◈ Chapter 384. You Have Broken a Taboo (2)
Eugene McCain, director of the Eastern Branch of the United States.
Park Minjae searched his memory.
So hard that deep furrows dug between his brows.
But. ‘I’ve never properly faced him.’ The face of Eugene, the director of the American Eastern Branch, did not readily come to mind. In truth, his name was famous. Naturally so. Eugene McCain, like himself, was a celebrity within Cosmo.
The first branch director who was not a developer.
At Cosmo, where ability was valued above all, Eugene’s appointment had been unprecedented. Beyond merely not being a developer, Eugene had originally come from politics, a field far removed from the gaming industry.
Rumors like that had once floated around.
-“Is Raymon preparing to enter politics or something?”
The corner of Park Minjae’s mouth twisted upward.
“That would’ve been worth seeing in its own way.”
Park Minjae knew that Raymon Sean’s true nature was nothing more than a robot.
Wasn’t America the advanced country that was quick in everything?
The birth of the world’s first robot politician would have made for an amusing picture.
The laughter vanished from his face at Joshua’s voice over the receiver.
-“Mr. Park. I know very well that this is a situation where you have no choice but to suspect me. Even if we’re divided into the West and East, this happened in America, after all. I can’t say I’m entirely unrelated to it either.”
It was not Joshua’s fault.
Eugene had avoided meeting Hoyeol.
Who could have imagined he was plotting some scheme?
Park Minjae suppressed his temper and spoke calmly.
“No. Branch Director Joshua, you must be unrelated to this.”
-“……
What? What do you mean?”
“Because only then will you be able to resolve this situation.”
Eugene McCain.
Once he thought of him as the root of the incident, it made sense.
He was the one and only person appointed as a branch director despite being a non-developer, and from the political world at that.
“It’s only natural that Eugene cannot understand the weight of Arcana.”
AAU.
There was no separate reason why they could sincerely revere Hoyeol. It was because, as those who had once claimed to be creators, they knew the Arcana Continent well.
Because they knew just how absurd the achievements Hoyeol had built up were. They could sincerely follow his path.
“Because it didn’t feel real to him, he must have started moving behind the scenes.”
But Eugene was different.
So he must have been waiting for the right time.
Like a politician waiting only for a lame-duck period.
And in the midst of that, he had bitten onto bait he could not ignore.
“With Eugene’s network, this incident can be sufficiently explained, can’t it?”
-“That’s right, Mr. Park. Considering his background, it wouldn’t be strange for the media to put ridiculous nonsense on the front page. Eugene is even more accustomed to this kind of stage than developers like us. Though it’s embarrassing to say…….”
Joshua continued awkwardly.
-“All this time, I was clumsily imitating Eugene. Connections with high-ranking officials, lobbying, favors. Watching from the side, I was envious. Well, now I’ve realized that all of it is useless…….”
Park Minjae nodded.
Only after hearing even his innermost thoughts could he erase his suspicions toward Joshua.
Joshua truly had nothing to do with this incident.
As if to repay that trust.
Joshua nodded.
“……
Mr. Park is right. I will resolve it.”
Click.
Joshua ended the call and boarded his private jet.
He had been continuously calling Eugene through his secondary contact, but there was no answer. When he contacted the AAU Eastern Branch, the only reply he received was that Eugene was safely in his office.
“What are you scheming, exactly?”
At the Eastern Branch, attention focused on him from the runway.
“Isn’t that Branch Director Joshua?”
What business did the Western Branch director have in the East?
Could it be because of the news that was setting the world ablaze at this very moment?
The news that Lee Hoyeol was a Demon King of the Ten Thrones.
Several employees whispered.
“Isn’t this a situation where Chief Lee Hoyeol’s position could be shaken?”
The public reaction to the article was chaos itself.
-A high-ranking Demon King?? Tabloids are getting creative these days lol
-But doesn’t it sound kind of plausible??
-More importantly, they say he said it with his own mouth?!
-For real, there’s no way they’d tell a lie that would obviously get exposed, right??
-To begin with, Lee Hoyeol’s way of talking was kind of Demon King-like;;;;It would have been one thing if it had been speculation from an ordinary player or a pseudo-media outlet.
But it had come from the mouth of a high-ranking AAU official.
It was an article from a renowned American daily newspaper.
“Looks like someone really did leak information.”
“Leaving that aside, the problem was the unnecessary additions.”
“If you interpret it maliciously, there’s no end to it. You know, there were even guys seriously spouting nonsense that the difficulty of rifts keeps increasing because Lee Hoyeol keeps succeeding in every rift raid.”
Excluding Branch Director Eugene.
Everyone in the Eastern Branch had encountered Hoyeol at the Magic Tower.
Perhaps because of that, they were not swayed by the unsettled public opinion.
“If I had my way, I’d just reveal everything Chief Yusra said. In the end, even this time, he’s shouldering an enormous danger all by himself……!”
Joshua walked down the corridor, gauging the atmosphere. ‘The only thing I have to worry about is Eugene.’ He turned it over in his head.
If Eugene had moved, he must have had confidence.
Where had that confidence come from?
It was not difficult to guess.
“……
Rox.”
A new land of opportunity called the Arcana Continent had opened.
Perhaps Eugene believed in it.
America’s Shining.
Shining’s Rox.
That he might be able to replace Hoyeol.
Perhaps he was even trying to establish a confrontation. ‘Rox, the holy knight of Shining, standing against Lee Hoyeol, Demon King of the Ten Thrones.’ It did make for a plausible picture in its own way.
But truly.
It was a foolish imagination that only someone from a non-developer background could entertain.
“Do you seriously think that’s possible?”
Lee Hoyeol was on a different dimension.
It meant that he was not someone who could be caught up to simply by matching his level. No matter how great Rox was, he could never fill the void Hoyeol would leave.
With a hardened expression, Joshua asked the secretary.
“Is Branch Director Eugene inside?”
“……!”
The secretary flinched and nodded.
Joshua immediately moved forward.
Eugene, just how grave a mistake you have made.
He intended to make him understand, point by point.
And……. ‘Just when did you start planning this bullshit?’
Bang.
The moment Joshua entered Eugene’s branch director’s office.
Thud.
“!”
With a dull sound, Joshua collapsed.
“W-what is this……?”
Joshua, sprawled on the floor, barely lifted his head.
The back of his head burned.
Had he been struck with a blunt weapon?
Joshua gritted his teeth.
“Eugene McCain……. Do you even realize how grave a mistake you’re making? I’d rather believe you’re being manipulated by a demon…….”
“A demon? Humans are scarier than demons, Joshua.”
“……
You’re perfectly fine.”
Eugene’s pupils were not black.
It meant he had not been possessed and manipulated by a demon.
He had done this entirely of his own will.
Swoosh.
Eugene sat on the sofa and looked at Joshua.
“I did hit you hard. But I have no intention of killing you. Why, there’s a convenient item right here, isn’t there? They called it a potion, didn’t they? If I pour this on you, your wounds will be healed cleanly.”
Tap.
“It’s hard for this old man’s head to believe, but that is the age after the Cataclysm.”
Eugene set a potion bottle down on the table and caught his breath.
Joshua saw it.
Eugene’s shoulders trembling even after committing the deed.
That was the reaction of someone who knew the weight of what he had done.
“Do you think a plan like that will work……? Unfortunately, this isn’t the political arena. There’s no need to prove anything in court, nor is evidence needed. He can simply prove it through action.”
No matter how much he babbled that Hoyeol was a Demon King of the Ten Thrones.
If, as planned, Hoyeol succeeded in hunting down every Demon King and challenger.
No one would harbor any suspicion toward Hoyeol.
Joshua ground his teeth.
“You don’t understand Arcana in the slightest.”
Eugene rummaged through his coat.
“Yes, I couldn’t understand it. In my eyes, you, the world, and the players all looked far too childish. Holding such absurd powers, yet what were you all doing? Why take the long way around when there was such an easy path right here?”
“……
Childish?”
“Why? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
Joshua sneered.
“You……. To express pride like that. You’re in serious trouble.”
“Pride? Well, that hardly matters.”
Click.
Eugene lit the cigar he had taken from his coat.
“In that sense, our opinions aligned for the first time in a while. So I moved. I couldn’t help but move. Doesn’t the picture come together? The United States of America standing against a Demon King. It’s a Hollywood blockbuster story with guaranteed box office success, isn’t it? I’m sorry about this, Joshua.”
Joshua held his tongue.
Perhaps it was because he was losing blood.
His mind was hazy, and he could not afford to let Eugene’s words pass him by. ‘……
Our opinions aligned?’ As expected, this was not an arbitrary action.
Joshua clung to his fading consciousness and thought.
Then how far did this matter reach?
They had used a daily newspaper considered highly credible even in America. They had touched Chief Lee Hoyeol of Yusra. It did not seem like something a mere AAU branch director had done alone. Because this incident could shake the world order greatly.
Joshua opened his mouth.
“……
As I thought, this reaches all the way to the White House.”
Whoosh. Eugene exhaled smoke and said.
“Let’s leave it at that, Joshua. If you pretend to know any more than that, I may no longer have a reason to use this potion on you.”
“They’ve all gone completely insane.”
A threat that he held Joshua’s life in his hands.
However, Joshua did not stop speaking.
It was absurd.
As if failing to help was not enough.
To stab him in the back like this.
“Just what……. What did Lee Hoyeol do wrong?”
“Mm?”
“I’m asking what made you hate him so much. Lee Hoyeol, who always risked his own life and fought at the front line for humanity. What made him so detestable to you?”
There was no need to look back into the past.
Even at this very moment, there was no other reason Hoyeol had become a Demon King of the Ten Thrones. It was to hunt the demon-type monsters threatening the Arcana Continent and reality more efficiently.
For that reason alone, Lee Hoyeol had ascended to the throne of a demon, something he so deeply despised.
The smoke dispersed.
“Joshua, do you know who the most frightening person in politics is? A chaebol heir with nothing but money? A fledgling born into a prestigious political family who followed the elite course? None of them.”
Whoosh.
Between the dispersing smoke, Eugene’s eyes gleamed.
“The ability to seize the masses. A human born with that ability.”
“What?”
“In that sense, I had no choice but to fear Lee Hoyeol.”
Eugene added.
“When I saw the unfamiliar way you had changed.”
“……!”
Eugene, the White House, and the world.
They feared influence.
Lee Hoyeol’s influence, which was growing larger and larger.
Joshua let out a sneer.
“So you were nothing more than a chess piece too……?”
“Well, something like that. In any case, this is regrettable. You’ve learned too much, Joshua. At this rate, unless you get on the same boat as us, I can’t let you live, can I?”
This time, Joshua spat blood.
“F○ck…….”
A rotten smile returned.
“Yes. That attitude is exactly the frightening point I mentioned. Just what is pride, that you would try to protect it even while throwing away your life? Isn’t it only natural that we have no choice but to be wary of it?”
After that, there was no conversation.
There was no next plan either.
Because the role of a mere chess piece ended here.
Sizzle.
With trembling hands, Eugene put out his cigar.
“Now, it’s time to wait for the Demon King’s claws.”
Eugene was prepared for death.
To put it another way, he had made a plan to use even his own life.
Even Joshua had figured out that he was the root of the situation. ‘Lee Hoyeol.’ If it was him, he would surely come to find him.
And after witnessing the fallen Joshua.
Even if only to interrogate him, he would do him harm. ‘Each and every one of those actions will become proof that he is a Demon King.’ Humans were cunning.
There was no faith in this world that could not be shaken.
All it needed was a trigger.
In that sense, his death would absolutely not be in vain.
“Yes, that’s how it will be.”
It was the moment Eugene muttered bitterly.
“?”
Suddenly, a powerful light tickled his eyes.
It came from the window.
A blinding light was pouring in from beyond the glass.
“……
What is that?”
He had thought it was simply sunlight.
But it was not.
It was something more intense and enormous than the sun.
Yes, a massive meteor was falling from the sky.
Because he was from a non-developer background, Eugene muttered.
“A-an asteroid……?”
However, its precise name was 『Meteor Strike』.
Eugene had overlooked something.
The one he had made his enemy.
Was not merely Lee Hoyeol alone.
Arcana’s strongest armed group, the Magic Tower.
Tower Master Marcelo.
Along with him, every senior mage appeared in the skies above America.
And.
“Let the one who deceived the Magic Tower reveal themselves.”
He declared.
“This is the final chance the Magic Tower will bestow upon humanity.”
...
I checked the message that had arrived.
-Hoyeol
-Not satisfied with being Heaven Beyond Heaven, now you’re a Demon King?
-Then next you’ll be the Heavenly Demon
-Somehow, this noona had a feeling from the moment you dyed your hair silver…….
That was why I had not stopped Marcelo.
-Are you going through puberty or something?