ocean-life Chapter 140: The 50th Floor (2)
Chapter 140: The 50th Floor (2)
“Mmm.... Even I get startled when someone appears out of nowhere like that...”
“!!”
“Max!!”
“Captain...”
Their expressions were a mix of urgency and disbelief. And for good reason.
“Wha...?”
Where Max had been—after teleporting behind Karlstein—now lay a body on the cold floor, half its head missing. The culprit’s words only twisted the knife.
“You really should’ve been more careful...”
The Hunters could not process those words at first. While it had appeared to be an instinctive response to a surprise attack, response was not quite right. The movement had been too quick to follow. It happened so instantly that they could not even see it.
Max lay motionless, utterly dead.
“...”
Karlstein cleared his throat unnecessarily out of awkwardness.
“Ahem.”
“Y-you...!”
“How dare a mere monster kill our captain...”
“M-Max!”
“Hick!”
Team Supreme fell into panic at the sudden loss of their strongest member. Karlstein had little to say about that.
“...Um, sorry?”
The attackers trembled with barely contained rage, while the Korean Hunters who had guided him here stood pale-faced and shaking.
Karlstein sighed.
“There goes my porter act, I guess?”
“...”
Not that he had been much of a porter to begin with. He had simply followed the Korean party, taking in the sights.
“Now that we’re here, I’d like to ask a few—“
Karlstein figured he might as well satisfy his curiosity, given the situation. But to Team Supreme, his peaceful(?) demeanor felt like mockery. Perhaps they even thought Max’s death was merely accidental.
“I’ll have you dead...”
“You’ll pay for what you did to Max!”
“Attack formation!”
The American Hunters went absolutely crazy. Faced with such hostility, Karlstein could only offer one kind of apology...
“Hmm. I guess one mouth should be enough?”
Shiver-
...and that was to forcefully bring them to their senses.
***Tremble-
The Korean Hunters quaked in fear.
“Hm... Is that so?”
“Yes sir... So please spare my life...”
Gone were the raging members of Team Supreme. All that remained was a single small lamb faced with overwhelming terror.
Alice, the team’s healer and sole survivor, kept her eyes fixed on the ground. She shook uncontrollably, as if meeting his gaze might spell her doom.
On the other hand, Karlstein wasn’t very interested in the information he heard from them. Yet Karlstein found little interest in their revelations about Hunters, the Towers of Trials, System, or Items. Such trivial matters held little weight for the Galactic Emperor, who had witnessed far greater things.
His expectations had vanished the moment he witnessed that one fellow brandishing a lightsaber as if it were the ultimate weapon.
Perhaps sensing Karlstein’s tedium, even the Korean Hunters scrambled to offer information.
“Hm... But I guess I’m still curious.”
“...!”
They hung on the hidden boss’s every word, but for Karlstein, only one matter held his interest.
“Korea...”
A Korea similar to his past life, closer to a parallel world than an exact match.
“Since Perpe isn’t coming, shall we take a look outside the Tower?”
“Sorry?”
“...?”
His words seemed to baffle them. The Hunters questioned it unconsciously.
Karlstein merely replied with innocent curiosity.
“Why?”
“Th-that’s him! The newly discovered hidden boss!”
What are you—
[Starting now, I’m taking over Earth.]
Excuse me?
She could not process what was happening.
***
ᄂdid yall see too?
ᄂye lol looks insane
ᄂscared me when my screen suddenly changed at work lol
ᄂmfer i was sneaking in some game time lmao
ᄂtotal chaos at the internet cafe rn haha
ᄂFFS I WAS IN MY PROMO MATCH!
ᄂwe in middle of epic teamfight wen dis guys face suddenly pops up lol almost smashed my monitor
ᄂu dipshits. does that rlly matter rn?
ᄂwat matters then?
ᄂ...
People were dismissive at first. After all...
ᄂGalactic Empire LMFAO
ᄂhilarious concept yo
ᄂman rlly called himself EMPEROR.
ᄂwao lel guess u gotta look at least dat gud to be emperor
ᄂbro’s lost his marbles ye? lol
ᄂEven chunibyou is on a different scale these days.
ᄂKEK whats the government saying about dis?
ᄂThey’re still quiet.
An emperor from some galactic empire taking over the world and whatnot? It was perfect fodder for internet mockery. But then...
ᄂLooks like it’s not just our country.
ᄂbros, I’m studying in Canada and it’s the same here.
ᄂim in japan. same here too.
ᄂthis is happening worldwide?
ᄂlmao earth getting owned by one hacker
ᄂSeems like the higher-ups aren’t taking this lightly.
ᄂI’m on phone now but even our intranet is the same.
ᄂeh?
The hacking was not limited to just one region or broadcast channel. It seemed the entire country—no, the whole world was affected.
This would have been far-fetched even in a movie...
Bzzt-
[Ah, the representatives of each country should come meet me. We have things to discuss. Over.]
Yet it happened not just once, but twice.
However, it was still hard to take seriously, especially given the man’s insincere attitude. His tone was playful. Or oddly light-hearted, perhaps.
[This is fun. Haha.]
What’s more, his amused muttering was caught on broadcast at the end of the second video. Who knew if it was intentional or not?
ᄂ?
ᄂdef insane....
ᄂIs this real? Fake?
ᄂlmao bro’s enjoying it too lol
ᄂQuite a unique concept.
ᄂso all this was for laughs?
ᄂbro got skills dat for sho.
ᄂGalactic Emperor lmfao
None of them could seriously believe his claim about conquering Earth.