Chapter 330: This isn’t a prank, right?

“Hey, this isn’t a prank, right? It’s not something you planned out, is it?”

Secretly, Kim Min-hyuk desperately wanted Lee Joon-suk to laugh and say, “It’s just a joke.”

Of course, Kim Min-hyuk would be mad if he said that, but it was much better than admitting that this difficult situation was a reality.

“I’m serious. It’s not just the Korean server that’s facing this.” Lee Joon-suk’s words felt like a court sentence. Whatever it was, things were going to get very ugly.

All challengers were expected to come out on the same day. But of course, the date and time of the exit depended on when the challenger cleared the Tutorial’s 100th floor. Long story short, the challengers may return to Earth at any time.

However, it’d already been over a decade since a challenger of the Tutorial had shown up. There were several new regulations regarding the Tutorial, and one of them was about the return of the Awakened.

The Awakened people who returned to Earth unannounced and disappeared quietly were sometimes considered more dangerous than monsters. The government wanted to put a leash on the Awakened, even though they can’t completely control all of them.

Whenever a challenger completed the Tutorial, they had to report it, scan their fingerprints, and be issued a new identification card. Such processes allowed the government to estimate how many Awakened people there were and provided a way to contact them. These regulations had been firmly established over the years.

Just as predicted, some of them ignored the regulations. For example, there were Awakened who hated being in the spotlight, had their reasons to step out of the Tutorial as soon as possible, or hid in shadows before being identified. There were many other various cases.

However, in most cases, the Tutorial should’ve been cleared on the designated day. But none of them had shown up at Seoul Station yesterday, which was supposed to be their return.

Kim Min-hyuk had thought it wasn’t that big of an issue and brushed it off. Even though the survival rate had increased rapidly, about 100 people were entering the Tutorial each month.

Even though the number was limited, some months, around 10 of the Awakened would pop up, while there would be no one showing up in other months.

Because of that, Kim Min-hyuk was able to convince himself by saying, “It seems like we have bad luck this time.”

However, in Beijing and Tokyo, the Awakened had not returned. The same thing happened not only in Korea but also in other countries.

Kim Min-hyuk had hurriedly dispatched Lee Joon-suk to check the situation in other countries.

And the result was… “No one cleared the Tutorial this time. No one in the whole world.”

If it was something that happened around the world, it could no longer be regarded as a coincidence. Something went wrong inside the Tutorial.

“At this point, it’s not that they didn’t clear the Tutorial. They couldn’t clear it.”

“I can’t say that for sure.”

The variable that may be the cause of this situation flashed immediately. It was the Tournament. Kim Min-hyuk heard that the recent Tournament had just been held. Not to mention, it was also the reason several representatives from different servers met and had some talks.

“What if there was an agreement between the Tutorial challengers?”

“Come on, that’s a bit… If they did, they wouldn’t be able to get a chance to advance to the next stage.”

His words made sense.

“They won’t get any benefits by not clearing a floor or saying anything about it. It’s their loss. Above all, the leaders can’t stop the other challenger from clearing a floor.”

It was not an easy task to force another challenger in the Tutorial to do something because they lived in a physically isolated space.

The challengers who were in the residential area on the 90th floor or higher couldn’t violate such liberty by any means. Of course, they could blackmail or conciliate with others, but most of the Tutorial leaders had lost their power.

The only power the Awakened had was outside the Tutorial. Those who stayed in the Tutorial and took care of the challengers were now only treated as NPCs or losers.

“Wow, what’s this? In South Korea alone, there were four people scheduled to show up for this month. But unexpectedly, all of them failed to clear?”

That was ridiculous. The challengers who nearly cleared the 100th floor must’ve met the target. The probability of failure should not have been very high, as it almost followed the same approach and attack.

“And there’s one more thing to note.”

“What?”

“It’s time for Ho-jae to come out.”

Lee Yeon-hee had arrived on the 60th floor. That meant Lee Ho-jae, who had long been on the 60th floor, would start climbing the stage again.

“What a pain. That means he might not be able to make it.”

Kim Min-hyuk had prepared many things, thinking that Ho-jae would be able to exit. It all became meaningless.

No, something is not right. Is it true that Lee Ho-jae could not come out like the other challengers because of this situation?

Kim Min-hyuk couldn’t help but be suspicious. As far as he knew, Lee Ho-jae was someone who caused problems, not someone who got entangled in issues. Of course, Kim Min-hyuk had to handle the problem every time.

If he’s involved in this, then…

Kim Min-hyuk’s head reviewed the facts repeatedly.

“I don’t know anymore, damn it. I need some information to speculate on this. I don’t know what happened or how to interfere inside the Tutorial. There’s nothing I think we can do.”

He gave up.

“Yes. Unless we have any way to contact the gods or managers, we have to let the insiders solve the inner problem,” Joon-suk calmly responded.

Kim Min-hyuk always hated that aloof attitude, but this time was an exception. It strangely reassured him.

“Let’s do what we can. Take this opportunity to bring Seoul Station under our wing.”

“Is it going to work? I think this situation is just going to make it harder.”

“No, it’s the opposite. You have to insist that under dangerous circumstances, our presence is required here.”

The way to persuade the government was simple. Either give them what they’d want, or they’d force the government. Everyone will be damned if the government didn’t follow their advice.

No one knew what happened in the Tutorial, and no one knew what may happen to the portal in Seoul Station. It could be argued that the Awakened should be on standby in case of an emergency.

“But first, I have to contact Jong-sik.”

“What are you going to say?”

“Cancel the dispatch to Japan. From now on, everyone who is A-class and above must get ready in Korea.”