Second World Online

The night at The Wandering Boar closed with heartwarming laughter and stomachs once again filled to capacity. All of our Satiety indicators had returned to 100%, erasing every fatigue penalty that had accumulated from the intense battle at Ironhold.

Yuuki yawned widely, revealing her row of small fangs. Her three fox tails that had been wagging energetically all evening now swayed slowly, signaling that my little sister's mental stamina limit in the real world was beginning to thin. It was only natural the chain of emotions from the ambush in the Obsidian Forest, the shocking evolution, all the way to the massive-scale war against tens of thousands of players must have drained her energy heavily.

"Uwaaahm… My eyes feel like they're about to close on their own," Yuuki mumbled, resting her head against Yuna's red-scaled arm.

I smiled faintly and set down my empty coffee cup. "It's time for us to return to the real world. You all did extraordinary work tonight."

"Teacher Syl is right, we need to rest," Yuna nodded, gently patting Yuuki's head. The dragon Vanguard turned toward Lumina and Flora. "The three of us… ah, the four of us including Flora, don't yet own personal residences in StoneBrook. So we have to rent rooms at an NPC inn to keep our avatars safe while logged out. If we log out carelessly on the street, our characters will fall asleep on the spot and risk being robbed."

"There's the 'Silver Moon' inn at the end of this district. The price is quite cheap, only a few copper coins per night," Lumina suggested while straightening her silk robe.

"Alright. Go rent comfortable rooms for the four of you. I'll return to my village. I already have a shop that doubles as my residence there," I said while standing from the wooden chair and adjusting the position of my white military mantle.

We walked out of the still-noisy tavern. Under the dim streetlights of StoneBrook's main square, we waved goodbye to each other.

"See you tomorrow, Sis Syl! I'll show off my three tails to Mom and Dad during breakfast later!" Yuuki called with the last remnants of her energy before being pulled by Yuna toward the inn direction.

"Rest well, Teacher," Lumina bowed respectfully, followed by a small hand-wave from Flora.

After making sure the four girls safely entered the NPC inn zone, I turned around and opened my system panel.

"Teleport: Silvergrass Village."

Blue light swallowed me, carrying my consciousness across the continent in a matter of milliseconds. When I opened my eyes, the quiet and peaceful rural village air greeted me. There were no cheers, no explosions, and no smell of sulfur. I walked casually toward the "Waterwheel," unlocked the door, and entered the back room that served as both my bedroom and workshop.

On my worktable still remained several iron molds and leftover gunpowder that I had failed to sell because of the Game Masters' intervention. I only snorted softly at the sight.

I lay my Elf avatar's body down on the straw bed.

"System Menu. Log Out."

My world faded into absolute darkness.

Far from the fantasy continent wrapped in magic and swords, reality spun in the form of concrete, glass, and digital data streams. In a futuristic-designed skyscraper located in the heart of a metropolis, the lights on the fiftieth floor still blazed brightly even though the time already showed ten o'clock at night.

This was the Second World Online operations control room, the headquarters of the company Chronos Tech.

Inside that room the size of an indoor basketball court, dozens of technicians, programmers, and Game Masters (GM) were still working hard with coffee cups in their hands. Giant holographic screens dominated the walls of the room, displaying real-time visualizations of the data traffic from approximately six thousand players who were logged in and actively participating in the major event.

Three large screens in the center of the room displayed the three ongoing Castle Siege locations: Sunspire Castle, Mistveil Castle, and Ironhold Castle.

On the Sunspire and Mistveil screens, the battles were still raging intensely and grindily. Player formations desperately pushed giant wooden battering rams to strike the castle gates, producing very small yet constant damage. The GM nodded in satisfaction at those screens; the castle siege event was indeed designed like an exhausting marathon, meant to last for days or even weeks in-game until the gates were destroyed.

However, the third screen displaying Ironhold Castle told a completely different story.

That screen showed the ruins of the melted gate that had now cooled, as well as members of the Knights of the Round who were feasting inside the courtyard. Castle status: [CONQUERED]. Conquest duration: 55 Minutes.

In a closed glass-walled meeting room that faced directly toward those giant screens, five high-ranking officials from the Balancing division and Game Masters sat around an oval table. The atmosphere inside that room felt extremely tense, colored by confusion and mass headaches.

David, Head of the Game Balancing Division, massaged his temples hard. On the tablet screen in front of him, a replay video was played over and over. The video showed an Albino Elf girl in a white military uniform attaching three metal cylinders to the Enchanted Black Steel gate, followed by a plasma jet explosion that destroyed the structural integrity of the one-meter-thick steel until it liquefied.

"Can someone explain to me how an inanimate object with 500,000 HP can be destroyed in ten seconds?" David growled, staring at his four colleagues.

Sarah, Head of the Physics Engine Programmer, cleared her throat softly. She tapped her tablet, projecting rows of algorithm code into the middle of the table.

"It's not an HP bug, Mr. David. It's the result of the absolute freedom engine that we designed ourselves," Sarah explained in a defensive yet amazed tone. "This player, known as 'Syl', did not attack the gate's HP mathematically. She exploited the thermodynamic and physics systems of our engine."

Sarah enlarged the image of Syl's Breaching Charge. "She used the real-world principle of a Shaped Charge or the Munroe effect. She placed an inverted metal cone inside the tube. When the gunpowder detonated, the explosion did not spread outward; instead, it was focused into a jet of liquid plasma at a temperature of more than six thousand degrees Celsius. Our physics engine detected this extreme temperature anomaly at a single narrow point, then calculated that the black steel had exceeded its melting point, so the system automatically ground the structural integrity value (Durability) down to zero instantly, completely ignoring the total HP that existed."

"Damn it. She used real science to breach our fantasy defense system," cursed another GM. "Then what about this?"

That GM switched the video to the scene where Syl rained dozens of copper bombs that released sulfur gas upon the Ouroboros ranks.

"This is what nearly destroyed our economic algorithm tonight," the GM continued, his face pale. "This player monopolized all the raw materials on the black market, synthesized gunpowder herself manually, then mass-produced Area of Effect bombs. We were forced to freeze the rest of her auctions because she nearly sucked thousands of pure gold coins from the server market in mere seconds! She's too broken! If we let this continue, she could flatten every castle by herself!"

David let out a long breath. "The decision is already clear. We have to perform a nerf (system weakening) on this player and her bomb mechanics. We cannot allow a single player to control the direction of war and the global economy alone. Temporarily ban her account for exploitation investigation, and change the code…"

"Wait, Mr. David," interrupted a GM from the Data Security Division named Marcus. His face looked extremely tense. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead as he read the user account profile of the player named 'Syl'.

"What is it, Marcus? Don't tell me she's using a VPN or third-party programs?" David asked impatiently.

Marcus swallowed hard and flipped his tablet screen so everyone in the room could see it.

"She's not using any illegal programs. Her physical body is scanned through our latest VVIP Medical Capsule type," Marcus said with a trembling voice. "The problem isn't cheating, Sir. The problem lies in the real identity behind this account."

David and Sarah's eyes narrowed as they read the name listed on the user identity profile.

[User ID: VVIP-001]

[Real Name: Rian Hortensia]

An extraordinarily suffocating silence suddenly choked the meeting room.

Hortensia. A family name that was not merely that of an ordinary player. The Hortensia family was the owner of a giant corporation that was the largest capital injector and shareholder of Chronos Tech. They were the reason Second World Online could be produced. And Mr. Alexander Hortensia, CEO of that conglomerate, was known to be extremely protective of his son who was undergoing treatment for acute leukemia.

"A-the son of Mr. Alexander?" David whispered, his face instantly as pale as paper. "The Mad Alchemist player who just melted the castle gate and monopolized the market… is Young Master Rian?"

"Correct, Sir," Marcus nodded slowly. "And we just forcibly froze his transactions at the auction. If he complains about this to his father, our entire management team could be fired tomorrow morning."

Panic immediately swept through the room. Their pride as gods who regulated the game's balance suddenly collapsed in the face of real-world capitalism.

"What should we do? We can't unilaterally ban or nerf the account of our largest shareholder's heir!" Sarah complained in panic. "But if we let these bombs exist with absolute structural destructive power, the other two castles will also be flattened in a short time! The mechanics of this event will be completely destroyed!"

David wiped his sweaty face. He stared at the special telephone in the center of the table, then took a long breath, trying to gather the remnants of his courage.

"There's only one way. We have to contact Mr. Alexander directly. Explain the situation professionally that this nerf is needed for the sake of the game's continuity, not a personal attack on his son," David decided, his hand trembling as he reached for the high-level encrypted mobile phone handle.

His colleagues in the room could only nod in resignation, holding a moment of silence for their careers that might soon end.

David dialed the VVIP emergency number.

The phone rang three times before a heavy, calm, yet authoritative voice answered from the other end.

"Hello. This is Alexander Hortensia."

"G-good evening, Mr. Alexander. Please forgive me for disturbing your rest at ten o'clock tonight. I am David, from the Chronos Tech Game Balancing team," David greeted as respectfully as possible.

"Oh, David. It's fine, I haven't gone to sleep yet. I'm reviewing some company reports," Alexander answered casually, the sound of a mouse cursor clicking audibly. "What's the emergency that made you call me this late? Is the server down?"

"It's not the server, Sir. This… this concerns your son's account, Young Master Rian," David swallowed hard. "Inside the game, he successfully created an extreme explosive physics reaction that brought down end-game castle defenses in a matter of seconds. He also monopolized the market aggressively. For the sake of maintaining economic balance and game mechanics for the six thousand other players currently participating, w-we… plan to perform a nerf or system adjustment on your son's bomb mechanics."

The meeting room fell silent. David closed his eyes, preparing to receive the tycoon's anger that might threaten to withdraw his investment funds.

However, what came through the phone connection was the sound of laughter. Laughter that was very clear, deep, and filled with a father's pride.

"Hahahaha! So he really melted the gate?! Extraordinary. That boy always finds loopholes in any rule you create," Alexander's laughter echoed through the phone speaker.

David and the GM exchanged confused and disbelieving glances.

"Listen, David," Alexander's tone shifted to slightly more serious, yet remained professional. "Second World Online was designed for freedom and fairness, wasn't it? If according to your system calculations the power has already damaged the play experience of the other six thousand players, then do your job as balance regulators. Perform the adjustment (nerf). Do as you please no need to worry about my position or my investment. I will not mix business affairs with my son's hobby of playing."

"R-really, Sir? You truly don't mind?" David asked, almost unable to believe the relief that suddenly washed over his chest.

"Not at all," Alexander snorted lightly. "Besides, trust me. If you weaken his bombs today, my son will definitely do something far stranger, crazier, and more lethal next week. Giving him obstacles will only provoke his creativity. Keep working."

Click. The phone connection was cut.

David slowly placed the phone handle back into its place. The four other GM stared at him with mouths half-open.

"Blood never lies. The two of them are both monsters," Marcus muttered softly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Sarah broke the silence. "So… we got the green light from the main shareholder?"

David nodded firmly, his aura returning to that of a professional Game Master commander. His fear had vanished, replaced by the spirit to challenge that anomalous player.

"Full green light," David said. "Prepare the emergency maintenance announcement (Emergency Maintenance). We can't shut down the server now because the wars at Sunspire and Mistveil are still ongoing and may need several days or even weeks to finish. Plan this maintenance for right after the global Castle Siege event is completely closed."

David stood from his chair and pointed at the holographic screen displaying Syl's item data.

"We will overhaul the carrying mechanics of dangerous items. Starting from the next patch, gunpowder and active explosives will have a separate Weight Limit count or a much stricter inventory slot limit, so that one player cannot carry hundreds of bombs to the battlefield at once," David ordered quickly.

"Then what about the structural damage, Sir?" Sarah asked. "If we weaken the physics system, it will impact other Blacksmith professions."

"Don't change the physics laws, change the reception limits," David answered with a cunning smile. "We will place a maximum limit (Hard Cap) on the damage that inanimate objects (structures/buildings) can receive from non-magic physical explosion sources within a single timeframe. Let her freely blow-up other players, but she will never again be able to bring down a castle gate in ten seconds!"

The GM in the room nodded in agreement, their fingers beginning to dance across virtual keyboards to design a new hell, an exclusive nerf for the Alchemist.

In the real world, Mr. Alexander smiled in his office. And on the straw bed inside the virtual world, Rian alias Syl slept without realizing that the system and the gods who ruled this digital universe had just conspired to limit her destructive power.

However, as the father had said, restricting the room for movement of a Rian Hortensia was the same as asking him to trigger an apocalypse from a loophole that even the game's creators themselves had never thought of.