Zhang Heng stayed at his parents' new home for about half a month, but he politely declined his father's suggestion of taking a trip around Ireland. Once his grandfather's plane landed safely, he booked a flight back home for the following day.
"Leaving so soon?" Zhang's Mother asked in confusion. "Shouldn't summer vacation only be halfway over?"
"Yeah, but there are still some things I need to deal with back home," Zhang Heng said.
"Geez... so mysterious. Is it about romance? Do you have a girlfriend? Bring her to Ireland with you sometime."
"Next time." Zhang Heng carried his laptop upstairs to his room, locked the door, inserted the untraceable USB drive, and only then logged onto the player forum.
Zhang Heng had lived fairly leisurely overseas these past two weeks. Other than teaching a group of somewhat racist young men a lesson outside a supermarket, he had not fought again. Meanwhile, things back home had been anything but peaceful.
The players' side was actually doing alright. Although some serious incidents had begun to emerge and the forum was filled with anxiety, the scale was not yet too large. The Three Great Guilds were still trying to maintain order. It was the Organizing Committee that seemed to be having problems.
Recently, all kinds of supernatural phenomena had been occurring with noticeably greater frequency. The Organizing Committee was operating at full capacity, mainly trying to cover things up and avoid drawing ordinary people's attention. But as time passed, the situation not only failed to improve—it seemed to be deteriorating faster.
At first, there had only been vague rumors, but as some agents became caught up in the incidents, the players also realized that relations between the New Gods and the Old Gods were becoming more tense than ever before.
In the