D.I.O

Chapter 212

“Thank you for your effort and hard work. Next up on the schedule is your visit to the Blue House….”

“Oh, could you give me a minute? I have something else to tend to quickly.”

“Huh? Ah, yes, of course. Please don’t be late.”

After stopping the attendant approaching from the side, Yongno opened a door and walked out into the adjacent hallway. There, he soon saw a girl standing and waiting for him. It was the same person who asked the question about realization during his lecture.

“Long time no see.”

“Hmph! You’re such an important and admired figure now, huh? It’s hard to meet you unless I come out and do this.”

The girl was someone that Yongno had never seen face-to-face before. Yet, even so, Yongno knew her identity. She, better known as Cruze in-game, was the one who stated that her realization was that ‘all forms are non-forms.’

Cruze’s realization was ‘knowing’ that the principle of information equals energy; in other words, grasping a form’s true essence rather than merely focusing on its outward appearance. Additionally, this realization came alongside being able to create or verbalize that essence, which might not physically exist in the material world. Within DIO, Yongno had witnessed a certain person use such an ability many times before.

“Your disguise is excellent. I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Well, special makeup is my hobby.”

Cruze, a member of the Heaven above the Heavens, grumbled a reply. The two had gotten quite close over time, so there was no hesitation or awkwardness in their conversation.

“So, what’s your name? It’d be weird to constantly refer to you by your in-game ID.”

“Lea Schmidt. Call me Lea.”

Lea threw her sunglasses into a trash can and untied her long hair, which she had pulled into a ponytail. After pulling out several packets of products from her bag and applying it to her hand, she ran her hands through her hair, and her black hair mysteriously turned red in an instant.

“Are you wearing a latex face mask?”

“Kind of. Anyway, I changed my appearance just enough so that no one would recognize my true identity. With this hair color change, I don’t think I need to alter anything else for now.”

After saying so, Lea took Yongno’s arm with her right hand. Yongno was a bit surprised that Lea was acting so familiar with him, but Cruze didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

“I came to tell you that I’m in Korea. In addition, I wanted to ask you to do some external activities on my behalf.”

Then, Lea’s hand weakly trembled, still holding Yongno’s arm. However, Yongno didn’t find this odd. Cruze’s trembling stemmed from her repeatedly tightening and weakening her grip.

‘Morse code?’

Though Yongno wasn’t given a heads-up about communicating through Morse Code, as Cruze had never mentioned it, he calmly analyzed the contents of her message and replied.

“I’m sure it’s not a simple request. What do I get in return?”

“I will help you develop your skills. I’m sure what I’m offering will be of value to you.”

Even as she spoke, her hands continued to tremble. After Yongno interpreted Cruze’s entire message, his eyes widened.

“Hmm! Is that possible?”

“Do you think I came all the way here to talk nonsense?”

“Then… good. Let’s form an alliance.”

Yongno’s arms trembled slightly, and after he delivered his message, Lea let go of his arm.

“Then, I’ll catch you later.”

“Be careful. There are people everywhere who want to take advantage of those like us.”

“No need to worry about me.”

Having said this, Cruze turned around and walked down the hallway. Her figure soon melted into the general mass of people.

Her disguise, acting skills, and ability to hide in blind spots were so astounding that, at some point, it became impossible to find her.

“The meeting is in two hours.”

The secretary had been standing at a distance when they approached Yongno, who was momentarily standing still. Yongno’s schedule was tight, which was why the attendant was trying to get him to hurry up.

“I want you to create a spiritual pathway in my body as well.”

That was the content of Cruze’s- no, Lea’s, Morse Code message.

Only Yongno and Eunhye knew that Yongno could create spiritual pathways; hence, he was taken aback when Lea unexpectedly approached and contacted him about it. Moreover, the compensation she offered was a complete surprise as well.

“There’s a way to access DIO without being detected by the Noblesse.”

Yongno frowned and squinted, unable to understand how DIO could be accessed without the Noblesse’s detection. In the first place, DIO was a world created by the Noblesse, so how could someone avoid their omnipresent eyes? The whole concept didn’t make sense to Yongno, which led to him questioning Lea further.

“Ah, bro, are you done?”

“Yeah. It was just a simple lecture.”

“You’re so popular. You’re like a celebrity these days.”

A young man in a suit was waiting for Yongno next to a car. His name was Kwan Youngmin, the high school student who had crossed over from another dimension. Currently, Youngmin was in charge of Yongno’s safety as his bodyguard.

‘In the end, no one on Earth can beat Youngmin unless they’re a manifested Master.’

Youngmin’s body contained a ‘spiritual pathway’ from another world, and he could use internal energy on Earth without any penalty.

Of course, as a spirit that had crossed over from another dimension, Youngmin initially couldn’t absorb Earth’s mana. Earth did have mana, but there were no systemic spiritual pathways to transfer that mana. Yet, when Yongno provided him with a mana filtering device, a magic item that Yongno named ‘Gills,’ Youngmin was able to use his abilities on Earth 24 hours a day. Thus, Youngmin was one of the most powerful existences on Earth.

In addition, since Youngmin reached Level 12 as an internal energy user within DIO and became a Master, it was also possible for him to manifest.

‘Was I just lucky? To think that such an unexpected existence appeared when I desperately needed some external force and firepower to assist me….’

Youngmin was an existence shrouded in mystery. Although he wielded power similar to what internal energy users in DIO utilized, Youngmin also had several other superpower-like abilities. Strangely enough, these abilities appeared to originate from an entirely different foundation than that of the skills general DIO users displayed. As such, even Yongno couldn’t wholly understand or fathom Youngmin.

“Oh, I got a call from Eunhye. She says she’s finished moving.”

“That’s good to hear.”

As they conversed in low voices, both Yongno and Youngmin got into a van. The driver gently started the car, and Yongno buried himself deep in the seat and took out the earphones placed next to him.

Yongno was planning on connecting to DIO during the car ride, but right as he was about to put on his earphones, he heard harsh shouting.

“The Korean government must withdraw its cooperation with DIO immediately! Withdraw!”

“The Noblesse are existences that defy God!”

“The aliens are attacking us because of DIO!”

Dozens of people were occupying the sidewalks on the side of the road and waving protest signs. Youngmin murmured after seeing the protestors, who seemed to be representing various groups.

“Another set of protests… what the hell do they want?”josei

“In terms of what the protesters want, there are many things. Even if they’re all gathered like this, every one of them has a different thought and goal. Among them, there are religious individuals. They’ve grown afraid of the increasing number of people questioning the role of religion on Earth, spurned on by the seemingly divine powers that manifested Masters can output. Then, there are businessmen who haven’t been able to adapt to the socio-economic changes from DIO… and there are human rights groups and humane society members who feel disgusted at the sight of people harming monsters and human-like existences within DIO.”

However, DIO had already completely integrated into modern society; it was to the extent that DIO was becoming society itself. DIO, which could be accessed anytime and anywhere, also processed time 12 times faster than reality. DIO was no longer a world people joined based on an individual taste in games or as merely a place to spend free time.

DIO was played by all, regardless of gender and age. In addition, the economics of the game was also enormously influential on Earth. In Korea alone, statistical data showed that more than ten million people had made DIO their full-time job.

Although the service cost of accessing DIO was quite low, various large companies spend exorbitant amounts of money to [purchase] high-rise buildings in DIO, produce and air commercials and movies based on DIO, and much more. Moreover, DIO-related goods production had reached a considerable level at this point.

“Currently, Korea’s annual national budget is 725.4 trillion won, but DIO’s annual revenue in Korea is now close to 500 trillion won. In addition, there’s almost no material or labor cost to operate DIO, so most of its income is net profit. Like this, DIO can influence society on a global level at an enormous scale.”

DIO’s income figures were staggering. If Noblesse only took in money and didn’t spend that massive amount, Korea’s goods market and the overall economy would come to a screeching halt due to a lack of cash flow and available funds. This would, in turn, create an economic crisis, but the reality was different.

This was because of the Exchange Center.

The Noblesse didn’t employ many people, as DIO did not require a lot of offline employees. Though the Noblesse provided free PCs and connectors to people here and there, they didn’t make any large purchases or special donations to anyone. They did not play a major part in personally reincorporating money into local economies.

However, users could earn money even if the Noblesse didn’t directly employ them.

This was because gold, obtained by catching monsters or performing quests, could be exchanged for the user’s local currency at the Exchange Center. DIO’s currency was now used worldwide. The currency in-game, commonly called Golden Money, was now a more trusted currency than the US dollar ($), and it became possible to live a life without any other job if one was Level 5 or higher.

“You mean people making too much money is the problem?”

“Out of those with vested interests and anyone part of the ruling class during the previous status quo, there are many who don’t like DIO. In a sense, DIO has achieved the redistribution of wealth that everyone has clamored about since the economy’s beginnings. If the Noblesse were a normal company, it would have faced many challenges and regulatory opposition, but… as you know, the Noblesse is not a normal company. They are aliens capable of destroying Earth if they set their mind to it.”

Through the window of the luxurious van, which befitted even a nation’s president, Yongno and Youngmin could see soldiers, armored vehicles, and tanks deployed all over the city.

They weren’t stationed because today was a special day or anything of the sort. They were there for the safety of the city.

A month ago, Noblesse announced they would sell an explorer, an item that could track a Master’s location. However, this device was only being sold to countries that were [favorable] to the Noblesse, and the latter also provided a wide-area shield that prevented hostile space-based attacks to [countries that behaved more favorably to Noblesse]. The Noblesse even said they would give gear to allow governments to check where potential attacks may come from.

Yongno knew that every country desperately needed the gear the Noblesse were offering, and he half expected the Noblesse to make unreasonable demands by holding the countries hostage over the items, but unexpectedly, the Noblesse only requested a change in a few national policies.

However, since the gear they handed over were magic-based items, it was impossible to interpret, and the Noblesse could make the gear stop operating at any time if they wanted. It could be said that the governments across the world were on a leash, but even so, the Noblesse’s actions were strange.