Free Web NovelChapter 1393
It wasn't exactly public that Heins Territory’s technology had leaked.
Those who tried to secretly acquire the tech had to pay the price, and those who inadvertently tried to benefit had to take the hit. Even though the task should’ve been impossible, Davey mobilized every last one of the Shadow agents and pulled it off.
He nodded as he watched the footage inside the video storage mana stone that Aina had brought over. “Good work.”
“Did you... do the deed yourself?” she asked him.
“Nah,” he reassured her. “I made a promise with Willow, so I didn’t do anything.”
“Then who in the world...”
“Honestly, don’t know.” Davey shrugged as he replied, but he was honestly curious as well.
“The wounds?” he asked, seeing the victims on the images.
“They were incredibly clean. A bit too unnatural to be magic. And to create that level of sharpness with a sword... it has to be someone of Master-level or higher. Should we recover the body?”
“No need. I made a promise to keep my hands off, so that’s that.”
“He... went through a lot of trouble, didn't he?” she remarked.
“...Let's just consider it payment for all the times he genuinely cooked for us. And give MacGuff's son, MacGuffin, a portion of the money. About three percent should be enough for him to live comfortably for the rest of his life.”
She was doubtful of that move. “If we give a kid that much money out of nowhere, people around him will try to take it.”
“We'll just have to entrust it to some trustworthy folks. The Gelup Merchant Group, was it? I hear they're ruthless bastards, but they keep their word when it comes to money. Take another three percent, give it to them, and have them ensure McGuffin's safety and well-being.”
Aina hesitated. “I’m not sure if they’ll accept that deal...”
“Don't sweat it. We've already finished the investigation and completed the negotiations on this end. They're getting a bigger paycheck from this, so they won't feel the need to threaten a kid's life.”
It was a question of whether they’d risk the entire merchant group disappearing overnight for a small cut of extra cash, or simply comply with the contract of a bigger payout.
“All that money, too...”
“Yeah,” Davey agreed. “It's the money he made selling the secrets.”
MacGuff seemed to have had a knack for negotiation, as he’d managed to bring in a decent amount of money. The nations that paid were left crying bloody tears.
Yet, even though Davey had wiped all the data they had, he couldn’t erase their memories, so it wasn’t a total loss for them.
“What if this causes a problem later on?” Aina asked, worried.
“Then that's just fate, I guess.”
Davey wasn't trying to stop the continent's progress. He was just guarding against foreign technology flooding in before they were ready.
Just then, the giant Black Dragon King Megalodria arrived outside the window.
Aeria, perched on its neck, approached him and sank into his arms. “Honey.”
Seeing her eyes swollen, he assumed she must have cried a lot.
“Did Empress Redimia leave?” he softly asked.
“Yes... she left with a bright smile. Jeo-Seung assisted her.”
“If he took care of her, there won't be any issues. Cry as much as you need, let it all out, it’s okay.”
Empress Redimia's soul, which the Primordial True Ancestor had held captive for decades, seemed to have finally found peace.
From what Aeria said, it seemed her soul had managed to say her final goodbyes and departed for the River of Souls.
As that thought crossed his mind, a fury surged within him. He couldn't forgive that Primordial True Ancestor jerk who had held her soul captive and then vanished without a care. That asshole was even the one that made the vampires a blasphemous race that betrayed the gods.
Yet, Davey didn't mock him for it.
He had rebelled against the Goddess, and received the curse upon his race, simply to make a move for the sake of the sacrificed divinities.
Davey silently soothed Aeria, who sobbed loudly in his embrace.
* * *
“Seriously, I'm streaming right now.”
“Yeah, whatever. Do your thing.”
Evangeline sighed as she watched Willow, who was sprawled out on the bed, legs crossed, reading a comic book. “Then at least put on some proper clothes!!!”
“What are you talking about? You're wearing the exact same thing,” Willow shot back.
“They can't see mine!!”
Hearing the outburst, Willow gave her a blank look and then glanced at the stream on the screen. Unlike Evangeline, whose lower body was hidden beneath the desk, Willow was lying far off on the bed, and her comfy dolphin shorts were completely visible.
She quickly pulled the blanket over herself, causing the public sentiment in the chat to explode. “You perverts.”
[AHHHH!!!]
[NOOO!!!]
[Eye candy time’s over huh...]
“What's with you guys? If you look at my sister like that, you're all getting cuffed, okay? You’ll be death row inmates!”
[Yeah, yeah, I'll take death row lols]
[I'll just be a death row inmate too.]
[Willow... wanna play a game with this old man...?]
“Kick that weirdo out!!”
[NationalDeathRowPresident has been banned.]
“Wow... That dude’s username is seriously messed up.”
[Completely obsessed with his own concept, smh...]
[He’s completely in his own world lmao]
“Phew. Anyway, I'm not drawing today.” Evangeline crossed her arms, looking bored. “You guys... If I draw, you complain about me drawing. If I game, you complain that your streamer is just gaming. If I just chat, you say I’m lazy. What do you even want from me?”
Facing her grumbling, the viewers posted a bunch of question marks.
[Right. What do we want????]
[??? Our tastes change every day lols]
“Seriously, do you guys think I'm just your own personal clown?”
[Weren't you?]
“Well... technically speaking, you’re not wrong. But... argh, whatever! If you hate this and you hate that, then why are you even watching my stream?!”
Willow suddenly jumped up in a tantrum.
Flap!!!
“I’m bored!! I’m so bored!!”
“Hey, I'm on stream, get out!!” Evangeline yelled angrily.
Willow paid her no mind. “I feel like this boredom is wrapping around my brain and spreading through every artery in my body.”
Evangeline looked at her, wondering what kind of sick psycho she was, but the viewers were having the time of their lives in the background.
“Hurry up and bring me something fun!!” Willow complained.
“Seriously, please go!!”
Willow, who had been throwing a fit, suddenly covered herself with the blanket again nonchalantly.
Evangeline let out a baffled sigh.
Willow poked only her head out from under the blanket and looked at her. “I've been thinking about this for a while. Can I ask the viewers a question?”
[Of course you can!!]
[Go ahead, you goddess whose boredom has spread to all her arteries hahaha]
“Haah. They still don't believe me. Anyways, I was wondering about that virtual reality game that used to be on Earth. You know, Alf Online.”
Hearing those words, the chat paused for a moment. They passed her comment off as a joke, but Alf Online was a game that countless people on Earth had once enjoyed. It was a game that vanished around the time the monsters started crossing over.
After that, virtual reality disappeared as if it had never existed. Then, humanity lost a lot of land and suffered heavy casualties due to the numerous monsters.
“Well, whatever the intentions of it were, it didn't end well, did it? So I'm curious—if it came back now, what do you think it’d be like?”
“Willow, are you really bringing that up again? I already told you I'm not interested.”
“Jeez, you dumdum. I wasn't asking you.”
The chat considered her question.
[Why now?]
[Didn't Alf Online actually lead to the creation of Awakened individuals?]
[Yeah, that's true.]
“No, I mean, we would forget all that complicated stuff and just enjoy it as a game.”
[It’d be nice, tbh.]
[Honestly, Alf Online was pretty fun.]
[I still have the access device for it. It's totally junk, tho.]
She snickered and jumped up. “Is that so?”
Evangeline was surprised by her sudden movement. “Willow? Where are you going?”
“Where do you think? I'm off to make a game,” Willow haughtily announced.
“Huh? Are you actually gonna make one?”
“It can’t be that hard.”
Watching her lightly wave her hand to tear open space and disappear, the viewers rapidly filled the chat with question marks.
[Boss, what did she just say?]
“She said... she's going to make the virtual reality game Alf Online again.”
[Is that even possible? I mean, given what everyone in your family is capable of, it might be, but realistically...]
“I don't know about Dad, but Willow could probably pull it off...”
* * *
Willow immediately flew to Neltarid's Sanctuary.
Crack!!
“Hey! Where are you?!”
Neltarid Mk II grumbled, “Ugh. Senior, please try to enter quietly!!”
“Enough!! You're gonna do something with me!!”
“...I don't want to.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm busy!” he said, exasperated. “I don't have time to play along with your pranks...”
Crack!!
Before he could finish his sentence, Willow stretched out her hand and twisted a part of his space within the sanctuary.
“Neltarid, I have the power to crush you right now,” she threatened while smiling sweetly.
He sighed and lowered his head. “What is it? Let's at least hear it, I guess.”
“I’m making a game, and you’re going to help.”
“Oh... Goddess Freyja, save me...”
Her nonchalant words sent Neltarid Mk II, the god who managed Earth, into utter despair.
* * *
After successfully recruiting Neltarid Mk II for the technical assistance, Willow went to find others who could help.
“Uncle Al Hajat!”
Al Hajat, who was busy handling affairs within his country, forced a smile and welcomed her, “Oh, Willow. What brings you here?”
“Are you alright?” she asked, worried by his appearance. “You look pretty worn out.”
“Ahem. I didn’t mean to show you that side of me. Well, I suppose I do have a lot of work lately.”
“Actually, I have some news I think you'll be excited to hear” she told him with a smile. “Wanna listen?”
He smiled and patted her head. “I'm curious what it could be.”
“I’m going to make a game.”
He didn't quite understand what she meant. “A game?”
“Yeah. A virtual reality game, like Alf Online. But one that's much more stable and safer than before. We already have the technical capability, and for the internal content, we could just use some things the Sacred Group created in the past.”
Considering her explanation, his eyes sparkled. “Can you tell me more?”
Although he had many important duties, he was a hardcore gamer whom even Davey couldn't help but marvel at.
* * *
The funny thing about rumors was that even when those involved kept their mouths shut, they still spread far and wide.
About two weeks passed after Willow mentioned gathering Al Hajat, Hyun-Ah, and the Church of Neltarid together to rebuild a virtual reality system. While no one mentioned it during that time, the comments Willow made in that stream alone had caused a lot of people to become hyped up.
They pestered Evangeline about it constantly.
[So. What's the progress?]
[You want us to lose our minds?! Give us a status update alreadyyyyy!!!]
[Nah, she probably didn’t mean it. Do you really think a system created by a Divine Miracle can be created again? Like for real?]
[Don't slander our goddess!]
[Here we go again. The Willow Deification Theory lolols. Seriously guys, she’s just cap, deadass. What kind of goddess is just rolling around on a bed complaining about being bored during a stream lmao]
[Okay, dumbass who still ended up watching the whole stream lols]
[But for real tho, there are so many rumors, but when is it actually coming out!!]
It wasn't restricted only to online communities, with even news and game journalists, thinking they had reliable information, reporting and writing articles enthusiastically.
Later on, once news spread that the Sacred Group would implement a more stable virtual reality system than before, the company’s stock price skyrocketed. Many people expressed interest in investing, and even more wanted to participate in the project itself.
That wasn't all, either.
Taking the opportunity, some companies also started development on their own virtual reality systems. Some were bluffing to drive up their stock price, while others genuinely believed it was possible.
Of course, that was only a product of their ignorance regarding the true endeavor.
However, regardless of the buzz in the outside world, Willow, who was in charge of the project, had Neltarid Mk II cornered, tearfully grabbing him by the hair. “Hey!! You said it was safe, you dumdum!! What am I supposed to do about my burned hair?!”
“Ugh. AHHH!! It was a mistake. A total mistake!! Do you think I’d intentionally screw you over because I'm mad at you or something?!!”
She didn't want to hear his excuses. “Shut up and die!! You piece of shit!!”
“Ugh!! Agh!!! I can make mistakes too! Isn't this too much?!” he cried out, indignant.
“Mistake, my ass!! Don’t think I don't know you did that on purpose!!”
“Damn it, you sure caught on fast...”
Willow was mercilessly chewing out her junior, with no one else there except for him and her. Nevertheless, a massive system was steadily being built by the two deities.
