Second World

"Easy for you to say, what if the players who saved the Gods end up on Apollyon's side?" Wilted asked Chris.

"I don't believe any respectful gamer with the ability to solve my puzzle and save the Gods will serve such a person," Chris answered.

Jack was conflicted if he should tell Chris about the one called the number one gamer being Master's henchman.

"Wait, are you saying this second player who saved one of the Gods is on Apollyon's side?" Chris asked.

"No, but he is in Apollyon's hand at the moment," Jack answered.

"In his hand?"

"Captured. He has one of the divine treasures," Jack explained.

"Yes, the divine treasures. How many does Apollyon possess by now?"

"He has three inside him. Three players with the divine treasures are captured by him, but our last intel said that he couldn't extract those treasures from them yet because his extractor machine is destroyed. Do you know about a different method to extract the divine treasures?"

"No, the only method I programmed is by killing the owner, but that won't grant the killer the divine treasure. The treasure will just move to a random SSS quest. I know about his extractor machine. If he has another method, he planted it into the system after my death," Chris answered. "What about the last divine treasure?"

"It's in me," Jack uttered with a grin.

"Oh, marvelous. I can see from your outfit that you are also a sovereign. Not bad, not bad at all. See, Mae, my adjustment helps provide a strong ally for you to fight Apollyon, so I'm not wrong, eh?"

"… It is just luck," Wilted responded.

"No, no. It's not luck. It's fate. Brought about by my meddling," Chris said.

"If you want to brag, you should have done something about Apollyon's Second Soul Remnants," Wilted scolded. "You know how much trouble we have because he has so many classes?"

"I did do something," Chris defended. "How many classes does he have?"

"Five," Jack answered.

"Oh, that's a little more than I expected… Well, anyway. If it wasn't for me, he would have had even more classes."

"What did you do?" Wilted asked.

"I made it so that those second soul remnants had to be spread out at different tutorial spaces. He wouldn't be able to get all of them at once. I couldn't prevent him from knowing where those things would spawn, though. He surely had his followers fetch them once the tutorial started, but I set it so the spot was infested with monsters. Unless his followers were capable gamers, he would have difficulty getting them. It was more likely other capable gamers unrelated to him getting the second soul remnants instead."

Jack thought back to the time when Sunset Walking was chased by the zombies. Yet, when he returned to the same place days later, he found no zombies there. Now, he knew the reason.

"I have you to thank then," Jack said.

"Oh? Do you mean…"

"Yes, I am one of the gamers who got the second soul remnant."

"See, Mae. What did I say?" Chris said to Wilted. "My confidence is not wrong."

"… As I said, we are lucky," Wilted replied.

"So, how is the struggle against Apollyon going?" Chris asked.

Wilted didn't respond. She turned her head away again. Since it was so, Jack was the one who explained the situation to Chris.

"I see you have Apollyon cornered. Problem solved then. All's well that ends well, eh?" Chris said merrily.

"I would say don't count your chickens before they hatch," Jack said.

"Wise. I wish you luck," Chris said. He glanced at Wilted who was still looking away.

"I can see that you are angry. It is difficult for us to speak like this," Chris said to her. "This projection can't last long. Anyway, these small talks are not the true purpose I left this memory stone. When you are ready, come to these coordinates."

Another projection appeared above Chris. It showed the map of the world. A red dot marked the place Chris mentioned. Coordinate numbers were written there. The red dot was within the Dorwin Region.

"This spot… There is nothing there," Wilted said.

"Hehe. To others, yes, it's nothing. But if you go there, it will be different. It's my secret site," Chris said. "Don't forget to bring that memory stone. You will need that to open the door. Then again, never mind that. I set it so the stone will always follow you once you touch it."

'Just like it kept following me before this,' Jack said in his mind.

"What's there at those coordinates?" Wilted asked.

"Where is the suspense if I told you now?" Chris said with a grin. "Oh, almost forgot! Before you go there. In case you haven't defeated Apollyon then, please come to that spot with twenty-four players you trust."

"Why?" Wilted asked.

"You will know when you are there," Chris shrugged.

Jack turned to Peniel and said through their minds, 'I can see now where your habit of withholding information comes from.'

"Another thing to take note of," Chris added. "All twenty-four players should have different elite classes and all of them should be capable players."

"That means all the existing elite classes," Jack said.

"Exactly," Chris replied. "But make sure they are truly people who you trust and are willing to fight for your cause."

"Hm…," Jack massaged his chin.

Chris was gazing at Wilted, who was back to being silent again. Her face still showed that she was not in a good mood but her eyes showed that she had many things to say.

"See you," Chris said.

"Wait…!" Wilted called, but Chris' image had vanished.

Wilted grabbed the memory stone from the ground. She clutched it tight, hoping it could shine and show Chris' image again, but it didn't. She regretted not saying anything meaningful. She had so many things to say but her feelings were just too convoluted.

Jack placed a hand on her shoulder. "He said, see you, not goodbye."

Upon Jack's words, Wilted caught the meaning. She opened her map and looked at the coordinates Chris had given.

"Will you go there now?" Jack asked.

Wilted was silent for several seconds. "No, we have more important matters to settle. We will beat Master first, then I will go there bringing the news of our victory."