Infinite Realm

Chapter 485 - 479 : Underground Meeting

"Dirty hum-"

A sword abruptly pierced through the vocal cords of the Dark Priest, bringing its words to an abrupt stop.

"That's the last one." Yato pulled out his sword as he glanced around.

The 7 Dark Priests were easily finished by him, Katsuo, and Lu Zhen. Most of the praise had to go to Lu Zhen as he helped the duo cope with the pressure from the monsters. Unlike with the previous 14 Dark Priests, these seven were actually level 12 monsters, one level higher than Yato and Katsuo. Nonetheless, the time they spent with the group wasn't a waste as they were able to hold their own 2 or 3 of these monsters and were able to dominate a one-on-one fight. 

With Lu Zhen moving through the battlefield like a fish in a lake, the monsters easily fell to his blade and weren't able to cause any problems. Not even 2 minutes had reached and the 7 monsters were dead, giving the trio an opportunity to return to the main battlefield. 

As they did so, all of them failed to notice a black ray of light sneak out from the corpses of the Dark Priests and flow through the runes. When looked at from above, the black rays all darted towards one figure by following the strange runes and markings on the floor; their target, the Gatekeeper.

"We're done here." Yato yelled as he ran towards the main battlefield.

"Alright." Sato replied as he blocked an attack from the Gatekeeper.

"You humans, are not aware of the crime you are committing." The Gatekeeper said in a low but deep voice.

"Stop spewing random bullsh*t and just die already." Fudo fired a flaming bolt at the monster.

*Bam*

-67 (1322/4500 Gatekeeper Baka's HP)

The Gatekeeper was being held down by Sato so Fudo's attack had made a clear hit. Sadly, it was just a regular skill attack so the damage wasn't much. However, while the damage wasn't much, the overall effect was something else.

.  .  .

.  .  .

.  .  .

Somewhere in North Africa..

After the Great Reparation, which had largely damaged the world's ecosystem, the surviving forces of humanity began their reconstruction under the command of the Alliance. During this period, part of Europe, Asia, Africa, and some of the island nations in the continent of Australia(Oceania) was salvaged. South America did considerably well when compared to its companion in the North. These few areas that managed to survive this event weren't left unharmed, however.

The effects of the Great Reparation weren't just limited to a high increase in radiation in the Earth's atmosphere but also mass flooding and dangerous climates. It was because of this that island nations, despite not participating in the war, were affected by the after-effects of the war with some ceasing to exist. The island nations of the Pacific Ocean were the ones who bore the full brunt of all this as island nations such as the Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tuvalu, the Maldives, and a few others. It was only thanks to the efforts of the people and the Alliance that humanity managed to prevail without any mutations and in their inherent DNA. Nonetheless, the damage remained and very few cities were habitable. 

For the continent of Africa, the least harmed zone was the central area but the Northern part of the continent didn't have much of a problem only that, unlike in other regions, most of the cities were built underground. This was because the radiation that was released into the Earth's atmosphere as well as the massive influx of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons had ruined the Ozone layer, increasing the average temperature in quite a lot of places. Northern Africa was one such region, and the devastating heat there made it very difficult for most to survive above the ground for long periods without proper equipment. [1]

Underneath the ground was a hidden structure that served as the real headquarters for Dreamland Studios [2]. The main server as well as the physical "body" of the AI overseeing the game, Heaven System, was also based here. 

Currently, a meeting was ongoing in one of the rooms in the underground building. The meeting room had dim lighting and apart from a slender figure who stood close to a display screen, none of the other figures were visible. Only their outlines could be spotted as they all say on their seats and faced the lady.

"So you said that the player who unlocked the hidden dungeon is also the highest leveled player in the game now?" A deep voice spoke up in the dark room.

"Yes." A woman responded. It was the woman who stood beside the display screen.

She had green hair which was quite rare, even in this era that had a lot of people with naturally coloured hair. Looking at her figure, it was easy to presume that she was between her late 20s or early 30s but because of the current advancement of medical technology and genetics, no one could be 100% sure about that.

"According to the report from Takio, the same player had found the Legendary ranked adoptable environment, Home of the Grey Chaplains, aka, the Caventry Ground. Apart from that, he has also managed to pass all tests and is in possession of one of those weapons."

"???"

A moment of silence was immediately observed as the individuals present were too stunned by the report.

"Are, are you sure about that?" A male voice, different from the first one, asked. The outline of the person who spoke looked a little bit shorter than the rest but was developed like a regular adult.

"Affirmative." The lady responded.

"A character who possesses one of 'that', has authority over a Legendary adoptable environment, highest levelled player with 2 levels gap from the other experts, and has even discovered the hidden dungeon and has monopolized it for now, do I say his luck is absurd or what?" A sigh resounded from one of the members of the meeting. It was a figure who seemed to be wearing an anti-radiation mask on his face.

"Having all of these doesn't mean he will achieve great things later on. Let's just watch and see if he can complete the dungeon before others discover it." The deep voice that spoke up the first time stated.

"Yes, sir."

"Do we influence this factor?" The other man spoke up.

"No, not yet at least. We give them 2 days. If you get can't complete it, then we drop some hints for others to find it. The E-Sports tournament would soon be announced and before that, we need to make sure that the players have reached a certified level where they would be able to display great strength and attract others. We can't leave such a good harvest in his hands if he can't utilise it." The deep-voiced man replied.

"Just 2 days? Even if he's level 20, I doubt he can achieve it." A feminine voice commented as a 'shadow' shook its head.

Being the developers of the game, they were aware of the strength and abilities of the important BOSSes in the game, including the final BOSS of the [Temple of Vasiliás] dungeon. None of them believed that Sato would be able to defeat the monster, even more so with the current strength of his team. Even with the 2 days 'grace', most were still doubtful he could pull it off.

"It's his business whether or not he succeeds. Our job is to ensure the fairness and safety of the game." The masked man spoke up.

"Let alone the final BOSS, even the first BOSS is a problem for most guilds to handle. If he can't figure it in time, his level 17 *ss would get whooped sooner or later." Another added.

"That's enough." The deep voice echoed.

"I didn't summon you all here to complain or make noise. We have something important on our hands soon and we have to focus."

"Yes, that's true. The E-Sports…" The short man sighed. 

"This phase of the meeting is adjourned then. The next topic is preparations for the E-Sports tournament." The female standing beside the screen announced.

AN :

[1] All ideas for the Great Reparation as well as the resulting impact on the Earth were theorized from the fears of Global Warming and a nuclear world war. I hope no one takes offense in seeing their country or continent not existing. All the theories of the resulting effects of the Great Reparation could be seen online if you browse about the effects of Global Warming and the result of a nuclear world war.

[2] The name of the studio behind the game.. Any previous name is an error.