Chapter 688. Call It a Diversion Operation (2)

She stepped out of the office, and the sun was still blazing overhead.

“Wow, the weather’s killer today.”

Lee Yerim, an office worker, was reminded of the old days—the early days of the Cataclysm, when evacuation orders dropped at the slightest provocation. Compared to the paralyzing fear back then… today’s sirens weren’t scary at all. Maybe that’s why her coworkers seemed excited rather than alarmed.

“I’m gonna binge Today’s Arcana when I get home.”
“You’re in the mood for that? This is happening right in front of us!”
“Oh please, like this hasn’t happened before. South Korea’s been a truce-state from the beginning. In a country where incidents can break out anytime, anywhere—do you think I’m gonna blink just because of some sirens? Am I right, Yerim?”

Yerim responded to Team Leader Kim’s words with a mechanical laugh.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.”

Yeah, this was textbook desensitization.

‘Am I the weird one here?’

Until the Magic Tower lost, and the prominent guilds in Seoul surrendered to the force that had brought it down… the atmosphere hadn’t been this bad.

‘If you think about it, it’s all your fault, Lee Hoyeol.’

You were too perfect.

Clearing the Zero Mountain Range, and more. Every time Hoyeol accomplished something, the office exploded with excitement. Especially their team leader, who was obsessed with players.

-“Lee Hoyeol is just overwhelming—right? Don’t you think so too, Yerim?”

Of course, Yerim never said a word about Hoyeol to anyone. If someone were to ask why someone as chatty as Yerim kept her mouth shut—

‘I might not be able to help, but I definitely don’t want to drag him down.’

So today, Yerim’s only goal was to make it home safely. Right, she had something she needed to do once she got back. Just thinking about it already had her breaking out in a cold sweat.

Hoyeol’s black notebook.

Ever since that day she returned home trembling with anxiety, she hadn’t seen the notebook.

‘Where the heck did it go?’

She distinctly remembered leaving it on her desk…

‘Did Mom clean it up?’

No, that couldn’t be it—her room was still a total mess. The only thing missing from the disaster zone that was her room was Hoyeol’s notebook.

‘It wasn’t my sisters. And there’s no way my brother-in-law would enter my room.’

That left Yerim with only two possible explanations:

Her one and only niece, Arang, might’ve taken it to draw in.
Or her one and only younger brother, Hoyeol, came to retrieve his own notebook.

‘…It doesn’t seem like either of those, though.’

Whatever the case, Yerim absolutely did not want anyone reading what was inside that notebook.
There were things written there that even Hoyeol himself had hopefully forgotten.

How stupid. Why had she left it out in plain sight? She should’ve listened to Mom when she said to always put things back where they belong.

“Yerim, why are you scratching your head like that?”
“Huh? It’s nothing.”
“Right? You’re not bored of me talking, are you?”

Team Leader Kim kept up his chatter all the way to the subway station. Normally Yerim would just let it go in one ear and out the other. But not this time.

“Huh?”

Flicker.

“Was that… a blackout?”

For a split second, the lights on the subway platform flickered out and then back on. From the way everyone was looking around, it wasn’t just her imagination.

As always, Kim was quick to comment.

“See? The Magic Tower defeat is no small matter! Of course Seoul, the land of anomalies, would start acting up.”
“Team Leader, maybe it’s just a simple power outage.”
“You think power outages just happen for no reason, Assistant Manager Park? There’s always a cause—”

Pop.

“…Huh?”

Even Kim’s chatter stopped when all the lights on the platform went out. Darkness descended without warning. After a brief murmur of confusion, everyone instinctively pulled out their phones to light up the space.

Kim finally spoke again.

“Well, at least our smartphones still—what the?!”

No signal. No network.

That’s when people started realizing something was seriously wrong.
From the murmuring crowd, a voice rose.

“D-Did a Rift collapse or something?”
“No. There wasn’t any system message.”
“Message? Wait—are you a player?!”
“Yes. I’m not a combat class, but still technically a player.”

Kim mumbled right away,

“If they’re not a combat class, that’s not reassuring…”

Amid the chaos, Yerim was deep in thought.

‘I have no idea what’s going on. But…’

…Shiver.

‘It’s the same.’

That maddening sense of dread she’d felt on her way home recently—it was wrapping around her again.
Maybe that’s why she finally snapped at her boss, who had been mumbling nonstop beside her.

“This isn’t just any Rift—”
“Can you please be quiet?”
“Y-Yerim?! Are you saying that to me right now?”
“Yes. Who else would I be saying it to?”

Geez. These MZ these day…
Kim’s stunned expression wasn’t visible in the darkness, but knowing his personality, he’d be bringing this up for ages.

But Yerim didn’t have to worry about her boss’s grudge.

“W-Wait a minute. This is…”

Forget grudges.

“E-Everyone!”

A message had appeared in the players’ field of vision—one that left only the hope of survival.

A player shouted toward the crowd:

“This is real! The Ten Thrones have declared war on Seoul!!”

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Read only on pindangscans

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AAU Korea Branch.

“They moved just as expected.”

Nam Cheolmin, Hisagi, and Schreig.

At the solemn words of Branch Manager Park Minjae, the three nodded. Under normal circumstances, it would’ve been nearly impossible for these individuals to gather in one place. The reason for this unprecedented meeting was simple.

Park Minjae muttered, still unable to fully grasp the situation.

“A siege on Seoul against the Ten Thrones…”

What shocked him the most was that the Ten Thrones had utilized the Arcana Continent’s system. The implication of that was clear. Schreig spoke gravely.

“They must have possessed players.”

“Well, that’s the only way they could hide in reality.”

“And thanks to that, they can now use a system we once thought was exclusive to us… Wait, doesn’t that mean this is way more serious than we thought?”

The pros and cons of being a player?

To be honest, there weren’t really any cons. The ability to see your progress in real time through numbers and stats—Arcanians envied players for that.

Moreover—

‘System support is a huge advantage in unpredictable situations.’

Take warning messages, for example. You’d be alerted to an enemy’s presence before you could even sense them. Even now, they’d only learned of the Ten Thrones’ declaration of war through the system message, hadn’t they?

Schreig recalled the message that had flashed by:

[The Demon King of the Secon□□ Throne, □□□□, declares war on the Land of the Anomaly, Seoul.]

Nam Cheolmin didn’t argue.

“Yeah, it’s definitely serious. We don’t know much about the Ten Thrones. We don’t even know why the Demon King of the Second Throne moved first.”

“Now that you say it… why did they skip ranks?”

“There must be a reason. Just like we have ours.”

At Hisagi’s words, Park Minjae bit his lip.

‘The Holy War Alliance’s strength is in shambles.’

Could they really win a siege against the Ten Thrones?

Sure, siege battles generally favored the defenders. But the enemy this time wasn’t just the Ten Thrones. Park Minjae vividly remembered the subtle shift in the attitudes of branch managers around the world.

‘The whole world is eyeing Seoul.’

It wasn’t just the Ten Thrones. The entire world had its sights set on Seoul. Owning the entire city might be impossible, but they could still claim part of it and assert ownership.

“Some countries have been outright blatant.”

“Ah, you’re talking about the French, huh?”

“Are you outing yourself as British now, Schreig?”

“No, I’m just saying—it doesn’t make sense that not a single French ranker is taking a hardline stance. Those guys love to stir up trouble. Why else would they stay behind in reality?”

Exactly.

Now that the siege with the Ten Thrones had begun, it was the perfect time for others to exploit the chaos and carve out their own domain within Seoul. Nam Cheolmin scoffed internally.

‘They were silent when everything was being destroyed…’

And now they were practically drooling over it. It made him sigh all over again. Of course, that man at the dumpling shop—Hoyeol—had seen this coming.

‘He predicted all of it, didn’t he?’

Indeed, only Hoyeol was worthy of the title Lord of Seoul. With that firm belief, Nam Cheolmin looked at Schreig, who nodded subtly in return.

Jesse Heinness and Cleodia.

Thanks to unintentionally overhearing their conversation, the two had learned about the state of the Magic Tower—but they hadn’t shared that information with anyone. Weren’t they supposed to hide nothing under the Supreme Commander’s teachings?

Well…

‘There’s no need for us to step forward.’

The operation to crown the Lord of Seoul had conditions.

The weakened Magic Tower. Severed ties with the Arcana Continent. The crumbled power of the Holy War Alliance.

Victory had to be achieved despite all those disadvantages—and not just any victory. As analysts of the Great Alliance, they couldn’t ignore the Arcana Continent’s system.

‘Hoyeol doesn’t want to be a [Tyrant], he wants to be a [Lord].’

Seoul was now governed by the Arcana Continent’s system. Therefore, to truly become Lord, Hoyeol needed a perfect victory that would earn the recognition of the citizens—the “people.”

Even the act of surrender had been a calculated part of that.

‘It’s only right for us to step back.’

Supporting Hoyeol—that was their role.

Nam Cheolmin was already envisioning the grand climax. A plan that would minimize Seoul’s damage, yet maximize the drama of a glorious victory.

Nam Cheolmin nodded.

“For now, what we need to do… is wait.”

The mysterious enemy who had defeated the Magic Tower. The Ten Thrones exploiting the chaos. Hostile players waiting for an opportunity to strike.

They would pretend to be overwhelmed by the situation. But the moment Hoyeol made his move, they would support him and magnify his brilliance.

That was their role.

And then—

“…The invasion has begun.”

Inside the AAU Korea Branch Manager’s office—

The four watched as the city slowly fell under a wave of malice. Even the sky turned crimson, sending chills down their spines. Schreig shuddered and spoke.

“As expected, the rift instability is rising rapidly. Even the demons that were hiding in the city have started to move.”

“Damage?”

“Fortunately, there are no civilian casualties yet. Even though the demons are revealing their true nature, they don’t seem capable of taking any real action. Look.”

Survival of the fittest.

Perhaps because the Ten Thrones had absorbed all the surrounding malice, the demons were writhing in pain, lying flat on the ground—unable to think about hurting anyone.

And then it happened.

“…!!!!”

Crack…!

With a bizarre noise, the blood-red sky began to split apart. Nam Cheolmin, Hisagi, and Schreig—all seasoned players—immediately started analyzing the phenomenon.

“Dimensional collapse without warning?”

“The Ten Thrones can even do that?!”

“That’s not dimensional collapse.”

All eyes turned to Hisagi.

His eyes were not their usual narrow squint. He stared straight at the sky and spoke with conviction.

His vast magical knowledge as a battle-mage Magic Spearman came to life.

“That’s a portal.”

“…A portal?”

“Judging from the landscape on the other side…”

Hisagi’s gaze sharpened further.

“It’s connected to China.”

.

.

.

Agares carefully selected the land on which to rebuild his kingdom.
And in the end, the land he chose was the Continent.
Of course, there was a bothersome presence… but he was fortunate.

“Your absence worked in my favor.”

Someone lay sprawled on the ground.
Toward that someone, Agares took his first step and muttered—

“Blood soaked Elf.”