Reborned Top Gamer: Spell-Swordman Rule the World

40 The Phantoms’ Plan

“Bring down Minan? You mean the huge, multimillion company Minan?” Miranda said, then she started laughing but Leo gave her a serious look that stopped her laughter “wow, you’re serious,” she said and he nodded.

“How do you plan on doing that?” Walt asked.

“The first and most important thing is to get rid of their ace team. My teammates and I will fight Fred team and defeat them. There are a high-profile software and gaming award ceremony that all the important figures in the software and gaming world will attend. When we beat Fred team, we will get them to confess to the crimes that Heather and Minan group have committed,” Leo said and he sounded so confident that Walt admired him.

“I know they sent players after us but it hardly counts as a crime. The only thing I could say was a crime was rigging the game to make Felix part of it but people everywhere ate that up, it was entertaining to them.” Walt said and Leo smirked again.

“You really don’t know do you?” Leo said and Walt raised a brow “know what?”

“Most players at Minan hate the brutality and refuse to be a part of it most times. The reason why they always end up giving in is that Minan threatens their real lives.” Leo said in a low tone. Jenny and Ailsa gasped and glanced at each other. Walt stared back in shock. He knew Minan group cut payment or destroyed equipment as punishment for not doing what they wanted but he never expected that they gave real-life threats to people who refused to do their dirty job.

“Are you serious?” Walt asked, the shock still registering in his mind.

“Dead serious.” Leo said and waved his hand towards the magician in their group “Primo here was asked by Heather to note down the weaknesses of all the members of a Gus Club team we were supposed to work with so that he could study it and get someone to defeat them. When Primo refused, Heather threatened to prevent his little sister from getting into any colleges. At first, Primo dismissed his threat, then his sister received three rejection letters from the colleges she applied to. He eventually gave in and did as he was told. That’s just one of the many atrocities Heather has committed,”

Walt swallowed and ran his hand through his hair. They were all quiet for a moment, they let the information they had received sink in and Leo watched them as they tried to wrap their head around how deeply awful Minan and its associates were.

“There’s something else as well,” Leo said after a while when no one spoke. Walt wondered what else could possibly be worse than what he heard.

“What’s that?”

“Minan’s main goal is to be at the top. Right now, they are the second-best because of Fantasy. They plan of stealing the codes to Fantasy from Gus group and create their own game, so they can take control of the gaming world,”

“How do you know these things?” Ailsa asked. Leo looked at her and gave her a dashing smile.

“I have ways of getting information that I need,” he replied. She blushed and looked away. Walt ran his hand through his hair again. He vaguely recalled that in his past life, about a year after he got fired from Minan, Gus group had announced a permanent shutdown of Fantasy which goes to show that Minan had been successful. The memory was a bit blurry but he remembered that he was in a store buying beer when he heard it saw the news on a screen.

“If they just planned to create another game that would rival Fantasy, it would have been less appalling. But they also want to completely destroy Fantasy, they are already creating glitches in the game and accessing the information on players.” Leo said. Walt sighed and figured that was the reason why Heather was able to cause the boycott happening to them in the game.

“This is all very shocking,” Walt said.

“But what are we supposed to do about it?” Scott suddenly blurted and Leo smiled.

“That is for your leader to figure out. We will destroy Fred team and expose Minan for the dirty, scheming institution it is, while you find a way to protect Fantasy and stop Minan from getting their hands on the codes. It won’t be easy and that’s why I’m coming to meet you,” he said then turned to face Walt “do we have a deal?”

Walt watched the smirking blonde extend his hand towards him. His mind started to race. He knew nothing about how he was going to fight a conglomerate that was known for its bullying. The only thing he knew for sure was that Fantasy was very important to him and he had to protect it. So he brought his own hand forward and shook Leo firmly.

“Yeah, you’ve got a deal,” Walt said and all of a sudden, another Phantom team member, the one Leo had introduced as Hardy, pulled out his sword and swung it towards Walt. Walt quickly pulled back and drew his own sword out.

“Hardy!” Leo called and the swordsman turned around, giving Walt an opening but Walt just stopped and frowned, confused about what was happening. Then Leo laughed and Hardy walked back to the rest of his teammates.

“Just another little test. You have self-control, which is good. See you later Green Light team,” Leo said, then he turned and left. They all stood in silence for a moment, wondering how that crazy transaction has just occurred.

“I’m not the only one who thinks that was totally weird right?” Miranda said and everyone hummed their agreement.

Hogan and Michael had arrived safely in Sardi city and had been going to the Ocean of Sigh to train. With Michael’s intellect and Hogan's strength, it had been easy and fun to kill monsters and gain experience points. After just two days, Hogan's XP level had increased very well. They were staying in a cheap inn in the rural parts of Sardi city because it was where most adventurers stayed and the dining hall is always filled with buzzing about the next place where more monsters and adventure could be found.

On the night of the third day, Hogan and Michael made their way down from their room to the already lively dining hall.

“Two bowls of hot soup please, and beers,” Hogan said to the bartender who nodded and disappeared to fill out their orders while they found a seat.

“Mind if I join you?” a voice said from above them. They looked up to see a bulky, bald man staring down at them and smiling. Hogan and Michael glanced at each other, then Michael shrugged “sure, why not,”

“Thanks, my name is Lennon,” he said and gave them a wide grin.

“Nice to meet you Lennon, I’m Michael and this is Hogan,”

“Nice to meet you too,” he replied. Their meals arrived and Lennon watched them eat, trying to gather just what they were capable of “I’m new to this game after I left Land of Origin, I just came here because everyone said that’s where all the adventure is,” he said and Michael nodded as he swallowed his beer.

“They aren’t wrong but if you want to gain a lot of points fast and you don’t mind frigid weather, you should go to Ice field,” Michael told him.

“Wow, is that so? Interesting, thank you,” he said

“It’s no problem, you’re welcome,” Michael replied and smiled. Hogan eyed the strange man wearily. He did not seem like someone who was new to the game. New comers were usually less open and approached people wearily but this Lennon character seemed so sure of himself.

“Say would you like to play against me? Just a friendly game,” Lennon offered with the same smile on his face that made Hogan uncomfortable.

“A game?” Michael asked and he nodded.

“Yes, we’ll agree to play cards instead of an actual physical fight, I find those so tiring,”

“But the loser still loses points like a normal fight?” Hogan spoke this time and Lennon looked at him with his smile still perched carefully on his face “yes,” he replied. Hogan chewed the bread that had come with his soup thoughtfully, then he glanced at Michael and swallowed.

“Not interested,” Hogan said and continued eating.

“Oh,” Lennon said with a sad tone and slumped his shoulders “that’s okay…”

“I’ll play with you,” Michael quickly said. He felt bad for the guy, newcomers always had a hard time adjusting to the game, he might even let him win and gain a few points. Hogan shot him a hard look but he just shrugged.

“Really?” Lennon asked and Michael nodded. Lennon smiled to himself. It was easier to destroy a team when they are apart. If Michael lost to him, he would drop to a low level and need to go and get more strength, that was when Lennon would strike and make him fall back to level one. The plan was perfect.