Chapter 282 - War Of The Leagues (12)
*In the Game*
Cookie and Ofelia were hiding in the bunker, waiting for the warfare to die down outside. They had been fighting off many enemies but there were too many of them. The other players were ganging up together to take out many level one participants but thanks to Cookie\'s skills, they had advanced to level 15 without using any codes.
The duo had infiltrated nearby camps and Ofelia used her bombs to take out the players, eliminating them from the game. They had captured a few lands but ran into an overwhelming number of enemies.
"Where\'s Pink Thunder?" Ofelia hissed.
"He\'s probably trying to enter another camp," Cookie muttered. "We\'ll have to team up with the others and take over more lands. Otherwise, we\'ll never reach level 70."
The loud sounds of gunshots and bombs could still be heard. Ofelia peered out of a dusty window.
"I think the tanks are retreating!" she hissed.
"We\'ll wait till nightfall and leave," Cookie nodded. Ofelia ducked under the window as more soldiers scavenged the area.
"Activate code 6709!" Cookie whispered. Instantly, a cloak of invisibility appeared and she quickly threw it over both of them, disappearing from sight. They sat frozen in silence as the soldiers walked around them. Their hearts beat fast as the soldiers searched everywhere for survivors.
Over their heads were the numbers of their lever: Level 69.
"Found anyone?" One of the men was asking his partner.
"Nope. Nothing here!"
They searched the area again but there was no one. Finally, they gave up and sat on a crate.
"I guess all of em are dead," the first guard named Gingerbread claimed. "We can rest."
"SJS doesn\'t even let us sit!" the other guard, Noob98 sighed. "What an ass!"
"He\'s a jerk but he\'s the boss here. We can\'t do anything. I just wish we didn\'t have to rely on him a lot."
They were SJS66\'s lackeys and in his team. Cookie had heard whispers of how SJS66 was increasing his territory through brutal tactics. While it was a game on the dark web, people only played for fun and it was not anything serious but this SJS66 was annihilating camps as if killing flies. His men were looting and bombing every territory they could find and only those which partnered with him, pledging allegiance to him were spared.
"I heard that SJS is up on the mountains?" Noob98 asked. "Is it true?"
"He doesn\' do any dirty work himself but makes us do it!" Gingerbread growled. "I\'m sick of it! If only I could get rid of him. Asshole and a motherfucker he is! I bet he killed that kid…what was his name in real life? Youngoo?"
"I heard that as well," Noob98 shuddered. "I know I\'m bad but that SJS is dangerous. He bragged how his website is killing people! I mean…we\'re on the dark web and there is a lotta scary shit here but he\'s taking it up a notch, don\'t ya think?"
"Says the guy who watches child porn all day long!" Gingerbeard sneered. "Why are you thinking that you\'re any better than him?"
"I may be addicted to kiddie porn but I ain\'t a pedo nor a murderer like SJS66 is!" Noob98 snarled. "I hear that SJS66 is attempting to kidnap a child in real life! Can you imagine that?"
"Huh? How do you know that?"
"I heard it from one of the players," Noob replied. "He said that SJS66 is obsessed with some six year old kid and the website he designed is simply a method to get to the child. I dunno how he\'s doing it but maybe he\'s experimenting with it. Killing off many people so that when he murders the child\'s parents, he\'ll be able to pass it off as part of a the Blue Fish murders? I hear that no one has been arrested. It\'s like the police are chasing a ghost!"
"But how is he doing it?" Gingerbread asked thoughtfully. "Killing those people?"
"Who knows? All I care about is staying far away from him. He\'s mad. Completely mad and weird. I bet he\'s a druggie in real life!"
There was a murmur of agreement and the two men decided to set camp outside. The girls waited until they left before coming out of hiding.
"You hear that?" Cookie hissed. "SJS66 is in the mountains!"
"But we\'ll have to pass lots of levels before we can reach that place," Ofelia pointed out. "We\'d better get going."
"I can\'t believe that SJS66 is sending that demon after these people!" Cookie snarled. "I\'m so gonna rip his heart out once I get my hands on him!"
"Let\'s get out of here and find the others," Ofelia said. "If we can capture a really big town, we might be able to advance several levels."
Cookie nodded and they slowly crept out of the bunker. They stole more weapons on the way, passing by the sleeping guards. As soon as they were out of earshot and sight, they ran for it, heading towards the nearest town which was full of Level 15 players.
It was time to gather more experience points and the only way to advance several levels was by grabbing a major chunk of land from higher level players.
…
"Doctor, we brought in Myungsoo," Jaebum informed Hobin. The latter frowned.
"What about Song Aina?" he asked. "Where is she?"
"Our men are searching for her but we can\'t find her," Jaebum admitted. "Her last known address was in City D but she left that place last month. The landlady doesn\'t know where she lives now."
"What about her parents\' house?"
"Her parents disowned her after the divorce. She lived alone and worked odd jobs but she quit her last job four months ago."
Hobin was thinking hard. Song Aina was not missing because she had created a ruckus last night at the hospital but where was she?
"Keep looking for her," he ordered. "I\'ll question Myungsoo."
Jaebum nodded, leaving Hobin to interrogate Myungsoo. The latter headed towards the interrogation room where Myungsoo sat with his father.
"Why the hell did you arrest my son?" Mr. Yeon demanded.
"We didn\'t arrest him," Hobin stated. "He\'s been brought here to help us answer some questions about a game he plates online."
Mr. Yeon and Myungsoo were confused. Hobin puts the image of the game in front of him and asks.
"This game…War of the Leagues," he begins. "You play it on the dark web, right?"
"Yeah," Myungsoo slowly nodded.
"Is this where you met SJS66?"
"Yes.SJS66 is the one who told me about the Blue Fish site when we were playing this game together."
"Tell us about SJS66 and what he told you about the Blue Fish site," Hobin ordered.
"Oh," Myungsoo frowned. "I made that mistake too."
"Mistake?" Hobin questioned him. "What mistake?"
"Calling SJS a \'he\'," Myungsoo revealed. "Turns out, it\'s a woman in her thirties and she\'s SJS66.. She even has a kid."