CH 164

“H-he showed up! That rude asshole!”

“Ah, damn it! I haven’t even gotten ten gem points because of that guy.”

“Aren’t they going to block him? Shouldn’t they lock his account or something?”

“To be honest, he hasn’t broken any rules. He’s used his own abilities, and he didn’t cheat.”

“Still, he should have basic manners!”

“Well, it did seem like the developers were mindful of his actions.”

When Merlin appeared, the gathered users began to roar. Twenty-four real hours ago, Merlin had monopolized the gem points that were supposed to be distributed amongst hundreds of thousands of users. Clearly, he couldn’t avoid garnering attention after that.

“Did you hear me? That guy is an S-rank Swimmer.”

“OMG. S Rank… Isn’t the A Rank a Master Rank? I thought the only S-rank users were Arthur and Cruze.”

“He’s incredibly skilled, but why is he employing his abilities in such an impolite way?”

Complaints came from all over, but Merlin didn’t listen. Though the other users stared at him with judgmental eyes, they weren’t exuding killing intent.

Merlin didn’t exploit a bug, nor did he take gem points that belonged to someone else. Against hundreds of thousands, Merlin had obtained his gem points fair and square. Moreover, the way Merlin had collected such a vast amount was so surprising and novel that many of the users, most of whom logged in to DIO for fun, couldn’t help but put Merlin on a similar level to Arthur and Cruze. However, it was true that Merlin wasn’t doing himself any favors in terms of popularity, as he had taken the gem points that should’ve been distributed amongst the crowd.

“It’s about time for the event to start.”

Merlin retrieved his Decian Bow from his inventory. Since his stats were quite high, he didn’t have any trouble using it.

“It’s started! I see them!”

“Northwest!”

On the far horizon, sparkles of light could be seen atop the sea’s surface. The users positioned themselves near where the gem fish had appeared last time, but it seemed the gem fish spawned considerably further away.

Vroom!

The users atop the motorboats started rushing toward the gem fish, with some mages and elementalists even casting spells to speed up. Due to the gem fish’s considerable strength, it was dangerous to get too close to them, but even so, the players had to get within a certain distance to start hunting them.

Creak!

Unlike before, when he shot towards the school of gem fish, Merlin stood in place and drew the bowstring back. Due to the considerable tension, Merlin’s muscles started ballooning, making his figure seem even bigger. A blue sapphire glimmered in Merlin’s right hand, the hand Merlin used to pull the bowstring.

Crack!

When Merlin put some force into his right hand, cracks started to appear on the sapphire. A typical gem wouldn’t have cracked under this sort of pressure. Yet, this gem was being used as a magic stone, and it contained the roiling explosions of internal energy and magic power.

Woong!

“W-w-what’s going on?!”

“What’s with this crazy amount of magic power!”

The users who were observing Merlin couldn’t help but backpedal and scream in surprise. The surrounding mana started undulating and wavering chaotically.

“Go.”

While controlling the surrounding mana, Merlin’s right eye turned red as his spiritual qi blossomed, and at the same time, he released the bowstring.

Whoosh!

With a sound like that of a snapping whip, the launched short spear streaked through the air and caused the surrounding seawater to split apart. Merlin had dissipated the recoil of the bow onto the surrounding water using his water attribute affinity.

“Dang, that shockwave!”

The users with sharp eyesight couldn’t help but exclaim. Merlin’s short spear had traveled through the air faster than the speed of sound and reached the school of gem fish in no time, literally traveling in the blink of an eye before anyone could even get near them. And then, the magic power within the short spear ignited and exploded.

/The Frozen Throne of Poseidon!/

A noise akin to ripping fabric rang out, and as this occurred, ice started to form at the initial ignition site, quickly spreading in all directions. All of this happened in an instant. The ice block captured the gem fish within it and continued to grow larger. Consequently, the users who had been rushing forward had to immediately stop under the overbearing pressure.

“What the hell is this? Is it an ultimate-level spell?”

“No, it doesn’t seem to be at the ultimate level, but it’s still tremendously powerful!”

As he glided across the sea’s surface, Merlin stepped atop the massive floating ice block. Centered around the short spear, the temperature within a five-kilometer radius had fallen to around -100 to -250 degrees Celsius. Though the extreme freezing temperature was deadly, Merlin’s magic resistance stat was high, so he could endure relatively easily.

Whoosh!

When Merlin flung his robe open, all the gem fish within the area turned into gems before flying into his robe. One might be perplexed as to how a solid gem could move freely within ice, but Merlin’s water attribute affinity allowed this to occur without difficulty, as he could control water regardless of what state it was in.

“How… just how….”

The gathered users couldn’t approach the gem fish because of the deadly cold, so they could only stand and helplessly watch the unfolding scene. This time around, they had prepared various tactics and ploys to try and counter Merlin’s swiftness, but all those efforts were for naught.

“Ahem. Then….”

After collecting all the gem points, Merlin faced the players respectfully. It was a grand movement that looked like what a magician would do on top of a stage.

“… I’ll be off.”

After he said this, Merlin’s image started to shimmer before disappearing entirely. The users stood with dull expressions across their faces; they had been tricked once more.

“Wow, how awful.”

“Dang….”

Merlin didn’t even leave a single gem fish behind.

*** The Star Above the Ground ***

“Wait, he’s part of me, but why is he so different?”

When Yongno logged onto a fan site, he saw an explosion of posts regarding the recent event. Though Merlin’s S Rank Swimming skill was a great ability, it was considered a ‘minor’ skill. Merlin’s recent show of magic power was a showcase of a ‘major’ skill, as magic power was used by countless players.

“The clips aren’t just going around the fan sites; they’re also on meme and joke-oriented sites as well… ugh. It doesn’t seem like things will settle down anytime soon.”

Yongno feared attention. In fact, it would be more appropriate to state that he was terrified of it. When he had to stand in front of his class to present something in high school, his legs shook uncontrollably.

“Well, it’s kind of nice that I’m observing this in a third-person perspective, but the aftermath and fallout will eventually come down on me.”

As Yongno mumbled to himself, he typed Leaf’s name into a search engine and was met with an enormous number of results. Though Yongno didn’t know, Leaf was currently one of the top idols in the industry.

“Oh, she’s famous. The number of members in her fan café is crazy high.”

It wasn’t challenging to find Leaf’s music. To download it, Yongno had to go to an online storage site or P2P site, but if he just wanted to listen, he only needed to access Leaf’s fan café site. This website had all of Leaf’s music playing in the background on repeat.

“Most of her songs are upbeat. Falling in love and stalking an older guy, supporting a downtrodden older guy, and describing one’s love for an older guy… is she some sort of oppa expert?”

Leaf debuted two years ago, which meant that she started singing while in high school, so she had released quite a few songs by this point. Rather than going for a sexy or mature look, Leaf’s public image swayed more towards a youthful, energetic feel, presenting her as cute.

“She’s flat, though.”

Yongno continued to listen to the music while mumbling comments that would have made Leaf lose it. Since she made so many songs, it would take quite a while before Yongno heard them all.

“The tonality isn’t bad, and it sounds pretty good.”

Yongno closed his eyes and remembered Leaf’s life story. He recalled the lamentations, various incidents, and hardships she spoke of all the time. He imagined the emotions she must have felt during her life, envisioning the constant anguish she had to go through to overcome each and every one of those difficult periods. Then, Yongno started to hum.

“Not a bad premise.”

Yongno felt that a nice song was about to play.

“Phew.”

Leaf took in a deep breath as she stood in front of the door, remembering what Yongno had told her.

“Acting is important. If the other person smells something fishy, you’re on the way to being discovered. You know that, right?”

“Dang it. I’ve never received acting lessons.”

Leaf stood in front of the door for another minute. Eventually, she started fidgeting with the bracelet and necklace that Yongno had given her. Right when she was about to ring the doorbell, the door opened. Actually, the door flung open as if it was trying to fly off its hinges.

“Wait here! I’ll go get that good for nothing- you!”

“Uncle in law….”

Leaf made the most despondent expression that she could. Byunghu, her uncle-in-law, had a terrible, reddened face when his eyes landed on her. It was a face that struck fear in Leaf, but she wasn’t planning on apologizing this time. This was all part of Yongno’s [Script].

“You must rebel in times of uncertainty and fury. Of course, don’t be too aggressive. It’s better to hold back your words and lock yourself in your room. Make an expression that illustrates something bad has happened, but don’t tell them what. Based on what you’ve told me, that alone should make them flip out.”

While recalling Yongno’s words, Leaf looked at Byunghu’s face. Byunghu was usually easily enraged, but he was even more infuriated than usual. Usually, Leaf wouldn’t have been able to meet his gaze when he was in such a state.

“Don’t be scared. You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should you be scared? Try to act like one of the many delinquents who only drain their parents’ resources.”

‘Pfft!’

Leaf tried to adjust her expression. She almost let out a laugh.

‘Weird guy.’

However, she didn’t have any time to think of other matters. Byunghu’s reddened face was on the brink of exploding.

“Aren’t you going to say something? You!”

Slap!

“Kyak?!”

Leaf chirped like a bird, fell to the floor, and felt disarrayed. This wasn’t a situation she had expected or prepared for. Though Byunghu was violent, he hadn’t lifted a hand and hit her since she became famous.

‘Was canceling a regional event such a big thing? Or is it because I spent the night out?’

While Leaf was still in disarray, her aunt, Misun, spoke with an incensed expression.

“What did you do yesterday?”

“…”

“What did you do yesterday? What did you do?! What exactly did you do to have such a filthy video clip float around the internet?”

“A… video clip?”

While Leaf was thoroughly confused and at a loss, Byunghu shoved a laptop in front of her face.

/[Oh, man! Look at this! I think she peed herself!]

[What? Let me see. Yuck, she did!]/

“That!”

Leaf groaned. It was a video from when she was assaulted by the high schoolers last night. The clip was edited, so it cut out the part when Yongno stepped in and took care of the group. This alteration made it easy to misunderstand the situation.

“Are you crazy? If girls walk around so late, don’t you know that these things happen! What are you going to do now?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You sell innocence and laughter to young people, but if you’re part of this scandal, what do you think will happen? You’re a girl who’s lost her innocence. Do you know what the public will do to you?”

“L-lose my innocence? It never went that far!”

“Hey, where do you think you are to talk back?! This bitch doesn’t seem to be able to see straight anymore!”

Byunghu and Misun had already reached the conclusion that Leaf’s career was essentially over, and they had completely lost their minds. For them, Leaf was the goose that laid golden eggs, but the eggs didn’t belong to the goose - no, it was theirs. Since they had housed and fed her, as she had nowhere else to go, they felt entitled to her income. Recently, Leaf had been doing well, so they had fun counting all the money that rolled in, but then, this incident occurred.

Furthermore, all this happened when Leaf rebelled and left the house, so they couldn’t help but feel that this sudden downfall was all her fault.

“You never listen! If you just signed the contract and stayed home, none of this would have happened!”

“But you two were asking for too much! The CEO has already given up so much-”

“You’re siding with your agency’s CEO and not your blood? This bitch isn’t even thankful for all that we’ve done for her!”

Leaf received another slap and almost fell over. However, she didn’t feel any pain. She just felt confused.

‘W-what should I do? What….’