◈ Episode 138

It was a veritable crucible of chaos.

The table-top discussion that had been going on for several days was forcibly stopped. Traces of the explosion could be observed even inside the conference room built with Cheonghwiam. Even the debris from the collapsed rooftop was falling.

"Oh, what's going on!"

"What the…! Chief of Security, Dotrich, don't you have anything?"

President, king, prime minister. Those who wear fancy hats are not much different from others when you take off their layers. Most of them are weak, untrained people.

Conversely, there were a few people who thought about it coolly.

"Crown Prince Adrian, what do you think of this situation?"

"It's most likely the Legion's doing. I've already experienced their methods. They are vicious and bold. They should never be judged by common sense."

Führer Kluivert broke out in a cold sweat.

"What a bunch of crazy guys."

As if to prove his words, a second shock occurred.

Angry!

The roof of Building 8 was blown up with a loud bang. The President felt his lips go dry as the building he was staying in was blown up.

'… … Fortunately, there were no casualties.'

At first glance, the immediate aftermath of the explosion seemed to be limited to the rooftop and the floors immediately below. The top floor was where the President stayed alone, and most of the bodyguards were guarding the chairman.

How did they plant the bomb when the CCTV was running 24 hours a day? The method is unknown, but if it was hidden on the rooftop, it wouldn't have been easily discovered.

He secretly climbed up to the rooftop with some kind of spell and hid the bomb there… It's not impossible. What's more strange and suspicious is how he brought the bomb in.

Was there a connection between Geneva and Legion?

Was this a planned terrorist attack involving even the Lucerne government?

On the one hand, the President was surrounded by suspicion.

Kushan was glaring at the emperor of the empire.

'Isn't this still unsettling?'

There was no significant change in the emperor's expression, perhaps because he was concerned about the eyes of others. However, Kushan saw through it at a glance. The emperor's current emotions were not fear or confusion.

It was fun. A faint flame like a candle flickered beneath his eyes that had been bored for days. That evil man was enjoying the unexpected situation.

The Emperor, who was looking outside the conference hall, slowly turned his head. Their eyes met in the air. The Emperor was asking a question without saying a word.

Is this what you did?

Kushan showed no reaction. He simply watched, keeping his attention away from the emperor. He was curious to see how far the madness he had allowed would go.

'… I really don't know.'

Swallowing a sigh was hard work.

* * *

Outside, it was chaos in its own way.

"There might be a bomb left inside the building! Be careful!"

"Wake up, you punk! I'm going to get the President!"

Up until now, I have been systematically guarding the area, but in the end, it is a shallow connection. The countries I belong to are all different. I had no choice but to prioritize protecting my superiors over suppressing terrorism.

This was the most chaotic time. It would not be long before Geneva's police department would rush in to take control of the situation. Even then, the criticism would be unavoidable.

'I feel sorry for you guys.'

The sacrifice of a cow for the greater good… I personally dislike this phrase, so let's put it aside. There's no need to rationalize it; it's just for the sake of myself and my colleagues.

As Polaris's life got longer, the iron plate on the face also got thicker.

"What, what, what's going on, boss? Is this okay?"

"It's not okay. It must be Legion."

"Those kids are so versatile, really!"

"This is not the time for small talk! Orders have been given to join the security forces."

Chelsea made a fuss and relayed what Bryce had communicated. True to the saying that if you want to fool your enemies, you have to start with your own forces, she didn't even relay the plan to Dustborne.

'I'm going to do most of it in rap anyway.'

This time, Dustborn has no role to play. He just needs to be swept up in the situation as naturally as possible. At the moment when Kim Yi-hyun was about to follow Bryce, something caught his eye.

Asterike's face looking this way was mysterious.

"Asterique. What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, uh. Nothing."

Then he suddenly came up to me and whispered.

"Is it Hyeonji?"

"…what."

"That's right. That's what I felt."

He spoke as if he had gained confidence and then moved away again. The corners of Asterike's mouth twitched as if he were proud that she had noticed. Kim Yi-hyun couldn't help but be surprised.

'I know this guy, but I don't know.'

He was surprisingly quick-witted. I controlled my expression in case it showed on my face. After a moment of moving while being conscious of my composure, I heard a voice that I had been waiting for.

-Oh, my heart is pounding. So far, so good.

The main points of this plan are as follows.

Ghost, a specialist in covert action.

Pereira and Mirage, 4-star and 5-star agents respectively.

Pereira is a special ability user who temporarily applies a 'filter' to the camera, causing it to send still images. In the game, he is a buff-type character that grants a 5-second stealth effect to a designated agent.

Mirage has a spell that is as intuitive as its codename. It can draw out up to two illusions at the same time. In the game, it is applied in such a way that an aggro token with 1 HP is placed whenever the skill is used.

For three days, Ghost had been searching for the most inconspicuous route of entry. And just moments ago, while Mirage was laying illusions and establishing an alibi, he had infiltrated the building with the help of Pereira.

With [Dynamite] and [Alarm Bot] produced by Kim Lee-hyun, and even a fragmentation grenade.

The operation was completed with the addition of the synapse spell that transmitted instructions in real-time. If even one person had been missing, it wouldn't have been as simple as it is now.

-You weren't caught on CCTV, were you?

-It'll be okay. I told you that we've worked together before.

-Was it like that?

-I heard that someone recently stole confidential documents using the same method.

Somehow, I was able to communicate well with the professor. It seems that he solved the main episode in a different way than in the game. It was a desirable change, as it meant that his thinking had become more flexible.

'It may seem artificial…'

Anyone would have a question. Wasn't it a terrorist attack that happened because the Legion was the topic? Unless you're an idiot, you can't help but feel uncomfortable.

'But what can I do?'

As long as they don't leave any evidence, that's it. The possibility of a terrorist attack in a conference room with security facilities as a staged act, or the possibility that it was really the work of the Legion. The scale naturally leans towards the latter.

The Legion has done some pretty crazy things.

In the end, it is your usual behavior that creates trust.

'There's no way anyone would openly attack Rap when the Legion is here.'

And above all.

'It was going to happen anyway.'

Episode 13.

In the game, there is active discussion on hard-line measures against the Legion. In the atmosphere where the talks are ending successfully, an incident occurs on the last day.

In reality, the Legion raids the conference room. To be exact, it is the soldiers who have infiltrated Geneva's security service who cause a commotion.

In other words, they have been robbed of their players. After today, security will be strengthened even more, so they won't be able to even think about doing anything.

The plan was now in its final stages.

-Just a moment. Oh, I heard you've arrived at the location.

-Tell him to shoot somewhere visible.

-Of course.

The special weapon that Kim Yi-hyeon gave us last. [A9 Paint Gun]. It is a 4-star auxiliary equipment that grants slow, but its performance is dismal for a 4-star equipment. It is even more so in reality.

'It cannot be applied repeatedly, and the maximum effective range is 50m.'

I'd rather just shoot a real gun.

It's a piece of equipment that you don't take out very often.

But there is always a use for anything.

Bam!

A paint grenade flew in from somewhere and hit the wall of the conference room. The bright red paint stuck to the wall carved out of Cheongwhiam. The eyes of the crowd gathered there were focused on that spot.

A cold silence descended upon the phenomenon that had soon occurred.

The paint scribbled on its own and turned into letters. The spell of the 4-star agent Pastel. She used her power without anyone noticing in the crowd and created clear sentences.

"Blind ones, look clearly!"

The Legion's provocation was ignored as nothing serious.

─It was content that could be accepted without any difficulty.

-It's absolutely perfect.

Kim Lee-hyun covered his mouth with his hand and chuckled.

* * *

The ripples were huge.

The Geneva side tried to quickly contain the situation, but it was impossible. Miraculously, there were no casualties, but terrorism is terrorism. It was an incident that could have easily turned into a disaster.

Inevitably, the talks were suspended for a while. The Geneva security service, with its face firmly in check, searched for the terrorists with its eyes wide open.

The unexpected event confused me. And many were confused in a different way than others.

"Khalifa! I warned you so earnestly to act with caution, and now I can't help it…!"

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't know anything about it."

"If not you, then who else would do something like this?"

Two security guards had a secret conversation, avoiding the gaze of others. It had only been a short time since the Legion began its activities in earnest, but the work behind the scenes had been going on for a long time.

For those who had infiltrated Geneva's security bureau, this meeting was a crucial opportunity. A golden opportunity that could strengthen the Legion's influence depending on their actions.

But in an instant, the whole blueprint went awry.

"You messed up the plan. It wasn't something you needed to do!"

There were two plans made in advance.

First, to commit terrorism as planned.

Second, observe the flow of the summit and remain silent.

Originally, it was almost certain that the first option would be chosen, but as the talks progressed, the scales tipped toward the second option. This was because the agenda regarding the Legion was passed over without notice.

"The organization is already in turmoil. Instead of showing it on the surface like this, we need to keep quiet and preserve our strength…!"

Khalifa bit his lip at his colleagues' accusations. While there were opinions among the organization members to wait and see, he was the one who persistently advocated terrorism.

It was natural that the arrows of suspicion would be pointed at the Caliph. It was quite ironic, even to himself. If the situation had been reversed, he would have done the same.

But he was truly resentful.

"...I know I'm worthy of suspicion, but I didn't do anything. How did you bring in explosives in the first place? You know how strict the procedures are. It's still like that even if I somehow brought it in."

Khalifa irritably pushed away Munian's hand, which was grabbing his shoulder.

"I would have blown myself up rather than blowing up an empty building with no one in it. I would have taken at least one person as a companion. Do you still think that's what I did?"

It was a convincing story. Only then did Munian stop questioning. After assuming that it was not the Legion's doing, he devised another hypothesis.

In that case, there was only one possibility left.

"Could it be that someone staged this…?"

Only a very few were able to see the truth.