On that day, those who sought to oppose Shana had gathered in a massive hall within the Governor's Office district. The turnout was staggering; over a thousand players had packed into the space. Even the participants themselves were awestruck by the sheer scale of the assembly.
In reality, however, the majority of them had been lured there without knowing the full details. Only about half the crowd was actually committed to the idea of a hostile campaign against Shana.
"Hey, what's this meeting even for? This is a crazy amount of people."
"You joined without knowing? This is a rally for everyone tired of Shana's tyranny. We're here to denounce him."
"Wait, seriously?! I'm actually kind of a Shana fan…"
"Me too, man. But the guys at the top of my squadron said we had to show up, and I can't exactly say no to them."
The massive mobilization was largely the work of Sterben and Noir, who had spent weeks carefully seeding rumors. They understood social engineering: if you have a group of a hundred, you only need to sway fifty-one to control the narrative. They targeted the internal hierarchies of GGO's mid-to-large squadrons, convincing the leaders that a unified front was necessary. Even though the duo had already officially "retired" from the scheme, the momentum they'd created was now self-sustaining.
Despite the crowd, there was no clear organizer. Several prominent squadron leaders had simply suggested they "ought to talk," and the suggestion had snowballed. As a result, only a small fraction of the attendees were actually participating in the debate; the rest were simply whispering and killing time.
"Alright, let's move to the next item," a player acting as the impromptu moderator announced. "Countermeasures for Shana's primary threat: the heavy-armored Humvee, 'Black.'"
A ripple of unease went through the room. To these players, the vehicle was a rolling fortress.
"Don't we just need to get our own armor?" someone shouted.
"We can't find the materials! That composite plating he uses is insane—it's totally broken."
"Looking back, Shana's foresight during the Christmas event was terrifying. He monopolized all the rare materials right under our noses."
"Besides, even if we had the metal, there isn't a craftsman alive who can work it except for Ikoma. Where did he even find a god-tier smith like that?"
A few players had attempted to switch to "Craftsman" builds inspired by Ikoma, but between the difficulty of gathering materials and the fact that their combat stats were already messed up, none had reached a level where they could produce anything of note.
"Going out in a bus is suicide," another player grumbled. "The moment we leave the flat plains, we're trapped. He'll just snipe us from a mile away and wipe the whole squad."
"And even if we close the distance, if he snipes the driver from outside our rendering range, it's game over."
"The only way is to put out a public call for players who can drive a manual transmission," the moderator suggested. "We spread the people out across multiple vehicles and escort them with rocket-launcher technicals. It's our only play."
The hall murmured in reluctant agreement, though everyone ignored the fact that there was a massive shortage of manual drivers. The majority seemed to operate on the optimistic delusion that if they just "recruited" enough, someone would surely know how to drive a stick shift—as if a driver's license were a prerequisite for playing a video game.
If Shana had been there, he would have simply told them to "go find a parking lot and practice."
Next, the discussion turned to the mysterious attack Shana had used during the Rosalia rescue.
"Next: the weapon used to annihilate the kidnappers. The one that fires the black light."
"The black optical rifle? What the hell even is that? I heard it bypassed every defensive field they had."
"Nobody knows…"
Because there were no high-level craftsmen capable of accessing top-tier blueprints, the identity of Acht X remained a mystery. It had become a boogeyman—the "Black Light of Death."
"Let's table that for now," the moderator sighed. "We're clearly missing information." No one objected.
"One more thing," a player added. "We're all in agreement that we're banning that kind of stuff, right?"
"You mean the kidnapping?"
"Yeah. Who even came up with that? I heard they basically tortured that Rosalia girl. It's pathetic."
"The problem is, nobody knows who did it."
Ironically, every player present that day—including the escorts—had an airtight alibi, largely because no one had been acting alone. Yet, the stigma of the event hung over the entire anti-Shana movement. They were being looked at with disdain by the rest of the server—including the top-ranked player, Zexceed, and his companions.
"Those guys are the worst," Yuuko muttered from the back of the hall. "Treating a woman like that… it's disgusting."
"Agreed," Zexceed said, his voice cold. "Just hearing the details makes my skin crawl."
"Glad to see you have some common sense, Zexceed-san," Haruka added.
Zexceed turned his attention back to the earlier topic. "The driving issue is a problem for us, too. Yuuko, Haruka… neither of you can drive a manual, right?"
"Not a chance," Yuuko said.
"I've done it in other games," Haruka noted, "but I don't have a license in the real world."
Zexceed nodded absently. "Yeah, I guess… wait. Haruka, what did you just say?"
"That I don't have a license?"
"No, before that."
"I said I've driven them in other games, but I wasn't very good at it."
"That's it!" Zexceed's eyes lit up. He was quick on the uptake. "This is a video game! We don't need licenses. As long as you can figure out the controls to get the wheels turning, it doesn't matter!"
"Ah…"
"You're right!"
"Think about it," Zexceed continued. "Shana's entire crew can drive that Humvee. I thought it was weird that all of them were licensed manual drivers in real life, but they probably just practiced here."
"Unbelievable," Yuuko whispered. "Shana-san really doesn't miss a single detail, does he?"
"What should we do, Zexceed-san? Should we suggest it to the group?" Haruka asked.
"No… let's wait," Zexceed whispered. "If we tell everyone now, every manual car at the rental shops will be booked in minutes. Let's go grab some for ourselves first, practice, and then 'report' our findings later."
"Good plan."
Suddenly, the doors to the hall burst open. Several players came sprinting in, breathless.
"Hey! Everyone! Look outside!"
"It's Shana! He's on the monitors!"
The hall fell into a confused silence as the players shouted over each other.
"Just go to the nearest street monitor! He's broadcasting to the whole city! He says he has something to tell everyone!"
"You're kidding…"
"Everyone, move!"
The thousand-plus players surged out of the hall like a tide, heading for the nearest public screens.
"Yuuko, Haruka, let's go," Zexceed commanded.
"Right!"
"What do you think he's going to say?"
"I don't know," Zexceed said, his gaze fixed on the glowing screens in the distance. "But I have a feeling he's about to flip the board on us."
The Previous Day – Soleil Headquarters
Hachiman, Haruno, Argo, Rose, and Meguri were gathered in the boardroom. They were waiting for a video call with the American management team at Zaskar, the company that operated GGO. Meguri was acting as their lead interpreter.
"Alright, Senpai. Once we're connected, I'll need you to handle the translation," Hachiman said.
Meguri pouted, giving him a look of mild protest. "Muuu. Hachiman-kun, I'm going to be your subordinate eventually. You should probably get used to calling me something else. Calling me 'Senpai' in a business meeting is a little weird, don't you think?"
"She has a point," Haruno added with a smirk.
Hachiman sighed, yielding to the pressure. "Fine. Then… Meguri-san."
Meguri frowned again. "The '-san' is a bit much, too. Does a President really address his staff so formally? What do you call everyone else? What about Haru-sa—I mean, President Haruno?"
"I call her 'Sister' (Nee-san)."
"Hehe. Jealous, Meguri?" Haruno teased.
"Ugh… the 'sister' position is so good… Fine. What about Director Argo?"
"Argo."
"And Rose-san?"
"Little—I mean, Rose."
"I'm very curious about what you almost said there," Meguri giggled, "but whatever. So, you can call me Meguri, or Meguri-kun… or maybe Megurin?"
Hachiman winced. It felt unnatural, but he didn't have much of a choice. "Fine. Understood. Meguri."
"Nn."
Hachiman paused. "Wait… what?"
The moment he had said "Meguri," she had immediately added the "nn" sound herself. She beamed at him, looking triumphant.
"There! You chose Megurin! I'm so happy!"
"Nicely played, Meguri," Haruno laughed.
"Wh—what kind of brute-force logic was that…?" Hachiman groaned. "But she's too cute to argue with. It's actually healing me. Fine."
"So, from now on, it's Megurin, okay?"
Hachiman realized he'd never actually had a choice in the matter. "Sigh… only when we're alone. In front of others, it's just Meguri."
"Yay! Either way, it's a total victory for me!"
At that moment, Argo signaled that the Zaskar representatives were on the line. "We're a go. Call starts in ten minutes."
"Thanks, Argo. Let's do a final run-through of the pitch."
Hachiman explained the objective one last time. When the call finally began, Hachiman's proposal to Zaskar was accepted with surprising ease.
"That sounds incredibly entertaining," Meguri translated for the American rep. "However, they're asking if they can have some time to prepare the server-side assets."
"Argo, give them the file," Hachiman commanded.
"You got it."
Under Hachiman's direction, Argo sent a specific program to the Zaskar team.
"Wow, this is impressive. Hold on, he's calling in their lead programmer," Meguri said. A moment later, a surprised American face appeared on the screen, nodding vigorously. "He says you have excellent staff. With this program, they can launch the event as early as tomorrow."
"Perfect. Tell them we have a deal. Regarding the broadcasting rights and revenue: tell them we'll take 30%, and they can have 70%."
Meguri blinked. "He's asking if you're sure. He was expecting a fifty-fifty split."
"Tell him it's a gesture of goodwill for our future partnership."
Meguri spoke into the mic, then smiled. "He says he appreciates the generosity. He'd love to meet you in person soon to discuss a formal business alliance between Zaskar and Soleil."
"Is that so… Sister, should we plan a trip to the States for a formal signing?"
"I think we should," Haruno said decisively. "Meguri, tell them we are very interested in a long-term partnership and that we look forward to visiting them soon."
"Understood… and, sent. He says he's looking forward to it."
"As are we."
Back to the Present – GGO Central Market District
The face of Shana appeared on every monitor in the city. He didn't waste time with pleasantries. He looked directly into the camera, his voice carrying through the speakers to the thousands of players watching in the streets.
"To everyone playing GGO," Shana began, his tone calm but heavy with authority. "Starting right now… I'm going to have you all fight a war."
And just like that, without warning, a conflict that would consume the entire server had begun.
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