Chương 395: Chapter 378

"How did things go with Madspire?" Sam asked, reaching for another piece of chicken. The rest of the core team was seated around him in the restaurant, a place their security team and then Tim had already swept for listening devices. There was always a chance they had missed something, but in this case, Sam didn't feel there was anything left that could jeopardize them. They had successfully established themselves in a way akin to the boy who cried wolf.

Now, whenever someone overheard something from them, the first instinct was to dismiss it as fake or deliberate misinformation. Hell, the last time he'd been bored enough to go digging through the forums, he'd found a thread where someone had taken every leaked piece of info from AFK and Chrysalis and done the exact opposite of what the data suggested, then documented the results. People reading it usually lost their minds, since the guy still had around a fifty-six percent success rate.

Much higher than the large guilds, which had dozens, sometimes hundreds of people in research departments, all analyzing every word that left Sam's mouth or every action taken by AFK and Chrysalis. Sometimes it was genuinely hard not to break into an evil cackle while watching people tear themselves apart trying to decipher his plans.

"Pretty good," Tim replied, elegantly cutting into his meal.

"We found the fracture very easily. The fight was just a straight slugfest with alchemical monstrosities. Aim for the device connections embedded in their bodies, and it's guaranteed crit." Sam snorted.

"And the present? Did you leave it behind?" Tim glanced around briefly, then nodded.

"The decoys, the decoy decoys, and the surprise. All there."

"How long do you think it will take them to find it?" Tim set down his fork and knife with deliberate care, pulled back his sleeve to check his watch, glanced at it for a moment, then resumed eating.

"Not long now." Sam calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, opening the forum. He spent a moment refreshing the page before spotting the first post. MADSPIRE EXPLOSION! DID ANYONE ELSE SEE IT? By the time he finished reading, three others appeared with similar titles. He closed the app and put the device away again, then picked up his fork and continued eating.

"Good job."

"Thank you."

"Try the cucumber salad. They added a bit of honey to it, really brings out the freshness."

"Oh, that sounds delightful. Thank you for the recommendation."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, Boss! Check this out!" Katie called out. They were done with the meal now, settled into that comfortable lull that followed a good dinner, trying to fend off the slow onset of food coma. The empty plates had been cleared away, replaced with drinks, coffee, and small plates of fruit and snacks. Their private room overlooked the city below, its lights spilling in through the wide windows and turning the space into a shifting mosaic of color and motion.

Small groups had formed naturally, conversations drifting and overlapping in a relaxed hum. Adam was seated with Dan, the two of them deep in discussion about something that looked, from the gestures involved, either like a training routine or an elaborate set of rude hand signs. Meanwhile, Lara had cornered Liz and Tim and was clearly interrogating them about something romantic, judging by the way both of them kept breaking eye contact and flushing at the questions.

Clarissa, Isabella, Katie, and Lucy were gathered around their phones, giggling and laughing at something. Isabella sat snugly in Katie's lap, her arms around her shoulders, leaning in as close as possible to see the screen. Sam sat near the window, staring out over the city, occasionally taking a sip of his drink. His mind drifted through a familiar loop of thoughts about the game, the world, his friends, Lucy, and more than a few things he couldn't quite pin down into anything useful.

He was pulled out of it by a sudden shout.

"Huh?" he said, blinking as he looked up. It took him a moment to reorient himself, and by the time he did, Katie was already waving him over while the rest of the girls watched him with matching smirks. With a quiet sigh, he finished his drink, set the glass down on the small table beside him, and got to his feet. A faint pit of unease settled in his stomach as he ambled over.

"Come on, Boss! Look! Look!" Katie cried, thrusting her phone into his face while the others leaned in, clearly enjoying themselves. He gingerly took the phone and looked at the screen. It was another forum post. On top, a very simple line. HOTTEST PLAYERS IN MAGIC UNKNOWN Dread settled in immediately. He scrolled down and started reading the opening text.

"Welcome, everyone! Ladies, gents, and everybody across the spectrum, in the grand old tradition, it is time to declare who the hottest players are in the game. Cast your votes and show us the hottest of all." Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. He didn't have to scroll far. At the very top, he saw his own name.

#1 SOLAR Under it was a picture of his character, standing with his sword in one hand, angled toward the ground, while his other hand was raised, void mana swirling around it. Lucky was lurking behind him, his body curved around Sam as he stared at something outside the frame. Next to it was another picture of him, mid-motion as he stepped out of a car. Based on the quality, it had clearly been taken from a distance. The blurb underneath it was rather annoying to read.

"And with a rather unanimous consensus, Solar was declared the hottest player. It's not just that he is arguably the strongest and most powerful player in the game, but also one of the richest. According to numerous comments, he doesn't have that artificial beauty most celebrities have, which, combined with the quiet confidence he seems to exude in any situation – confirmed by several people who have seen him in action both in-game and in real life – apparently ticked a lot of people's boxes.

The only downside is that he is famously reclusive, so there aren't many pictures of him. Hey Solar, why don't you use that gold you've earned and take a quick beach holiday?" The girls burst into laughter as they watched his expression shift. Sam let out a long sigh.

"Really? They think I'm hot? Why not Dan?" He waved vaguely toward the muscled scientist, whose shirt looked a size too small for the frame it was stretched across. His chiseled jawline and slightly mussed hair made him look like he had just walked off an advertisement shoot. Lara immediately shot him a glare.

"Hey! Keep your eyes off my man! There are already too many people ogling him!"

"Lara!" Dan protested, thoroughly embarrassed. That only made the situation worse. The room filled with laughter again as everyone leaned closer together, phones in hand, quickly diving back into the list to see who the internet had collectively decided were the hottest players in the game. Sam found himself back in Ferabor. The entire city was alive with activity. Players moved through the streets in constant motion, coming and going in clear excitement.

With the war so close, the guild had become unusually generous with tasks, ensuring everyone was actively participating to rack up as many contribution points as possible. Naturally, the game system itself was far from quiet amid all this chaos. He had read the reports, but according to Adam, there were at least three major quests every day on average that the guild's players had to deal with.

These ranged from demons deciding that sneaking in during such an active period was a brilliant idea, to people once again summoning things that absolutely should not have been summoned, to monsters waking up in response to the increased activity and expressing their displeasure in the most direct way possible. Per the reports he had received almost every day, most players were deliriously happy with the abundance of tasks and quests. Of course, as always, there were those who complained.

Some about the fact that there were too many people in the hunting grounds, making leveling up too slow. Others about the countless new regulations and rules they now had to follow due to the enemy's methods. Nobody wanted blood pandemics or magical pestilence. Hell, there were even guild members who protested the whole idea of the war and demanded that the leadership find a peaceful solution.

Sam had initially suspected they were being paid by someone to stir up dissent and cause chaos, but after a brief investigation by Tim, it turned out they were simply extreme pacifists. So he had just grouped them together into a team and told them to research how to achieve that goal. They seemed happy with the arrangement, and while he didn't expect much from them, he still hoped he might be pleasantly surprised. For a while, he simply stood at the top of the headquarters, watching the city prepare for war.

The walls surrounding the city were constantly manned by both NPCs and players. For the NPCs, this was simply their duty, but the players were only there for the daily reputation quests. The streets below were packed with adventurers, merchants hawking their wares, crafters advertising their services, and, as always, the constant background noise of any MMO: players looking for other players to party up. Smiling slightly, he pushed himself away from the railing and turned around. It was time for the first strike.

"Is everything prepared?" Sam asked as he stepped into the large room. Tim, standing at the edge of the room, half swallowed by shadow, looked up at him. His gaze briefly took in Sam's freshly shined armor, Lucky trailing behind him at the size of a large German Shepherd, and his neatly set hair. Lucy had done a good job.

"Everything is prepped," Tim answered.

"As soon as you begin, we'll move out."

"Good, good…" Sam muttered. Then he drew in a breath and reached out a hand toward Tim.

"Good luck!" Tim clasped it and shook firmly.

"You too," he murmured, casting a brief, worried glance deeper into the room where the current preparations were underway. He released Sam's hand and vanished into the seconds. Sam shook himself slightly, squared his shoulders, and turned toward the center of the room. He had only taken a few steps when a voice called out.

"Solar! Over here!" It took him a moment to pick out the direction of the voice in the crowd, but as soon as Sam spotted the busty blonde woman, he smiled and changed course toward her.

"Mariann!" he called back. Mariann was dressed in a short black pleated skirt that showed off her legs, smart high heels, and a white shirt cut with deliberate, tactical openness at certain points. Her wavy hair framed her face like a halo as she studied him when he approached. Finally, she gave him a thumbs-up.

"Nice." Then her attention shifted past him, and she let out an excited squeal.

"Is that Lucky? He's so adorable!" Lucky, ever the glutton for praise and attention, immediately bounded forward and presented his belly for scratches. Mariann didn't disappoint. After a few minutes of that, her assistant stepped closer.

"Mariann, we're five minutes out." Mariann sighed and reluctantly stood, leaving a very satisfied, happily panting Lucky behind her.

"Right. Let's take a seat." A minute later, Sam found himself seated in an armchair positioned so that he was halfway facing Mariann in a similar chair, and halfway toward the cluster of drones aimed directly at him. Beyond those drones was an entire production team from the channel Mariann worked for. Lucky sat at his feet, calm and observant, watching everything unfold. Mariann glanced down at something on her own screens, then dismissed it with a wave.

She turned her attention directly to the drones as someone raised a hand and began a countdown. When the final finger dropped, a dozen red recording lights flared to life, and Mariann began speaking.

"Welcome, everyone! This is Mariann, your source for everything neat and great!" she said with a bright smile, leaning forward eagerly.

"And today I'm bringing you the interview of a lifetime!" Several drones adjusted focus onto Sam. Mariann pointed at him.

"Today, my guests, to everyone's surprise, is none other than the number one on the list of hottest players – Solar!" Sam shot her a look, but she only returned it with unfiltered enthusiasm. After a brief pause, he smiled and gave a small nod.

"Hello, Mariann. Glad to be here…"

"I'm glad too, Solar!" she replied quickly, practically vibrating with excitement.

"We were honestly surprised you accepted the request for an interview. What changed?" Sam let out a slow breath, leaned back in the chair, and rested a hand on Lucky's head, idly running his fingers through the wolf's fur.

"Well, Mariann, it just seemed like a good time to do an interview." She beamed.

"I'm not complaining. This is going straight into my top ten interviews of all time!"

"Happy to hear that." She leaned forward, curiosity practically glowing in her eyes.

"Now, Solar, there are many questions plaguing the common people of the world. And now that I have you here, I think it's time we clear a few things up. Don't you think?"

"As long as you don't ask what kind of boxers I wear…" Sam quipped.

"Hah! Maybe if we have time!" Mariann laughed.

"Now let's start with Ferabor, where we are currently having this interview."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything."