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Dazzling lights which stung the eyes and a noisy roaring sound which resounded through the ears. It seemed so different from the ordinary everyday life that it seemed like an alien space. In the night, it was a space where the colourful lights lured in humans off the streets. Those who stepped into these places would return back to their primal natures. However, the only people who could enter this place were the ones selected.
It wasn’t based on data but was restricted by the age or clothes of the person. The people who failed the horrible screening test would sob and wail about discrimination! The name of this modern day pandemonium……was the place which was just called ‘Club.’
“Hahaha! Hey, three bottles of alcohol and some appetizers! Quickly!”
A loud voice was audible from the room overlooking the main stage. Then the young woman flanking him sent him flirtatious looks.
“Oppa is so cool. I like it.”
“But isn’t that much slightly unreasonable?”
“What? Is this a joke? Do you know who I am? A few bottles of liquor won’t make any dent in my bank account. Order anything you like. Today I will pay for everything. No, I’m in a good mood so I’m ringing this golden bell after a long time.”
The one smirking with a red face was Lee Myung-ban, also known as Andel who once sought to step on Ark in New World. But that was just inside a game in the end. In reality, Andel was the son of an upper class family. Andel waved his hand that was holding jewel encrusted watches and the women made a fuss.
“Come, this golden bell will only ring once.”
“It’s great that Oppa is ringing the golden bell.”
“Heh, I won’t play with any losers. Okay, you guys have made today merry so I’ll ring the golden bell. Huhuhu, do you want to play the King game?”
“Omo, shall we do that?”
“Oppa, aren’t you being too blatant?”
“Hahaha, every man is a wolf. Don’t you know that yet?”
Andel smirked and stroke a girl’s face. Then the door to the room opened and a testy voice was heard.
“You’re quite fortunate.”
“What the? Who dared come in……?”
Andel checked the face of the young man and flinched.
“Ah, Alan? “You, how are you here…..?”
“I know what type of places you go to.”
The person who appeared was Alan who Andel had known for 10 years. When Alan sat down, the girls’ eyes quickly focused on him. Alan was dressed plainly. It was just jeans and a white t-shirt. But it seemed more luxurious than the shirts embellished with decorations that Andel was wearing. In other words…… Andel suddenly seemed like a commoner after Alan who gave off a noble impression appeared. Their levels were completely different.
“Wah, this Oppa is cool.”
“That’s right, he’s my ideal type.”
Andel became dissatisfied with the women’s reactions to Alan. Andel and Alan had known each other for 10 years but these days their relationship was estranged. That’s because of Ark. It was because Andel was tricked by Ark that Alan had Silvana taken away from him. Of course, Andel knew how much Alan had poured into Silvana. So he had decided to avoid Alan until he became less upset but his thoughts changed after a while.
‘It’s only a game. Why should I have to ignore a friend of 10 years?’
“Alan, why did you come to see me?”
Of course, the voice coming out of his mouth wasn’t sentimental. Alan looked at Andel before suddenly saying.
“You’re not connecting to New World these days?”
“What the? Are you still holding onto that thing? I don’t care anymore. I only took the test to enter Global Exos because I thought I should pretend to do some work. But I don’t want anything to do with that test anymore. Don’t you feel the same way?”
“So your interest in New World really disappeared?”
When Alan asked sharply, Andel held his tongue. At first Andel had played the game more aggressively than Alan. Like he said, Andel wasn’t very interested in joining Global Exos. He stayed up all night to play the game was because it was fun. And the reason he hadn’t connected to the game…… Then Alan took out an MP Movie Player. Andel’s face wrinkled as he watched the video. The video shown on the MP Player was something that had previously aired on TV. The protagonist of the video was a black wolf who Andel recognized with one glance.
“Ah, that Ark bastard…..!”
Yes, it was indeed him. The reason Andel wasn’t connecting to the game. Every time he connected to the game, he remembered the humiliation he suffered from Ark and couldn’t stand it. His organization was shattered by Ark and collapsed. Then Alan became angry at him so he abandoned the game. Alan immediately started to talk again.
“Are you really okay with this?”
“What?”
“That Ark. He destroyed everything we built. Now he had this success. Are you really going to act like this? You’re able to forgive him? Was your personality that good-natured? I couldn’t do it. My chest burns at the thought of leaving that guy alone.”
“Damn, I’m also angry. But that’s it.”
“I heard about it. Didn’t you suffer because of that person?”
“Yes, do you know how broken I was because of that?”
“Yet you’re just going to leave it as it is.”
“I know, I know. I also prefer to step on him. Honestly, I’ve already seen that movie. Do you know how long I was furious? But he is not the same Ark. His level and power has increased a lot. It will be difficult to take care of him.”
“No, you have to remember that it is a game. I have a way.”
Alan replied in a firm tone.
“I’m also not interested in the test. But I can never ignore that guy. I’ll go after him no matter what. Whether it is reality or the game.”
Alan’s words were true. In all the time Alan had lived, he had never been so disregarded by another person. No, it wasn’t exactly true to say he was disregarded. Once again, Alan was rich. In addition he was smart. If someone disregarded him, Alan never hesitated to use all his weapons to step on them and he never failed. The only blot on his undefeated record was Ark. When seen objectively, his failure to defeat Ark was the one shame of Alan’s whole life. It was like a hole in his ego. It was a small hole, but his ego was so strong that even a small hole would annoy him. The only way to fill up that hole was to utterly destroy Ark in New World.
Yes, that was where his intense hatred of Ark stemmed from. Andel clenched his fist firmly and nodded at Alan’s words.
“The same goes for me. I’ll do whatever it takes! I’ve never been so insulted by another person. But it’s not as easy as it sounds. At least in the game.”
“Yes, I have to admit that. He isn’t as simple as I thought he was. That’s why it’s even more insufferable. Now New World isn’t just a game that I am playing for fun. I’ll risk everything to erase him from New World. So I require your help.”
“What? My help?”
“Yes, I’ve only been thinking about revenge against Ark so I’ve been raising my power. I’m confident now after increasing my strength. But like you said, he’s not the same opponent as before. Yes, it’s not time yet. I have to wait a little bit more before I appear in front of him. So you should do some preparations.”
“Why is my help necessary…….?”
“You have to gather people. That kind of force is needed if we want to defeat Ark and his group. We don’t need people like the ones in ‘Dawn Blade.’ Chaotic players are good. We need players who will obey our orders. But…..I can’t explain why but I can’t do that task. So I was hoping to leave it to you.”
“I’m still only level 200. Will they listen to me?”
Andel asked with a grumpy expression.
“We have a weapon against them.”
“Weapon? A weapon……”
Alan pulled something out and showed it to Andel. It was a passbook. The women who looked at the passbook screamed.
“Kyaaa! How many 0’s is that?”
“I obtained this for the club a few months ago. What it New World? Shall we create a new club?”
Andel stared at Alan with a dumb expression.
“…..This amount isn’t easy even for you……can I really use it?”
“I don’t care as long as we step on that guy. No, honestly I think this much is lacking for the scale of the organization that I desire. But if I receive the help of a friend then it is possible. How about it? Will you help me?”
Andel hesitated with a complicated expression. But after a moment, he grabbed Alan’s hand and nodded.
“Okay, you and I will step on that bastard. If you have this much determination then I’ll also try my best. Money isn’t easy to raise but you’ve managed to prepare this much. It is like an investment. If we abandon our principles then we can step on him and occupy New World. Is that why you prepared the money?”
“As expected, you’ve understood my real intentions.”
“Heh, I did spend 3 years at a private school with you.”