Chapter 253 – Change in Reputation (3)

Gi-Gyu took a look at everyone in the meeting room. Everyone gathered here was someone influential in their own group. He even spotted a few high rankers, which made sense, as he had been told that many high-rankers had participated in this expedition.

However, the work Hwang Chae-Il and Rohan had put in ensured they would be delivered here without much of a fight. Moreover, Leviathan had taken the only chance they had to show off their skills during the final battle.

Even the high rankers couldn’t take on three hell kings and Eden’s monsters.

The high rankers flinched and trembled as Gi-Gyu studied them. Only the powerful players recognized his true power. They couldn’t sense the full extent of his strength, but sensing just a small part of it was enough to make them shiver.

Gi-Gyu looked at them before closing his eyes slowly.

Then, he reopened his eyes and said, “The head of the Caravan Guild, Andras, and that of the Iron Guild, Ironshield…”

It was time for the players here to learn the truth.

“Are stealing the players’ bodies and handing them to demons.”

When Gi-Gyu announced that, the room was flooded with confused mutters. The audience displayed a variety of emotions. Some were shocked, some remained calm as if they had known this all along, and others glared at Gi-Gyu with suspicion.

Gi-Gyu continued, “They are also using non-players and players’ bodies to carry out experiments.”

The players' confused whispers became loud but still remained whispers. It appeared that those who knew about the body-stealing part didn’t know about the experiments.

A player who seemed to represent a large group shouted, “What are you talking about?! Experimenting on humans?!”

Gi-Gyu calmly replied, “Just as I said, they are conducting experiments on humans. Let me simplify it for you. They are treating both players and non-players as lab rats.”

Gi-Gyu had told them the truth—the whole truth—making the players turn pale.

Someone in the back screamed, “I don’t believe it! How could anyone do such a thing!” The man had quite a weak aura.

Gi-Gyu looked at the man, surprised that someone this weak was even allowed to participate in the expedition.

-He was the World Guild’s deputy guild master and mostly worked as an informant. The guild master of this guild is dead. He possessed the First Potion and worked for the Iron Guild, but it looks like only he was involved in this dirty business. Because the rest of his guild seemed innocent, we let them live.

Gi-Gyu nodded when Hwang Chae-Il explained the situation through their sync.

“Mr. Yoon Do-Hyung?” Gi-Gyu called out to him, making this player tremble in shock.

“...!”

“You’re responsible for collecting information at your guild, so how come you’re this ignorant?” asked Gi-Gyu.

Yoon Do-Hyung became even angrier, partly because his guild master had died while fighting inside Eden.

Yoo Do-Hyung glared at him and yelled, “Exactly! My guild may be small, but—”

“I know the World Guild is famous for its high-quality information-gathering ability. But I’m sure your guild master hoarded most of the information for himself.”

“...”

“Am I wrong?” Gi-Gyu asked.

Yoon Do-Hyung became very quiet.

“And Mr. Yoon.”

“...?”

“Look around you. Notice the other players’ expressions. Do their faces say I’m lying?”

The players in the meeting room had varying expressions. The more powerful the player, the more worried they looked. It was because they had more information than the weaker players. Most high-ranking players knew what was happening, and Gi-Gyu had only confirmed their suspicions.

“And haven’t you already seen proof?”

Everyone turned toward Gi-Gyu again as he explained, “During the last battle, the enemies I fought…”

The faint smile remained as he continued, “Those monsters emerged from your side, didn’t they? You all know they were dispatched by the Caravan Guild and the Iron Guild, correct? Is that not proof enough?”

All the players looked down in deep thought, no longer staring at Gi-Gyu.

They knew.

They all knew this conversation was meaningless. After all, they had seen the real monsters.

Those monsters disguised themselves as expedition participants.

Just this fact alone was enough to implicate the Iron Guild and the Caravan Guild.

Gi-Gyu offered, “I’ll leave you guys to think for a moment. You should discuss your next move among yourselves.”

Even after Gi-Gyu had left, the players remained quiet for a long time.

***

The world was going insane. Ten thousand players, an incredibly immense number, were sent into the gate. And if that number wasn’t shocking enough, the numerous high-level players that made up that number were.

So if…

-Eden won, and the players in the expedition were…

The media was beginning to discuss a hypothetical situation. What if Eden came out victorious? People didn’t expect this expedition to be short, but when they saw the barrier disappear around Eden, their hopes for this expedition's success rose.

-What is happening inside Eden right now?

Their hope and anticipation slowly turned to worry and anxiety. The idea of losing 10,000 players was frightening. If this happened, what would happen to the safety of the world?

There were still plenty of players in the world, but it would be hard to replace the high-level players who had entered Eden. And if this expedition really failed, then…

-Will it ever be possible to close the Eden gate?

It was possible that no more attempts would ever be made to enter Eden.

Lately, an opinion had been gaining traction. It wasn’t anything new; it became popular just recently.

-Many people think or are starting to think that Kim Gi-Gyu and Eden’s independence should be acknowledged. If we accept Kim Gi-Gyu as he is, and have him participate in keeping this world safe, we could turn this uncertain situation around.

Acknowledge and accept Kim Gi-Gyu and Eden’s independence.

This idea didn’t just stem from the fact that he had turned an entire region into his gate. Until now, he had deflected many serious attacks, meaning he was no longer an ordinary player.

Many were also beginning to question why Kim Gi-Gyu even was “the most wanted player.” There was no clear explanation for why he was being chased, so many conspiracy theories arose.

And, of course, the media did its job perfectly: Fanning the public’s uncertainty. The worst offender was the TVH channel, which broadcasted Eden’s barrier disappearing live. That single broadcast brought them a stream of advertisements and sponsorships.

Despite the considerable success, the director of this station looked unhappy. He muttered, “This is insane. He is a player, but he isn’t invincible, right? He begged me to send him, so I did, but now…”

They had lost contact with Kim Gi-Yeul and Kim Min-Hee when Eden’s barrier disappeared. TVH had sent an emergency rescue team, but they couldn’t even find the crashed helicopter’s remnants.

It was obvious that the two were dead. Kim Gi-Yeul and Kim Min-Hee wanted to go, but it was partly the director’s greed that sent them to their deaths.

He never thought something like this would happen. He got the biggest scoop of the year, but it cost him two of his best talents. Their deaths would haunt him for the rest of his life. This was why the atmosphere in TVH station was dark despite the broadcast’s success.

“Director.” The director’s secretary brought him a cup of coffee and begged him to go home for the night. The director hadn’t left the station since he heard about the helicopter crash.

The director replied, “How can I? Do you really expect me to just go home and rest? Gi-Yeul bought us this chance with his life, so I must make the best of it. I can’t let his death be in vain.”

TVH was a new station, but its recent coverage put it in the middle of the competitive world of player media. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so the director refused to let it go to waste.

“Haa…” The director sighed deeply and rested his head on the desk. He was exhausted, but he couldn’t rest.

Sitting up again, he stared at his computer. To be precise, he stared at the folder titled “Kim Gi-Gyu.”

Kim Gi-Gyu was at the center of everything, holding the explanation for this entire confusing situation. Everything their channel knew about this man was in that folder.

But…

“I can’t release it just yet. It’s not time,” the director mumbled. Revealing this information to the world would result in more deaths.

And this time, he would also be one of the many dying.

The director knew he needed to give his family some time to prepare. Everything had to be ready and perfect before he released this information. This would be the last and greatest story of his life.

The director was grateful for one thing. Since his station was now popular, the world would listen when he released this folder.

He rested his head on the desk again. Seconds later, his cell phone began vibrating.

Bzzz.

He didn’t pick it up, assuming it was another annoying call about work. But suddenly, he got a strange feeling.

Something felt different about this call. The director picked his phone up with a strange look on his face.

[Kim Gi-Yeul]

He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the caller ID.

‘This can’t be happening.’?

His hands shaking, the director answered the phone.

-Hello?

The voice erased all doubts he had.

“G-Gi-Yeul?”

***

Gi-Gyu held the man’s hand tightly and stated, “I hope we get to maintain a good relationship.”

“...” The man, who represented the players, shook Gi-Gyu’s hand silently. He looked tense and resigned at the same time.

After a long discussion, the players came up with a decision. It wasn’t unanimous, which was expected. The players came from all over the world, so there was no way all of them would decide to support Gi-Gyu.

But…

-The majority of them have decided to take your side.

Hwang Chae-Il informed Gi-Gyu in his head. As he had announced, most of the surviving players believed Gi-Gyu’s claim. This was exactly what Gi-Gyu wanted. He didn’t really care about the quality of the players who sided with him.

What he wanted was the number.

Happy that he got what he wanted, Gi-Gyu smiled.

“...” Some players were looking at Gi-Gyu unhappily from far away. They were those who had decided not to work with Gi-Gyu. These players were beginning to understand that something was wrong with the Caravan Guild and the Iron Guild. But they chose not to take Gi-Gyu’s side because…

“Aren’t you a beast yourself too?” The representative of the nonaligned players asked. He explained, “You can turn a city into a gate and use the monsters like your servants… And most of all…”

The head of the nonaligned players trailed off, remembering Gi-Gyu’s overwhelming power. He announced, “You are just another beast we can not trust. That is why we can’t work with you.”

But this wasn’t the only reason why these players had decided not to take Gi-Gyu’s side. Most players in this group chose this option because they believed staying neutral would benefit them the most.

“As I promised, you will be free to return home safely. But, before that…” Gi-Gyu clapped to get everyone’s attention.

They were still inside the meeting room. He continued, “This is just something I want to do. I would like to introduce you to the people who share my goal.”

Again, confused mutters flooded the room.

Who could they be?

Lucifer?

Or someone from KPA? Gi-Gyu having a close relationship with the KPA was a well-known fact.

Worry and anticipation were palpable in the air.

“But is this…” The representative of the group that had decided to side with Gi-Gyu whispered. He glanced at the players who had refused to work with Gi-Gyu. Was it okay for Gi-Gyu to reveal his allies to them?

Gi-Gyu smiled and replied, “It’s all right.”

Creak.

The door opened, and a beautiful woman walked in.

Soo-Jung, better known as Lucifer, announced, “Hello. Congratulations to those of you who have decided to work with my pupil.”

The players murmured, but none looked surprised, as the world already knew Lucifer had decided to work with Gi-Gyu.

However, the players gasped when the next player walked in.

“Nice to meet you all,” Sung-Hoon greeted the room.

“Y-you are…!” Someone recognized him as a member of the KPA. And as more players walked in, the nonaligned players couldn’t hide their shock.

A man arrogantly said, “I’m Choi Chang-Yong, the Blue Dragon Guild’s guild master.”

No one dared to greet him back. Gi-Gyu didn’t give Choi Chang-Yong special treatment, but he was someone to be respected in the world’s eyes. After all, he was a famous high ranker and leader of a top ten Korean guild.

A sudden silence fell in the room. Not because the players were no longer shocked but because they were now nonplussed. Choi Chang-Yong was one of several players who had participated in the last expedition to destroy Eden.

The members of the Morningstar-Child Guild followed him.

Then, Tao Chen entered the room.

“I’m Tao Chen.”

The room had become a source of constant shocked gasps. However, when the last player entered, a fearful silence filled the room.

The deputy guild master of the Iron Guild…

The one who had led the current expedition…

“Hello. My name is Rohan.”