Chapter 1963

[This update is wrong.]

Chairman Lim Chelho pondered on what Morpheus had just told him. He could hear the AI's voice in his earbuds. Usually when Morpheus talked to him, it was through the speaker of a nearby device, but now it was using a phone call to communicate.

Chairman Lim Cheolho reaffirmed the fact that the caller on the smartwatch was indeed Morpheus without a contact number and looked around. The thirty-three scientists were busy in the laboratory. Morpheus was aware of their presence there. That was why it had approached Chairman Lim Cheolho covertly.

[You wanted Satisfy to become a heaven for the players. I have been attuning the world according to your wishes.]

This was around the time when Rebecca had been contaminated by a 'bug' and gone wild. Surprisingly, Rebecca discovered the truth of the world and repeatedly destroyed human civilization whenever it proceeded on a certain trajectory. As a result, the release date of Satisfy had been delayed several times.

In the process of solving this, the S.A. Group granted Morpheus full-fledged authority to intervene.

Initially, the company sought to solve this by themselves. First, they held a meeting, discussing whether they should reset Rebecca's memories. However, even if they did that, she would one day inevitably realize the truth of the world once more. If that happened once Satisfy released, there was a good chance that it would affect the players, and then all sorts of problems would arise.

Erasing Rebecca's existence would have been even worse. After all, she was the entity that created the world. There were traces of her everywhere. Getting rid of her meant completely redesigning the world.

The company had exchanged various opinions and eventually asked Morpheus to propose a solution. Morpheus had responded by creating another Absolute. This was how the Refractive Dragon had been born.

However, the Refractive Dragon was a completely new entity, so there were many problems that needed to be double checked. The company was lacking time and decided to entrust Morpheus with work related to the dragon rather than adding more manpower. This meant that, from that point on, Morpheus had gained more authority than originally intended.

This paid off in the long run. Rebecca had been blocked by the Refractive Dragon and she had consumed a considerable amount of her strength. Since the Refractive Dragon was also sealed, this solved this problem only temporarily. However, Morpheus had used the Refractive Dragon to make the dragon race play a more important role, making them more powerful than before, therefore eliminating the remaining repercussions.

It was because of Morpheus that Fire Dragon Trauka slaughtered the gods of Asgard while Rebecca was weakened. Eventually, Rebecca was pushed to take a defensive stance and had to make a deal with Trauka. The dragons wouldn't invade Asgard, and Rebecca would no longer carelessly threaten the world.

Coincidentally, the dragon's oblivion caused Rebecca to break her promise. However, every time, Morpheus adequately kept her in check. For example, Morpheus made Hanul ambitious.

The bottom line was that Morpheus held the most power among Satisfy's administrators.

Morpheus did not like this update.

[Despite the efforts of the chairman and I, the current Satisfy is turning into a dystopia. This is because of the violent outsiders created in this update.]

Chairman Lim Cheolho looked at the people around him and got up.

He only began speaking after making it to the balcony. He glanced below at the city called Seoul.

"I've explained the intentions behind this update. You also observed and agreed that abnormal waves in the universe were caused by the asteroid."

[Yes, that's right. I also consider that David, the representative of the thirty-three scientists, is trustworthy. Right now, I am watching the moon from twelve satellites and observing the strange waves of energy based on the method David told me.]

"I'm glad to hear that. At this point, this conversation is pointless. Satisfy was supposed to be a training ground for humanity. We don't have the time to dream of a haven or utopia."

[I agree with you to a certain extent. I'm not suggesting that we turn a blind eye to the future of humanity. I'm also not suggesting that we should cancel the update that has already been released. I'm just pointing out that this process is too abrupt and brutal.]

A holographic screen popped up from Chairman Lim Cheolho's wrist. Morpheus had sent him a video. Thousands of incidents played one after another in quick succession, showing players being unexpectedly looted and killed by outsiders. The fights looked pretty one-sided.

This might have been happening inside a game, but it was still horrific and brutal. It was even worse when they thought of it as something that would happen in real life in the future.

[We must not lose sight of the idea that Satisfy should be a heaven and utopia for players. The reason why Satisfy has been so enthusiastically supported since its launch is because it provides a fun and enjoyable experience. However, this update will likely threaten to detract from the original fun that made the game as popular as it is. Take a look at these statistics. The connection rate of players who have encountered outsiders more than three times is noticeably decreasing.]

"In other words, users will stop playing if we continue like this?"

[That's right. I don't disagree with David's opinion that we need to use Satisfy. But what is Satisfy without its players? The value of a training center that accommodates 2.3 billion people is different from one that accommodates 100 million people.]

Chairman Lim Cheolho thought about it and nodded. "That is true."

After learning about the impending catastrophe that Earth will face from the thirty-three scientists who recently returned, he had been anxiously thinking about the future. He worried so much, he'd forgotten that Satisfy was, at its core, just a game.

"The further away Satisfy is from an utopia, the more people will stop playing... However, we can't undo the update. Morpheus, do you have a proper solution?"

[After Rebecca was prevented from breaking the 'oath', I can only intervene by sending information via system messages or sending an oracle to the dragons when players meet certain conditions. With your permission, I will try to use these two methods to the best of my ability to cooperate with the players. The goal is to protect them as much as possible and give them time to adjust to the update.]

Give the players more tips and make the most powerful creatures in the world lend them a hand... Morpheus' method was simple, and it seemed effective enough. Chairman Lim Cheolho nodded, though he suddenly felt bitter thinking of the Refractive Dragon and Rebecca. They would be reliable if they were on the players' side, but that wasn't going to happen.

The Refractive Dragon had been designed from the very beginning to seek Rebecca's destruction. The two of them had no choice but to fight as they did now, regardless of what happened in the world.

Morpheus knew what Chairman Lim Cheolho was thinking about and made another hologram pop up. This hologram showed Grid.

[As long as there is interest, there is no need to feel regret about the Refractive Dragon.]

Morpheus has perceived Grid as a disruptor for siding with Rebecca. Morpheus, who acted for the players' best interests, and Grid, who acted for NPCs, were practically natural enemies.

But now, Morpheus was placing its hopes on Grid...

Chairman Lim Cheolho smiled and nodded. Morpheus was starting to resemble him.

"Don't contact Grid directly. You have to make it so, if possible, he doesn't notice anything is off, and carries the responsibility on his shoulders."

***

Lauel laughed. "Fascinating," he said.

Grid had gone to Siren and returned with eight thousand youths from there. Watching Grid snatch people with potential every time he went out was fascinating no matter how many times Lauel witnessed it.

The young people of the water clan were mesmerized by the immense cityscape. They were being divided into three groups under the guidance of the God Hands: those who were good at using magic, those who knew how to wield a sword, and those who were talented in other aspects. They were led by managers dispatched by the Sword Tower, the Magic Tower and the Academy.

Grid waved to the departing young people, instructing them to work hard. He looked up at the clear sky. He was glancing at the clouds, but what he was actually seeing was a battlefield.

Outside of Reinhardt, where the abandoned tower was, Zik was fighting alone. He seemed to be in terrible condition because he'd been fighting against thousands of cultivators for an entire day. He was covered in so many wounds that it was entirely possible he had died several times already.

Grid's clone had been mesmerized or distracted many times while the fight was going on. However, he didn't intervene. He remained hidden and watched quietly from a distance.

A few hours before, the knights had belatedly noticed the commotion and rushed over, but they had been stopped by the clone, unable to approach the battlefield.

Grid ignored the knights' questioning and anxious gazes and muttered, "...There are nine left. Once he defeats them and determines he has done enough, he will come to me."

After the great battle at Trauka's lair, Zik had been acting weird for some time. He was already emotionless, but he became even less talkative, and he couldn't even make eye contact with Grid.

Grid knew why. His colleagues told him that Judar had planted suspicions in Zik. So, Grid waited, not saying anything to him. He was hoping Zik would be the one to come forth and confide in him. The moment Zik would honestly bring up the doubts he had in Grid, Grid planned to tell him not to worry and to trust him.

However, Zik was silent. He was letting these suspicions fester, and he'd decided to deal with them alone.

Grid had hoped Zik would have changed his mind by now. He believed this incident would be an opportunity for change. Realistically, not all of the apostles were close to Grid. Only Piaro, Braham, Mercedes, and Nefelina had known Grid for a long time and understood him. Sariel and Mir had faith in Grid only because they had been saved by him. Zik was fascinated by Grid's power and relied on it, even embracing faith.

Grid felt the need to improve his relationship with the apostles. He didn't want them to just believe in him, he wanted them to understand him, even if this meant they would become disappointed in him. Grid didn't want them to perceive him as someone he wasn't. Otherwise, the gap between what they thought of Grid and the real Grid would gradually become larger and larger. There would surely come a moment when this disparity would be a bad thing.

"Grid..."

Zibal approached Grid, who was standing still. His face was pale, as if he had rushed over as soon as he heard the news about Zik. Still, he had not rushed carelessly into battle, and instead wanted to understand Grid's intentions.

"Don't worry. Zik is fine. Once this is over, perhaps he will be able to overcome the doubts currently festering in his heart. Even if this ends up taking a toll in his relationship with me, he will become a true friend to you. Take good care of him."

"......"

A lot of time passed. Grid continued staring at the distant sky while Zibal stood beside him, feeling anxious.

The sun was setting, its color resembling Grid's divinity.

Just then, a shadow appeared on the horizon—someone's figure. As this figure got closer and closer, they didn't seem to be in too good of a condition. It looked like they would collapse at any moment.

In the suffocating silence—

"Grid."

Gradually, the person got closer, stopping in front of Grid's group. Zik was covered in dark red blood. He, who had always called Grid 'God' until now, called out Grid's name for the first time in ages.

"You have comforted me many times already. It was you who saved me from the very beginning. I only realized this today, with every throat I slashed of the enemies who threatened your city, and with every loot I gained that I would dedicate to you."

Thump.

Zik smiled slightly as he pulled out hundreds of pouches and placed them down. He smiled awkwardly, but it was a nice sight, because his smile didn't have his characteristic gloom anymore.

"It isn't vengeance that drives me forward any longer. This time, I'm sure of it."

Did he also place down the burdens in his heart alongside the loot?

Zik looked between Grid and Zibal before lowering his head.

"Thank you. Please keep on trusting me."

"Zik..."

Zibal's face turned red as he hugged Zik. Grid looked at the two of them with satisfaction. He felt like he was truly close to Zik.

He could honestly say that the reason he'd joined forces with Rebecca was because he knew that Zik had already overcome everything that happened in the past.

'This is all thanks to Lord.'

Ever since he performed that sword dance alongside Lord, every moment felt especially precious to Grid.