Overgeared

'What passage did he use?'

It was after Baal left.

Reinhardt was in turmoil, but Agnus was the one who was most shocked. Based on what he knew, Baal couldn't appear on the surface. He learned that Baal could only appear by a fragment of his consciousness into a specific subject and borrowing their body. Yet the Baal just now was real.

An Absolute who had a figure that was perceived differently depending on the player's inclination and mood. The 1st Great Demon, Baal. He came as an immense fear to Agnus today.

'He even sent the hell moon to the surface to make it hell.'

Where did Baal get the demonic energy to emerge on the surface? Could it have something to do with the hell moon, which appeared in a more threatening form? The hell moon was sent to the surface, so hell's demons and demonic creatures must be greatly weakened. It would be the same for Baal. In a situation like this, wasn't holding humans hostage and luring Grid putting himself at risk?

Agnus was filled with many doubts and tried to interpret the situation, but it wasn't easy. He was gradually becoming nervous. The emergence of Baal meant some denial of his knowledge and information. It was hard to stay calm after knowing that the knowledge and information he truly believed was wrong.

Lauel saw his confusion and explained like it was trivial, "Baal's information often turns out to be false."

The opponent was the demon among the demons. It meant he was the most distant being in the world from trust and belief. Most of the information related to him was false.

"You… do you think that Baal was able to come to the surface from the beginning?"

"Would Baal be any different from Zeratul and Raphael, who can enter and exit the surface like it is their bedroom? If Baal's authority is greater than theirs, he will only be superior, not inferior."

Baal and Raphael stood on opposite sides but were clearly different beings. The master of hell was Baal, while the master of heaven was Rebecca, not Raphael. Baal's status was beyond Raphael's from the time he betrayed Yatan and seized hell.

Just going to and from the surface? Lauel guessed that it would've been easy from the beginning. Even so, it was obvious why he had been quiet so far.

'It is because the situation wasn't ripe yet.'

The principle of Baal taking action was related to the pursuit of pleasure. He must've waited happily until there was an environment where he could enjoy himself to his heart's content. Now was the moment he had been waiting for.

'Can we afford it?'

Lauel's expression darkened as he raised his head.

All sorts of events and accidents were taking place in the sky that was projecting the situation of hell. Blood burst out, followed by pained screams.

Fear had spread throughout the world.

***

"Does this make sense?"

At the S.A Group's shareholders meeting…

The angry shareholders became furious. It was because Satisfy's environment changed overnight. It didn't matter if it was day or not. If they looked up at the sky from anywhere on the continent, they would see a bizarre and terrifying moon. A red moon with countless eyes.

What about the videos being projected in the sky? A real-time slaughter in hell was being played. It was really pandemonium. It wasn't a landscape that could be endured with a sane mind.

Some shareholders who viewed Satisfy as a metaverse rather than a game showed greater rejection. To them, Satisfy was another world in which social, economic, and cultural activities were carried out in a much faster and easier manner than in reality. Regardless of the background story, it was a space where the value grew only when daily life was lived. Now that daily life had completely collapsed.

Ordinary people with common sense couldn't accept the world that had changed overnight. How many people in the world would want to have dates, do their hobbies, or have a business meeting under a sky full of terrible sights? In fact, Satisfy's connection rate was showing a noticeable decline.

"This time, it doesn't seem like a problem that Grid can easily solve. I don't know much about the game, but that existence called Baal isn't ordinary."

"That's right. The moment that Baal appeared, Reinhardt's army that was famous for its strength fell down like dominoes. Needless to say, the ordinary people passed out."

"Looking at the video posted on the Internet of the players who were at the scene, the debuffs are quite significant. I even saw Grid stagger like he was about to fall. Director Yoon-nim, did you see it?"

"Ah, that…"

The purpose of the shareholders in coming here wasn't to socialize. They came together to hold the company accountable and urge the company to come up with a solution. Criticisms poured out and the anger became contagious. They didn't swear, but their loud voices were like the grandstands in baseball stadiums.

They didn't understand it no matter how much Director Yoon Sangmin explained the situation. The thing the shareholders wanted was a declaration of the end of the situation. They didn't want to hear any background explanations or excuses.

The silent Chairman Lim Cheolho finally turned on the microphone. "We don't interfere with Satisfy."

It was actually the worst answer. The expressions of the shareholders crumpled like paper and they started to protest fiercely.

However, Chairman Lim Cheolho's expression was still. The hell episode might've opened decades earlier than scheduled, but he still crossed his arms in front of the large pile of reports because there was solid rationale for it. "Trust the players as always."

"What players… based on the briefing earlier, the difficulty of hell is too high. Are we supposed to rely only on Grid this time?"

"Grid alone can't solve it."

The shareholders were even more upset by Chairman Lim Cheolho's resolute remarks.

Grid couldn't solve it? The shareholders, who had regarded Grid as their last hope, started to say it was all ruined.

Chairman Lim Cheolho opened his mouth again, "Strictly speaking, Satisfy isn't ruined. Even if the players lose and fail in the war against hell, another story will begin anew."

The end was nothing more than a device that signaled a new beginning.

Hell, Asgard, the Hwan Kingdom, and the dragons—Satisfy would return no matter which faction was ultimately victorious. Even if it happened to start over from scratch. It was okay even if humanity won and saw the 'ending.' It was because the end of the story didn't mean the end of Satisfy.

The story that took place after that was enough for people to create a new one.

***

The world changed in an instant. The sky that showed the current state of hell haunted the minds of the people. They were worried their family or friends would be among the many who died horribly in the fight against the demons.

Ordinary people who lived a life far from fighting felt anxious. It was a gory movie that was playing above their heads all the time. There were few places they could look at. Fortunately, they couldn't hear any sound.

"Crazy bastard."

Immediately after Baal left, General Asmophel and the soldiers took care of the people. Lauel and the nobles appeased the confused people.

This allowed Grid to focus on his role. He soared into the sky and got as close to the hell moon as possible. Numerous bloodshot eyes swept indifferently over Grid. They rolled around non-stop and spread the situation of hell to the entire world. It was an even more unrealistic sight up close. The sky was infinitely segmented and screened.

"He is a really crazy bastard."

Curses kept popping out. It was impossible to withstand the urge to swear. The humans in hell were taken hostage, while the moon, which should've been in hell, was moved to the surface and used to relay the reality of hell. Baal's power and intentions were extremely abhorrent. He stole the sky and the ability to rest from all beings on the surface. Humanity was exposed to a fear and disgust they had never experienced before and were no longer able to live a normal life.

Then Grid used Item Combination. He combined Gujel's Dao and Cranbel's Horn. It was a fusion of dragon weapons.

A huge amount of energy was released. The entire area around him was distorted like a whirlpool. It was a power that even Grid couldn't handle at the moment. He eventually grabbed the long hilt with both hands. His arms were trembling.

Grid combined this with the field of view skill to aim at the evil moon. He clearly engraved the hell moon in his eyes, squeezed out all his strength, used his buffs, and swung the sword. It was a blow belatedly followed by a sound. By the time the explosion spread, an orange divinity had already filled the sky. Nevertheless, it couldn't reach the hell moon. It seemed that even if he used a field of view skill, he was unable to cut down the moon in space.

A new sight entered the eyes of the disappointed Grid. Very small shadows were approaching and touching the moon. They were the meteorites that Braham had pulled down. Braham designated the target as the hell moon and used Meteor.

…But nothing happened. The hell moon existed steadfastly without showing a single movement.

"I can't smash the moon with my magic," Braham said as he clicked his tongue and glared at the intact moon.

"……"

Wasn't this too violent to be called a magic attack? There were too many things to tackle, but Grid kept his mouth shut.

Just then, Mercedes came to his side with her silver wings. Her transparently glowing eyes analyzed the moon and videos.

……!

The hell moon shook a bit, unlike when it was hit by Braham's Meteor. Finally, it trembled. Screams seemed to reach all the way to where they were.

"……!"

"……!"

The faces of Grid and the apostles were filled with admiration. It was because some of the eyes of the hell moon started to shed bloody tears and some of the videos filling the sky started to turn off. The perfect sky suddenly appeared through the cracks in the videos.

However, new videos soon appeared and filled in the gaps. There were too many eyes on the hell moon. The damaged eyes were quickly replaced by new ones and the videos that were turned off were repeatedly turned on.

"Stop. Stop it," Grid whispered as he grabbed Mercedes' hand and pulled her into his arms.

Gasp, gasp… Mercedes' wildly gasping body was trembling. Her eyes, which were more transparent than glass, became blurred and veins bulged around her trembling eyes.

"This… it isn't here," Mercedes explained as she leaned against Grid's chest with a pale face, "It is still in hell… it is a using the moon of the human world as a mirror."

This was why Grid's attack didn't reach. The hell moon on the surface was nothing more than an illusion. In the first place, it couldn't be targeted by the field of view skill. The moon that Braham's Meteor struck wasn't the moon of hell.

'Then Braham… did he just use Meteor on the real, innocent moon?'

By the time Grid realized it, Braham's face was already red. He was very sensitive to the word 'troll,' so Grid didn't bother to point it out.

"…We have no choice but to go there in person."

Grid's judgment was quick. He declared that he would accept Baal's invitation. It was the moment when the apostles nodded as if they had been waiting…

"Of course, we should do so."

A welcome voice was heard. Grid looked up at the sky and made eye contact with the smiling Biban. There were the tower members behind him.

Legends from the previous eras—the great heroes who protected the world behind history had come forward.

One by one, the people who were in a panic and couldn't come to their senses started to gain courage one by one.

"……"

Betty was staring at Agnus.