SSG 270
by CristaeYuseong was a celebrity—so much so that it was harder to find someone who didn’t know him.
The origin of that fame, of course, was Arc. To be famous in Arc, which absorbed all aspects of this world’s culture, was equivalent to being a top actor, athlete, or artist from the pre-Arc era.
Although the scale of recognition was incomparably greater.
Still, that was just within the realm of hobbies. Some were too busy in their own lives to pay much attention to Arc; others were absorbed in what little was left of older culture, almost as if on life support.
Of course, even most of them knew about Yuseong, but only in the sense of “there’s that famous guy.” They weren’t particularly interested.
But the news of Yuseong being the CEO of Gospel really engraved his presence even for those people.
The story that the CEO of a rapidly growing company was Yuseong was enough to make even people uninterested in Arc pay attention.
Naturally, those who already knew Yuseong became even more aware of him.
Yet, there still remained some unwilling to care about Yuseong at all.
But rumors that Yuseong had a lover made even those people look up information about him.
Because it was gossip.
The romantic life of a celebrity has a magical pull even on people who have no other interest in them. And if the partner is also famous, the effect multiplies.
Interest in Yuseong surged once again.
–Gospel CEO Lee Yuseong’s relationship rumors, a meeting in-game?–
–Top Arc Ranker Lee Yuseong and Seo Hyewon Announce Romance–
–Love blossoming in the guild, Yuseong and “West Garden”–
The media quickly jumped in with all sorts of articles.
Online, the news caused quite a stir as well.
And that directly affected Yuseong’s notoriety.
‘It’s rising. Messiah was right.’
It was soaring. At this rate, it wouldn’t take long to reach the next stage.
‘I really need to repay Hyewon someday.’
Yuseong stepped outside.
A familiar scene. The same sight he was used to seeing just months ago.
He was back at the hideout he used before heading for America. After barely escaping from Hades, he’d returned here.
At first, he worried that Hades might chase him all the way here, but as time passed, nothing of the sort happened.
‘Surely his detection range can’t reach as far as Asia. If he could, he would have found me long ago.’
Looking back, Hades had only learned his position after encountering him in Arc, so right now, Hades probably wasn’t able to pinpoint his location.
‘He won’t just blindly wander around looking for me, either. If he leaves his post, he apparently can’t hack.’
With just one human (Yuseong) here and a world full of humans over there, it was obvious which Hades prioritized.
‘In other words, my confrontation with him begins when I choose.’
And considering Hades’s danger, that might be the final battle.
‘I’d better get ready.’
There wasn’t much time until his notoriety reached the final stage. Once he defeated Hades and freed Savior, he could finally migrate to the other world.
The opportunity to fulfill his long-cherished wish was just ahead.
“It’s hopeless, fuck!”
Mad Hammer chugged a Cookingday potion. Whether he found it subtle or thought it wasteful, he clearly liked the potion.
He slammed the empty bottle onto the table and kept complaining.
“Damn Utopia bastards. How the hell are we supposed to clear that?!”
“Having a rough time, I see.”
“Rough? That doesn’t even begin to describe it!”
It seemed he’d been storing up plenty of irritation, as Mad Hammer shouted.
“The shitty environment keeps expanding, and we can’t even think about attacking the boss! That bastard’s definitely gotten stronger, too!”
That wasn’t good news. Yuseong’s eyebrow twitched.
“Is that true?”
“What! Don’t believe me?”
“Of course I do. But the more reliable the information, the better, right?”
Yuseong looked at Willy.
Unlike Mad Hammer, Willy hadn’t even touched his potion, but he nodded.
“It’s true.”
“That’s going to be troublesome.”
“What’s worse is that it feels like the other monsters are clearly getting stronger as well.”
“Hm.”
Apparently, Hades’s Arc encroachment was progressing smoothly. Obviously, this was not good for Yuseong.
“Could I ask you two for a request?”
“A request?”
“Starting today, for one month, at the same time each day, please conduct combat reconnaissance against the boss.”
“…You’re aware of how dangerous that is, right?”
“Of course.”
Even if it wasn’t a full assault but just reconnaissance, considering Hades’s abilities, it would mean repeated deaths. The resulting stat losses were significant for Arc players.
And it was an increasingly expanding, perilous area.
“Record everything the boss does, all his abilities, and send them to me.”
“What’s the reward?”
“I’ll give you information on an unclaimed city.”
Willy and Mad Hammer’s expressions, which had seemed to wonder if Yuseong was crazy, changed instantly.
If the reward was a city, then even such a seemingly ridiculous request from Yuseong was not only fair but perhaps even advantageous for them.
“I don’t get it. What do you gain from this?”
“I can’t say. Just know that it’s a purely personal matter.”
“If you can’t tell us why, it’s hard to give a positive answer.”
Beating the boss might give you a reward even better than a city. From Yuseong’s attitude, that was the only reasonable inference.
“Again, it’s strictly personal. But if you won’t accept, I’ll have to ask someone else.”
Willy and Mad Hammer’s faces hardened.
Yuseong already had the coordinates for the city in Hades’s territory. If he shared them with others, Willy and Mad Hammer couldn’t stop him.
Worse than not being able to stop him, they’d have to give up on that city entirely. If word got out that they were there, plenty of people would come after it.
“…Son of a…”
So Mad Hammer could only grumble; he had no real rebuttal.
“…That would indeed put us at a disadvantage. Fine. We’ll take your request. But you’ll give us that city information for sure, right?”
“Of course.”
“All right.”
Willy got up. Though they’d become more amicable through trading information about Hades, right now Willy was perfectly curt.
But Yuseong couldn’t help it. His life was on the line.
‘Sorry, I’ll make it up to them later.’
But for now, he had to focus on the main goal.
From that day, Willy began sending recordings of their combat reconnaissance. Fortunately, they didn’t seem to be slacking.
Hades was always visible in the footage. Which meant: Hades was still focused on Arc.
‘He’s holding steady.’
Yuseong moved to America. He worried that Hades might chase him the moment he arrived, but checking in game, Hades was still inside Arc.
For several days, Yuseong didn’t go outside and only played Arc. He was waiting for the otherworld migration to be enabled.
A few days later, as soon as the shading on the otherworld migration option lifted, he emerged.
‘Off to North Carolina.’
Finally, it was time to head for Savior’s location.
With robots in tow, Yuseong began heading south. He and his robots, equipped in power armor, could move at dozens of km per hour.
But he didn’t rush foolishly. He scattered robots for reconnaissance and always stopped at promising shelters along the way.
All the while, Willy and his companions kept Hades occupied.
He even ran into another giant monster, but having already taken down two, Yuseong handled this one as well, using overwhelming firepower and the terrain.
While he continued south, he confirmed that his notoriety had reached the next stage.
‘Didn’t think it’d happen this fast.’
Thanks to Gospel and Hyewon, it had happened much sooner than expected.
Yuseong checked the new products available.
The first thing he obtained was a map.
A perfect map, now filling in even previously empty regions. He could now see the North Carolina area.
And his target as well.
‘Savior is here.’
He saved the map to his portable computer and set out again.
After a time, Yuseong finally reached the North Carolina region.
But that just meant he’d reached the border; there was still quite a ways to his real destination.
‘This really is a huge place.’
Wasn’t this once America, the superpower? The size of the land certainly reflected that.
As Yuseong continued for his goal—
The signal from a robot scouting ahead was cut off. Yuseong checked the last footage the robot sent. A wave of black energy engulfed the robot.
‘Hades.’
This was apparently within Hades’s detection range. Yuseong pulled up the shop and put his finger on the otherworld migration option.
Robot signals continued to disappear, each one cut off closer and closer to Yuseong’s position.
‘Just a little further. Just a bit more.’
He ran backward, delaying the moment Hades would catch him.
Hades was much faster, but so was Yuseong.
But in the end, Yuseong was caught.
Only then did he activate otherworld migration.
His view changed. The familiar scene of his room.
Yuseong called for Messiah.
“Do the calculation for me.”
[Send me the data.]
He submitted the coordinates for Savior, the distances and timings for robots losing signal, his own estimated location, and derived Hades’s baseline speed.
Yuseong then logged into Arc and contacted Willy and Mad Hammer.
“Was Hades’s behavior any different today?”
“How did you know?”
Willy was surprised.
“As you guessed, Hades, who normally appears immediately, was much slower today. When we actually entered city hall, we thought for sure we could complete the quest. We almost thought relentless attacking was the strategy.”
“We ended up wiped out anyway.”
Still, neither of them looked too disappointed.
They’d started thinking that this hopeless quest might actually have a solution.
“Your levels must’ve dropped a lot.”
“You think? If not for your threats, we’d have quit ages ago.”
Good news or not, Willy’s tone was full of prickly resentment toward Yuseong.
“I’m willing to carry you—are you interested?”
Willy and Mad Hammer’s eyes went wide.