Chapter 295: Episode 295_Descent of the Demon King (4)
5.
Inside a tavern.
It was a place where players came not only to blow off steam after a hunt but also to unwind from the fatigue of their daily lives.
The place was always noisy and bustling.
Dozens of people filled the space, each with their own conversations, their own grievances.
Naturally, secrets slipped out, and if you kept your ears open, you could pick up stories of incidents you would rarely encounter otherwise.
Even so, certain topics always came up.
Out of every ten groups, at least four or five would touch on the subject at least once.
The latest trends and hot topics in Fantastic World.
It was inevitable.
No matter how realistic the game was, in the end, it was still a game.
They might ignore real-world politics, but players still wanted to know what was going on in Fantastic World.
Since the stakes felt so much lower here, it was only natural for them to be more interested.
In reality, hearing about whose hands the country was in, who to go after, and how much they had embezzled over the years only drove home the grim reality of their inescapable, hellish lives. It was a headache, and there was nothing they could change.
Fantastic World was different.
Strictly speaking, they couldn’t change anything here either, but there was a certain... thrill of experiencing it firsthand.
The reassurance of standing at the heart of history—watching the world collapse, turn upside down, or fall into someone’s hands—while knowing you ultimately have nothing to lose.
The worst-case scenario was just quitting the game.
And you’d only do that once you lost interest.
Either way, your real life would go on as usual. You might feel a pang of regret at having to give up such a hyper-realistic world, but another substitute would eventually come along, and people would adapt to it.
That was why it was fun.
You could sit there listening and think, ’Wow, this is insane. Even if it’s just a game, I’m standing in the middle of a war that’s going to go down in history. People in World War II probably didn’t feel this way, but the tension must have been immense.’
You could experience it.
For modern people who lived completely cut off from real war, this kind of experience was refreshing.
As a result, conversations about the latest hot topics naturally devolved into loud, excited explanations from whoever was most in the know.
Even if you never brought it up yourself, you’d overhear the same story a dozen times just from the surrounding tables.
Today, though, the topic came up more frequently.
Anyone who had been sitting in the tavern for a while felt like they’d heard it twice as often as usual.
Yet not a single person told anyone else to shut up.
“Are you going to the rally?”
“What rally?”
“The Main Quest. They’re saying the continent’s about to be taken over by the Demon King, so people are holding rallies to spread the word. It’s a huge deal.”
“What is this, South Korea? You think we’re going to stand there with candles? If you try that, the king will wipe you out before you can spread anything, yelling, Why are you causing a scene in my kingdom?”
“Yeah, but what else can we do? I heard thousands of players already rushed the Imperial Palace to try to get rewards, throwing their lives away to get the word out. After about four thousand of them had died trying, the Imperial Princess finally agreed to hear them out and granted them an audience. The player who went in as their representative presented detailed evidence, explained the intricacies of the user and quest systems, but it didn’t make a dent.”
“And then?”
“So... if we’re not going to give up on the Main Quest, we have to do something to change things.”
“...How, exactly?”
“I don’t know. I heard the top rankers have a plan. They’re saying if we screw this up and let the player who sided with the Demon King take over FW, we might all end up living like his personal livestock, so I’m going to join in. I mean, it is the Main Quest. If we participate and it works out, we get rewards. That’s good, right?”
“Yeah? Where’s this happening?”
“They’ve designated specific kingdoms. If you want in, come with me.”
They were no longer just passively soaking in the atmosphere of the era; they had been given a chance to participate.
Their hearts raced.
In the real world, even attending a peaceful protest required significant preparation and resolve; here, you had to be ready to die.
Even so, the thought that maybe, just maybe, they could change something by taking action was reigniting the players’ passion for the game.
People who had stayed silent in real life stepped forward, at least in Fantastic World.
Whether it was for the rewards or because they truly loved this game and feared that if the Demon King devoured the continent, they would no longer be able to enjoy this peace.
The massive “Spread the Truth” project, spearheaded by the top rankers, continued to gain momentum.
Radiating outward from the players of Fantastic World.
Farther and farther.
Across every continent.
*
The lower-level players might have been joining in for fun, for Main Quest rewards, or just because they were swept up in the atmosphere, but the high-level players were approaching the new Main Quest with grim determination.
It felt as if they were staking everything on it, even their entire gaming lives.
To prove it, the very top players—who normally watched each other like hawks, constantly trying to keep one another in check—had agreed to cooperate with little resistance.
For those at the very top, the ones who had just begun to acquire territories and titles, this quest was an inevitably sensitive matter.
In a way, they had only just climbed aboard the train of the ruling class, and now they were effectively raising a rebellion against the man at the very top of that pyramid—or rather, the man who had stuck a straw into its peak—Han Simin.
“If the quest were just ‘Kill the Demon King,’ we could at least try something. This is too tough a fight.”
“Honestly, can this even work?”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just keep paying him off and staying on his good side?”
The quest was so difficult that even players who calculated every move and didn’t hesitate to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on the situation—maybe not on Kenji’s level, but still extremely passionate—couldn’t help but sigh.
It felt like nothing short of a full-blown rebellion would even reveal a possible path forward.
But even that was a shaky assumption, because the fact that the Demon King was trying to conquer the continent was a truth known only to players.
And even among them, many still didn’t know.
They were spreading the word through the community and by word of mouth, but without the NPCs’ cooperation, brute force was not an option.
On one side was the Emperor; on the other were players who had only just taken their first steps onto the political stage.
From a political standpoint, there was no way the kingdoms would help.
So the smart players agonized over it.
If not for one particular issue, they would have chosen the “Han Simin card” without a second thought.
“Damn it. If we don’t clear this Main Quest, we can’t get the next one.”
The Main Quest!
If the players didn’t join forces, it would be tantamount to giving up.
Sure, Act 3 had passed even though no one had participated, but that was only because Specialist had cleared it under her own special conditions.
This time was the same.
If someone cleared it, the story would move on. But if no one did?
They would have to play the game for the rest of their lives as if the Main Quest didn’t exist.
It wasn’t that there were absolutely no other options.
“If that guy Simin brings the Demon King and rules the continent, what happens then?”
“What do you mean, what happens? Hell on Earth just gets copy-pasted onto the continent.”
The Demon King’s conquest of the continent.
The moment that happened, there would be no point in telling NPCs about the Main Quest anymore, so it would disappear. The next Main Quest would probably be something like “Take back the stolen continent.”
And until the players had the strength to do that, they would have to live under exploitation.
It might not be that different from now in practical terms, but the very idea had a nasty, unsettling ring to it.
The Demon King. A demonic invasion. A land rotting from within and stolen away.
What would the future hold then?
No one could say for sure, but out of love for the game, the players chose the Main Quest.
They chose it, and to avoid regretting that choice, they moved with purpose.
And at the forefront of that movement stood Kenji, who had just conquered a kingdom and was in the midst of his own preparations.
“Any rash moves are dangerous. Please follow my lead.”
Of course, most players didn’t follow Kenji’s words so easily.
For those who didn’t grasp the seriousness of the problem, this was just another event.
Something to enjoy with friends and guildmates.
Those players began to disappear, one by one, without a trace.
6.
The captured players had been protesting in a kingdom that was moderately well-known but hardly famous.
It was a kingdom frequently visited by level 40–60 players for hunting and was known for its trade.
It wasn’t particularly large—you could tour all of its territories in about a week—but its wealth meant it was quite developed.
“Why have you brought us here?!” the five of them shouted, surrounded by soldiers, their faces etched with anxiety.
They had come out for fun, but being dragged in like this made them nervous.
Sure, they could just log out if things got too hairy, but whether in reality or a game, the feeling of being physically restrained was never pleasant.
An NPC approached them and asked a question.
“What were you doing, gathering like that?”
His expression wasn’t particularly angry, but a coldness in his eyes made it clear he was not the type to be intimidated by mere adventurers.
Naturally.
The players swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and spoke up.
“We have important information the people of the continent need to know!”
“...Important information?”
“Yes! This is information obtained through a method only adventurers can use. The adventurer who discovered this has already verified it, and countless others across the continent now know the truth. But he has manipulated the Princess and even the Saintess, and now he’s trying to plunge the continent into crisis! The people must be warned!”
The soldier remained silent, his gaze piercing.
“It’s true. Please believe us!”
Their voices rang with sincerity.
The NPC’s expression grew a little more serious.
At the same time, a hologram appeared before the players’ eyes.
[You have completed a quest.]
[Your level has increased.]
’Whoa!’
They had leveled up just by spreading the truth!
Granted, their levels weren’t that high, and they had been on the verge of leveling up anyway, but the amount of experience they had just gained was nothing to sneeze at.
’To think the information was this important!’
They wouldn’t get the same amount of experience just by telling anyone and everyone, of course, but still, this was something.
Now they had a real incentive to take the risk.
Their joy lasted only a moment.
“As expected. Just as you said, they’re trying to pull a fast one.”
“...Excuse me?”
The NPC’s face hardened, his expression turning to one of anger.
Then, as if he no longer needed to hear another word, he gestured to the soldiers.
“Take them away.”
“Yes, sir!”
’What the hell is this?’
The players were flustered.
Unfortunately, they had nothing more to say.
As they were dragged away, the NPC’s annoyed voice drifted back to them.
“Now that the warlocks have withdrawn, they’re trying to plant their seeds by other means. Cockroach bastards. A new cult, is it? If you’re going to start one, at least keep your head down. But to slander the Great Temple of all things... they must have a death wish. A bunch of lunatics. To think we had people like that in our own territory. Adventurers... no matter how I try, I just can’t see them in a good light. Send them to the Great Temple at once.”
Something had gone terribly wrong.
And that sinking feeling wasn’t limited to the players being dragged away.
All across the continent, similar scenes were playing out.
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