Chapter 324 - Episode 324: The Segregate.
The girl who started the enmity between Cho Ahn and Ken, something that shouldn't have happened in the first place if she didn't speculate and lie about the loot. I almost forgot about her and to be honest, it's a surprise even for me to see her again with the plot of whatever she and her accomplice.
Cho Ahn keeps staring at her with shock and disbelief.
"What are you doing, Yoona? What have you become?"
Yoona smirks and glares at him with hatred and disgust written all over her face.
"What have I become? Have you looked yourself in the mirror, Cho? You have become one of them! You abandoned us because you wanted more! You're controlling the flow and the game with those people! I don't want to go under the rules that only benefit yourself!"
We are just staring at her and to be honest this problem is Cho Ahn that has to handle.
Cho Ahn is furrowing his forehead with confusion.
"Yoona, what are you talking about?"
Yoona scoffs and smirks while keep glaring at him and trying to free herself.
"Oh, you know what I'm talking about... You feel it now don't you? The feeling of being superior to the other players... I saw you on TV and I couldn't believe you dare to show yourself like that. You proudly and arrogantly introduced yourself as the Ophiuchus bullshit! You were having all the fun while we have to do our best to enjoy the game but you all destroy it and sabotage it! The game is no fun when only a few players take control of everything! That's why I'm here with the other oppressed players and I want to show you how it feels when things didn't go as you planned."
Queenstar suddenly grabs Kingstar's shoulder.
"Something bad is happening right now! So many players are entering the crater and they killed all the players who are working over there!"
We are surprised and then Yoona chuckles mischievously while glaring at us.
"I told you, I want you guys to suffer! We have been waiting for this moment so patiently, and even if we failed to get that thing from you, at least we have achieved the other objective."
The sound of explosions is coming from the crater and then Cho Ahn grabs Yoona's shoulders so tightly.
"What are you doing?! Are you trying to revive that thing?!"
The ground immediately shakes and we all know that it's something that we don't want to feel. The sky turns black and it's happening as what happened in the past before Shazjae entered the Orion. The sky disappears and we all can see the stars and planets now, there will be no light from now on.
[Voice of the World]
[World Quest: Letrax Agma Si Lah!]
[An extraterrestrial being who roamed the Orion and buried deep down has been set free. An invasion that came from the Cosmic that will harvest all the resources in and on Orion. A being that came from Agma Planet. It is similar to the legend in stories of the 6 Legendary Heroes. An invasion that will bring chaos and catastrophe to the Orion.]
[Objective: Prevent and repel the extraterrestrial from bringing a catastrophe to the Orion. Kill Letrax and prevent it from bringing extinction to the people of Orion!]
[Failed: player's EXP reduced to 0%. Reduced player's level by 10. Drop rate and EXP rate reduced to 99%. Status value reduced by 90% for a week in real-time!]
[Reward: [Unique title], [+10.000 Fame], [Unique Mysterious Box] x10]
[167 Hrs 59 Mins 59 Secs (In-game time) until Letrax regained consciousness]
[Letrax is invulnerable until it regained consciousness]
Everyone is standing there in silence while they're staring at the VoW in the sky.
Yonna is chuckling and then burst out laughing with joy and excitement.
"I hope you guys fail and when that happens, we will blame it all on you."
Queenstar unsheathes her sword and then stabs her in the heart. Yoona dies and then disappears immediately.
"Fucking psycopath..."
I sigh while rubbing my forehead.
"I know something like this might happen, but I never thought they would do something crazy like this..."
Kingstar turns around and looks at the VoW.
"We don't have time to waste, we only have one week left before Letrax awakened. We need to prepare everything and prioritize the problem that we have here."
Everyone nods in agreement and then they all start walking their separate ways since each one of them is in charge of each layer of walls. It's just me and Grisell left since we are dead weight if I have to put it harshly.
I look at Grisell and she might know something about Yoona and her organization or something like that.
"Gris, do you know anything about what Yoona said earlier? About oppressed players?"
Grisell is looking at me while humming.
"I'm not sure, I have been busy with creation so I don't pay much attention ever since I have my own workshop. Maybe Cecilia might know something about this since she and her friends still live in the three sovereignties."
I'm humming with understanding.
"Can you message her that I want to meet?"
Grisell nods.
"I can, where do you want to meet her?"
I raise my eyebrows while staring at the NPCs and players are panicking and running around.
"At the round table, I want to talk privately and get as much information as I can get."
Grisell is humming with understanding.
"Okay, then I will join you since I have nothing to do here anyway."
I nod with understanding and then Krestan opens a portal for us.
Grisell and I are waiting at the round table, and then we hear a knock is coming from the door.
"Come in."
I see Cecile and Kyle are entering the room, they both are looking at the room in awe, Grisell waves at them while smiling.
"Long time no see!"
They both smile and nod while approaching her, then they both sit next to Grisell while staring at me with confusion. Kyle looks so nervous while he's scratching the back of his neck.
"So, why do you want to meet us, Mister Trevor?"
I rest my head on my fist while staring at them both.
"I'm not sure if you heard about what's going on in the crater site, but something bad happened."
Kyle and Cecilia look at each other and then Cecilia looks at me while nodding her head.
"Yeah, I heard from Poshmeleon and Valentino that some players blew up the glass where Letrax is sealed. We were planning to go there when we saw the VoW but then we received a message from Miss Grisell so we immediately came here."
I rest my arms on the table.
"Okay, since you know about the situation, then I'm going to ask you if you know anything about the oppressed players? We interrogate one of the players and she said that she's a part of those players."
Cecilia looks at Kyle.
"Yeah, we heard about it and it's been going on for a while now. I think the first time I heard about it was when you guys went on a journey. At that time, I heard that someone mentioned a group of players giving a hate speech about Kingstar and the others. They said something like the game is rigged or controlled by them and they grabbed all the precious rewards while they, they normal players could only watch."
Cecilia looks at me and continues.
"I remember they called themselves the Segregate? If I remember correctly. They chose to be factionless and I think most of the players that joined that community are mostly already factionless. I heard a rumor that Aksevel left the faction and joined the Segregate as well, I'm not sure who made it but I think it's a First Gen player because there's no way for a Second Gen player to be able to convince the players if he or she has no influence."
Grisell and I are looking at each other, and then Grisell looks at Cecilia with curiosity.
"The Segregate? I think I heard that name before..."
Grisell is tapping her chin and then suddenly snaps her fingers.
"I do remember that a few blacksmiths came to me back when we were building the empire. They were challenging me and said something like they will take over the market price since they thought I was the one who control the pricing of equipment. They called themselves the Segregate Company that will sell equipment under the market price with good quality goods."
I look at her while furrowing my forehead.
"Are they good?"
Grisell is humming while shrugging her mouth.
"Well, it's decent... I mean, I don't care if they sell their goods at a low price compared to mine since it doesn't bother me at all."
I'm humming with understanding.
"So they took the opportunity and create something similar to us the Ophiuchus but the reason for them to create that community is to take us down? Do you think it has something to do with Aspen?"
The three of them are shrugging while shaking their heads.
Grisell looks at the official website and then she's surprised about something.
"Oh wow... the number of players that are factionless is now increasing very significantly..."
I check the website and as she said, it increased very significantly, but still, it's less than 30% of the total players' population. But if it keeps rising, there will be a problem and there's no a restriction for factionless players to destroy the other faction.
I sigh and tap my fingers on the table.
"The Segregate, huh? I guess I should investigate about them more...."