Martial Online.

"Did you hear that?" Sara asked her colleague.

"Yeah, and I recorded it..." Aaron looked away from the camera and wondered in worry. "Will this place really be wiped off the face of the earth?"

"In a sense, it doesn't matter because only NPCs would really die, but this can be the start of some kind of secret quest!" Sara said excitedly.

"You are not bothered that so many people might die?" Aaron asked.

While walking around during the evening, he talked with townspeople and felt like they were actually real.

They had their lives and stories; some were happy and content, while others were struggling and in pain.

"They are not real!" Sara said and pondered before saying. "I think this is good enough for morning news. This must be at the level of World Quest, and Ambrose and the rest must've activated some kind of secret quest line."

"So, you or me?" Aaron asked.

"I will go tell the boss; you stay here and record everything!" Sara pulled out the interface and logged off.

As soon as she disappeared, he sighed and focused on the camera.

'Here are children, and even though they are NPCs, how can she just think of them as not real? How could any one of them just watch as children die?

'Game or not, it should never be so easy to disregard the value of a life.'

...

A sleeping face's eyelids fluttered open, revealing a sleepy gaze below the visor.

"Mmh." Sara removed the headset and rubbed her eyes. "I am in need of coffee..."

She then turned to the chair beside her own and saw Aaron sitting with his headset around his face, snoring softly.

His wedding ring on his finger sparkled as the first sunlight of the morning peeked through the curtains.

"..." Sara looked away from him and then walked out of the room into the hallway of the news office.

She heard the shuffling of papers, the distant voices, and the ringing of phones as she made her way over to the editor's office.

"Hey, Sara!" One of her coworkers jumped from his seat and leaned against the doorway. "The editor has been waiting for you. You better have a story ready!"

"I have." Sara smirked and soon arrived at the editor's office.

Without knocking, she opened the door and stormed inside.

"The hell?" The editor was surprised and annoyed by Sara's abrupt entrance. "Sara, the hell?"

"I have a story!" Sara slammed her hands on his desk and wore a silly smile. "You'll love this!"

The editor removed his glasses and pinched on his glabella. "Go ahead; I am listening."

Sara then began to recount her wild adventure in the world of martial arts.

After she was done, she took a seat, stole the editor's cup, and downed the water in one gulp.

"Hmm..." The editor ignored her rude behavior and replied, "That is indeed interesting, but I am not sure how many people are actually interested in this in Nocklund.

"Who knows, maybe only a handful of players from Nocklund are in Hightown, so this news would be quite useless.

"It is easier to report about the update and the World Quest as it might affect more people from Nocklund who are playing, but Hightown is a small part of the game."

"Yes, I know." Sara said, but she still smiled. "However, you have forgotten about the effectiveness of mouth-to-mouth."

"Mouth-to-mouth?" The editor frowned.

"Yes." Sara interlaced her fingers and said, "This is big news, and I know for certain that it will be spread among forums.

"It won't take long for the large majority of players to be aware of this news, and then, bigger news networks will also report this news, and it will all link back to us as we were the first to report this.

"It is a rare chance for us to be recognized as the primary source of such a significant news story."

"Hmm..." The editor nodded. "That sounds right... Uhm, what about this Ambrose? You said he was from Nocklund?"

"Ignore him for now; this is far more important!" Sara smiled. "I feel like something great will come from this!"

The editor sighed and nodded. "Alright. We'll start the show in thirty minutes. Get Aaron here and prepare yourself. We'll get you the script."

"Nice!"

...

Cerberus watched the fight with a deep frown. "Why the hell is he fighting so seriously?"

"Yeah, after that fool heard about the purge, he went nuts." SweetieHell laughed. "Maybe he is one of those losers who have married a NPC?"

Serenity listened in silence, but there was a worried frown on her beautiful face as she watched Ambrose fight desperately.

Julian wore a serious expression and then reached his hand over his shoulder, drew his long, cruciform sword from its sheath, and then began walking towards the fight.

"Huh, you are planning to help him?" Cerberus asked with a frown. "That is unexpected of you."

"I am curious, that's all." Julian replied and then rested his long sword on his shoulder as he continued walking towards the fight.

"Brother, shouldn't we also fight?" Andromeda asked. "Are we going to wait for us to die?"

"I am not fighting alongside that bastard." Cerberus crossed his arms and scoffed. "We'll wait."

Andromeda sighed and turned her gaze back to the fight.

"Aaah!" Ambrose screamed and swung his sword in a semi arc.

Reinhardt stepped to the side and quickly countered with a low kick, knocking Ambrose off balance.

Ambrose crashed on the ground, the back of his head colliding with the cracked ground.

Reinhardt stabbed the sword down, but suddenly, a long-bladed sword emerged from the shadows, parrying his attack.

"Huh?" He perked up his ears and sensed that another player had entered the fight. "Interesting."

"Ugh." Ambrose quickly climbed back to his feet, turned to the person who saved him, and was somewhat surprised. "It's you..."

"You can call me Julian." Julian pointed his sword at Reinhardt, the edge of the sword curving towards the heavens.

Ambrose nodded and sighed as he stood upright, trying to shake off the fatigue.

'If defeating him is indeed impossible, I still have plan B. I am not sure if it works, though...'

He was not ready to give up just yet.

...

At very early morning, a certain news report caught the people's attention.

It was still very early, so only a small number of people were awake to watch it, but there were a few who woke up early to play Martial Online who saw it.

Without further ado, they went to forums to report it before leaving their PCs open and going to Martial Online.

Without their knowledge, their forum post caught the attention of millions of players worldwide.

In an instant, a storm started brewing as the news began making huge waves across the entire world.

...

At a random household.

Slam—a door was swung open.

A shadowy figure rushed towards the bed, pulled back the covers, and shouted. "Wake up!"

"Ugh, the hell, Liam?" A sleepy-sounding young man opened his eyes and shuddered in cold. "You fucker... pulling back the covers? That is just evil..."

"Something big happened!" Liam, the young man's little brother, walked to the windows and opened the curtains, opening a sight to the winter wonderland outside.

"What..." The sleepy-sounding young man tried to return to sleep, but the excitement in Liam's voice piqued his curiosity.

"Hightown is under threat!" Liam said excitedly. "I think it's some kind of secret quest or something."

"Ugh, didn't we arrive in Hightown yesterday?"

"Yes, that's why we have to go there now!"

"Ugh..." The young man groaned. "Fine..."

Liam tossed his headset to his brother and smiled excitedly as he left the room to rush to his own room, where he grabbed his headset and quickly put it on.

The same scenes happened in many households.

A big storm was happening in Hightown, and now the players were right in the middle of it!