Closed Beta That Only I Played

Chapter 317: Another Clue (1)

President Xi. The man referred to as China’s emperor in the 21st century.

If the world had not changed drastically like this, or even if the world had changed drastically, but there was no ‘Revival Legend’, I would not have been able to meet him alone like this even if I was the son of the chairman of South Korea’s No. 1 business group.

Why? As I just mentioned, he was China’s Emperor in the 21st century.

However, that was all just theoretical.

Since I was in reality where ‘Revival Legend’ dominated, I faced him and opened my mouth without getting cold feet at all.

“Congratulations! You didn’t finish first, but you have pushed a whopping nine people into the round of 16, right? And you will even finish second, President Xi.”

What I meant was that no matter how desperately he tried, he could not win first place because it was mine. In some respects, what I just said was like a declaration of war to him.

Of course, President Xi must have figured out what I was trying to say.

So I did not stop there and added, “By the way, there are as many as nine players under your control who reached the round of 16l. It’s really amazing that you have so many great talented players.”

Obviously, I made that statement to get a read on him. Of course, I didn’t think he would take my words seriously because I knew well that President Xi didn’t walk a smooth path to climb to his current position.

However, I thought that if I didn’t provoke him like that, it would do more harm than good, so I decided to rub him the wrong way with provocative remarks.

At that moment, he responded, “Hahaha! Was it too obvious to you? Well, it was surprisingly difficult. What’s more, there were some things that didn’t work as we intended, no matter how much we manipulated it.

Given that he readily admitted it, it seemed that President Xi had no intention of keeping it a secret in the first place. Of course, it was ridiculous to think we alone were convinced that China had manipulated the tournament draw.

As many as 9 out of 16 players were from China, and even those nine players were under the control of President Xi’s Chinese Government, not the Yanghwa of Hwashin Guilds which were apparently on part with them. In that respect, this was not a matter that I could take lightly.

As soon as I confirmed it from President Xi, I felt very disappointed.

But I continued to converse with him instead of expressing my feelings.

Then the President hardened his face and spoke in a lower voice than before.

“What do you make of the end of Revival Legend, Asirante?”

“…”

President Xi suddenly asked me an unexpected question. So I was speechless for a moment.

And even if I knew, I didn’t have to tell him.

For example, I could have told him about the NPC that I learned a while ago from the Holdridge Group in America.

As if he already anticipated my reaction, President Xi continued with a nonchalant expression.

“I hear that you have recently been to New York. Then you must have heard about the NPC from them as if it was a big deal.”

“…”

At that moment, I tried my best to manage my expression as much as possible.

Of course, I wasn’t sure if I was doing it right.

However, President Xi did not even look at me, and continued speaking with a soft voice.

“Asirante, or Juyoung Hong, you must know what Vten, who had all the proprietary technology of virtual reality, said when they disappeared because Myongjin is not a small guild.”

Of course, I knew it very well. When I first heard it from my father, I was quite shocked too.

This was what Vten said as their final words.

[The 4th virtual reality will be actualized in reality.]

In fact, it has become a reality.

After that, President Xi continued, “Assuming you already know it, what everybody says is something like, ‘Wow! We are now becoming one with the world of ‘Revival Legend!'”

“…”

I remained silent, but I agreed deep down.

In fact, monsters appeared in reality, or more precisely, on the earth, and people applied their reality actualization rate to actualize their abilities, skills, and even items of ‘Revival Legend’ using coins ‘Revival Legend’. And now even NPCs appeared.

“Hahaha!”

President Xi burst into laughter.

I was a little annoyed by that. Or more precisely, I was irritated because he knew what I didn’t know. And it was as if he was taking revenge for my provocative words at first by showing me who called the shots. But I kept silent for that reason, for it would only make him happy If I showed the slightest sign that I was curious.

Then, unlike before, President Xi stared straight at me and opened his mouth.

“Juyoung Hong, you are very calm.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s amazing for your age.”

Unlike before, I responded appropriately to him this time because I needed to get more information from him, regardless of whether it was true or not.

However, President Xi brought up a different topic as if he didn’t want to cut to the chase right away.

“At this moment, I really envy Chairman Sangman Hong. I think he must be feeling really secure to have a wonderful son like you…”

I wanted to grab him by the collar and urge him to stop talking nonsense and get to the point quickly. But all I did was just smile lightly.

As if he was pleasantly surprised by my reaction, President Xi clapped his hands and opened his mouth.

“Good! I guess we have the ball rolling now. So let’s wrap it up. Okay? In that sense, I will give you one piece of information.”

I naturally paid complete attention to what he was about to say.

“The information about the NPCs that the Holdridge guys think they alone know is wrong because they are not NPCs.”

“?”

Of course, I was not naive enough to take at face value what the Holdridge guys said about not only monsters but also NPCs appearing on earth. In other words, I had solid evidence, namely the video. And the voice of the man thought to be an NPC was also recorded there.

What’s more, not only the video, but also the dying words of that person thought to be an NPC as he collapsed to the US military were still vivid in my memory.

[!@##$%%^&* %%#!*^!]

[How dare you invade our territory! Let me kill all of you!]

[%#%!%!!^$^& @$*&^!#%!]

[Ugh! Although I will die here, we will never accept you guys!]

Apparently the Earth and the world of ‘Revival Legend’ were merging.

In light of the situation, his words made me inevitably infer that he was an NPC.

While I was lost in thoughts like that, President Xi opened his mouth again.

“To commemorate our delightful meeting today, I will give you another bonus. And it’s not just one.”

“?”

I could not understand what he was talking about.