I Don't Need To Log Out

The Gamers were also in the middle of a fight.

They were currently in Rouis, the town Melner was in.

Melner was one of the stronger NPCs—no, that term wasn't used anymore. He was one of the stronger Trionians, a respected warrior of this world.

He was just over level 200, which meant he didn't need to be on the front lines anymore.

And yet, there he was, fighting shoulder to shoulder with the players, cutting down Keldars like his life depended on it. Not because he had to. But because he chose to.

His connection with the Gamers had grown deeper ever since they helped him during that battle with the Demon—the one who wouldn't stay dead no matter how many times Melner struck her down.

Of course, this was the case. A Trionian couldn't kill a Demon since they had arrived with Zeno.

When the players arrived, though, the Demon had escaped.

And in the end, it wasn't Melner who finished her off. It was the Gamers. They'd ended her for good.

Now, only one Demon remained.

The number one Demon.

"When will we go for the last one?" Carole asked, her tone laced with impatience.

"The last Demon? Arlon told us to wait," Pierre said as he parried a strike and countered with a clean blow. "According to June, he'll be back in a month."

"But it might be too late by then," Zack said, his voice strained as he beheaded another Keldar. "Don't you see the swarm attacking this town? They're getting closer every day."

"What if he also comes here?" Carole asked, quieter now.

"That would actually be better for us," Lei replied, unleashing a burst of magic that tore through three enemies at once.

"It's going to be hard leaving this place behind, especially since most players here are low-level. If the last Demon comes, we'll be forced to fight—and maybe that's what we need."

A brief silence settled in, broken only by the distant roars and clashing steel echoing through Rouis.

"Anyway," Pierre muttered, scanning the battlefield, "we should wait. At least until we hear something. Rushing in blindly won't help anyone."

---

"And that is the current situation."

June was explaining everything she knew about the state of Trion to Arlon.

She'd also been in contact with Zephyrion through the others, keeping herself informed from all angles.

But what shocked Arlon the most was a single question: "How did people learn this wasn't a game?"

It didn't make sense. It was too early for that.

In his last life, the truth had only come out after years of speculation and extensive research. Layers of secrecy had shielded the reality behind the game for a long time.

But now… they had learned it.

And it hadn't even been a full year since the game's release.

That was when Agema cut in, her voice calm but piercing. "That is because of you, my disciple."

"Me?" Arlon turned to her, brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Your presence became too much of a disruption to the Keldars' plans," she said plainly, as if it were the most obvious truth in the world.

"And with the speed you were growing… they were forced to act in ways they normally wouldn't.

Instead of adapting or enduring with the resources they had, they did something reckless. They called for aid—reinforcements from beyond."

Her hand gently touched the necklace at her collarbone. "And ever since you gave me this necklace, the balance tilted even further. The scales tipped out of alignment."

She looked at him, eyes unblinking. "So, the universe answered. To maintain equilibrium, it let them succeed in what they attempted."

Arlon went quiet. He stared at her, but his thoughts were elsewhere—racing back.

Agema shouldn't know about the regression.

Back when Arlon visited Karmel for the first time, he thought about his regression.

But Karmel had told him that he couldn't read that part.

And he knew that it was something related to a higher existence.

His guess was probably correct. Even Arlon didn't know who sent him back, but his guess was on EVR.

And if EVR was the one that sent him back in time, even ascended existences like Karmel or Agema couldn't know about that.

Of course, Agema wasn't just anyone.

She had likely pieced together fragments, noticed impossible patterns, and spotted gaps where there shouldn't have been any.

She was a genius. And even if she didn't know for sure, she would've formed her own theories.

So even without knowing the truth, she could still sense the scale of the effect Arlon had already caused.

He had wrecked plans that should have taken centuries to unfold.

Leveled up faster than anyone had a right to.

Brought her, of all beings, into the open—into this world.

Her conclusion, however indirect, was probably accurate.

This was his fault.

"But what does that have to do with people learning the game is real?" Arlon asked.

Agema answered without hesitation. "Because the aid they called upon—he—broke something.

While crossing into this world through the gate the Keldars opened, he lost part of his power. Not much, but enough."

Arlon listened carefully. She wasn't just theorizing now. She was recounting something.

"But he didn't let that power dissipate," she continued. "Instead, he bound it. Contained it. And in the process… he used the fragments to show people the truth.

Maybe not on purpose. Maybe it was instinct or a desperate wish. A yearning for something to shift the tide of war."

She tilted her head. "A wish, perhaps, for hope."

"And it worked since the humans from your world, the saviors, left, never to come back again.

I know the number of saviors increased, but the ones that left were stronger."

Arlon's breath caught. "They left?"

"Yes. Once they saw what was truly happening—what they were really participating in—many chose to walk away.

I know the number of new arrivals increased afterward, but those who left... their strength was not easily replaced."

He was starting to understand now. The tremors in the balance, the panic, the chaos across both worlds—it all tied together.

Still, there were too many questions.

Who was this mysterious 'he'?

What kind of gate did the Keldars open?

What kind of aid had they summoned?

He didn't have the answers yet.

But something told him that whoever stepped through that gate had changed everything.