Chapter 99 - Investment
In the dead of night, while the power across many districts flickered and groaned under the strain of awakened Mana-servers, the internet was burning alive. Forums, chat groups, livestreams—every digital crevice roared with activity.
[Global System Message]
— Player has triggered an Expansion Event. The World Server will undergo forced maintenance for 48 hours. All players will be logged out in 10 seconds.
10... 9... 8...
Cries echoed inside dorm rooms, cyber cafés, rooftops, and basements. Eyes widened. Fingers trembled over keyboards. Screams of frustration mingled with awe and confusion.
"Wait, what Expansion?! Who triggered it?!"
"Shit! Someone caught it on video! Drop the link!"
Phones buzzed. Messages streamed in.
[Title: WHAT THE FUCK DID WE JUST WITNESS]
Uploader: V-Spy
Views: 398,345
Caption: A Nigerian player soloing a monster army, dying to a mysterious power. Watch the explosion that ends it all.
The video had no commentary, just raw feed. Malik—his face twisted in pain and defiance—his fist punching through the air like a final curse. A howl of war, and then blinding silence.
Then came the System's voice.
9... 8... 7...
Forums exploded.
> "THAT GUY—WHO THE FUCK WAS HE?!"
"The mobs were LEVEL 90?! Bro, he was LEVEL 42!"
"That can't be real. Is that a Tier 1 skill? That aura… what Class is he?!"
"Why does he feel like a mini-boss?"
"No. An ancestor. A founder. A god damn legend."
"Those emblems.. Aren't that the Obsidian Dynasty.."
"Yeah.. That's the Shadow guild."
"The Black Cresent Guild.".
"Even the Red Players are present."
In a certain private Discord server, White Emperor's hand froze above his desk. The cool glow of his screen flickered, reflecting his stunned expression.
"He… died?" he muttered.
He stood abruptly, his chair screeching against tile. He clicked a link and rewound the clip. Played it again. Slowed it down.
There was no mistake. That final blow had been a self-detonation of mana—wild, unfiltered, and primal. The kind only a cultivator class could muster.
"...He knew," White Emperor whispered. "He knew he wouldn't survive."
In another part of campus, a girl dropped her bottle of water.
Dina.
She stared at her screen, unmoving, her chest rising and falling like she was surfacing from underwater.
Ancestor...
She has always followed his video,.. All what he does. The current update about him.. And then he died amf and all of this happened.
Beside her, an assistant stammered, "Boss… the news just confirmed—someone traced the footage's upload source. It's from FUO. A local server pinged by Striker's camera. They're saying… he might be one of ours."
"You mean the Ancestor is from this part of the country.."
"Yes and a lot of experts are currently coming down to this province. We have to change location before it's too late." The assistant replied.
"Why we should also get the chance to see the Ancestor?"
"I'm sorry Ma'am but I was ordered to bring you back to Morocco." The Assistant replied and Dina pouted her lips. The decision has already been made, there's no way to change it.
---
At the university's Law Faculty building, the common room was in chaos.
"Abdulmalik?!" A man voice cracked like a whip.
"No way, no bloody way—" Trust , half-dressed, phone in hand, shouted, "The leaderboards updated! HE'S NUMBER ONE!"
The room fell into dead silence.
One by one, students opened their apps.
[Top Player Rankings - Nigeria Server]
# 1: Man like Malik — Level 42 — Solo Kill Score: 2,389 — Final Blow against STRIKER
# 2: Angel Micheal
# 3: White Emperor
# 4: SlicerTheBlade
"What are you saying? Angel Michael ranked at second?"
"Isn't that Michael of the Engineering departments?"
"So he knows about the Ancestor?"
Their voice cracked.
Someone sat down. Another wept quietly. The room wasn't just shocked—it was overwhelmed.. They've just recalled something.. Something none of them is ready to say.
He was one of them.
---
Outside, on the dark campus streets, shadows moved.
People in hoodies. Students whispering. Outsiders calling contacts. A girl with bright hair tapped her earpiece.
"So it's confirmed," she said softly. "The one who triggered the Expansion Event is in FUO. Possibly Law faculty. Shadow Guild affiliated."
From the other end, a cold voice replied, "Secure him. Or kill him before others do."
The line went dead.
---
Back online, a wave was rising.
> "He's Nigerian?!"
"No wonder the system went berserk. His death triggered the event? That means it was planned. Or… fate?"
"Call him what he is. The Ancestor of the Expansion Era."
"Praise the Martial Experts."
---
Meanwhile, in his quiet apartment, Malik's body laid frozen in the cable which glass had already turned into ice as different lines kept on blinking from it.
The door to his apartment opened up and men donned in Black suit strolled in. They were just three of them..
"It's really him. De Law, Isiaka Abdulmalik, Man like Malik." The Old Man said staring at the body in the cable.
"This young man..He had done something we have been trying to do for the past six months, Mr. President." Mr. Grey added.
"That's true. The Western Region will soon be banned for playing God's Realm Online because we couldn't update our server. We have tried and tried but still...no way and when I thought all hope were lost, then this Boy came." Mr. President replied. They're the members of the Security Council of the Colored.
"What should we do now Mr. President? His identity has been leaked and now this is happening." Mr. Grey said pointing to the current situation Malik's in.
"His server's changing. He's currently stuck in the game and can die in there or his body died in the outside World. The only thing I'm sure of is that.. He won't be able to log out from the game."
"Whether he died or survived depends on his luck.. The only thing we can do for him his support. Bring in the game pod and connect his server to it so that his body will be automatically transported to the game pod. Make sure it's well stock with A-Nutrient Fluid that can last years."
" Mr. President.. Isn't this a little too much?"
" What's a little too much? I'm currently investing.. A trade which I knew I'll benefit greatly from. "
"Send invite to his friends and members of the Blackroot Legions. We have to take care of them, nurture them. And when he came back, it'll be him that owes us a Favour." Mr. President replied while stroking his beard.
"Now I understand you Mr. President. What about the daughter of Old man White?" Mr. Grey asked.
"Find a lie to tell her.. No one should know Malik's location.. Cut this apartment off the Colored's property and sealed the whole building. We can't let anyone finding out."