Now there was no one who treated Satisfy as simply entertainment. If there was such a person, they would be a fool lagging behind the times.

“There is no second chance. I have to take this opportunity to gain great results and live up to expectations.”

The world’s largest sports industry where one could enjoy enormous wealth and fame.

The Chinese government had recently made significant investments in Satisfy. First of all, a number of Chinese players changed their species to an orc. Then they secretly approached the orc tribe leaders and used money and power to get close to them. Additionally, the best intellectuals of each field were recruited to design thorough and brilliant plans.

If Orc Lord Teruchan hadn’t built a kingdom— No, if he had been the slightest bit lax in managing his kingdom, then it wasn’t an exaggeration to say the entire orc race would’ve fallen into the hands of the Chinese government by now.

Within the fence of the Chinese government, the orc would be protected by their unique breeding power and hundreds of millions of soldiers would be raised. A great China nation would’ve been born in Satisfy.

However, the Orc Kingdom became a de facto subordinate of the Overgeared Kingdom and management became very thorough. Additionally, the force and charisma of Orc Lord Teruchan that could pressure a tribe repeatedly blocked the intervention of the Chinese government. As long as Teruchan, who was loyal to Grid, was alive, the Chinese government’s ambition to turn the Orc Kingdom into a second China would be hard to achieve.

This was why this opportunity was very large. It was a season when the National Competition and Prince Lord’s coming of age ceremony overlapped. Most of the main powers of the Overgeared Kingdom were gone or tied up, so it was an opportunity to eliminate Teruchan and absorb the Orc Kingdom.

-We can’t mobilize all the rankers. The apparent reason for their obsession with becoming an orc is to gain achievements in the National Competition, so there is no way to prevent them from participating in the National Competition.

“We can’t stop it or there is a possibility of exposing China’s inner thoughts to foreign countries.”

-Yes. You shouldn’t let your guard down because the troops mobilized for the rebellion will be low in terms of quality.

“Haha, of course. You can rest assured that my confidence is based on sufficient evidence, not carelessness. It is time. I’m hanging up now.”

Ttiring.

The man ended the holographic call and adjusted his glasses. The smile on his face became cold like it was a lie.

“XX carelessness... Do you think that it makes sense to warn those willing to fight against the Overgeared Guild to not be careless?”

He couldn’t let his guard down even if they urged him to let it down. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that one needed to be prepared to quit the game if they wanted to fight against the Overgeared Guild. The man gritted his teeth and laid down in the capsule.

Once he opened his eyes again, he became one of the few players in the game with the ‘War Commander’ class, Havis. War Commander—it was a class that gave wide area buffs and increased mobility whenever he gave an ‘order’ to the army he commanded. The class had a tremendous influence in war, yet the rating was surprisingly ‘normal.’

However, it was clear that it required choosing the career of a soldier and being promoted through four ranks from a captain of tens, a captain of hundreds, a captain of thousands and a general. Therefore, the difficulty of changing classes was much higher than ordinary hidden classes. In the first place, the rank in the military wasn’t only proportional to their performance but also the length of service. This meant there were few commander-level players.

In conclusion, it meant that Havis was a high-quality human resource. The Chinese government paid a huge price to hire him for the rebellion. It was such a large sum that Havis didn’t dare refuse. it was an amount worth bearing the risk of losing everything he built up in exchange for being hostile to the Overgeared Kingdom...

‘If the rebellion succeeds, then I will even get twice the compensation.’

He had to succeed. It would be hard, but...

“...It is more than I thought?”

Havis’ eyes widened when he entered the command barracks with determination. It was because there were 30 commander-level players including himself. There were individual differences depending on the leadership stat and their level, but the average number of troops that each person could command was 4,000. If there were 30 people, it was a huge 120,000. It meant that 120,000 troops could first be gathered in the capital before the tribes that weren’t recruited to the rebellion could support Teruchan.

‘Is this the potential of China?’

Havis thought that the number of commander-level players participating in this rebellion would be seven at most. It might be different for someone who started Satisfy for the purpose of making money like himself, but most players weren’t likely to be tempted by the Chinese government’s money if it meant being hostile to the Overgeared Guild. In fact, this was actually the case. All but five of the 30 commanders were Chinese. They were talents raised by the Chinese government.

‘If they can raise this many commanders, the training of other classes must be enormous... It is worthy of being a powerful country.’

Given China’s capital and thorough preparation, it seemed to be one of the top two most powerful countries. A deep smile spread on the mouth of the admiring Havis.

In fact, he had predicted a 60% probability of the rebellion succeeding. 3 million troops would march on a large scale to attract the attention of the Orc Kingdom while at the same time, 30,000 troops buffed by seven commanders operated separately, moving quickly and stealthily through the capital and to the palace using the underground waterway that had already been sought. If they could destroy Teruchan and his guards within two hours, then they would win. If they didn’t destroy them before reinforcements arrived, they would lose...

In a way, it was a gambling strategy. It was because there was no chance of victory in a battle of power. Teruchan had 500,000 troops stationed in the capital and the tribes that chose to follow him had around 1 million troops. If these 1.5 million troops were given time to defend the city, it was hard to break through even with 3 million troops.

The biggest problem was the combat strength of the Orc Lord, Teruchan. The Chinese players didn't yet have the power to face someone who could leave the city for a short period of time, slaughter their enemies, and then return leisurely. Allies would continue to die and morale would fall. In order to win the war, it was important to isolate Teruchan in a narrow place without the protection of his large army, then killing him when he was all alone and by himself, with the full force of all their available troops.

‘I was wondering if it was possible to do that with 30,000 troops...’

Break through the defenses of the underground waterways and Teruchan’s bodyguards with 30,000 troops and raid Teruchan? Despite the commanders’ buffs, the probability of success was only around 60%. Yet contrary to expectations, the number had increased to 120,000. In this way, it was safe to say the odds were 100%.

‘We can split up the troops and do diversionary activities.’

If it wasn’t for the National Competition, the main powers of the Overgeared Kingdom would come as support. This meant that it would be a daunting task, even with 120,000 people. However, it wasn’t the case anymore. There was also a small chance that Grid would move. He had already lost his mentor called Khan during a National Competition, so he wouldn’t be able to hastily leave.

‘It doesn’t matter even if Grid moves.’

It was said that China was already prepared for this response. Spies were planted in the procession carrying various materials for use in Lord’s coming of age ceremony and the congratulatory delegations of other countries. The moment Grid was seen in the Orc Kingdom, they would turn into terrorists. They might not be able to harm the Overgeared Kingdom, but they would create enough of a commotion to make Grid nervous.

Could Grid ignore the commotion?

‘He will definitely return to Reinhardt immediately.’

He would recall the painful memories he didn’t want to suffer twice. Yes, there would be only victory in this war... Havis confirmed it and exchanged looks with the other commanders.

“Don't delay any longer. Let’s start.”

It was impossible to covertly proceed with such a large-scale rebellion. Thus, they promoted the rebellion on a larger scale and took advantage of it. The eyes of the Orc Kingdom and Overgeared Kingdom would be focused on the main army which had already started advancing yesterday. In that gap, they would move this special force they had on standby and carry out a surprise strike.

Wang Wei was the commander-in-chief and he explained the outline of the operation, “No matter how much the main army draws attention, we will be bound to stand out if there are 120,000 troops in the detached force. We’ll divide into groups of four and move separately. As you can see on the map, there are some places with a narrow viewing angle due to the structure of the fortress...”

The commanders saw the high odds of victory and were full of motivation. They were focused and engaged in active discussions. It was useless. They overlooked three facts.

First, the Overgeared Kingdom had succeeded in commercializing the warp gates. Secondly, the eyes and ears of the Overgeared Shadows led by Lantier Faker had already reached this place. Third, Grid could bombard them from a very long distance.

“All forces, gather!”

At the end of the operational meeting, the commanders gathered 120,000 troops. The appearance of the orc army forming a green wave on the plains was truly spectacular. Yes, it was spectacular. It stood out too much.

“We’ll be moving from now on...!”

“......?”

“......?”

The commanders and soldiers all cocked their hands when Wang Wei suddenly shut his mouth as he was shouting at the soldiers. A huge 240,000 eyes followed the direction of Wang Wei’s trembling gaze.

“......!”

“......!”

They all exclaimed in unison. The reason was the thousands of battle gear pouring down from the sky. A rain of battle gear—Overgeared King Grid made a declaration as he bombarded the large army of 120,000 orcs.

***

“Damian’s condition is a bit strange, right? I really can win this.”

Zelos participated in the National Competition as a representative of Japan. He was a high ranker placed 98th in the unified rankings and he was heating up Japan. The Japanese people were fascinated by the young ranker who was handsome and stylish. His popularity was evidenced by the fact that he was the final winner of the audition program, Player 55, which was ranked first in national viewership.

The PD of Player 55, Seichi, smiled and encouraged Zelos, “Of course. You won this time and got a legendary item right? On the other hand, Damian is just a washed-up has-been. He is nothing if he isn’t the pope. He is just an old hikikomori and only became the pope in the first place due to Grid.”

Damian lacked social skills and never cared about broadcasts. On the rare times he appeared on TV, he always praised Grid. PD Seichi instinctively hated Damian. He thought Damian was a national disgrace. He didn’t know how happy he was when he got the information that Damian was ‘expelled’ from the pope’s position.

“I know that you hate Damian, but calling the Zombie Demon King a washed-up has-been is a bit...”

“No, it is real. It wasn’t a choice. He was forced to become the Overgeared God Church leader. He really has lost everything.”

Of course, there was no way to ignore the power of the Overgeared God Church. However, Damian didn’t have enough time to grow. It was obvious that he could only use a few sword dances. No matter how many items he used, there would be a limit.

‘I don’t know about next year, but this year, he is several levels below Zelos.’

This was why he advised Zelos to play in PvP. It was as if fate had created the showdown between Zelos and Damian. In three days, the Japanese people would witness it with their own eyes in the PvP event on the final day of the National Competition. It would be the moment when a new Japanese icon was born.

‘The star made by me, Seichi, will represent Japan.’

He imagined the wonderful programs he could make in the future with Zelos, who defeated Damian and became the new face of Japan...

‘By next year, I’ll be the director of the Entertainment Bureau.’

A smile spread across Seichi’s face as he dreamed of a brilliant future.

“This...” In the game, Damian was very surprised to see the parcel that arrived in front of him.