundwork to form their own factions—

but nothing seemed to happen on the surface.

-----

– Aside from the number-one ranking, the one who’s supposed to become the Crown Prince of the Eastern Empire– what else is even happening?
– Yeah, but there hasn’t been any news about that either. Everything suddenly went quiet.
– Exactly. There was supposed to be a coronation event, but there’s been zero information.  

-----

Even the most anticipated news—
that of the number-one player—
remained silent.

It was to be expected.

Outside the New World.

On the top floor of the Sun Building,
in the capital of the Roan Kingdom,
the third most powerful nation on Earth,

Choi Seon-hee, CEO of Sun Corporation,
sat calmly, tablet in hand, monitoring the situation.

“It’s the president, after all.”

The number-one player was none other than President Ahn Roh Man.

Her gaze shifted toward the muted television screen.

<Will the conflict between President Ahn Roh Man and Transparent Corporation shake even the global economy?>

The scandal that Ahn Roh Man had exposed about Transparent Corporation
had ignited a brutal battle for truth.

“In reality, Transparent’s just trying to bury everything.”

And Ahn Roh Man…

“He’s acting like a madman.”

He was behaving like a man with nothing left to lose.

<President Ahn Roh Man: “Honorary President Han Taek-su must voluntarily present himself to the prosecutor’s office. In addition, Transparent must release all the research documents stored in their museum. If not, we will make our information public to the entire world.”>

It had become a war of attrition.

“But Transparent isn’t sitting still.”

<Transparent Corporation: “President Ahn Roh Man’s so-called grand plan for re-election is nothing but political theater. Releasing our research documents would devalue the company. This is clearly pressure against Transparent.”>

Transparent dodged every question about the scandal, insisting that the entire issue was blackmail orchestrated by Ahn Roh Man.

“…The problem is, that blackmail is working.”

<Transparent Corporation: “If this continues, the normal operation of the RMPAG may be seriously affected.”>

That last statement sent shockwaves through the public.

It was inevitable.

Earth 3 had long suffered from the appearance of monsters—creatures that destroyed everything in their path, leaving behind scars of war both physical and emotional.

Although society had since recovered significantly, with defenses now in place and people trained to fight back…

"...A utopia"

Amid all that, the New World introduced by Transparent was literally a new world.

A place to begin again.
To live a different life.

That alone was enough for people to throw themselves into it completely.

Culture, economy, even faith…

The New World influenced everything.
For countless people, it had become a refuge.

But what if that refuge disappeared?

“That can’t be.”

Transparent dismissed President Ahn Roh Man’s accusations as ridiculous and baseless.

Experimenting on human souls?
Worshiping the God of Chaos?

Does this make sense?

They dismissed the president’s statements as fiction, claiming that the pinnacle of advanced science was this virtual reality game itself.

“…Transparent is unbelievable.”

Even when faced with evidence, they ignored it.
Instead, they accused the president of state terrorism for attacking the museum and demanded a full fiscal investigation.

“…Transparent has more influence than I thought.”

In the prosecutor’s office, the National Assembly, the courts—
Transparent had people everywhere.

“Ahn Roh Man has less support than expected.”

Many abandoned him, convinced that his power was declining.

“That’s why he’s acting so desperate.”

President Ahn Roh Man and his remaining allies fought harder than ever—
as if they truly had nothing left to lose.

With his term nearing its end, they were determined to settle this before it was over.

But there was another reason.  

“They need to draw attention.”

That was the key.

Ding!

Choi Seon-hee glanced at her phone.

<CEO, the meeting has been arranged.>

Ding!

<CEO, should we continue purchasing shares?>

Sun Corporation.

It wasn’t a name the public knew well—
but among corporations, it was recognized.

A silent giant.
A major shareholder with staggering cash reserves.  

“President Ahn Roh Man has helped us a great deal.”

A faint smile touched her lips.

‘Buy as many Transparent shares as possible when their price drops.’
‘Set up meetings with shareholders and institutions to gain allies.’

Cale Henituse.

He had told her that from the shadows,
they would seize control of Transparent.

‘And since we have to move forward in the New World, if any unforeseen event arises, work together with President Ahn Roh Man and Vice President Lee Mi-jeong.’

At present, they had three crucial allies on Earth 3:

Sun Corporation, wielding economic power.
President Ahn Roh Man, holding political authority and legitimacy.
And within Transparent, their insider—Vice President Lee Mi-jeong.

“Hmm?”

Choi Seon-hee’s eyes paused on the tablet screen.

“Eh?”

-----

– What? What’s this video that Crazy Exhibitionist just uploaded?

-----

From that single post, the New World forum exploded with activity.

A Great First Step.

While the event progressed slowly, without any major changes…

Players drifted in and out of interest, sometimes checking the martial arts tournament, sometimes testing new missions in the Western Empire…

<Hey, did you watch Crazy Exhibitionist’s video?>

Crazy Exhibitionist.  

The video he uploaded ignited the entire New World.
Discussion after discussion flared up as players rushed to see it.

And Choi Seon-hee, guided by instinct alone, opened the post immediately.

-----

<Hey, did you see Crazy Exhibitionist’s video?>

– No beating around the bush.

– Crazy Exhibitionist. Go to his channel and watch the video now.
– Seriously—this is something you have to see.
– Something’s happening.

-----

She checked the comments.  

-----

– …Wow, this is epic. Can you really have fights on this scale?
– How far did that exhibitionist even go this time?
– To the Demon Kingdom.
– That’s not what I meant, ¬¬

-----

Demon Kingdom.

That word made her stop.

She had been tracking their progress through Alberu and Rosalyn.
She knew they were now in the Demon Kingdom.

“Hmm.”

Choi Seon-hee picked up another tablet, searched for Crazy Exhibitionist’s channel, and opened the most recent upload.

There were three long videos, each without a proper title.

“……”

She tapped on the first one. 

No subtitles.
No intro.
No explanation.

It was raw—unedited, exactly as it had been recorded.

But Choi Seon-hee had no time to analyze that.

“Ah.”

There, Raon appeared.

Thump. Thump.

Her heart beat hard in her chest.

While the video played, she checked the forum—
and the comment section.

The view count was skyrocketing. 

-----

– Wow, the scale is insane!
– Are there events like this in the Demon Kingdom?
– Was something like this happening under the Death Cliff? Wow! Should I go?

-----

At first, the comments were light.

-----

– A dragon! So cute!
– Gasp, the baby dragon. Gasp, I’m heading to the Demon Kingdom to see the baby dragon.
– Oh. Who’s that swordsman? Amazing. Totally my type.

-----

But slowly, the comments began to shift.

-----

– The Saint? The Saint of the Sun God Cult? The Saint??
– Knight Boltien is here too.
– Is this exhibitionist not afraid of dying? He keeps peeking over the edge! But what’s down there? What’s going on?

-----

They really changed.
Especially after they saw the mission that appeared for Crazy Exhibitionist and his friend.

-----

– …Is it asking to save the game?

[Can you help save this world, this place, this game?]

-----

The moment that mission window appeared…

The trolls arrived.

-----

– Hey, isn’t it that crazy Ahn Roh Man who wants to shut down the New World?
– Yeah, Ahn Roh Man needs to stop acting like some hero from the past and face reality. That old man should retire.

– LOL, hey, Ahn Roh Man is young. And handsome.

– And that’s why we’re supposed to support Ahn Roh Man attacking Transparent? May Ahn Roh Man die!

-----

But the atmosphere shifted quickly.

-----

– …Wow.
– The scale… it’s incredible.
– Really? Those guys—no, who is that man?
– Can you really have fights like that?
– Are there that many powerful people we didn’t know about?

-----

An epic battle.  

-----

– …But it feels too real.

-----

The footage showed the rescued sacrifices, the madness at the bottom of the gorge,
everything Crazy Exhibitionist had captured.

Scenes of death and destruction.
The cult’s insanity spreading through it all.

-----

– Hey, didn’t they say it was Chaos?

-----

And then someone realized—

-----

– Didn’t they say this was the arrival of the God of Chaos?

– Eh? Now that you mention it… wasn’t there something about the God of Sun Cult being connected to the Chaos Cult?

– Hey, what if the God of Chaos is related to Transparent?

– …What? Is this even a game?
– Is the game system really asking us to save it?

-----

The atmosphere grew heavier.
And because the video was raw, the immersion only deepened.

-----

– Ah, I’m going to cry. Who is that person? I mean… only him, ah—
– He saved everything. Is he an NPC?

– God, is he the Hero of the God of Sun?

– …Isn’t he a player?

-----

The sacrifices and the cult.
The outsiders who came to destroy the cult.
And that small group that resolved everything.

-----

– Why am I crying?

– Seriously, if the God of Chaos is real and the game system is asking for our help… aren’t those NPCs fighting the God of Chaos to save the game?

– It’s not an exaggeration.

– We should really think about this.

– Someone posted an analysis on the forum. Let’s go check it out.

-----

People began taking the situation seriously.

Detailed analyses started popping up across the forum,
and a strange, tense atmosphere began to form.

-----

<Isn’t this scenario possible?>

What if Transparent lost its mind and made some sort of deal with the God of Chaos to experiment on living beings?
And what if that’s why they’re trying to control the game?
And what if the game system itself is asking us for help?

– Meh. The probability of the game system acting like that is extremely low.

– Yeah, same. More likely it’s just some Transparent employees, panicking because the company’s collapsing, trying to get us to save the game.

-----

At that moment, Choi Seon-hee understood.

“This wasn’t intentional.”

Crazy Exhibitionist.
Because of that strange player, everything had been exposed.

This wasn’t what Cale wanted.

We were supposed to stay hidden from the enemy for as long as possible…

But what was done was done.
There was no turning back now.

“We have to use this to our advantage.”

If she handled this correctly, she could coordinate with President Ahn Roh Man.

“…The God of Sun Cult.”

The appearance of the God of Sun Cult inside the game wasn’t a coincidence either.

“Oh, God of Sun—”

As the head of Sun Corporation,
Choi Seon-hee had always followed the will of the God of Sun.

Now, her role was clear:
support Cale and his team.

“But we can’t let everything be revealed.”

They had to conceal as much as possible.

“We can’t expose our last resort.”

What was their last resort?

The forces of the God of Chaos.
The Demon World.
The Hunter Family.

What was it that they were all completely ignoring?

The answer was obvious.

“……”

Choi Seon-hee immediately called someone.

That person was also about to call her, so she answered instantly.  

– CEO.

"Vice President Lee"

Lee Mi-jeong.

A legendary figure who had started as a regular employee at Transparent and risen all the way to vice president.
She was also an ally of Choi Seon-hee and Rosalyn.

Speaking to Lee Mi-jeong, who was still inside Transparent, Choi Seon-hee said:

“You’re aware of the situation, right?”

– Yes.

Lee Mi-jeong also understood the danger of the situation.  

“We must hide the game system.”

– Correct.

Lee Mi-jeong replied:

– I’ll handle the public side of this.

Choi Seon-hee understood exactly what those words meant.

“Vice President, you understand what this entails, right?”

– Yes. Transparent is more vulnerable than ever.

Inside Transparent, employees—whether they knew the truth or not—had already caught wind of the rumors.
Even though the executives were trying to suppress everything, many workers were confused by the company’s actions.

Most ordinary employees couldn’t imagine what was happening.

They only felt pride in working for what they believed was the best company in the world.

– CEO Choi, I know you’ve been buying shares and persuading shareholders to call a meeting.

Take control.  

– To secure my position, I need to move now.

Lee Mi-jeong was someone who understood the tides—
and how to ride them.

– It’s perfect. We’ll hide the game system. We’ll say the “save the game” mission was created by me, by a few loyal employees, and by the operations team — including Park Jeong-gyu.

With that, the independent action of the game system—
in other words, the World Tree of the New World, or something equivalent to a god supporting Cale—
would remain concealed.

“That could make many employees rally behind you.”

– Yes. And I’ll also confront Honorary President Han Taek-su openly.

She added:  

– Besides, Han Taek-su won’t be able to get anywhere near the game system. Employees will grow suspicious and keep an eye on him.

Lee Mi-jeong had decided to rise as a powerful figure who could stand against Han Taek-su.

“Outside, there’s President Ahn Roh Man. Inside, there’s you. That’s solid.”

– And in the shadows, there’s you, CEO Choi.

Lee Mi-jeong paused, then continued:

– And behind us… there’s them.

Her voice was steady. Certain.

Choi Seon-hee smiled.

“Yes. They’re there.”

Cale Henituse and his companions.
As long as they existed, she only had to do her part.

“Whew.”

She hung up the phone and closed her eyes for a moment.

"......"

The video’s views had shot past ten million instantly…
and were already climbing toward one hundred million.

The footage was so intense it made hands sweat and hearts race.

"......"

CEO Choi played the video again.
She felt both worried and excited, wondering how Cale and his companions were doing now.

* * *

Cale closed his eyes tightly.

I fainted, right?

And every time he fainted, something happened.

He saw past events.
Sometimes he met team leader Lee Soo-hyuk.
Or the real Cale Henituse.
Or the God of Balance or the God of Hope.
Sometimes the Fire of Purification or Super Rock, in their divine forms.  

But this time, it wasn’t any of them.

“Are you asleep?”

…Damn.
Look at this.

“Are you really asleep?”

“Sigh.”

Cale opened his eyes with a long breath.

“Haha.”

A soft laugh echoed.

In his field of vision, the smiling face of the God of Death appeared.

And Cale’s blood boiled.

He was the last person Cale wanted to see.
He had a talent for showing up at the worst moments.

"Hmm"

But he couldn’t say anything.
Without meaning to, he spoke.

“Hey… are you alright?”

“Haha—”

The God of Death kept laughing.
He was missing an arm, and the entire upper half of his body was stained gray.

“…Why are you like this?”

Cale felt irrationally irritated.

“Where did you get beaten up this badly?”

The God of Death gave him a mocking smile and said:

“Oh? Now you’re worried about me?”

And at that tone, Cale shot back without hesitation:

“Idiot.”

Gods don’t die.
He knew they couldn’t even disappear.

But seeing the God of Death like this, he couldn’t stop himself from asking:

“Are you going to die?”

The God of Death smiled again.

“Not with this. I won’t die. Though I will be suffering for a few centuries. But hey—”

Losing an arm and having half his body rendered useless wasn’t much of an issue for a god.

In the end, he would recover.

The God of Death continued:

“I could die.”

No.
Gods didn’t know death.

“I could disappear.”

Rustle.

With his remaining arm, the God of Death handed Cale a document.

Among the names listed as fated to die within six months
was the name of the God of Death himself.

“…Am I on the list of those who will die?”

Cale immediately grasped what that meant.

“…Did the enemies find a way to erase a god?”

Smile~

The God of Death laughed.

“You really are the best.”

 -----
P/R Thoughts: The war on Chaos ends — but the true game begins. Even gods can now die, and Cale just met the one who might be next.

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Mayank]