Sun Won was sitting in silence in his room and enjoying his tea. It had been about two hours since Gi-Gyu went inside the secret room. Sun Won knew Gi-Gyu would be back soon because the man before him had done the same.

Sun Won drank his tea while waiting patiently. The meeting wouldn’t start for a while. He was sure he could discuss what Gi-Gyu had seen inside and then join it with still plenty of time left.

‘Guess I’m just a human after all,’ Sun Won thought. He couldn’t believe how he had forgotten about the promise he made to himself when he became the temple head.

The powers he gained as a player had changed him. Actually, everyone and everything had changed. He had forgotten what was truly important because he used to only focus on China and the Shaolin Temple’s achievements.

“Huh…” Sun Won sighed. Perhaps becoming the head monk at a very young age was to blame. His teacher had passed away too early, so Sun Won couldn’t learn everything from him, and things progressed too quickly thereafter.

But, despite everything…

“I remember it very clearly,” Sun Won whispered, remembering what his teacher had told him before his death. He had forgotten it, but the memory was now crystal clear.

This happened after he met Gi-Gyu. The memory cleared all his confusion.

Gi-Gyu would soon exit the secret room; then, everything would change again.

Rattle.

The wall behind the closet opened, and a figure appeared. Sun Won rose and performed the fist-in-palm gesture to show respect. He announced, “Greetings to…”

With awe and admiration, Sun Won continued, “Shaolin’s true master.”

Gi-Gyu looked down at Sun Won with an inexplicable expression.

***

“We will execute our plan in five days.” Tao Chen looked solemn. He was a naturally solemn man; today, his aura had something extra. It could seemingly attract everyone’s attention.

“And we will start here.” He pointed at a place on the map.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

But one man in the room asked, “Wouldn’t that be too dangerous?”

“There is no other way. This is the best we can do,” replied Tao Chen.

The meeting to discuss their plan had been going on for a while.

Suddenly, Gi-Gyu whispered, “Wait…”

All the players turned toward him. Things were different now. The distrust and displeasure they had for Gi-Gyu before the sparring match was gone. Everyone looked at him with so much respect and fear that it made him a little uncomfortable.

Gi-Gyu became speechless and watched the players. ‘How can people change this much?’ 

This was the exact same question he had asked Sun Won a few hours ago.

Sun Won had replied, “We are only ants in your presence, so how can we resist the will of a great man?”

They now saw themselves as nothing more than ants, while Gi-Gyu was someone to be feared in their eyes.

Sun Won had added, “We, the ants, have witnessed God’s power. As humans, we fear and respect the disasters nature can bring down on us.”

Gi-Gyu was too powerful for them. After the players had witnessed what Gi-Gyu could do, they turned around completely. They understood that Gi-Gyu was on an utterly different level, and they accepted that they had no choice but to accept the discomfort his presence created.

No one complained about being “uncomfortable” in a hurricane. If someone did, they would be considered foolish. When a natural disaster hit, one could do nothing apart from marveling at mother nature’s might and being swept away by it.

Gi-Gyu didn’t continue.

Tao Chen urged him, “Please go on.”

“I’m sorry, but… I don’t know much about China. So you’ll have to explain to me where your plan will be executed,” asked Gi-Gyu. He knew it sounded stupid, but no one reacted to his question.

Tao Chen continued to gaze at Gi-Gyu and replied, “It’s the presidential palace.”

Tao Chen’s eyes glowed brightly. “This will occur in the heart of China—the presidential palace.” Then, he closed his lips firmly.

***

“Wouldn’t it be too dangerous?” Gi-Gyu asked Tao Chen in private after the meeting.

“Why would it be dangerous?” Tao Chen gazed at Gi-Gyu quietly. “We have you, don’t we?”

Gi-Gyu felt pressured.

“I am just kidding,” Tao Chen added.

“...”

“As I said before, there is no other way. After our president’s body was stolen and occupied by someone else, the ‘new’ president hasn’t appeared in any public events. He just stays in the presidential palace and gives orders.”

“It’s as if…” Gi-Gyu cautiously said, “He thinks he is the emperor.”

“Indeed. In China, the president’s power is comparable to an emperor’s. This is why…”

They needed to get rid of this president. Tao Chen looked determined, adding, “Our plan would’ve been the same even if you refused to help.”

Gi-Gyu thought about what they had discussed in the meeting. The presidential palace was located in the Central South Sea. A barrier would be set around it with a perimeter of 100 kilometers.

The size of it made Gi-Gyu gape in awe. Fifty thousand players had been assigned just to form this kind of barrier. The total number of players in the coup would be 150,000.

The huge number, about 1% of the entire world’s player population, made the Eden expedition’s number seem tiny. It was only possible because China had a lot of players. It was also proof of Tao Chen’s influence.

“You hold incredible sway,” Gi-Gyu complimented Tao Chen.

“I can’t take all the credit. This is only possible because they all share my goal.”

Tao Chen was right. He did hold great influence over the world, but this plan was much bigger than him.

The Chinese president, who could wield the same power as an emperor, had been switched. China was now fighting to survive. But Gi-Gyu still felt shocked. He wondered how the world would react after everything.

“Most of the players will be used to protect and evacuate the non-players. The actual force responsible for attacking the presidential palace will include you, me, and…”

“About a thousand players,” said Gi-Gyu.

“Exactly.”

This had already been discussed during the meeting. Gi-Gyu mumbled, “That should be enough.”

Gi-Gyu felt confident that 150,000 players would be enough to do the impossible.

‘I still can’t believe the scale of this plan,’ Gi-Gyu thought in amazement, shocked again by what China could do.

Gi-Gyu contemplated.

Not all 150,000 players were high-level players. Most of them were low to mid-level fighters, but 150,000 was a huge number nevertheless. If all of them attacked Gi-Gyu at once…

‘Will I be able to defeat them?’ Gi-Gyu wondered.

Tao Chen suddenly interrupted Gi-Gyu’s thoughts. “I have a question I would like to ask.”

“Please go ahead.” Gi-Gyu shook his head and turned toward Tao Chen.

Slowly opening his lips, Tao Chen asked, “What happened with Sun Won? Everyone is behaving differently toward you, but he has changed too much. I’ve known him for a long time and am shocked by how different he is now.”

Tao Chen looked genuinely curious. Just as he had said, Sun Won was a completely different man now compared to the first time Gi-Gyu had met him. But this wasn’t from the sparring match.

This happened after Gi-Gyu left the secret room.

“It’s…” Gi-Gyu opened his mouth hesitantly and said, “Because of my father.”

“Kronos?”

Gi-Gyu shook his head. “Yes, but a different person.”

Gi-Gyu thought about what had happened in the secret room. Inside the secret room, he had learned the true reason behind Shaolin’s existence.

***

[The sync process is complete.]

Gi-Gyu was able to sync with the clay soldier without any problems. This was an unexpectedly pleasant result.

But…

“Something feels strange,” Gi-Gyu mumbled. The clay soldier had stopped moving as if it were dead. Gi-Gyu had to admit that his sync attempt was abrupt, but what happened just now had never occurred before.

Normally, Gi-Gyu had to kill the enemy, turn it into an Ego, and then sync with it. These were the proper steps, but things happened differently this time.

“Is this the side effect of trying to force a sync?”

This was the first time Gi-Gyu had tried to force a creature to sync with him. He hadn’t killed this being, so it wasn’t egofied either.

“Is this because it wasn’t alive? Or because it wasn’t an Ego?”

Gi-Gyu wondered if he had attempted force-sync on the wrong subject. But then why did Gaia announce that it was a success?

“Well, I guess…” Gi-Gyu mumbled. This clay soldier wasn’t a priority at the moment. Leaving it behind, Gi-Gyu headed toward the open door.

He needed to learn the secret of the temple first.

The area inside was massive, but it was filled with darkness. The darkness wasn’t enough to blind him, so he could see everything.

But…

There was nothing.

What was the point of keeping a clay guard and the Shaolin Temple to guard an empty room? Gi-Gyu was baffled. He looked around, trying to see if there was some kind of secret trap.

Just like how he couldn’t feel anything outside Sun Won’s room, perhaps there was something here he couldn’t detect.

Slowly, Gi-Gyu walked to the center of the empty room. But still, he didn’t feel or see anything.

“What the heck…” Disappointment filled him, but Gi-Gyu didn’t give up. This room was protected by powerful magic, so it being empty made zero sense.

Or could it be…

‘The person before me…’ 

Sun Won had told him that someone had entered the room before him. Did that man take the secret of this room with him?

‘No, that doesn’t make sense. If there is no secret, why did Sun Won guide me to this room? And why is the clay guard still here?’ Gi-Gyu thought. Still, he couldn’t find anything. He sighed, “Haa…”

Suddenly, a bright light spilled from somewhere.

Fwooosh!

The light blinded him. Without letting his guard down, Gi-Gyu opened all of his senses and revealed his energy. It would have been foolish of him to hide his power in front of danger.

Gi-Gyu’s power danced around him to protect him. A sphere abruptly materialized and began flying around him. Gi-Gyu waited tensely as all the light soon disappeared.

In his head, he heard a voice.

-What number are you?

Gi-Gyu didn’t see anyone around him.

The voice in his head asked again.

-What number are you?

Was this a question for him? Should he answer?

-I guess it’s not important. It doesn’t matter how many were before you.

The voice seemed to have read Gi-Gyu’s mind because it had answered its own question. Gi-Gyu couldn’t say anything. There was no one around him; he couldn’t detect any presence. Even if an invisible enemy was in the room, it couldn’t harm him.

Gi-Gyu remained quiet.

-Your number doesn’t matter. You just have to be prepared for that day.

The voice continued,

-Just as I did.

Gi-Gyu finally opened his lips and asked, “Father?”

The voice he could hear inside his head definitely belonged to his father, Kronos.