5.

Jeong Seolah and Jeong Hyeonsu had already logged in.

Naturally, they saw Han Simin and Kang Yeseul log in right after them, at the exact same time.

It was impossible not to see them, even if they had tried to be considerate and look away. To stay out of sight, they too had been forced to take refuge in one of the Four Great Forbidden Areas where the demons were hiding.

To survive there, they had to stick together, and even logging out required carefully choosing a safe spot. As a result, they usually logged out in caves or in the hollow beneath a large tree.

“What the hell were you two doing for two weeks to be logging in together like this?”

“Hyeonsu, why would you even ask that? Yeseul and Mr. Simin are both adults.”

“...Shameless brats. We just stayed home, bored out of our minds watching dramas, and those two were stuck together the whole time...”

Given the circumstances, the scene unfolding before him couldn’t help but displease Jeong Hyeonsu. It wasn’t as if he was oblivious to the budding romance between them. If he were that dense, he could hardly be considered the successor to a world-famous conglomerate.

He had noticed it early on. Back when there had been an odd tension between Jeong Seolah and Han Simin, he had actually rooted for Kang Yeseul, so he didn’t have any major complaints. He wasn’t the type to believe that love required some grand, elaborate process; he himself had casually dated and moved on from more than a few women.

It was just the timing.

“Hyeonsu, we watched dramas, ordered takeout, and just slept, you know?”

“...”

“There’s really no difference between you and us.”

The timing was bad enough, but the sight of Kang Yeseul brazenly linking arms with Han Simin and tilting her chin up proudly only made his blood boil.

And the worst part was, she wasn’t wrong.

Just as Kang Yeseul and Han Simin had holed up at home watching dramas and ordering all the food they hadn’t been able to eat, Jeong Hyeonsu and Jeong Seolah had done the exact same thing.

“You two literally slept together!” Hyeonsu accused.

“You could have done that with Seolah, too,” Yeseul shot back.

“Wanna die?”

“Nope. I’m going to live with Simin for a loooong time.”

“...”

If there was any difference, it was that one tiny, incredibly irritating detail.

In any case, the commotion quickly died down as Han Simin simply let it slide, leaving the shamelessly bold Kang Yeseul to her own devices. In the end, Hyeonsu was just jealous that they had been off having fun while ignoring him.

“So, did you sleep together?”

“Hyeonsu, are you a child?” Seolah chided.

“Why? We’re all friends here, right? We can be open about that kind of thing. It’s not like you two just got together because you were bored and lonely. If you’re dating seriously, you might get married anyway, so just tell me.”

“Hyeonsu,” Simin said, cutting in.

“Yeah, go on, tell me.”

“We slept.”

“...?”

“As for the specific details you’re hoping to hear, no comment.”

“You little son of a—”

“If you’re really that curious, wire me fifty thousand dollars. I’ll tell you behind Yeseul’s back.”

“Ah! No way! Simin, I’ll seriously kill you!”

Either way, the mood among the reunited Specialists members was as bright as ever, despite having supposedly lost everything.

*

Specialists had never lost sight of their original goal.

It was a conviction that had been with them from the moment they started gaming, from before they met Han Simin. No, even before Fantastic World launched, their starting point had always been the same.

To be the strongest in the game.

The first. The best.

They would claim every title, with just the three of them.

Now there were four, but that changed nothing. The effort required to claim those titles remained constant, regardless of whether Fantastic World had launched, whether they had met Han Simin, or whether they had gotten lucky and surged ahead of everyone else.

That was why, even now, as the game approached its second anniversary, they had managed to hold on to ranks one, two, and three on the level leaderboard.

Of course, during their one-month absence, many players had closed the gap, but they felt no anxiety. Even if the rankings had flipped and their names had disappeared from the first page, they wouldn’t have frowned or sighed.

It was a matter of faith and trust.

Faith that they could reclaim first place.

And trust that the man who would make it a reality—Han Simin—was right beside them.

True to form, the moment Han Simin logged in, he generously showered them with the effects of the Ring of Blessing. He might have lost his territory and his connection to the Emperor, but in the end, everything that truly mattered to him was still here.

He had never cared what other people thought, but now he was in a situation where he truly didn’t have to. On top of that, he had created an environment where they could hunt to their hearts’ content.

He even had the leisure to return to his own starting point.

’I kept thinking, When am I ever going to get around to enhancing again? This is perfect.’

He had always felt a little guilty about his hammer, which had been collecting dust. It was the biggest reason he had been able to get this far and the most efficient means for him to grow stronger. But because he had been running all over, running my mouth to make money, enhancement had naturally taken a back seat, and as a result, his progress had slowed.

Not that he strictly needed it; even without further enhancements, he already had a party that no one on the continent could afford to underestimate.

“If we’re going to wreck this place, we should get back to basics and start grinding. Right, Simin?” Hyeonsu said.

Simin no longer clung to money. He had spent the past month realizing just how rich he really was. He hadn’t tried to feel it; he had simply gotten used to seeing the deposits hit his bank account, withdrawing real-world cash instead of in-game gold, and buying whatever he wanted—things he would never have dared to dream of back in his studio apartment days—without a second thought.

Once he reached that state, a thought resurfaced.

’A game is a game. Reality comes first.’

Of course, even as he thought it, Han Simin knew he would never be able to quit this game that felt more real than reality. But he had at least decided to stop throwing himself into it with life-or-death seriousness purely for the sake of money, the way he had before.

That was why he had been able to come up with it: not a realistic counterattack, but a way to enjoy the situation as a game.

’You’re all dead. Heh heh heh.’

“...You’re evil. What are you plotting this time?” Yeseul asked, narrowing her eyes.

After a month of rest, their open-ended preparations began.

*

6.

Kenji had acquired the ability to communicate with the Heavenly King.

It hadn’t been difficult. His class was the Legendary-grade Pope, the massive Great Temple stood behind him, and once the Heavenly King had acknowledged him, not a single priest would refuse to revere him as their new leader. Especially after being manipulated by the Demon King, they were in an extremely sensitive state, unsure of who might turn traitor.

In such a situation, Kenji, the new Pope whose word was practically law, lacked nothing.

Above all, the Heavenly King himself had granted him the ability for the sake of communication.

“You have done well.”

“Thank you, Heavenly King. However, I failed to completely wipe out the demons. Sensing the danger, they seem to have fled into the Forbidden Areas to bide their time.”

“It does not matter. The Demon World is already more than seventy percent in Heaven’s hands. Even if those vermin try to recover on the continent, Heaven can send reinforcements as soon as we have completely seized the Demon World.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“But be wary of the Demon King. That wicked woman is a true Demon King seed, the kind that appears in the Demon World once in tens of thousands of years.”

“But her power has been sealed, has it not?”

“She will find a way to break it. Never let your guard down.”

“I understand.”

This was communication far freer than any oracle. Kenji ended the conversation, feeling as if he had just hung up a phone, and let out a faint chuckle. Then he shook his head.

’The Heavenly King wouldn’t have said those things lightly.’

No matter what, even if they called it “one world,” every NPC here was ultimately just data inside a game. Above them all was BetaGo, the entity that had created and controlled everything. Every single word could be a hint for the next Main Quest, and only by carefully interpreting their meaning could one unravel the clues.

However, Kenji didn’t treat the words as particularly important. It wasn’t because he had no interest in the Main Quest. On the contrary, it was because he knew and had analyzed Fantastic World all too well.

“The descent of the Demon King and the unification of the demons... A very interesting theme.”

“Guild Master, if the Demon King is with Simin, won’t that be dangerous?” one of his subordinates asked.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about them. Just focus on improving your stats.”

“But...”

“I know that man better than anyone. He may have some kind of plan, but it won’t be anything outside our expectations. And even if something does happen, it will only mean he received help from the Gold Dragon. For Simin to go that far would mean he has lost his mind, which wouldn’t be a bad thing for us either.”

“...Understood.”

Han Simin was good at instinctively holding onto what he had built. But climbing back up again couldn’t be done on instinct alone. It required meticulous planning and the ability to see far into the future.

In that sense, Kenji had succeeded, and naturally, he could see right through the thoughts of those trying to climb up from below.

On top of that, the information he had purchased at great expense had revealed almost all of Han Simin’s forces.

“At best, it will be nothing more than a brief struggle. When that happens, it will be a perfect opportunity for us to turn it into content. Tell every guild member not to look back and to devote themselves entirely to improving their stats.”

“Yes, Guild Master.”

As always, Kenji brimmed with confidence. And once again, he chose to ignore the fact that his confidence had never once worked against Han Simin.

*

The world now revolved around the Great Temple.

The Emperor’s power was still immense, and the Empire’s prestige had not diminished, but the presence of the Heavenly King’s representative on a continent of believers was even greater. He was a representative of God whom even the Emperor could not treat lightly.

The Pope.

This was the first time in the continent’s history that a Pope had personally stepped into the political arena. The Great Temple and the Imperial Family had always maintained a tense balance, but the Imperial Family could not escape blame for the Demon King incident, which had led to this situation.

The Great Temple spread its influence endlessly while the Imperial Family remained silent. Whether the Emperor was treading carefully because his son-in-law was consorting with the Demon King or for some other reason, no one knew. But as a result, the faction led by Kenji had grown so large that it could now directly threaten the Empire.

A new axis of power had formed. The kingdoms that had long disliked the Empire and wished to escape its shadow had slipped under the wing of the Great Temple. If the Empire was going to strike back, it had to do it now.

But it wasn’t easy.

Kenji was not some NPC who moved according to a simple script. He was the head of a corporation that held sway over the real world, and he prided himself on being the best at maintaining the subtle tension between people.

Thus, without a single war breaking out, a historic event occurred: the Great Temple’s power and influence had surpassed the Empire’s.

In that gloomy atmosphere, a shadowy figure slipped into the Imperial Palace.

*