Chapter 235
Hero’s Council?
What was that?
Seonghyun had just heard about the Nine Heroes,
But he didn’t know much about the heroes themselves.
Just that they were the strongest in the world, roughly.
But their council was being held, and someone came to escort him?
Was Seonghyun being summoned to the Hero’s Council as well?
Did the figure sense this doubt?
Seonghyun placed his teacup down for some reason, swallowed, and remained quiet.
Karina began to tell her story.
"I apologize again for summoning you so suddenly."
"So what's the connection between the Hero's Council and me?"
Seonghyun knew the Overpalace was one of the Nine Heroes called the Black Star.
They had exchanged letters after all.
Or was it just one-way communication since he only received messages?
Anyway, when Seonghyun asked,
Karina apologetically replied,
"The Hero's Council won't harm you, successor. However, after this, there will likely be a very large festival for outsiders."
"A festival for outsiders?"
"Yes, the Black Star has made continuous efforts to open 'that thing.' And when 'it' is revealed through this Hero's Council, we'll be able to give you the complete item."
"Ah?"
So in simple terms,
The meeting of the world's strongest beings across the entire continent, not just this East Asian server, was happening because of Seonghyun?
And furthermore,
"To deliver something to me?"
"Exactly."
Why was the scale getting so large?
Anyway, he was curious about this festival and tried to ask.
"The legendary Apophis. We will awaken it and create a festival for all outsiders across the continent."
[You have obtained information about the legendary nightmare, 『Apophis』.]
[You have obtained information about 『Apophis's Temple』.]
"...???"
He really couldn't understand what she was saying.
What was Apophis anyway?
Though he had such thoughts,
A few things were clear.
'A massive event will happen soon.'
That much he could confirm.
0.
E-world's chairman, Park Won.
Normally, he rarely moved around.
In other words, if he was moving, it meant something significant was happening.
That was the case now.
The people gathered in the large conference room were all key personnel.
Beyond simple high rankings,
These were the core figures from each department.
All skilled individuals recognized by Park Won.
They looked at each other and immediately sighed.
Looking at each other's faces and sighing could be quite rude,
But it couldn't be helped.
Having skilled individuals of this caliber gathered meant:
'All-nighters are confirmed.'
'I need to call home and say I won't be back for days.'
'I'm dead.'
Each of them knew enormous overtime and workloads were coming,
So it was inevitable.
As everyone formed a somewhat tense atmosphere,
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, the youngest among those gathered, swallowed hard.
What on earth was this about?
'Why do I have to be involved in this...'
He really wanted to complain to someone,
But since everyone glanced at Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong with pitying looks,
He felt somewhat comforted.
Anyway, as they waited,
A woman with lifeless eyes and dark circles sat next to Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong.
"Team Leader Baek Jiwoo?"
"...Save me."
Rather than finding her sudden plea for help strange, he felt chills.
Somehow, he felt like that would be his future.
As Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong swallowed and looked at Team Leader Baek Jiwoo,
Team Leader Baek Jiwoo shook her head.
Then,
"No, everyone here is going to die."
Seeing Team Leader Baek Jiwoo say this, several people flinched and reacted.
"Hey, Team Leader Baek, you know what's going on, right?"
"What are we called for? I know it's about the Hero's Council, but what for?"
"Seeing Lee Wonsong here, it seems related to that Overlord..."
"If Team Leader Baek knows... is it an event?"
"They called all of us for an event?"
Everyone asked Team Leader Baek Jiwoo while talking among themselves,
But Team Leader Baek Jiwoo looked at them with an ominous smile.
"Hehehe."
That laughter was so chilling
That everyone swallowed and looked away.
Team Leader Baek Jiwoo appeared to be on the verge of madness, showing symptoms close to mania.
So everyone ignored her and sat quietly in their seats.
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong also swallowed hard watching this.
What on earth was happening?
Actually, why was he here in the first place?
As he sat there with such thoughts,
Before long, a man stepped onto the stage at the front of the conference room.
The legendary genius who created Eternal World,
And the owner of this company.
Chairman Park Won greeted them.
[Thank you all for gathering.]
The microphone rang, and everyone in the conference room could hear.
At last, they might learn why they were gathered.
As everyone grew tense,
Park Won cautiously began to speak.
[You’ve probably heard the story that all Nine Heroes will convene for a meeting. But if it were just a meeting, you wouldn’t be gathered here. The reason I called you is because it has been confirmed that 『Apophis’s Temple』 will open after this Hero’s Council, so you have been summoned.]
Park Won got straight to the point boldly.
But everyone became pensive at his words.
“Ah, Apophis?”
“It’s coming out already?”
“Is this really okay?”
“Wasn’t that supposed to be the 2nd anniversary event?”
“Wait, how do the Nine Heroes already know about this?”
As everyone uttered puzzled questions,
Park Won smiled softly and said,
[Yes, it’s because the leader of the Nine Heroes, the Black Star, summoned this. Seonghyun, the Overlord and owner of the Overpalace, is close to reaching level 200 and that’s probably why this has happened. This has been confirmed to deliver what is needed to Seonghyun about 『Apophis』.]
Everyone turned to look at Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong, since Seonghyun was the user under his responsibility.
As everyone looked at Lee Wonsong,
Chairman Park smiled.
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong wanted to leave immediately, but
Anyway,
Park said,
[It’s natural when an Overlord class appears, but the Black Star is a bit hasty. It seems this is because of the homunculus created by Seonghyun, but it’s not certain so please refrain from speaking about it. Regardless, this meeting will activate the 『Apophis’s Temple』.]
At Park’s words, the developers looked troubled, scratching their heads.
What exactly was Apophis’s Temple?
Anyone unaware might think this way, but here no one was ignorant.
‘…The 2nd anniversary event that was supposed to open in five months is already being released?’
Apophis’s Temple and Apophis
It was an ambitious anniversary event E-world was preparing, planned much larger than the 1st anniversary event last year.
It was an event for all users to participate,
Meaning players from all servers could enjoy it, not just the East Asia server where Seonghyun was.
Also, since it was the 2nd anniversary event, it was made to suit players of all levels.
Originally, there were five months until the 2nd anniversary, so they were preparing leisurely.
Now it seemed the schedule was suddenly advanced by five months.
Seeing this, everyone’s expression darkened.
Park laughed and said,
[I intend to participate and make full use of the super AI Immortal.]
That was at least some consolation,
But even so, shortening the schedule by five months was ridiculous.
Above all, it would be tough to manage.
‘This will cause chaos for Associates on other servers too,’
Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong thought.
According to Park Won's explanation, developers from other servers would also participate,
providing a somewhat consoling assurance that it wouldn’t be as difficult as expected.
Afterward, Park assigned tasks to each team.
They had to prepare for Apophis’s emergence immediately.
Although the Hero’s Council hadn’t started yet,
if the heroes used their powers to summon Apophis’s Temple right away, it would be a disaster.
Everyone had to hurry.
It might be necessary to announce a long-term server maintenance for the first time.
Rather than wallowing in despair, everyone snapped to attention and took notes on Park’s instructions.
They had to finish the work somehow.
[You might not have much to do during development, but afterward, I hope the user management team will work hard.
Apophis’s Temple will be huge, so conflict between users is inevitable.
Please handle any excessively malicious users with sanctions.]
Upon hearing that, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong closed his eyes tightly.
The user management team for the East Asia server, and naturally, including China,
had about 700 million players worldwide.
That was one third of the total global player count.
Hearing this, Assistant Manager Lee Wonsong quietly wiped away tears.