Second World

"So, you can spy on everything from here?" John asked.

"Yes, I just type in the coordinates, and it lets me see events unfolding at that place. I can even type in the time, and I can see the events that happened in the past," Chris answered.

"Incredible? Can I use it?" John asked.

"No. Only I can operate this tool."

"That's okay. I can tell you where to look while you operate it."

"No," Chris answered flatly. He shut down the projection and the image above the table disappeared.

Everyone was looking between John and Chris.

John said, "My friend, we need all the help we can get to defeat the underworld forces. If we can look at the enemy's every move using this spying tool, we can better plan our counter moves."

"I know, but forget about this tool. You are not using it."

"May we know why? I'm under the assumption you will be helping us against the underworld forces," Four Winds said to Chris.

"Then you have misunderstood," Chris said. "I never said anything about helping you against the underworld forces. Those forces are part of the game I designed. If you want to win against them, you have to fight them fair and square. Do not expect me to help you."

"Are you for real…?" John asked.

"Why are we here, then?" Red Death asked.

"I invited you here to deal with Apollyon. They are two different matters," Chris answered.

"But Master is currently hiding behind the underworld forces. We can't get to him without defeating the underworld forces," Purple Mist said.

Chris simply shrugged.

"Is the real him like this?" Jack asked Wilted.

"Now you understand my frustration when I found out he knew about Apollyon's deed and still allowed it to happen," Wilted replied.

"You guys said it like I didn't do anything," Chris said. "I have already reduced the difficulty by setting it so all the league factions joined the fight when the final battle happens."

"That is your doing?" Wilted asked.

"Yes. But to be honest, I didn't know Apollyon planned on using the underworld forces. I didn't even know he had deleted the main quest. He did that after I died. My original intention is simply to lower the difficulty. Considering this game becomes a real world, I want to increase the probability of the world surviving the underworld apocalypse."

"That's right! If the underworld forces conquer this world, you will also suffer. You should do your best to help us defeat the demons," Jack persuaded.

"Nah. Even if the underworld forces win, this place is untouchable. They won't reach here. Plus, I have another contingency."

"What contingency?" Jack asked.

"The contingency is only for me. It won't help you even if I told you," Chris answered.

"Let me ask again. What are we doing here, then?" Red Death asked again. "If he is not going to help. Let's just leave rather than wasting our time."

"Didn't I already answer that I'll be helping you to deal with Apollyon?" Chris asked. He turned to Wilted and asked. "That's what I said, didn't I? I said if you haven't defeated Master yet, come here with twenty-four players, didn't I?"

"Fine, let's talk about how you can help us to defeat Master. Tell us, what do you offer?" John asked.

"I can point you and give you the key to gaining the pinnacle special classes for each of you," Chris answered.

Jack and John gazed at one another. "As we expected," John said.

"Expected?" Chris asked after hearing John's remark.

"What's the point of giving the twenty-four of us the pinnacle special classes?" Jack asked. "We get stronger, yes, but we can't get to Master with the underworld forces blocking our way. You already knew he had collected all the divine treasures, didn't you? Which means he will become a God soon. Since we can't get to him, it is a certainty he will become one. What's the point of getting a stronger class? We will still be powerless against a God."

"Hehe," Chris snickered. "When I asked Wilted to come here, I considered she comes here when Apollyon already wins and becomes a God. The offer I give you, the pinnacle special classes, have the power to rival or even triumph against a God!"

"Hm… Why does it sound like I've heard that before?" Jack mumbled.

"I don't see how a player with a pinnacle special class can win against a God," John said.

"Aren't you underestimating the pinnacle special class too much?" Chris said. His tone sounded offended. "You don't know about this pinnacle special class, so I can't blame you for underestimating it."

"I know pretty well about it," John said.

"Haha," Chris chortled at John's words. "I know you think of yourself as smart, but please don't pretend to know about things you don't understand."

"Didn't you have this table to spy on things? Haven't you seen him when he used Time Sage's spells?" John asked while pointing at Jack.

"I don't have that much free time to spy on just one person," Chris said. He then turned to Jack, "You have Time Sage?"

"Yeah. I told you I have multiple classes, didn't I? Time Sage is one of them," Jack said.

"Really?" Chris asked. His tone sounded skeptical. His Inspect only showed Jack's main class.

"If you find it so hard to believe, let me show you," Jack said.

He picked up his cup and started casting. When his spell formation was almost completed, he threw the wine inside the cup into the air. He cast his spell then. The spell was Time Lock. The liquid hung in the air, as if a sculpture.

"How…?" Chris asked. "Even if you find the trial place by luck, there is a guardian beast which I set to always be much higher level than the average players. Unless you near level 99, it should not be possible for you to get past that guardian."

"If you truly don't want people to get the trial before level 99, you shouldn't have prevented the guardian from entering the trial cave," Jack answered. "I simply kept the guardian occupied long enough for me to reach the cave. Once I was inside, it was unable to follow me in."

"Oh…," Chris contemplated. "I didn't set the guardians to be unable to enter the trial place. I set it so they had a limited roaming space. If I gave them too big of a roaming space, they might end up wandering too far from the trial entrance and some lucky fool might end up entering by chance when the beast was away… Well, anyway, it's a fact that you have the class."

"Now that you know that we know about the pinnacle special class, you can understand our skepticism when you said this class can defeat a God, can't you?" John asked.