Chapter 204: Preparing for Danger

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“We can’t contact 11th Apostle.”

“…Is he enjoying his usual hobby?”

“Too much time has passed for that to be the case.”

In a dark room, two people stood with a flickering candle between them.

A First Order member wearing a black hood gave a report, while the one receiving it stood with their back turned, looking out the window.

The atmosphere was not good. A sinister aura continuously emanated from the one receiving the report.

“What happened with the Prochet matter?”

“About that… things went wrong. It seems that when Prochet was revived, the relationship with the Felix family was reestablished.”

“Hmm… So the plan to recover the holy relic held by Duke Felix has fallen apart.”

At the cold voice, the reporting First Order member pressed their forehead to the floor in apology.

“I’m sorry. We are in the process of making a new plan now. Please wait a little longer. Anyway, Prochet will again…”

“No, there’s no need for that. If Prochet has been revived, its potential cannot be ignored. It would be better to change direction. Duke Felix had two sons, right?”

“Yes, that’s correct. Rohai Felix and Kai Felix.”

“Take those two as hostages and negotiate. Move immediately. Use as many people as you want. Do not fail this time. Understand?”

The First Order member swallowed dryly at the ominous warning piercing their ears.

“This is your last chance.”

“Yes, Apostle!”

There would be no next time. If they failed again, the Apostle would kill them.

The First Order member who finished reporting rose from their place with their reply.

“Execute it.”

Whoosh-!

The candle in the room went out.

***

Kai Felix was unable to speak for a while after Ethan’s words.

As if something was boiling up inside him, he took several rough deep breaths, trying to calm his mind.

Eventually, Kai shook his head and slowly caught his breath.

It looked as if he had shaken off something from his mind.

“Thank you for the advice.”

Kai Felix seemed somewhat relieved. His expression had completely changed from just before, as if his troubled heart had eased a bit.

However, nothing was changing right away.

It wasn’t a situation that could change just by hearing a few words and changing one’s mind.

‘If it was a problem that could be solved to that extent, it would have changed long ago.’

Assist your older brother and make the Felix family the best.

These words were like a powerful spell for Kai Felix.

Having lived his whole life according to the family’s demands, Kai Felix would not be able to easily break free from the chains the family had placed on him.

‘Kai Felix’s name will not remain in the world. Only Rohai Felix’s name will remain.’

Given the circumstances, Ethan didn’t know much about Kai Felix in detail.

‘I’ve lit the fire. He’ll surely think a lot during this training session. When he firms up his resolve, he’ll come find me again. By then, he’ll have made a firm decision about his future.’

Kai Felix bowed his head to Ethan and left.

He would surely undergo many emotional changes throughout the training session. After beautifully metamorphosizing through that process, he would certainly come to find Ethan again.

‘It’s still just the first day.’

There were still 4 more days left in the training session. Eucalis’s first lesson had just ended.

‘While the Kai Felix matter is quite important, there’s something even more important.’

Eucalis’s call to talk separately later was important, but there was someone even more important than that.

Regia Malcher.

He needed to grasp the true intentions of the emperor’s teacher who had exceptionally attended the training session to meet him.

‘I can roughly guess. Why he came to find me.’

There were a few things he suspected about why Regia had come all this way to find him.

‘The problem is that it’s not for a good reason.’

From the beginning, Ethan didn’t think Regia had come to find him for a good reason.

Bernie, a subordinate of the Sword Saint, and Ivecar’s fellow teachers had shown quite positive reactions to the news that Regia was showing interest in him.

But they knew nothing about the person called Regia Malcher.

Regia Malcher, known as the emperor’s teacher, had vast knowledge along with his own unique teaching method, and he took particular pride in his educational approach.

‘He was extremely sensitive about the leakage of his knowledge in MePan too.’

Ethan’s teaching method was certainly similar in some ways, as it was an adaptation of Regia’s method tailored to himself.

Depending on how Regia thought about it, this could be suspected as a leak of his teaching method.

If he had come to confirm that…

‘It could become dangerous. In the worst case, Regia might try to kill me using the power of the imperial palace.’

Regia Malcher is not as strong as his reputation suggests.

If he fought Regia now, he was confident he wouldn’t lose at the very least.

If it was a fight to the death, he even had some confidence he could win, though not very high. After all, he knew Regia very well, while he knew nothing about him.

‘But I mustn’t fight. It’s not a matter of winning or losing.’

Behind him is the Holy Empire.

The emperor and the imperial family, plus the high-ranking officials of the Holy Empire.

The imperial palace is his home and the imperial family is his family.

Opposing him meant facing off against the imperial family of the Holy Empire.

With his current abilities, he would 100% lose against the imperial family of the Holy Empire. Not just in the short term, but even in the long term, victory couldn’t be predicted.

‘So this matter must be approached carefully.’

Moreover, Regia’s influence wasn’t limited to just the Holy Empire.

‘Though no one knows this.’

As far as Ethan remembered, he had one remarkable disciple in the Demon Empire as well. This was top secret information even within the empire, but it was something he could know because he had received his teachings in MePan.

‘Resorting to force is the worst option. Even just brushing it off is ultimately a poor move. Regia is extremely persistent. Once he starts suspecting, he doesn’t easily let go of that suspicion.’

Regarding the teaching method, it could be brushed off with excuses if needed. But that approach wouldn’t resolve his suspicions, and he would have to live under Regia’s watchful eye for the rest of his life.

Since uncertain excuses couldn’t definitively resolve Regia’s suspicions, Regia would try to keep monitoring him until his suspicions were cleared.

Behind Regia was an enormous power that could dig up and relay any information about anyone he wanted, if he so desired.

‘Of course, there is a correct answer. It’s proving that this is purely my own ability.’

He needed to prove that it wasn’t a leak of Regia’s method, but an educational approach that Ethan himself had come up with.

‘Now that my own ideas have been mixed in to some extent, it’s not easy to think of this as Regia’s teaching method.’

However, Ethan thought this method had many shortcomings in convincing Regia.

To make the current teaching method entirely his own, he needed a bit more definitive power.

‘In that case.’

Ethan immediately opened New World. He intended to invest the likes he had steadily accumulated.

Entering New World, Ethan first went to the Q&A board as usual.

“Hm?”

Having tasted the effects of algorithm enhancement once, Ethan was regularly using the Q&A board to accumulate contribution points.

Naturally, this led him to keep an eye on the atmosphere of the community board as well.

“It’s completely plastered with Cheok Jun-gyeong.”

The reaction was tremendous.

When shorts were first uploaded to Cheok Jun-gyeong’s channel, the reaction was quite good, but now that new videos had come out, the reaction seemed even bigger than before.

“The reaction is better than I thought.”

The preview shorts video made to drive traffic to the main video.

It was very successful, just as Ethan had predicted.

“Even if other gods try to follow suit through their subscribers, it would be difficult. Yeah.”

Ethan looked with satisfaction at the reaction created by the shorts video that complemented the weaknesses of the subscription reviews.

“Huh?”

But something was strange.

[Trending Video #1]

Cheok Jun-gyeong had uploaded two new videos thanks to the shorts Ethan had made.

One of those videos was at #1 on the trending videos list, and…

[Trending Video #2]

The other video was right below at #2.

“It’s going well, too well…?”

He didn’t think it would go this well. Who would have thought Cheok Jun-gyeong’s videos would occupy both #1 and #2 on the trending videos list.

-I didn’t think shorts would have such powerful influence! Being able to get information quickly makes it very efficient for purchasing videos.

-The shorts were a big help in buying Cheok Jun-gyeong’s videos. And thanks to the shorts, I bought new videos without hesitation!

-Now I can’t watch long videos.

-I think I’m addicted to shorts.

-Can’t we just say the [Only subscribed to the right gods] subscriber won?

Cheok Jun-gyeong, surprised by this atmosphere, had even sent Ethan quite a long letter.

-The effect has been amazing, subscriber. Thanks to your shorts, the two new videos I uploaded with courage have made it to the trending videos list. And not just anywhere, but at the very top at #1 and #2. Of course, I thought my videos had that kind of impact, but when it actually happens, my heart is racing and I’m quite nervous.

Cheok Jun-gyeong went on to praise Ethan at length.

-The rankings haven’t changed yet. The top-tier gods are guarding their positions like great trees, so it’s difficult to push them out right away. But the board is properly shaking. Thanks to that shorts video of yours.

Ethan could almost see Cheok Jun-gyeong’s expression as he read the letter.

-The rankings of New World, which I thought had completely stopped, are stirring! It’s not just the top ranks! The rankings of the lowest and middle tiers you touched are also continuously changing! How interesting is this!

Starting with Heo Jun, the rankings of the gods for whom Ethan had made subscription reviews and edited videos kept rising.

-A new era might be coming. But the great trees won’t want a new era. They probably thought a winner had already been decided. If they move, who knows what might happen. So, I’m thinking of pulling out a hidden card I’ve been keeping. I’d like you to see it first.

Ding-!

-This is a premium subscriber benefit.

-You can preview Cheok Jun-gyeong’s first public video!

At the same time, a hidden video that had been set to private opened.

The title of the video was simple. But Ethan paid close attention to the name written in that title.

-Goryeo’s Sword Master Cheok Jun-gyeong, and Joseon’s Sword Master Han Myeong-ryeon.

“Joseon’s Sword Master Han Myeong-ryeon.”

Although Ethan hadn’t studied Korean history diligently, he had heard the name Han Myeong-ryeon before.

During the Imjin War, while Yi Sun-sin was at sea, Han Myeong-ryeon was on land.

“I can’t not watch this. And it’s a first public video, what an interesting feature.”

Below the video was the scheduled release time.

‘It’s a feature that can build up anticipation.’

First public was a feature where the video would be made public at the set release time. Until then, only the title of the video would be visible and it couldn’t be played, so it could definitely catch subscribers’ attention.

Of course, if overused it could backfire, but if used appropriately, its effect was certain.

‘If this first public is mixed with shorts, the effect could be enhanced even more.’

Goryeo’s Sword Master Cheok Jun-gyeong had a big influence on Ethan’s swordsmanship. Through the Cheok Shin Sword Technique, Ethan was able to combine all his sword techniques to create the Ethan Swordsmanship.

“If Cheok Jun-gyeong is collaborating to this extent, this Han Myeong-ryeon must be amazing too.”

Ethan grinned as he clicked on the video.

Then, along with the familiar face of Cheok Jun-gyeong, a large man with shaggy hair appeared.

-Nice to meet you, I’m Han Myeong-ryeon. I came out at the request of an old senior, who said to just teach what I’m most confident in, so here I am.

Han Myeong-ryeon said.

-I was originally from the lower class, so I couldn’t even receive proper treatment. Nevertheless, I rose quite high. Do you know why?

Cheok Jun-gyeong was quietly watching Han Myeong-ryeon from the side with his arms crossed.

-Because I fought well. With this one strength, I overcame the limitations of my low birth and rose up. That’s my secret. Fighting well, that is.

Saying so, Han Myeong-ryeon clenched his fist.

-I don’t know much about winning or losing. What I’ll teach is just how to fight well.

Author's Thoughts

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