Ranker Who Lives Twice

'What the hell is going on……? Why haven't there been any updates or reports from Hell Hound?!' Joshua was getting increasingly nervous. Normally, he wouldn't have paid much attention if his subordinates were delayed in their reporting. This was because he knew that the Hell Hound team had always succeeded in carrying out its mission, even if the members had to take on large losses or be on the verge of being wiped out. However, the situation now was a bit different.

When he recalled what happened to him just a moment ago, Joshua could not help but feel his chest tighten. It had only been a few seconds, but the aura of a tremendous existence had swept past all the players on Earth. Moreover, there was a sudden, non-forecasted total solar eclipse, and the subsequent presence of an unfathomably powerful transcendent… The transcendent's aura that swept past Joshua was much stronger than what he had ever felt from Athena.

Then, when a message appeared to notify all the players that the system would be permanently shut down, Joshua's heart sank. The Joshua who always looked relaxed, who only showed a cold and cruel impression, was no longer present. Joshua intuitively knew that things were not turning out as he had initially planned. Moreover…

'My Channel with Goddess Athena has been completely cut off!' The powers and abilities that Athena had bestowed on him had all disappeared, so Joshua could not understand how or why he had these critical tools taken away. He had been able to maintain his reputation as a 'hound dog' because of those powers and abilities… But, without such blessings, Joshua could no longer be 'Joshua T. Brian'.

The problems were not only restricted to Joshua. All the other players in the Association had also undergone the same changes. Since they were overseeing the forced retention of Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon, the Association players tried not to outwardly show their nervousness and sense of panic. Moreover, the Association was quickly checking on what was going on. Did something change in their body, was there some sort of abnormality in their artifacts, was the system functioning properly…

Internally, everyone was screaming at the sudden loss. They were no longer able to connect to the player system that had always protected them. Not only was it impossible to check the system and their personal status, but the blessings that they received from Olympus had also disappeared.

Fortunately, many of the players still retained some level of their previous skills and powers, but they were still shocked by the complete silence of the system messages, which had become a natural existence in their minds and eyes. Since the day of the beginning, the system had become an essential and ever-present existence for the players.

The Association players knew that the reason for all these anomalies and changes had 'Cain', who they were hunting down, at the center…

"Your complexion doesn't look very good." Like a ghost, Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon recognized the changed atmosphere and slightly laughed. With strained eyes that were becoming increasingly red, Joshua stared at Ji-hoon, who added, "Even though I don't know much about players, I can still pick up on things fairly well. Apparently, it seems like Cain… No, Yeon-woo, seems to have done something. Hahaha!"

Joshua's face flushed as red as his two eyes. The moment Joshua was about to say something… Ring. Suddenly, the cell phone he had in his back pocket rang. Joshua's eyes slightly fluttered. The caller was his boss, the Association's president. "…Yes, this is Joshua."

[Hey… What the hell are you doing?]

"Huh? What do you mean…!"

[Your Channel with Athena has been severed, right?]

Joshua was momentarily left speechless. Even if he wanted to buy some time and give excuses, it seemed that the president of the Association already knew everything. There seemed to be a sense of deep remorse and sorrow in the president's voice.

[Just a moment ago, a divine message came down from Olympus. It seems that your 'arbitrary' choices this time around have angered the gods greatly.]

For a moment, as if something hard had hit him on the back of his head, Joshua's mind flashed and started scrambling wildly.

[So, as the president of the Association, I feel a great sense of guilt and responsibility for the arbitrary immoral act that you have committed. I have no choice but to hold you accountable.]

As soon as the president finished his message, Joshua's office doors flung open. These were the doors that Joshua had told his subordinates to never open without his permission.

"H-Hey, you can't go in!"

"Stand back!"

"Get out of our way. Otherwise, everyone will get hurt."

Wearing completely different outfits from the agents who brought Brigadier Woo Ji-hoon up to the office, these agents forcibly cast aside those who stood in their way and approached Joshua with an overbearing attitude. It was the audit team within the Association.

Along with the president of the Association, the audit team members were the only others who did not listen to Joshua's orders. Thus, obviously, these audit team members possessed individual abilities that Joshua could not ignore.

"President, you can't do this! This decision was also approved by you…!"

[What are you talking about? Didn't you tell me that you'd bring the Untouchable? But to have raided the Untouchable rather than ushering him to the Association as an esteemed guest… I cannot fathom why or how you thought to treat another fellow Earthling and African-front war hero in such a way.]

"…!" Joshua wanted to say something, anything, over the cell phone to continue the conversation, but his mind had turned completely blank after hearing the president's cold tone. Only one phrase passed Joshua's mind: Once the rabbit is captured, the hunting hound is no longer needed.

[For the time being, you'll be cooling your head in a nice place with good, clean air.]

Since most of Joshua's acts were conducted in the shadows and under a veil of secrecy, little to no paperwork was left behind. In other words, there was no paper trail to justify any of his actions.

In the end, Joshua was caught by the audit team and dragged out of his office. He struggled to get away from their clutches, but his Channel with Athena had been severed, so he had reverted back to a state of, essentially, 'nothing'. Thus, it was difficult for him to withstand the audit team members' powers.

[…I'm also facing a lot of uncertainty… My neck is on the line as well.] A tiny sound emanated from the phone that Joshua had dropped, but no one heard it.

"…"

"…"

"…"

The Association employees who watched the purging of the Association's second-in-command held their breaths for fear that they might incriminate themselves and fall into the same lot as Joshua.

Thanks to this, Brigadier General Woo Ji-hoon, who had been an imprisoned pawn, expected himself to be released. However…

"Mr. Woo?"

"…I guess I can't take a day off today." As one of the audit team members approached him, Ji-hoon let out a resigned sigh. "Yes, I am Woo Ji-hoon."

"You have to go somewhere with us."

"Hmpf! It seems like I'm Mr. Popular today. Fine. Under what authority and reason are you taking me this time?"

"We will be going to the headquarters of the Association."

"Huh…?" Assuming he had misheard that request, Ji-hoon made a perplexed expression.

"You need to come with us to Geneva, Switzerland, where the Association's headquarters is located."

"…!"

***

Geneva, Switzerland

Headquarters of the 'Awakened Player Association for Freedom' under the United Nations

"…will this be enough?" Albert, the president of the Association, sighed as he put down the cell phone he had used to talk with Joshua.

Sesha crossed her arms and nodded proudly. "You're still a long way off from making up for all your mistakes, but let's finish it at this level for now."

"Thank you for understanding. And again, I'm really very sorry." Albert Demchenko bowed his head with a bitter smile.

If others saw this scene, they would have been terribly surprised. Albert boasted an absolute and authoritative personality. It was widely recognized that Albert and Joshua had built an unrivaled 'empire' on Earth. However, at this moment, Albert was bowing down to a child who was the age of his granddaughter…

Moreover, the child was often utilized as the face of the Association for public appeal and to maintain the Association's power. Albert could not help but feel infuriated and belittled. However, Albert knew he could not act out against Sesha, especially because of the overwhelming existence who supported Sesha.

'An Earthling who can control the system… Does that even make sense…' Albert could not imagine nor understand how this could be true, but what could he do now? It seemed to be a fact.

At first, Albert was prepared to respond harshly when Sesha abruptly appeared at the Association's front doors. Although Albert did not know how Sesha, who was supposed to be in Korea, was able to come to Geneva in such a short period of time, Albert knew that the visit was not regarding something that would benefit him or the Association. If he was threatened, Albert thought of immediately detaining Sesha for treason. However…

'…The Association has become like this, so what can I do?' Albert glanced out the window and sighed. The large yard and magnificent buildings of the Association, which was always visible through his office's window, had been completely devastated and flattened. It was like a carpet-bombing had flattened everything in sight. Thus, Albert only thought of accusing Sesha for a few seconds before he put that thought aside.

When Sesha unleashed her magic powers from the sky, magic power bombardments crashed down onto the ground, and the headquarter buildings of the Association had been flattened in an instant. The strange thing was that there were no casualties from her attack.

In addition, the Hell Hound team, who were now subservient to Sesha, immediately took over the main headquarters building, leaving Albert no other options.

And in the meeting between Albert and Sesha, a few items were briefly explained. Olympus, which had been supporting the Association, was now supporting someone else. Albert was also told who he had ticked off.

When he heard everything, Albert thought he was going to go crazy. Moreover, since the player system was no longer operational, Albert was left with no other option. In the end, he declared complete surrender. He had lost complete power within the course of a day.

Joshua had been kicked out of the organization entirely for these reasons.

"I have one more request."

"Yes…?" Of course, Albert knew all too well that that 'request' was now a command.

"The magic regions will be closing one after another in the near future."

"The magic regions?" Albert's eyes widened at Sesha's unexpected words.

Albert had faced a lot of criticism and push-back while establishing the Association, but he had been able to persevere because his desire to correct the chaotic Earth's order was genuine. Therefore, the first thing he tried to do after accumulating power was to resolve the magic regions. However, Albert had consistently failed in this endeavor.

The child in front of Albert, Sesha, was saying that the magic regions would be resolved as if it was something simple. Albert thought, 'Well, if he can control and operate the system, he can do it. Doesn't that mean he surpasses even the existence of divine beings?'

Albert gave a bitter smile before saying, "You're asking me to prepare to minimize the chaos that may arise after the magic regions are resolved. Cain… Since the identity of your uncle must also be kept secret, should I announce that the Association dealt with the magic regions?"

"I like that you're easy to communicate with." Sesha was stating that the Association should take care of what was left behind by her extended family.

Essentially, Albert would be cleaning up after Sesha and her family members' mess. Albert wanted to state this to Sesha, but he could not get the words out.

Anyway, it was clear that the order of the Earth would be more firmly established after this incident.

The collapse of various industries due to the disappearance of the gates, the status of national projects such as research on new materials, and the sudden situation of dealing with numerous unemployed people… All this would be a big headache that would need to be resolved… But, as he had done before, Albert would find a way to resolve these matters.

Once Sesha disappeared, which was as sudden as her appearance, Albert murmured to himself, "…After all is said and done, I should step down from my position." He let out a deep sigh, as he could see a mountain of work rushing towards him.

***

The Sahara Desert of Africa was a huge desert where hot winds mixed with sand to create the occasional raging whirlwind or wall of sand.

Before the day of the beginning, animals and the minority people living in the Sahara mainly grouped around the oases scattered across the vast desert. However, now, only strange monsters that radiated heat through their skin and breathed fire through their mouths occupied the area.

The Sahara region's already hot climate was compounded by the heat emitted by the monsters. The desert had turned into an atrocious environment with temperatures exceeding the high tens of degrees celsius.

In addition to this environmental difficulty, which made it difficult to properly deploy an attack squad, the fertility and multiplying power of the monsters were so great that it was virtually impossible to fully eradicate them. Of course, such limitations only applied to ordinary humans.

"I guess I'm here." Yeon-woo, who appeared from a void opening, glanced around the Sahara without breaking a sweat. He had already seen all the monsters when he had expanded his cognitive domain. Just looking at the monsters spewing out fire from all their orifices all over the place made Yeon-woo annoyed. However, in Yeon-woo's eyes, what truly existed was clearly visible.

[Draconic Eyes]

[Fiery Golden Eyes]

[Black Gubitara – Philosopher's Eye]

[Eyes of the Heavens]

Yeon-woo could see that every monster in this place contained large and small fragments of darkness.

'Sesha explained that there was a gate break and that monsters poured out, but the reality is different. This is an ecosystem that someone deliberately created.'

Case in point, these monsters were all chimeras. They were the results of an experiment designed for a specific purpose.

Yeon-woo was going to deal with these first. He did not have to take any drastic action. He simply waved his hand in the air as if shooing a fly.

Rumble! Brightly lit Sword Thunder strikes rained down from the sky as if to crush the ground. All the monsters in the desert were soon torn apart.