'This is even more advanced than the old Commander interface. I can literally make or break someone's political career.'
Curious, he exited Figaro's tab and picked a region that had been hostile toward him in the past.
Settling on the Egyptian leader, he selected the [Demote] option just to test it.
'Next time, think twice before thinking I'm an idiot and insulting me behind my back.'
Sora had a keen ear, and though he wasn't usually thin-skinned, he couldn't entirely ignore blatant disrespect.
[President Soussou has been demoted to Unemployed.]
Curious about the effects, he left his hidden dimension and made his way to Egypt.
Arriving in Cairo moments later, he cloaked himself from the players nearby, headed toward the palace and entered a meeting room. He wasn't surprised to find the former leader shouting orders at his lackeys.
"Don't listen to those garbage notifications! I'm still your president! Mounir, Abdelkader, Jack—listen to me! I don't know what those North African Coalition clowns are plotting, but I want them dead today! I want the heads of Jawad and all his friends before sundown!!"
Surprised by the command, one of the three men looked up. "Mr. Soussou, please reconsider. Turning Jawad against us could endanger the entire country."
"By the end of the month, there'll be nothing left of this country but Cairo—and that's assuming the city's still standing! You really think Cairo can survive without my special forces? They existed before we ever came to this world, and they're loyal only to me!! If you think you've got a shot at survival without me, you're delusional!!"
'This guy's been in power for too long. Stripping him of his title doesn't change much about how this region operates…' Sora realized.
He vanished from the presidential palace and opened a tab showing players in the region and their past contributions.
[Contribution Rankings | Region: Egypt]
1 – Jawad Sayed – Level 192 – Contribution Ranking: 1024th
2 – Mounir Abdeljelil – Level 185 – Contribution Ranking: 1096th
3 – Karima Toubi – Level 180 – Contribution Ranking: 1136th
…
64 – Mourad Soussou – Level 180 – Contribution Ranking: 5307th
'The leaderboard only shows people from this region and ranks them by their contribution to the kingdom. Even with his privileges and high level, the president is only ranked 64th in his own region… Not a single Egyptian player is in the global top 1000. How is that even possible?'
Curious to understand how the rankings were structured, he switched the filter from "Egypt" to "Kingdom."
What he saw left him speechless.
[Contribution Rankings | All Regions]
1 – One Hundred-One – Level 274
2 – Thousand – Level 263
3 – Newtons – Level 225
4 – Sora Hashino – Level 225
5 – Shade – Level 180
Sora's jaw dropped, unable to make sense of what he was seeing.
'Each of my Alter Egos has their own ranking? That's why even Egypt's best players are ranked so low!'
'And what the hell are those levels? One Hundred-One is level 274?! Thousand, who I thought was dead, is level 263?! Newtons, who was born just a few days ago, contributed more than me to humanity? What is going on?!'
Completely thrown off by the new revelations, he forgot the reason he had come to Egypt in the first place and got lost in thought.
'I need to contact them. If they outrank me, it means they did insane things I need to know about! Can't let these kids roam the world, do all the work while I stay behind, mindling in politics. I have to make better use of my time.'
He sent a message to all his [Alter Egos] and asked, "Who wants to help reshape the world, and help all regions prepare for the end of month?"
After a few minutes spent looking for someone interested, he gave up, and created another alter ego.
[Daemon – Level 225]
The Alter Ego stood over two and a half meters tall, completely bald. His muscles were massive, and his aura oppressive. Sora had taken the time to add scars to his face, and the blood in the whites of his eyes gave him a terrifying look.
Sora, surprised by the result, remained speechless, until Daemon spoke first, "No need to explain anything. I know what I have to do. Hand me the badge."
Sora nodded and handed him the [Supreme Authority] badge.
A cold sweat ran down his spine as he watched his 'evil twin' chuckle softly with the badge in hand. Quietly, he vanished and headed northeast.
'Destination: Canada. One Hundred-One asked to be left alone, but I need to know what Thousand is up to.'
His trip only took a second, but during the journey, he wondered about Newtons' activities and contacted him telepathically.
"Hey little brother! I heard you've been busy these past few days! Want to give me a report?"
The reply didn't take long. "I'm with Hope, Alius's girlfriend! She's super nice, I get why he fell for her. Other than that, nothing special. I just helped her find a few things here and there."
Sora suddenly had the urge to warp over and slap him twice, but kept his cool.
"I'm serious. You've done things that affected your contribution to humanity. What exactly did you do?"
A few moments later, he got Newtons' reply. "After traveling around and seeing how bad things were in different regions, cities, and villages, I decided to lend a hand to humanity. I created a small world where people can train—similar to what we did during the academy exam with Kara. I scattered entrance portals to these worlds all over the planet. Players can enter, choose their difficulty or preferred training mode, and improve from there. Some train their skills, others grind levels, etc."
Sora was speechless.
"You built that while helping Hope?" he asked.
"Yup. Should I not have?"
Sora smiled and replied, "No, that was a good idea. Let me know if you need help fine-tuning it."
Thinking the exchange was over, he got another message: "I'll actually need your help soon. Right now, around ten million players are using the world I created. Since most of them are low level, it hasn't been a problem. But more and more people are signing up and training, and soon I won't be able to supply the energy for all of them. Can I link it to you to power it?"
Sora froze mid-air over Toronto. "I don't want to be the backup battery. Talk to the others and find a sustainable solution. Reach out to Triple Five—he's a clever one who loves challenges. Also ask Daemon, our youngest brother. He knows all the troops who fought the last few days, and some of our soldiers have innate skills that might interest you. He might be interested in your second training world as well."
Newtons replied, "Good idea. I'll see what we can do."
Sora ended the communication with Newtons and turned his attention to the landscape before him.
"This region is in a really bad shape..." he muttered as he observed the devastated cities all around.
Raising his eyes and looking toward the direction that interested him, he spotted two titanic figures sitting on either side of what could only be described as a low table.
Sora quickly identified them.
[PROTECTOR OF URUK] [ENKIDU – Level ???]
[KING OF URUK] [GILGAMESH – Level ???]
'Level 276 or higher since I can't see their levels? Beyond just their level, the power these two give off feels infinite… One radiates sheer physical might, the other gives off a sense of invincibility. That's the impression I get just looking at them.' Sora tried to analyze the duo without resorting to his usual tools—mental energy, [Mana Eyes], or any methods that might provoke these legendary figures.
Despite his efforts not to draw attention, both turned their heads toward him simultaneously.
Sora was surprised, but not alarmed. 'As long as I stay outside their range, I should be safe.'
"That aura. That ridiculously dangerous skill. Are you the original, or just a copy?" Enkidu was the first to address Sora.
Sora immediately understood that he was referring to his [Prestige] skill, and wondered if he should answer truthfully.
But he didn't have to ponder for long.
"He's probably here for the boy we sent to Uruk. And yes, he's the original," Gilgamesh said, a smile on his lips.
Enkidu looked up and began to emit a sound that made the space around him tremble. Sora was shocked to see the zone surrounding the beast-like titan vibrating so intensely that the officers stationed in the garrisons around the king began bleeding from their ears, and the lower-ranked soldiers fainted one after another.
Faced with the carnage caused by his comrade, Gilgamesh raised his hand slightly and isolated Enkidu's army from the shockwave.
'Is he… laughing?' Sora wondered, just before he sensed a creeping danger heading his way.
'The threat… is moving at the speed of sound?' he speculated.
Watching as the region was vaporized by a sonic wave, he realized, 'They might not be able to leave, but they can still use tricks like this to attack…'