Chapter 151: Beacon of Hope

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Sora felt his surroundings change, and before he could even take a deep breath, dozens of notifications bombarded his senses. Spotting the familiar city of Nara appearing around him, he immediately veiled himself.

[You have 32,282 pending friend requests.]

[You have received 3 messages.]

Blinking in disbelief at the sheer number of friend requests, Sora frowned. 'What the hell? Why do I have so many friend requests?'

However, he decided to check his messages first. All three were from the same person. 'Figures. It’s not like I have many friends outside the tower.'

[Sin Soo-Yun: You still have 2.3 million gold on your tab. When are you going to pay?]

[Sin Soo-Yun: Oh... It seems you’re in that Tower. Come find me when you’re out.]

[Sin Soo-Yun: You’ve been there for a while now. Interest is building up… It’s an additional million per month. I’ll forget about your tab if you provide me with information, though.]

Sora winced, remembering the information he had bought back in Seoul. 'I really did forget about that. I asked for more information and never thought I’d be gone for years.' He shook his head, mentally calculating how long he must have been in the tower.

'Why didn’t anyone warn me that I would spend so much time in there?' Sora dismissed the thought for now and moved to browse his friend requests. Finding only unfamiliar names, one name, close to the beginning of the alphabet, made him pause.

[Alius has sent a friend request.]

Without hesitation, Sora accepted the request, watching Alius’s name pop into his friend list. Immediately, he sent a message.

[Ralph Eden: Hey buddy, how have you been?]

Alius responded almost immediately.

[Alius: You took your time...]

[Ralph Eden: Sorry... I didn't expect to spend years in that damn Tower. What did I miss?]

Sora expected a quick reply, but minutes passed before Alius responded again.

[Alius: What are you talking about? It’s been less than seven months since you left, not years. There have been a few events you missed. The Dark Elves took a dozen countries from the NEU, but France is fine... The Demon Kingdom reclaimed all of their lost territories, and I’ve heard that the Dwarf, Spirit, and Elemental Golem Kingdoms joined forces to push back against the American regions. There’s more, but forget about all of that, and come help me. I’m in deep trouble.]

The flood of bad news caught Sora off guard. His mind reeled, worried about his region, but he quickly asked about Alius’s situation.

[Ralph Eden: What happened ?]

Alius took his time, explaining the series of events since they last met. He recounted how his circumstances had worsened, eventually leading to his current predicament.

[Alius: Like I said, I’m doing alright now, but my friend stopped responding two weeks ago. I don’t know what happened to her, and even my information broker couldn’t track her down. Hannah Stone is in the headquarters of her guild, but I’m too weak to make a move. The last time I left the city’s safety, I was hunted down and barely survived. I don’t mind dying, but I’d have to wait a month to come back with a new identity. I was about to do it, but last week, I heard rumors about you, so I decided to wait.]

Sora did not understand the last part, and asked.

[Ralph Eden: Rumors about me?]

[Alius: Yes... While looking for Hope and trying to get news about you, I found a few channels that gave me more information about the world. There are quite a few ‘private’ newspapers for high-level players and the elite, and most of them mentioned you last week. They’ve started calling you the ‘Beacon of Hope.’ Everyone’s been waiting for you to return.]

Sora blinked at the message, wondering, 'What's happening now?'. He hesitated, unsure of how to respond.

[Ralph Eden: Beacon of Hope? What exactly did they say?]

Alius quickly followed up.

[Alius: One of the players inside the tower leaked details about the events there. You’ve been described as the most powerful player on the 12th floor, and that rumor has spread far and wide.]

[Ralph Eden: Interesting... What else got leaked?]

[Alius: It doesn’t matter. Stop asking questions, and just bring Kara and come. Help me out of this mess. So this is the feeling people have when I used to bombard them with questions? How annoying can we be?]

Sora chuckled at Alius’s remark and replied.

[Ralph Eden: Okay, wait for me. I won't take long.]

[Alius: No problem.]

Closing the discussion, Sora looked around him. He was back on Earth, and Nara looked exactly like it did half a year ago.

Just as Sora was about to pull out his [Mana Phone] to contact his parents, he felt his [Soul Link] forming. 'Kara is in Nara as well, it seems.' He smiled at the thought.

Scanning the crowd of players visibly looking for someone, Sora floated down, his curiosity piqued. He landed near a group and began listening to their conversation.

"You're not dreaming, we all saw it. The tower was glowing, as it does every time someone leaves. But no one saw anyone leaving... Maybe it was a false alarm," a man with a beard told the person next to him.

"Only six humans are left inside the tower: Cruz, Frekk, Berger, Casey, Msakni, and Eden," the other man blurted out. "That girl, Kara Spirine, left a few days ago, but she refused all interviews and just disappeared. Frekk and Casey like the spotlight, so maybe they’ll answer our questions, but Cruz hates journalists. The others are rising stars, so they might enjoy the attention."

The bearded man didn’t bother responding to his friend’s rambling, but Sora listened intently. From other nearby conversations, he pieced together that most of the players present were journalists or representatives of guilds, hoping to recruit candidates emerging from the [Ascension Tower].

'Time to make use of this mask,' Sora thought, equipping his [Liar's Mask] and setting a generic name and level—showing "Artas Loe" and a modest level of 80 above his head.

Satisfied with his cover, he left the area and spotted Kara exiting an inn. Just as he opened his mouth to call out to her, her voice resonated in his mind.

'Oh, you've changed appearances... Nice disguise, Artas. You left the tower early as well. Addicted to my [Time Space], aren’t you?'

Smiling as she easily saw through his disguise and reason to leave the tower, Sora responded, 'Of course! Training in the tower isn't as good. But now, it's time to leave Japan. Are you ready?'

Kara looked surprised, her thoughts different. 'Why? Rachel is still in Japan. I checked with Sin Soo-Yun just earlier. Are you postponing your revenge?'

Sora hesitated for a moment before replying, his voice carrying a trace of conflict. 'I would prefer that as well, but Alius is in trouble. Didn’t he contact you?'

Kara’s eyes widened in realization before she replied, 'He did contact me. He asked about you—wondering if you were planning on coming back soon—and even asked about my current level of power. It almost felt like he was disappointed when I described where I’m at right now. He never told me he was in trouble though...' She laughed lightly, the disbelief in her own words clear. 'I know he used to be you, but if we’re going to help him, I’m teaching him a lesson. How dare he look down on me and not ask for my help?'

Sora smiled, understanding both perspectives. 'He’s got level 180 players tracking him and is stuck in safe zones. Salim was right about Hannah Stone. She’s a snake, and she’s after Alius. She got greedy, but he saw through her trap. For an unknown reason, she wanted to kill him after that. But since he had Hope with him, she needed backup. Alius thinks that's why she involved the [GODS] guild.'

Kara’s playful demeanor vanished at the mention of the guild. Her expression hardened. 'That explains why he felt I was lacking. There’s no way I can help him at my current level.'

'Don’t worry about that,' Sora reassured her. 'We’ll get him out of this. From what he said, he’s found ways to become incredibly strong, but they attacked him before he could fully develop.'

After gifting Kara a [Liar’s Mask] and showing her how to customize it, the two left Nara swiftly.

Their first stop was Seoul, where Sora settled his debt with Sin Soo-Yun. While he would have liked to chat more with the information broker, he did not have time to linger, so he requested additional information, specifically a detailed analysis of the [GODS] and [ASS] guilds’ members. With that handled, they continued their journey to Russia.

Reaching the city of Mirny, they spotted several figures hovering in the distance. Sora’s sharp senses quickly discerned a group of about a dozen players, their guild tags hidden, but his information clear about their identity. They were [ASS] guild members. Among them, there were also two players from the [GODS] guild.

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