Chapter 116 -116-Offline Crisis

Chapter 116: Chapter116-Offline Crisis

His consciousness returned to reality.

The lights inside the nutrition pod slowly came on.

John opened his eyes.

The faint disorientation from spending so long inside the game had yet to fully fade when a rapid alarm suddenly sounded beside him.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

John instantly became alert.

He sat up inside the pod.

His phone screen was flashing repeatedly.

[Home Security Alert!]

John picked up his phone and tapped the notification.

A live surveillance feed immediately appeared.

He recognized the place at once.

It was his old house—the place where he used to live.

At that moment, several suspicious figures had already appeared inside the previously empty living room.

Every one of them was dressed in dark clothing, their caps pulled low over their faces.

The moment one of them entered the living room, he headed straight toward the bedroom.

Another lowered his voice.

"We confirmed it."

"This is the address registered under Endbringer’s identity."

"Gray Ledger wants him taken alive first. If he resists..."

The rest of the sentence failed to reach the microphone clearly.

But John had already heard enough.

Leaning against the edge of the nutrition pod, his expression gradually turned cold.

So they really came.

They had threatened him inside the game, and the moment they turned around, they sent people after him in the real world.

Gray Ledger’s methods were even dirtier than he had expected.

Fortunately, the last time John returned to the old house, he had already noticed signs that someone was investigating the place.

So before leaving, he had casually made a few preparations.

Otherwise, these people could have broken in today without him even knowing what had happened.

As for his current residence, John wasn’t particularly worried.

The neighborhood itself had extremely high-level security.

Even ordinary people would have difficulty sneaking inside.

More importantly, Zoey had previously modified his gaming helmet.

According to her, some of the device’s original positioning and identity-tracking interfaces had already been removed.

It wasn’t surprising that Gray Ledger had managed to trace his old address.

But following that trail all the way to his current location?

That wouldn’t be so easy.

John watched the screen in silence.

The last intruder entered the house.

The door closed behind him.

Once John confirmed that everyone was inside, he exited the surveillance feed.

He opened his messages.

Entered a string of characters he had prepared in advance.

Then sent it.

There was no saved contact name.

Only an unfamiliar number.

Once the message went through, John reopened the surveillance feed.

The men inside were still searching the house.

"No one’s here?"

"Where’s the nutrition pod?"

"Wasn’t the intel saying he still lived here?"

"Split up. He might—"

Before the man could finish, one of the others suddenly turned his head.

"What’s that sound?"

The surveillance footage abruptly began shaking.

The voices inside instantly descended into chaos.

"Move!"

"Get out!"

"Something’s wrong!"

The next second—

BOOM!

A violent explosion erupted through the phone speaker.

The screen was instantly swallowed by blinding white light.

The image flickered wildly several times before turning completely into static.

John watched for a moment.

Then casually turned off his phone.

"Hope you liked the gift."

If they dared extend their hands from the game into reality, then they should have been prepared to bear the consequences.

John climbed out of the nutrition pod.

After a quick wash, he changed his clothes and headed downstairs.

...

The dining room.

Breakfast had already been prepared, just like usual.

Fried eggs.

Bread.

Fruit.

Hot coffee.

Everything was arranged with meticulous precision.

Alfred stood quietly beside the dining table, still dressed in his immaculate butler uniform.

There was only one difference today.

A black document envelope rested on the table.

John glanced at it but didn’t open it immediately.

Instead, he sat down and turned his attention toward Alfred.

Yesterday, inside the game,

[Reality Merge] had brought [Hunter’s Eye] into the real world.

He hadn’t had a chance to test it yet.

Now was the perfect opportunity.

With a thought, John activated the ability.

His vision shifted slightly.

Several lines of translucent information slowly appeared above Alfred’s head.

[Name: Alfred]

[Status: Normal]

[Physical Condition: Far Beyond Ordinary Humans]

[Background: Former member of a military special operations unit]

[Current Identity: Private Butler]

[Hidden Identity: Member of Ocean Hotel’s "High Table"]

[Threat Assessment: ???]

John paused midway through lifting his coffee.

Special forces.

A member of the High Table.

He looked up at Alfred.

John had always felt that his butler’s skills, awareness, and way of handling things were far from ordinary.

Now it seemed his instincts had been right all along.

Alfred appeared to notice John’s gaze.

After a brief silence, he spoke first.

"Sir."

"The investigation you commissioned Ocean Hotel to conduct has been completed."

He glanced toward the black envelope on the table.

"Some of the information involved is sensitive and cannot be transmitted through conventional channels."

"So I was instructed to deliver it to you personally."

John didn’t reach for the envelope right away.

"Alfred."

"Sir?"

"Why did you become my butler?"

The dining room suddenly fell silent.

Alfred looked at John.

This time, he didn’t use his usual professional smile to steer the conversation elsewhere.

After a moment, he answered calmly.

"For certain special reasons."

"I currently do not have authorization to disclose the details to you."

John didn’t interrupt him.

Alfred continued,

"The only thing I can assure you of is that I bear no ill will toward you."

"Protecting your safety is also one of my assignments."

Assignment.

John immediately caught that word.

Who had assigned him?

Ocean Hotel?

The High Table?

Or someone else?

Instead of clearing things up, the answer only raised more questions.

Still, John didn’t press him further.

After spending this much time together, Alfred had always maintained an impeccable sense of boundaries.

Anything John needed was prepared in advance.

Anything that needed to be handled was dealt with without delay.

And Alfred never pried into John’s private life.

Unless John specifically asked him to,

he rarely even entered the private areas on the second floor.

Judging purely from his actions so far, this butler was trustworthy.

At least for now.

"Alright."

John nodded.

"Tell me when you’re allowed to."

"Of course, sir."

Alfred inclined his head slightly.

Only then did John pick up the black envelope.

He opened it.

There were only a few pages inside.

The report itself wasn’t particularly long.

But the moment John finished reading the first page, his brows furrowed.

He continued turning the pages.

His expression gradually became strange.

By the time he finished the final page, John raised his head.

"So..."

"Zoey is the heiress of the Rosewood Consortium?"

Alfred nodded.

"Yes, sir."

John lowered his gaze to the report again, making sure he hadn’t misunderstood what he had just read.

The Rosewood Consortium.

One of the largest financial backers behind Gray Ledger.

And Zoey—

was none other than the daughter of the consortium’s chairman.

For a moment, John couldn’t quite make sense of it.