In Beijing, China at that time.

“Aside from money, the Antalagos Information Guild is notorious for keeping control of their information based on how much they would gain or lose if they shared it with others. How come they keep leaking out information about the Land of Despair?”

“That’s true. Based on our investigation until now, it’s clear that they have not only leaked out the relevant information, but also deliberately spread it widely.”

“Hmm…”

President Xi groaned at his deputy’s report.

If the Antalagos Information Guild, which was reputed to be the best information guild on Earth, leaked out the information without expecting any payment, there could only be one possible reason; they would lose nothing even if they did so

It meant that this event could bring about the end of mankind if something went wrong.

So President Xi groaned for a long time before opening his mouth.

“What are the Antalagos Information Guild and the Myongjin Guild up to now?”

“As you know, the Antalagos Information Guild has been keeping a low profile, so we haven’t yet found out much about them yet, but they must already be fully prepared. There is a reason why they have reached the top position in the information world. On the other hand, the Myongjin Guild hasn’t shown any particular movement yet.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir.”

President Xi lowered his head for a moment as if he was lost in thought, then said, “Then what about other options?’

“Well, there is only one left. In other words, ships, and large ships at that. We have to secure large ships and go out to the sea where the Land of Despair can’t reach.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

Of course, President Xi had yet to issue any special orders.

Even without his order, the Chinese government under President Xi began to take action well in advance. They took action to mobilize dozens or hundreds of ships, including aircraft carriers, to the shores of Tianjin, just in front of Beijing.

Anyway, the whole world was quite chaotic, with those fleeing from mainland Australia and the Antaragos Information Guild actively providing the relevant information. All of them were busy making their own arks for survival or trying to take away others’ arks.

And it was natural that they confronted others while preparing their own survival tactics, considering that even if they mobilized all the ships available on Earth, there were less than 5% of the whole population who could board the ships.

Moreover, given that those aboard the ships should be able to eat and sleep, to say the least, it was impossible to pack the ships fully. As a result, despair began to spread everywhere around the world as the name Land of Despair suggested.

In other words, nobody on Earth wanted to die.

***

At the Myongjin Shelter one week later.

I climbed on the roof of the first main base and looked at the distant sky.

I felt someone approaching behind me, but I didn’t turn around because I knew it was Director Sok.

So when he approached me, I spoke first, “How is the situation?”

My question was rather vague, but Director Sok got my point right away and replied, “We are strictly blocking those who are trying to come to Myongjin by all means.”

In this hellish world, there were definitely people who were like saints, and those who acted like saints to assert their dominant rule or for their own personal interests.

But I didn’t mean to look down on them altogether.

After all, even if they wore the mask of a saint, they certainly made this hellish world a less hellish one. In other words, I was cheering for them.

That’s why I spared President Kijung Kim who targeted my life directly.

However, the problem I faced right now was totally different from the problems I had experienced before.

The majority of those who pretended to be saints could no longer wear the mask of a saint, for they valued their own survival first.

No wonder there were so many people who would perish, and the majority of them would be ordinary people who would helplessly collapse right away without being able to resist when the cruel but unstoppable Land of Despair completely covered Earth.

And quite a few, if not all, of those people flocked to the Myongjin Shelter.

Even though they had not raised their reality actualization rate, they must have heard the name ‘Juyong Hong.’

But it was impossible for the Myongjin Shelter to accept them.

Moreover, if we accepted them out of pity or compassion, all the ordinary people on Earth would probably, or definitely, flock to the Myongjin Shelter, imploring us to accept them. And they would curse and blame us for discriminating against them if we selectively accepted only a few.

Of course, I didn’t mean to blame them because it was only natural that they would blame the Myongjin Shelter if we accepted only some of them and not the others.

So there was inevitably only one conclusion on this matter, namely, refusing entry to everyone.

Of course, there was an exception to this rule. We were willing to accept the members of the Mirae and Tugal Guilds, but not all of them.

Since there were already hundreds of thousands in the Myongjin Shelter alone, it was impossible for us to accept all the members of the two guilds.

“So what are they going to do?” I asked Director Sok.

“The Mirae Guild rejected our offer. They have already secured ships that could carry hundreds of thousands of people. But the Tugal Guild accepted our offer.”

Although we didn’t tell the Mirae and Tugal Guilds clearly, we proposed that we could accept them if they came to the Myongjin SHelter with a maximum of 10,000 per guild.

But the Mirae Guild declined our offer while the Tugal Guild accepted it.

Come to think of it, the Mirae Guild could obviously secure lots of ships, but the Tugal Guild of Mongolia, located inland, could not because most of them had never boarded ships in their lives. There were more people who had boarded planes than those who had gone aboard ships there.

At that moment, Director Sok continued, as if he still had more to say.

“The Mirae Guild asked us if they can deploy their ships ahead of us in the sea.”

“…”

Of course, I knew what his question meant.

So I opened my mouth, nodding at him slightly, “Sure, tell them to go ahead.”

“Got it, I’ll send them your message then.”

After exchanging a few words with him, I cast a glance at the sky in the distance.

Given that the Land of Despair reached Okinawa, Japan, this morning, it would take about three days for it to reach Korea.

In the small conference room of the Myongjin Shelter the next day.

After a group of people visited the Myongjin Shelter, I also moved to the small conference room.

Then I said flatly to one of the guests who was already seated.

“I see you often these days. You are very busy these days, right?”

“Hahaha, do you think so?”

He was Brandon, the new leader of the Antalagos Information Guild.

“Okay, what’s going on? I’ve heard a lot of good things about you these days.”

“Isn’t it clear now that everyone living on this earth is on the same side? Then, we should join hands together, I think.”

“Stop that nonsense! As you know, hundreds of thousands, or millions of people die every day these days because of the Land of Despair..”