Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 209
============================================================
Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 209
48. Preparations for the Worst (3)
Benjamin was caught off guard as Adrian suddenly burst into his room and dragged him who had been spending the day listlessly somewhere.
"Y-Your Highness the King? Where are we going?"
Adrian just flashed a mischievous, boyish smile and said he'd see when they got there, and Benjamin, finding it hard to ask the same question again, quietly took stock of the people accompanying them.
'I've seen him a few times. Wasn't he said to be the strongest Swordsman in Rondel?'
The first thing that caught his eye was Blake, a Dark Elf with a skin tone close to gray.
A man said to be able to split the Heaven-Piercing Fortress in the sky in two just by swinging his sword from a great distance.
When his sharp gaze happened to turn toward him, a frightened Benjamin quickly averted his eyes, and where he looked next stood Selin a lovely woman with red hair and red eyes.
She looked at Benjamin with a puzzled expression, but since there was no benefit in threatening one of Adrian's acquaintances for no reason, he forced an awkward smile.
'She's pretty.'
No man could help but fall for that smile.
If asked who the most beautiful person here was, it would be Arcia but Selin's beauty was nothing to scoff at either.
Though she was a woman he'd never met before, Benjamin thought that she, who had smiled at him, was surely a kind-hearted good person.
But just as he was lost in that impression, Bug whom he'd run into the most at the ducal palace approached him with a snickering laugh.
"That woman? She's a demon worshiper. A true demon's lackey if the church finds her, they'd cut her head off on the spot."
Benjamin wore a look of disbelief, unable to trust that.
But Bug told him to watch closely and threw a reckless question at Selin.
"Lady Selin, as a demon worshiper, have you ever kidnapped anyone?"
"It's not like I've never done it, but don't misunderstand. I'm not some deranged pervert who kidnaps anyone at random. I only kidnapped targets that fit my purpose, or to crack open the skulls of those bastards who looked down on me."
"Gulp..."
Benjamin swallowed air dryly at Selin's answer.
He was reminded once again that Rondel was a place where you must never judge people by their looks.
-Poof!
And so Benjamin kept his mouth firmly shut and obediently followed behind Adrian until, a moment later.
Along with the dizziness unique to teleportation, the scenery around them changed.
What came into view was a pure white space.
A place that felt like an entirely different world from the ducal palace he had been walking through just moments ago.
At the center of that space stood a large device of unknown purpose, and Adrian approached it and began to operate it.
-Poof!
And then.
In an instant, as if the world's light had gone dark and come back on, he was transported to a place he had never seen before.
The location had changed from a white space easily exceeding 500 pyeong to a small room so narrow that two large beds would fill it.
Up until that point, Benjamin hadn't thought much of it.
But the moment he stepped through the door connected to that room, his eyes went wide.
"Th-This is... surely not."
Familiar-style buildings.
Familiar-brand appliances.
People dressed in familiar clothing.
"We can't stay long. But it should be enough time to ease the longing."
At that, Benjamin, his spirits soaring, took Adrian's hand as if clasping it and asked.
A desperate expression and restless demeanor.
Adrian let out a soft chuckle and nodded.
"That's right. This is Earth. And these two people here are my parents, who gave birth to me and raised me on Earth."
With that, Adrian gestured toward a middle-aged Asian couple who were bringing out drinks with a brief greeting of "Is our son here?" and spoke.
"Oh, ohhh!"
Benjamin clenched his fists and cheered.
Joy burst out of him at finally returning to his homeland.
"Hey hey, why is that guy acting like that?"
Adrian's parents found it strange, since none of the otherworlders who had appeared with their son had ever reacted this dramatically.
"He's an Earthling who drifted into our world. He's from Singapore he fell into the sea and woke up in Rondel. So I've been looking after him."
"Oh dear... He must have been through a lot."
After hearing the full story, Adrian's empathetic parents felt sorry for Benjamin and handed him a can of Coke, which Blake liked.
But even that small gesture made Benjamin exclaim once again, "Oh! Coke!" in admiration.
"Ah!"
He downed the Coke in one go with an utterly delighted expression, and Adrian spoke to his Earth parents.
"We have somewhere to go for a promise we made, so we'll be back soon."
"Really? That's a shame. Come back quickly."
"Yes."
Then Adrian led only Benjamin and used teleportation to go somewhere.
For Benjamin, this was already the third time today he'd experienced the sensation of teleportation.
-Whoosh!
The two appeared on the rooftop of a building with an impressive open view, a far cry from the cramped 30-pyeong apartment compared to the ducal palace.
A group of people was already waiting on that rooftop.
The peculiar thing was that all but one of them were seated in wheelchairs.
"Since it's a special occasion, take off your translation ring. This is a place where you can get by trying English."
"Ah, understood."
Benjamin took off the translation ring he was wearing at Adrian's suggestion.
"It's a miracle!"
Apart from the two's conversation, the sudden appearance of Adrian and Benjamin with a flash of light startled the people gathered on the rooftop, who looked greatly surprised.
But the man at the center wasn't flustered; he approached Adrian and offered a polite greeting.
Even though Benjamin was from Singapore, he immediately recognized who that man was.
"We've been waiting for you."
He was none other than Choi Young-seok, the chairman of Daehan Electronics, a global IT giant.
But Adrian, as if uninterested in the other's status, casually gave him orders as he pleased.
"First, I'd like you to arrange a meeting between this man and the Singaporean woman you were asked to find before."
Having realized that Adrian was fluently speaking Korean now that the translation ring was off, Benjamin could feel anew that he was from the same world.
Even though he couldn't fully understand what was being said, he could tell he was the subject of the conversation.
"As it happens, I've already arranged for the person you mentioned to be waiting in the reception room prepared on the floor directly below."
"Good. Then lead this man down. And don't do anything underhanded like trying to gather information through surveillance or wiretapping, and don't pester the woman either."
"Of course. How could I dare do such a thing against an almighty one."
Choi Young-seok's reaction was like that of a priest facing his lord.
Benjamin looked at the chairman of Daehan Electronics approaching him with curiosity, and Adrian gestured with his chin for him to follow.
Then a memory surfaced in Benjamin's mind.
The information about his younger sister that Adrian had once asked him to write down.
Benjamin placed a hand over his heart, which had begun to race with a feeling of "could it be," and followed Choi Young-seok.
And a moment later.
A rather luxurious reception room appeared on the floor just below the rooftop.
"Benjamin!?"
"Amy!"
There, he was able to reunite with his younger sister.
Seeing the two, Choi Young-seok spoke fluently in English.
"I've prepared various refreshments over there. Please enjoy them and talk comfortably."
"Th-thank you."
With Choi Young-seok stepping out as well, only Benjamin and his younger sister Amy remained in the reception room.
"Where on earth have you been all this time!?"
At that tearful question, filled with both reproach and longing, Benjamin also answered with reddened eyes.
"It's a long story."
"Tell me anyway. I'll listen."
Benjamin expressed gratitude toward Adrian for arranging this meeting and began telling his sister everything he had been through.
* * *
Through the Myriad Mirror, I examined the lineup of people Choi Young-seok had gathered.
Various races, various ages.
But the number was precisely set at exactly 10 people.
I thought the number seemed too small, but
[Andrew Rothschild]
[Austin Rockefeller]
[Arhan Kennedy]
Even just the three closest white men bore family names that couldn't be ignored.
The Rothschild family, which appears in every conspiracy theory, the Rockefeller family of oil kings, and the Kennedy family of tragic, prestigious political lineage...
And that wasn't all.
The figures standing behind the three were also nothing to scoff at.
A Saudi prince, the son of India's Prime Minister, the wife of France's President, a man who had been Russia's President's closest aide, and so on.
He had brought together an extract of members impressive enough to make me think anew that choosing Choi Young-seok had been the right call.
Honestly, it was almost astonishing how he managed to gather such people in one place.
He wasn't the head of a global dinosaur corporation for nothing.
'The Great Disaster must have really been terrifying seeing that every famous family has someone with a disability.'
Maybe it was only to be expected.
The Great Disaster brought down countless nations and killed countless people.
Just as it had for Choi Young-seok, the Great Disaster showed no mercy to the rich.
"Um, can you really heal us?"
Most of them had acquired disabilities from the Great Disaster, but some had ordinary illnesses.
What was clear, though, was that all of them were within the range of what could be treated.
I walked over to Arhan Kennedy, who had become paralyzed from the waist down at a young age.
The reason I picked him as my first target was that he had asked if I could heal him.
I figured showing was better than explaining at length, so I used 8th Circle Revive magic on him.
-Fwaash!
A blinding light and a splendid magic circle engulfed the rooftop of the building.
It would have caused a commotion even on the surface, but since I had cast a vision-obscuring spell around us beforehand, only those present got to bask in the magic's splendor.
"Ooooh!"
The mysterious energy and visual effects that instinctively felt sacred made everyone let out exclamations of awe.
A moment later, I grabbed Arhan Kennedy by the arm and said.
"Muscle strength has been added as well, so you shouldn't have any trouble with daily life right away. Still, don't forget to keep exercising."
The man who had been sitting in his wheelchair, watching with the most fervent gaze of all, now stood firm.
"Ah, I can feel it. My senses are back."
Arhan Kennedy shed tears of joy and repeatedly expressed his gratitude.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
When he stood up and walked as if nothing had ever been wrong, the faces of those who had been half-doubting changed completely.
Intense gazes turned toward me.
Leaving Arhan, who was running around cheering, behind, I healed the people one by one.
Healing all ten didn't take long.
But compared to the short time it took, the effect was dramatic, and their perception of me was...
"Oh, great Holy Son."
I had become a Holy Son.
I said to them.
"I ask that my existence not be revealed to the outside world yet. And don't forget that this treatment wasn't free. I performed these healings to gain your continued support."
"Of course! Command us anything! We will serve you with all our hearts!"
The desperation they had carried transformed into trust in me.
I had only healed ten people, but the power I gained through them was terrifying in both politics and business.
"Then I have one request right away. You all know an island rose up between China and North Korea. Please do whatever you can, within your means, to help ensure no one harms that island. It's a place I've promised to protect."
"Understood."
They accepted my request without a word of protest.
"Good. Then I'll return in three days. I'll perform the same treatment then, so each of you bring three people in need of healing. Of course, bring people who will be useful to me. You are my assistants from now on."
At that, they bowed their heads as if there was no question.
They had apparently decided to treat me as a Holy Son entirely.
"Ah, is it already over?"
Choi Young-seok, my first assistant, who had been heading downstairs with Benjamin, approached.
Since everyone he had carefully brought was fully cured, he wore a surprised expression while also marveling as if he had expected this outcome.
"Bring ten more next time."
"Is that allowed?"
"But I'd like you to focus on bringing Koreans. After all, this place will likely be my base of operations."
"Yes, I'll do that."
Then, as if showing generosity, I gifted everyone a ring that enhanced vitality, muscle strength, and reaction speed.
"Power surging through my whole body!"
"Don't rely on the tool too much take the ring off when you exercise."
"Haha, understood."
The artifact was a treasure worth its weight in gold to people who had just left their sickbeds.
Everyone felt the artifact's effect and broke into joyful laughter.
For those who had been living helplessly day after day, it must have felt like becoming a superhero.
"Even if they're not useful to me, there must be people you want to treat as well. I'll set aside time once a month to treat those people too, so keep that in mind."
"Is that really true?"
The statement that he would periodically treat even their acquaintances meant he intended to fully recognize them as his own people.
Having thus recruited some of the world's leading tycoons and politicians, I lifted myself into the air.
"Tell my companions that I'll return to where we originally were in 20 minutes."
"Yes, understood."
With this, I finished building my team.
Leaving behind those who looked up at me in the air as if praying, I used teleport again to return to the house in Bucheon.
From now on, I plan to run an experiment together with Bug.