Chapter 87 (1/2)

Screening Quest (1)

The discovery of the Grand Croix Guild’s head as a cold corpse in the conference room shook the whole country. There were many suspicious things about the incident. It was a scene where it was believed that he died by battling with a Dutch SS-Ranked hunter, working as a freelancer, who ended up mutually killing each other. But why the two had fought for their lives in the conference room in the first place was unknown. This was because the media had no idea about the true nature of the private business run by Dideric Van Dyke.

Furthermore, three of Grand Croix’s ace Hunters were also missing. There were signs of them entering the building on the same day, but there was no sign of them leaving. Police and the Hunter Management were trying to locate the missing persons, convinced they were also involved in the incident.

‘Go ahead and search, as if you’ll find any evidence,’ I thought while turning off the news, ‘By the way, it’s natural for it to follow orders according to the contract… but the work was done pretty neat.’

Even though I allowed it to go on a night out for the first time, the devil’s sword’s reaction when it returned was mediocre. I found it strange because it was dissatisfied even though it tasted blood for the first time in a long time. However, the reaction might be, I thought, was that it did its job properly anyway.

‘I’ll have to utilize it from time to time. With Nate’s accompanying subordinate, it’s easy to retrieve as well.’

While I thought so, bee-bee-bee-beep, there was a ring.

“Huh?”

It was the Senator. As I gestured, a hologram popped up.

“You keep in touch with me a lot these days.”

Looking at the time, it was the middle of the night in America. Was it something urgent? The Senator in the hologram said with a stiff look. “A lot of things come up that I have to talk to you in person.”

“Looking at the time, I don’t think it’s good news.”

There was still time left until the mass-production of artifacts produced by the joint venture was released to the media. There wouldn’t be an issue if they just wrapped it up with the last feedback I sent.

“Is this about the Artifact?”

He shook his head, “No, it’s something else. I was wondering if you had any information about it. I’d like to ask you for advice. Although I don’t know how much you can find out with that ‘power.’”

The Senator didn’t know, until to the point, that I have a unique skill called [The Successor’s Eyes], but he was sure that I have intelligence type abilities.

He frowned a little and said, “There seems to be a problem in China.”

Oh, is it finally starting? It was about time for the information to leak out. Hearing that opened my ears because the problem he mentioned may have been the historical event I was waiting for.

“What’s the situation?”

“Look.” He floated a map next to the hologram. The area pointed by the arrow was a suburb about 30 kilometers from downtown Beijing.

‘It’s right!’ Anyway, I pretended not to know, whatever his state might be, “Is it a satellite city near Beijing?”

“This city is also part of Beijing by its administrative district. Anyway, there seemed to be an accident at the gate here.”

“You keep speaking in a tone suggesting it’s all but speculations.”

“Yeah, even the U.S. government hasn’t got the exact information on what’s going on here either. Look at this.”

Another thing that floated next to it was a satellite photo. A thick layer of cloud could be seen concentrated in the area.

“Winter in Beijing is cold and dry. The chance of snowy rain in this season is close to zero. But then, the area within 5km radius of the gate has already been experiencing a month of locally heavy rain.”

In terms of style, it was not done by aliens. I say as if I had guessed it, “The Chinese government must have induced artificial rainfall in the region. The reason why they kept it there for a month is. To avoid satellite imagery of what’s happening there?”

“Yes, you understand it well,” The Senator’s expression became more serious, “I don’t know what they’re doing, but it’s not like a secret experiment. People’s Army tank units and Awakened troops continue to gather nearby, and it seems to be the purpose of surrounding the area.”

Unless the government can pour artificial rain all across China, the troop movements that started in other regions will inevitably be exposed.

“The U.S. is also testing the water of China through various diplomatic channels, but they aren’t giving a single clue while keeping their mouth shut. So, the high-ranking officials at the State Department are sleepless. According to history so far, the more China comes out like that, it reveals later that the bigger the accident is. After it’s too late.”

I nodded. It was an accurate guess.

‘I didn’t know exactly when that gate Clear was successful. In the past life, the Chinese government didn’t release any information, and after the government collapsed, the data disappeared altogether.’

Assuming that things in the past life have continued as they were this time, shortly after they Cleared the problematic gate dungeon, the dungeon boundary would have collapsed. And as the Ersmann and the immortal did before, other-dimensional species came to Earth.

‘The Chinese government failed to put down the initial fire and completely lost control of a few kilometers of the gate radius. Since then, they kept the fact strictly confidential.’

The Communist Party desperately tried to prevent the fact that aliens occupied mainland China from being known to the citizens or other countries.

‘They thought that they’d lose face.’

The Senator said, “Considering the characteristics of the government, it is clear that they are trying to deal with it on their own without informing the outside world. But it’s taking too long. If it has not been resolved for a month, it will likely continue to be so. And the concern from our side is··.”

“They’re concerned about the problems that China has not solved, causing the other countries to be affected as well.”

“Exactly. If it’s a problem caused by the gate, it’s either of the two: It could be a dungeon break or an alien invasion. Either way, if they don’t handle it in the beginning, it’ll be a big headache.”

That’s exactly what happened in my previous life, “First of all, although I don’t have any information in my hands right now,” I lied, “I’ll find more about it.”

I avoided further details on how I will find out about it.

“Oh, and don’t think about going to China yourself,” The Senator threatened, “You know how things go around there, don’t you? There are more than one or two hunters who went missing after stepping on Chinese soil. You can’t be relaxed because you’re an SS-Rank hunter.”

“Oh, I know too well.” China forcibly conscripted all Awakened in their country and ran a unit of them. It was famous that even foreign Awakened who enter the country often disappear without a trace.

“And besides, you’re not American! They wouldn’t even hesitate to do so!”

“Don’t worry about that.”

I mumbled after I ended the call with the Senator, “There will be no official visit.”

*

I went to Adam right away.

“What’s going on?”

By showing him the back of my hand without saying anything, I focused Mana on it. Then a unique pattern appeared, and Adam’s face, who identified the thing at a glance, brightened.

“Oh! Does the system finally choose you?”

I nodded, “Yeah, I got a screening quest.”

Actually, it’s been a while since I got it.

“Okay, how many quests can you take now? What’s the content?”

After hearing my answer, Adam explained, “I’ve already explained it, but it’s better to carry out a quest that gives you as many experience points as possible without looking for trivial things from the beginning. The list interlinked. If you finish a high-compensation quest from the beginning, the next quest’s standards will also be raised and change the composition of the list!”

He went on to say, “Then, the most rewarding quest you can do at this point….”

I held him back by raising my hand, “Oh, wait, ” I speak firmly, “I’ve already decided what to do first.”

“What is it?” Adam frowned when he heard my reply, “It certainly gives you the most merit points… but you can’t just do it right away because you want to do it!”

“No, this is the right time.”

“What do you mean?”

The quest I pointed out was this.

– Quest Name: Dimension Defense.

– Description: Stop the invasion of another dimension in the progress of the tutorial.

– Reward: From 500,000 experience points.

This was the biggest rewarding quest among the 108 quests I was given. When it said, ‘From 500,000,’ it meant that more points might be awarded depending on the performance.