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On the far west of the Ruben Empire, there was a barren land unaffected by its influence called Outland.

“Mm, there are more people than I expected,” the Frost Queen remarked.

“That’s because we’re still at the entrance,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

Seo Jun-Ho, Frost, and Gilberto had just entered Dustang. It was an infamous city that was apparently swimming with criminals. It didn’t even have a Teleport Gate. As such, it took them two days just to get here.

“If we take a carriage from here, we could reach the Great Western Wall in four days,” Seo Jun-Ho explained to Gilberto. The Outland region was beyond the Wall.

Gilberto suddenly looked around. “So this is Dustang... Is this where Arthur lived?”

“Yeah. This is the place.”

Gilberto’s eyes drooped a little as he looked around the street. As a father, he would never want his child to live in a city like this. In fact, he would have begged Arthur to stay far away from this place.

“...” Gilberto scanned the street. There were rookies walking down the road, emanating a strong stench of blood. There were people on the ground in every alleyway, and they were either drunk from alcohol or high from drugs. “...It doesn’t look very safe here. Is the city lord not doing anything?”

“Forget about safety; he even ran away to live in a different city,” Seo Jun-Ho said. The city lord had given up on overseeing Dustang. And seeing how he hadn’t been punished by the emperor, it wouldn’t be surprising if he had received permission to do so. In the first place, this wasn’t a city someone could run just because they wanted to.

‘Captain Gong said this place was a dumpster.’

Now that he was here in person, those words resonated with him. Even if a few people desperately tried to restore order here, this wasn’t a place where such actions could be done.

“I was wondering why you suddenly made a soundproof barrier. I suppose that’s the reason,” Gilberto said.

“There could be fiends around, so watch your mouth.”

The three of them entered a nearby inn. They casually sat down at a table in the restaurant. The two men ordered beers while they ordered warm milk for Frost.

Gilberto held his face in his hands. “...I didn’t know. I didn’t know that Arthur once lived in such an ugly place.”

“I told you. He’s not the kid you used to know. He’s a grown adult and a respectable Player.”

“...”

All parents wanted their children to grow up wearing nice clothes and only seeing the good things in the world. As such, Gilberto smiled bitterly.

“I don’t know if I should blame myself or be proud of Arthur for growing up well.”

“Hey, don’t blame yourself. You’re making even me feel bad,” Seo Jun-Ho said.

“...How do you think I would feel if you say that?” added the Frost Queen. Perhaps it was because they had been living together for a while, but Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen both had similar glum looks on their faces.

Gilberto seemed to feel a little better after seeing their reactions and shrugged. “You two have nothing to be sorry about. Arthur has grown into a good man; I’ll just leave it at that. Anyway...”

He scanned the restaurant. “Why are there so many Players here?”

“I don’t know. I have been wondering the same thing since earlier.”

As Gilberto said, there were many Players here. And it wasn’t just the restaurant. Ever since they set foot in the city, they had noticed a lot more Players than the city was known for.

“Did a war break out near here?” Gilberto asked.

“I’ll ask,” Seo Jun-Ho replied smoothly. He tapped his Vita, and the answer came quickly.

[JH: I actually made a separate report on this matter. I’ll send it over right away.]

A file soon arrived from Moonlight’s Chief Jung.

[Title: Higher Level]

‘Higher Level...?’

Seo Jun-Ho skimmed the report, and his face fell. He slid it over to Gilberto. “Read this.”

Gilberto’s long lashes lowered for a moment as he read it. He then returned the hologram window as if he had no idea of the issue. “It’s a common rumor. But I think I understand why they’re all swarming here like bees.”

“You think it’s only a rumor?”

“Jun-Ho, you don’t sound like yourself. You don’t actually believe this ridiculous rumor, do you?”

“I don’t know...” He had a faint, ambivalent smile on his face.

“There were many rumors like this back in our day, too,” Gilberto added.

“Mm, that’s true, but to think that they’re still floating around in this day and age...” He looked back to the report. According to the rumors, a certain merchant group had appeared in Outland. They were selling a potion called Higher Level. “They say that if you take it, your skill grade will increase, or you’ll actually gain a new skill.”

“Ridiculous.” Gilberto crossed his arms and shook his head.

However, Seo Jun-Ho disagreed. “Really? I think the rumors are true.”

Gilberto frowned a bit at that. After all, Seo Jun-Ho had always been incorrect about these things before despite having Keen Intuition. “Why do you think so? Is it your Intuition?”

“No, my Intuition isn’t telling me anything. Just think about the current situation.”

Floors were being cleared left and right. They had cleared the 2nd floor after being stuck for 26 years and cleared the 3rd floor soon afterward.

“When I read a report last time, it said that 470,000 Players have come up to the 2nd floor. How many do you think went up to the 3rd?”

“...100,000?”

“Wrong. Less than 20,000.”

Ninety-six percent of the Players who had come up to the 2nd floor couldn’t make it to the 3rd floor and were stuck here.

“Of course, there are other things to consider.” Seo Jun-Ho pointed at himself. “Those were the numbers before I got rid of the heat on the 3rd floor.”

The day after he destroyed the Hellfire, the number of Players on the 3rd floor exponentially increased. Moonlight’s initial estimate was around 200,000.

“But the 3rd floor was quickly cleared, so the 20,000 Players who had been on the 3rd floor before...”

“They probably went up to the 4th floor. And those people should be the elites.”

“Bingo. But the majority of Players still haven’t left the 2nd floor.”

Seo Jun-Ho pushed his two fists together, then pulled them apart. “And the Players on the 2nd floor are split into two groups.” There were newbies who had just come up to the 2nd floor and veterans who had been here for at least a few years.

“Now, this is the problem—how do you think the veterans are feeling right now?” he asked. Just a few months ago, they were 2nd-floor Players, along with the Heavens. However, the world drastically changed. Now, the strong ones were playing on the upper floors.

“...They must be nervous and impatient. They must be doubting themselves,” Gilberto muttered in understanding. He had also experienced those feelings in the past.

“So, what are you trying to say?” he calmly asked. He was tired of going in circles.

Seo Jun-Ho finally got to the point. “I know some people who are extremely talented at slipping through those cracks.”

Gilberto’s eyes darkened. He knew what type of people Seo Jun-Ho was referring to. “...Fiends.”

“Correct. Now, I should tell you what’s going on.” He then explained why he had brought Gilberto over to such a barren city.

“Paradise, you say...” Gilberto closed his eyes for a moment, lost in thought. He nodded slowly. “I see. The rumors seem different considering it’s the Chef and Paradise.”

“Right?”

The Fiend Association was in a state of inner conflict. The seven—no, there were only four Squadron Leaders certainly aiming to become an executive or the Chairman of the Fiend Association.

“The Gluttony Squadron won’t just stay put. Coincidentally, their Paradise is located somewhere in Outland...”

“And all these people in Dustang are also headed to Outland to buy that potion.”

It made perfect sense. On top of that, Seo Jun-Ho had already been to Paradise before in Rome.

‘Though the Chef had already retreated and there were only traces of his involvement...’

Seo Jun-Ho had read Director Torres’ memories. According to those memories, the Chef was also called ‘the Skill Maker.’

“He can make and combine skills,” Seo Jun-Ho explained. If he was overseeing this Paradise himself, the meaning behind the rumors would change.

“Didn’t you say he’s an executive?” Gilberto asked.

“He is. He’s a Fiend Association executive.” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes sparkled. “If we’re lucky, we might be able to take out the Gluttony Squadron, their Squadron leader Guladin, and the Chef all at once.”

Their deaths would inflict major damage to the Fiend Association and accelerate their collapse.

“So, we need to look deeper into these rumors,” Seo Jun-Ho concluded.

“...We should. If we can find those merchants, we should be able to locate Paradise as well.” Gilberto finished his beer in one gulp and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’m counting on you.”

As soon as he left, the Frost Queen turned to Jun-Ho. “Contractor, where is the man going?”

“I don’t know either.”

“...?”

“I actually don’t know. But there’s one thing I know...”

When Gilberto came back, he would have information about the rumors.

A lot of it, at that.

***

“Let’s get moving,” Gilberto said as soon as he returned.

They rented a carriage and left the city. “It would be faster to run, so why did we rent a carriage?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.

“We can’t run there. If we broadcast that we’re coming, they won’t want to meet with us.”

“...It’s not like this is a school hallway or something,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered. It was ridiculous because they couldn’t even run. “So, where did you get the info?”

“From a Player. From a guy who bought and took Higher Level two days ago.”

“...Wait, it’s actually true? It’s not just a rumor to bait Players?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, surprised. He did think the rumors were true, but only to the extent that there truly was a merchant group in Outland. He didn’t think that the Higher Level potion actually existed.

“Apparently, the grade of his skill went from C to B.”

“...” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyebrows furrowed. He couldn’t make sense of this. “What the heck is their goal?”

Had the fiends become desperate for money that they started selling potions? Impossible. They had to have some sort of objective for them to hide their identity and go so far as to spread rumors to herd Players.

‘But they let the Players go just like that after buying the potion...’

Seo Jun-Ho fell into deep contemplation. As he did, the sun started to descend from the top of the sky.

“It’s night,” Gilberto muttered, looking up at the moon. He released the soundproof barrier and opened the window.

“I want to change our destination,” he said to the coachman.

“Where would you like to go?”

“Upstairs.”

ραпdα nᴏνê| сom “...”

Clack, clack.

With that one word, the coachman silently tugged on the reins. He turned the heads of the horses pulling the carriage and changed directions. Gilberto closed the window with a click.

“What was that?” Seo Jun-Ho asked accusingly.

“What else would it be? I simply gave him the password to take us to the merchants.”

“Wait, wait. Then that means...The coachman is in on this too?”

“That’s right. After looking around for a little bit, I realized that Dustang is already a nest for fiends. They have eyes and ears everywhere.”

“...We’re going there so openly? There’s no way they wouldn’t recognize our faces.”

“That’s why it was even easier.” Gilberto grinned. He took out his gun and started to repair it. “A useless Player from 26 years ago. A man whom everyone considers a has-been. That’s me.”

“...”

Just as Gilberto said, the carriage swiftly headed toward its destination as if it were carrying a very nice present. And it moved just like Santa Claus’ sleigh.

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