God-Tier Enhancement Chapter 297: Episode 297Descent of the Demon King (6)

Chapter 297: Episode 297_Descent of the Demon King (6)

9.

For Kenji, this was an opportunity.

’I can win over public opinion.’

And it was the one and only chance to get rid of Simin. Of course, if things had continued as they were, it might have been possible soday anyway. After all, even while people kept saying he was still behind Simin, Kenji’s guild had managed to seize a kingdom, and he had planned to keep expanding his power by exploiting the chaos.

But this was different.

He had originally estimated it would take at least a year. Maybe even three or more. Yet now, it might just be possible.

That was Kenji’s assessnt.

’This ti, he slipped up.’

He acknowledged Simin, both as a businessman and as a person. Simin was inexperienced; it was obvious he’d never done business in the real world, and his clumsiness showed. Yet, at the sa ti, the boldness and unpredictability born from that very clumsiness had flustered even Kenji, dragging him along at Simin’s pace and forcing him to accept deals on Simin’s terms.

But that was as far as it went.

His plans weren’t concrete. He moved according to the money in front of him, and for the sake of a big score, he was reckless enough to ignore the aftermath. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He had grown this far by moving like that, achieving a great deal, and was now ahead of Kenji to a degree he envied.

However, there was one thing Kenji judged to be a mistake.

The broadcast. The live broadcast from the Demon World.

He could have held back a little longer. He might not have predicted this outco, but if he had been thinking clearly—if he had quickly realized this was content no one else had—he could have recorded the footage, slowly escaped the Demon World, or milked it for all it was worth before going live. He wouldn’t have lost a thing.

“Thanks to him, my own stream tanked, but it serves him right.”

It was absolutely not because his own stream—a historic Royal Castle conquest—had tanked in viewership at the sa ti. He was simply disappointed as a business partner.

’If I had been in his place, I could have squeezed more out of it. I could have pulled this off without blowing things up this big.’

He was disappointed, yet at the sa ti, pleased.

’Finally, thanks to that bastard Simin, the day has co for

to profit off him.’

Those who spot their enemy’s mistake faster than anyone else are rewarded accordingly.

Kenji quickly gathered his people and rallied the rankers. He didn’t have to worry about influence; he had seized a kingdom not long ago. He gathered people there first and began informing the kingdom’s residents about the current situation. It was a small kingdom, but a kingdom nonetheless.

The king himself ca out, personally demonstrated benevolent rule, lowered taxes, and while winning over public sentint, he spoke, and the NPCs were strangely receptive.

“If that’s really true, isn’t that a huge problem?”

“The Temple is being toyed with by an adventurer?”

“This is serious. What are we supposed to do?”

Naturally, he focused on painting Simin as trash.

“Ah, the poor Saintess. To think she’s suffering because she t so bizarre adventurer.”

“I heard the Imperial Princess is being deceived as well.”

“That vicious adventurer needs to disappear as soon as possible.”

The mont he targeted the Temple or the Imperial Palace directly, the kingdom’s fate would be snuffed out in an instant. The only reason he had been able to seize a kingdom at all was because the Emperor, bound by his own rules, did not interfere.

The sa applied to the Temple. The Pope, known as the right hand that ruled the continent alongside the Emperor, was not soone to be trifled with. In so ways, he could be even trickier to deal with than the Emperor. Among the continent’s residents, it was hard to find anyone who didn’t believe in God, priests aside.

So they avoided touching the Temple or the Imperial family and instead turned Simin into the vilest trash imaginable. It wasn’t difficult. From the listeners’ point of view, Simin was a complete stranger, while the new king speaking to them was the one providing tangible benefits.

[You have completed the quest.]

[You have gained experience.]

In this way, Kenji also discovered a shortcut to rapid leveling. At the sa ti, he used this fact as bait to gather other users.

[This is a repeatable Main Quest. Currently, most of the NPCs in Kenji Kingdom have completed the quest, and public opinion is shifting in our favor. We are recruiting users to join us. If you want to level up quickly and enjoy the ga, co to Kenji Kingdom.]

And so, centered on Kenji Kingdom, the sparks of anti-Simin rallies began to flare up.

*

Having a central figure was enormously significant. No matter what happened, there was a place to return to. That psychological security instilled confidence in people.

What had started out of simple curiosity and analysis of the Main Quest gradually spread into a social phenonon across the continent. Once users realized that participating could earn them more experience than hunting all day, they all scrambled to persuade any NPC they could find.

Before they knew about the experience gain, it had been a high-difficulty quest with a huge risk of being arrested and killed. But the mont they realized they could get a massive amount of experience for just a few words, there was no reason to hesitate. They just had to pick NPCs who looked reasonably safe.

Many users sought out nobles who could grant a huge chunk of experience in one shot. Others ford parties and even organized expeditions to gather large crowds and gain farm experience together. In fact, that beca the most popular thod. It was easy and convenient, and no one had to shoulder the responsibility alone.

Just as three people looking up at the sky will make a fourth look up, even if nothing is there, a large crowd speaking with one voice will make even a skeptic wonder, ’Could it be true?’ Even if it wasn’t complete trust, the mont they thought, ’That might be right,’ the quest experience flowed in.

Because of this, small-scale rallies began to pop up in the outlying kingdoms. Even after nearly a full week passed with no response from the Empire, the atmosphere began to spread uncontrollably. It was inevitable. At first, only those willing to risk danger for a level-up had taken on the challenge, but once it was proven to be safe, everyone who had been waiting on the sidelines rushed in.

A blue ocean. A land of opportunity. A race to see who could claim it first.

That was all it looked like to the users. They started roaming the vast continent, determined to chase down any NPC who didn’t yet know Simin was trash and win them over, even if it ant going to the ends of the earth. They gathered in Kenji Kingdom, then scattered just as quickly. When too many people gathered in one place, the number of NPCs they could farm for experience naturally decreased. So they set out in search of “clean” NPCs.

Of course, it didn’t work everywhere. In so kingdoms, just bringing up the topic was enough to get you arrested on charges of treason against the Imperial family and the Temple. However, in nearly half the kingdoms, the crackdowns weren’t that harsh.

They were enforced, but at most to the level of requiring a permit to hold a rally. As users figured out how to get all the experience they could and then flee, they acted without restraint in those kingdoms.

“There will be a candlelight rally at 8 p.m. tonight! Residents of the continent! This is an issue that will decide the fate of the continent. Please, everyone, join us!”

There were even users openly advertising like this. Specialists erged who did this as a profession.

—We gather NPCs for you. 1 silver per head. Fast leveling. 5 free per 100. We only bring NPCs who have not yet completed the quest.

A trend. Rallies had beco a trend in Fantastic World. As always, trends defined the atmosphere of the ga.

Among the countless rallies being held, a few spots stood out with especially aggressive promotion that drew large crowds.

Holy Knights secretly headed for those places.

10.

Bolton the Spirit Knight was a ranker in the level 80 range.

Now that players had reached level 100, level 80 might not sound like much, but that was only because the 10-level gap at the top was monopolized by a few monster-like Specialists. Considering that most other rankers hadn’t even broken into the mid-90s, a level 80-sothing ranker like Bolton could walk with his head held high anywhere he went.

There were over thirty million users, after all. Being in the high 80s put him at least within the top 1,000. What were the odds of running into soone in the triple-digit ranks above him on this vast continent? Practically nonexistent.

So his confidence overflowed. On top of that, his gear was stacked. He was confident he could win even if he ran into a higher-level ranker. His control was decent, and his class was Unique grade. He even had a guild nad after him, which said it all.

Even he joined in on the current trend, and pretty quickly at that. He had started cashing in while everyone else was still testing the waters. In Bolton’s view, this was an opportunity you’d be a fool to pass up. Especially since almost all the users were participating.

So people were placing contrarian bets, thinking that if they sided with Simin, they might gain bigger benefits later, but Bolton thought nothing could be more foolish.

’With this many people stepping up, the users are bound to win in the end.’

It wasn’t so vague guess. It was a fact. Fantastic World was a ga for users, and NPCs existed solely for the users. Right now, the users weren’t yet able to fully exert their power, but what about in one year, or two? Those who had been playing since the ga opened a year ago knew.

They knew how much stronger the users’ voices had beco among the NPCs compared to back then. If things had co this far, their influence would only grow louder next year. And the year after that? Soone might seize the Empire and then the entire continent. The important part was that whoever did that would be a user.

In that situation, siding with a user who was clinging to NPCs? That was the fast track to ruin. If you just wanted one big score before bailing, it wasn’t the worst idea. But who would try to hit one score and run in Fantastic World, a ga that was likely to remain a global title for at least ten years?

“All right, everyone, grab a candle. Tonight, we’re going to drain every last bit of experience out of the residents of Pani Territory.”

His enthusiastic pep talk energized the gathered users. Over 300 users had gathered under the banner of his minor celebrity status. They had co with personal ambitions, but in the end, all of it would serve to raise Bolton’s na. He didn’t waste a second worrying that he might have accepted too many random people he didn’t know.

That was just the mood right now. Crisis? There was no such thing. What mattered was who could get their straw in first and drink the deepest. As for worst-case scenarios, he had already greased the palms of the guards to prepare. In the worst case, he was ready to run away alone if he had to.

’As if anything’s really going to happen.’

In truth, he had shoved those worries deep into his subconscious long ago. The anxiety was overshadowed by a single thought: ’Everyone else is doing it, so what are the odds sothing will happen to ?’

With that positive mindset, the rally began.

“Han Simin, who is toying with the continent and throwing the Temple and the Imperial family into chaos, step down! Step down!”

“Step down from your position as the Emperor’s son-in-law!”

“Resign!”

The start was smooth. NPCs gathered, wondering what was going on, and Bolton delivered his prepared lines under their focused gazes. What was true and what wasn’t didn’t matter. It was a quest. So he poured emotion into his appeal. The NPCs nodded, and experience poured into the users participating with him.

’So this is why people hold rallies!’

Just as the corners of the users’ mouths were curling up, and just as the Holy Knights were secretly watching from the shadows, the incident happened.

“They have imprisoned the Heavenly King! The Imperial family and the Temple, who serve a false god, must awaken! Awaken!”

“Awaken! Awaken!”

No, it happened, but no one realized it had. In the overheated atmosphere, lines like that could easily slip out in the heat of the mont. In fact, not a single person flinched and thought, ’That went too far.’ Even the NPCs listening were the sa. They tilted their heads, thinking, ’Isn’t that a dangerous thing to say?’ but with curses against Simin already pouring out, it was easy to interpret it generously as just more trash talk.

However, the Holy Knights watching in secret did not see it that way. They were sensitive to divine power. And even more sensitive to dark magic.

The knights froze.

In their eyes, a faint dark magic was spreading among the crowd at the rally. The black mana slipped silently between people and seeped into them. There was no visible change.

“We’re returning.”

Because there was no visible change, the Holy Knights’ expressions hardened. There was no such thing in this world as a curse that produced no reaction. They had seen it. They had seen people’s pupils go slightly unfocused as the dark magic seeped in.

Illusion arts. The exclusive domain of warlocks had appeared at a rally.