Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 222
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Opportunity in the Game Becomes Reality Episode 222
50. Max Level (5)
"Haaah..."
After a moment, the background shifted from the white space to a space filled with diverse colors.
And at the scene that was revealed next, I had to furrow my brow.
-Kiiieeek!
The area before the Forbidden City, commonly called Tiananmen Square, unfolded into a sight that was practically hell itself.
Corpses of humans and monsters were strewn about everywhere, and the stench of blood rode the wind, stinging my nostrils.
Such a sight could only be extremely shocking to an ordinary man like Benjamin.
"Ugh!"
He covered his mouth, looking like he was about to throw up at any moment.
I placed my hand on his back and cast a spell to calm his mind and body, then put up a barrier to block out the foul smell.
"Th-thank you."
Since I could fully understand, I told him it was nothing and approached the poisoned lands with my companions.
A hazy space with a faint green glow that was the poisoned land.
But we couldn't just step inside the poisoned land right away.
"What the hell are those?"
The reason was the soldiers who had set up camp in front of the poisoned lands.
As if they had been through a fierce battle, it was hard to find a single person without injuries among the military units surrounding the poisoned lands, along with armored forces.
Well, it was a scene I could have expected, so I wasn't too flustered and used an invisibility spell.
Unlike Rondel, Earth as it is now has no preparation against magic at all, so just an invisibility spell is enough to easily evade people's gazes.
The Chinese soldiers who had spotted us looked around in confusion, but we paid them no mind and succeeded in entering the poisoned lands without any obstruction.
-Whoooom.
And a moment later.
Just like the video Blake had shown us, a small Sepia church temple in the Rondel style appeared.
-Kiiieeek!
With members like ours, we casually took down the poison insects and monsters rushing at us from all directions.
I said to Benjamin.
"Go ahead and try."
At that, Benjamin wore a tense expression as he approached the temple and reached out his hand.
"Aaah!"
But just then.
Startled by a forearm-sized earthworm that burst up from beneath his feet, Bug stumbled backward and before Benjamin could his body touched the temple first.
"Huh?"
"Huh?"
Bug was flustered, Benjamin was flustered, and I was flustered too.
No, not just us everyone with us was flustered.
At the same time, with a "pop!" a beam of light fell from the sky and enveloped Bug.
[A first Gift for the China region has been bestowed upon the target.]
[Remaining Gifts in Beijing: 99.]
That message appeared before everyone's eyes, not just Bug's.
At the same time, I could feel powerful Mana taking root within Bug.
How to put it it felt similar to magic, yet different?
"I'm overflowing with power!"
The fear he'd shown was nowhere to be found as Bug shouted in triumph, small sparks burst out around him.
[Traits: High-level calculation ability, multitasking, ....]
[Traits: High-level calculation ability, multitasking, lightning user.]
And Myriad Mirror corrected that guy's information.
'A lightning user?'
That was an unusual title.
I felt strong interest and approached Bug.
And to that self-confident look on his face, I flicked his forehead.
-Thwack!
At that, Bug as if he'd been punched flew up into the air before flopping down onto the ground.
"Wh-what are you doing!?"
Bug protested while clutching his reddened forehead, and I tilted my head in puzzlement.
"I thought you felt stronger?"
For someone with such a grandiose title and a demeanor that seemed so special, going down in one flick of the forehead was pathetic could it be that this Gift wasn't related to combat at all?
"Because I didn't brace for it!"
"Oh, really? So this Gift is an ability that can be used in combat, just like magic?"
In response to my question, he took a stance as if gathering energy before firing a blast, telling me to see for myself.
"Uoooooh!"
Then sparks flew around Bug, and power began to gather into his fist.
It seems the usage of the Gift is understood the moment it's bestowed.
Given how quickly he was able to use it.
I found the sight fascinating and watched quietly, and soon a streak of blue lightning shot out like a beam of light.
"Not bad, huh?"
Contrary to my impression that it was impressive, the lightning fizzled out with a single gesture from me.
Quite pathetically.
Thanks to that, Bug, who had been wearing a very solemn expression, looked utterly dumbfounded.
"The power level is roughly around the 4th to 5th circle."
Bug, who had been feeling proud at Blake's assessment, expressed disappointment that it was only that much.
But I thought differently.
Even at the 4th to 5th circle level, that was enough to manifest powerful lethal magic.
Moreover, one must not forget that Gifts, while limited in quantity, were obtained for free.
"M-me too!"
Benjamin, apparently thinking that power at Bug's level was impressive enough, quickly placed his hand on the shrine and received a Gift.
But perhaps because he received his ability as second place rather than first?
Benjamin's Gift was merely the ability to fly through the sky, with no notable combat power.
"Ooh!"
Though it may not have been the power he wished for, the ability for a person to fly through the sky with their bare body was certainly something to marvel at, and he seemed quite satisfied.
"To compare it to magic, Bug received one 4th-to-5th-circle level offensive ability, and Benjamin received one 4th-circle level support ability? Still, it's a relief. Neither feels particularly threatening."
"Right, I was worried for nothing."
I don't know what the goddess intended by granting these abilities, but I was relieved that they weren't significant enough to affect the broader situation.
"Let's check the other poisoned lands nearby. We should also see if there are any shrines within them."
"Good idea."
I recall there are over ten poisoned lands in Beijing alone.
So I examined the other poisoned lands and was able to confirm that there were no small shrines granting Gifts there.
It seems the small shrines are only hidden in places where monsters appeared.
"So in short, we can obtain 98 more Gifts in Beijing?"
"Yes."
"Then contact Reiers County and have them collect them all through the domain's residents. Since China is effectively a hostile nation, there's no need to hand over new power to them."
I agree.
So I accepted Blake's proposal and instructed that all the Gifts from the small shrines in China be swept up by Reiers County.
As a result, 98 residents of Reiers County's domain sequentially received abilities at the 2nd to 4th circle level.
From China's perspective, they'd have no choice but to cry "Thief!"
It would take them quite a while just to figure out what had happened.
* * *
The underground research lab of the Bringham Empire's Imperial Mage Tower.
"The more I look, the less I understand. The records this man possesses clearly appear to belong to Grand Duke Lucas, yet why does it all feel so lacking?"
Duke Christopher, the head of the Imperial Mage Tower and an 8th Circle Grand Mage, voiced his confusion while looking at Lewis Fairmont, the son of the former President of the Prius Republic, who was bound hand and foot.
Lewis, thoroughly terrified by Duke Christopher's question, opened and closed his mouth as if trying to say something, then averted his gaze.
He had suffered more than once from misspeaking.
"Just how many hours are you going to keep him restrained? What if he goes mad from nervous exhaustion?"
It was a woman with a sharp voice who answered in Duke Christopher's stead.
"Marquis Winfred?"
She was Marquis Cordelia Winfred, a Grand Mage ranked second in the Bringham Empire and widely expected to become the next head of the Imperial Mage Tower.
Duke Christopher, a middle-aged man on the verge of his later years, walked behind Lewis and tugged at both of his ears playfully as he asked.
"Do you perhaps feel pity for this man? Lewis Fairmont is a piece of human garbage who used his power to harass countless women the very type you despise most, Marquis Winfred, as far as I know."
Marquis Winfred was momentarily struck silent by Duke Christopher's words hitting the mark, but soon shook her head.
"I do regret that such trash came to possess an Opportunity. But what can we do? Unlike this man, Grand Duke Lucas's Opportunity is innocent."
"No, I'd argue that knowing such trash could get his hands on it and still scattering the Opportunity without any safeguards is clearly Grand Duke Lucas's fault."
"Are you disparaging a great master of the past right now?"
"Oh, how scary. Just like a true fanatic of Grand Duke Lucas."
Marquis Winfred approached Lewis Fairmont to release his restraints.
However, Duke Christopher blocked her path and asked.
"It's strange."
"What exactly is?"
"I'm reluctant to say this, but Grand Duke Lucas is a great Grand Mage who changed the flow of the world. And yet the successor who obtained the Opportunity he left behind is being interrogated without any fight in him."
"So you're saying this man might be a fake?"
"Doesn't it seem that way no matter how you look at it?"
At Duke Christopher's conjecture, Marquis Winfred rubbed her temples and answered.
"But the materials we obtained from Lewis Fairmont are real. The more we investigate, the more evidence comes out that he's the genuine article."
"That's exactly what makes it stranger. Could Grand Duke Lucas truly have failed to foresee our actions? That no matter who got their hands on the Opportunity, the Empire would eventually seize it."
"That is..."
"It doesn't feel like Grand Duke Lucas. Releasing a successor into the world with absolutely no preparation like this? If it were me, I'd have set up an environment for rapid growth or prepared a secret training ground."
Even without showing it outwardly, Marquis Winfred felt the same way.
But since all circumstantial evidence pointed to Lewis Fairmont being genuine, she was simply accepting 'reality' over 'instinct.'
Duke Christopher tilted his head at an almost grotesque angle and thrust his face toward Marquis Winfred.
"Don't you get that feeling?"
"What feeling?"
Then, curling up the corners of his mouth like a Pierrot mask, he voiced what could be called a taboo question.
"What if this guy is a fake, and we're being played by the hands of the real successor? That thought."
To that, Marquis Winfred said firmly.
"That can't be. No, it must not be."
"True. If that were the case, His Majesty the Emperor's wrath would spread across the entire continent."
Duke Christopher showed agreement with her words while letting out a sly grin.
* * *
After the situation in China, I steadily visited Earth for even just a minute at a time to keep an eye on things.
Through that process, I was able to confirm that monster waves had occurred in Korea, America, and Russia next after China.
But they had prepared thoroughly while watching China's situation, and since all of them were military powers, they managed to block the monster waves without major damage.
Monsters surge out explosively at the start, then gradually decrease after a certain amount of time.
Thanks to that, things have now entered a lull, and I heard news that they plan to dispatch survey teams inside.
Count Reiers asked whether I would go claim the Gifts from those three countries like I did with China, but I shook my head.
I had no intention of earning the enmity of countries like Korea, America, and Russia just to obtain abilities that were mostly only 4th to 2nd circle level in power.
Instead, I gave Count Reiers orders that if the same thing happened in Japan, he should only steal theirs, and afterward I decided not to concern myself with it.
There was no other choice.
After all, in my current state, I couldn't afford to cling only to Earth.
[You have achieved Master level 300.]
There isn't much left until the fateful encounter quest is cleared.