Chapter 789 Our Own Legend
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Despite the extremely strong reaction of the public, Emilia knew that such a situation wouldn't last long.
After all, even if certain countries were to start forcibly seizing full-dive pods from their citizens now, it was already too late. Some would definitely be able to hide them, and very few world leaders had a hundred percent control over their territory.
Over time, these 'rebels' would continue getting stronger, while the rest of them stayed the same. Needless to say, the scales would tip to the other side sooner or later.
Not to mention, the changes Arcadia brought to the world were definitely not limited to just strengthening the 'people'. It was just that their direct link with the game through the full-dive pod made their transformation much more efficient. But as the world changed further, all living beings would slowly transform.
Once stronger and smarter 'beasts' started spreading all over the world, it would be much easier for the 'rebels' to turn the tides their way. After all, firearms weren't cheap, and no country could afford to wage a never-ending war using modern weaponry against beasts.
Even if some with deep coffers could keep it going for a long time, though, there was a limit to what modern weaponry could do without resorting to weapons of mass destruction. And when the targets were located in areas with a lot of their own citizens, the problem became obvious.
Of course, not every world leader was against the changes brought forth by Arcadia. Welkin, for example, was firmly in its favor, though whether it was due to the hero's influence or something else remained unknown.
'If things go the same as they did in the original timeline, only twelve countries will outlaw the use of full-dive pods over the next few hours.' Emilia frowned. 'It's a pity that the chaos that the public disorder will bring cannot be avoided.'
Twelve countries might sound like a lot, but since none of them had much influence on a global level, their actions mostly only affected their own citizens. In comparison, if just Welkin alone had taken the same action against Arcadia, it might have caused an unstoppable chain reaction.
Since the leaders of the more powerful countries were generally both smart and well-advised, however, instead of trying to stop something that they knew couldn't be stopped, they would much rather go with the flow and change their own strategies accordingly.
Arcadia already favored those with 'real talents', and the world leaders naturally commanded most of them. Even if they started a little later, the skilled and organized forces could never be compared to regular bands of civilians, after all.
As Emilia expected, before the servers of the game were even up again, numerous advertisements and recruitment posters with extremely lucrative rewards had already started flooding both private forums and public channels.
From some rich kid wanting his own 'booster team' willing to offer a salary comparable to highly-skilled professionals, to major corporations seeking particular items at rates that made people doubt their mathematical skills, it almost appeared as if 'veteran' players of Arcadia had suddenly won some lottery.
As long as they were willing to sacrifice some of their progress and time, wouldn't they be able to make millions? For people who couldn't have dreamed of earning that amount in years, there was no need to think twice.
It wasn't enough to stop the momentum of the protests in certain parts of the world, but in most countries with a 'free market', no one would be unhappy with the prospect of being able to live a luxurious life simply by playing a game a few hours a day.
Even the 'Crimson Witches' weren't immune to this trend. If anything, they became one of the prime targets of the 'vultures' looking for some meat.
"I-I just received another offer for boosting a team..." Danielle shivered in excitement. "Guess how much they offered?"
Nico and Robin tried to guess an amount, but they both 'failed', making Sylvia roll her eyes in exasperation.
Just as she expected, after exposing the offer, Danielle revealed that she'd already rejected it, because their time was now worth much more.
Obviously, she could tell that the drill-haired girl was only exposing this information to everyone in order to make sure none of them 'defected', especially her. After all, the 'poaching' offers they received over the past few hours were so good that they almost had to doubt their eyes and ears.
Even Sylvia couldn't believe that someone would offer a mansion and lifetime salary comparable to the CEO of a mid-level corporation to someone like Nico, who could only be considered 'mediocre' at best by most professional gamers, and her own offer was even more ridiculous.
Lifetime salary also meant 'lifetime servitude', after all, and none of them were stupid enough to abandon everything they had now just to get rich.
Of course, compared to Nico and Robin, Sylvia's loyalty to the team wasn't as strong, which was the reason why Danielle was putting on such a show.
Her initial goal in joining the 'Crimson Witches' had been to make a living, after all. And had she not met Emilia, Sylvia really might have been tempted and already left as long as they were willing to change a few terms for her. As it was, however, she couldn't even be bothered to negotiate.
Emilia's great contribution to their success was undeniable, and Sylvia wasn't ungrateful to the point where she would just take it all and leave at the first chance of making bank without a care in the world.
Not only would it break Emilia's heart, but it would also shatter the bit of pride that Sylvia had stubbornly protected all her life.
Moreover, they all knew that the 'real target' of these poachers was definitely a certain crimson-haired girl. Even if most of her success was to be attributed to luck, that was also a prospect that many seemed more than willing to invest in.
Not to mention, now that the world was changing, getting their hands on 'high-quality stock' like Emilia seemed to be the top priority of many who wished to write their legends in this 'new era'.
Fortunately, although Emilia seemed a bit ditzy and naïve most of the time, she was surprisingly clear-headed when it came to making such major decisions.
"I don't like how they're trying to 'buy' me, as if I'm some commodity."
Robin wanted to make a joke about how she was surprised that the crimson-haired beauty even knew such a 'complex' word, but looking at everyone's serious expression, even she knew that would be just asking for a beating.
She didn't mind getting hit by Emilia's little fists. In fact, Robin thought they must feel quite good. But recalling just how painful Nico's staff had felt last time, she didn't dare to take a gamble.
Who knew that the girl she'd known for so many years had such a hidden talent for beating people?
"I can't trust them." Emilia continued, unaware of Robin's wandering thoughts.
The crimson-haired beauty's usually mischievous eyes were shockingly firm. "But I think it should be clear now that we're going in the right direction, and there's no need to look back."
Danielle grinned, with a rare hint of sincerity on her face. "Right? As our little star said, let's forge our own legend!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m