Because they had run into the wrong opponent at the wrong time and in the wrong place, the IOI company's field security team had set out to storm the "Oasis Rebel Army" headquarters, weapons in hand. They had planned to trample the law, round up every player gang targeting IOI Online Creations, and "arrest" the top-ranked players on the Easter egg leaderboard—the "Sixth Players" who had seriously hindered IOI and helped Wade secure Halliday's Easter egg. The team had hoped to eliminate their competitors once and for all, in a "physical" sense. A few hours later, they finally returned, battered and dejected.
Aside from losing all their weapons, the private soldiers had each swallowed or choked down a bellyful of filthy swamp water. Several had also managed to break an arm, a leg, or even their spleen. In the end, they had come away with nothing.
Of course, there was no way to keep something like that quiet—and no reason to try!
So, back at IOI headquarters, the security supervisor who had endured a terrible ordeal and learned a painful lesson returned to the building in a thoroughly miserable state. Miss Zandor, once a striking and beautiful woman, was covered in dirt and mud, and clutched her injured, round backside. She carefully reported what had happened and the casualties among her field team to one of the company's executives.
Naturally, the troublesome little girl had shown some restraint when dealing with ordinary people. All the private soldiers had been injured, though some more seriously than others. So far, there had been no fatalities—but that was more than enough to shock some of IOI's senior executives.
"??"
"What did you say? A mage? She can use magic?!"
"Hah!"
"You took that many people to surround them, and I even gave the