"Woah, you look like a complete mess—scratch that, you are a complete mess, bro," Aaron said, looking at Greg, who was covered in dust from head to toe. Greg ignored Aaron and walked towards his room, the need for a bath paramount.
After taking his bath, Greg returned to the living room, where everyone was present.
"How did the video go?" Greg asked Gold Goblin, collapsing onto a free couch, extremely tired.
"You went viral, my friend. Not that you did it for the fame, but the video broke several records already. It's a bummer you won't receive any award or recognition for it. The government was ruthless in taking the video down from all social media," Will George said.
"So, was it effective?" Greg asked.
"Of course. It was watched by so many people, and it was very convincing since it was streamed live. And with the demolition of the building—perhaps that demon was an ally in disguise—it made the story all the more believable."
"Good job," Greg complimented.
"Of course. Will George might no longer be the richest man in the world, but he sure has a lot of connections to pull this off. Your battle is being talked about all over the world. Despite the government's attempt to suppress it, it continues to spread. Maybe their actions even helped. But how exactly did you know that a demon might attack?" Will George asked.
"It's simple—Kyle. Kyle gaining demonic abilities shouldn't be possible in the game yet, I'm sure of it. And his power was way too strong for someone who had only recently gained his abilities. That leads to one conclusion—he didn't gain them in the game," Greg explained.
"And if he didn't gain his demonic abilities in the game, he most likely got them from a place that could affect the game and allow him to use them there. That place is our world. So, since he got his powers from our world, that means he has connections with some demons," Will George concluded.
"Exactly, George."
"But how does that help in knowing a demon would appear when you got close to your next target?" Aaron asked.
"Moron, it's super easy. Kyle and his next target have one thing in common—the death of Greg's parents," Kate said.
"So?"
"Ah, why are you so dumb?" Kate sighed. "We all know Greg's parents weren't killed just for their wealth. There's a deeper reason behind it, most likely involving the demons and the fact that Greg's parents were called Administrators."
"So if you were those scum, worried about Greg's attacks or someone spilling the truth to save their skin, wouldn't you seek help from a being you were sure could get the job done? Greg just banked on that reasoning and decided to live-stream the video. Either a demon appeared, or it didn't—he wasn't going to lose either way. It's like a queen seeing an opportunity to checkmate a king while also capturing a rook. If the checkmate fails and only results in a check, he still takes the rook—not the best outcome, but not bad either."
"So what's the rook outcome?" Odin asked, pretending to follow along despite being lost.
"To plant fear in the hearts of the remaining targets, forcing them to seek help from a demon if they really are in contact with one—a perfect way to probe his enemies and force them to reveal their cards," Dual Blade explained, surprising everyone since he had mostly kept to himself recently.
"Okay, I don't care about your strategy and whatnot. How in the world did you survive? I watched the video—I saw the building collapse with you inside," Aaron asked.
"I got lucky," Nemesis replied lazily.
"Yeah, lucky my foot. You've always been lucky. It's definitely your ability—no harm can befall you," Odin said, not believing Greg one bit.
Greg watched as the building collapsed, with no way out—the only exit already destroyed by the Demon Knight before leaving.
"Great. Guess I'll have to bank on my abilities to save me," Greg muttered, resigning himself to fate.
The building collapsed completely, with several police officers losing their lives. Very few survived, thanks to the timely support of the rescue team, though they were in no condition to celebrate.
"Hey, I think that's the last survivor. Time to head out," a member of the rescue team suggested.
"Yeah, you're right. Let's get out of here—wait, who the hell is that?" The other member was unable to finish his statement as an unknown man, covered in dust from head to toe, walked toward them, forcing him to alert his team.
"Hey! Are you all right? Did you survive the collapse too? Are you injured anywhere?" the rescue team leader asked, moving toward the unknown man to check his condition.
"I'm fine," Greg said, brushing off the rescue team leader and walking away.
His talent had somehow saved him. Every falling piece of debris had missed him—either their trajectory mysteriously changed, or the materials exploded into harmless fragments. The blocks especially crumbled into dust, falling harmlessly onto him. Not a single dust particle passed through his nose, ears, mouth, or eyes—something that should have been impossible. If they had, the damage would have been severe.
Walking away covered in dust, Greg left behind a stunned rescue team.
"Boss… how is that possible? He doesn't have a single scratch on him. If he was inside that building when it collapsed, he should be suffering grievous wounds," another rescue team member said, equally stunned.
Back to the present time
"The Demon Knight... I was unable to hit him even once. And I'm sure there are more demons like him—if not stronger. We need to move extremely fast now. So fast that we won't be caught off guard. Our time is limited, thanks to Kyle. So for the next few days, we'll be grinding hard until we reach level 50 and finally get that class change we've been holding back on.
"It's time to grow stronger.
"Everyone—be prepared for rigorous leveling," Greg said, already planning their next steps in his mind.