Chapter 335

Alberto’s announcement caused an uproar bigger than they had expected. Until now, the public only had a vague idea of how strong Gi-Gyu must be. However, their curiosity peaked after Alberto’s declaration.

The news media went wild with the story.

-Eden has now become a three-country coalition. Just how strong is this organization?

-Eden! It now exists for Morningstar!

-Who is Heo Sung-Hoon, the head of the Eden coalition?

-The player world is changing!

Eden became everyone’s hot topic. And, of course, the biggest question in everyone’s mind was…

-Morningstar has Eden’s support. So what is his ultimate goal?

Alberto had elucidated that what had happened in Rome could happen anywhere. And then he had claimed that only Morningstar could stop such disasters.

-Is the Caravan Guild Morningstar’s enemy?

Some believed that Gi-Gyu’s main goal was to destroy the Caravan Guild. After all, Gi-Gyu was quite open with his hostility toward the Caravan Guild. However, this theory didn’t receive much attention, probably because the Caravan Guild and its supporters had a significant influence in the media world.

‘And demons are still in control of the GPA,’ Gi-Gyu thought with a frown. The demons had stolen the bodies of GPA’s top figures, but that wasn’t news. However, the fact that demons now piloted the bodies of numerous influential figures from multiple countries was. Consequently, this news wasn’t getting much attention despite Gi-Gyu openly showing his hostility toward the enemies.

But things were different now. Eden was now an association almost as big as the Global Players Association. It had enough influence to open everyone’s eyes to the truth.

Just then, another breaking news broke in the world.

-Does Morningstar have a hostile relationship with Lee Sun-Ho, the guild master of the Angela Guild?!

It was a short article in the gossip segment but gained much attention. Although the Angela Guild was dormant, it was still too powerful to be ignored. After all, Lee Sun-Ho was once the strongest player in the world.

-The best against the best.

It was no wonder the public was curious about their relationship.

***

“By the way, who will win if you fight Lee Sun-Ho?” Sung-Hoon asked with a chuckle. “I am really curious.”

Sung-Hoon had heard about this topic as well. Gi-Gyu shook his head at him and asked, “Are you serious?”

“What did I say? What’s wrong with being curious?” Sung-Hoon grinned, and Gi-Gyu burst into laughter.

Gi-Gyu replied, “You went through all that trouble to make such an extravagant announcement, yet I’m sure the final result isn’t what you hoped. The media is more interested in something entirely different, so I’m surprised you still seem content.”

“What I had hoped? And what do you think that was?”

“Didn’t you want the media to focus on me? Then the public would take this situation more seriously?” Gi-Gyu remembered that day of great extravagance. Alberto, Sung-Hoon, and Tao Chen had made their grand announcement in the Colosseum, the ancient sacred place of Rome. The restored Colosseum had been occupied by countless Roman citizens that day. The sky had been filled with helicopters, all reporting the scene live.

“Ugh…” Gi-Gyu shuddered just thinking about that day.

“But we did get a lot of attention, didn’t we?”

“But I’m sure this is not what you expected,” Gi-Gyu argued. He had gained a lot of attention, but the public had considered the announcement an interesting event instead of fearing its content. They saw Gi-Gyu as a piece of gossip.

“But that’s even better.” Sung-Hoon stopped smiling. He wasn’t frowning, but he looked much more serious now. “Our goal wasn’t to simply make you famous. We actually wanted to create hope.”

“Hope?”

“If…” The new smile on Sung-Hoon’s lips wasn’t a happy one. “If you fail, this world will no longer have any hope, Ranker Kim Gi-Gyu. You are the greatest player; if you fail, it will be all over. Humanity would have to face extinction. So, we had to create hope. Bring another figure into this story—another best.”

“You mean…” A thought suddenly crossed Gi-Gyu’s mind. “You spread that rumor about Lee Sun-Ho?”

“Haha,” Sung-Hoon laughed a little, confirming Gi-Gyu’s guess.

‘Well, I guess this makes sense. Not many people know about our relationship, after all.’

There weren’t many in the world who knew about the uncomfortable relationship between Gi-Gyu and Lee Sun-Ho. Gi-Gyu had thought it strange that the gossip magazine had found out about it, but it turned out that Sung-Hoon had leaked the story.

“And”—Sung-Hoon looked at Gi-Gyu—“if god fails, the world will end.”

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Sung-Hoon was being cryptic, but Gi-Gyu could make a guess. Before the whole Lee Sun-Ho gossip, people had been talking about God. Some believed God had descended from heaven to save them and had begun revering Gi-Gyu. After all, he had the kind of power the populace had never seen before. Thanks to the Lee Sun-Ho gossip, this cult-like behavior had lessened but not disappeared.

***

“What is it this time?” Gi-Gyu looked at Sung-Hoon with suspicion.

Sung-Hoon wasn’t alone this time. Alberto, standing next to Sung-Hoon, asked with a small smile, “What do you mean? You’re talking like we’re about to bully you.”

“You look good, Alberto,” said Gi-Gyu.

The new power seemed to have returned Alberto’s youth. Then again, an abundance of power and magic tended to make one more youthful.

“Haha. The organization that troubled Italy—no, the entirety of Europe is gone, so how can I not look good?” Alberto was referring to the Vatican. Before all this, the Vatican was simply eating away Europe.

“…” Not knowing what to say, Gi-Gyu remained quiet. The Vatican may have been an eyesore to Alberto, but it was a different story for El. Not too long ago, El had told Gi-Gyu that she wanted to focus on her training for a while. Clearly, she was still very much tormented by what had happened. The angels had all gone corrupt, but they were once her kin. Gi-Gyu had promised her that he would bring them back and restore the angel race someday, but that didn’t lessen her guilt of massacring her race.

Gi-Gyu remembered the conversation he had with Gabriel.

‘I had no idea the title Empress of the Holy Swords meant that,’ Gi-Gyu thought. In the past, he had assumed that she had this title simply because she had created all the holy swords. But Gabriel had told them the truth. El used to be their empress. She had created the angels and the rules dictating they must serve the false God.

El had ordered them to obey a fake.

‘Does she blame herself for all this?’ Gi-Gyu wondered. El had asked for some time to organize her thoughts. She wanted to be alone to come to terms with what had happened. Gi-Gyu wanted to console her but couldn’t because he understood that she had to endure this alone. There was no way for him to help her.

“What are you thinking about so hard? You’ve suddenly turned quiet.” Alberto seemed confused.

“It’s nothing,” replied Gi-Gyu.

Sung-Hoon tried to change the subject. “Isn’t today the day?”

“The day? What do you mean?” asked Gi-Gyu. Then suddenly, Gi-Gyu exclaimed, “Ah! The Roman citizens in Eden will finally get to return home today.”

Sung-Hoon and Alberto smiled with a nod. Gi-Gyu finally understood why they had asked him to come here.

“Everyone is waiting.” Sung-Hoon led the way, and Gi-Gyu nodded. Now that he thought about it, he had sensed a small group gathered somewhere in Eden earlier. Because Old Man Hwang, Hwang Chae-Il, and Brun took care of everything inside Eden, Gi-Gyu hadn’t paid much attention to it.

The three men headed toward the gate that led to Rome. When they got close, they heard people cheering.

“Uwahhhh!”

Gi-Gyu turned tense again, but Alberto reassured him,” You don’t have to say anything this time. You just…”

Before Alberto could finish, countless Roman citizens bowed and waved their hands.

“Thank you,” many screamed.

This time, Gi-Gyu didn’t look around awkwardly. He waved back at them with a smile.

As a representative of these people, Alberto thanked Gi-Gyu officially. Then, the people began moving. The numerous waiting players and members of the Italian Players Association began helping the people out of the gate. Some Eden members and Chinese players also joined in to help.

After they had all left, Sung-Hoon followed them to Rome. He suggested, “We should go with them to say goodbye too.”

Gi-Gyu became quiet before he said, “You go ahead first. I’ll follow soon.”

“All right.” Sung-Hoon smiled.

***

“How is it?” asked Alberto.

Gi-Gyu looked around, clearly impressed.

“It’s pretty good, isn’t it?” Alberto asked. Gi-Gyu wasn’t synced with Alberto, but he could tell that Alberto was fishing for compliments.

“Pretty good?” Gi-Gyu smiled. “It’s more than that. It’s amazing.”

Gi-Gyu meant what he had said. The scene before him was awe-inspiring.

Alberto muttered, “I almost died doing this, you know.”

Gi-Gyu knew Alberto wasn’t exaggerating. The scene before his eyes could evidently only be produced after much effort. Gi-Gyu looked at Rome from the top of the Church of Santa Maria.

“Did you use Form Recovery to do this too?” asked Gi-Gyu. Rome had been trampled, destroyed, and burned, but now, it was before him in its full glory. The last time Gi-Gyu was here, the place was filled with screams and despair, so the change was unbelievable.

The people of Rome seemed overjoyed to be home. Instead of sadness and bitterness, they were filled with happiness and hope.

“Yes,” muttered Alberto. “I used my skill to restore the entire city of Rome.”

Gi-Gyu couldn’t hide his shock. Restore an entire city with a skill? It was something unprecedented.

“What do you think?” Gi-Gyu asked El, who was standing next to him.

It took her a while to answer. “It’s wonderful.”

Gi-Gyu could tell she was a bit emotional; it made him smile.

Alberto murmured, “I’m glad you like it too, El.”

El wanted to be alone, but Gi-Gyu had insisted she accompany him. She looked at the city silently.

‘I guess this is the grave of her kind,’ Gi-Gyu thought sadly. Even if he revived them, it wouldn’t be the same. To El, Rome must be like a grave of all her memories.

“Don’t we have a busy day today?” an unfamiliar voice asked from behind Gi-Gyu.

Alberto looked up and greeted, “Ah, hello, Michael.”

Raphael was dormant now, and Gabriel was gone. Michael was now the sole master of this body. When he had first woken up, he had been perplexed. Gabriel had asked Gi-Gyu to apologize to Michael in his place, but Gi-Gyu had chosen not to do this.

‘It will only increase Michael’s confusion and anger.’

What would be the point of apology at that point? It couldn’t change that Michael’s entire life until that point was just a lie. A simple apology couldn’t fix the pain or anything.

‘Besides, I’m guessing that he already knows,’ Gi-Gyu thought as he studied Michael’s face. He suspected that Michael had seen the memories of Raphael and Gabriel. And likely, he had already heard the apology from Gabriel.

Whether this was true or not, it didn’t matter. Michael seemed okay now, and that was all Gi-Gyu cared about.

“Ah, my apologies! Ah! I mean…! Yes! That’s right! We need to do that!” Alberto stammered and left with Michael hurriedly.

Gi-Gyu looked at them with a smile.

Now only Gi-Gyu and El were left at the top of the church. They quietly watched Rome. Soon, the sun went down, and the night came. The moonlight shone on the city beautifully. Because the population had decreased dramatically, there weren’t as many lights turned on inside the building of Rome.

“It looks nice,” Gi-Gyu whispered, now watching the stars and the moon.

“Master.” El turned toward Gi-Gyu. “I am always grateful to you.”

Gi-Gyu didn’t know what to say when El thanked him so unexpectedly. He only stared at her when suddenly, both of them frowned in displeasure.

“This is…” Gi-Gyu muttered.

A group of creatures with immense sorcerous energy was approaching them.