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With their 'financial' crisis completely averted thanks to the revenue from their 'unexpectedly' popular streams, Emilia thought that she would be able to spend at least a few more weeks 'farming' in peace with her team.
Unlike the beginner town, the mainland was vast, almost boundless, and the monsters were also not so easy to kill. So even if other players started flooding in a few days later, Emilia wasn't too concerned about their efficiency being reduced.
In fact, without the extra reward of ten gold coins from the higher-level main quest, even if someone else discovered that they could teleport to the capital, not many would be able to afford it.
Much to her surprise, however, the 'secret' of Arcadia was leaked almost a month earlier this time.
"Is this true?"
"It's a little unbelievable, but… it's all over the news, and everyone is scrambling to verify it."
The country of Welkin announced its 'Super Soldier' program with great fanfare, and loudly proclaimed that all its allies would soon share the secret of strengthening the human body far beyond what was previously thought possible, completely without side effects.
Some were quickly able to deduce that Welkin must believe that effect of this 'Super Soldier' would be better used for some propaganda, implying that it wasn't actually that much of a game changer, which is why they decided to publicize it like that. But that was only to be expected.
After all, no matter how the strength of an individual is boosted, how could it possibly compare with weapons of mass destruction?
Emilia narrowed her eyes thoughtfully as she listened to Danielle and Sylvia's argument, along with the seemingly excited anchors on the TV, and she couldn't help but shake her head in bewilderment. 'I don't get it… the energy concentration around us hasn't changed, and the first dungeon hasn't been conquered. So how did the hero convince everyone that the 'game' could make people stronger in reality?'
Cynthia thought about it carefully for a while, then sighed. "I don't really know for sure, but… he's probably just fooling everyone. That thing would never risk its grand plan for the sake of a few people, even if it's the hero begging for it."
Emilia hummed. 'Right? Without the first 'pillar', the changes anyone can realistically observe in the body of a 'player', even with the most sensitive equipment, should be unnoticeable—!'
Suddenly, it was as if a light bulb had gone off in her head, and the crimson-haired girl couldn't help but groan in realization. 'Why didn't I think of that earlier?! Just because Arcadia would strengthen people later, and the hero claimed to have done it now, it doesn't necessarily mean he's telling the truth!'
After all, the hero was a genius, and the only one in the world who knew and understood a new source of energy with fantastical properties.
If he wanted to make a few 'changes' to the human body, or even make people believe in miracles, it wouldn't be much of an issue at all.
'Now that I think of it… since the full-dive pods can make use of chaos energy to some extent, simply enhancing that function of theirs might have some wonderful 'effects' on the human body, right?'
Unknowingly, Emilia had actually hit the nail on its head, and figured out exactly what Darryl had done. Of course, there was no way for her to actually verify such a thing.
Cynthia blinked. "If what you said is true… then this hero is really daring."
The 'world will' might occasionally communicate with Darryl, but he was still just a 'disposable mortal', after all. Unlike Amos in the previous world, he was just a 'tool' that could and would be replaced when needed.
As a genius, how could the hero not figure it out?
Emilia couldn't help but frown. 'Since this didn't happen in the previous timeline, and there haven't been any other major events… I think it's safe to assume that Darryl's 'motivation' for this crazy move somehow came from me?'
Although she'd done her best to dispel his 'suspicions' through that 'interview' earlier, the fact that someone managed to get ahead of him must still have alarmed the hero.
If someone could 'beat' him once, even if it was just through 'dumb luck', how could he rest assured of his 'dominance' in the future?
By convincing everyone of the game's 'importance' and also elevating his image to another level, the hero clearly planned to not only clear multiple 'obstacles' that might be blocking his progress, but also to curb Emilia's momentum.
After all, if her popularity was allowed to grow at its current pace, the one with the most sought-after 'guild' in Arcadia wasn't hard to guess, and the hero obviously couldn't accept that.
Cynthia hummed. "So, how are you planning to deal with it?"
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As Emilia expected, with the explosive news in the morning, not many people had the 'leisure' to tune into her stream in the next session.
Even if not many completely believed in the 'rumors', their curiosity was successfully stoked, and the game's image also became extremely mysterious in the heart of most people.
After all, if one of the most powerful governments in the world could be 'convinced', there had to be some substance to those rumors, right?
Of course, there were still a few who simply didn't care, or were completely 'dedicated' to watching Emilia and her team slaughter tentacle monsters, though most of them remained in Nico's channel.
"Last night, I had a dream…"
"Me too."
"Ahh, this is the view!"
"The holy priestess always gives us the best angles."
A few of them discussed the 'popular' rumors outside, of course, but one could tell at a glance that their interest was only cursory.
Even if it were all to be true, instead of working hard to 'become stronger' for no clear reason, wouldn't it be far more fun to just watch beautiful girls give it their best go?
Anyway, if Emilia could continue to be the 'number one' in the world as she currently probably was, they could also claim to be a part of her legend. Watching a beautiful young girl like her grow from 'nothing' to a 'star' was really a wonderful feeling, after all.
Of course, their 'idol' wasn't nearly as carefree as the audience, and after killing their fifteenth [Minor Tentacle Plant Demon] of the day, she called for the team to stop.
"Everyone has leveled up now, right?"
With the 'chimes' of the successful 'level up' still ringing fresh in their ears, everyone nodded, and uncharacteristically enough, Danielle even smiled. "Should we go back to the inn to celebrate?"
Although most people were 'rushing' to catch up with them at this moment, Danielle had obviously learned from Emilia that it was far better to put in steady and continuous work, and not burn themselves out.
Even if she could completely blame the 'love affair' that broke her team apart, the drill-haired girl had to admit that her somewhat extreme work ethic might also have been a catalyst in making things turn out so bad.
Now that she'd been lucky enough to chance upon a 'gem' like Emilia, instead of repeating that mistake, Danielle wanted to do things right this time.
'Wasting' an hour or two having fun wouldn't hurt their progress at all.
Emilia grinned. "How about accompanying me to the 'Challenger's Arena'? I discovered earlier with Crystal on the first day we got here, and I've wanted to give it a try ever since." She giggled, then casually dropped a 'bomb' that left everyone listening dumbfounded. "If I can really win ten thousand gold coins, wouldn't we be rich?"
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